Willy was, indeed, a good-natured boy, and that in a different degree to what the common acceptation of the term implies; for I have known many children who thought themselves good-natured, because they gave away what they did not want, or deprived themselves of some superfluity, to relieve the wants of others. This boy, however, had no superfluities, but he gave up what he really wanted to his mother and sister, seeming never to consider himself; and his coat had not now been so ragged, if he had not expended the money which was to have bought a new one, on his little sister, the preceding winter. His poor mother had hoped to make it up to him, by the little she could earn at needle-work or spinning, but in this she had been disappointed. Her little girl had been ill of the measles in the spring, and all her resources had been then exhausted, in procuring proper nourishment and remedies for the little sufferer. Nor was this the only privation to which Willy submitted; for I am sure he frequently refused his share of their scanty provisions, that there might be more for his mother and sister. CHAP. VII. I was treated very well by this poor family, and, by degrees, got acquainted with their history. They had known better days. The father, when living, had been an honest, industrious, and thriving farmer; but a fire had, in one night, consumed all his stock, and thus reduced him and his poor children to a state little superior to beggary. He had lost all but his industry, and that he exerted for some time with indefatigable ardour; but the anxiety of his mind, and the continual fatigue he underwent, at length brought on a fever, which terminated his distresses and his life together. He had now been dead a twelvemonth, having left four children, (the two I have mentioned, and two much younger,) who must have gone to the workhouse, had it not been for Willy’s industry. He not only worked all day in the garden, but frequently went on errands to a neighbouring town in the evening; and such were his diligence and honesty, that all the neighbours were glad to employ him on these occasions. I must confess, that, though I greatly admired the conduct of this worthy family, I was not so happy in it, as I had heretofore been. Little Peggy had not much time to bestow on me; for, though only six years old, her mother thought it right to habituate her to domestic employments and the use of her needle, in both of which she was already very handy. I was, of course, confined much more than I liked; but my poor little mistress seemed so delighted to possess me, that I was not very anxious to leave her. However, my opinion was not consulted, for I soon after left her, owing to the following circumstances. As Peggy was one day standing at the cottage-door, with one of her patched frocks on, two young ladies came past. One of them accosting Peggy, said, “Who mended your frock so nicely, little girl?”