e dirty road with a mighty thud,
and said,--

'Why, Bryda, what's up? What are you doing here? Lor'! don't take on
like this,' for poor Bryda's self-possession suddenly forsook her, and
she began to cry helplessly, like a tired and frightened child.

'There, get up,' Jack said, 'and I'll take you home, but for mercy's
sake don't cry.'

Bryda climbed up the steps of the waggon, and Flick, looking highly
satisfied with the arrangement, rubbed his nose against Jack's leg, and
whined as if to say, 'I know she will be safe now,' waited with his red
tongue lolling out of his big mouth, panting hard after the manner of
dogs on a hot day, till Jack gathered the slack reins in his hand and
mounted to the seat by Bryda's side.

'Well,' he said, 'I was amazed to see you. Why, you are six miles from
Dundry. Come along home with me, and--'

'No, no; I must get back. If you will wait I will tell you
everything--and, Jack, I want to go to Bristol, to Madam Lambert's. That
will be a help. I am no use at the farm, Aunt Dolly is always telling me
so; and now, now they will have a hard fight to get through at all.
Grandfather has got to sell up all the stock to pay a debt.'

'Nonsense, get along, I don't believe it,' Jack said. 'What do you
mean?'

'What I say.'

And then Bryda poured the whole story into Jack's sympathetic ears,
which he received with sundry ejaculations, which were anything but
complimentary to Squire Bayfield.

But Jack, however sympathetic, had only one thing to advise.

'Don't pay the money to the young scoundrel, don't you do it, and go to
Bristol and get out of all the bother.'

'It is not that I want to get out of the bother, Jack,' Bryda said. 'How
can you think so? I want to help by going away. Why, yesterday, I wanted
to go for my own pleasure, now I _must_ go to try and help. Perhaps
Madam Lambert will give me wages in time, then I can be a real help, and
send Bet some money, and get comforts for poor grandfather.'

'You must get comforts for yourself first,' Jack said.

He was so pleased that his favourite scheme of getting Bryda to Bristol
was to be carried out that he forgot everything else.

'I am going back Monday,' he said, 'and you can come along with me.'

'No,' Bryda said decidedly, as Jack drew a little nearer to her. 'No,
Jack, I shall go before Monday. I shall try to make Madam Lambert take
me. She is a sort of relation, you know; and if she won't, well, I must
try to get into a