s a minor) had
threatened to turn them out if it were not paid to a day--the very next
day after that on which we were speaking; and her mother had been
afraid they must go to the workhouse, which would have been a sad thing,
because now she had got so much washing to do, and Harry was so clever
at basket-making, that there was every chance, this rent once paid, of
their getting on comfortably. "And the rent will be paid now, ma'am,
thank Ood!" added Bessy, her sweet face brightening; "for we want only
a guinea of the whole sum, and Lady Denys has employed me to get scarce
wild-flowers for her wood, and has promised me half-a-guinea for what I
have carried her, and this last parcel, which I am to take to the lodge
to-night; and Mr. John Barlow, her groom, has offered Harry twelve and
sixpence for five ground-ashes that Harry has been so lucky as to find
by the spring, and Harry is gone to cut them: so that now we shall get
on bravely, and mother need not fret any longer. I hope no harm
will befal Harry in getting the ground-ash, though, for it's a noted
dangerous place. But he's a careful boy."

Just at this point of her little speech, poor Bessy was interrupted
by her brother, who ran down the declivity exclaiming, "They're gone,
Bessy!--they're gone! somebody has taken them! the ground-ashes are
gone!"

Dick put his hand irresolutely to his pocket, and then, uttering a
dismal whistle, pulled it resolutely out again, with a hardness, or
an affectation of hardness, common to all lads, from the prince to the
stable-boy.

I also put my hand into my pocket, and found, with the deep
disappointment which often punishes such carelessness, that I had left
my purse at home. All that I could do, therefore, was to bid the poor
children be comforted, and ascertain at what time Bessy intended to take
her roots, which in the midst of her distress she continued to dig up,
to my excellent friend Lady Denys. I then, exhorting them to hope the
best, made my way quickly out of the wood.

Arriving at the gate, I missed my attendant Before, however, I had
reached the farm at which we had left our phaeton, I heard his gayest
and most triumphant whistle behind me. Thinking of the poor children, it
jarred upon my feelings. "Where have you been loitering, Sir?" I asked,
in a sterner voice than he had probably ever heard from me before.

"Where have I been?" replied he; "giving little Harry the ground-ashes,
to be sure: I felt just as if