and whom I had often, among the rest of the relations, been very
kind to; my maid put it into my head one morning to send to this poor
woman, and to see whether she might not be able to help in this dreadful
case.

I must remember it here, to the praise of this poor girl, my maid, that
though I was not able to give her any wages, and had told her so--nay, I
was not able to pay her the wages that I was in arrears to her--yet she
would not leave me; nay, and as long as she had any money, when I had
none, she would help me out of her own, for which, though I acknowledged
her kindness and fidelity, yet it was but a bad coin that she was paid
in at last, as will appear in its place.

Amy (for that was her name) put it into my thoughts to send for this
poor woman to come to me; for I was now in great distress, and I
resolved to do so. But just the very morning that I intended it, the old
aunt, with the poor woman in her company, came to see me; the good old
gentlewoman was, it seems, heartily concerned for me, and had been
talking again among those people, to see what she could do for me, but
to very little purpose.

You shall judge a little of my present distress by the posture she found
me in. I had five little children, the eldest was under ten years old,
and I had not one shilling in the house to buy them victuals, but had
sent Amy out with a silver spoon to sell it, and bring home something
from the butcher's; and I was in a parlour, sitting on the ground, with
a great heap of old rags, linen, and other things about me, looking them
over, to see if I had anything among them that would sell or pawn for a
little money, and had been crying ready to burst myself, to think what I
should do next.

At this juncture they knocked at the door. I thought it had been Amy,
so I did not rise up; but one of the children opened the door, and they
came directly into the room where I was, and where they found me in that
posture, and crying vehemently, as above. I was surprised at their
coming, you may be sure, especially seeing the person I had but just
before resolved to send for; but when they saw me, how I looked, for my
eyes were swelled with crying, and what a condition I was in as to the
house, and the heaps of things that were about me, and especially when I
told them what I was doing, and on what occasion, they sat down, like
Job's three comforters, and said not one word to me for a great while,
but both of them cried as fast