Amy Walton (1845-1925) was the author who wrote Our Frank (1886), The Hawthorns (1886), Susan (1888), A Pair of Clogs (1888), White Lilac; or, The Queen of the May (1889), The Kitchen Cat and Other Tales (1890), Penelope and the Others (1893), Black, White, and Gray (1894), Thistle and Rose (1895), and Only Twice (1896). "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. " --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.