The  women  and  children  were  now
clearing  out  of  the  large  room,  to  go  to
their  dinners,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the
apartment  was  emptied  of  human  crea-
tures, and  all  was  rest  and  silence.  Harry
looked  blank.  He  was  afraid  that  he
should  not  see,  hear,  or  learn  any  thing
more;  and  he  told  Lucy,  he  thought  it
very  unlucky  that  they  had  come  at  the
workmen's  hour  of  dinner.  But,  on  the
contrary,  this  proved  a  happy  circum-
stance; for  their  father  asked  and  ob-
tained permission  to  stay  during  this
quiet  hour  in  the  cotton  mill,  and  he
made  use  of  this  time  to  explain  it,  and
to  give  them  some  account  of  the  begin-


214

ning  and  progress  of  the  invention,  and  of
its  improvement.
"  Probably  all  spinning,"  said  he,  "  was
originally  done  as  it  is  now  in  the  East,
and  in  some  of  the  southern  parts  of
Europe,  by  holding  in  the  left  hand  some-
thing like  a  distaff,  with  the  material  to
be  spun  wrapped  round  it.  With  the  right
hand  the  spinner  draws  out  the  fibres  of
this  material,  whatever  it  may  be,  from
the  distaff,  as  in  common  spinning.  It  is
twisted  by  a  spool  or  spindle,  hanging  at
the  end  of  the  thread,  the  spool  being
previously  twirled  by  the  finger  and  thumb.
