In the recesses of dim byways, where sunshine and
free air are forgotten things, where families herd together in
dear-rented garrets and cellars, craftsmen are for ever handling
jewellery, shaping bright ornaments for the necks and arms of such
as are born to the joy of life. Wealth inestimable is ever flowing
through these workshops, and the hands that have been stained with
gold-dust may, as likely as not, some day extend themselves in
petition for a crust. In this house, as the announcement tells you,
business is carried on by a trader in diamonds, and next door is a
den full of children who wait for their day's one meal until their
mother has come home with her chance earnings. A strange enough
region wherein to wander and muse. Inextinguishable laughter were
perchance the fittest result of such musing; yet somehow the heart
grows heavy, somehow the blood is troubled in its course, and the
pulses begin to throb hotly.
Amid the crowds of workpeople, Jane Snowdon made what speed she
might. It was her custom, whenever dispatched on an errand, to run
till she could run no longer, then to hasten along panting until
breath and strength were recovered.
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