He hated scouting at
cricket, he loathed the very name of a paper-chase, and as for
running an errand, why, before anyone could finish saying something
was wanted he would have utterly disappeared. He was rather small
for his age;-and I don't think had ever been seen with a clean face.
Even at church, though the immediate front turned to the minister
might be passable, the people in the next pew had always an
uninterrupted view of the black rim where washing operations had
left off.
The next on the list--I am going from youngest to oldest, you
see--was the "show" Woolcot, as Pip, the eldest boy, used to say.
You have seen those exquisite child-angel faces on Raphael Tuck's
Christmas cards? I think the artist must just have dreamed of
Nell, and then reproduced the vision imperfectly. She was ten,
and had a little fairy-like figure, gold hair clustering in wonderful
waves and curls around her face, soft hazel eyes, and a little
rosebud of a mouth. She was not conceited either, her family took
care of that--Pip would have nipped such a weakness very sternly
in its earliest bud; but in some way if there was a pretty ribbon
to spare, or a breadth of bright material; just enough for one little
frock, it fell as a matter of course to her.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25