"
He followed her without knowing whither he went.
They stopped at the door of a snug habitation, where sat an elderly
woman with a boy and a girl before her, each of whom held a supper
of bread and milk in their hands.
"There, sir, is the school-mistress."
"Madam," said Harley, "was not an old venerable man school-master
here some time ago?"
"Yes, sir, he was, poor man; the loss of his former school-house, I
believe, broke his heart, for he died soon after it was taken down,
and as another has not yet been found, I have that charge in the
meantime."
"And this boy and girl, I presume, are your pupils?"
"Ay, sir; they are poor orphans, put under my care by the parish,
and more promising children I never saw."
"Orphans?" said Harley.
"Yes, sir, of honest creditable parents as any in the parish, and it
is a shame for some folks to forget their relations at a time when
they have most need to remember them."
"Madam," said Harley, "let us never forget that we are all
relations."
He kissed the children.
"Their father, sir," continued she, "was a farmer here in the
neighbourhood, and a sober industrious man he was; but nobody can
help misfortunes: what with bad crops, and bad debts, which are
worse, his affairs went to wreck, and both he and his wife died of
broken hearts.
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