"Didn't Mrs. Corbet say any thing about the thimble this morning?" asked Anne.
"No: I don't think she has missed it yet. But, when she does, what shall I ever do or say?"
"It, is very unlucky, and that is the truth," said Anne. "I don't doubt that the beggar-woman got it; or perhaps a magpie spied it and took it away. If we could only find out where it was gone! If there were only a wise woman, now, like the one my aunt went to about her mistress's silver spoons!"
"What do you mean by a Wise woman, Anne?"
"Oh, a woman that can tell all sorts of things,—how to cure cattle, and how to find things that are lost or stolen. There was such a woman in Stanton-Corbet once; but Parson Burgess would not let her practise her arts there. He said she was a deceiver and an im——— What was the word, now?"
"An impostor?" said Lucy.
"Yes, an impostor. He preached a sermon about it, more by token it did not do much good, for the people went to her just the same: so, finally, he drove her away out of the parish."
"Did he say it was wicked to go to such people?"
"Yes, I believe so. I was young then, and didn't mind so much about sermons. But here we are at the lodge."
Lucy displayed her treasures, and had the pleasure of seeing one of the pretty little twin-girls dressed in the clothes she had brought, and also of being flattered and praised for her goodness and condescension.