but I fainted as soon as my part was over, and I've been in bed ever
since.'

'You must be tired of moving about, ma'am,' said the old man
compassionately.

'Tired?' said she; 'I should think I _was_ tired; it isn't what I was
brought up to. I was brought up to a very different kind of life from
_this_,' she said, with a very deep-drawn sigh. 'It's a weary time I
have of it--a weary time.'

'Are you always on the move, ma'am?' asked the old man.

'All the summer-time,' said the woman. 'We get into lodgings for a little
time in the winter; and then we let ourselves out to some of the small town
theatres; but all the rest of the year we're going from feast to feast and
from fair to fair--no rest nor comfort, not a bit!'

'Poor thing! poor thing!' said the old man; and then a choking sensation
appeared to have seized him, for he cleared his throat vigorously many
times, but seemed unable to say more.

The child had climbed on one of the boxes, and brought down a square red
pincushion from the shelf which ran round the top of the caravan. From this
she took two pins, and fastened the picture on the wooden wall, so that her
mother could see it as she was lying in bed.

'It does look pretty there,' said the little girl; 'mammie, you can look at
it nicely now.'