porridge. Will you come and have supper with us, Will?"

"I have just had my tea," he said, "and a supper of bitter herbs into
the bargain, for my father angered me by something he said. He is
changeable as the wind, and I was roaming over here to seek for
calmness from the sea wind, and perhaps a talk with Sara."

"Yes, come! She is in the herb garden gathering her bear's claws and
rue; 'tis the proper time for them. But first we must cut the bracken."

Will took her sickle and soon cut a pile of the dry brittle fuel,
binding it with a rope which she carried; and turning towards the
cottage, they dragged it behind them.

"You go and seek mother," said Morva, "while I go and boil the
porridge."

And in the garden Will found Sara stooping over her herb bed, and
deeply intent upon her task.

The sun was setting now, and threw its ruddy beams upon the sunny
corner, and upon the aged face and figure of the old woman.

"Well, 'machgen i," she said, straightening herself. "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing," said Will; "only, roaming about the moor, I came in to
see you, and Morva has asked me to have supper with you--you are
gathering your herbs?"

"Yes, 'tis time to dry them and hang them up under the rafters; if they