for, small as the salary was, I still was earning something, and, with strict economy, I could easily manage to have something to spare for them, if they would favour me by taking it. Then, it was by my own will that I had got the place, I had brought all this tribulation on myself, and I was determined to bear it; nay, more than that, I did not even regret the step I had taken, and I longed to show my friends that, even now, I was competent to undertake the charge, and able to acquit myself honourably to the end; and, if ever I felt it degrading to submit so quietly, or intolerable to toil so constantly, I would turn towards my home, and say within myself—
"They may crush, but they shall not subdue me;
'Tis of thee that I think, not of them."
About Christmas I was allowed a visit home, but only of a fortnight's duration.
"For," said Mrs. Bloomfield, "I thought, as you had seen your friends so lately, you would not care for a longer stay."
I left her to think so still; but she little knew how long, how wearisome those fourteen
