devoted little fellow found a great many ways of helping her. He was
now thirteen, and was as handy about the house as a girl. When he was
not better occupied, he would often go to the river and catch a mess of
fish, which was so much clear gain.

The winter which had just passed, had brought a great deal of sickness
to the little black house. The children all had the measles, and two
of them the scarlet fever, so that Mrs. Bright could not work much.
Her affairs were not in a very prosperous condition when the spring
opened; but the future was bright, and the widow, trusting in
Providence, believed that all would end well.

One thing troubled her. She had not been able to save any thing for
Mr. Hardhand. She could only pay her interest; but she hoped by the
first of July to give him twenty-five dollars of the principal. But
the first of July came, and she had only five dollars of the sum she
had partly promised her creditor. She could not so easily recover from
the disasters of the hard winter, and she had but just paid off the
little debts she had contracted. She was nervous and uneasy as the day
approached. Mr. Hardhand always abused her when she told him she could
not pay him, and she dreaded his coming.

It was the first of July on which Bobby caught those pouts, caught the
horse, and on which Tom Spicer had "caught a Tartar."

Bobby hastened home, as we said at the conclusion of the last chapter.
He was as happy as a lord. He had fish enough in his basket for
dinner, and for breakfast the next morning, and money enough in his
pocket to make his mother as happy as a queen, if queens are always
happy.