you, Frank, wading without ever doubling your trousers up; you will
catch cold, and your mother and I will have to give you nasty medicine."
After this stern reproof some little packets were brought out of the
basket and shared with care.

Thus the old lady went about the place like a sort of fairy godmother.
The fishermen were fond of her. Big Tom, the giant, used to look kindly
down at her from under his great brows, and listened to her sharp,
twittering speech as though he were criticising some new species of
bird. All the other fishermen treated her with rough politeness, and
they called her Miss Anne, without troubling themselves about her second
name. She was known to the tramps who travelled the coast road, and the
gipsies made much of her in their sly, Eastern way. Whenever a poor man
knocked she called off the dogs, and went out to talk with him; she
questioned him briskly; asked about his parents, his birthplace, his
age, the distance he had travelled, his destination, and all sorts of
other matters. She then took him to the great wooden table outside the
dairy if she was satisfied, and gave him food and a little money.
Sometimes she heard that her guest spent the money in the village
tavern, but she did not alter her charitable habits for all that. She
would say, "Oh sad, sad man, to spend his money like that." Then she
would add, "But, perhaps he hasn't learned any other pleasure."

The gipsies used to send for medicine when any of them were ailing, and
they repaid her kindness by leaving her live stock alone. Once she lost
some of her silver-pencilled chickens, but they were soon returned, and
it was said that the man who stole them had a very bad beating from one
of the Lees who had been a prizefighter. A few marks on the lintel on
the door let all the regular tramps know that Miss Anne's property must
not be touched; and she very rarely locked her doors in winter. The dark
nights were weary for young folks, so Miss Anne used often to invite
some favourites among the village boys to come and spend an hour or two
in her delightful parlour. The wind screamed hoarsely among the
elder-bushes, and the wintry sea made strange noises on the sands, but
the happy boys in the bright room never much heeded the weather outside.
When Miss Anne had made sure that her guests had spotless hands she let
them visit her book-shelves, and they could look through the precious
volumes of Bewick's Natural History. A great number