"'I never could have believed half so much.'
"'Such, however, is the case.'
"'What can I do?'
"'Nothing, my dear, but lie still till you get better, and don't say any more; but sleep, if you can sleep, will do you more good than anything else now for an hour or so, so lie down and sleep.'
"The old woman left the room, and I endeavoured to compose myself to sleep; but could not do so for some time, my mind being too actively engaged in considering what I had better do, and I determined upon a course of conduct by which I thought to escape much of my present persecution. It was some days, however, before I could put it in practice, and one day I found my father and mother together, and I said to her—
"'Mother, why do you not send me to school?'
"'You—send you to school! did you mean you, miss?'
"'Yes, I meant myself, because other people go to school to learn something, but I have not been sent at all.'
"'Are you not contented?'