He was in a talkative mood;
and the child, at first standing by his side, and afterwards
sitting on the grass at his feet, with her thoughtful face raised
towards his, began to converse with him.
Now, the man who did the sexton's duty was a little older than he,
though much more active. But he was deaf; and when the sexton (who
peradventure, on a pinch, might have walked a mile with great
difficulty in half-a-dozen hours) exchanged a remark with him about
his work, the child could not help noticing that he did so with an
impatient kind of pity for his infirmity, as if he were himself the
strongest and heartiest man alive.
'I'm sorry to see there is this to do,' said the child when she
approached. 'I heard of no one having died.'
'She lived in another hamlet, my dear,' returned the sexton.
'Three mile away.'
'Was she young?'
'Ye-yes' said the sexton; not more than sixty-four, I think.
David, was she more than sixty-four?'
David, who was digging hard, heard nothing of the question. The
sexton, as he could not reach to touch him with his crutch, and was
too infirm to rise without assistance, called his attention by
throwing a little mould upon his red nightcap.
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