Page:The True History of a Little Ragamuffin 1866.pdf/15

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THE TRUE HISTORY OF A LITTLE RAGAMUFFIN.

his nose stood out in a way that was terrible to witness. "You shall never have a pot or can out of thy house again - may I drop dead if you do I" was the threat he was constantly using, rolling his glaring eyes up toward the ceiling as he spoke. But he never kept his oath. The very worst defaulter was never refused after a second, or, at the outside, a third application; and it would only have been what he was always asking for if, one fine morning, Death had taken him by the heels and laid him flat along the cobble-stones of our alley.