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"Are you hungry yet?" she said.
"I'm allus hungry," was the answer, "but 't ain't as bad as it was."
"Come in here," said the woman, and she held open the shop door.
The child got up and shuffled in. To be invited into a warm
place full of bread seemed an incredible thing. She did not know
what was going to happen. She did not care, even.
"Get yourself warm," said the woman, pointing to a fire in the tiny
back room. "And look here; when you are hard up for a bit of bread,
you can come in here and ask for it. I'm blest if I won't give it
to you for that young one's sake."
* * *
Sara found some comfort in her remaining bun. At all events,
it was very hot, and it was better than nothing. As she walked
along she broke off small pieces and ate them slowly to make them
last longer.
"Suppose it was a magic bun," she said, "and a bite was as much as
a whole dinner. I should be overeating myself if I went on like this."
It was dark when she reached the square where the Select Seminary
was situated. The lights in the houses were all lighted.
The blinds were not yet drawn in the windows of the room where she
nearly always caught glimpses of members of the Large Family.
Frequently at this hour she could see the gentleman she called
Mr. Montmorency sitting in a big chair, with a small swarm round him,
talking, laughing, perching on the arms of his seat or on his knees
or leaning against them. This evening the swarm was about him,
but he was not seated. On the contrary, there was a good deal of
excitement going on. It was evident that a journey was to be taken,
and it was Mr. Montmorency who was to take it. A brougham stood
before the door, and a big portmanteau had been strapped upon it.
The children were dancing about, chattering and hanging on to
their father. The pretty rosy mother was standing near him,
talking as if she was asking final questions. Sara paused a moment
to see the little ones lifted up and kissed and the bigger ones bent
over and kissed also.
"I wonder if he will stay away long," she thought. "The portmanteau
is rather big. Oh, dear, how they will miss him! I shall miss
him myself--even though he doesn't know I am alive."
When the door opened she moved away--remembering the sixpence--
but she saw the traveler come out and stand against the background
of the warmly-lighted hall, the older children still hovering
about him.
"Will Moscow be covered with snow?" said the little girl Janet.
"Will there be ice everywhere?"
"Shall you drive in a drosky?" cried another. "Shall you see
the Czar?"
"I will write and tell you all about it," he answered, laughing. "And I
will send you pictures of muzhiks and things. Run into the house.
It is a hideous damp night. I would rather stay with you than go
to Moscow. Good night! Good night, duckies! God bless you!"
And he ran down the steps and jumped into the brougham.
"If you find the little girl, give her our love," shouted Guy Clarence,
jumping up and down on the door mat.
Then they went in and shut the door.
"Did you see," said Janet to Nora, as they went back to the room--"the
little-girl-who-is-not-a-beggar was passing? She looked all cold
and wet, and I saw her turn her head over her shoulder and look at us.
Mamma says her clothes always look as if they had been given her
by someone who was quite rich--someone who only let her have them
because they were too shabby to wear. The people at the school always
send her out on errands on the horridest days and nights there are."
Sara crossed the square to Miss Minchin's area steps, feeling faint
and shaky.
"I wonder who the little girl is," she thought--"the little girl
he is going to look for."
And she went down the area steps, lugging her basket and finding it
very heavy indeed, as the father of the Large Family drove quickly
on his way to the station to take the train which was to carry
him to Moscow, where he was to make his best efforts to search
for the lost little daughter of Captain Crewe.
14
What Melchisedec Heard and Saw
On this very afternoon, while Sara was out, a strange thing
happened in the attic. Only Melchisedec saw and heard it;
and he was so much alarmed and mystified that he scuttled back
to his hole and hid there, and really quaked and trembled as he
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