I was sorry for Christina, but I was glad the child was gone; although I
pitied the poor abandoned and neglected little creature with all my
heart. As a rule, "maids of all work" should not be mothers, but if they
are, they should endeavour to care for the unfortunate child. This
wretched little thing was about two years old--a girl; its eyes were
nearly closed with inflammation caused by dirt and neglect; it was
naked, with the exception of a filthy rag that hung in tatters scarcely
below its hips; and as its ill-tempered and over-worked mother
alternately raved, or cried, the child, which even at this age depended
mainly upon her nursing for its food, joined in a perpetual yell, which
at length terminated in a faint and wearied moan, until it laid itself
down upon the bare, hard stones, and fell asleep. It was a sad picture
of neglect and misery; the shepherd's pretty children shunned it, and in
its abandoned solitude the little creature had to amuse itself. The face
looked like that of an old careworn person who had lost all pleasure in
the world, and the child wandered about alone and uncared for; its only
plaything was my good-tempered dog Wise, who allowed himself to be
pulled about and teased in the most patient manner. I cured the child's
eyes after some days' attention, and my wife had it washed, and made it
decent clothes.
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