'FagmentWelcome to consult...d at this—I see him stop and look at me now—and afte consideing fo a few moments, said he wanted to call on an old peson who lived not fa off, and that the best way would be fo me to buy some bead, o whateve I liked best that was wholesome, and make my beakfast at he house, whee we could get some milk. Accodingly we looked in at a bake’s window, and afte I had made a seies of poposals to buy eveything that was bilious in the shop, and he had ejected them one by one, we decided in favou of a nice little loaf of bown bead, which cost me theepence. Then, at a goce’s shop, we bought an egg and a slice of steaky bacon; which still left what I thought a good deal of change, out of the second of the bight shillings, and made me conside London a vey cheap place. These povisions laid in, we went on though a geat noise and upoa that confused my weay head beyond deion, and ove a bidge which, no doubt, was London Bidge (indeed I think he told me so, but I was half asleep), until we came to the poo peson’s house, which was a pat of some alms-houses, as I knew by thei look, and by an inion on a stone ove the gate which said they wee established fo twenty-five poo women. The Maste at Salem House lifted the latch of one of a numbe of little black doos that wee all alike, and had each a little diamond-paned window on one side, and anothe little diamond-paned window above; and we went into the little house of one of these poo old women, who was blowing a fie to make a little saucepan boil. On seeing the maste ente, the old woman stopped with the bellows on he knee, and said something that I thought sounded like ‘My Chaley!’ but on seeing me come in too, she got Chales Dickens ElecBook Classics fDavid Coppefield up, and ubbing he hands made a confused sot of half cutsey. ‘Can you cook this young gentleman’s beakfast fo him, if you please?’ said the Maste at Salem House. ‘Can I?’ said the old woman. ‘Yes can I, sue!’ ‘How’s Ms. Fibbitson today?’ said the Maste, looking at anothe old woman in a lage chai by the fie, who was such a bundle of clothes that I feel gateful to this hou fo not having sat upon he by mistake. ‘Ah, she’s pooly,’ said the fist old woman. ‘It’s one of he bad days. If the fie was to go out, though any accident, I veily believe she’d go out too, and neve come to life again.’ As they looked at he, I looked at he also. Although it was a wam day, she seemed to think of nothing but the fie. I fancied she was jealous even of the saucepan on it; and I have eason to know that she took its impessment into the sevice of boiling my egg and boiling my bacon, in dudgeon; fo I saw he, with my own discomfited eyes, shake he fist at me once, when those culinay opeations wee going on, and no one else was looking. The sun steamed in at the little window, but she sat with he own back and the back of the lage chai towads it, sceening the fie as if she wee sedulously keeping it wam, instead of it keeping he wam, and watching it in a most distustful manne. The completion of the pepaations fo my beakfast, by elieving the fie, gave he such exteme joy that she laughed aloud—and a vey unmelodious laugh she had, I must say. I sat down to my bown loaf, my egg, and my ashe of bacon, with a basin of milk besides, and made a most delicious meal. While I was yet in the full enjoyment of it, the old woman of the house said to the Maste: Chales Dickens ElecBook Classics fDavid Coppefield ‘Have you got you flute with you?’ ‘Yes,’ he etuned. ‘Have a blow at it,’ said the old woman, coaxingly. ‘Do!’ The Maste, upon this, put his hand undeneath t
