And so the tiny golden-haired tax-collector came to be well known in the country-side, and was missed greatly when the winter winds blew cold through the valley, and she had to be kept indoors. Then her bright little face was anxiously looked for by her old friends at the casement; and she would look out and wave her tiny hands, and tap loudly on the window-pane if they forgot to look for her. Jack's dwelling underwent great changes during the first year or two after his adoption of the child, for with the money brought by the Black Horseman, he not only improved and beautified the original structure till it was scarcely recognisable, but added a little room for the sole and especial use of his darling, which he fitted up with every comfort and luxury that she could possibly need for years to come. No little lady of distinction could have slept in a daintier cot than the one Jack chose for his little guest, and his lady neighbours were astonished at the taste and discretion he displayed in the furnishing and adornment of the baby's state apartment. Certainly it appeared that he was not considering her by any means as a "poor relation," or thinking of bringing her up as the descendant of relatives presumably sunk very low in the social scale. But since the money had been paid in so regularly, Jack's theory of the low estate of his distant kinsfolk had somewhat fallen through, and he confessed that in the lapse of years they might possibly have done far better for themselves than he himself had done.