THE FAREWELL. 19 



of good inspiration stooped to him. He tossed a 

 copper two-sou piece down to the bent old woman. 

 She heard the clink of the fall, and looked up 

 bewildered. One of the waterside roughs slouched 

 forward. The Englishman shouted a warning and 

 a threat, indicating in pantomime for whom the 

 coin was intended. To our surprise that evil- 

 looking wharf rat smiled and waved his hand 

 reassuringly, then took the old woman by the 

 arm to show her where the coin had fallen. She 

 hobbled to it with a haste eloquent of the horrible 

 Marseillaise poverty-stricken alleys, picked it up 

 joyously, turned and with a delightful grace 

 kissed her finger-tips towards the ship. 



Apparently we all of us had a few remaining 

 French coins ; and certainly we were all grateful 

 to the young Englishman for his happy thought. 

 The sous descended as fast as the woman could get 

 to where they fell. So numerous were they that 

 she had no time to express her gratitude except in 

 broken snatches or gesture, in interrupted atti- 

 tudes of the most complete thanksgiving. The 

 day of miracles for her had come ; and from the 

 humble poverty that valued tiny and infrequent 

 splinters of wood she had suddenly come into 

 great wealth. Everybody was laughing, but in a 

 very kindly sort of way it seemed to me ; and the 



