skein of thread: while she was winding it, she talked to me from

time to time, asking whether I had ever been at school before, whether

I could mark, stitch, knit, etc.; till she dismissed me, I could not

pursue my observations on Miss Scatcherd's movements. When I

returned to my seat, that lady was just delivering an order of which I

did not catch the import; but Burns immediately left the class, and

going into the small inner room where the books were kept, returned in

half a minute, carrying in her hand a bundle of twigs tied together at