with
grandfather at Mrs. Thompson's.'

'No,' said Miss Anne, in her gentle voice, the sweetest voice in the
world to Stephen, now little Nan's was silent; 'Stephen is my dear
friend, and he must let me act the part of a friend towards him. I wish
to send him to live with a good man whom I know, the manager of one of
the great works at Netley, where he may learn everything that will be
necessary to become my bailiff. I shall want a true, trustworthy agent
to look after my interests here, and in a few years Stephen will be old
enough to do this for me. He shall attend a good school for a few hours
daily, to gain a fitting education; and then what servant could I find
more faithful, more true, and more loving than my dear friend Stephen?
He can come back here then, if he chooses, and perhaps have Martha for
his housekeeper, in their old home at Fern's Hollow.'

'Oh, Miss Anne!' cried Stephen, 'I cannot bear it! May I really be your
servant all my life?' and the boy's voice was lost in sobs.

'Come, Stephen,' said the lord of the manor, 'I want you to show us some
of your old haunts on the hills. If Miss Anne had not formed a better
plan, I should have proposed making you my gamekeeper; for Jones has
been telling me about the grouse last year. By the way, if I had thought
it would be any pleasure to you, I should have dismissed him from my
service for his share in this business; but I knew you would be for
begging him in again, so I only told him pretty strongly what a sneak I
thought him.'

They went out then across the uplands, a sunny ramble, to all Stephen's
favourite places. And it happened that when they reached the solitary
yew-tree near which Snip was buried, all the rest strolled on, and left
Stephen and Miss Anne alone. Before them, down at the foot of the
mountains, there stretched a wide plain many miles across, beautiful
with woods and streams; and on the far horizon there hung a light cloud
that was always to be seen there, the index of those great works where
Stephen was to dwell for some years. Near to them they could discern, in
the clear atmosphere, the spires and towers of the county town, where
Black Thompson, who had tempted him on these hills, was now imprisoned
for many years; and below, though hidden from their sight, was Botfield
and the cinder-hill cabin. A band of bilberry-gatherers was coming down
the hill with songs and shouts of laughter; and the frightened flocks of
sheep stood motionless