"Did you like being a servant?" asked Madge curiously.
"Not at first, my dear," Mrs. Reed admitted, with a bright smile at her little questioner; "I had to work very hard, and I was at the age when young girls naturally like amusements; but, by-and-by, as I tried to do my duty, I grew to like it better. 'Tis the working bee that gets the best sweets from life, after all."
"Do you really think that?" Ruth inquired; then, as Mrs. Reed emphatically assented, she begged her to tell them some more about her youthful days.
The old lady willingly complied, and, from speaking of her girlhood, she went on to her married life and the birth of her son. She told them how the boy had always evinced an eagerness for knowledge, and how she and his father had worked and saved so that he might have the advantages of a good education and a fair start in life.
"My husband was very proud of our boy, but I don't think he ever guessed he would do as well as he has," she said simply; "my son never caused me a moment's anxiety in my life," she added with a tender smile.
"He always loved you too well to do that, Granny," said Ann, her open face glowing with gratification as she listened to her father's praise.
It was very pleasant there in the shelter of the cliffs. Presently a fleet of fishing boats, with unfurled to catch the evening breeze, appeared in sight, going up the channel, the light from the setting sun shining full upon them.
"How pretty they look!" cried Ann; "I wish they would come nearer so that we could have a better view of them."
"They will not do that," said her grandmother; "they are Brixham trawlers, and will keep well out at sea."
The conversation then turned upon fishing and boating, and, subsequently, to the expected visit of Dr. and Mrs. Reed, which had been arranged for the early part of September. Dr. Reed meant to take a fortnight's holiday and intended to leave his practice to the care of his partner, Mr. Luscombe, meanwhile.