th a soothed and lightened
heart.

When the meal was ended, she helped her mother to wash up the old-fashioned
glasses and spoons, which were treated with tender care and exquisite
cleanliness in that house of decent frugality; and then, exchanging her
pinafore for a black silk apron, the little maiden was wont to sit down to
some useful piece of needlework, in doing which her mother enforced the
most dainty neatness of stitches. Thus every hour in its circle brought a
duty to be fulfilled; but duties fulfilled are as pleasures to the memory,
and little Maggie always thought those early childish days most happy, and
remembered them only as filled with careless contentment.

Yet, at the time they had their cares.

In fine summer days Maggie sat out of doors at her work. Just beyond the
court lay the rocky moorland, almost as gay as that with its profusion of
flowers. If the court had its clustering noisettes, and fraxinellas, and
sweetbriar, and great tall white lilies, the moorland had its little
creeping scented rose, its straggling honeysuckle, and an abundance of
yellow cistus; and here and there a gray rock cropped out of the ground,
and over it the yellow stone-crop and scarlet-leaved crane's-bill grew
luxuriantly. Such a rock was Maggie's seat. I believe she considered it her
own, and loved it accordingly; although its real owner was a great lord,
who lived far away, and had never seen the moor, much less the piece of
gray rock, in his life.

The afternoon of the day which I have begun to tell you about, she was
sitting there, and singing to herself as she worked: she was within call of
home, and could hear all home sounds, with their shrillness softened down.
Between her and it, Edward was amusing himself; he often called upon her
for sympathy, which she as readily gave.

"I wonder how men make their boats steady; I have taken mine to the pond,
and she has toppled over every time I sent her in."

"Has it?--that's very tiresome! Would if do to put a little weight in it,
to keep it down?"

"How often must I tell you to call a ship 'her;' and there you will go on
saying--it--it!"

After this correction of his sister, Master Edward did not like the
condescension of acknowledging her suggestion to be a good one; so he went
silently to the house in search of the requisite ballast; but not being
able to find anything suitable, he came back to his turfy hillock, littered
round with chips of wood, and tried to in