the driver, very glad to refresh themselves with some of this delicious water, which tasted as cool as if it had flowed through ice. They now approached Steephill, a modern castle, which has been erected on a spot formerly called the Queen of the Undercliffe; and the grounds of which certainly appeared as pretty as wood and smooth turf could make them. On the road-side, sitting by a little stream of water which gushed out of the broken rocks, sat a large Kittiwake Gull. “Look, mamma,” cried Agnes, pointing to the bird, “there is the very gull we saw at Black Gang Chine.” [Illustration: _Fig. 15._ THE KITTIWAKE GULL (_Larus rissa_). ] “Not the same, I think,” said Mrs. Merton. “There are a great many of these gulls in the neighbourhood; and there was one, some years ago, kept by some cottagers at Bonchurch, which they had had twenty-seven years. Every spring, when the wild gulls arrived, it used to fly away with them, and amuse itself with them all the summer; but, about August, when they desert the island, it used to return to its old quarters, and would remain there all the winter.” They now passed rapidly on, and soon reached Ventnor, where Mr. Merton had intended to stay for some time. He changed his mind, however, as soon as he saw its hilly situation; as, though Ventnor is now a fashionable place for consumptive patients, it is impossible to find anywhere a hundred yards of level ground; and every body knows how difficult it is for a person with weak lungs to climb a hill. Besides, new houses were building in every direction, and the smell of lime and mortar, and the jarring of stone-cutting, have an unpleasant effect on the senses and nerves of an invalid. He, therefore, determined to go on; and, after a short stay, they proceeded to Bonchurch. “I have heard,” said Agnes, “of two things near Ventnor that I should like to see; and these are the Wishing Well and the church at Godshill.” “And why should you like to see these things?” asked Mr. Merton. “Because,” replied Agnes, blushing, “they say that if you go up the hill to the well without once looking back, and drink of the water without turning round, you will have three wishes.” “How can you believe such nonsense?” said Mr. Merton. “I don’t believe it, papa; but I should only like to see the well.” “And, supposing you could have three wishes granted, what would they be?” asked Mrs. Merton. “First,” said Agnes, “I would wish papa quite well; then I would wish you plenty of money, mamma; and then I think I should like to be very clever.” “Your papa and I ought to be very much obliged by your first wishes; but I think I could put you in the way of getting the last wish fulfilled without a wishing-well.” “Ah! I know what you mean, mamma. You mean that if I study hard I may make myself as clever as I like.” “You are quite right, and, if you confess the truth, I think you will allow that I am right also.” “But, mamma, I want to be clever without—without—”