t was very much talked of. Sarah told me what a
merry time it would be, for she remembered every thing which had
happened for a year or more. She told me how nicely we should throw
the hay about. I was very desirous indeed to see the hay made.

To be sure nothing could be more pleasant than the day the orchard was
mowed: the hay smelled so sweet, and we might toss it about as much as
ever we pleased; but, dear me, we often wish for things that do not
prove so happy as we expected; the hay, which was at first so green,
and smelled so sweet, became yellow and dry, and was carried away in a
cart to feed the horses; and then, when it was all gone, and there was
no more to play with, I looked upon the naked ground, and perceived
what we had lost in these few merry days. Ladies, would you believe
it, every flower, blue-bells, daffodils, butter-cups, daisies, all
were cut off by the cruel scythe of the mower. No flower was to be
seen at all, except here and there a short solitary daisy, that a week
before one would not have looked at.

It was a grief, indeed, to me, to lose all my pretty flowers; yet,
when we are in great distress, there is always, I think, something
which happens to comfort us, and so it happened now, that gooseberries
and currants were almost ripe, which was certainly a very pleasant
prospect. Some of them began to turn red, and, as we never disobeyed
grandmamma, we used often to consult together, if it was likely she
would permit us to eat them yet, then we would pick a few that looked
the ripest, and run to ask her if she thought they were ripe enough to
eat, and the uncertainty what her opinion would be, made them doubly
sweet if she gave us leave to eat them.

When the currants and gooseberries were quite ripe, grandmamma had a
sheep-shearing.

All the sheep stood under the trees to be sheared. They were
brought out of the field by old Spot, the shepherd. I stood at the
orchard-gate, and saw him drive them all in. When they had cropped off
all their wool, they looked very clean, and white, and pretty; but,
poor things, they ran shivering about with cold, so that it was a
pity to see them. Great preparations were making all day for the
sheep-shearing supper. Sarah said, a sheep-shearing was not to be
compared to a harvest-home, _that_ was so much better, for that then
the oven was quite full of plum-pudding, and the kitchen was very hot
indeed with roasting beef; yet I can assure you there was no want