a pointed chip of frozen snow, which he had previously worked about in his hands, and squeezed and pressed so much that it was now as hard and as sharp as any jagged scrap of broken stone. Naturally, at every trot, I was thrown forward in the saddle, only to fall back again with a heavy jerk upon the very spot beneath which Rogers had so cruelly and heartlessly inserted the irritating fragment of ice. It was not much wonder, therefore, that the donkey, goaded and maddened by the constant torment, as well as worried by the difficulty of keeping his feet, should be exasperated at length into a sudden attempt to throw his rider, and thus rid himself of the cause of at least a portion of his troubles.

:

Nothing could be easier to do it was only necessary to pull up short, with a sudden jerk; to thrust out both fore legs, stiff and straight, in front; to stand stock-still;—all without a moment's warning: and in another second I was flying headlong over his lowered head.

The next, with a deep, bleeding cut across my forehead, and a fragment of a broken border tile a few inches away, attesting to the force with which my head had come into contact with it, I was lying still and senseless upon the snow, at the side of the garden path.

Before long, I became dimly conscious of the presence of a group of familiar faces crowding round, looking strangely white and scared; of patient Neddy, standing quietly by, as though he had had no share in the mischief, with his head hanging low and motionless as that of any wooden counterfeit sold in a children's toy-shop; of the sound of many hushed voices talking rapidly and confusedly; of Mrs. Hughes' wellknown form, bending anxiously over my prostrate figure; of a tingling sensation in my fingers, as though some one were chafing my numbed hands; and of the unwonted taste of some stimulant or other being cautiously dropped between my lips.

Then I remembered no more, and all seemed thick, black darkness around me again.

ONE evening, not very long afterwards, I opened my eyes listlessly, and stared about, with a sort of vague wonder in my mind as to where I was.

Surely this was not my usual bedroom, and it could not be the middle of the night, for I had just been mechanically counting the strokes of the clock upon the stairs, as it deliberately struck-" One, Two, Three, Four !"

I had a sort of indefinite idea that something had happened, and that if only I could get it into my head again, I really knew all about it. But the more I tried to puzzle my brains to remember and recall past events, the more confused my thoughts appeared to grow.

So I gave up the attempt, and looked about me again.

The curtains were drawn close across the window, and a bright, cheery fire burnt upon the hearth.

In front of it sat Mrs. Hughes, knitting. No light burnt in the room, save that of the flickering flames, and indeed, for that matter, none was required; for once before, I had been amused by watching Mrs. Hughes, as she lay back in her rocking chair, with eyes fast closed, plying her needles as swiftly and surely as though she were watching them all the time, whilst little Mary, seated on a stool at her feet, had read aloud to her from some favourite interesting book of her own. Presently, I called aloud to Mrs. Hughes.

How weak and feeble my voice sounded!

It startled even myself, and Mrs. Hughes positively jumped as she heard her name pronounced in such sepulchral tones. Then she came hastening noiselessly to my side, and looked down eagerly into my face, scanning each feature anxiously.

"Did you call, Bernard? Do you feel a little better, tonight?" she asked, stooping down to kiss my forehead tenderly. "Are you quite comfortable? or do you want anything, dearie?" Instead of answering her questions, I asked one myself;"How long have I been ill, Mrs. Hughes?"

"Not long, dear," she replied evasively; "and we shall have you all right again, in a very few days now, I hope."

"Ah, but I want to know how long exactly."

"Well, let me see-ten days, about.”

"Have I? What a long time! And haven't I ever 'woke till now ?" I asked, in innocent wonder at the days having passed by without my being conscious of their flight. “I can't remember having heard any one talking, nor myself speaking, ever since the-the-tumble; but I must have really, of course. How funny! Isn't it, Mrs. Hughes?"

"You must not talk now, that's certain. You must try to swallow some of this nice, warm beef-tea, and then turn round and go to sleep again. Dr. Young will be coming to see you, presently, and he will be so pleased to find you better, that we must not do anything to tire you before his visit. Oh my! Bernie; what is the matter, child?"

For I had surprised her into this startled exclamation, by suddenly sitting bolt upright in bed, and staring into her face, with wide open eyes of eager interest.

'Dr. Young.' Ah! that name recalled a certain sorrow to my thoughts, that I had not remembered, until the incidental mention of one of the chief persons connected with the source of my grief, had brought it rushing through my head again with fresh bitterness.

But the effort was too much for my feeble body, in its present

weakened condition, and I fell back, exhausted, amongst the pillows again, faltering out, "Oh dear, dear! I quite forgot my own dear Miss Royce. Is she still-still-hanging '?"

I repeated the last word under my breath, so perhaps Mrs. Hughes did not catch it. At any rate, though she had evidently gathered the drift of my inquiry, she did not seem amused or surprised at its odd form, but only answered very softly, though quickly, “Oh, Miss Royce is much better-quite out of danger now, in fact; so, if you don't take care, she may get quite well again before you do," and she smiled faintly.

Again I lay still for some while, with my eyes shut, thinking. I fancy Mrs. Hughes thought I had fulfilled her wish, and had gone to sleep, for she soon returned to her easy chair, and after lighting a little table lamp, which she carefully screened behind the curtain, she placed her feet upon the stool again, and took up a book to read, doing everything with such noiseless movements, that I concluded she was afraid of disturbing the slightest slumber. "Mrs. Hughes ?" I called presently.

She laid down her book at once, and came over to the chair at my bedside once more.

"You must not talk, my dear; you mustn't, indeed."

"Oh, but I'm wide awake, really."

"Well, you ought not to be, then!" she said, playfully. "Still, if you won't go to sleep, I shall not allow you to talk. Shall I read to you, or sing you a song?"

"No, thanks," I answered, ungratefully, "I want to talk." "But you really must not, Bernard," repeated patient Mrs. Hughes. "It will excite you too much, yet; and Dr. Young would be so grieved and displeased, if he were to come in and find you restless or agitated."

"What day of the week is this, Mrs. Hughes ?" I inquired, coolly ignoring her remarks, and bent upon opening a conversation, in spite of her commands to the contrary.

"It is Wednesday, to-day. There, hush now, do, there's a good boy! and go right off to sleep at once."

66

Wednesday, is it? Well, then, I must have missed the Trial. Have I?"

"Yes, yes. But, really, Bernard, I shall go away and leave you, if you will persist in talking so."

"Well then, if you do, I shall only get much more excited, lying here thinking and worrying, by myself, than I shall if you stay and talk to me," I said, with a triumphant nod of the head, as though I had found an argument that would be a regular clincher in my favour.

Oh, you sly little fellow!" laughed Mrs. Hughes. "Now if I do stop and talk to you, will you promise to be very quiet yourself?"

I wasn't going to commit myself rashly, so I held my peace and said nothing. For a time, therefore, silence reigned between us. Then again I broke the stillness.

"So I have missed the Trial?" I repeated, musingly. "Oh! ain't I just about glad! It's worth falling off a hundred donkeys, just to get out of that!"

Mrs. Hughes looked very much chagrined at my obstinacy, though rather amused by my remark.

"I've been dreading that, more than I ever did anything in my life before," I continued, reflectively. "Thinking about it day and night, until sometimes I couldn't sleep a wink. Oh, I am so glad I've missed it, you can't think! Only I would like to hear about it, though. Mrs. Hughes, have they come back yet?"

"Whom?"

"Why, the Scamp, and Mat, and Harry, of course."

Mrs. Hughes looked very much as though she would have liked to have said "No," but couldn't, without telling an untruth. "Yes, they have come home," she said. "But they have only been in an hour or so, yet,” she added, dissuasively, as though divining my next speech :

"Oh, then won't you let them come up and see me? I would so like to hear about all that happened, from their very own lips."