The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ruth Arnold, by Lucy Byerley

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: Ruth Arnold
or, the Country Cousin

Author: Lucy Byerley

Release Date: July 7, 2006 [eBook #18777]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUTH ARNOLD***

E-text prepared by David Clarke, Mary Meehan, and the Project Gutenberg
Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net/)

Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
file which includes the original illustrations.
See 18777-h.htm or 18777-h.zip:
(http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/8/7/7/18777/18777-h/18777-h.htm)
or
(http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/8/7/7/18777/18777-h.zip)

RUTH ARNOLD

Or, The Country Cousin

by

L. BYERLEY

London
The Religious Tract Society
56, Paternoster Row; 65, St. Paul's Churchyard and 164, Piccadilly
Butler & Tanner,
The Selwood Printing Works,
Frome, and London.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

I. A Letter

II. Talking it Over

III. Ruth's Decision

IV. The Journey

V. Cousins

VI. Stonegate

VII. A Poor Relation

VIII. Sea-side Pleasures

IX. The Picnic

X. Busyborough

XI. School-girl Gossip

XII. Julia's Humiliation

XIII. Hard at Work

XIV. An Adventure

XV. Examination

XVI. A Downward Step

XVII. The Prize

XVIII. So as by Fire

XIX. Living it Down

XX. Home Again

RUTH ARNOLD;

Or, The Country Cousin.

CHAPTER I.

A LETTER.

School was over, and the holidays were beginning once more, summer
holidays, with all their promise of pleasure for dwellers in the
country. The scent of sweet new hay was borne on the afternoon breeze,
and the broad sunlight lay on fields of waving corn which would soon be
ready for the sickle, and on green meadows from which the hay was being
carried.

Ruth Arnold slowly wended her way home-wards along the hot dusty road,
turned down a shady green lane, opened a little gate and walked up the
garden path; and then, instead of running indoors as usual,