22 THE HISTORY OF

the bird, she turned all her anger upon me, and
bade me give it to the servant, and follow her
to her mistress’s house to receive the money.

I obeyed; but I was sadly vexed, and
went muttering the whole way to the lady’s
house.

We passed through several streets, till at
length wé came to one which leads up to the
castle. The servant stopped before an old
house close by the gates of the castle-walk ;
she opened the door, and bade me wait in the
hall.

White I stood there I stared around me with
wonder, for I had never before been in a house
belonging to gentlefolks. The hall was a large
room, hung round with pictures, which I after-
wards learned were taken from the history of
the Bible. At the further end was a window,
partly filled with coloured glass, which looked
into a garden full of tall trees; beside the win-
dow was a clock made of very shining black ©
wood, ornamented with golden flowers. On
one side of the hall was a door which opened
into a kitchen, and on the other was one which
led into the parlour.

When the servant had brought me into the
house, she went immediately towards the par-
Jour, and left the door open so wide that I
could see all within. The parlour was hung
with paper of a dark colour; and in one corner
there was a cupboard, filled with very fine
china.

Over the fire-place was a coloured picture
of three very pretty little girls; one of them