He was lifting heavy bags from a cart . The work was beyond his strength , and he was flushed and panting . Miss Cynthia 's conscience gave her a hard stab . She bought a roll of peppermints and took them over to him . He thanked her timidly and drove quickly away . `` Robins has n't any business putting such work on a child , '' she said to herself indignantly . `` I 'll speak to him about it . '' And she did -- and got an answer that made her ears tingle . Mr. Robins bluntly told her he guessed he knew what was what about his hands . He were n't no nigger driver . If she was n't satisfied , she might take the boy away as soon as she liked . Miss Cynthia did not get much comfort out of life that summer . Almost everywhere she went she was sure to meet Wilbur , engaged in some hard task . She could not help seeing how miserably pale and thin he had become . The worry had its effect on her . The neighbours said that Cynthy was sharper than ever . Even her church-going was embittered . She had always enjoyed walking up the aisle with her rich silk skirt rustling over the carpet , her cashmere shawl folded correctly over her shoulders , and her lace bonnet set precisely on her thin shining crimps . But she could take no pleasure in that or in the sermon now , when Wilbur sat right across from her pew , between hard-featured Robins and his sulky-looking wife . The boy 's eyes had grown too large for his thin face .
The softening XXXXX Miss Cynthia was a very gradual process , but it reached a climax one September morning , when Mrs. John Joe came into the former 's kitchen with an important face .
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