me out and spin me in a sort of absent way.

"'Busy Bee, there are plenty come wooing to little plain, quiet Mary;
what shall she say, Busy Bee? Come, hum me an answer!'

"And then I hummed away loudly, and told her that she was so good and
sweet, that she was fit for any lord in the land. But she would always
wilfully misunderstand me, and she would reply:--

"'You are right, Busy Bee! I must never leave the dear father and
mother; if the king himself came a wooing, I would make him a low
curtsey, Busy Bee, like this, and say, 'No, I thank your Majesty!''

"But at last a day came when the kind, loving old father was taken ill,
and carried to his long home, and his faithful old wife did not very
long survive him, and so poor Mary was left all alone. I say poor Mary,
for though she had plenty of money, and houses, and dresses, and fine
jewels, not to speak of hosts of busybody relations who were always
looking her up, she had lost the tender love that had been her joy from
infancy. And hers was one of those loving natures that are shaken to the
very core of their hearts by these heavy sorrows, which break up all the
firm foundations of a young life, and that however bravely they may be
borne, as they were indeed in her case, poor dear, are long felt, and
suffered. Our merry evening gossips had ceased for a long time, and
indeed I had almost begun to fancy I was intended to be the inhabitant
of the drawer for the rest of my life. An old Fan who had slipped in
with us by accident, told me that Mary had been abroad for many months
with an aunt of hers, and that she might not return for some time. One
night, however, I heard an unusual bustle in the neighbourhood, and
presently our drawer was pulled open by a hand whose touch thrilled me
in a moment, for I knew it was that of my dear mistress.

"'Poor old Busy Bee,' said she, softly, 'you and I have not hummed
together for a long while, so come out of your hiding place, old friend,
and hum away as pleasantly as you used to do!'

"As you may suppose, I was not slow to obey the summons, and I was soon
spinning and humming on the table before her, and telling her in my way
how very glad I was to see her once more. But she did not listen to me
this night, and even let me roll off the table more than once, holding
me in one hand after she picked me up, and absently threading me without
the key.

"'Well, Busy Bee,' she said at last, softly, 'we are going a long, long
journe