met the enemy, and there was a fight, and my father was killed, after he had struck down six of the enemy’s crew on their own deck; for my father was a big man, as I have heard, and knew tolerably well how to use his hands.  And when my mother heard the news, she became half distracted, and ran away into the fields and forests, totally neglecting her business, for she was a small milliner; and so she ran demented about the meads and forests for a long time, now sitting under a tree, and now by the side of a river—­at last she flung herself into some water, and would have been drowned, had not some one been at hand and rescued her, whereupon she was conveyed to the great house, lest she should attempt to do herself further mischief, for she had neither friends nor parents—­and there she died three months after, having first brought me into the world.  She was a sweet, pretty creature, I’m told, but hardly fit for this world, being neither large, nor fierce, nor able to take her own part.  So I was born and bred in the great house, where I learnt to read and sew, to fear God, and to take my own part.  When I was fourteen I was put out to service to a small farmer and his wife, with whom, however, I did not stay long, for I was half starved, and otherwise ill-treated, especially by my mistress, who one day attempted to knock me down with a besom, I knocked her down with my fist, and went back to the great house.”

“And how did they receive you in the great house?”

“Not very kindly, young man—­on the contrary, I was put into a dark room, where I was kept a fortnight on bread and water; I did not much care, however, being glad to have got back to the great house at any rate, the place where I was born, and where my poor mother died; and in the great house I continued two years longer, reading and sewing, fearing God, and taking my own part when necessary.  At the end of the two years I was again put out to service, but this time to a rich farmer and his wife, with whom, however, I did not live long,—­less time, I believe, than with the poor ones, being obliged to leave for—­”

“Knocking your mistress down?”

“No, young man, knocking my master down, who conducted himself improperly towards me.  This time I did not go back to the great house, having a misgiving that they would not receive me; so I turned my back to the great house where I was born, and where my poor mother died, and wandered for several days, I know not whither, supporting myself on a few halfpence, which I chanced to have in my pocket.  It happened one day, as I sat under a hedge crying, having spent my last farthing, that a comfortable-looking elderly woman came up in a cart, and seeing the state in which I was, she stopped and asked what was the matter with me.  I told her some part of my story, whereupon she said, ’Cheer up, my dear:  if you like, you shall go with me, and wait upon me.’  Of course I wanted little persuasion, so I got into