play, and he did not want to beat in that mean way.

All the boys agreed that George was right, and it was determined that
the two young ones should defer their trial of skill till Tom had
recovered the use of his eye, and the bigger boys then commenced their
game.

It was at this period of the day that Mrs. Danvers and Ellen, after
having taken a walk round the garden, and collected plenty of
strawberries and cherries from the gardener, arrived in the
cricket-field to inquire if the lads wished for any refreshment. George
felt ashamed, as he remembered Tom Fletcher's eye, and the good-natured
boy stepped forwards to speak to Mrs. Danvers, and draw attention from
Tom to himself. The accident, however, could not be concealed; and
though Tom declared that it was nothing, Mrs. Danvers was sure that he
must be suffering great pain, and begged of him to go into the house and
have his eye bathed. Fletcher replied that he had better go home, for
his mother had a lotion that cured all sorts of bruises; and saying that
he would be up in the cricket-field again before the other game was
over, he bounded over the stile that separated one field from the next,
and was out of sight in a minute. The other lads, who were just
beginning their game, took some fruit of Mrs. Danvers, but declined at
present going into the house; and after standing a few minutes with
Ellen to look at the players, Mrs. Danvers persuaded George to accompany
her into the house, for she saw that he was not very comfortable, and
the day was intensely hot.

As they walked along, Mrs. Danvers said nothing about the black eye, for
she thought that it had happened through some hastiness of George. She
found by his manner he was ashamed of himself for something, and she
knew, as he was an honest boy, that when he was in a little better
humour than he appeared at present he would relate to her everything
that had passed. On arriving in the house, Mr. Danvers met them, and
requested Mrs. Danvers to walk down into the village to see the poor man
who had fallen down in a fit, and inquire if he wanted any assistance.
Mrs. Danvers immediately complied, and recommending George to amuse
himself with his sister during the rest of the morning, she left the
house, and took the road to the village.

'John has not taken that donkey home,' said Mrs. Danvers, as they passed
through a small field where there was one picking in the hedges.

'No,' replied Mr. Danvers, 'but I wish