Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
235
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
·
George Gissing
154
XV.
Blackberries
hanging
thick
upon
the
hedge
bring
to
my
memory
something
of
long
ago.
I
had
somehow
escaped
into
the
country,
and
on
a
long
walk
began
to
feel
mid-day
hunger.
The
wayside
brambles
were
fruiting;
I
picked
and
ate,
and
ate
on,
until
I
had
come
within
sight
of
an
inn
where
I
might
have
made
a
meal.
But
my
hunger
was
satisfied;
I
had
no
need
of
anything
more,
and,
as
I
thought
of
it,
a
strange
feeling
of
surprise,
a
sort
of
bewilderment,
came
upon
me.
What!
Could
it
be
that
I
had
eaten,
and
eaten
sufficiently,
without
paying?
It
struck
me
as
an
extraordinary
thing.
At
that
time,
my
ceaseless
preoccupation
was
how
to
obtain
money
to
keep
myself
alive.
Many
a
day
I
had
suffered
hunger
because
I
durst
not
spend
the
few
coins
I
possessed;
the
food
I
could
buy
was
in
any
case
unsatisfactory,
unvaried.
But
here
Nature
had
given
me
a
feast,
which
seemed
delicious,
and
I
had
eaten
all
I
wanted.
The
wonder
held
me
for
a
long
time,
and
to
this
day
I
can
recall
it,
understand
it.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
