Page:Cuthbert Bede - The White Wife.djvu/23

by the dim light of daybreak, yet I felt no terror at the sight; for I imagined her to be some poor wandering creature who had been exposed to the inclemency of the night; but, with my young heart smitten with pity, I grieved that a mother and her babe should begin their New Year in such a sad cheerless way. Ceasing from my play at stone-hurling, I watched the poor woman as we walked side by side together—my father being some twenty yards or more in front—and thought that if she asked charity, I could give her some copper money that I had in my pocket. Though I could not discern her features very distinctly, yet I could see that she had a fair young face, but looking pinched and wan, with very rich hair, like to that you will often see among our Western Highland women. She did not look towards me, but kept her eyes steadily fixed on a point before her, and walked firmly on, as though anxious to proceed on her journey. The little stream flowed on for some sixty or seventy yards further, parallel with the highway, and then made a sudden bend to the road, which spanned it by a bridge. We walked