But the day he carried Nanny the first dandelions , and she felt of them , instead of looking at them , as she said , with such pathetic patience in her little face , ' I do n't see 'em ; but I know they 're pretty , and I like 'em lots , ' Jack felt as if the blithe spring sunshine was all spoiled ; and when he tried to cheer himself up with a good whistle , his lips trembled so they would n't pucker . ` The poor dear 's eyes could be cured , I ai n't a doubt ; but it would take a sight of money , and who 's agoing to pay it ? ' said Mrs. Quinn , scrubbing away at her tub . ` How much money ? ' asked Jack . ' A hundred dollars , I dare say . Dr. Wilkinson 's cook told me once that he done something to a lady 's eyes , and asked a thousand dollars for it . ' Jack sighed a long , hopeless sigh , and went away to fill the water-pails ; but he remembered the doctor 's name , and began to wonder how many years it would take to earn a hundred dollars . Nanny was very patient ; but , by and by , Mrs. Quinn began to talk about sending her to some almshouse , for she was too poor to be burdened with a helpless child . The fear of this nearly broke Jack 's heart ; and he went about with such an anxious face that it was a mercy Nanny did not see it . Jack was only twelve , but he had a hard load to carry just then ; for the thought of his little friend , doomed to lifelong darkness for want of a little money , tempted him to steal more than once , and gave him the first fierce , bitter feeling against those better off than he . When he carried nice dinners to the great houses and saw the plenty that prevailed there , he could n't help feeling that it was n't fair for some to have so much , and others so little . When he saw pretty children playing in the park , or driving with their mothers , so gay , so well cared for , so tenderly loved , the poor boy 's eyes would fill to think of poor little Nanny , with no friend in the world but himself , and he so powerless to help her . When he one day mustered courage to ring at the great doctor 's bell , begging to see him a minute , and the servant answered , gruffly , as he shut the door , ` Go along ! he ca n't be bothered with the like of you ! ' Jack clenched his hands hard as he went down the steps , and said to himself , with a most unboyish tone , ` I 'll get the money somehow , and make him let me in ! ' He did get it , and in a most unexpected way ; but he never forgot the desperate feeling that came to him that day , and all his life long he was very tender to people who were tempted in their times of trouble , and yielded , as he was saved from doing , by what seemed an accident . Some days after his attempt at the doctor 's , as he was grubbing in a newly-deposited ash-heap , with the bitter feeling very bad , and the trouble very heavy , he found a dirty old pocket-book , and put it in his bosom without stopping to examine it ; for many boys and girls were scratching , like a brood of chickens , all round him , and the pickings were unusually good , so no time must be lost . ` Findings is havings ' was one of the laws of the ash-heap haunters ; and no one thought of disputing another 's right to the spoons and knives that occasionally found their way into the ash-barrels ; while bottles , old shoes , rags , and paper , were regular articles of traffic among them . Jack got a good basketful that day ; and when the hurry was over sat down to rest and clear the dirt off his face with an old silk duster which he had picked out of the rubbish , thinking Mrs. Quinn might wash it up for a handkerchief .
But he did n't wipe his dirty face that day ; for , with the rag , out tumbled a XXXXX ; and on opening it he saw -- money .
Jack Nanny Quinn ash-heap dandelions havings pickings pocket-book right water-pails