An Open Verdict by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

THE church clock struck twelve, and, as the last stroke died into silence, Little Yafford school-house discharged a torrent of children into the rainy street, boys in red comforters, girls in blue comforters, comforters of the three primary colours and all their secondaries. Overcoats and cloaks were scarce at Little Yafford, and the worsted comforter was the chief winter clothing.

‘Rain, rain, go away, come again another day,' shrieked the children, making a choral appeal to the clerk of the weather.