Attempt > Volume 1 and Select writings

27G
THE ATTEMPT
you can) how your mistress has effectually removed the curtain of sorrow, not merely
lightened the load of grief that weighed on the heart; and never had narrator such a
listener as you will hare in me.”
“ Well,” returned the other, “all my experiences,it is true, have not been equally
sad, though you will find, when you have seen a little of this world, that life is not all
sunshine.”
“ Nor all clouds either, I hope, or I shall he content to end my days in this quiet
corner, where, if we have no great enjoyment, we are at least free from misery. But
come, you must have seen much happiness in the service of your kind mistress, so
pluck a bright leaf out of your mind’s journal, and show it to me, that I may look
forward with pleasure to the work that lies before me.”
The elder purse was silent for a brief space, as if turning over in its mind the
scene of its past life ; then in a faint but clear voice it resumed its story :—
“ The incident which I am about to relate,” it began, “ is one of the most inter¬
esting which it has ever been my privilege to witness, and also serves to show how
much uprightness of conduct and true nobility of nature often adorn the poor of the
land :—I was returning in my mistress’s pocket from some shops, and lying nearer the
opening than was at all consistent with my safety, was pulled out with her handker¬
chief, and in an instant lay on the hard pavement. In the bustle of the crowded
thoroughfare my fall was unheeded, and the busy foot passengers seemed too eager in
their own business to cast their eyes on the ground, where I lay in imminent danger
of being crushed by hasty footsteps into an unshapely mass. I was not doomed
however to lie long there, for a boy of ten or eleven years of age, whose eyes were bent
somewhat sadly on the ground, perceiving me, eagerly stooped down and rescued me
from my dangerous position. The face of the boy, who was poorly but not miserably
clothed, brightened up as he felt my weight in his hand. ‘ It can’t be empty,’ he said,
or it wouldn’t be so heavy : I’ll be able to get something nice for mother to-night, and
she has much need of it I am sure.’ So saying, he quickened his pace, and soon
leaving the gay street in which he had found me, passed through some of the poorer
parts of the city, and at last turned into a narrow ‘ wynd,’ where he paused before a
high tenement, evidently the abode of many families of the poorest class. He ascended
a long dirty stair, and I could hear, as we passed the dilapidated doors of the
various rooms, each of which was occupied by one or more families, the sad sounds of
husbands and wives quarrelling, parents scolding and even striking their children, and
the piteous cries of the ill-used little ones. The room which we entered however had
a more respectable appearance than could have been expected from the character of the