Findelkind by Ouida
page 11 of 38 (28%)
page 11 of 38 (28%)
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along all the night, overtook him.
He would have run after it, and called out to the travellers for alms, but he felt ashamed. His father had never let him beg, and he did not know how to begin. The Stellwagen rolled on through the autumn mud, and that was one chance lost. He was sure that the first Findelkind had not felt ashamed when he had knocked at the first castle gates. By and by, when he could not see Martinswand by turning his head back ever so, he came to an inn that used to be a post-house in the old days when men travelled only by road. A woman was feeding chickens in the bright clear red of the cold daybreak. Findelkind timidly held out his hand. "For the poor!" he murmured, and doffed his cap. The old woman looked at him sharply. "Oh, is it you, little Findelkind? Have you run off from school? Be off with you home! I haves mouths enough to feed here." Findelkind went away, and began to learn that it is not easy to be a prophet or a hero in one's own country. He trotted a mile farther, and met nothing. At last he came to some cows by the wayside, and a man tending them. "Would you give me something to help make a monastery?" he said, timidly, and once more took off his cap. The man gave a |
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