Brownsmith's Boy — George Manville Fenn

I used to hate that cavorting, head-standing boy, and think he was little better than a monkey -- but I felt envious of him, too, when the sun shined down upon him: for he seemed so free and independent, and he was so active and clever . . . while whenever I, myself, tried to stand on my head, I always tipped right over and hurt my back.

In the middle 1830s, a young orphan is taken in by a kindly market gardener who teaches the boy the ways of plants, crops and harvests. Grant Dennison grows to love the garden; and he can look forward to travel to London, to give him view of the wider world . . . yet there is another presence in his new life, one who gives him much to ponder and puzzle upon: a boy named Shock, who seems almost a wild creature, living by his wits in the dirty streets, and scrounging out his meager -- but joyous -- existence.