lO 
LAND & WATER 
MAy 17, 1^1"'' 
The Little Princess of Riverside 
7«^ 
' By" L. n^ope Goriiford 
'K. T. Craduck, boat-lmildor, enjoys tlic rcs]icct. 
L^tecin and custom of tlie scafurinf,' inlnibitants 
- , 
of Kivcrsidi-. If n waterman s wlierry is run 
down bv a DutoU cargo-boat the aggrieved parties 
meet in ^rr. ( radock's yard, and tlie otticial assessor defers 
to Mr. Cradock's opinion. ' If a wherny' parts her ni(>onngs 
and drifts down with the tide, they are Mr. Cradock and 
young Alt his son wlicr briiig^lier in and repair her broken 
strakcs. If the Custom House wants a new boat, Mr. Cradock 
builds of Knt-'lish oak a twentv-foot, broad-beamed, hajidsomc 
craft for His Majesty the King, casually remarking to his 
friends that he is "engaged on Gover'ment work." 
At the back of his tall, gabled wooden house, Mr. Cradock s 
yard ojx-ns uixm the river-watl, whence a wooden stair de- 
scends to a wooden causewas . Hence it is that Mr. Cradock s 
workshop and yard are used as a tlioroughfare to and from 
the river : " the same," as Mr. Cradock says, " as it was with 
my poor old dad, open to all, free and hearty like a Methody 
chapel service, as you may say— though I'm Cliurch myself— 
what there is of it." . ,, , , 
Young Alf works with his father. \ oung Alf. wlio volun- 
teered lor service, has been pronounced, not once but several 
times, medieallv unlit for t]ie army by reason of a weak 
heart ; an affection which inspired at least three trd>unals to 
treat him- as a kind of unconvicted criminal. But young 
Alf took these things with composure, his mind being occupied 
with other affairs. _ »,, , 
It was at dusk, when Mr. Cradock and young AH, by 
the light of a single gas-jet, were busy about the varnishing 
of the new boat for the King, that a girl entered the work- 
shop, and greeting the two men with a word, passed into the 
yard, and stood on the dA'cr-wall gazing out upon the dim 
nvcr. v.^c- 
" Wlio's that then'? ; said Mr. Cradock. _ 
" Bessie Cookson, her name is," replied young Alf. i^he 
works at the electric engineering." 
" What, Scrymgeour's— the Blooksucker s ? Not much 
wages attached to it, I'll lav." 
" Threepence an hour the girls get. if you'll believe me, 
said young Alf gloomily. "They work ten hours. And 
then there's lines and deductions." . , .. , 
" It's a marvel to me they don't find a better job, ob- 
served Mr. Cradock, varnishing steadily. • 1 f ■ 1 
"They can't," pursued ^oung -^1^- with a kind of tired 
melancholy, " Ifs a 'controlled factory ; and under Section 
seven of the Act; if tHey give notice, they can't get a certihcate 
for another job for six weeks." 
" God, to think of that ! " said Mr. Cradock. Stay or 
starve, or stay and starve, as you may put it." 
" It's leave and starve with Miss Cookson," said young 
Alf. " She iold me. She's been through here two or three 
time of a night." 
Mr. Cradock, whose head was in the bottom of the boat, 
heaved up his short body and- stared through the dim window 
looking on the river. Poised on the river-wall, the figure 
of the girl darkened uiwn the broad field of water. Tfie 
tide, glazed with cloudy moonlight, waVracing to the sea. 
Here and there, ships' riding lights glowed steady and still ; 
beyond, a round green eye, the starboard light of a steamer 
.^lid through the twihght with the flood. Mr. Cradock, 
wearing a perplexed countenance, lifted his hard hat with both 
hands and settled it 4gi»in tightly on his head. ■ Young Alf 
regarded- his parent with ' an anxious eye. 
"Ain't she got no one to look after her, then ? " asked Mr. 
Cradock, still gazing through the window. • , ./ ^ 
" Only an aunt, somewheres in London, and they don tget 
on together, Bessie tells inc!" .... 
" Because," pursued Mr. Crddock, "'thercj's.no knowing, 
when a young woman fik* her comes to studying the river, 
like, what tiioughts she won't get into her head. I've never 
had an accident off of my yard yet, nor my poor old dad before 
me. We don't want no Ophelia act here," said Mr. Cradock 
with unwonted gravity." 
" 1 thought of that myself, 'ft Ttid young .\lf. 
" Go you and fetch her.in,%iy lad, as .she's a friend of 
yours, and ask her to take a bit of supi)er with us." 
Followed by young Alf the girl entered liie shadowy work- 
shop. She woie the rough overcoat and the loose green 
cap of the munition worker. In the, light, her f^e|.oi an 
extreme pallor, wore the look of a hunted creature. g' * , 
" I'm sure it's very kind of yuu, Mr. Cradock, but f duu t 
: Hunk as I ought," said Bessie. , - . 
"There ain't no ought about it. Ought, multiplied by 
ought stands for nought which is nothing., ^is. I ,luiuncd at 
school," said Mi. Ciadock, cheerfully. "Young 'Alf tells me 
you haven't any engagement just now,' lie added, dehcatclv- 
"(liven the Blooksucker .notice, I understand." 
" That's right. 1 adildn't stick il no longer. 
" Well, well, \ou talk it over with my old lady. , She s 
one of the work-brittle ones— what . you call a practical 
mind. And here's Lil with the, beer." 
Miss Cradock. aged se\'enteen, her round face a demure 
feminine, copy of her. father's pug visage, took Bessie up the 
narrow winding stair, followed by the two men. 
Bessie, sitting at the lamp-lit table under the motherly 
eye of Mrs. Cradock, leaned back in her chair. ' , •;, 
" I beg pardon, I'm sure. 1 thought I was hungry 
It's God's truth I've had nothing to-day but a cup of tea, 
ami now 1 couldn't touch a morsel. I'd better be going, 
Mrs. Cradock." , , , , , ^^^^ ■ 1 j •• 
"Why, my dear, . perhaps you would be better in bed, 
said Mrs. Cradock. sympathetically. 
" Not much of th"at,"said Bessie. " We're that crowded, 
the night-workers sleeps in the bed by day, and the day- 
workers by night, week about. I'm on the night turn'at the 
works— or should be— so there's no bed for ni"." 
. Young Alf here interposed to the effect that as the var- 
nishing of the boat, being Gover'ment work, must be done 
before morning, his bed was available. " I couldn t sleep, 
anyhow," he added, dismally. 
Baid Mrs. Cradock to Mr. Cradock, when the house was stiU, 
" Now I know what's the matter with our Alf." 
" Didn't know as there was anything," said Mr. Ciadock. 
in surprise. ■ . , .j. l- j n 
" Why, this poor girl. M^an to say you haven t noticed .'' 
Him working all night and ail." 
" Ho," said Mr. Cradock, enUghtened. " Case of Roineo 
and Juliet." „ . , ,,' r- 11 
•' I don't know nothing about them, said Mrs. Cradock. 
■' But our Alf has gone all quisby. I'm right down sorry 
for the girl, but I can't have her here." ^ 
Mr. Cradock's house was constructed like a boat, tfie 
external walls clincher-built, the rooms separated by bulk- 
heads ; and Bessie, lying wakeful in bed m the next cabin, 
overheard the conversation. And very early next morning, 
a pale girl stood with a haggard youth m the cold workshop, 
redly illumined by the glow of the sunrise. 
••"It's no good, "Alf." said Bessie. "I m as fond of you a.i 
can be, but I'm a-going out hke the tide." She^ glanced 
out of the window, upon the sullen river, stained faintly 
crimson. " Best if I'd done myself in, last night, as I meant 
to. I'm a hospital job. You can't marry a hospital job. 
" You're under the weather, that's what it is, returned 
young Alf. " You'll get well, when you've had a rest. 
'• I don't know as I want to." The girl sluvered } 
:'4bnt seem to want no more of it. I'm used up, and there s 
'lio sense in being: a burden on people, these tunes. 
" No burden at all. Mother will be glad to keep you. 
" Don't think of it, Alf. I couldn't stay. I ve had a 
sleep, and I'm going." 
"Where, then? " . . . ^ „„ ^, . , 
"I don't know. "After all, what is it? What s a gid 
making munitions, compared with a soldier, and they dies 
every hour? Mustn't grumble." 
" And what about me ? " asked young Alf. . 
" The boys what's killed have girls at' home. You- ain t 
w^'orse than them." »ir n 1 
" They won't have me for a soldier," said young Alt, sullenly. 
"'Tis no fault of mine." , I •• 
" No, no, I didn't mean that. I meant it s the war. _ 
" It ain't the war, like you say," cried young All. Its 
the Bloodsucker, what's sweated you to death, sos he can 
make a bigger profit." . , ,. 
" what the good of talking, Alf ? I m tired. 
' "Somethings got to be done," said young Alf. 
" Hospital, I reckon."^ 
" It's full of soldiers." 
■ " So it is. And quite right, too. Hospital s off, then. 
The two stood and looked at each other, and a chill shadow 
seemed to rise between them. Young Alf, at his wits end, 
stared about him at the familiar workshop, in which, strangely 
illumined with the red light, everything looked unfamiliar. 
Footsteps tapped upon the pavement, and a face looked m 
it the unshuttered window. , , • i * 
" Good moruuig," said a cheerful voice. ' Youie bright 
and early." ., , . „ , . 
' " It's the Little Princess," said young Alf. taking off his 
tap. He went to the door, a sudden hispiiation seizing hiin. 
" Would you pleate to come in.' Miss? " . ' . . 
Wvciside had bestowed the title upon Miss Virgima Smith. 
