e former one had done. At ten o'clock I
again retired to my bed in the loft.

The week passed rapidly away, and I had the pleasure of being very much
praised by Mr. Joseph, who said I should soon be a better gardener than
any of the children on the grounds. Saturday night came, and Mr. Davis
received for my work at the rate of sixpence a day, which, he said, was
rather more than he had expected. Mrs. Davis was also very well
contented, and said that what with the money I earned, and what with the
sewing I did for her of an evening, they should be very well paid for
me. I was much pleased that my new friends were so well satisfied with
me, and I looked upon myself as being now settled in a comfortable home.
I was also upon very good terms with the children. The girls were
pleased that I mended their clothes for them, which prevented their
being so much blamed by their mother; and Tommy was so grateful to me
for having mended some of his that he made me a little box for me to put
my money in when I had any. I offered the money that had been given to
me at Covent Garden to Mrs. Davis, but she told me to keep it till I
wanted a pair of shoes, and that then they would make up the deficiency
for me. I accordingly put it into my box and deposited it in a safe
corner of my loft.

Thus passed away the winter months. I was under the care of Mr. Joseph
more than the other children that were employed about the grounds; for,
as I could read, he taught me the Latin as well as the English names of
the different plants and flowers, so that I could bring him any that he
wanted from either the green or the hothouse. When I had been there two
months, my wages were raised to four shillings a week; besides that, Mr.
Joseph often gave me a penny for myself.

The tranquil, and I may say happy, life I now led soon made a great
alteration in my personal appearance. I grew plump, and by the time the
month of March came, I had such a colour in my cheeks that Mr. Joseph
said his lily was turned into a rose.

As the days increased in length, our hours of labour were also
increased, for we were now on the ground by six in the morning, and did
not leave work till seven in the evening. This lengthening of the days
was a great advantage to me. I awoke with the dawn, and generally had a
full hour to myself before any other part of the family was up. Then I
used to contemplate the portrait of my dear father, which I used to talk
to as if it could und