the bright eager eyes, was the cowed and sorrowful Petronella of a
few days back. Cuthbert looked at her with glad pride as she talked
to him and petted the docile ass, who came and stood beside them
and got a full share of such things as were pleasant to his palate.
Petronella had never had the care of a live thing before, and was
delighted with the affection shown towards her at once by the
gentle creature.

Her sleep that night in the tree was sound and refreshing; and when
she joined Cuthbert, dressed in her suit of boys' garments;
laughing, blushing, and delighted with the freedom of motion that
they gave her; he found it hard to believe it was really
Petronella, and vowed it would not be hard to call her Peter, for
that there was little enough of the Petronella of old days to be
found in her.

And from that day forward a happy life began for the brother and
sister thus strangely located in the pixies' dell. Each day saw the
girl growing stronger, brighter, and happier, till she could
scarcely believe it was so short a time since she had fled from her
father's house; whilst Cuthbert, intent upon his plans and his
engineering operations, grew brown and muscular and self reliant,
watching carefully and tenderly over his sister, but spending his
time in healthful toil, and in working out self-imposed problems,
confident that these would in the end succeed in enabling him to
carry out the purpose of his heart.

The pixies' well proved very deep. Soundings taken by the rope
showed that only too clearly. The water flowed three feet over the
false bottom Robin had contrived the better to conceal his hiding