They're all done by one hand; a little hand it is, not so old as yours, but a very clever one.' As the schoolmaster said this, he saw that a small blot of ink had been thrown on one of the copies, so he took a penknife from his pocket, and going up to the wall, carefully scraped it out.

When he had finished, he walked slowly backward from the writing, admiring it as one might contemplate a beautiful picture, but with something of sadness in his voice and manner which quite touched the child, though she was unacquainted with its cause.
'A little hand indeed,' said the poor schoolmaster.

'Far beyond all his companions, in his learning and his sports too, how did he ever come to be so fond of me! That I should love him is no wonder, but that he should love me--' and there the schoolmaster stopped, and took off his spectacles to wipe them, as though they had grown dim.
'I hope there is nothing the matter, sir,' said Nell anxiously.
'Not much, my dear,' returned the schoolmaster.

'I hoped to have seen him on the green to-night.

He was always foremost among them.