you see, if you do, he will turn round and blame me."

"I will try not to get into scrapes, Miss Kate," Reuben said. "I
don't do it often, you know, and I don't think there will be much
chance of it, here."

Kate nodded and walked on, and Reuben went about his work.

There was, however, much more opportunity for getting into scrapes
than Reuben imagined, although the scrapes were not of the kind he
had pictured. Being naturally careless, he had not been there a
week before, in his eagerness to get home to a particularly
interesting book, he forgot to carry out his orders to shut the
cucumber frames and, a sharp frost coming on in the night, the
plants were all killed; to the immense indignation of the gardener,
who reported the fact, with a very serious face, to the squire.

"I am afraid that boy will never do, squire. Such carelessness I
never did see, and them plants was going on beautifully."

"Confound the young rascal!" the squire said wrathfully, for he was
fond of cucumbers. "I will speak to him myself. This sort of thing
will never do."

And accordingly, the squire spoke somewhat sharply to Reuben, who
was really sorry for the damage his carelessness had caused; and he
not only promised the squire that it should not occur again, but
mentally resolved very firmly that it should not. He felt very
shamefaced when Kate passed him in the garden, with a serious shake
of her head, signifying that she was shocked that he had thus early
got into a scrape, and discredited her recommendation.

The lesson was a useful one. Henceforth Reuben paid closer
attention to his work, and even the gardener, who regarded boys as
his great trial in life, expressed himself satisfied with him.

"Since that affair of the cucumbers I must own, squire," he said a
month later, "that he is the best boy I have come across. He
attends to what I say and remembers it, and I find I can trust him
to do jobs that I have never been able to trust boys with, before.
He seems to take an interest in it, and as he is well spoken and
civil, he ought to get on and make a good gardener, in time."

"I am glad to hear a good account of him," the squire replied. "He
is sharp and intelligent, and will make his way in life, or I am
mistaken. His father was an uncommonly clever fellow, though he
made a mess of it, just at the end; and I think the boy takes after
him."

Among Reuben's other duties was that of feeding and attending to
the dogs. These co