als 9 6 10 12 11 Total 48
I recommend that his pocket money be made to depend upon his merit
money.
S. SKINNER, Head-master.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

Ernest was thus in disgrace from the beginning of the holidays, but an
incident soon occurred which led him into delinquencies compared with
which all his previous sins were venial.

Among the servants at the Rectory was a remarkably pretty girl named
Ellen. She came from Devonshire, and was the daughter of a fisherman who
had been drowned when she was a child. Her mother set up a small shop in
the village where her husband had lived, and just managed to make a
living. Ellen remained with her till she was fourteen, when she first
went out to service. Four years later, when she was about eighteen, but
so well grown that she might have passed for twenty, she had been
strongly recommended to Christina, who was then in want of a housemaid,
and had now been at Battersby about twelve months.

As I have said the girl was remarkably pretty; she looked the perfection
of health and good temper, indeed there was a serene expression upon her
face which captivated almost all who saw her; she looked as if matters
had always gone well with her and were always going to do so, and as if
no conceivable combination of circumstances could put her for long
together out of temper either with herself or with anyone else. Her
complexion was clear, but high; her eyes were grey and beautifully
shaped; her lips were full and restful, with something of an Egyptian
Sphinx-like character about them. When I learned that she came from
Devonshire I fancied I saw a strain of far away Egyptian blood in her,
for I had heard, though I know not what foundation there was for the
story, that the Egyptians made settlements on the coast of Devonshire and
Cornwall long before the Romans conquered Britain. Her hair was a rich
brown, and her figure--of about the middle height--perfect, but erring if
at all on the side of robustness. Altogether she was one of those girls
about whom one is inclined to wonder how they can remain unmarried a week
or a day longer.

Her face (as indeed faces generally are, though I grant they lie
sometimes) was a fair index to her disposition. She was good nature
itself, and everyone in the house, not excluding I believe even Theobald
himself after a fashion, was fond of her. As for Christina she took the
very warmest interest in her, and used to have her into the