ould have been expected. He had just
pulled his bed of hay down over him, and was trying to curl himself up so
as to stop his teeth from chattering, with Caesar on his feet, when the
dog growled, and a great voice lowered to a gruff whisper, said, 'Come
along, young un!'

'I'm coming,' cried Paul.

Though it was not Boldre's voice, it had startled him terribly; he was so
much used to ill-treatment, that he expected a savage blow every moment.

But the great hand that closed on him, though rough, was not unkind.

'Poor lad, how he quakes!' said John Farden's voice. 'Don't ye be
afeard, it's only me.'

'Nobody got at the horses?' cried Paul.

'No, no; only I ain't going to have you going up to yon big parson all
one muck-heap! Come on, and make no noise about it.'

Paul did not very well know what was going to befall him, but he did not
feel unsafe with John Farden, and besides, his lank frame was in the
grasp of that big hand like a mouse in the power of a mastiff. So he let
himself be hauled down the ladder, into an empty stall, where, behold,
there was a dark lantern (which had been at bad work in its time), a
pail, a brush, a bit of soap, and a ragged towel.

John laid hold of him much as Alfred in his page days used to do of Lady
Jane's little dog when it had to be washed, but Puck had the advantage in
keeping on his shaggy coat all the time, and in being more gently
handled, whereas Farden scrubbed with such hearty good-will, that Paul
thought his very skin would come off. But he had undergone the like in
the workhouse, and he knew how to accommodate himself to it; and when his
rough bath was over, though he was very sore, and stiff, and chilly, he
really felt relieved, and more respectable than he had done for many
months, only rather sorry he must put on his filthy old rags again; and
he gave honest John more thanks than might have been expected.

The Confirmation was to be at eleven o'clock, at Elbury, and John had
undertaken his morning's work, so that Mr. Shepherd grudgingly consented
to spare him, knowing that all the other farmers of course did the same,
and that there would be a cry of shame if he did not.

Paul had just found his way down the ladder in the morning, with thoughts
going through his mind that to him this would be the coming of the
Comforter, and he was sure he wanted comfort; and that for some hours of
this day at least, he should be at peace from rude words and blows, when
he