with a long-drawn breath of excitement, on the edge of the hard chair
nearest the door.

"Not there. Go and sit in the arm-chair by the fire-place.
Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Oh!" gasped Huldah, almost too delighted to be able to find words to
answer with. There was more pleasure, though, in her tone than any
number of words could have conveyed.

"The kettle is on the boil. I was just going to have a cup myself,
before I went to bed."

"Oh, thank you, ma'am!" gasped Huldah, feebly, but again with a world
of gratitude in her tone.

"Put down your load for a time, then, and rest your arms." Then, as
her eyes fell on the baskets the child had been carrying, "Was it one
of those you offered me for a bit of bread?"

"Yes, ma'am," answered Huldah, shyly.

"Well, you meant well, I don't doubt, but those baskets are worth
more than a bit of bread. They ought to sell for eighteenpence or
two shillings each, I should say."

"Yes, ma'am, Aunt Emma always asks half-a-crown, and then comes down
to two shillings or eighteenpence," said Huldah, innocently.

"Who's Aunt Emma?"