'She always said she'd die a-larfin', an' she will, too--more nor I
shall ever do,' said the girl, after we had gone downstairs.
'Did you notice what she said about Winnie a-callin' her Knocker?'
said Sinfi.
'Yes, and couldn't understand it.'
'_I_ know what it meant. Winnie knowed all about the Knockers of
Snowdon, the dwarfs o' the copper mine, and this woman, bein' so
thick and short, must look ezackly like a Knocker, I should say, if
you could see one.'
I said to the girl, 'Was she really kind to--to--'
'To her you were asking about,--the Essex Street Beauty? I should
think she just was. She's a drinker, is poor Meg, and drinking in
Primrose Court means starvation. Meg and the Beauty were often short
enough of grub, but, drunk or sober, Meg would never touch a mouthful
till the Beauty had had her fill. I noticed it many a time--not a
mouthful. When Meg was obliged to send her into the streets to sell
things she was always afraid that the Beauty might come to harm
through the toffs and the chaps. The toffs were the worst looking
after her--as they mostly are--so I was always watching her in the
day-time, and at night Meg was always watching her, and that was what
made me know your face, as soon as ever I clapt eyes on it.
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