ing, and asked how her master and mistress were, he begged that she would take the tea and mutton chops to them with Master Willy Watkins' best respects and compliments. Betty, however, told him that they were not at home, and also that Mr. Wiseman had given orders that all the things. sent to him should always be taken to some gentlemen, neighbours and friends of his, who had undertaken to see that they should be all properly distributed to the poor people, and all the money carefully applied by them to good purposes. For really her master, said Betty, had so much to do in other ways that he had not time to attend to these things as he wished, and he did not like, for many reasons, having the charge of so much money. Besides which, the gentlemen were so pleased to be of use, and many of them knew even better than Mr. Wiseman how to employ the money to advantage, and to help the poor when they were in want. Only Betty added that Mrs. Wiseman had left word that poor old Martha Budd, in Bear Lane, had had nothing for dinner, and her husband was a good worthy man, and that if anything came, it might be sent to her, for she was sure the gentlemen

of the Committee would approve of this. And so Cock Robin flew off to the Committee, which was composed of several excellent noblemen and gentlemen in the neighbourhood, and some wealthy manufacturers, and in fact the principal people in the district, who arranged among themselves to help Mr. Wiseman in his work, and who actually looked upon their tenants and cottagers, their labourers and workmen, as parts of their own large family, and delighted in doing all they could to make them good and happy, and relieve them in distress, and help them in their struggles to get on; and I am happy to say that they were many, very many, of them Englishmen. And I am sometimes inclined to think that if Mr. Wiseman was enabled to do so much good, it was because he asked and persuaded these kind gentlemen to help him in his work, and to take the greatest part of it out of his own hands, especially all that which related to the management of money.

So the Robin asked the Committee's leave to carry the tea and mutton chops to poor Martha Budd, and, while he is doing this, we must return to the Forest.

CHAPTER VI.

THE OGRE AND OGRESS.

HERE Willy and the Giant were fast asleep, and I am sorry to say both snoring. And you may form a faint notion of the Giant's snore by the horrible noise, the grunting and groaning, which the railway engine makes just before it begins to move. And now we must enquire what the Witch and her two dear friends were doing. I have never told you who those two dear friends were; but I am sure you will like to know that, although they were neither Witches nor Giants and Giantesses, they were, what is the next best thing in a Fairy tale, an Ogre and an Ogress. I need not explain that they were fond of little children, but fond of them as the New Zealand chief was of his second wife. For this chief had two when he proposed to become a Christian and come to church, but was informed that this could not be allowed without he parted

from one of his wives, whom he loved dearly. And this for a long time he could not bring himself to do. But at last he conquered his feelings, made the sacrifice, and appeared before the Bishop asking leave to come to church. The Bishop of course was much pleased, but wished to know how he had provided for his dear wife, from whom it cost him so much to separate. 'O,' said the New Zealand chief, 'I did love her so much, I did eat her.' And this was the kind of love which Ogres and Ogresses have for little children. They love them because they are good to eat. And, of course, you think this is very strange. And yet I suspect there is a great and mysterious connection between loving. and eating. And I remember a German gentleman describing his affection for his wife when first he married her; but since then she had grown very ugly and very disagreeable. Ah!' he said, 'when I did marry her first I did love her so much that I did wish to eat her. And now,' he continued after a pause, and now,' he sighed, 'I wish I had.'

And I think too, often, that the love which children have for grown-up persons, even for uncles and aunts, even papas and mammas, is

something of the same kind as their affection for apple pie and jelly. At least, uncles and aunts, and papas and mammas, seem to think so; they think the way to make children love them is to give them sugar plums, and barley sugar, sweet cake and tartlets. One of these days, my dears, you will find that they are not wholly wrong; that eating and loving are not so disconnected as you think. But I must not wander away from the story. You will wish me of course to describe to you the Ogre and the Ogress, and I need not tell you that they were very ugly, for, of course, any one who wished to eat you up, or do you any mischief, must be ugly. And yet sometimes those persons, who would do you most harm, are not ugly, but beautiful-beautiful as they appear to you. Snakes are very beautiful, and some of the most lovely flowers are deadly poisons. But the Ogre and Ogress were not beautiful. Rather, as it would be impossible for you to imagine how ugly they were, it would be equally useless in me to attempt to describe them. The Ogre was a native of Hungary. He was so thin as to be almost a skeleton; his face was ghastly, his cheeks hollow, his eyes