side to side to catch a sight of it. She was very shy and nervous,
and spoke with a strong Irish accent. When a book was given her she
dropped her head over it till her nose nearly touched it; and when
she was told to hold her head up, up went the book after it, still
close to her nose, so that it was not possible to help laughing."

She was a close student here, and a favorite with the girls, whom she
would frighten half out of their senses by her wonderful stories. So
great was their effect at times, that her listeners were thrown into
real hysterics. After leaving this school, Charlotte returned home, and
began keeping house and teaching her sisters. Here several quiet years
were passed, busy but monotonous. The girls spent their time in study,
in household tasks, walking, and drawing, of which they were very fond.
They also read very thoroughly the few books which were accessible to
them. At nineteen Charlotte went as a teacher to Miss Woolner's school,
where she was very happy, and remained until her health failed. It was a
nervous trouble, which seemed at one time like a complete breaking down,
but from which she gradually recovered after her return home. Emily now
took her turn in teaching, going to a school at Halifax, where she came
near literally dying from homesickness. Emily could never live away from
Haworth and her moors; and in this school she labored incessantly from
six in the morning till eleven at night, with only one half-hour for
exercise between. To a free, wild, untamable spirit like Emily's, this
was indeed slavery. She returned home after a time, and Charlotte again
went out to teach. They felt the necessity of earning money, as their
father's stipend was small, and he was both liberal and charitable,--and
there was their brother Branwell to be provided for. Of this brother we
have not before spoken; but he occupied an important place in their home
and in their lives. He had been the pride and the hope of the family
from early youth. He was possessed of brilliant talents, and was full of
noble impulses, but was very fond of pleasure, and soon formed irregular
habits, which were the ruin of his life and the source of unmeasured
grief to his whole family. They had desired to send him to study at the
Royal Academy, as he had the family's fondness for drawing, and they
fancied he would develop great talent as an artist. Had his habits been
good, their hopes might have been realiz