And little Edith shall take care of the fowls, and feed them every
morning, and look for the eggs--will you, Edith?"
"Yes," replied Edith, "and feed all the little chickens when they are
hatched, as I did at Arnwood."
"Yes, dear, and you'll be very useful. Now you know that you can not
do all this at once. You will have to try and try again; but very soon
you will, and then it will be all play. I must teach you all, and
every day you will do it better, till you want no teaching at all. And
now, my dear children, as there is no chaplain here, we must read the
Bible every morning. Edward can read, I know; can you, Humphrey?"
"Yes, all except the big words."
"Well, you will learn them by-and-by. And Edward and I will teach
Alice and Edith to read in the evenings, when we have nothing to do.
It will be an amusement. Now tell me, do you all like what I have told
you?"
"Yes," they all replied; and then Jacob Armitage read a chapter in the
Bible, after which they all knelt down and said the Lord's prayer. As
this was done every morning and every evening, I need not repeat it
again. Jacob then showed them again how to clean the house, and
Humphrey and Alice soon finished their work under his directions; and
then they all sat down to breakfast, which was a very plain one, being
generally cold meat, and cakes baked on the embers, at which Alice was
soon very expert; and little Edith was very useful in watching them
for her, while she busied herself about her other work.
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