time and no wish to hurry; still, to
Frank, who was used to the solitude of Green Highlands and the deeper
quiet of the woods, it felt like getting into the world, and he looked
down at his clothes, and wondered how they would suit a large town. He
wore a smock, high brown leather gaiters reaching almost to his thighs,
and very thick hobnailed boots. He wished he had his Sunday coat on
instead of the smock, but the rest of the things would do very well, and
they were so strong and good that they would last a long time. So this
point settled he trudged on again, till, by twelve o'clock, he saw
Wickham in the distance with its gabled red houses and tall factory
buildings. And now that he was so near, his courage forsook him a
little, and he felt that he was a very small weak boy, and that the
factories were full of bustling work-people who would take no notice of
him. He stood irresolute in the street, wondering to whom he ought to
apply, and presently his eye was attracted to the window of a small
baker's shop near. Through this he saw a kind-looking round-faced
woman, who stood behind the counter knitting. Just in front of her
there was, curled round, a sleek black cat, and she stopped in her work
now and then to scratch its head gently with her knitting-pin. Somehow
this encouraged Frank, and entering he put his question timidly, in his
broad Buckinghamshire accent.

The woman smiled at him good-naturedly.

"From the country, I reckon?" she said, not answering his question.

"Ah," replied Frank, "I be."

"You're a dillicate little feller to be trampin' about alone seekin'
work," she said, considering him thoughtfully. "Is yer mother livin'?"

"Ah," said Frank again, casting longing eyes at a crisp roll on the
counter.

"Then why don't yer bide at home," asked the woman, "and work there?"

"I want to get more wage," said Frank, who was feeling hungrier every
minute with the smell of the bread. "I'll be obliged to yer if ye'll
tell me how I could git taken on at the factory."

"You must go and ask at the overseer's office up next street, where you
see a brass plate on the door--name of Green. But bless yer 'art, we've
lads enough and to spare in Wickham; I doubt they won't want a country
boy who knows nought of the trade."

"I can try," said Frank; "and I learn things quick. Schoolmaster said
so."

The woman shook her head.

"You'd be better at home, my little lad," she said, "till you're a bit