of pluck,--when she saw a gentleman on the road just ahead of
her, and walking towards her. She was astonished, and just a little
alarmed, for a moment before there was not a soul to be seen. She was so
astonished that she quite forgot her manners, and stood staring and
staring at the gentleman until he had come quite close to her. Then he
stared hard at Cherry, but it was not a rude stare, and he took off his
hat so politely, and smiled so pleasantly, that Cherry was quite
impressed.

"Can you tell me the way to Towednack?" he asked in a voice as pleasant as
his smile.

"Yes, sir," answered Cherry, curtseying. "If you'll please to walk a
little way with me, sir, I'll put you in the right road."

The gentleman thanked her, and as he walked along beside her, he asked
which way she was going, and where she lived, and he was so kind and had
such a pleasant way with him, that Cherry had soon told him her history,
and how she had left home to go to look for a 'place,' and how she had
felt so lonesome on the Downs, and so home-sick, that she had changed her
mind and was going straight back again.

"Well, this is strange!" exclaimed the gentleman. "Of all the good luck
this is the greatest! I have come out to-day to see if I can find a good
active girl in one of the villages, for I want a servant; and here I find
just what I am looking for, a handsome, sharp young woman, cleanly and
honest."

He could judge for himself what sort of a girl Cherry was, by her
appearance, and her clean, well-mended frock.

He went on to tell her that he was a widower with one little boy, for whom
he wanted a nurse, and would Cherry come and take the post?

He talked for a long time very earnestly and winningly. Cherry did not
understand a half that he said, but she understood enough to make her feel
that this would be a better situation for her than she had ever dreamed of
getting, and before very long she consented to go.

The gentleman seemed very pleased, and away they started together at once,
the stranger talking very fast all the time, and making himself so
entertaining that Cherry never noticed how far they were going, nor in
what direction.

They walked through such beautiful lanes that it was quite a pleasure to
be in them, hung as they were with honeysuckles and roses, and many other
beautiful flowers, such as Cherry rarely saw anywhere near her bleak home.

By and by the light began to fail, which rather surprised Che