The furniture of this rude dwelling was simple
enough, consisting of a bed of clean straw, a round deal table, and
two three-legged stools. The whitewashed walls were ornamented with
coloured prints on Scripture subjects, framed and glazed; and a small
looking-glass, placed in a position to secure the best light afforded
by the little window, completed the decorations. Various were the
conjectures formed by the villagers respecting this inoffensive
though singular woman; and many were the stories circulated, all
tending to keep alive the prejudice her eccentricities were
calculated to excite.
A casual circumstance, which led to my becoming obliged to Anna, at
length enabled me to overcome the suspicion and dislike with which
our neighbour was regarded. Our acquaintance speedily ripened into
friendship; for with the reaction natural to the generous, I felt as
though I could never sufficiently compensate for my former injustice
towards her. Often in an evening I would put on my bonnet, and,
taking my work with me, go to spend a leisure hour with Dutch Anna;
and on these occasions she generally entertained me with descriptions
of her own country, and of the customs and manners of its
inhabitants; or with striking anecdotes and incidents which had come
under her own personal observation; never failing to draw some useful
moral or illustrate some important truth from what she related.
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