sit with her husband sometimes, but she's very queer, she won't let a
neighbor come near him, I have tried more than once. It seems hard on
him to be bedridden there day after day without a soul to speak to; or
any one to give him a drink!"

Roy gazed thoughtfully after the retreating figure of the woman, and
then turned his attention again to the cave.

When an hour later he and Dudley were walking home footsore, and rather
dirty, but with little bundles of treasures from the cave in their
grubby hands, he startled his cousin by saying--

"To-morrow we'll go and see Martha Cullen's husband. It's an opportunity
for us."

"How shall we get in?" queried Dudley.

"Climb in at the window. She told old Principle she would be out all day
at Farmer Stubbs. We'll go and do him good."

"How?"

"We'll wash his face, and make him a cup of tea, and sweep his room, and
give him his medicine," responded Roy, readily; "that's what nurse does
when she goes to visit any of Aunt Judy's sick people."

Dudley did not look as if he relished the prospect before him.

"That's girls' and women's work," he said; "boys needn't do that kind of
thing."

Roy flushed up angrily.

"All right, if you don't want to come, stay at home. It is a week since
we started to do good when the opportunity came, and we haven't done any
good to any one. I'm not going to waste any more time."

Then after a pause he added, "Besides I think it will be rather fun
breaking into a strange cottage; we may have to get down the chimney."

At this Dudley's face cleared.

"I'll come," he said; "we'll go directly after dinner."

"And we'll stow away a little of our pudding to take him--sick people
always have puddings."

They had no difficulty in carrying out this plan. They always dined in
the nursery, and if nurse wondered at the amount of pudding that her
charges managed to consume that day, her old eyes were not sharp enough
to detect the transfer from plates to pockets. She sent them out into
the garden to play, and they soon were scampering out of the back gate
and along the road toward the little cottage at the bottom of the hill.

It was a warm afternoon, and when they at length came near it they threw
themselves down on the grass to rest.

"We mustn't frighten the old man," said Dudley, gazing at the thatched
cottage with a critical eye. "I see the windows are tight shut in
front, but there's one open at the side; we must creep up very quietly