Produced by David Garcia, Tiffany Vergon, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks, and the Online Distributed Proofreaders Team BROUGHT HOME. BY HESBA STRETTON. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. UPTON RECTORY CHAPTER II. ANN HOLLAND CHAPTER III. WHAT WAS HER DUTY? CHAPTER IV. A BABY'S GRAVE CHAPTER V. TOWN'S TALK CHAPTER VI. THE RECTOR'S RETURN CHAPTER VII. WORSE THAN DEAD CHAPTER VIII. HUSBAND AND WIFE CHAPTER IX. SAD DAYS CHAPTER X. A SIN AND A SHAME CHAPTER XI. LOST CHAPTER XII. A COLONIAL CURACY CHAPTER XIII. SELF-SACRIFICE CHAPTER XIV. FAREWELLS CHAPTER XV. IN DESPAIR CHAPTER XVI. A LONG VOYAGE CHAPTER XVII. ALMOST SHIPWRECKED CHAPTER XVIII. SAVED CHAPTER I. UPTON RECTORY So quiet is the small market town of Upton, that it is difficult to believe in the stir and din of London, which is little more than an hour's journey from it. It is the terminus of the single line of rails branching off from the main line eight miles away, and along it three trains only travel each way daily. The sleepy streets have old-fashioned houses straggling along each side, with trees growing amongst them; and here and there, down the roads leading into the the country, which are half street, half lane, green plots of daisied grass are still to be found, where there were once open fields that have left a little legacy to the birds and children of coming generations. Half the houses are still largely built of wood from the forest of olden times that has now disappeared; and ancient bow-windows jut out over the side causeways. Some of the old exclusive mansions continue to boast in a breastwork of stone pillars linked together by chains of iron, intended as a defence against impertinent intruders, but more often serving as safe swinging-places for the young children sent to play in the streets. Perhaps of all times of the year the little town looks its best on a sunny autumn morning, with its fine film of mist, when the chestnut leaves are golden, and slender threads of gossamer are floating in the air, and heavy dews, white as the hoar-frost, glisten in the sunshine. But at any season Upton seems a tranquil, peaceful, out-of-the-world spot, having no connection with busier and more wretched places.