It was Jack, however, indulging in a slumber as the old horse, who knew his way in the district as well or better than his master, plodded soberly along to his destination. 'Oh! it is Jack!' Bryda exclaimed. 'Jack, Jack, do stop!' Jack Henderson opened his sleepy eyes and called 'Wo, wo!' to the horse. 'Oh, Jack, will you take me up, I am so tired and so--' Jack brought his huge frame down into the dirty road with a mighty thud, and said,-- 'Why, Bryda, what's up? What are you doing here? Lor'! don't take on like this,' for poor Bryda's self-possession suddenly forsook her, and she began to cry helplessly, like a tired and frightened child. 'There, get up,' Jack said, 'and I'll take you home, but for mercy's sake don't cry.' Bryda climbed up the steps of the waggon, and Flick, looking highly satisfied with the arrangement, rubbed his nose against Jack's leg, and whined as if to say, 'I know she will be safe now,' waited with his red tongue lolling out of his big mouth, panting hard after the manner of dogs on a hot day, till Jack gathered the slack reins in his hand and mounted to the seat by Bryda's side. 'Well,' he said, 'I was amazed to see you. Why, you are six miles from Dundry. Come along home with me, and--' 'No, no; I must get back. If you will wait I will tell you everything--and, Jack, I want to go to Bristol, to Madam Lambert's. That will be a help. I am no use at the farm, Aunt Dolly is always telling me so; and now, now they will have a hard fight to get through at all. Grandfather has got to sell up all the stock to pay a debt.' 'Nonsense, get along, I don't believe it,' Jack said. 'What do you mean?' 'What I say.' And then Bryda poured the whole story into Jack's sympathetic ears, which he received with sundry ejaculations, which were anything but complimentary to Squire Bayfield. But Jack, however sympathetic, had only one thing to advise. 'Don't pay the money to the young scoundrel, don't you do it, and go to Bristol and get out of all the bother.' 'It is not that I want to get out of the bother, Jack,' Bryda said. 'How can you think so? I want to help by going away. Why, yesterday, I wanted to go for my own pleasure, now I _must_ go to try and help. Perhaps Madam Lambert will give me wages in time, then I can be a real help, and send Bet some money, and get comforts for poor grandfather.' 'You must get comforts for yourself first,' Jack said. He was so pleased that his favourite scheme of getting Bryda to Bristol was to be carried out that he forgot everything else. 'I am going back Monday,' he said, 'and you can come along with me.' 'No,' Bryda said decidedly, as Jack drew a little nearer to her. 'No, Jack, I shall go before Monday. I shall try to make Madam Lambert take me. She is a sort of relation, you know; and if she won't, well, I must try to get into a haberdasher's shop--or be a servant--or--'