uld pick, and then he would hop about with his head on one side
listening for others like some old starling listening for worms, at the
same time mewing like a cat to frighten away the birds that prey on the
mushrooms. He was then able to fill his basket with the very freshest
crop and take them round to people's houses in time for breakfast.

With such anxious work it will be readily understood that few mushroom
gatherers can remain in the best of health for many years, and it so
happened that in time the anxieties connected with the gathering of
mushrooms began to affect old Crispin, so that he fell ill and
completely lost his appetite. Chloe called in the doctor, but the latter
at first could do nothing for him. He painted Crispin's chest and then
his back with iodine; he rubbed him well with the roots of sarsaparilla;
he made him sleep first on his right side, then on his left, and finally
covered him in brown paper plasters and dock-leaf poultices and sent him
to the sea-side with strict injunctions to take to sea-bathing, running,
and aeroplaning, but it was all of no avail.

With the assistance of Boadicea, Chloe now tried to tempt her husband
with every known and unknown dish, and when these failed, like a good
wife, she invented others. She made trifles of vegetable marrow,
tartlets of hen feathers to soothe the nerves, salads of spinach and
carraway comfits, delicacies composed of porridge and mint, and the most
luscious stews of pine-cones and lard. She then tried him with even
lighter dishes, but it was no good. He became thinner and thinner every
day, and his temper was growing shorter and shorter, when at last, to
her great joy, she succeeded in making a jelly that really seemed to
take his fancy.

At first there was little or no sign of improvement, yet he ate a very
small portion of the jelly every day, and with this the anxious wife and
daughter had to be contented for some time. He had remained in this
state for weeks when Chloe resolved slightly to increase his portion.
Finding that this did not disagree with him, but that, instead, he
became a little stouter and a little better every day, she continued
gradually giving him more and more.

At last she discovered that the more Crispin ate of this jelly, the
greater his appetite became. In fact, if the truth be told, the old
gentleman became in time not only quite well and very stout but also
somewhat greedy. At all events, Chloe found that instead o