PERSEVERE AND PROSPER.

of it; walking along the gravel path that
ran all round. In this way he came to the
front gate, which he had not yet seen.

It stood invitingly open; a man was at
work on the lawn. Arthur asked him if he
might go out-side the gate.

The man replied in a gruff, good-natured
way, “Ay! ay! you may go out—you can’t
take no hurt, this side the village. It’s all
the Master’s land, and you may go in at all
the gates you’ve a mind to open.”

Arthur ran off, full of glee. It seemed
like travelling in an undiscovered country.
Here he was, alone, at six o’clock in the
morning, at Fairdown, with liberty to
wander about by himself. He began to
wonder whether he should meet with any
adventures worth telling when he should go
home to breakfast. The road he was jump-
ing and running along had high banks over-
shadowed with trees on each side. The
birds were singing, as if they were trying
which should sing the loudest, and every
moment Arthur stopped to gather some of