THE MARKET GARDENER AND THE PALACE OF TRUTH. — 25

Asa rule she was a most gentle child, easily led, but for some
reason she looked cross and discontented now.

“ You must carry your own basket, Clover,” she said. “I never
felt anything so heavy. Oh, how tired I am, and how the sun does
beat on my head! I don’t think I ever felt so tired before in the
whole course of my life.”

“It is very odd,” said Clover, “ but I, too, feel fearfully tired. It
must be that fruit. We did wrong to eat it.”

“T feel quite sick,” said Cowslip; “but it could not possibly be
the fruit. I never did taste such delicious fruit in all my life. I
know what makes me feel bad, it is the steep hill, and the hot rays of
the sun. Ah, here is a place with a tiny bit of shade. Let’s sit
down, Clover—do let’s sit down, and eat a little more of our ripe
fruit.”

“Well, I should not object to another bite,” said Clover. ‘“ Those
peaches were delicious, but somehow I felt thirsty the moment I had
eaten them.” :

As soon as ever Cowslip sat down in a shady seat by the roadside
she fell fast asleep.

Clover put his arm round her, and she rested her head on his
shoulder. He could not help looking down at her anxiously as he did
so. Cowslip had never been a strong child, and now she looked so
frail, and there were such black lines under her eyes, and her sweet
little mouth drooped in such a tired way, that Clover wondered much
if she would be strong enough to go the whole length of the
journey.

While the child slept, the basket of strawberries and the basket of
peaches and apples lay on the ground by Clover’s side. After a time
he felt sleepy himself. There was no one in sight. As far as his eye
could travel he could only see a dusty, narrow, thorny path leading all
the way up, up—not up a steep hill, but still upwards. It is not
pleasant, although it may be very good for us, to keep walking uphill
all day, and Clover could not help feeling tired and wishing that the
road to the Blue Mountains had really been down the broader way,
where the beautiful green meadows were.