, yet they would toast more themselves,
and put butter on it before the fire as they had seen Betty do; so the
hearth was covered with crumbs and grease, and they wasted almost as
much as they ate.

After breakfast, they took out their books to learn their lessons; but
they had eaten so much that they could not learn with any pleasure; and
Lucy, who thought she would be very clever, began to scold Henry and
Emily for their idleness; and Henry and Emily, in their turn, found
fault with her; so that they began to dispute, and would soon, I fear,
have proceeded to something worse if Henry had not spied a little pig
in the garden.

"Oh, sisters," said he, "there is a pig in the garden, in the
flower-bed! Look! look! And what mischief it will do! Papa will be very
angry. Come, sisters, let us hunt it out."

So saying, down went Henry's book, and away he ran into the garden,
followed by Emily and Lucy, running as fast as they could. They soon
drove the pig out of the garden, and it would have been well if they
had stopped there; but, instead of that, they followed it down into the
lane. Now, there was a place where a spring ran across the lane, over
which was a narrow bridge for the use of people that way. Now the pig
did not stand to look for the bridge, but went splash, splash, through
the midst of the water: and after him went Henry, Lucy, and Emily,
though they were up to their knees in mud and dirt.

[Illustration: "_Away he ran into the garden, followed by Lucy and
Emily._"--Page 39.]

In this dirty condition they ran on till they came close to a house
where a farmer and his wife lived whose name was Freeman. These people
were not such as lived in the fear of God, neither did they bring up
their children well; on which account Mr. Fairchild had often forbidden
Lucy and Emily and Henry to go to their house. However, when the
children were opposite this house, Mrs. Freeman saw them through the
kitchen window; and seeing they were covered with mud, she came out and
brought them in, and dried their clothes by the fire; which was, so
far, very kind of her, only the children should not have gone into the
house, as they had been so often forbidden by their parents.

Mrs. Freeman would have had them stay all day and play with their
children; and Henry and his sisters would have been very glad to have
accepted her invitation, but they were afraid: so Mrs. Freeman let them
go; but, before they went, she gave them each a la