Part 3

He then ran about, examining all the furniture, which was new to him: he admired the flowers on the carpet, and was amused with the spring blinds, and the round dumb waiters, laughing heartily when he was told that they were called dumb waiters because they could not speak; and when dinner came he got one placed beside him, and then whispering to his Mamma, begged she would send away the live speaking waiter, and make use of the dumb one. So the knives and forks and plates were placed on the dumb waiter, and then Willy, who had heard his father and mother ask the waiter for a knife or a plate, said in joke, "Come, waiter, bring me a plate," and then added, "The waiter is deaf as well as dumb, and besides that, he cannot move."

"Oh yes, he can," said his Mamma; "at least, if he cannot walk, he can run, for the dumb waiter runs on castors;" and she pushed it towards Willy.

"Oh, but I mean it cannot move of itself, like an animal; then it cannot feel, but I am sure it can make other people feel, for when you pushed it, it gave me a good blow upon the shoulder."

Willy was to sleep in a little bed in his Mamma's room: that was a great pleasure, and the new bed was another treat. Then everything was new to him in the room, and it was a long time before he could go to sleep, so much was he taken up with the hangings of the bed, which, instead of being plaited full like the flounce of a gown, were drawn up in festoons and bordered by a fringe; then it was red damask, not white, like his own little bed at home; and the paper, instead of having green and white stripes like that of his nursery, was covered all over with flowers, which seemed to him much prettier, and there was an odd sort of wash-handstand which stood like a naughty boy in the corner; but one after another all these things seemed to fade away, he saw nothing distinctly, and at last he fell asleep.

The next morning, while they were at breakfast, the landlady came again, and said she hoped they liked their breakfast, that the eggs were quite fresh, for her little daughter had brought them in from the hen-house that morning.

Willy could not help looking at the landlady's pockets, to see if they were big enough to hold all the money that was paid her, but he saw nothing but a bunch of keys hanging by her side; then he thought so much money would be too heavy for her to carry about, 'so I dare say she keeps it in a lock-up drawer, as Mamma does, and that the keys on that bunch lock up the drawer;' however, he said nothing. Then, he thought, this little girl she talks about is one of those she buys clothes and food for with the money that is paid her. 'I wish I could see her.' After breakfast his Mamma told him he might go and play in the garden of the inn, if he would not meddle with any thing. It was a pretty garden, with a great deal of ripe fruit and many gay flowers in it; but what pleased him most was the sight of a little girl gathering gooseberries in a small basket; he asked her whether she was the little girl who had brought in the eggs that morning, and when she said that she was, they soon got acquainted. Willy asked her whether she would let him help her. "That I will," said Anna (for that was her name), "if you will not eat any of the fruit; can you be trusted?"

"To be sure," answered Willy, a little offended that he should not be thought trustworthy; "why I am very nearly as old as you are, and have as good a right to be trusted."

"Ay, that you may be," said Anna, "but I have known boys a great deal older than you are come and steal apples in our orchard, and only call it fun. But stealing can't be fun any way, I'm sure. Now, Mamma knows me and trusts me; but I don't know you, so I don't know whether I ought to trust you; however, if you promise not to eat any of the fruit you gather, I will."

This was agreed upon, and Willy gathered the gooseberries so fast that the basket was soon full; but when Anna came to examine them, she found a great many of them were not ripe. "Look here," said she, "here is one, and another, and another, quite green!"

"Why they are all green," cried Willy, "they are not red, but green gooseberries."

"Yes, but when green gooseberries are ripe they are soft, and look rather yellowish, like these," said she, showing him some ripe ones: "well, I am afraid I shall be scolded!"

Willy felt very sorry, and said, "But I will tell your Mamma that it was I who gathered them, and then she will scold me, and not you."

"Yes," said Anna, "she will scold me for letting you gather fruit when you did not know which were ripe and which unripe."

The two children looked rather dismal, till at length a bright thought struck Anna. "I remember," said she, "Mamma told me to gather some unripe green gooseberries, if I could find any, to make some gooseberry fool; now perhaps we may just find enough in the basket if we pick them out;" so they emptied the gooseberries into a large leaf, and picked out all those which were unripe; and Willy learnt to distinguish a ripe from an unripe gooseberry, and he said, "I shall never forget it; I was so much vexed for fear of getting you scolded."

"But take care," said Anna, "if you pinch them so hard to feel if they are ripe, you will hurt the gooseberries."

"Hurt them," said Willy, smiling, "why they cannot feel."

"Well," said Anna, "I mean spoil them;" and just as she said so Willy showed her a beautiful large gooseberry, which he held between the tips of his fingers, saying, "I am sure I need not pinch this to know whether it is ripe, it is so large and yellow, and looks as if you could see through it."

"But take care," said Anna, "you do not let it fall by holding it so slightly, for it is so ripe that if it fell on the ground I dare say it would burst, the skin is so thin."

So Willy grasped it tighter between his fingers to prevent it from falling, but he did not consider that if he squeezed it tight the skin might break; and so it happened; his finger and thumb met together in the middle of the gooseberry all wet and sticky!

"Well, now you may as well eat it," said Anna, "for no use can be made of it." But Willy was so much vexed, that he had no wish to eat the gooseberry; he felt angry with himself for being so awkward, and fearful that he should get Anna into trouble. However, he just sucked his fingers to get rid of the wet, and he could not help thinking what a pity so fine a gooseberry should be lost, the juice tasted so very nice.

Anna, who saw how really sorry he was, now tried to console him, and laughed at the loss of one gooseberry; she then covered the basket over nicely with leaves, and took out another, and, wishing to put Willy into good spirits again, said, "This is to be filled with cherries, and now you may help me better still, for you can easily climb up this low tree and gather the cherries which I cannot reach from the ground." Willy knew how to climb, and Anna held her apron spread out, and stood right under Willy that he might throw the bunches of cherries into it. The cherries being all ripe, Willy had not the trouble of examining them; and, delighted with scrambling from one branch of the tree to another, he was soon as merry as ever. Willy had not even wished to eat a gooseberry; he was so anxious to prove to Anna that he could be trusted, that he thought of nothing else; but now these cherries looked so plump and so red, that he longed to taste them, and he was beginning to forget the affront he had received from Anna; but he did not give way to the temptation, for he had learnt to command himself; but he hung two of the cherries over each of his ears, calling them ear-rings, and threw down some very fine ones for Anna to put on her ears, saying, "That is not eating the cherries, you know," and they laughed heartily at each other's fine ear-rings. Who should come into the garden just then but their two Mammas, and the landlady gave them leave to eat some of the cherries they had gathered. Oh, how glad they were, the cherries were so sweet and nice, and they had longed for them so much!

They then all went to the strawberry bed, and Willy was obliged to take care that what he gathered was ripe, for the strawberries which looked quite red on one side were often white on the other. "I wonder both sides don't ripen at the same time," said he.

"Why, it is the sun ripens them," answered Anna, "and there is only one sun to shine on one side of the strawberries."

"Yes," said Willy; "but though there is only one sun, it moves about, and shines on one side of the strawberries in the morning, and on the other side in the afternoon, so they might be both ripe together."

"So they will, in time," said Anna; "but the sun cannot get at them under these leaves, either morning or afternoon."

"I think," said Willy, jokingly, "that these strawberries are cunning little things, and hide themselves as much as they can under the leaves for fear of being gathered; for if I lift up a leaf, I always find a strawberry underneath."

"Let them stay there till both sides are ripe," said Anna, "and that they will be in a few days if you leave them alone, for they don't want much sun. Strawberries want more water than heat."

"What a deal you know about fruit and gardens," said Willy.

"That is because I live in the country, and am used to gardening."

"Well," observed Willy, "it is like resting to pick strawberries after gathering cherries. I declare my neck quite ached with looking up to the cherries, and now I have nothing but looking down for the strawberries."

THE ARBORETUM.

Willy was now called away to accompany his parents to Mr. Joseph Strutt's. He received them with kindness, and Willy thought him very good-natured, for he took him over all the rooms and showed all his curiosities. There were birds stuffed, and shells and paintings; in a word, so many things, and they filled so many rooms, that Mr. J. Strutt had scarcely any room left for himself. They then begged that he would show his celebrated garden.

"It is not my garden," said he, "I have given it away to the good people of this town, but I will go and show it you with pleasure; but let us go in the evening, the weather will be cooler, and you will see a greater number of people walking."

This was agreed upon, and in the evening Mr. J. Strutt called upon them at the inn, and accompanied them to the Arboretum. When they came to the gate, Willy thought it looked more like a park than a garden gate. There were a number of people walking about, and when they met Mr. J. Strutt, you could tell by their countenances that they knew him, they looked so much pleased, and so respectful, but they did not bow or courtesy to him, because they knew that he did not like to be publicly noticed. He had told them, once for all, 'If you make a fuss about me I shall think myself troublesome, and shall not walk in your garden so often as if you let me alone, and take no more notice of me than of any other person.' As they were walking about, Willy observed a family passing by, one of whom was a blind woman; this put him in mind of the market girl's mother; then there was a little boy and girl with her, who might be about the age of her youngest children, and an old woman, who might be their grandmother. But there was no market girl with them, and Willy thought it could not be them, they lived so far off. Some time afterwards they passed by again, and then a young woman had joined them, but she was so much better dressed that Willy thought it could not be her. However, he peeped under her close straw bonnet, and found that it really was his old friend, and he cried out, "Oh! Mamma, there they are, all of them;" then, taking hold of the market girl by the hand, he said, "Don't you know me?"

"Oh! how do you do? I am very glad to see you," said she; "I thought I should meet you here." Then, seeing Mr. Strutt, she added, "How lucky you are! there is Mr. Joseph Strutt himself giving his arm to your Mamma. So, then, you have made his acquaintance.

"But," added she, "I must make you acquainted with my little brother and sister too.

"Did not I tell you," said she, addressing them, "that I met with a nice little boy on the railroad yesterday; well, this is he."

The children were at first very shy, and only answered yes. Then Willy and his parents made acquaintance with the poor blind woman and her old mother, whom the children called Granny.

Willy's Mamma talked a good deal to these two women, and told Mr. J. Strutt all about them.

"Is Mr. Joseph Strutt here?" asked the blind woman. "Oh, if I could but see him! Betsey," whispered she to her little daughter, "lead me towards him, that I may hear him speak." Mr. J. Strutt, who was nearer to her than she thought, took her by the hand, saying, "With God's blessing you shall see me one of these days, when your eyes are cured; and I shall go and see you when you come to our hospital, and I shall take care that you are comfortable."

Willy then went to play on the grass with the two children, and when they were tired they sat down on a soft smooth bank under the shade of some spreading trees, which was very pleasant, for they had made themselves hot with running to catch each other. Then Willy asked them how they came to be here, when they lived so far off?

"Oh! it's by the railroad," said Johnny: "you must know that every Sunday that Father can make a holiday, he takes us all to see Granny, who lives at Derby. Did not Martha tell you yesterday that we were to come to-day? for though it is not Sunday, we are come, because Father had some business to do at Derby."

"She did not tell me," said Willy, "for I thought I never should see you in all my life, and I wanted sadly to see you, because your sister Martha told me so much about you."

"That's very good of you," said Johnny. "Well, what was I telling you? Oh, it was about coming to see Granny. You must know that every time we come she makes a large cake for us to take home. And one day it happened that I went to market to help Martha, because she had so many baskets to carry; and then, instead of going home with her, I staid to sleep with Granny, and I saw her make the cake. You cannot think how funny it was; she slapped it over and over again; she said, the more it was beaten, the better it would be; and very nice it was after it had been baked in the oven."

"Oh! it was so nice," cried little Betsey; "I remember it, Johnny, as well as you."

CHILDREN'S GAMBOLS.

The children soon left off talking, to go and play. Betsey showed them a spot where daisies were growing very thick in the grass, and they all went to gather some to make daisy chains. Betsey was the cleverest in making these garlands, for little girls who go to a sewing school, and learn to sew, and hem, and stitch, and thread needles, can split the stalk of a daisy and fasten the end into it much better than a boy can, who is used only to cut sticks, and play at ball and marbles; but the boys could gather daisies quite as well and as quickly as Betsey. So, in order to get on with their chains as fast as they could, it was settled that the boys should gather the flowers, whilst Betsey sat still and made them into chains. Then, when the chains were all finished, the two boys climbed up the trees and hung them in festoons from bough to bough, and Betsey, who had been so long sitting still, jumped about for joy seeing them look so beautiful. They then fetched their parents to show them how prettily they had ornamented the trees, and Martha explained it all to her blind mother, who could not see the beautiful wreaths of daisies; and having been praised for their work, the children began to consider what they should do next.

"I wish I had my hoop," said Betsey; "and I wish I had my top," said Johnny; "and I wish I had my ball," cried Willy, "my poor pretty ball!"

"Why, what has happened to it?" inquired the children.

Willy then told the whole story of his ball, and ended by saying, "how nicely we should have played with it together!"

Whilst they were standing under their garlands of daisies, consulting together what game they should next play at, a large new ball fell down amongst them. It seemed to come from the skies. They all stared with astonishment; then Willy picked it up, and, as he stooped down, he saw a man's legs behind a bush, and he knew by the chequered trowsers on them that the man was his Papa. Papa wanted to hide himself to make the children wonder where the ball came from, but Willy ran after him and caught him, and then jumped up and kissed him to thank him for the present.

"Why, how did you find me out?" asked his father.

"Oh! because the bush was not so thick of leaves at the bottom as at top; so in stooping down I had a peep of you through the branches."

"Well," cried Betsey, "I really thought the ball fell from the skies."

"How could you be such a goose?" cried Willy. "Balls never fall from the sky, unless they are thrown up first, and then to be sure they must come down again. But now, let us play with it."

So they tossed the ball from Johnny to Betsey, and from Betsey to Willy, and from Willy to Johnny again. After the ball had gone round for some time, Betsey said, "I wish there were a few more of us to catch the ball, for then we should have much better fun."

"You must divide yourself into five," said Willy, "and then we should have four more to catch the ball."

"What nonsense you are talking," cried Betsey.

"Don't you know the funny verses about your name?" asked Willy.

"No, indeed; do tell me them."

Willy then, with as grave a face as he could put on, repeated the following lines:--

"'Elizabeth, Elsebeth, Bet, Betsey, and Bess, All went together to seek a bird's nest: When they found it, there were five eggs in; They each took one, and left four in.'"

"Do you call those pretty verses?" said Betsey: "why, they are quite nonsensical."

"But they are true," said Willy, "only you don't see the fun of them. It's like a riddle; you told me you were sometimes called Elizabeth, and at other times Betsey, and are you never called Bet and Bess?"

"Yes, sometimes," said she; "but not Elsebeth. I never even heard that name."

"But it is your name though," replied Willy, "for all that."

"Well then, suppose that you went one day to rob a bird's nest?"

"But, indeed, I would do no such thing," retorted Betsey, quite offended.

"Don't be angry," cried he; "I only said _suppose_."

"But I wonder you should _suppose_ I could steal any thing," cried the indignant Betsey.

"I only said so to make you understand the fun."

"Pho, pho, nonsense," cried Johnny, "it's only make-believe. Well, let me be Betsey, and then you may suppose what you please."

But Betsey did not seem to like to give up her name to Johnny; the truth is, that when she found that her eldest brother did not think there was any harm in _supposing_, she allowed Willy to suppose in her own name.

"Well then," continued Willy, "remember that you went alone to the nest and took out an egg."

"Oh yes," said Betsey, "_I by myself, I_."

"Then," said Willy, "who was it took out the egg?"

"Why, I, Betsey, to be sure."

"And did not Elizabeth take out one also?"

"Yes, because that's me too."

"And did not Elsebeth, Betsey, and Bess also take out eggs?"

"Yes, but that's all me."

"Well then," continued Willy, "were not five eggs taken out of the nest, and four left in?"

Betsey laughed; she understood the joke pretty well, though she could not explain it. But Johnny said, there was only one person who went to the nest, but she had five names, so when she had taken out one egg there were four left in.

The three children then went to take a stroll on the gravel walks, and see if they could not meet any friends, but they saw nobody they knew, because, as they did not live at Derby, they did not know many people there.

"If it had been Sunday we should have seen many," said Betsey, "but the people on working days are tired after working at the factory, or have other things to do at home. Oh! if you had been here last Easter Monday, what would you have said? Why, there were hundreds and thousands! Were there not, Johnny?"