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give me a shilling. Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four. There are your presents; and now for the children!" Madame showed a decided disposition to reward personal beauty, which Jack overruled at once. "The prettiest? I see myself letting you! Church Sunday scholars is my tip; and I shall put them through the Catechism test. Look here, young un, what's your name? Who gave you this name?" "Ma godfeythers and godmoothers," the young urchin began. "That'll do," said Jack. "Take your whip, and be thankful. Now, my little lass, who gave you this name?" "Me godfeythers----" "All right. Take your doll, and drop a curtsy; and mind you don't take the curtsy, and drop your doll. Now, my boy, tell me how many there be?" "Ten." "Which be they? I mean, take your monkey, and make your bow. Next child, come up." Clem, Eleanor, and I kept back the crowd as well as we could; but children pressed in on all sides. Clem brought a shilling out of his pocket, and handed it over to Jack. "You've won your bet, old man," he said. "You're a good fellow, Clem. I say, lay it out among the halfpenny lot--will you?--and then give them to Madame. Keep your eye open for Dissenters, and send the Church children first." The forty-eight halfpennyworths proved to be sufficient for all, however, though the orthodoxy of one or two seemed doubtful. Madame was tired; but the position had pleased her, and she gave away the toys with a charming grace. We were leaving the fair when some small urchins, who had either got or hoped to get presents, and were (I suspected) partly impelled also by a sense of the striking nature of Madame's appearance, set up a lusty cheer. Madame paused. Her eyes brightened; her thin lips parted with a smile. In a voice of intense satisfaction, she murmured: "It is the Briteesh hooray!" CHAPTER XXIV. WE AND THE BOYS--WE AND THE BOYS AND OUR FADS--THE LAMP OF ZEAL--CLEMENT ON UNREALITY--JACK'S OINTMENT. Our life on the moors was, I suppose, monotonous. I do not think we ever found it dull; but it was not broken, as a rule, by striking incidents. The coming and going of the boys were our chief events. We packed for them when they went away. We wrote long letters to them, and received brief but pithy replies. We spoke on their behalf when they wanted clothes or pocket-money. We knew exactly how to bring the news of good marks in school and increased subscriptions to cricket to bear i
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