Mrs. Preston said that Martha was too long in going to market with the
butter, and she made the bread too thick, and did not press all the
water out of the butter, and she folded up the fleeces the wrong way,
and therefore she did all herself. Hence Martha was left to take the
whole care of Johnny, and to roam about in the woods. When she was
about fifteen her mother died, so that Martha was left her mother's
place in the house, which she filled beyond the expectation of all the
neighbors. Her father died when Johnny was sixteen, and his last
advice to his daughter was, to take care of her brother, to look after
his worldly affairs, and above all to bear his soul in prayer to
heaven, where he hoped to meet the household once more. The share of
her father's property when he died, was eighty pounds. Here Martha
spent her days, frugal, industrious and benevolent. And it is said,
there will not be a. grave in Grasmere churchyard, more decked with
flowers, more visited with respect, regret, and tears, and faithful
trust, than that of Martha Preston when she dies. In the next story
you will be interested in what happened at the Grey Cottage.
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