236 AT THE FAIR. 



first token of sympathy, which is to pull his 

 hand from his face and ask him what is the 

 matter. It is a sad tale altogether. Mother 

 had given him tuppence to spend at the fair, 

 and he let it down yon, bohoo-bohoo, and here 

 he pointed vaguely to the spot where his trea- 

 sure disappeared. I ventured to suggest that 

 we might make a further search for the money ; 

 and so we did in company, and found well, 

 we found " tuppence " anyhow, and my pro- 

 posal to conclude a pilgrimage to the fair with 

 the now cheerful rustic was responded to with 

 a tacit, albeit a slightly sulky compliance. 

 But as we trudged along we grew more fami- 

 liar. The urchin so far recovered his spirits as 

 to commence performing hop, step, and jump 

 on the grass, and to shy stones (with which his 

 pockets were ready loaded) at birds. He was 

 well acquainted with the route, and brought me 

 by a short cut through a park gate into a lane, 

 where we met a second gipsy travelling-cart, 

 loaded with baskets and brushes, and accom- 

 panied by three yelping brats, who jeered at 

 Little Big Breeches out of pure animal spirits. 

 As we approached the fair field we are 



