I then ordered Fritz to descend to the yard, to kill a fowl, pluck and boil it, to make broth,--a wholesome and light nourishment for our dear invalid.

I told one of his brothers to assist him, and Jack and Francis, frequently employed under their mother, were ready in a moment.

Ernest alone remained quietly on his seat, which I attributed to his usual indolence, and tried to make him ashamed of it.

"Ernest," said I, "you are not very anxious to oblige your mother; you sit as if the thunderbolt had struck you." "It has, indeed, rendered me unfit to be of any service to my good mother," said he, quietly; and, drawing his right hand from under his waistcoat, he showed it to me, most frightfully black and burnt.
This dear child, who must have suffered very much, had never uttered a complaint, for fear of alarming his mother; and even now he made a sign to me to be silent, lest she should hear, and discover the truth.

She soon, however, fell into a sleep, which enabled me to attend to poor Ernest, and to question him about the accident.