CHAPTER X 109
permission was readily granted ; I went . It was a walk of two miles , and the evening was wet , but the days were still long ; I visited a shop or two , slipped the letter into the post-office , and came back through heavy rain , with streaming garments , but with a relieved heart .
The succeeding week seemed long : it came to an end at last , however , like all sublunary things , and once more , towards the close of a pleasant autumn day , I found myself afoot on the road to Lowton . A picturesque track it was , by the way ; lying along the side of the beck and through the sweetest curves of the dale : but that day I thought more of the letters , that might or might not be awaiting me at the little burgh whither I was bound , than of the charms of lea and water .
My ostensible errand on this occasion was to get measured for a pair of shoes ; so I discharged that business first , and when it was done , I stepped across the clean and quiet little street from the shoemaker ' s to the post-office : it was kept by an old dame , who wore horn spectacles on her nose , and black mittens on her hands .
" Are there any letters for J . E .?" I asked .
She peered at me over her spectacles , and then she opened a drawer and fumbled among its contents for a long time , so long that my hopes began to falter . At last , having held a document before her glasses for nearly five minutes , she presented it across the counter , accompanying the act by another inquisitive and mistrustful glance -- it was for J . E .
" Is there only one ?" I demanded .
" There are no more ," said she ; and I put it in my pocket and turned my face homeward : I could not open it then ; rules obliged me to be back by eight , and it was already half-past seven .
Various duties awaited me on my arrival . I had to sit with the girls during their hour of study ; then it was my turn to read prayers ; to see them to bed : afterwards I supped with the other teachers . Even when we finally retired