the old man said, “You have something inside there besides your load?” 

 “Yes.” 

 “Somebody who wants looking after?” 

 “Yes.” 

 Not long after this a faint cry sounded from the interior. The reddleman hastened to the back, looked in, and came away again. 

 “You have a child there, my man?” 

 “No, sir, I have a woman.” 

 “The deuce you have! Why did she cry out?” 

 “Oh, she has fallen asleep, and not being used to traveling, she’s uneasy, and keeps dreaming.” 

 “A young woman?” 

 “Yes, a young woman.” 

 “That would have interested me forty years ago. Perhaps she’s your wife?” 

 “My wife!” said the other bitterly. “She’s above mating with such as I. But there’s no reason why I should tell you about that.” 

 “That’s true. And there’s no reason why you should not. What harm can I do to you or to her?” 

 The reddleman looked in the old man’s face. “Well, sir,” he said at last, “I knew her before today, though perhaps it would have been better if I had not. But she’s nothing to me, and I am nothing to her; and she wouldn’t have been in my van if any better carriage had been there to take her.” 

 “Where, may I ask?” 

 “At Anglebury.” 

 “I know the town well. What was she doing there?” 

 “Oh, not much—to gossip about. However, she’s tired to death now, and not at all well, and that’s what makes her so restless. She dropped off into a nap about an hour ago, and ’twill do her good.” 

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