'They are
not. If you had come as a common beggar, I might have thrown a sixpence
to you in remembrance of the clever knave you used to be; but since you
try to palm these stale tricks upon one you might have known better,
I'll not part with a halfpenny--nor would I to save you from rotting.
And remember this, 'scape-gallows,' said Ralph, menacing him with
his hand, 'that if we meet again, and you so much as notice me by one
begging gesture, you shall see the inside of a jail once more, and
tighten this hold upon me in intervals of the hard labour that vagabonds
are put to. There's my answer to your trash. Take it.'
With a disdainful scowl at the object of his anger, who met his eye
but uttered not a word, Ralph walked away at his usual pace, without
manifesting the slightest curiosity to see what became of his late
companion, or indeed once looking behind him. The man remained on the
same spot with his eyes fixed upon his retreating figure until it was
lost to view, and then drawing his arm about his chest, as if the damp
and lack of food struck coldly to him, lingered with slouching steps by
the wayside, and begged of those who passed along.
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