he will only be
miserable if she goes to old Madam Lambert.'

And then Betty let the wicket-gate click behind her, and went singing
through the orchard.

Jack Henderson was a giant in stature, with large ungainly hands and a
somewhat slouching gait.

If ever a man was cut out for a country life it was Jack Henderson. But
his mother was a little of the fine lady, and when her husband's brother
offered to take Jack as an apprentice in his jeweller's shop in Corn
Street, Bristol, she eagerly accepted the proposal, or rather, I should
say, Mr Henderson at last gave a somewhat reluctant consent to receive
Jack and polish him up as he polished his old silver and chased gold in
his Bristol shop.

'You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear,' had been Mr
Henderson's remark when the bargain was finally struck, 'so don't expect
it, Molly,' he said to his sister-in-law. 'But as you are a widow, and I
promised poor Jim to do something for his children, I'll hold to the
bargain.'

The bargain was this. Mrs Henderson was to supply vegetables, cream and
butter, and cider from her farm in return for her son's board, lodging,
and learning the trade in her brother-in-law's shop in Corn Street.

Jack Henderson threw his huge form on the ground at Bryda's feet, and
said,--

'What are you doleful about, Bryda--eh?'

'Don't ask me,' Bryda said. 'I might as well cry for the moon as ask
grandfather to let me go to Mrs Lambert. He won't give me leave.'

'Go without,' was the prompt reply. 'I'll manage it.'

Bryda shook her head.

'It would vex poor Bet if I did.'

'Well, it will vex me if you stay here. I'd give something to see you
once a week, and if you stay here I sha'n't see you till next
Whitsun'--p'r'aps not then.'

Bryda made no answer to this. She was leaning forward, and looking past
Jack to the lovely landscape stretched before her, listening intently,
her eyes full of wistful longing, her small hands clasped round her
knees, and a pair of little feet, which the thick, clumsy shoes of the
village shoemaker could not altogether disguise, crossed one over the
other close to Jack Henderson's large hand.

'Hush.' she said, 'there are the bells, Bristol bells calling--they
always seem to call me--but it's no use.'

Then, rallying, Bryda said,--

'Tell me about that boy--you know who I mean.'

'Oh! the mad fellow at Lambert's, he is as mad as ever, writing and
scribbling verses. But, all the same, he is not a bad