90 Turnaside Cottage.

me down books and seeds, and studied ways and
times with me, and was almost as pleased as I when
my first cabbages appeared above ground. I tried
to persuade him to walk over and see my garden,
but that he would not do. He had his regular
walk—down to the post-office, and along the
Pembroke road as far as the crossways ; and nothing
would persuade him to vary it. Of course I was
too late to have any winter stock of vegetables, but
I sowed carrots, lettuces, spinach, and other crops
for the early spring, and begged cuttings of goose-
berry and currant bushes from my neighbours, who
gave them readily, looking with a_half-pitying
amusement at my new occupation. Every frost
that came filled me with alarm, and when snow
once began to fall, though we had but little, I
became so desperate, that I had thoughts of going
to Mr. Prickard’s gardener and asking him what
was to be done to save my seedlings. When it
came to the point, however, I did not go; and Mr.
Hurst comforted me by the assurance that snow
formed a cover and protection from the frost.

A proud lad was I the first time that I gathered
a basketful of my vegetables, and put them into my
father’s cart for him to dispose of in the town. I
followed them in fancy all day, wondering whether
people would observe their freshness, how much