XII, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



instant reality ; and her ' I think you had been better 

 employed in improving your grammar and spelling than in 

 scribbling such trash,' sounded cruelly sarcastic to my sensi- 

 tive ears. I, however, begged the restoration of the despised 

 manuscript, and obtained it under promise to curl my hair 

 with it. 



" I did in truth tear up the first part, but a lingering affec- 

 tion for that portion' of it containing the story of the ' Swiss 

 Herd-boy and his Alpine Marmot,' induced me to preserve it, 

 and I have the rough copy of that story now in my possession." 



Early in the spring of the following year, May 18th, 1818, 

 Mr. Strickland died at Norwich. The sudden tidings of the 

 failure of a firm in which he had allowed his name to remain 

 as a sleeping partner or guarantor, and the consequent loss of 

 the principal part of his private income, brought on an aggra- 

 vated attack of the gout, which terminated fatally. Katie 

 had spent the winter with him and her sisters Eliza and Agnes 

 in the town house. Mrs. Strickland was at Reydon, but was 

 to return the following day to prepare for the usual move to 

 the old Hall for the summer. 



Mr. Strickland's sudden death was a great shock to his 

 family, and Katie grieved much for him. He had always 

 been indulgent to her, and his loss was her first sorrow, the 

 first cloud on her young life. Here I may quote again from 

 her own notes : 



"We had often heard our father express a wish to be 

 buried in some quiet churchyard beyond the walls of the 

 city, in the event of his death taking place before his return 

 to Reydon, and in accordance with that wish he was laid to 

 rest at Lakenham, a lovely rural spot about two miles from 

 Norwich. There we three sisters, true mourners, often 

 resorted during the summer evenings to visit the dear father's 

 resting-place, and bring a loving tribute of fresh flowers to 

 strew upon the grave." 



The house in Norwich was retained, and as the two 



