Each morning she would start out at seven and run up to the door of a farmhouse.
“Who is there?” the mother of the house would ask.
“Only little Goody Two Shoes,” Marjery would answer, “come to teach Billy his A B C’s.”
“Oh, little Goody,” the mother would cry, opening the door wide. “I am glad to see you. Billy wants you sadly, for he has learned all his lesson.”
Little Billy would come out and have a new spelling lesson set him with the basket of letters, and then Goody would go on to Farmer Simpson’s.
“Bow, wow, wow!” said the dog at the door.
“Sirrah,” Mistress Simpson would say, “why do you bark at Little Two Shoes? Come in. Here’s Sally wants you sadly, for she has learned all her lesson.”
“Good morning, Sally,” Goody Two Shoes would answer; “have you learned your lesson?”
“Yes, that’s what I have,” the little one would say, as she took the letters and spelled _pear_, and _plum_, and _top_, and _ball_, and _puss_, and _cow_, and _lamb_, and _sheep_, and _bull_, and _cock_, and _hen_.
“Good,” said Marjery, and she hurried on to Gaffer Cook’s cottage. Here a number of poor children were met to learn to read and they all crowded around Marjery at once. So she pulled out her letters and asked the little boy next to her what he had for dinner. He answered, _bread_.
“Well, then,” said she, “set the first letter.”
So he pulled out a big B, and soon the other letters, and there stood the word as plain as possible.
“And what had you, Polly Comb, for your dinner?” asked Goody Two Shoes.
“Apple-pie,” answered Polly as she spelled her word.
The next child had potatoes, the next beef and turnips, which were spelled with many other words until the lesson was done, and Goody set them a new task, and went on.
The next place she came to was Farmer Thompson’s, where there were a great many little ones waiting for her.
“Oh, little Miss Goody Two Shoes,” said one of them, “where have you been?”
“I have been teaching,” said Goody, “longer than I intended, and am afraid I am come too soon for you now.”
“No, but indeed you are not,” replied the other, “for I have got my lesson, and so has Sally Dawson, and so have we all,” and they capered about as if they were overjoyed to see her.
“Why, then,” said she, “you are all very good; so let us begin our lessons.”