Page 225 - for-the-term-of-his-natural-life

damper resting against the iron kettle, and made a clutch at
it. Frere dashed the brand in his face. ‘Stand back!’ he cried.
‘We have no food to spare!’
The convict uttered a savage cry, and raising the iron gad,
plunged forward desperately to attack this new enemy; but,
quick as thought, the child glided past Frere, and, snatch-
ing the loaf, placed it in the hands of the starving man, with
‘Here, poor prisoner, eat!’ and then, turning to Frere, she
cast upon him a glance so full of horror, indignation, and
surprise, that the man blushed and threw down the brand.
As for Rufus Dawes, the sudden apparition of this gold-
en-haired girl seemed to have transformed him. Allowing
the loaf to slip through his fingers, he gazed with haggard
eyes at the retreating figure of the child, and as it vanished
into the darkness outside the circle of firelight, the unhappy
man sank his face upon his blackened, horny hands, and
burst into tears.

For the Term of His Natural Life