86 A DOG OF FLANDERS.

when he went out at sunrise under
the poplars down the straight roads
with Patrasche. The old red mill
had been a landmark to him, and he .
had been used to pause by it, going
and coming, for a cheery greeting
with its people, as her little flaxen
head rose above the low mill-wicket,
and her little rosy hands+had held
out a bone or a crust to Patrasche.
Now the dog looked wistfully at a
closed door, and the boy went on
without pausing, with a pang at his
heart, and the child sat within, with
tears dropping slowly on the knitting
to which she was set, on her little
stool by the stove ; and Baas Cogez,
working among his sacks and his
mill-gear, would harden his will: