( IO )









 CHAPTER II.

 REBELLION.
 Natural rebellion, done i' the blaze of youth,
 When oil and fire, too strong for reason's force,
 O'er bears it and burns on."
 -Skakespeare.

 w JILLSIDE was the name of Jack's home. It
 was a kind of house that no inmate could
 help becoming attached to-even the ser-
vants loved it dearly. As for Jack and Polly, they
thought there could be no such delightful place
in the whole world. The house was an old one, with
long rambling passages full of queer nooks and
corners. Nearly every room was on a different level,
and some of them were lower than the passage which
led to them, so that the first thing you had to do
on opening the door, was to descend two or three
steps. When visitors came to stay, they were always
duly cautioned; nevertheless, at some time or other
during their visit, they were sure to forget their
warning, and on entering their room in a hurry
would take an unintentional header into it. The