the stairs she met
Nurse hastening up to her patient:

"You look merry, Miss Pennie," said she. "I hope you haven't been
exciting Master Ambrose."

"Why, yes," Pennie couldn't help answering. "Father and I have both
excited him a good deal; but he's much better, and now he'll get quite
well."

And Pennie was right, for from that night Ambrose improved steadily,
though it was some time before he became quite strong and lost his
nervous fears.

The first visit he paid, when he was well enough to be wheeled into the
garden in a bath-chair, escorted by the triumphant children, was to see
his new pet, the owl. There he was, hanging in his cage in the darkest
corner of the barn. Ambrose looked up at him with eyes full of the
fondest affection.

"What shall we call him, Pennie?" he said. "I want some name which has
to do with a goblin."

Pennie considered the subject with her deepest frown.

"Would `Goblinet' do?" she said at length; "because, you see, he is so
small."

"Beautifully," said Ambrose.

So the owl was called "Goblinet."

CHAPTER FOUR.

DAVID'S PIG.

By the time Ambrose was quite well again, and able to run about with the
others and play as usual, the holidays were over; Miss Grey came back,
and lessons began.

It was late autumn; hay-time had passed and harvest, and all the fields
looked brown and bare and stubbly. The garden paths were covered with
dry withered leaves, which made a pleasant sound when you shuffled your
feet in them, and were good things for Dickie to put into her little
barrow, for as often as she collected them there were soon plenty more.
Down they came from the trees, red, brown, yellow, when the wind blew,
and defied the best efforts of Dickie and Andrew. There were very few
flowers left now--only a few dahlias and marigolds, and some clumps of
Michaelmas daisies, so the garden looked rather dreary; but to make up
for this there was a splendid crop of apples in the orchard, and the
lanes were thickly strewn with bright brown acorns. And these last were
specially interesting to David, for it was just about this time that he
got his pig.

David was a solid squarely-built little boy of seven years old, with
hair so light that it looked almost grey, and very solemn blue eyes. He
spoke seldom, and took a long time to learn things, but when once that
was done he never forgot them; and in this he was unlike Nancy, who
could learn quickly, but forget almost as soon.