who came with murderous intent against her sovereign; and finding no
bar to aid her loyal endeavours,--did boldly thrust her own arm through
the stanchions of the door. To be sure--'the brave lady's arm was soon
broken,'--but after all, what did that signify?"

And with a laughing gesture of farewell, he once more left the house.
With which cessation of murmuring voices, Mrs. Derrick awoke from her
after dinner nap in the rocking chair. Faith was standing in the middle
of the floor, smiling and looking in a puzzle.

"Mother, will you go over to the nutting again?"

"I'm a great deal more likely to go to sleep again," said Mrs. Derrick
rubbing her eyes. "It's the sleepiest place I ever saw in my life--or
else it's having nothing to do. I don't doubt you're half asleep too,
Faith, only you won't own it."

The decision was, that Mrs. Derrick preferred to sit quiet in the
house; she said she would maybe run down by and by and see what they
were at. So Faith took her sunbonnet, kissed her mother; and went forth
with light step over the meadow and through the orchard.

The nutting party she found a little further on in the same edge of
woodland. It seemed that they had pitched upon a great chestnut for her
tree; and Faith was half concerned to see what a quantity of work they
had given themselves on her account. However, the proverb of 'many
hands' was verified here; the ground under the chestnut tree was like a
colony of ants, while in the capacious head of the tree their captain,
established quite at his ease, was whipping off the burrs with a long
pole.

Faith took a general view as she came up, and then fell upon the
chestnut burrs like the rest of them; and no boy there worked more
readily or joyously. There seemed little justification of Mr. Linden's
doubts of the boys or fears for her. Faith was everywhere among them,
and making Reuben's prophecy true, that 'they would all enjoy
themselves a great deal better' for her being there; throwing nuts into
the baskets of the little boys and pleasant words at the heads of the
big ones, that hit softly and did gentle execution; giving sly handfuls
to Reuben, and then hammering out for some little fellow the burrs that
her hands were yet more unfit to deal with than his; and doing it all
with a will that the very spirit of enjoyment seemed to have moved.
_She_ in any danger of rude treatment from those boys! Nothing further
from the truth. And so her happy face informed M