suffering cottagers; it was made so as to hold a bottle upright, at one end, or a tin, which fitted into it, as broth, wine, or beer, might be the thing required, whilst the other end was divided into two parts, one above the other, to hold meat and bread, or whatever was to go to them. This basket it had always been a great privilege to carry, and Lady De Courcy had it fitted up thus neatly, to give her children the habit of attending to the feelings, as well as to the actual wants, of those around them; and she often told them to be careful, lest, when they expected to raise gratitude by their gifts, they did not arouse angry passions, by an unkind, or, at least, a careless manner of bestowing them; or cause mortification, instead of pleasure, to those whom they wished to serve.

"of

"I often think," said Lady De Courcy, what a poor woman once said to me, that 'the kind word was more to her than the money, for she could not buy it." "

CHAPTER V.

"Oh! is it not a pleasant thing to wander through the woods;
To look upon the painted flowers, and watch the opening buds;
Or, seated in the deep cool shade at some tall ash tree's root,
To fill my little basket with the sweet and scented fruit?''
Song of the Strawberry Girl.

Most of the party had agreed to meet, after passing an hour or two in their various pursuits, in a wood which arose, on natural terraces, over a bright sparkling stream, within half-a-mile of De Courcy Lodge.

The natural beauty of the spot had been so far assisted, as to have one narrow gravel walk kept neat for damp weather, and for those who feared the grass; whilst winding paths of vivid green tempted the wanderer in every direction, and here and there copse and clump were left untouched, for the benefit of those who loved to encounter a little trouble and difficulty in their rambles, and to be the discoverers of new scenes and new beauties.

Of this latter number, we may imagine Master Henry to be not the least active, and on the day of which I am speaking, he had won his way to the very centre of one of these clumps, and joined the party, when they had assembled under a group of trees in a more open space, with a face flushed with eagerness and delight; he had seen a water-wagtail feeding a cuckoo.

"Indeed!" exclaimed several voices at once, "I should like to see it also ;" and Henry was soon the willing, and perhaps a little proud, leader of a band of explorers, as he called them; though, he reminded them, he was the Columbus, and they but the Vespucius, following in his track.

Henry was a great admirer of Columbus, and felt very indignant that another should give a name to a country which he had himself discovered; but Lady De Courcy had rather reconciled him to this fact, by once remarking, she thought, could Columbus have been made aware of the misery which would afterwards be inflicted on those Indians, whom he was so delighted to find, and hoped to benefit, he would rather have been a disappointed mau all his life, than have pointed out the way to their oppressors; and would rather have had his name forgotten, than placed at the head of such a list.

William looked grave at his mother's observa

tion. "Do you not agree with me, William?" said Lady De Courcy, surprised by his manner. "Indeed I do," he replied; "but, I was then thinking, whether he now regretted having made his discoveries."

"I think I may venture to answer that question in the negative," was her reply; "for, as I feel confident that every circumstance which happens here is permitted for some wise and good purpose, so I feel assured that Columbus now knows, and rejoices, in the end accomplished; yet, though feeling the offence must come, he would have shrunk from being the instrument."

་

"I do not quite understand you, mamma,” said Henry.

"I mean, my dear," said Lady De Courcy, "that could Columbus have known, before, how much the Peruvians would have been made to suffer here, even though he had also known that it would lead to their happiness hereafter, he would not have wished to have been the first to find, and so carry such trials to them; at least, it would have been with a very different feeling that he would have done so."

Henry quite understood this, and felt pleased

that Columbus did not know what the poor Indians were to endure; and how often have we reason to exclaim, "It is well for us to be blind to the future, and to feel that we have only to walk in the path of duty, and to trust implicitly to the guidance of One whose eye is over all His works."

Just before the party reached the centre of the copse, Henry put up his finger to enjoin silence, and then motioned to them to peep through the openings amongst the branches, when they saw, as he had told them, a water-wagtail tending upon a full-fledged cuckoo, which appeared quite as well able to assist himself as the wagtail was to assist him; still the latter seemed proud of her well-grown nursling, and, whilst they were watching her, she flew off, and presently returned with an insect in her beak, for the luncheon, Henry supposed, of her foster-child, who evidently was too much pleased by her attentions to wish to fly away from them, though he did not wish to form an acquaintance with any other of the wagtail family, for, during her absence, another had approached him, but was driven away, with anything but a civil or gentle hint to keep his distance; and master cuckoo himself had taken a pretty long flight for a