Produced by David Clarke, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE BEGGAR MAN _BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ THE WOMAN HATER THE BEGGAR MAN THE ONE WHO FORGOT THE PHANTOM LOVER THE GIRL NEXT DOOR THE MASTER MAN THE SECOND HONEYMOON PAPER ROSES THE WINDS OF THE WORLD FOR LOVE THE LITTL'ST LOVER THE UPHILL ROAD THE BLACK SHEEP RICHARD CHATTERTON, V.C. THE REMEMBERED KISS INVALIDED OUT A BACHELOR HUSBAND HODDER AND STOUGHTON LIMITED LONDON THE BEGGAR MAN BY RUBY M. AYRES AUTHOR OF "THE ONE WHO FORGOT," "THE MASTER MAN" [Illustration: logo] HODDER AND STOUGHTON LIMITED LONDON CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I 9 CHAPTER II 24 CHAPTER III 43 CHAPTER IV 55 CHAPTER V 79 CHAPTER VI 93 CHAPTER VII 115 CHAPTER VIII 147 CHAPTER IX 162 CHAPTER X 178 CHAPTER XI 193 CHAPTER XII 209 CHAPTER XIII 234 CHAPTER I She was small and slight, with timid, brown eyes and soft, fair hair and a certain daintiness of person that singled her out for attention in spite of the shabbiness of her clothes. The first morning she put in an appearance at the factory the other girls marked her down as being a little different from themselves; a little less rough and capable of looking after her own interests, a little more refined, and ready to shrink from jest and laughter. They crowded round her to stare with interest, in which there was mingled a faint suspicion. A volley of questions greeted her from all sides. "What's your name?" "Where do you come from?" "Who took you on?" She shrank back a little from their good-natured inquisition. She answered their questions at random--nervously. "My name's Faith Ledley.... I live in Poplar.... I just applied, and the manager said he'd give me a trial." She could feel the something hostile in the air, and her brown eyes darkened with anxiety. She felt herself so small and alone in this crowd of muscular, cheery young women. One of them, who seemed a sort of leader amongst the others, took a little step towards her. "What are you--a machinist?" "Yes----" "Oh!" The elder girl's rather bold blue eyes seemed to take stock of the younger one; then she said, with a note of greater friendliness: "Oh, well, come on. You can sit next to me if you like." Faith took courage. "What is your name?" she asked diffidently. The elder girl laughed. "They call me Peg," she said, and with sudden impulse she held out her work-roughened hand. "Come on," she said again, with an unconscious note of imperiousness in her voice, and Faith obeyed. That was Faith's initiation into the workings of Heeler's blouse factory. It was the beginning, also, of a lifelong friendship between herself and Peg Fraser. During the day Peg asked many questions. "Have you got a father and mother?" "A mother--she's delicate." "Oh! Any brothers and sisters?" "Two little sisters."