hy and strong lad--had fallen
from the height of a scaffolding, at the age of sixteen, and been so
seriously injured that he was moved at once to the hospital. When he
came out of it--what with the fall, and what with the long illness which
had followed the effects of the accident--he was not only crippled for
life, but of health so delicate and weakly that he was no longer fit for
outdoor labour and the hard life of a peasant. He was an only son of a
widowed mother, and his sole mode of assisting her was a very precarious
one. He had taught himself basket-making; and though, Jessie said, his
work was very ingenious and clever, still there were but few customers
for it in that neighbourhood. And, alas! even if Jessie's father would
consent to give his daughter to the poor cripple, how could the poor
cripple earn enough to maintain a wife?

"And," said Jessie, "still I was happy, walking out with him on Sunday
evenings, or going to sit with him and his mother; for we are both
young, and can wait. But I dare n't do it any more now: for Tom Bowles
has sworn that if I do he will beat him before my eyes; and Will has a
high spirit, and I should break my heart if any harm happened to him on
my account."

"As for Mr. Bowles, we'll not think of him at present. But if Will could
maintain himself and you, your father would not object nor you either to
a marriage with the poor cripple?"

"Father would not; and as for me, if it weren't for disobeying Father,
I'd marry him to-morrow. _I_ can work."

"They are going back to the hay now; but after that task is over, let me
walk home with you, and show me Will's cottage and Mr. Bowles's shop or
forge."

"But you'll not say anything to Mr. Bowles. He would n't mind your being
a gentleman, as I now see you are, sir; and he's dangerous,--oh, so
dangerous!--and so strong."

"Never fear," answered Kenelm, with the nearest approach to a laugh he
had ever made since childhood; "but when we are relieved, wait for me a
few minutes at yon gate."

CHAPTER XII.

KENELM spoke no more to his new friend in the hayfields; but when the
day's work was over he looked round for the farmer to make an excuse
for not immediately joining the family supper. However, he did not see
either Mr. Saunderson or his son. Both were busied in the stackyard.
Well pleased to escape excuse and the questions it might provoke, Kenelm
therefore put on the coat he had laid aside and joined Jessie, who
had waite