keeper had told him not an hour ago, about the old man's quarrel with his son and of his having called him a thief. He felt sorry that he had inadvertently recalled to his mind at circumstance which seemed to give him so much pain.

"Never mind," he said; "I shall not think any more about it." "Well, sit down," said the squire, recollecting himself. "I'm not tired," said Tom; "but I thought you were. You had better get rested, and then go on to the magistrate."

"No, no; I have done with that. I don't mean to go there now. You'll forget all I said about that, won't you? Forgive and forget, you know; forgive and forget. Sit down just for a little while, to please me; do."

Tom, being thus exhorted, seated himself on the corner of a chair, ready to start up again in a moment. The old man kept walking about the room, and looking into his drawers and cupboards as if searching for something, and yet hardly knowing what. Presently he shuffled out of the room, and Tom heard his voice at the kitchen door.

"Haven't you got anything at all in the house?" he said; "not a bit of cake or anything?"

"Not a scrap," the housekeeper answered. "Why, Mr. Strafford, what has come over you? and what are you doing with that lad in the parlour? Send him away and let me get your dinner."

Mr. Strafford returned presently, and found Tom standing up, ready to depart.

"What are you going to do, Mr. Strafford ?" he said. to go or not?"

"Am I

"You can go," he answered, "if you will; but don't be in a hurry. I want to talk to you a little; sit down again just for a minute."

Tom resumed his seat. He began to feel very sorry for this old man and to wish he had not called him an old scarecrow.

"What is your name?" Mr. Strafford asked.

"Tom Howard."

"Are you quite sure of that?"

"Of course I am."

Mr. Strafford sighed; he had a habit of sighing quietly and almost inaudibly; he was quiet in all his ways and movements, except when anything occurred to disturb or irritate him. He was the loneliest, saddest-looking old man, Tom thought, that he had ever seen; and now that he was treating him with gentleness and kindness he felt his heart touched with compassion for him, and tears rose to his eyes. Mr. Strafford questioned him about his home, his friends, his parents, whence he had come, and where he was staying.

"India?" he repeated; "India? You never heard my name mentioned there, did you?"

"No. I never met with anybody of the name before anywhere," Tom answered. He remembered that the gamekeeper's wife had asked a similar question and that he had answered it rather brusquely. Mr. Strafford looked so depressed and unhappy that he reproached himself now for having made such a reply. There was a pause for some moments, the old man keeping his eyes fixed upon the boy's face as if he would read every feature of it again and again.

"I must go," said Tom, shrinking at last under the scrutiny. "I must go now, Mr. Strafford; have you done with me?" "Must you go? Well, but I was thinking-I have not got anything in the house. What a pity it is! But there is some nice fruit in the garden; boys like fruit. some; and-Mary, Mary, bring a basket-you shall take some home with you."

Come and gather

Before Tom could protest that he would do nothing of the kind Mr. Strafford had hastened from the room, and his voice was heard in the kitchen,

What's come over you, I

"A basket, I say! a basket!" "Basket! I've got no basket. wonder? Cakes and fruit indeed! what next, I should like to know? fruit is money, an't it? it's all going to market: it's all bespoke. You don't like anybody to touch it; you know you don't."

This was true as a rule; there were often disputes between Mr. Strafford and his servant about the fruit and other garden produce.

"The young man had better go home," Mrs. Daunt continued; "we don't want strangers here; and there's nothing for them if they come."

"Hold your tongue, Mrs. Daunt, and bring me a basket, as I bid you."

"There then," she said reluctantly, bringing him the smallest she could find. Tom entered the kitchen at that instant, and saw it.

"That won't hold a ha'porth!" Mr. Strafford exclaimed. Bring me a large one, I tell you.'

"You will be sorry afterwards," Mrs. Daunt said in a lugubrious tone; " and then you'll blame me."

Good-bye, Mr. Strafford," said Tom; "never mind the fruit. Thank you for it all the same." And he left the house.

"Stop! Stop!" cried the old man, rushing after him. "The dog, the dog!"

Tom had observed a large dog in a kennel near the door as he entered the house from the yard; but the dog had taken no notice of him, his master being with him. Now, as he was running past, glad to escape from the gloomy atmosphere of Mr. Strafford's house, and thinking nothing about the dog, the brute sprang from his kennel, and leaping upon him rolled him over upon the stones. In another moment he would have seized him with his teeth, but Mr. Strafford bursting from the house

uttered a yell, so harsh, so fierce, so altogether inhuman, that the dog was arrested in his onslaught, and the next instant the old man precipitated himself upon the brute, falling upon him bodily and clutching him by the throat with his old withered hands as if he would have strangled him. The dog shook him off in a moment, and seemed at first as if he would have attacked him, but recognising his master slunk away growling to his kennel. Mr. Strafford followed him, kicking him and storming at him, and then suddenly turned back to see that Tom was all right.

"Are you hurt?" he exclaimed, looking at the boy with anxiety, and panting from the joint effects of his exertion and alarm. "Are you hurt?"

"No, sir," said Tom; "not a bit. But I am afraid you are. Did he bite you?"

"No, I'm not hurt, only put about; very much put about. If the dog had injured you I would have killed him."

Tom took the old gentleman by the hand to lead him back to the house, and begged him to lean on him, seeing how much he was shaken. Mrs. Daunt also came to help him. He recovered himself after a short time, and when Tom again proposed to go, said he would walk a little way with him and see him safe. Tom would have persuaded him to turn back after the kennel was passed and they were out of the yard, but Mr. Strafford continued to hobble along by his side, leaning slightly on his shoulder, more as if it pleased him to rest his hand there than for the sake of the support it afforded him.

"Oh, the fruit!" he said presently; "you shall have some fruit. Come to-morrow and bring a basket; but come to the front door; be sure you come to the front door. I will have it open, ready for you.'

"I'll come and ask how you are," said Tom;

"to-morrow, if

I can; or the day after at all events. I hope you will be quite well by that time."

"Yes, come and ask after me."

"And-and-" said Tom, "I want to say that I am very sorry for what I said to you in the field. I beg your pardon for it."

The smile faded from Mr. Strafford's face.

"Ah!" he murmured, "don't, don't; it was my fault, not yours; forget all about it; forgive and forget, forgive and forget. Here is your friend; why, it is Mr. Martin's son, is it not?"

Little Martin came in sight at that moment with a basket on The hare was recovering, and Mr. Martin had sent him to set it at liberty near the spot where it had been captured, and at the same time to look for Tom, as they were entirely ignorant as to the cause of his absence. Martin was much surprised to see Tom and the squire walking side by side in the most friendly and sympathetic manner. When he first caught sight of the latter, he had felt inclined to throw down the hare and take to his heels, but he now stood still and waited for them. When Mr. Strafford learnt what was in the basket he seemed vexed.

"Bother about the hare!" he exclaimed. "Do what you like with it; I'll give it to you"-addressing Tom: "and you will be sure to come and see me, won't you?"

"Let us turn him loose," said Tom.

"No, don't," cried Mr. Strafford. Keep him, my good boy; kill him and eat him; do what you like with him."

"Let us tame him," cried Martin eagerly.

"All right," said Tom. "Thank you, Mr. Strafford; we will keep him and make a pet of him."

"Will you, though?" said the old man. "It will not be easy, but I dare say you will succeed. Keep him and tame him and