that wanted doing was a patch on one
toe; they were always just going to be done, but never finished. She
read the inscription over his door, "Tiras Wise, Shoemaker; Established
1697." A different sort of shoemaker to your lively Northampton awls; a
man who has been in business two hundred years cannot be hurried. She
sighed, and passed on.

The step to Grandfather Iden's door consisted of one wide stone of
semi-circular shape, in which the feet of three generations of
customers had worn a deep grove. The venerable old gentleman, for he was
over ninety, was leaning on the hatch (or lower half of the door), in
the act of handing some of his cakes to two village girls who had called
for them. These innocent, hamlet girls, supposed to be so rurally
simple, had just been telling him how they never forgot his nice cakes,
but always came every fair day to buy some. For this they got sixpence
each, it being well known that the old gentleman was so delighted with
anybody who bought his cakes he generally gave them back their money,
and a few coppers besides.

He took Amaryllis by the arm as she stood on the step and pulled her
into the shop, asked her if her father were coming, then walked her down
by the oven-door, and made her stand up by a silver-mounted peel, to see
how tall she was. The peel is the long wooden rod, broad at one end,
with which loaves are placed in the baker's oven. Father Iden being
proud of his trade, in his old age had his favourite peel ornamented
with silver.

"Too fast--too fast," he said, shaking his head, and coughing; "you grow
too fast; there's the notch I cut last year, and now you're two inches
taller." He lowered the peel, and showed her where his thumb was--quite
two inches higher than the last year's mark.

"I want to be tall," said Amaryllis.

"I daresay--I daresay," said the old man, in the hasty manner of feeble
age, as he cut another notch to record her height. The handle of the
peel was notched all round, where he had measured his grandchildren;
there were so many marks it was not easy to see how he distinguished
them.

"Is your father coming?" he asked, when he had finished with the knife.

"I don't know." This was Jesuitically true--she did not _know_--she
could not be certain; but in her heart she was sure he would not come.
But she did not want to hear any hard words said about him.

"Has he sent anything? Have you brought anything for me? No. No.
Hum!--ha!"--fit of coughi