“I guess you missed your dress,” she said, with a smile.

“Do you know where it is?”

“Oh, sure.  Miss L—–­, the dressmaker, came in just after you left.  She is a very particular friend of mine, and I showed her your dress.  She admired it above all things, and borrowed it, to get the pattern for Miss R—–­’s wedding dress.  She promised to return it to-morrow.”

“Provoking!  I wanted it to-night.  Who ever heard of borrowing a person’s dress without the leave of the owner?  Truly, this is a free-and-easy country!”

One very severe winter night, a neighbour borrowed of me a blanket—­it was one of my best—­for the use of a stranger who was passing the night at her house.  I could not well refuse; but at that time, the world pressed me sore, and I could ill spare it.  Two years elapsed, and I saw no more of my blanket; at length I sent a note to the lady, requesting it to be returned.  I got a very short answer back, and the blanket, alas! worn threadbare; the borrower stating that she had sent the article, but really she did not know what to do without it, as she wanted it to cover the children’s bed.  She certainly forgot that I, too, had children, who wanted covering as well as her own.  But I have said so much of the ill results of others’ borrowing, that I will close this sketch by relating my own experience in this way.

After removing to the bush, many misfortunes befel us, which deprived us of our income, and reduced us to great poverty.  In fact we were strangers, and the knowing ones took us in; and for many years we struggled with hardships which would have broken stouter hearts than ours, had not our trust been placed in the Almighty, who among all our troubles never wholly deserted us.

While my husband was absent on the frontier during the rebellion, my youngest boy fell very sick, and required my utmost care, both by night and day.  To attend to him properly, a candle burning during the night was necessary.  The last candle was burnt out; I had no money to buy another, and no fat from which I could make one.  I hated borrowing; but, for the dear child’s sake, I overcame my scruples, and succeeded in procuring a candle from a good neighbour, but with strict injunctions (for it was her last), that I must return it if I did not require it during the night.

I went home quite grateful with my prize.  It was a clear moonlight night—­the dear boy was better, so I told old Jenny, my Irish servant, to go to bed, as I would lie down in my clothes by the child, and if he were worse I would get up and light the candle.  It happened that a pane of glass was broken out of the window frame, and I had supplied its place by fitting in a shingle; my friend Emilia S—–­ had a large Tom-cat, who, when his mistress was absent, often paid me a predatory or borrowing visit; and Tom had a practice of pushing in this wooden pane, in order to pursue his lawless depredations.  I had forgotten all this, and never dreaming that Tom would appropriate such light food, I left the candle lying in the middle of the table, just under the window.