still，such as she was，I preferred her to any one else at Gateshead Hall.

It was the fifteenth of January，about nine o"clock in the morning:

Bessie was gone down to breakfast; my cousins had not yet been summoned to their mama; Eliza was putting on her bonnet and warm garden-coat to go and feed her poultry，an occupation of which she was fond: and not less so of selling the eggs to the housekeeper and hoarding up the money she thus obtained. She had a turn for traffic，and a marked propensity for saving; shown not only in the vending of eggs and chickens，but also in driving hard bargains with the gardener about flower-roots，seeds，and slips of plants; that functionary having orders from Mrs. Reed to buy of his young lady all the products of her parterre she wished to sell: and Eliza would have sold the hair off her head if she could have made a handsome profit thereby. As to her money，she first secreted it in odd corners，wrapped in a rag or an old curl-paper; but some of these hoards having been discovered by the housemaid，Eliza，fearful of one day losing her valued treasure，consented to intrust it to her mother，at a usurious rate of interest- fifty or sixty per cent.; which interest she exacted every quarter，keeping her accounts in a little book with anxious accuracy.

Georgiana sat on a high stool，dressing her hair at the glass，and interweaving her curls with artificial flowers and faded feathers，of which she had found a store in a drawer in the attic. I was making my bed，having received strict orders from Bessie to get it arranged before she returned，(for Bessie now frequently employed me as a sort of under-nurserymaid，to tidy the room，dust the chairs，etc.). Having spread the quilt and folded my night-dress，I went to the window-seat to put in order some picture-books and doll"s house furniture scattered there; an abrupt mand from Georgiana to let her playthings alone (for the tiny chairs and mirrors，the fairy plates and cups，were her property) stopped my proceedings; and then，for lack of other occupation，I fell to breathing on the frost-flowers with which the window was fretted，and thus clearing a space in the glass through which I might look out on the grounds，where all was still and petrified under the influence of a hard frost.