t last he could wait no longer.

"Well, I'll go and have a look round for Peter," he said; "and p'r'aps
you'll send Lilac up one day to see me. She was always a favourite of
mine, was Lilac White. And I'd a deal of respect for her poor mother
too. Any day as suits your convenience."

"Oh, she can come any day as for that, Mr Snell," replied Mrs
Greenways with a little toss of her head. "It doesn't make no differ in
a house whether a child like that goes or stays. She's plenty of time
on her hands."

"That's settled then, ma'am," said Joshua, "and I shall be looking to
see her soon."

He made his farewell, leaving Mrs Greenways not a little annoyed that
no mention had been made of Agnetta in this invitation.

"Not that she'd go," she said to herself, "but he might a asked her as
well as that little bit of a Lilac."

It was quite a long time before she found it possible to allow Lilac to
make this visit, for although she was small and useless and made no
differ in the house, there were a wonderful number of things for her to
do. Lilac's work increased; other people beside Mrs Greenways
discovered the advantage of her willing hands, and were glad to put some
of their own business into them.

Thus the care of the poultry, which had been shuffled off Bella's
shoulders on to Agnetta, now descended from her to Lilac, the number of
eggs brought in much increasing in consequence. Lilac liked this part
of her daily task; she was proud to discover the retired corners and
lurking-places of the hens, and fill her basket with the brown and pink
eggs. Day by day she took more interest in her feathered family, and
began to find distinguishing marks of character or appearance in each,
she even made plans to defeat the inroads of the rats by coaxing her
charges to lay their eggs in the barn, where they were more secure.
"Hens is sillier than most things," said Ben, when she confided her
difficulties to him; "what they've done once they'll do allers, it's no
good fightin' with 'em." He consented, however, to nail some boards
over the worst holes in the barn, and by degrees, after infinite
patience, Lilac succeeded in making some of the hens desert their old
haunts and use their new abode. All this was encouraging. And about
this time a new interest indoors arose which made her life at Orchards
Farm less lonely, and was indeed an event of some importance to her. It
happened in this way. Ever since her arrival she had w