Whence he had come, in order that she might take measures to return him;

But all her references to neighbouring towns and villages, and all her inquiries

in the same line, went for nothing — the boy's face, and his answers, too,

Showed that the things she was talking of were not familiar to him. He spoke

Earnestly and simply about court matters; and broke down, more than once,

when speaking of the late king 'his father'; but whenever the conversation

Changed to baser topics, he lost interest and became silent.

The woman was mightily puzzled; but she did not give up. As she proceeded

With her cooking, she set herself to contriving devices to surprise the boy into

Betraying his real secret. She talked about cattle — he showed no concern;

Then about sheep — the same result — so her guess that he had been a

Shepherd boy was an error; she talked about mills; and about weavers,

Tinkers, smiths, trades and tradesmen of all sorts; and about Bedlam, and

Jails, and charitable retreats; but no matter, she was baffled at all points. Not

Altogether, either; for she argued that she had narrowed the thing down to

Domestic service. Yes, she was sure she was on the right track now — he must

Have been a house-servant. So she led up to that. But the result was

Discouraging. The subject of sweeping appeared to weary him; fire-building

Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www.franklang.ru