The constable then moved on himself, leaving Jo at Mr. Snagsby's. There
was a little tea-party there that evening, and when Jo was at last
allowed to go, Mr. Snagsby followed him to the door and filled his hands
with the remains of the little feast they had had upstairs.
And now Jo began to find life harder and rougher than ever. He lost his
crossing altogether, and spent day after day in moving on. He remembered
a poor woman he had once done a kindness to, who had told him she lived
at St. Albans, and that a lady there had been very good to her. "Perhaps
she'll be good to me," thought Jo, and he started off to go to St.
Albans.
One Saturday night Jo reached that town very tired and very ill. Happily
for him the woman met him and took him into her cottage. While he was
resting there a lady came in and asked him very kindly what was the
matter.
"I'm abeing froze and then burnt up, and then froze and burnt up again,
ever so many times over in an hour. And my head's all sleepy, and all
agoing round like, and I'm so dry, and my bones is nothing half so much
bones as pain."
"Where are you going?"
"Somewheres," replied Jo, "I'm a-being moved on, I am."
"Well, to-night you must come with me, and I'll make you comfortable."
So Jo went with the lady to a great house not far off, and there they
made a bed for him, and brought him tempting wholesome food. Everyone
was very kind to him, but something frightened Jo, and he felt he could
not stay there, and he ran out into the cold night air. Where he went he
could never remember, for when he next came to his senses he found
himself in a hospital. He stayed there for some weeks, and was then
discharged, though still weak and ill. He was very thin, and when he
drew a breath his chest was very painful. "It draws," said Jo, "as heavy
as a cart."
Now, a certain young doctor who was very kind to poor people, was
walking through Tom-all-Alones one morning, when he saw a ragged figure
coming along, crouching close to the dirty wall. It was Jo. The young
doctor took pity on Jo. "Come with me," he said, "and I will find you a
better place than this to stay in," for he saw that the lad was very,
very ill. So Jo was taken to a clean little room, and bathed, and had
clean clothes, and good food, and kind people about him once more, but
he was too ill now, far too ill, for anything to do him any good.
"Let me lie here quiet," said poor Jo, "and be so kind anyone as is
passin' nigh where I used to sweep, as to say to Mr. Snagsby as Jo, wot
he knew once, is amoving on."
One day the young doctor was sitting by him, when suddenly Jo made a
strong effort to get out of bed.
"Stay, Jo--where now?"
"It's time for me to go to that there burying-ground."
"What burying-ground, Jo?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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