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 . Bessie 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 . The very first time she had seen Tommy she had smiled at him sweetly and said , `` Good morning . '' From that moment Tommy was her devoted slave . Nobody had ever spoken like that to him before ; nobody had ever smiled so at him . Tommy would have given his useless little life for Bessie , and thenceforth the time he was not devising mischief he spent in bringing little pleasures into her life . It was Tommy 's delight to bring that smile to her pale little face and a look of pleasure into her big , patient blue eyes . The other boys on the street tried to tease Bessie at first and shouted `` Cripple ! '' after her when she limped out . But they soon stopped it . Tommy thrashed them all one after another for it , and Bessie was left in peace .
She would have had a very lonely life if it had not been XXXXX Tommy , for she could not play with the other children .
So after at before by for in like on while