Monna. 9

father and Nance, was Nance’s grand-daughter,
Sally-the-shop—so called because her husband held
the post of grocer, draper, and general dealer in
the village. What could have induced so important
a personage to marry Nance’s grand-daughter I can-
not tell. She may have been active and business-
like, but I thought her very disagreeable, with her
loud voice and noisy talk, and often wished she
would not come bouncing in so frequently, when
my father was away, for a cup of tea and a gossip.

I ought to mention, besides these, Tommy Cad-
wallader ; but he was an acquaintance against my
will, for he was a boy, and I think I feared boys
more than any other creatures. Now and then a
troop of boys, or boys and girls, passed down our
lane on their way to the wood, intent on bird-nesting,
or to gather nuts or bilberries. I always fled at
the sound of their voices—into the house, if I dared,
or else into the cart-shed, where I lay listening until
they had gone by. If I had but joined them once,
I should have learnt that boys are not so terrible
after all; but the more they called to me, the more
determined was I not to come, and they soon left
off taking any notice of so sickly and unsociable a
child. Tommy Cadwallader was the only boy who
persisted in trying to make my acquaintance. I
believe that it was pure benevolence on his part,