he had been very right to begin upon that; but he had better go on with some easier part. And he marched off to find a ‘rubbly' bit. Here he worked manfully for several minutes. The stones did come away with such delightful ease, and roll and slip down the hill so much like boys let loose for a holiday, that he enjoyed the commotion he was making among them, and continued tumbling them down, without much regard to the line he kept, nor the steadiness of his foundations. He made a fine strew, and a sort of broken pit, but not much of a foundation. Still the ease of this work made him resume his calculations, as soon as he became a little tired; and he reflected that one foot in ten minutes was too low an estimate, and therefore, par consequent, four days was too long a time in which to complete his foundations. Full of this grand idea, and very hungry, he departed in quest of his brothers. They were fully as conscious as he was that luncheon-time had arrived; and the three gathered under their oak.

'I shall have done my foundations in less than four days, Edward,' began Richard. 'A hundred and twenty feet in three days, not so bad!'

'Is it all rubble, then?' inquired Ted.

'Rubble! I wish you could see it-it is as hard

as it can be, I should think!'

'Then, how can you get on so fast?

have made a mistake, Dick.'

You must

'No, indeed. I have carefully reckoned it all up. Five minutes, no, ten, I took to dig the hardest part, and much less to dig the rubble.'

'Five minutes to dig out-level-and dig deep enough for a foundation-so hard a piece of rock!' 'No; I did not finish one foot, but I scratched up two in five minutes, and more than two.'

Tommy burst out laughing. But on his brother turning angrily upon him, and demanding why he laughed, he smothered it in his mug of milk, and listened on with gravity.

'Then, you have been working two hours, and have cleared twelve feet?' inquired Edward.

How provoking to have his eyes so unpleasantly opened! Dick bustled up, declaring he must go back to his work; but a fellow got so tired, he could not ram at those rocks for ever. Edward fully agreed, adding that Dick had much better adopt their plan, work together, and so get change of employment.

But Dick utterly repudiated any idea of not

finishing by himself, and returned to his labour. But his heart was gone about excavating his rock. It was too bad of those fellows to laugh at and discourage him so unkindly; really, it was not his fault if he were so worried; he should go in his quarry, and work there. And there he went accordingly, and dug steadily for some time. But as the rock at length got very hard, he stopped, and began to carry up loads of stones to the peak. Four or five times he passed up and down, each time more wearily and listlessly than before, until at last, having laden himself with an uncomfortable heap of rolling stones, and dropped a portion of them half-way up, he was so disgusted with the load that he opened his arms, and let the whole possé chase one another down the hill to the quarry again.

This was the last stroke of work he did. And his imagination being dulled by his want of success, he could not amuse himself with castle - building in fancy. Therefore he dawdled about until it was time to return to the house.

This first day's proceedings were a fair picture of the rest of the week's. Instead of four days finishing the foundations, and less than four the quarry

ing, he had nothing to show but a number of little holes, all abandoned and incomplete; a fair amount of pits among the rubble; and a good heap of dug stones, of which about a small cart-load had been carried to the peak! Not so much advance as he had promised himself.

HE new week was begun by Ted and Tom planning to gather some moss. A fair

quantity could be got on the island, but

it was very ornamental there, and the boys inclined to pick it in a neighbouring wood instead. They were describing their plan to Mr. Lawrence, when he recommended that Ralph and the donkey-cart should go with them, and that Tommy should ride the donkey, postillion fashion. Tommy adopted the idea with a shout of delight, in which his brother joined. Richard did not. He had refused to help or be helped so long, that he could scarcely offer to join now in this pleasant expedition. Besides, was it not confessing himself beaten, to leave his castle not only unfinished, but scarcely well begun? However, his silence and his disconsolate looks were soon