led him
to the point, and made him sit down close to him while he cleared away
the brushwood.

Mr Seagrave worked very hard, and when he had cut down and cleared a
portion of the ground, he made Tommy carry away to a little distance,
and pile in a heap, the bushes which he had cleared away. When Mr
Seagrave had cleared away a large piece of ground with his hatchet, he
then took his spade to dig at the roots and turn up the mould, leaving
Tommy to amuse himself. What Tommy did for about an hour, during which
Mr Seagrave worked very diligently, his father did not observe; but all
of a sudden he began to cry; and when his father asked him the reason,
he did not answer, but only cried the more, until at last he put his
hands to his stomach, and roared most lustily. As he appeared to be in
very great pain, his father left off work, and led him up to the tent,
when Mrs Seagrave came out, alarmed at his cries. Ready, who had heard
Tommy screaming for so long a while, thought that there might be
something serious, and left his work to ascertain the cause. When he
heard what had passed, he said:

"Depend upon it, the child has eaten something which has made him ill.
Tell me, Tommy, what did you eat when you were down there?"

"Berries," roared Tommy.

"I thought as much, ma'am," said Ready. "I must go and see what the
berries were." And the old man hastened down to the place where Mr
Seagrave had been at work. In the meantime Mrs Seagrave was much
alarmed lest the child should have poisoned himself, and Mr Seagrave
went to search among the medicines for some castor-oil.

Ready returned just as he came back to the tent with the bottle of
castor-oil, and he told Ready that he was about to give Tommy a dose.

"Well, sir," replied Ready, who had a plant in his hand, "I don't think
you should give him any, for it appears to me that he has taken too much
already. This is, if I recollect right, the castor-oil plant, and here
are some of the castor-oil beans which Master Tommy has been eating.
Tell me, Tommy, did you eat them?"

"Yes," cried Tommy.

"I thought so: give him a little warm drink, ma'am, and he'll soon be
better: it will teach him not to eat berries or beans again."

What Ready said was true; nevertheless Master Tommy was very ill for the
whole of the day, and was put early to bed.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.

The next day, when Mr Seagrave, William, Juno, and Ready were all at
work at their allotted tas