Perhaps in after-days, when I
was starving in London, I may have begged of my father without
knowing it; and he may have thrown his daughter a penny to get
rid of her, without knowing it either! What is there sacred in
the relations between father and child, when they are such
relations as these? Even the flowers of the field cannot grow
without light and air to help them! How is a child's love to
grow, with nothing to help it?
"My small savings would have been soon exhausted, even if I had
been old enough and strong enough to protect them myself. As
things were, my few shillings were taken from me by gypsies. I
had no reason to complain. They gave me food and the shelter of
their tents, and they made me of use to them in various ways.
After a while hard times came to the gypsies, as they had come to
the strolling players. Some of them were imprisoned; the rest
were dispersed. It was the season for hop-gathering at the time.
I got employment among the hop-pickers next; and that done, I
went to London with my new friends.
"I have no wish to weary and pain you by dwelling on this part of
my childhood in detail. It will be enough if I tell you that I
sank lower and lower until I ended in selling matches in the
street.
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