SCOTSWOOD WARREN.

7

grand, the wild, and the sylvan. It formed part of an extensive tract of waste land that had been enclosed under the authority of an Act of Parliament, and derived its name from that by which the surrounding neighbourhood had been known from time immemorial. Enclosures of other large portions of the district were afterwards made; but they all had other names assigned them, and the house and grounds of Sir Lionel Shelley were called, par excellence, The Warren.' The mansion was visible for many miles around, being conspicuous not only by reason of its elevated site, but for its extensive frontage of only one storey in height. It had two wings, to each of which extensive conservatories and aviaries were attached.

The grounds were laid out with artistic taste, from the rich mosaic of flower-beds that sloped from the terrace, to the clusters of graceful shrubs planted near the house as a relief to the intensity of the light. There were two spots in them which were especially inviting: one, 'The Hollow,' literally a hollow, with a few tall trees, a rich undergrowth of tangle, and such wild flowers as can live happily in the shade; the other, 'The Wood,' a thick plantation of box trees, with here and there an opening where the ground was covered with soft mossy grass of a lovely green-a place in which Puck might be supposed to receive his friends, and follow them about and around through bog, and bush, and brake, and brier.'

Such is a brief sketch of the home at which little May arrived, in company with her nurse and Sir Lionel, on a lovely September evening of the year in which this story begins.

When they reached the lodge, the gate was opened by a tottering old woman, who emerged from a pretty moss and rosecovered porch. This picturesque figure was known as Bettie Froggatt; her body was bent almost double, and her nose and

chin were in close proximity. Her dress consisted of a mobcap bound with black and kept in its place by a chinnum, a short linsey gown, the body of which was crossed by a yellow kerchief, a check apron, white gaiters, and wooden shoes. Sir Lionel considered her an ornamental appendage to his grounds, and accorded her some distinction in consequence, always making it a rule to exchange a few good-natured words with her whenever opportunity offered.

How now, dame?' he inquired, as she stood fumbling at the gate. 'Asleep, were you, in spite of the rheumatism? Have you managed to frighten away the foxes? Eh? How get on the young turkeys?'

Not one of these questions being heard, they were, as a matter of course, unanswered; and the old dame, concluding Sir Lionel's harangue to have consisted of a detailed inquiry after her health, began to unfold to view some hot tiles she had wound round her arm as a cure for rheumatism; when the coachman, not thinking it necessary to await the completion of the ceremony, drove quickly on, only leaving time for a good-natured nod from her master. The noise of the voices and the sudden halt awoke little May from a long slumber, and Sir Lionel lifted her up to the carriage window, to take in her first view of Scotswood.

It was an evening to be remembered, earth and sky combining to form one of Nature's loveliest pictures, but it was difficult to decide as to its effect upon May, for she only gave a deep sigh, such as often escapes from a little burdened heart in novel or exciting circumstances, and then relapsed into the slumber that had been abruptly disturbed.

The travellers were met in the hall by Mrs. Shelley and Miss Bosanquet the former an erect, spare, stately lady, with a high

MAY'S WELCOME.

9

nose and piercing dark eyes; the latter a delicate, gentle-looking creature, evidently a sufferer from some wasting illness.

Both looked pleased to welcome the little girl, although their welcome was characteristically different; Mrs. Shelley proposing that she should have some supper and go to bed at once, 'in order that dinner might not longer be kept waiting;' while Miss Bosanquet, thinking only of the delight of having possession of her brother's child, tried to carry her away, when finding her strength insufficient, she placed her in her nurse's arms, and followed with her from the room.

er;

Sir Lionel called out that May was to come down to dinner and accordingly, after the necessary time given to her toilet, in a room suggestive of one in a fairy palace, little May found herself seated at table in a dazzling light, very bewildering to her sleepy senses, a position rather entertaining for its novelty than its agreeableness.

Mrs. Shelley was manifestly displeased at seeing her there, and, after putting on her spectacles and closely scrutinizing her, said reproachfully to Sir Lionel, 'I suppose it's your folly having her brought here?

May opened her eyes wide, and confronted the old lady with looks of doubtful inquiry, as if to decide whether she were her friend, and in her fit of abstraction upset one of the many perplexing appurtenances that were put in her way; whereupon Mrs. Shelley started so frantically as to cause the blood to rush over the face, arms, and neck of the involuntary author of the mischief. Seeing the frightened look on the poor child's face, Sir Lionel went to her aid, saying, 'She has more wine-glasses than she knows what to do with, so thinks it as well to dispose of a few. She knows how to manage matters, and to eat her dinner too, I can tell you.'

May restrained her rising tears with commendable self-control, a little hysterical sob being the only indication of unusual emotion, and proceeded to perform the duties of the table in a way to justify Sir Lionel's opinion as to her capabilities, until Miss Bosanquet, alarmed at the probable effect of the esculent varieties of which she was partaking, told her to say 'Good night,' and that nurse should come and take her to bed.

6

She's not going to bed yet, certainly not,' said Sir Lionel, decidedly.

'Tertainly not,' echoed the child; at which sign of appreciation Sir Lionel was of course delighted; while Mrs. Shelley— wondering whether all intervention in the management of the child was to be disallowed, and whether this treatment of her was to be a precedent for future occasions-looked very severe, and gave her son, who had always been in the habit of deferring to her opinion in cases where his dilettanteism was not concerned, the uncomfortable feeling that he was setting her will at defiance. He was soon glad to make a move, and, without waiting for dessert, caught up a Brobdignagian bunch of grapes, and, giving them to May, carried her off to the drawing-room.

The accumulation of all sorts of knicknackeries, useless and expensive, had been hitherto Sir Lionel's hobby, and the style of furniture and ornaments in the Scotswood drawing-room were such as might be found in the houses of the old French noblesse. For many years he had returned from abroad, laden with what Mrs. Shelley, in the strong language more in vogue in the last generation than the present, was pleased to call his foreign gimcracks; and so full was the house that it frequently happened that a choice marble or bronze could find a no more suitable standing-place than a shelf in a lumber-room or an outhouse.

AFTER-DINNER AMUSEMENTS.

II

Now he seemed about to find a new interest; for, after placing May in a fanciful seat he had had covered for her with a leopard-skin, he proceeded to set in motion various mechanical toys collected for her amusement, showing an amount of energy such as the ladies had never before seen him display.

Figures were set to dance to the tune of a musical-box; babies cried 'Mamma;' cats swallowed mice wholesale, and birds sang; until May, quite bewildered with the multiplicity of novelties, turned for relief to a more familiar pastime, and began to play with a kitten that had crept into the room, and was then having a chase after her tail.

'Do you think to supply the child with toys at this rate?' asked Mrs. Shelley, in a somewhat gruff and satirical tone of voice. 'When one sees what is considered necessary for the amusement of the rising generation, it makes the elders wonder how they managed to get through their own childhood. I should have said these might be distributed over twelve months at least.'

'Would it not be better to reserve some of them for especial occasions?' suggested Miss Bosanquet. When they seldom come they wished-for come,' she added, conciliating Sir Lionel by quoting his favourite author.

Here every one was attracted by the noise of a cock-crowing and a flapping of wings; and, on discovering that it came from a French clock that stood in the corner of the room, May fairly screamed with delight.

Pleased at her pleasure, Sir Lionel laboured (as people unaccustomed to children so often do labour) to describe mechanism quite beyond the child's comprehension; but May was sufficiently amused with watching effects without troubling herself as to the cause. The jewelled bird was very attractive; then