; and from that time the little boy spent all his holidays with Mrs.
Lovel. In the summer holidays she often took him to a farmhouse in the
country, where she had lodgings; and there he had the pleasure of
seeing the haymaking, and hop-gathering, and all the country work, and
of running about the fields. Once or twice she took him to Tenterden to
see his old friends, particularly Susan, who lived with her mother in
Tenterden.

"Marten became a fine boy; and as he grew in stature he grew in grace.
He was very fond of reading; and soon he became one of the best
scholars of his age in the school. As Mrs. Lovel got older, her eyes
became dim; and then Marten read to her, and managed her accounts, and
was in all things as a dutiful son to her.

"Marten continued with Mrs. Lovel till it was time he should leave
school; and as he wished to become a clergyman, in order that he might
spend his life in the service of God, Mrs. Lovel paid for his going to
the University.

"When Marten had been the proper time at the University, he was
ordained a clergyman; and he then returned to Mrs. Lovel, and soon
afterwards he got a living in a pretty village in Kent. There he went
to reside; and Mrs. Lovel, who was now become very old indeed, lived
with him. He was as kind to her, and to Hannah, as if he had been their
own child: and, indeed, it was but his duty to be so: he did everything
to make their last years happy, and their deaths easy. Mrs. Lovel left
all she had, when she died, to Marten; so that he was enabled to live
in great comfort. Some time after Mrs. Lovel's death, he married Squire
Broom's youngest daughter, who made him a kind and good wife, and
helped him to bring up their children well. Susan, who was now an
elderly woman, took the place of Hannah when Hannah died, and never
left her master till she herself died of old age."

* * * * *

By this time it was one o'clock; and the haymakers left off their work,
and sat down in a row, by the brook-side, to eat their dinner. Mr.
Fairchild called to his children from the place where he was lying, at
a little distance, saying:

"My dears, I begin to feel hungry. Lucy and Emily, see what Betty
brought in the basket this morning; and you, Henry, go to the brook,
and bring some water."

So Henry took an empty pitcher out of the basket, and ran gaily down to
the brook to fetch some water, whilst Lucy and Emily spread a clean
napkin on the grass,