Time and time again the thread missed the mark, going sometimes on one side of the needle, sometimes on the other, sometimes doubling up against the shaft; but he was patient, having been through these experiences before, when he was soldiering.

He succeeded at last, and took up the garment that had lain waiting, meantime, across his lap, and began his work.
"The inn is paid--the breakfast that is to come, included--and there is wherewithal left to buy a couple of donkeys and meet our little costs for the two or three days betwixt this and the plenty that awaits us at Hendon Hall-- "'She loved her hus--' "Body o' me! I have driven the needle under my nail!.

.

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It matters little--'tis not a novelty--yet 'tis not a convenience, neither.