stood in the water by her washing bench, beating the linen with a heavy
wooden bar. The floodgates at the mill had been drawn up, and as the water
rolled rapidly on, the sheets were dragged along by the stream, and nearly
overturned the bench, so that the washer-woman was obliged to lean against
it to keep it steady. “I have been very nearly carried away,” she said; “it is a
good thing that you are come, for I want something to strengthen me. It is
cold in the water, and I have stood here six hours. Have you brought
anything for me?”
The boy drew the bottle from his pocket, and the mother put it to her lips,
and drank a little.
“Ah, how much good that does, and how it warms me,” she said; “it is as
good as a hot meal, and not so dear. Drink a little, my boy; you look quite
pale; you are shivering in your thin clothes, and autumn has really come.
Oh, how cold the water is! I hope I shall not be ill. But no, I must not be
afraid of that. Give me a little more, and you may have a sip too, but only a
sip; you must not get used to it, my poor, dear child.” She stepped up to the
bridge on which the boy stood as she spoke, and came on shore. The water
dripped from the straw mat which she had bound round her body, and from
her gown. “I work hard and suffer pain with my poor hands,” said she, “but
I do it willingly, that I may be able to bring you up honestly and truthfully,
my dear boy.”
At the same moment, a woman, rather older than herself, came towards
them. She was a miserable-looking object, lame of one leg, and with a large
false curl hanging down over one of her eyes, which was blind. This curl
was intended to conceal the blind eye, but it made the defect only more
visible. She was a friend of the laundress, and was called, among the
neighbors, “Lame Martha, with the curl.” “Oh, you poor thing; how you do
work, standing there in the water!” she exclaimed. “You really do need
something to give you a little warmth, and yet spiteful people cry out about
the few drops you take.” And then Martha repeated to the laundress, in a
very few minutes, all that the mayor had said to her boy, which she had
overheard; and she felt very angry that any man could speak, as he had
