quite, quite still."

"Yes, Aggie, I don't see any harm in your going out with him. I am sure
he will only take you when it is fine, and he will look after you well.
You like him, don't you?"

"Oh! I do, grampa; and you know, it was him who got me out of the
water, else I should never have come out, and never have seen grampa
again; and he has made me a boat. Oh! yes, I do like him!"

"That's right, my dear; always stick to those who are good to you."

A few days after this, as James was sailing the toy boat, for Aggie's
amusement, in a pool, a boy sauntered up. He was somewhat taller than
James Walsham, and at least two years older. He was well dressed, and
James knew him as the nephew and heir of the squire.

It was not often that Richard Horton came down into the village. He was
accustomed to be treated with a good deal of deference at the Hall, and
to order servants and grooms about pretty much as he chose, and the
indifference with which the fisher boys regarded him offended him
greatly. He was a spoilt boy. His uncle had a resident tutor for him,
but the selection had been a bad one. The library was large and good,
the tutor fond of reading, and he was content to let the boy learn as
little as he chose, providing that he did not trouble him. As to any
instruction beyond books, he never thought of giving it.

The squire never interfered. He was a silent and disappointed man. He
attended to his duties as a magistrate, and to the management of his
estate, but seldom went beyond the lodge gates. He took his meals by