At last, after large drops of rain had begun to fall, the servants who stood beside the impatient horses, descried the figure of a boy running down the side of one of the opposite hills, and exclamations of joy were heard from all the party. Charles Fletcher made but little apology. Most probably he had scarcely once thought whether he was keeping his friends waiting or not. He repeated that he had had a delightful stroll with an old gamekeeper; and, patting his dog, he took his seat in the carriage beside his now rejoicing aunt, with the utmost composure and self-satisfaction.

But whatever might be the satisfaction of Charles Fletcher with himself, and his own mode of proceeding, his feelings appeared not to have been participated in by the rest of the party; for, on the following morning, when a proposal was made to visit a neighbouring valley, there was a general declaration (Miss Fletcher and her nephew being out of the room,) that each would rather remain at home "if that intolerable boy and his dog must be of the party."

At home, therefore, they all remained, though many would gladly have gone, had it been possible to get rid of Charles and his dog; and not until Miss Fletcher had settled herself at Matlock, would the company venture upon a similar experiment to that which had failed so memorably at Haddon Hall. Even then, on the first mention of an excursion, there was a general proposal

to have "no boys ;" and it was only on the promise of Henry to give no trouble, that he was permitted to go. It is true his pride was a little mortified at having to submit to such a condition; but he soon forgot his mortification, and everything else that was disagreeable, in the pleasure of looking around amongst scenes of a character so entirely new to him as the caverns of Derbyshire, some of the largest of which the party visited, and had the satisfaction of finding that Henry not only kept his word by giving no trouble, but that he actually added to the pleasure of others by the many kind attentions he was happy to show, the real assistance which from his strength and agility he was able to render, and the pleased attention with which he listened whenever there was anything curious to be described.

One of the most important of these natural hollows, situated at Matlock Baths, is called Rutland Cavern, and is beautifully ornamented by varieties of metallic ore, and those brilliant crystallizations which abound in this neighbourhood, formed by the dripping through the roof and sides of water impregnated with minute particles of crystal.

To Henry's observant eye, this was indeed a most astonishing scene; and the more so, when, a lighted torch being drawn up to the roof of the cavern, all these shining particles glittered like thousands of gems; while the deep shade of the inner recesses, the strange

forms assumed by the rocks, the vaulted arches, and the mysterious echoes, gave the place altogether a character so much like what he had imagined of enchantment, that he scarcely liked to hear his father delivering a lecture on geology amidst such a scene. Recollecting, however, that although he did not like it, some others might, he stood very still, determined not to interrupt what was going on, and by degrees he too became attentive like the rest.

The next excursion of the party was to one of those deep narrow valleys so peculiar to Derbyshire; and this time, Henry was not only permitted to go, but actually voted in, some of the ladies declaring that they should have been unable to climb the rocks without his assistance. It was a proud moment for Henry, and repaid him for a great deal of trouble. His mamma, too, looked very much delighted when she heard this; but Mr. Gray, casting a grave look at his boy, said it was all nonsense, and the ladies would make a simpleton of him. So Henry thought to himself he would help them all the same, whenever an opportunity occurred for being useful, but, above all things, he would not appear to do so for the sake of being praised.

It was well for Henry on this day that he had made. two good resolutions first, never to spoil a party of pleasure by trying to please himself alone; and secondly,

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never to pride himself too much upon the flattery of fine ladies. But for the first, he would this day most certainly have rowed about in a boat which lay so temptingly by the side of the river, but which no one of the party appeared to trust but himself; and but for the second, his head might have been turned with conceit, for the ladies being really afraid of slipping from the rocks into the water below, said all manner of kind things to him just at the moment he was helping them, and in probability forgot them the next.

It was indeed a pleasant day to all; and evening found the party still lingering on the banks of the little river, where, pent up between rugged cliffs, it forms the well-known valley called Miller's Dale.* All enjoying the same view with the same feelings of admiration, no rude or selfish one amongst their number, Henry said to himself at the time, "I will set

Manufacturing enterprise has recently erected a cotton-mill in this delightful valley, speaking of which, a fair tourist observes-"When darkness pervades the Dale, and the innumerable windows are lighted up, it might be thought to be an illuminated palace raised by the power of magic."

"The moon is up, love, and the mill,

Lit with its hundred lights, is still:

One might believe, by the Wye's fair stream,

Fairies had wove a magic dream,

With floating threads of thought, as close

The cares of day in calm repose."

Minstrel of the Peak.