January, when Bessie brought a candle into my closet and found me

already up and nearly dressed. I had risen half an hour before her

entrance, and had washed my face, and put on my clothes by the light

of a half-moon just setting, whose rays streamed through the narrow

window near my crib. I was to leave Gateshead that day by a coach

which passed the lodge gates at six A.M. Bessie was the only person

yet risen; she had lit a fire in the nursery, where she now

proceeded to make my breakfast. Few children can eat when excited with

the thoughts of a journey; nor could I. Bessie, having pressed me in

vain to take a few spoonfuls of the boiled milk and bread she had

prepared for me, wrapped up some biscuits in a paper and put them into

my bag; then she helped me on with my pelisse and bonnet, and wrapping

herself in a shawl, she and I left the nursery. As we passed Mrs.

Reed's bedroom, she said, 'Will you go in and bid Missis good-bye?'

'No, Bessie: she came to my crib last night when you were gone down

to supper, and said I need not disturb her in the morning, or my

cousins either; and she told me to remember that she had always been

my best friend, and to speak of her and be grateful to her

accordingly.'

'What did you say, Miss?'

'Nothing: I covered my face with the bedclothes, and turned from

her to the wall.'

'That was wrong, Miss Jane.'

'It was quite right, Bessie. Your Missis has not been my friend:

she has been my foe.'

'O Miss Jane! don't say so!'

'Good-bye to Gateshead!' cried I, as we passed through the hall and

went out at the front door.

The moon was set, and it was very dark; Bessie carried a lantern,

whose light glanced on wet steps and gravel road sodden by a recent

thaw. Raw and chill was the winter morning: my teeth chattered as I

hastened down the drive. There was a light in the porter's lodge: when

we reached it, we found the porter's wife just kindling her fire: my

trunk, which had been carried down the evening before, stood corded at

the door. It wanted but a few minutes of six, and shortly after that

hour had struck, the distant roll of wheels announced the coming

coach; I went to the door and watched its lamps approach rapidly

through the gloom.

'Is she going by herself?' asked the porter's wife.

'Yes.'

'And how far is it?'

'Fifty miles.'

'What a long way! I wonder Mrs. Reed is not afraid to trust her

so far alone.'

The coach drew up; there it was at the gates with its four horses

and its top laden with passengers: the guard and coachman loudly urged

haste; my trunk was hoisted up; I was taken from Bessie's neck, to

which I clung with kisses.

'Be sure and take good care of her,' cried she to the guard, as

he lifted me into the inside.

'Ay, ay!' was the answer: the door was slapped to, a voice

exclaimed 'All right,' and on we drove. Thus was I severed from Bessie

and Gateshead; thus whirled away to unknown, and, as I then deemed,

remote and mysterious regions.

I remember but little of the journey; I only know that the day

seemed to me of a preternatural length, and that we appeared to travel

over hundreds of miles of road. We passed through several towns, and

in one, a very large one, the coach stopped; the horses were taken

out, and the passengers alighted to dine. I was carried into an inn,

where the guard wanted me to have some dinner; but, as I had no

appetite, he left me in an immense room with a fireplace at each

end, a chandelier pendent from the ceiling, and a little red gallery

high up against the wall filled with musical instruments. Here I

walked about for a long time, feeling very strange, and mortally

apprehensive of some one coming in and kidnapping me; for I believed

in kidnappers, their exploits having frequently figured in Bessie's

fireside chronicles. At last the guard returned; once more I was

stowed away in the coach, my protector mounted his own seat, sounded

The afternoon came on wet and somewhat misty: as it waned into

dusk, I began to feel that we were getting very far indeed from

Gateshead: we ceased to pass through towns; the country changed; great

grey hills heaved up round the horizon: as twilight deepened, we

descended a valley, dark with wood, and long after night had

overclouded the prospect, I heard a wild wind rushing amongst trees.

Lulled by the sound, I at last dropped asleep; I had not long

slumbered when the sudden cessation of motion awoke me; the coach-door

was open, and a person like a servant was standing at it: I saw her

face and dress by the light of the lamps.

'Is there a little girl called Jane Eyre here?' she asked. I

answered 'Yes', and was then lifted out; my trunk was handed down, and

the coach instantly drove away.

I was stiff with long sitting, and bewildered with the noise and

motion of the coach: gathering my faculties, I looked about me.

Rain, wind, and darkness filled the air; nevertheless, I dimly

discerned a wall before me and a door open in it; through this door

I passed with my new guide: she shut and locked it behind her. There

was now visible a house or houses- for the building spread far- with

many windows, and lights burning in some; we went up a broad pebbly

path, splashing wet, and were admitted at a door; then the servant led

me through a passage into a room with a fire, where she left me alone.

I stood and warmed my numbed fingers over the blaze, then I

looked round; there was no candle, but the uncertain light from the

hearth showed, by intervals, papered walls, carpet, curtains,

shining mahogany furniture: it was a parlour, not so spacious or

splendid as the drawing-room at Gateshead, but comfortable enough. I

was puzzling to make out the subject of a picture on the wall, when

the door opened, and an individual carrying a light entered; another

followed close behind.

The first was a tall lady with dark hair, dark eyes, and a pale and

large forehead; her figure was partly enveloped in a shawl, her

countenance was grave, her bearing erect.

'The child is very young to be sent alone,' said she, putting her

candle down on the table. She considered me attentively for a minute

or two, then further added-

'She had better be put to bed soon; she looks tired: are you

tired?' she asked, placing her hand on my shoulder.

'A little, ma'am.'

'And hungry too, no doubt: let her have some supper before she goes

to bed, Miss Miller. Is this the first time you have left your parents

to come to school, my little girl?'

I explained to her that I had no parents. She inquired how long

they had been dead: then how old I was, what was my name, whether I

could read, write, and sew a little: then she touched my cheek

gently with her forefinger, and saying, 'She hoped I should be a

good child,' dismissed me along with Miss Miller.

The lady I had left might be about twenty-nine; the one who went

with me appeared some years younger: the first impressed me by her

voice, look, and air. Miss Miller was more ordinary; ruddy in

complexion, though of a careworn countenance; hurried in gait and

action, like one who had always a multiplicity of tasks on hand: she

looked, indeed, what I afterwards found she really was, an

under-teacher. Led by her, I passed from compartment to compartment,

from passage to passage, of a large and irregular building; till,

emerging from the total and somewhat dreary silence pervading that

portion of the house we had traversed, we came upon the hum of many

voices, and presently entered a wide, long room, with great deal

tables, two at each end, on each of which burnt a pair of candles, and

seated all round on benches, a congregation of girls of every age,

from nine or ten to twenty. Seen by the dim light of the dips, their

number to me appeared countless, though not in reality exceeding

eighty; they were uniformly dressed in brown stuff frocks of quaint

fashion, and long holland pinafores. It was the hour of study; they

were engaged in conning over their to-morrow's task, and the hum I had

heard was the combined result of their whispered repetitions.

Miss Miller signed to me to sit on a bench near the door, then

walking up to the top of the long room she cried out-

'Monitors, collect the lesson-books and put them away!'

Four tall girls arose from different tables, and going round,

gathered the books and removed them. Miss Miller again gave the word

of command-

'Monitors, fetch the supper-trays!'

The tall girls went out and returned presently, each bearing a

tray, with portions of something, I knew not what, arranged thereon,

and a pitcher of water and mug in the middle of each tray. The

portions were handed round; those who liked took a draught of the

water, the mug being common to all. When it came to my turn, I

drank, for I was thirsty, but did not touch the food, excitement and

fatigue rendering me incapable of eating; I now saw, however, that

it was a thin oaten cake shared into fragments.

The meal over, prayers were read by Miss Miller, and the classes

filed off, two and two, upstairs. Overpowered by this time with

weariness, I scarcely noticed what sort of a place the bedroom was,

except that, like the schoolroom, I saw it was very long. To-night I

was to be Miss Miller's bed-fellow; she helped me to undress: when

laid down I glanced at the long rows of beds, each of which was

quickly filled with two occupants; in ten minutes the single light was

extinguished, and amidst silence and complete darkness I fell asleep.

The night passed rapidly: I was too tired even to dream; I only

once awoke to hear the wind rave in furious gusts, and the rain fall

in torrents, and to be sensible that Miss Miller had taken her place

by my side. When I again unclosed my eyes, a loud bell was ringing;

the girls were up and dressing; day had not yet begun to dawn, and a

rushlight or two burned in the room. I too rose reluctantly; it was

bitter cold, and I dressed as well as I could for shivering, and

washed when there was a basin at liberty, which did not occur soon, as

there was but one basin to six girls, on the stands down the middle of

the room. Again the bell rang; all formed in file, two and two, and in

that order descended the stairs and entered the cold and dimly lit

schoolroom: here prayers were read by Miss Miller; afterwards she

called out-

'Form classes!'

A great tumult succeeded for some minutes, during which Miss Miller

repeatedly" title="ad.反复地；再三地">repeatedly exclaimed, 'Silence!' and 'Order!' When it subsided, I

saw them all drawn up in four semicircles, before four chairs,

placed at the four tables; all held books in their hands, and a

great book, like a Bible, lay on each table, before the vacant seat. A

pause of some seconds succeeded, filled up by the low, vague hum of

numbers; Miss Miller walked from class to class, hushing this

indefinite sound.

A distant bell tinkled: immediately three ladies entered the

room, each walked to a table and took her seat; Miss Miller assumed

the fourth vacant chair, which was that nearest the door, and around

which the smallest of the children were assembled: to this inferior

class I was called, and placed at the bottom of it.

Business now began: the day's Collect was repeated, then certain

texts of Scripture were said, and to these succeeded a protracted

reading of chapters in the Bible, which lasted an hour. By the time

that exercise was terminated, day had fully dawned. The

indefatigable bell now sounded for the fourth time: the classes were

marshalled and marched into another room to breakfast: how glad I

was to behold a prospect of getting something to eat! I was now nearly

sick from inanition, having taken so little the day before.

The refectory was a great, low-ceiled, gloomy room; on two long

tables smoked basins of something hot, which, however, to my dismay,

sent forth an odour far from inviting. I saw a universal manifestation

of discontent when the fumes of the repast met the nostrils of those

destined to swallow it; from the van of the procession, the tall girls

of the first class, rose the whispered words-

'Disgusting! The porridge is burnt again!'

'Silence!' ejaculated a voice; not that of Miss Miller, but one

of the upper teachers, a little and dark personage, smartly dressed,

but of somewhat morose aspect, who installed herself at the top of one

table, while a more buxom lady presided at the other. I looked in vain

for her I had first seen the night before; she was not visible: Miss

Miller occupied the foot of the table where I sat, and a strange,

foreign-looking, elderly lady, the French teacher, as I afterwards

found, took the corresponding seat at the other board. A long grace

was said and a hymn sung; then a servant brought in some tea for the

teachers, and the meal began.

Ravenous, and now very faint, I devoured a spoonful or two of my

portion without thinking of its taste; but the first edge of hunger

blunted, I perceived I had got in hand a nauseous mess; burnt porridge

is almost as bad as rotten potatoes; famine itself soon sickens over

it. The spoons were moved slowly: I saw each girl taste her food and

try to swallow it; but in most cases the effort was soon relinquished.

Breakfast was over, and none had breakfasted. Thanks being returned

for what we had not got, and a second hymn chanted, the refectory

was evacuated for the schoolroom. I was one of the last to go out, and

in passing the tables, I saw one teacher take a basin of the

porridge and taste it; she looked at the others; all their

countenances expressed displeasure, and one of them, the stout one,

whispered-

'Abominable stuff! How shameful!'

A quarter of an hour passed before lessons again began, during

which the schoolroom was in a glorious tumult; for that space of

time it seemed to be permitted to talk loud and more freely, and

they used their privilege. The whole conversation ran on the

breakfast, which one and all abused roundly. Poor things! it was the

sole consolation they had. Miss Miller was now the only teacher in the

room: a group of great girls standing about her spoke with serious and

sullen gestures. I heard the name of Mr. Brocklehurst pronounced by

some lips; at which Miss Miller shook her head disapprovingly; but she

made no great effort to check the general wrath; doubtless she

shared in it.

A clock in the schoolroom struck nine; Miss Miller left her circle,

and standing in the middle of the room, cried-

'Silence! To your seats!'

Discipline prevailed: in five minutes the confused throng was

resolved into order, and comparative silence quelled the Babel clamour

of tongues. The upper teachers now punctually resumed their posts: but

still, all seemed to wait. Ranged on benches down the sides of the

room, the eighty girls sat motionless and erect; a quaint assemblage

they appeared, all with plain locks combed from their faces, not a

curl visible; in brown dresses, made high and surrounded by a narrow

tucker about the throat, with little pockets of holland (shaped

something like a Highlander's purse) tied in front of their frocks,

and destined to serve the purpose of a work-bag: all, too, wearing

woollen stockings and country-made shoes, fastened with brass buckles.

Above twenty of those clad in this costume were full-grown girls, or

rather young women; it suited them ill, and gave an air of oddity even

to the prettiest.

I was still looking at them, and also at intervals examining the

teachers- none of whom precisely pleased me; for the stout one was a

little coarse, the dark one not a little fierce, the foreigner harsh

and grotesque, and Miss Miller, poor thing! looked purple,

weather-beaten, and over-worked- when, as my eye wandered from face to

face, the whole school rose simultaneously, as if moved by a common

spring.

What was the matter? I had heard no order given: I was puzzled. Ere

I had gathered my wits, the classes were again seated: but as all eyes

were now turned to one point, mine followed the general direction, and

encountered the personage who had received me last night. She stood at

the bottom of the long room, on the hearth; for there was a fire at

each end; she surveyed the two rows of girls silently and gravely.

Miss Miller, approaching, seemed to ask her a question, and having

received her answer, went back to her place, and said aloud-