d by the widow and her
aunt. Soon after this the eldest girl was taken ill. A medical
gentleman attended her at the tent, a little way from the town, whither
her grandmother had begged to remove her for change of air. But the
sickness of this child _was unto death_. She was a lovely and
affectionate girl, notwithstanding the disadvantages under which she had
necessarily laboured. When on her bed, in the tent, suffering much pain,
she was asked by a gentleman, "Although you love Mr Crabb so much, would
you rather live with him, or die, and go to Jesus?" She answered, "I
would rather die and go to Jesus." Her death very much affected her
grandmother. She would not leave the corpse, which she often
affectionately embraced, till persuaded she would endanger her own life.
This appeared a melancholy event to all who wished well to the Gipsies in
the neighbourhood of Southampton. For the widow, fearing her child would
become ill and die too, immediately removed her from the school. And
many of the Gipsy people treated the women with great contempt, for
giving up their children; and the prospects of doing them lasting good,
became very much beclouded. It was however represented to them, that God
was doing all things for the best, and their spirits were soothed; and in
consequence, the little fatherless girl was again brought to the school.

After this event, the women remained a considerable time in the
neighbourhood, waiting to see if the little one, again given up to the
author, would be kindly treated. By this detention they were often
brought into the company of good people, whose kindness gained their
confidence. They began to listen to invitations to settle in the town,
and finally determined on doing so. Even the _old_ woman, who had lived
under hedges for fifty years, and who had declared but a short time
before, that she would not leave her tent for a palace, now gladly
occupied a house; this greatly encouraged their friends, who well knew
that it was not a small sacrifice, for a Gipsy to give up what is thought
by them to be their liberty.

A short time before these women removed from under the hedges, the sister
of the unhappy man who had been executed, came out of Dorsetshire with
her three children, on her way to Surry, where she had been accustomed to
go to hop-picking. Encamping under the same hedge with the widow and her
aunt, she was seen by the author in one of his visits to them. He found
the