Page:Little Ellie and Other Tales (1850).djvu/122

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The Shepherdess and

that he was obliged to give way, although it was not right to do so.

So now down they climbed again with great difficulty, crept through the flue and into the stove, where they listened behind the door, to discover if anybody was in the room. It was quite still; they peeped out, and there, on the floor, in the middle of the room, lay the old Chinese. He had fallen from the table in trying to follow the fugitives, and was broken in three pieces; his whole back was but a stump, and his head had rolled into a corner, while General-clothes-press-inspector-head-superintendent-Goat-legs was standing where he had ever stood, absorbed in thought.

“How dreadful!” said the little Shepherdess. “My old grandfather is dashed to pieces, and we are the cause. I never can survive the accident.” And she wrung her little hands in agony.

“He can be mended,” said the Chimney-sweep; “he can easily be mended. Only do not be so hasty. If they glue his back together, and rivet his neck well, he will be

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