d thought
no one else would be the wiser.

The house in which Bounderby lived had no ornaments. It was cold and
lonely and rich. He made his mill-hands more than earn their wages, and
when any of them complained, he sneered that they wanted to be fed on
turtle-soup and venison with a golden spoon.

Bounderby had for housekeeper a Mrs. Sparsit, who talked a great deal of
her genteel birth, rich relatives and of the better days she had once
seen. She was a busybody, and when she sat of an evening cutting out
embroidery with sharp scissors, her bushy eyebrows and Roman nose made
her look like a hawk picking out the eyes of a very tough little bird.
In her own mind she had set her cap at Bounderby.

So firmly had Mr. Gradgrind put his trust in the gospel of facts which
he had taught Louisa and Tom that he was greatly shocked one day to
catch them (instead of studying any one of the dry sciences ending in
"ology" which he made them learn) peeping through the knot holes in a
wooden pavilion along the road at the performance of a traveling circus.

The circus, which was run by a man named Sleary, had settled itself in
the neighborhood for some time to come, and all the performers meanwhile
boarded in a near-by public house, The Pegasus's Arms. The show was
given every day, and at the moment of Mr. Gradgrind's appearance one
"Signor" Jupe, the clown, was showing the tricks of his trained dog,
Merrylegs, and entertaining the audience with his choicest jokes.

Mr. Gradgrind, dumb with amazement, seized both Louisa and Tom and led
them home, repeating at intervals, with indignation: "What would Mr.
Bounderby say!"

This question was soon answered, for the latter was at Stone Lodge when
they arrived. He reminded Mr. Gradgrind that there was an evil influence
in the school the children attended, which no doubt had led them to such
idle pursuits--this evil influence being the little daughter of Jupe,
the circus clown. And Bounderby advised Mr. Gradgrind to have the child
put out of the school at once.

The name of the clown's little daughter was Cecelia, but every one
called her Sissy. She was a dark-eyed, dark-haired, appealing child,
frowned upon by Mr. M'Choakumchild, the schoolmaster, because somehow
many figures would not stay in her head at one time.

When the circus first came, her father, who loved her very much, had
brought her to the Gradgrind house and begged that she be allowed to
attend school. Mr. Gradgrind had