ut of match-wood, with eyes and mouth
painted for a face, and bits of cotton print, or more often
wall-paper, pasted on for a dress, and another bit for a cap; they
was for poor people's children, don't you see, as could only afford a
ha'penny or a farthing."

"And what about the windmills and the birds?"

"Well, don't you see, sir," says 'Liza--"the windmills was made of
just the same bits of flat match-wood, that father brought home and
cut into thin strips like. The windmills was like the spokes of a
wheel joined together, with folded bits o' wall-paper, and fastened
with a round French nail to the end of a stick, so as when the wind
took 'em, they used to go round and round. The flying birds was this
way--the wheel was a little sort of a hoop, with two wooden spokes to
fasten it to the stick, and all the other spokes was made of strings
with bits of feathers tied on to 'em, so that when the wind took it
they looked like birds flying; as to the fly-ketchers, they was round
and square bits o' coloured wall-papers and tissue--put together in
strings till they looked like a sort of big Chinese lantern, to
entice the flies to settle on 'em. You must have seen such things,
sir; but then ours was common ones, of course, to sell for a penny,
or a bottle or two, or some old rags."

"Oh, that was it, eh?"

"Yes. You see father'd bring home the wood, and Aunt Ann would cut it
out to the shape--wouldn't you, aunt?--and poor mother'd cut out the
paper or the cotton print for the dolls clothes, or the windmills,
and I'd stick 'em on, or nail 'em on, and any of us 'ud paint the
eyes an' mouth, even little Ben could do that. We used to live over
beyond Bethnal Green, in a place called Twig Folly, and there was
plenty of us children that used to work at lucifer match-box making
about that part. When father took to the dolls and mills he bought
his own wood and bits of wall-paper and that; but we worked night and
day very often, so as to get a lot ready for him, when he used to go
out with a barrow and all the dolls stuck up, and the mills going
round, and the birds fluttering, and take 'em through the streets,
for miles, selling them for ha'pennies, or givin' one for an old
wine-bottle or a bundle o' rags, or old metal and such like. When he
had money to spare, he'd buy old clothes, and then when he came home,
we used to look through 'em to see which was to go with the rags, and
which we could sell to the second-hand dealer. I