she was an invaluable story-teller, frightening them almost
out of their wits as they lay in bed. On one occasion the effect was
such that she was led to scream out loud, and Miss Wooler, coming
upstairs, found that one of the listeners had been seized with violent
palpitations, in consequence of the excitement produced by Charlotte's
story.

Her indefatigable craving for knowledge tempted Miss Wooler on into
setting her longer and longer tasks of reading for examination; and
toward the end of the two years that she remained as a pupil at Roe
Head, she received her first bad mark for an imperfect lesson. She had
had a great quantity of Blair's "Lectures on Belles-Lettres" to read;
and she could not answer some of the questions upon it; Charlotte
Bronte had a bad mark. Miss Wooler was sorry, and regretted that she
had over-tasked so willing a pupil. Charlotte cried bitterly. But her
school-fellows were more than sorry--they were indignant. They
declared that the infliction of ever so slight a punishment on
Charlotte Bronte was unjust--for who had tried to do her duty like
her?--and testified their feeling in a variety of ways, until Miss
Wooler, who was in reality only too willing to pass over her good
pupil's first fault, withdrew the bad mark. . . .

After her return home she employed herself in teaching her sisters over
whom she had had superior advantages. She writes thus, July 21, 1832,
of her course of life at the parsonage:

"An account of one day is an account of all. In the morning, from nine
o'clock till half-past twelve, I instruct my sisters, and draw; then we
walk till dinner-time. After dinner I sew till tea-time, and after tea
I either write, read, or do a little fancywork, or draw, as I please.
Thus, in one delightful though somewhat monotonous course, my life is
passed. I have been out only twice to tea since I came home. We are
expecting company this afternoon, and on Tuesday next we shall have all
the female teachers of the Sunday-school to tea."

It was about this time that Mr. Bronte provided his children with a
teacher in drawing, who turned out to be a man of considerable talent
but very little principle. Although they never attained to anything
like proficiency, they took great interest in acquiring this art;
evidently from an instinctive desire to express their powerful
imaginations in visible forms. Charlotte told me that at this period
of her life drawing and walking out w