Pagina 189 van 483

"Being thus provided, I resolved to reside in this hovel until

something should occur which might alter my determination. It was

indeed a paradise compared to the bleak forest, my former

residence, the rain-dropping branches, and dank earth. I ate my

breakfast with pleasure and was about to remove a plank to

procure myself a little water when I heard a step, and looking

through a small chink, I beheld a young creature, with a pail on

her head, passing before my hovel. The girl was young and of

gentle demeanour, unlike what I have since found cottagers and

farmhouse servants to be. Yet she was meanly dressed, a coarse

blue petticoat and a linen jacket being her only garb; her fair

hair was plaited but not adorned: she looked patient yet sad. I

lost sight of her, and in about a quarter of an hour she returned

bearing the pail, which was now partly filled with milk.