So Tommy raged along the street until he came to Mr. Blacklock 's store , and in the window of it he saw something that put Miss Octavia and her disagreeable remarks quite out of his tow-coloured head . This was nothing more or less than a doll . Now , Tommy was not a judge of dolls and did not take much interest in them , but he felt quite sure that this was a very fine one . It was so big ; it was beautifully dressed in blue silk , with a ruffled blue silk hat ; it had lovely long golden hair and big brown eyes and pink cheeks ; and it stood right up in the showcase and held out its hands winningly . `` Gee , ai n't it a beauty ! '' said Tommy admiringly . `` It looks ` sif it was alive , and it 's as big as a baby . I must go an ' bring Bessie to see it . '' Tommy at once hurried away to the shabby little street where what he called `` home '' was . Tommy 's home was a very homeless-looking sort of place . It was the smallest , dingiest , most slatternly house on a street noted for its dingy and slatternly houses . It was occupied by a slatternly mother and a drunken father , as well as by Tommy ; and neither the father nor the mother took much notice of Tommy except to scold or nag him . So it is hardly to be wondered at if Tommy was the sort of boy who was frowned upon by respectable citizens . But one little white blossom of pure affection bloomed in the arid desert of Tommy 's existence for all that . In the preceding fall a new family had come to Arundel and moved into the tiny house next to the Puffers ' . It was a small , dingy house , just like the others , but before long a great change took place in it . The new family were thrifty , industrious folks , although they were very poor . The little house was white-washed , the paling neatly mended , the bit of a yard cleaned of all its rubbish . Muslin curtains appeared in the windows , and rows of cans , with blossoming plants , adorned the sills . There were just three people in the Knox family -- a thin little mother , who went out scrubbing and took in washing , a boy of ten , who sold newspapers and ran errands -- and Bessie .
XXXXX was eight years old and walked with a crutch , but she was a smart little lassie and kept the house wonderfully neat and tidy while her mother was away .
Arundel Bessie Blacklock Knox Muslin Puffers Tommy errands right sills