Cassy

by Hesba Stretton

For a long while that gloomy afternoon, a girl, who was little more than a child, had been vainly trying to kindle a fire of wet sticks upon the turf in front of the tent. Her face was full of deep anxiety; and her perseverance at her task, with the care she took of the matches, which she struck reluctantly, as if fearful of using too many of them, betrayed a degree of dread that seemed to increase as the time passed on. She knelt down before the smouldering pile, blowing the sparks with her mouth, until the thick smoke filled her smarting eyes with tears, and compelled her to retreat for a minute or two, only to return and begin again as the fire died away. From time to time she glanced up at the sky where the invisible sun was shining behind its yellow screen of fog; but she could not tell how fast it was going down, until all at once, as it seemed, the forest grew darker and darker, and the little smouldering heap at her feet shone redder in the gathering dusk. She made one last effort to kindle it into a flame; and then she flung herself down on the damp ground, in a passion of tears and sobbing, whilst a dog, that had been watching her unflinchingly through her long conflict, crawled towards her, and licked her brown cheeks and hands, as if trying to comfort and reassure her.

‘It’s no good, Bijo,’ she said at last, amid her sobs, ‘they said they’d beat me to death when they come back; so I’ll be off.’

152 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1876

About the author

Hesba Stretton (1832-1911) was the nom de plume of Sarah Smith, an English author of children's literature. The name Hesba came from the initials of her siblings. She was the daughter of a bookseller from Wellington, Shropshire, but around 1867 she moved south and lived at Snaresbrook and Loughton near Epping Forest and at Ham, near Richmond, Surrey. Her moral tales and semi-religious stories, chiefly for the young, were printed in huge quantities, and were especially widespread as school and Sunday school prizes. She won wide acceptance in English homes from the publication of Jessica's First Prayer in 1867. She was a regular contributor to Household Words and All the Year Round during Charles Dickens' editorship, and wrote upwards of 40 novels.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sad story of the harshness of life for children in London during the 1800- early 1900's. This book shows compassion, love, looking past the exterior of people, and figuring out what the allegory of Pilgrim's Progress is all about.....as Cassy asks, "is it a dream or is it real?" Finding out who Jesus is and how he saved each and everyone of us. Looking forward to reading this again to my kids but will wait a bit for their maturity to grow...krb 2/21/16