In old days, when my excellent partner and I used to take our evening stroll up the field, we were wont to regard it quite as a grievance if a cousin, who lived at the far end of the hedge, came out and caught us and detained us for a gossip. But now I could hardly settle to my midday nap for thinking of the tinker-mother; and as to Mrs. Hedgehog, she almost annoyed me by her anxiety to see Christian. However, curiosity is the foible of her sex, and I accompanied her daily to the encampment without a murmur. The seven urchins we sent down to the burdocks to pick snails. It was not many days after that on which we heard the old tinker-mother relate Christian's history, that we were stopped on our way to the corner where we usually concealed ourselves, by hearing strange voices from the winding pathway above us. "It's a young man," said I. "It's Christian!" cried Mrs. Hedgehog. "I feel sure that it is not," said I; "but if you will keep quiet, I will creep a little forward and see." I am always in the right, as I make a point of reminding Mrs. Hedgehog whenever we dispute; and I was right on this occasion. The lad who spoke was a young gentleman of about seventeen, and no more like a gipsy than I am. His fair hair was closely cropped, his eyes were quick and bright, his manner was alert and almost anxious, and though he was very slight as well as very young, he carried himself with dignity and some little importance. A lady, much older than himself, was with him, whom he was helping down the path. "Take care, Gertrude, take care. There is no hurry, and I believe there's no one in the wood but ourselves." "The people at the inn told us that there were gipsies in the neighbourhood," said the lady; "and oh, Ted! this is exactly the wood I dreamt of, except the purple and white--" "Gertrude! What on earth are you after?" "The flowers, Ted, the flowers in my dream! There they are, a perfect carpet of them. White--oh, how lovely!--and there, on the other side, are the purple ones. What are they, dear? I know you are a good botanist. He always raved about your collection."