Monna. 13

pily she showed no desire to wander, but passed
quietly from one tuft of grass to another, paying no
heed to me—not even when, my fears abating, I
ventured from my shelter and followed her a few

steps onwards. This was cheering ;

e@; and presently,

when I glanced downwards at the little cotton
handkerchief in which I carried my dinner of oat-
cake and cheese, my courage rose high again. It
was so like a man to eat one’s dinner out of doors.
I had seen the man who broke stones on the road
doing so, and had thought how much I should like
to do it too. Was it dinner-time yet? Hardly.
So I waited a bit; but Iam sure that I must have
eaten my dinner long before noon that day, for very
eagerness to see what it was like to eat it out of
doors. In the course of the afternoon Monna, (for
so, though I forget for what reason, I had named
our cow) lay down to chew the cud ; and I, undis-
turbed, even by boys, enjoyed a quiet game mean-
time with the grass and pebbles—my usual play-
things. I was roused from it by the unpleasant
discovery that the sun was getting low in the west,
that I was hungry again, and that it was high time
for Monna and me to be going home. I therefore
drew near with cautious steps to my alarming
charge, and walked about in front of her to show
her that I was stirring and thinking of going home.