Almost every house that he passed was a grog-shop, and his nerves were all unstrung and his mouth and throat dry from a night's abstinence.

But he was able to go by without a pause.

In a few minutes he returned with a loaf of bread, a pint of milk and a single dried sausage.
What a good breakfast the two made.

Not for a long time had the man so enjoyed a meal.

The sight of little Andy, as he ate with the fine relish of a hungry child, made his dry bread and sausage taste sweeter than anything that had passed his lips for weeks.
Something more than the food he had taken steadied the man's nerves and allayed his thirst.