They all ran to see what the man wanted.

He was not ragged, and if it had not been for the green shade over his eyes and the crooked walking-stick in his hand, the children would not have thought of his being a beggar.

He was a very fleshy man, and the walk seemed to have taken away his breath.
"Little maidens," said he, in gentle tones, "have you anything to give a poor tired wayfarer ?" There was no answer, for the children did not know what to say.

But the man seemed to know what to do; he seated himself on the door-step, and wiped his face with a cotton handkerchief.

Little Katie, the girl with flying hair, who was sometimes called 'Flyaway,' looked at him with surprise as he puffed at every breath.
"When um breeves," said she to Dotty, "seems's um _whissils_." "Come here, little maiden," said the beggar, pointing to Dotty; "you are the handsomest of all, and you may take this document of mine.