Seeing Mr. _Heavitree_ look much agitated, and supposing he might like to be alone with Mrs. _Bowerbank_, I rose and left the Room, to read my Letter up-Stairs, thinking she might send the Girls away if she wished. On running through _Prudence's_ Letter, I was quite disappointed to find it contain so little, whether of News or Affection. Mr. _Fenwick_ and _Tom_, she never so much as named; my _Mother_, she said, was pretty well, my _Father_ the same as usual; there were sundry little Details about our Business, but not a Word I cared to hear; ending with the same comfortless Burthen, "We can get on perfectly well without you." I was so tired of the Country, that I had hoped there would have been some Wish expressed for my Company, which would have been a decent Pretext for my Return; but no! Nothing of the Sort! I remained musing over my Letter with great Mortification till I got quite numbed with Cold, and was roused by hearing the Gate shut. I saw Mr. _Heavitree_ going away; and when I went down, Mrs. _Bowerbank_ was not in the Room, and the Girls and their Brother were still roasting their Chestnuts. The next Day was much like the preceding, except that a rapid Thaw set in. On the Day following that, a Post was due, and _Joe_ was sent through Mud and Mire to see if there were any Letter from _Gatty_. There was not; but there was one for me; that made me think I would never wantonly desire a Pretext for a Recal again. It was from _Prudence_; but oh, in how different a Spirit from the other! She wrote in the utmost Hurry and Distress to tell me that my _Father_ had fallen down Stairs and broken his Leg, and had likewise injured his Head so much, that Dr. _Elwes_ thought there was a Concussion of the Brain. My dear _Mother_ and _Prue_ were incessantly in Attendance on him, and considered him in great Danger; they hoped I would return as soon as I possibly could. With my Eyes full of Tears, I went to communicate my bad News to Mrs. _Bowerbank_, who was vastly distressed for me, and would say Nothing to delay my Journey, especially now that the Thaw rendered the Roads much safer. So I packed up at once, and, the next Morning, left them all with many Thanks for their Kindness. _Joe_, who had become quite my little Cavalier, accompanied me to the Corner, where we met the Coach, carrying for me a Basket of the large Cat's-head Apples that some call "Go-no-farther." I was the only Passenger, and was two Days on the Road instead of one; but performed the Journey in perfect Safety.