Such wells or "purgatories," as they are called, are common enough in the old-fashioned kitchens of certain English districts.
Mrs.Gum, ready now, had been about to follow her husband; but his suggestion--that the girl was watching an opportunity to make acquaintance with their undesirable neighbour, Pike--struck her motionless.
It seemed that she could never see this man without a shiver, or overcome the fright experienced when she first met him.

It was on a dark autumn night.

She was coming through the garden when she discerned, or thought she discerned, a light in the abandoned shed.

Thinking of fire, she hastily crossed the stile that divided their garden from the waste land, and ran to it.

There she was confronted by what she took to be a bear--but a bear that could talk; for he gruffly asked her who she was and what she wanted.