day.

Mrs. White provided a plentiful dinner for roof-raising, and gave
each man his mug of beer. After a hearty meal they began to grow
clamorous for more drink. The farmer, said, "My lads, I don't grudge
you a few gallons of ale merely for the sake of saving my liquor,
though that is some consideration, especially in these dear times;
but I never will, knowingly, help any man to make a beast of
himself. I am resolved to break through a bad custom. You are now
well refreshed. If you will go cheerfully to your work, you will
have half a day's pay to take on Saturday night more than you would
have if this afternoon were wasted in drunkenness. For this your
families will be better; whereas, were I to give you more liquor,
when you have already had enough, I should help to rob them of their
bread. But I wish to show you, that I have your good at heart full
as much as your profit. If you will now go to work, I will give you
all another mug at night when you leave off. Thus your time will be
saved, your families helped, and my ale will not go to make
reasonable creatures worse than brute beasts."

Here he stopped. "You are in right on't, master," said Tom, the
thatcher; "you are a hearty man, farmer," said John Plane, the
carpenter. "Come along, boys," said Tim Brick, the mason: so they
all went merrily to work, fortified with a good dinner. There was
only one drunken surly fellow that refused; this was Dick Guzzle,
the smith. Dick never works above two or three days in the week, and
spends the others at the Red Lion. He swore, that if the farmer did
not give him as much liquor as he liked at roof-raising, he would
not strike another stroke, but would leave the job unfinished, and
he might get hands where he could. Farmer White took him at his
word, and paid him off directly; glad enough to get rid of such a
sot, whom he had only employed from pity to a large and almost
starving family. When the men came for their mug in the evening, the
farmer brought out the remains of the cold gammon; they made a
hearty supper, and thanked him for having broken through a foolish
custom, which was afterward much left off in that parish, though
Dick would not come into it, and lost most of his work in
consequence.

Farmer White's laborers were often complaining that things were so
dear that they could not buy a bit of meat. He knew it was partly
true, but not entirely; for it was before these very hard times that
their complaints bega