Hall Caine

“ Little Jannie had been showing his mother the watch, and pointing to the statue and then to the old man, and Lucy's eyes have been following him with looks of amazement; but she steps up with the little one, and, pointing to the watch on the child's breast, she says, "See what the boy has got, papa."
"A watch. My conscience alive. What a man it is to be sure. ”

“ The servants will be the only ones at home. I'll risk it. I'll ring the bell. Perhaps Mary, the nurse, will answer it. She'll be an old woman herself by this time. How quiet everything is on this bright spring morning! ”

“ In the place of the watchman there is the policeman; in the place of the post-boy the railway porter: in the place of the town crier the newspaper boy. Knee-breeches and broad-brimmed hats have given way to trousers and short jackets. The old generation has gone, a new generation has arisen, and the ways of the world seem to be different.
It is Easter Sunday morning; the early train has just arrived, and a railway porter, carrying an antiquated bag on his shoulder, comes up to the door of the inn.
"Who's this belonging to?" says the landlord. ”