Nobody’s Boy

"[...]when I heard footsteps out in our yard. Whoever could be coming to disturb us at this hour? A neighbor perhaps to ask for some firewood. I couldn’t think, for just at that moment Mother Barberin put her big wooden spoon into the bowl and was pouring a spoonful of the paste into the pan, and it was not the moment to let one’s thoughts wander. Somebody knocked on the door with a stick, then it was flung open. "Who’s there?" asked Mother Barberin, without turning round. A man had come in. By the bright flame which lit him up I could see that he carried a big stick in his[...]".