Mrs. Moss took the hint , and bade the boy follow her at once and bring his `` things '' with him . `` I ai n't got any . Some big fellers took away my bundle , else I would n't look so bad . There 's only this . I 'm sorry Sanch took it , and I 'd like to give it back if I knew whose it was , '' said Ben , bringing the new dinner-pail out from the depths of the coach where he had gone to housekeeping . `` That 's soon done ; it 's mine , and you 're welcome to the bits your queer dog ran off with . Come along , I must lock up , '' and Mrs. Moss clanked her keys suggestively . Ben limped out , leaning on a broken hoe-handle , for he was stiff after two days in such damp lodgings , as well as worn out with a fortnight 's wandering through sun and rain . Sancho was in great spirits , evidently feeling that their woes were over and his foraging expeditions at an end , for he frisked about his master with yelps of pleasure , or made playful darts at the ankles of his benefactress , which caused her to cry , `` Whish ! '' and `` Scat ! '' and shake her skirts at him as if he were a cat or hen . A hot fire was roaring in the stove under the broth-skillet and tea-kettle , and Betty was poking in more wood , with a great smirch of black on her chubby cheek , while Bab was cutting away at the loaf as if bent on slicing her own fingers off . Before Ben knew what he was about , he found himself in the old rocking-chair devouring bread and butter as only a hungry boy can , with Sancho close by gnawing a mutton-bone like a ravenous wolf in sheep 's clothing . While the new-comers were thus happily employed , Mrs. Moss beckoned the little girls out of the room , and gave them both an errand . `` Bab , you run over to Mrs. Barton 's , and ask her for any old duds Billy do n't want ; and Betty , you go to the Cutters , and tell Miss Clarindy I 'd like a couple of the shirts we made at last sewing circle . Any shoes , or a hat , or socks , would come handy , for the poor dear has n't a whole thread on him . '' Away went the children full of anxiety to clothe their beggar ; and so well did they plead his cause with the good neighbors , that Ben hardly knew himself when he emerged from the back bedroom half an hour later , clothed in Billy Barton 's faded flannel suit , with an unbleached cotton shirt out of the Dorcas basket , and a pair of Milly Cutter 's old shoes on his feet . Sancho also had been put in better trim , for , after his master had refreshed himself with a warm bath , he gave his dog a good scrub while Mrs. Moss set a stitch here and there in the new old clothes ; and Sancho reappeared , looking more like the china poodle than ever , being as white as snow , his curls well brushed up , and his tasselly tail waving proudly over his back . Feeling eminently respectable and comfortable , the wanderers humbly presented themselves , and were greeted with smiles of approval from the little girls and a hospitable welcome from the mother , who set them near the stove to dry , as both were decidedly damp after their ablutions . `` I declare I should n't have known you ! ''
exclaimed the good woman , surveying the XXXXX with great satisfaction ; for , though still very thin and tired , the lad had a tidy look that pleased her , and a lively way of moving about in his clothes , like an eel in a skin rather too big for him .
Miss boy bundle children couple depths expeditions hat rain wanderers