IN WHICH A FAIRY IN A COTTON-PRINT DRESS IS INTRODUCED.
The next day was Saturday, and my mother went out early in the morning, and returned at two o'clock with the saddest of faces.
'No work, mother?' I asked.
'No, my dear,' she replied; 'but come, my child, you must be hungry.'
There was little enough to eat, but my boy's appetite, and the cunning way my mother had of placing our humble fare before me, made the plain food as sweet as the best.
I noticed that she ate nothing, and I tried to persuade her to eat.
'I have no appetite, my dear,' she said, and added in reply to my sorrowful look, 'My little boy doesn't know what I've had while I was out this morning.'
Deeper thought than usual seemed to occupy her mind during the afternoon, and she suddenly started up, and hurriedly threw on her bonnet and shawl.
'Are you going to try again, mother?'
'Yes, my darling; I must try again.'