"The baker and his wife, who owned and ill-treated me, had a little girl in the house--a slavey they had taken from the same work-house from which they had fetched me. This girl wasn't treated any better than I was; and the only happy moments either of us ever had, were when we could be together, and freely express our opinions of our master and mistress--both of whom behaved equally bad to us--if anything, the woman the worst. The girl and I used to encourage each other with hopes of better times. "I had seen many little girls in the streets, dressed very fine, and looking clean, well-fed, and happy; and some of them I thought very beautiful. But none of them appeared so beautiful, as the one who was being worked and starved to death in the same house with myself--though her dress was nothing but a lot of dirty rags. "By the time I had got to be sixteen years of age, I was too much of a man to stand the ill-usage of the baker and his wife any longer; and I determined to run away. "I did not like to leave behind me my companion in misery; but as I thought, that, in a few weeks I should make a little fortune, and be able to find her a better home, we became reconciled to the idea of parting with one another. "One morning I bade her good-bye; and started off with the basket of bread on my head to go my rounds. "When I had nearly completed the delivery, and had left with different customers all but the last loaf, I set down the basket, took this loaf under my arm, and was free. "I went straight to the docks to look out for something; and, before the day was over, I found a situation aboard a schooner in the coal trade-- that was about to sail for Newcastle. "The skipper of this vessel was also its owner; and himself and his family used it as their regular home. "I was determined to please this man--not only by doing my duty, but as much more as I could. I succeeded in gaining his good will. "We went to Newcastle, took in a cargo; and by the time we reached London again, the skipper would not have been willing to part with me, had I desired to leave him. When we got back to London, he gave me liberty to come ashore; and made me a present of half-a-crown, to spend as I liked. "It was the largest sum of money I had ever owned; and, with it in my possession, I thought that the time when I might take my little fellow servant away from the hard life she was leading, could not be far away. I determined not to spend one penny of the money upon myself; but to go ashore at once, and make a bold push towards getting the girl away from the place where she was staying. "I told the skipper all about her--what sort of a home I had left her in--and the cruelties she was still likely to be enduring.