rustling and scrambling just within
the garden; and, glancing in the direction whence the sound proceeded, I
beheld a tiny hand elevated above the wall: it clung to the topmost
stone, and then another little hand was raised to take a firmer hold, and
then appeared a small white forehead, surmounted with wreaths of light
brown hair, with a pair of deep blue eyes beneath, and the upper portion
of a diminutive ivory nose.

The eyes did not notice me, but sparkled with glee on beholding Sancho,
my beautiful black and white setter, that was coursing about the field
with its muzzle to the ground. The little creature raised its face and
called aloud to the dog. The good-natured animal paused, looked up, and
wagged his tail, but made no further advances. The child (a little boy,
apparently about five years old) scrambled up to the top of the wall, and
called again and again; but finding this of no avail, apparently made up
his mind, like Mahomet, to go to the mountain, since the mountain would
not come to him, and attempted to get over; but a crabbed old
cherry-tree, that grew hard by, caught him by the frock in one of its
crooked scraggy arms that stretched over the wall. In attempting to
disengage himself his foot slipped, and down he tumbled--but not to the
earth;--the tree still kept him suspended. There was a silent struggle,
and then a piercing shriek;--but, in an instant, I had dropped my gun on
the grass, and caught the little fellow in my arms.

I wiped his eyes with his frock, told him he was all right and called
Sancho to pacify him. He was just putting little hand on the dog's neck
and beginning to smile through his tears, when I heard behind me a click
of the iron gate, and a rustle of female garments, and lo! Mrs. Graham
darted upon me--her neck uncovered, her black locks streaming in the
wind.

'Give me the child!' she said, in a voice scarce louder than a whisper,
but with a tone of startling vehemence, and, seizing the boy, she
snatched him from me, as if some dire contamination were in my touch, and
then stood with one hand firmly clasping his, the other on his shoulder,
fixing upon me her large, luminous dark eyes--pale, breathless, quivering
with agitation.

'I was not harming the child, madam,' said I, scarce knowing whether to
be most astonished or displeased; 'he was tumbling off the wall there;
and I was so fortunate as to catch him, while he hung suspended headlong
from that tree, and prevent