An' that minds me, on the Saturday night afore they got the play-actin' on up in the Church, the wick o' my candle guttered down in a windin' sheet as long as long, an' I sez to Twitt--'There you are! Our own parson's gone an' died over in Madery, an' we'll never 'ave the likes of 'im no more! There's trouble comin' for the Church, you mark my words.' An' Twitt, 'e says, 'G'arn, old 'ooman, it's the draught blowin' in at the door as makes the candle gutter,'-- but all the same my words 'as come true!" "Why no, surely not!" said Mary, "Our parson isn't dead in Madeira at all! The Sunday-school mistress had a letter from him only yesterday saying how much better he felt, and that he hoped to be home again with us very soon." Mrs.Twitt pursed her lips and shook her head.
"That may be!" she observed--"I aint a-sayin' nuthin' again it.

I sez to Twitt, there's trouble comin' for the Church, an' so there is.

An' the windin' sheet in the candle means a death for somebody somewhere!" Mary laughed, though her eyes were a little sad and wistful.
"Well, of course, there's always somebody dying somewhere, they say!" And she sighed.

"There's a good deal of grief in the world that nobody ever sees or hears of." "True enough, Mis' Deane!--true enough!" And Mrs.Twitt shook her head again--"But ye're spared a deal o' worrit, seein' ye 'aven't a husband nor childer to drive ye silly.

When I 'ad my three boys at 'ome I never know'd whether I was on my 'ed or my 'eels, they kept up such a racket an' torment, but the Lord be thanked they're all out an' doin' for theirselves in the world now--forbye the eldest is thinkin' o' marryin' a girl I've never seen, down in Cornwall, which is where 'e be a-workin' in tin mines, an' when I 'eerd as 'ow 'e was p'raps a-goin' to tie hisself up in the bonds o' matterimony, I stepped out in the garden just casual like, an' if you'll believe me, I sees a magpie! Now, Mis' Deane, magpies is total strangers on these coasts--no one as I've ever 'eard tell on 'as ever seen one--an' they's the unlikeliest and unluckiest birds to come across as ever the good God created.