" It was his place to assist
scholars who were in trouble about their lessons, but I was too
bashful to speak to him, or to ask assistance of anybody. I think
that nobody learned much under that regime, and the whole school
system was soon after entirely reorganized.
Our house was quickly filled with a large feminine family. As a
child, the gulf between little girlhood and young womanhood had
always looked to me very wide. I suppose we should get across it
by some sudden jump, by and by. But among these new companions of
all ages, from fifteen to thirty years, we slipped into womanhood
without knowing when or how.
Most of my mother's boarders were from New Hampshire and Vermont,
and there was a fresh, breezy sociability about them which made
them seem almost like a different race of beings from any we
children had hitherto known.
We helped a little about the housework, before and after school,
making beds, trimming lamps, and washing dishes. The heaviest
work was done by a strong Irish girl, my mother always attending
to the cooking herself.
Pages:
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198