Read "The Country of the Pointed Firs" by Sarah Orne Jewett online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
One morning, very early, I heard Mrs. Todd in the garden outside my window. By the unusual loudness of her remarks to a passerby, and the notes of a familiar hymn which she sang as she worked among the herbs, and which came as if directed purposely to the sleepy ears of my consciousness, I knew that she wished I would wake up and come and speak to her.
In a few minutes she responded to a morning voice from behind the blinds. "I expect you're goin' up to your schoolhouse to pass all this pleasant day; yes, I expect you're goin' to be dreadful busy," she said despairingly.