58 JUNE. 



his vain boasting, and comparative insigni- 

 ficance. 



As it happened, though my produce was 

 comparatively small, it proved of far more value 

 than when I frequently boasted more than I 

 could conveniently carry. The storm had driven 

 me into the stone kitchen of my rural hotel, 

 and I observed a very decently dressed woman 

 seated in the hollow bench, with two children, 

 their little heads hid in her lap. I imagined 

 them very happy, and observed to mine hostess, 

 how delightful it was to find the peasant so 

 lodged, and resting in a secure and peaceful 

 abode, — how happy they must feel. 



" Ah," she replied, " they are resting, to be 

 sure, Sir, yet are any thing but happy ; they 

 have journeyed many miles this hot day, and 

 are on their way to Portsmouth, where the 

 father of those babes is hourly expected to 

 arrive. It appears he has been shipwrecked, and 

 returning in another vessel ; they are without 

 money, and I have none to give them, and they 



