"Fetch a cab," I said, kneeling down beside the little fellow, and
gently touching the leg which showed the mark of the cab wheel.
"Is it broke, mum?" said the policeman.
I nodded; the cab came up; and there, with the little fellow supported
between us, the policeman and I were rumbling over the stones, and on
our way to Guy's Hospital. But it is no such easy task to make your way
amidst the dense throng of vehicles crowding the bridge, and some time
elapsed--time enough for the poor boy to revive a bit, and look about
him in a confused, half-stunned way, as if not able to realise his
position. At last he spoke:
"I hadn't sold 'arf of 'em," he cried, looking at his dirty newspapers,
"and no one won't buy 'em, now;" when the mental pain proved harder to
bear than the bodily, and the boy began to cry.
"There, don't do that," said the policeman; "that won't do no good. But
here we are."
"Does it hurt you much, Bill?" I said gently, and the boy looked
wonderingly at me, as if asking how I knew his name.
"Not so werry much," he said, with the bottom lip still quivering; "but
mother will be in such a way. Don't let them hurt me any more."
Bore it like a hero he did, and then I left him bright and cheerful,
asking a nurse how long it would be before he could run again and sell
his papers, while to me he said: "Tell her it ain't bad, mum please, and
that she ain't to cry much, and as soon as I get better I'll sell twice
as many papers to makeup for it; and you'll give her that sixpence I
took out of my trousers, and I think I must have lost a penny when I
got--knock--knock--"
The quivering of the lip began once more, for the recollection of the
accident was too strong for the little fellow's fortitude, and soon
after I was once more amongst the hurrying footsteps on my way to
execute my sorrowful commission by Brick Lane.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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