Page:The Leadbeater Papers (1862) Vol 1.djvu/46

boys sometimes footed it to the scrape of old Bowden's fiddle, which disgusted my ears with its discordant sounds, when, in passing to school, I sometimes stole a peep at what went on.

Over this room was an apartment which belonged to Sarah Braddock, who would not resign it, though offered a bed at Richard Shackleton's house, where she lived in the day-time, and where, seated in a low armchair in the nursery, she was constantly employed in mending the boys' stockings. We youngsters deemed her of a peevish temper because she could ill bear with our childish tricks, for which some of us wept with remorse at her burial. A young lad having accidentally broken her pipe, and being unwilling to encounter her resentment, professed ignorance of the matter; but this did not avail him, for Sarah declared "there was not a Christian in the nursery but himself and the cat." Cats, geese, and sparrows were high in her favour, and manifested reciprocal attachment. As our family were always uneasy when she became unwell at her lodging, she was at length prevailed upon to stay at our house, where she would be properly attended to. The day before her death, my father sat by her bed-side, and spoke of the peaceful end of his father. "My old master!" said Sarah, in a shrill and angry tone; "don't tell me of my old master. If I was as good as him, I would not be afraid to die to-night, before to-morrow;" which she accordingly did. She died in 1773.

The last habitation at this end of the village belonged