By
two, at which hour the army, with its hair nicely oiled and a cane in its
hand, was ready for a stroll, there would be some four or five hundred of
them waiting in a line. Formerly they had collected in a wild mob, and
as the soldiers were let out to them two at a time, had fought for them,
as lions for early Christians. This, however, had led to scenes of such
disorder and brutality, that the police had been obliged to interfere;
and the girls were now marshalled in _queue_, two abreast, and compelled,
by a force of constables specially told off for the purpose, to keep
their places and wait their proper turn.
At three o'clock the sentry on duty would come down to the wicket and
close it. "They're all gone, my dears," he would shout out to the girls
still left; "it's no good your stopping, we've no more for you to-day."
"Oh, not one!" some poor child would murmur pleadingly, while the tears
welled up into her big round eyes, "not even a little one. I've been
waiting _such_ a long time."
"Can't help that," the honest fellow would reply, gruffly, but not
unkindly, turning aside to hide his emotion; "you've had 'em all between
you. We don't make 'em, you know: you can't have 'em if we haven't got
'em, can you? Come earlier next time."
Then he would hurry away to escape further importunity; and the police,
who appeared to have been waiting for this moment with gloating
anticipation, would jeeringly hustle away the weeping remnant.
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