The sullen beating of rain upon the roof. A snug sense of comfort stole over

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Him, which was rudely broken, the next moment, by a chorus of piping cackles

And coarse laughter. It startled him disagreeably, and he unmuffled his head

To see whence this interruption proceeded. A grim and unsightly picture met

His eye. A bright fire was burning in the middle of the floor, at the other end

Of the barn; and around it, and lit weirdly up by the red glare, lolled and

Sprawled the motliest company of tattered gutter-scum and ruffians, of both

Sexes, he had ever read or dreamed of. There were huge, stalwart men, brown

With exposure, long-haired, and clothed in fantastic rags; there were middle-

Sized youths, of truculent countenance, and similarly clad; there were blind

Mendicants, with patched or bandaged eyes; crippled ones, with wooden legs

And crutches; there was a villain-looking peddler with his pack; a knife-

Grinder, a tinker, and a barber-surgeon, with the implements of their trades;

Some of the females were hardly grown girls, some were at prime, some were

Old and wrinkled hags, and all were loud, brazen, foul-mouthed; and all soiled

And slatternly; there were three sore-faced babies; there were a couple of

Starveling curs, with strings around their necks, whose office was to lead the

Blind.