Goimg to Church. 43

that ; but for once I was too well pleased with her
deeds to mind her sharp words much.

The next great event that stands out among my
childish recollections is a visit that I made to the
great House, that awe-inspiring place where Mr,
Prickard lived, and within sight of whose topmost
windows not even the boldest bird-nester dared
venture.

Mr. Prickard was not popular in the parish. He
was stern and unrelenting, hard in his bargains, and
severe towards his tenants. I know that we boys
were frightened out of our lives at him, and I
verily believe that our elders were often not much
lessso. Not a man of them ever went to The House
if he could help it; and the reason why I came to
be so bold is as follows.

Miss Churchill was fond of plants and flowers,
and taught me to notice them too. One day she
asked me if I knew whether a certain moss, which
she described to me, was to be found in the neigh-
bourhood. She was helping Mr. and Mrs. Prickard
to make a rockery in the garden, she said; and
they were anxious to get some of this moss to grow
on it.

I thought I had seen it in a woody hollow which
Monna and I sometimes visited ; but it was a good
way off from the part of the common in which we