take her
prenthith, though at her age ith late."

Here his daughter Josephine--a pretty, fair-haired girl of eighteen, who
had been tied on a horse at two years old, and had made a will at
twelve, which she always carried about with her, expressive of her dying
desire to be drawn to the grave by two piebald ponies--cried "Father,
hush! she has come back!" Then came Sissy Jupe, running into the room
as she had run out of it. And when she saw them all assembled, and saw
their looks, and saw no father there, she broke into a most deplorable
cry, and took refuge on the bosom of the most accomplished tight-rope
lady, who knelt down on the floor to nurse her, and to weep over her.

"Ith an infernal shame, upon my thoul it ith," said Sleary.

"O my dear father, my good, kind father, where are you gone? You are
gone to try to do me some good, I know! You are gone away for my sake, I
am sure. And how miserable and helpless you will be without me, poor,
poor father, until you come back!" It was so pathetic to hear her saying
many things of this kind, with her face turned upward, and her arms
stretched out as if she were trying to stop his departing shadow and
embrace it, that no one spoke a word until Mr. Bounderby (growing
impatient) took the case in hand.

"Now, good people all," said he, "this is wanton waste of time. Let the
girl understand the fact. Here, what's your name! Your father has
absconded, deserted you--and you mustn't expect to see him again as long
as you live."

They cared so little for plain fact, these people, that instead of being
impressed by the speaker's strong common sense, they took it in
extraordinary dudgeon. The men muttered "Shame!" and the women, "Brute!"
Whereupon Mr. Gradgrind found an opening for his eminently practical
exposition of the subject.

"It is of no moment," said he, "whether this person is to be expected
back at any time, or the contrary. He is gone away, and there is no
present expectation of his return. That, I believe, is agreed on
all hands."

"Thath agreed, Thquire. Thtick to that!" from Sleary.

"Well, then. I, who came here to inform the father of the poor girl,
Jupe, that she could not be received at the school any more, in
consequence of there being practical objections, into which I need not
enter, to the reception there of the children of persons so employed, am
prepared in these altered circumstances to make a proposal. I am willing
to take charge of you, Jupe,