Excerpt from A Child's Garden; Underwoods; Ballads; New Poems Uring all the early part of her married life, Margaret Stevenson was more or less an in valid, with persistent and alarming symptoms Of con sumption; her only child, Robert Louis, inherited from her a predisposition to affections of the lungs. He was unfortunate, besides, in having to endure in infancy the climate Of Edinburgh, which with its cold mists and penetrating east winds was far from a desirable home for a delicate child. Unable, through her own ill-health, to take proper charge Of her little son, his mother was forced to give him over almost entirely into the hands Of hired nurses. The reign Of the first nurse was very short, she being accidentally discovered in a public-house much the worse for drink, while her tender charge, done Up in a parcel, lay tucked out Of sight on a shelf behind the bar. The second nurse proved no better; but the third, Alison Cunningham, familiarly called Cum my, proved an estimable woman, who soon won the confidence Of the family. Cummy's piety was her strongest recommenda tion, but her convictions and consequent teachings. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.