little ready money was essential to her to begin. She would not
borrow it, and was one day thinking what she should do, when her
eye, wandering over a newspaper which the vicar had kindly lent her,
fell on an advertisement offering a high price for handsome hair
long and thick enough to make wigs.

Alice heard the good curate say that he was going to London on
business in a day or two, and her determination was made in a
moment.

I said that Alice had kept nothing that she could do without; she
had, however, kept the white muslin gown she wore when she was
married. She thought she could not give this up. "I shall never wear
a white muslin gown again," she said, as she ripped out one of the
breadths and made herself two or three plain caps of it.

The next day she rose early before the children were awake, and,
standing before a very small looking glass which she had kept to
dress her hair, she looked at me curling all over her precious head,
and hanging down upon her shoulders.

"He loved these locks," said she, "and, for his sake, I would keep
them; but they had better be devoted to the good of our children.
Some school books will be worth more than all these golden locks. I
am glad the children are asleep, for they love to play with my hair,
and it would grieve them to see me cut it off."

The good Alice took her scissors, and cut off lock after lock, till
all were gone, save a few which she left around her forehead. Then
she put on her simple muslin cap and tied it with a muslin string