Dusty Diamonds Cut and Polished: A Tale of City Arab Life and Adventure by - (best self help books to read txt) đ
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âVell, mother, âow are ye? Hallo! Hetty! wây, wot a shadder youâve become! Oh! I say, them nusses at the hospital must âave stole all your flesh anâ blood from you, for theyâve left nothinâ but the bones and skin.â
He went up to his sister, put an arm round her neck, and kissed her. This was a very unusual display of affection. It was the first time Bobby had volunteered an embrace, though he had often submitted to one with dignified complacency, and Hetty, being weak, burst into tears.
âHallo! I say, stop that now, young gal,â he said, with a look of alarm, âIâm always took bad ven I see that sort oâ thing, I canât stand it.â
By way of mending matters the poor girl, endeavouring to be agreeable, gave a hysterical laugh.
âCome, thatâs better, though it ainât much to boast of,ââand he kissed her again.
Finding that, although for the present they were supplied with a small amount of food, Hetty had no employment and his mother no money, our city Arab said that he would undertake to sustain the family.
âBut oh! Bobby, dear, donât steal again.â
âNo, Hetty, I wonât, Iâll vork. I didnât go for to do it a-purpose, but I was overtook someâowâI seed the umbrellar standinâ handy, you know, andâetceterer. But Iâm sorry I did it, anâ I wonât do it again.â
Swelling with great intentions, Robert Frog thrust his dirty little hands into his trouser pocketsâat least into the holes that once contained themâand went out whistling.
Soon he came to a large warehouse, where a portly gentleman stood at the door. Planting himself in front of this man, and ceasing to whistle in order that he might speak, he said:â
âWas you in want of a âand, sir?â
âNo, I wasnât,â replied the man, with a glance of contempt.
âSorry for that,â returned Bobby, ââcause Iâm in want of a sitivation.â
âWhat can you do?â asked the man.
âOh! hanythink.â
âAh, I thought so; I donât want hands who can do anything, I prefer those who can do something.â
Bobby Frog resumed his whistling, at the exact bar where he had left off, and went on his way. He was used to rebuffs, and didnât mind them. But when he had spent all the forenoon in receiving rebuffs, had made no progress whatever in his efforts, and began to feel hungry, he ceased the whistling and became grave.
âThis looks serious,â he said, pausing in front of a pastry-cookâs shop window. âBut for that there plate glass wot a blow hout I might âave! Begginâ might be tried with advantage. Itâs agin the law, no doubt, but it ainât a sin. Yes, Iâll try begginâ.â
But our Arab was not a natural beggar, if we may say so. He scorned to whine, and did not even like to ask. His spirit was much more like that of a highwayman than a beggar.
Proceeding to a quiet neighbourhood which seemed to have been forgotten by the police, he turned down a narrow lane and looked out for a subject, as a privateer might search among ânarrowsâ for a prize. He did not search long. An old lady soon hove in sight. She seemed a suitable old lady, well-dressed, little, gentle, white-haired, a tottering gait, and a benign aspect.
Bobby went straight up and planted himself in front of her.
âPlease, maâam, will you oblige me with a copper?â
The poor old lady grew pale. Without a word she tremblingly, yet quickly, pulled out her purse, took therefrom a shilling, and offered it to the boy.
âOh! marm,â said Bobby, who was alarmed and conscience-smitten at the result of his scheme, âI didnât mean for to frighten you. Indeed I didnât, anâ I wonât âave your money at no price.â
Saying which he turned abruptly round and walked away.
âBoy, boy, boy!â called the old lady in a voice so entreating, though tremulous, that Bobby felt constrained to return.
âYouâre a most remarkable boy,â she said, putting the shilling back into her purse.
âIâm sorry to say, marm, that youâre not the onây indiwidooal as âolds that opinion.â
âWhat do you mean by your conduct, boy?â
âI mean, marm, that Iâm wery âard up. Uncommon âard up; that Iâve tried to git vork anâ canât git it, so that Iâm redooced to beggary. But, I ainât a âighway robber, marm, by no means, anâ donât want to frighten you hout oâ your money if you ainât willinâ to give it.â
The little tremulous old lady was so pleased with this reply that she took half-a-crown out of her purse and put it into the boyâs hand. He looked at her in silent surprise.
âIt ainât a copper, marm!â
âI know that. It is half-a-crown, and I willingly give it you because you are an honest boy.â
âBut, marm,â said Bobby, still holding out the piece of silver on his palm, âI ainât a honest boy. Iâm a thief!â
âTut, tut, donât talk nonsense; I donât believe you.â
âVel now, this beats all that I ever did come across. âEreâs a old âooman as I tells as plain as mud that Iâm a thief, anâ nobodyâs better able to give a opinion on that pint than myself, yet she wonât believe it!â
âNo, I wonât,â said the old lady with a little nod and a smile, âso, put the money in your pocket, for youâre an honest boy.â
âVell, itâs pleasant to âear that, anyâow,â returned Bobby, placing the silver coin in a vest pocket which was always kept in repair for coins of smaller value.
âWhere do you live, boy? I should like to come and see you.â
âMy residence, marm, ainât a mansion in the vest-end. No, nor yet a willa in the subarbs. Iâm afearâd, marm, that I live in a district that ainât quite suitable for the likes of you to wisit. Butââ
Here Bobby paused, for at the moment his little friend Tim Lumpy recurred to his memory, and a bright thought struck him.
âWell, boy, why do you pause?â
âI was onây thinkinâ, marm, that if you wants to befriend us poor boysâthey calls us waifs anâ strays anâ all sorts of unpurlite namesâyouâve onây got to send a sov, or two to Miss Annie Macpherson, âOme of Hindustry, Commercial Street, Spitalfields, anâ youâll be the means oâ doinâ a world oâ goodâas I âeard a old genâlâm with a white choker on say the wery last time I was down there âavinâ a blow out oâ bread anâ soup.â
âI know the lady and the Institution well, my boy,â said the old lady, âand will act on your advice, butââ
Ere she finished the sentence Bobby Frog had turned and fled at the very top of his speed.
âStop! stop! stop!â exclaimed the old lady in a weakly shout.
But the âremarkable boyâ would neither stop nor stay. He had suddenly caught sight of a policeman turning into the lane, and forthwith took to his heels, under a vague and not unnatural impression that if that limb of the law found him in possession of a half-crown he would refuse to believe his innocence with as much obstinacy as the little old lady had refused to believe his guilt.
On reaching home he found his mother alone in a state of amused agitation which suggested to his mind the idea of Old Tom.
âWot, bin at it again, mother?â
âNo, no, Bobby, but somethinâs happened which amuses me much, anâ I canât keep it to myself no longer, so Iâll tell it to you, Bobby.â
âFire away, then, mother, anâ remember that the law donât compel no one to criminate hisself.â
âYou know, Bob, that a good while ago our Matty disappeared. I saw that the dear child was dyinâ for want oâ food anâ warmth anâ fresh air, so I thinks to myself, âwhy shouldnât I put âer out to board wiâ rich people for nothink?ââ
âA wery correct notion, anâ cleverer than I gave you credit for. Iâm glad to ear it too, for I feared sometimes that youâd bin anâ done it.â
âOh! Bobby, how could you ever think that! Well, I put the baby out to board with a family of the name of Twitter. Now it seems, all unbeknown to me, Mrs Twitter is a great helper at the George Yard Ragged Schools, where our Hetty has often seen her; but as weâve bin used never to speak about the work there, as your father didnât like it, of course I knowâd nothinâ about Mrs Twitter beinâ given to goinâ there. Well, it seems sheâs very free with her money and gives a good deal away to poor people.â (Sheâs not the only one, thought the boy.) âSo what does the Bible-nurse do when she hears about poor Hettyâs illness but goes off and asks Mrs Twitter to try anâ git her a situation.â
ââOh! I know Hetty,â says Mrs Twitter at once, âThat nice girl that teaches one oâ the Sunday-school classes. Send her to me. I want a nurse for our baby,â thatâs for Matty, Bobââ
âWhat! our baby!â exclaimed the boy with a sudden blaze of excitement.
âYesâour baby. She calls it hers!â
âWell, now,â said Bobby, after recovering from the fit of laughter and thigh-slapping into which this news had thrown him, âif this donât beat cockfightinâ all to nuffinâ! why, mother, Hettyâll know baby the moment she claps eyes on it.â
âOf course she will,â said Mrs Frog; âit is really very awkward, anâ I canât think what to do. Iâm half afraid to tell Hetty.â
âOh! donât tell herâdonât tell her,â cried the boy, whose eyes sparkled with mischievous glee. âItâll be sich fun! If I âad onây the chance to stand beâind a door anâ see the meetinâ I wouldnât exchange itâno not for a feed of pork sassengers anâ suet pudân. I must go anâ tell this to Tim Lumpy. Itâll bust âimâthatâs my onây fear, but I must tell âim wotever be the consikences.â
With this stern resolve, to act regardless of results, Bob Frog went off in search of his little friend, whose departure for Canada had been delayed, from some unknown cause, much to Bobâs satisfaction. He found Tim on his way to the Beehive, and was induced not only to go with him, but to decide, finally, to enter the Institution as a candidate for Canada. Being well-known, both as to person and circumstances, he was accepted at once; taken in, washed, cropped, and transformed as if by magic.
âMy dear Mrs Loper,â said Mrs Twitter over a cup of tea, âit is very kind of you to say so, and I really do think you are right, we have done full justice to our dear wee Mita. Who would ever have thought, remembering the thin starved sickly child she was the night that Sam brought her in, that she would come to be such a plump, rosy, lovely child? I declare to you that I feel as if she were one of my own.â
âShe is indeed a very lovely infant,â returned Mrs Loper. âDonât you think so, Mrs Larrabel?â
The smiling lady expanded her mouth, and said, âvery.â
âBut,â continued Mrs Twitter, âI really find that the entire care of her is too much for me, for, although dear Mary assists me, her studies require to be attended to, and, do you know, babies interfere with studies dreadfully. Not that I have time to do much in that way at present. I think the Bible is the only book I really study now, so, you see, Iâve been thinking of adding to our establishment by getting a new servant;âa sort of nursery governess, you know,âa cheap one, of course. Sam quite agrees with me, and, as it happens, I know a very nice little girl just nowâa very very poor girlâwho helps us so nicely on Sundays in George Yard, and has been recommended to me as a most deserving creature. I expect her
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