Some half-naked children stood shyly watching her from a little distance.
Pigs grunted and rubbed themselves against the wheels of the carriage, and the coachman lashed backwards at them with his whip.

But the cruel day was not yet over, and the people had not come back from their toil, so that the place was almost deserted still.

There was an evil smell in the air, and the children's faces were pale and swollen and dirty.
Veronica wondered how any people could be poorer than these, and her face grew still more sad.

She tried to speak to the children, but they could not understand her.

She got some little coins from her purse, but they were too much frightened to come forward and take them.