old stories out of the innocent Eden-like past of the sea, before she
learnt the ways of steam and secret killing. Old names of ships came to
Sarah Brown's mind ... Castle-of-Comfort ... Cloud-i'-the-Sun....

"I am doing wrong," said Sarah Brown. She took a third bite.

And then she felt the spirit of the Naughty Poor in the room; there was
laughter, as of the registered, in the ears of the Registrar. It is not
really permissible for the Naughty Poor to invade offices which exist to
do them good. The way of charity lies through suspicion, but the
suspicion of course must be all on one side. We have to judge the
criminal unheard; if we called him as a witness in his case we might
become sentimental. The Charity Society may be imagined as keeping two
lists of crimes, a short one for Registrars and Workers, and a very long
one for the registered. High on the list of crimes possible to
Registrars and Workers is Sentimentality. It is sentimental to feel
personal affection for a Case, or to give a child of the Naughty Poor a
penny without full enquiry, or to say "A-goo" to a grey pensive baby
eating dirt on the pavement, or to acknowledge the right of a Case to
ask questions sometimes instead of answering them, or to disapprove of
spying and tale-bearing, or to believe any statement made by any one
without an assured income, or to quote any part of the New Testament, or
in fact to confuse in any way the ideas of charity and love. Christ,
who, by the way, unfortunately omitted to join any reputable
philanthropic society, commanded seekers of salvation to be poor and to
despise themselves. But this was sentimental, and the Charity Society
decrees that only the prosperous and the self-respectful shall deserve a
hearing.

"I am sentimental," said Sarah Brown to her Dog David in a broken voice.