CHAPTER VII.
"Much would have more, and lost all."-- _English Proverb_.
"Learn you to an ill habit, and ye'll ca't custom." _Scotch Proverb_.
The lane was full of colour that autumn, the first autumn of the convict's return.

The leaves turned early, and fell late, and made the hedges gayer than when the dog-roses were out; for not only were the leaves of all kinds brighter than many flowers, but the berries (from the holly and mountain-ash to the hips and haws) were so thick-set, and so red and shining, that, as my dear mother said, "they looked almost artificial." I remember it well, because of two things.

First, that Jem got five of the largest hips we had ever seen off a leafless dog-rose branch which stuck far out of the hedge, and picked the little green coronets off, so that they were smooth and glossy, and egg-shaped, and crimson on one side and yellow on the other; and then he got an empty chaffinch's nest close by and put the five hips into it, and took it home, and persuaded Alice our new parlourmaid that it was a robin redbreast's nest with eggs in it.

And she believed it, for she came from London and knew no better.
The second thing I remember that autumn by, is that everybody expected a hard winter because of the berries being so fine, and the hard winter never came, and the birds ate worms and grubs and left most of the hedge fruits where they were.
November was bright and mild, and the morning frosts only made the berries all the glossier when the sun came out.

We had one or two snow-storms in December, and then we all said, "Now it's coming!" but the snow melted away and left no bones behind.