My Pretty Sister 



illness. Playing about in the street one 

 day, I heard people saying he was drowned, 

 the news had just come to his mother that 

 the ship went down off Cape Finisterre, all 

 hands lost. I felt very sorry at the moment, 

 but I went on to school and forgot about it. 

 In the afternoon, a half-holiday, I went 

 up to see Esther. The room was very 

 sunny and hot, and the window was open ; 

 the ledge was but a foot from the ground, 

 and it opened out on to the leads over 

 the kitchen. This place Mother called 

 '' Harry's garden." We had no real garden ; 

 our little cobble-paved back yard, with its 

 high walls, was only good for hanging out 

 washing, but here on the leads were a great 

 many flower pots, large and small, and a 

 wooden box, and here flourished pansies, 

 sweet william, musk, and a few straggling 

 sweet peas. I was very fond of the flowers, 

 and was their nominal guardian, and was 

 very careful of them by fits and starts, but 

 it was Mary (now that Esther could not 

 do it) who again and again saved their 

 poor little dependent lives, by watering 

 them when they flagged for lack of care. 

 To-day I determined to do my duty by 

 them, and busied myself for some time in 

 pulling off dead leaves and blooms, and 

 collecting the snails that wrought such 

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