第37页
north-east wind, whistling through the crevices of our bedroom windows
all night long, had made us shiver in our beds, and turned the
contents of the ewers to ice.
Before the long hour and a half of prayers and Bible-reading was
over, I felt ready to perish with cold. Breakfast-time came at last,
and this morning the porridge was not burnt; the quality was
eatable, the quantity small. How small my portion seemed! I wished
it had been doubled.
In the course of the day I was enrolled a member of the fourth
class, and regular tasks and occupations were assigned me: hitherto, I
had only been a spectator of the proceedings at Lowood; I was now to
become an actor therein. At first, being little accustomed to learn by
heart, the lessons appeared to me both long and difficult; the
frequent change from task to task, too, bewildered me; and I was
glad when, about three o'clock in the afternoon, Miss Smith put into
my hands a border of muslin two yards long, together with needle,
thimble, etc., and sent me to sit in a quiet corner of the schoolroom,
with directions to hem the same. At that hour most of the others
were sewing likewise; but one class still stood round Miss Scatcherd's
chair reading, and as all was quiet, the subject of their lessons
could be heard, together with the manner in which each girl
acquitted herself, and the animadversions or commendations of Miss
Scatcherd on the performance. It was English history: among the
readers I observed my acquaintance of the verandah: at the
commencement of the lesson, her place had been at the top of the
class, but for some error of pronunciation, or some inattention to
stops, she was suddenly sent to the very bottom. Even in that
obscure position, Miss Scatcherd continued to make her an object of
constant notice; she was continually addressing to her such phrases as
the following:-
'Burns' (such it seems was her name: the girls here were all called
by their surnames, as boys are elsewhere), 'Burns, you are standing on
the side of your shoe; turn your toes out immediately.' 'Burns, you
poke your chin most unpleasantly; draw it in.' 'Burns, I insist on
your holding your head up; I will not have you before me in that
attitude,' etc. etc.
A chapter having been read through twice, the books were closed and
the girls examined. The lesson had comprised part of the reign of
Charles I, and there were sundry questions about tonnage and
poundage and ship-money, which most of them appeared unable to answer;
still, every little difficulty was solved instantly when it reached
Burns: her memory seemed to have retained the substance of the whole
lesson, and she was ready with answers on every point. I kept
expecting that Miss Scatcherd would praise her attention; but, instead
of that, she suddenly cried out-
'You dirty, disagreeable girl! you have never cleaned your nails
this morning!'
Burns made no answer: I wondered at her silence.