He chose out of a heap a woollen rag, and chafed before the fire the
limbs of the exhausted and bewildered child, who at that moment, warm
and naked, felt as if he were seeing and touching heaven. The limbs
having been rubbed, he next wiped the boy's feet.

"Come, you limb; you have nothing frost-bitten! I was a fool to fancy
you had something frozen, hind legs or fore paws. You will not lose the
use of them this time. Dress yourself!"

The child put on the shirt, and the man slipped the knitted jacket over
it.

"Now...."

The man kicked the stool forward and made the little boy sit down, again
shoving him by the shoulders; then he pointed with his finger to the
porringer which was smoking upon the stove. What the child saw in the
porringer was again heaven to him--namely, a potato and a bit of bacon.

"You are hungry; eat!"

The man took from the shelf a crust of hard bread and an iron fork, and
handed them to the child.

The boy hesitated.

"Perhaps you expect me to lay the cloth," said the man, and he placed
the porringer on the child's lap.

"Gobble that up."