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Our Frank and other stories By: Amy Walton (1848-1899) |
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Here we have half a dozen short stories, in that wonderful Amy Walton
style, so very evocative of dear England as it used to be. Frank thinks life at home is a bit hard, as his father expects so much
of him, so he runs away. After several adventures he finds himself in
a very awkward situation, as the young companion he had fallen in with
turns out to be a thief. Luckily the thief's victim realises that
Frank is not a bad lad after all, makes no charge against him, and even
takes him home. So all is well that ends well. For the most part the other stories have a moral to tell, but they are
all charming, and you will enjoy reading to them or listening to them.
OUR FRANK, AND OTHER STORIES, BY AMY WALTON. STORY ONE, CHAPTER 1. OUR FRANK A BUCKINGHAMSHIRE STORY. " From east to west,
At home is best ."
German proverb . It was a mild spring evening, and Mrs Frank Darvell was toiling slowly
up Whiteleaf Hill on her way back from market. She had walked every
step of the way there to sell her ducklings, and now the basket on her
arm was heavy with the weight of various small grocery packets. Up till
now she had not felt so tired, partly because she had been walking along
the level high road, and partly because the way had been beguiled by the
chat of a friend; but after she had said good night to her crony at the
beginning of the village, and turned up the steep chalky road which led
to the hills, her fatigue increased with every step, and the basket
seemed heavier than ever. It was a very lonely mile she had to go
before reaching home; up and up wound the rough white road, and then
gave a sudden turn and ran along level a little while with dark woods on
either side. Then up again, steeper than ever, till you reached the top
of the hill, and on one side saw the plain beneath, dotted over with
villages and church spires, and on the other hand wide sloping beech
woods, which were just now delicately green with their young spring
leaves. Mrs Darvell set her basket down on the ground when she reached this
point, and drew a long breath; the worst of the walk was over now, and
she thought with relief how good it would be to pull off her boots, and
hoped that Frank had not forgotten to have the kettle on for tea. She
presently trudged on again with renewed spirits, and in ten minutes more
the faint blue smoke from a chimney caught her eye; that was neighbour
Gunn's cottage, and their own was close by. "And right thankful I be,"
said Mrs Darvell to herself as she unlatched the little garden gate. The cottage was one of a small lonely cluster standing on the edge of an
enormous beech wood. Not so very long ago the wood had covered the
whole place; but gradually a clearing had been made, the ground
cultivated, and a little settlement had sprung up, which was known as
"Green Highlands." It belonged to the parish of Danecross, a village in
the plain below, three good miles away; so that for church, school, and
public house the people had to descend the long hill up which Mrs
Darvell had just struggled. Shops there were none, even in Danecross,
and for these they had to go a mile further, to the market town of
Daylesbury. But all this was not such a hardship to the people of Green
Highlands as might be supposed, and many of them would not have changed
their cottage on the hill for one in the village on the plain; for the
air of Green Highlands was good, the children "fierce," which in those
parts means healthy and strong, and everyone possessed a piece of garden
big enough to grow vegetables and accommodate a family pig. So the people, though poor, were contented, and had a more prosperous
well to do air than some of the Danecross folk, who received higher
wages and lived in the valley. The room Mrs Frank Darvell entered with a heavy, tired tread was a
good sized kitchen, one end of which was entirely occupied by a huge
open fireplace without any grate; on the hearth burned and crackled a
bright little wood fire, the flames of which played merrily round a big
black kettle hung on a chain... Continue reading book >>
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Kids |
Fiction |
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