carry the water? You can't
go away down to the spring in the deep snow. And who'll make the fire in
the cold mornings?"

The mother looked sorry enough, as her darling boy--for he was the
object around which the fondest affections of her heart had entwined
themselves--she looked sorry enough, as he enumerated the turns he was
in the habit of doing for her; but, woman-like, she could suffer and be
still; so she answered cheerfully,

"May be father will, dear; and when you grow bigger, and learn how to do
everything, you'll be such a help to us all."

"Don't depend on me," said Jerry, now arousing himself and sauntering to
the fire; "I hardly ever feel well,"--complaining was Jerry's especial
forte, an excuse for all his laziness; yet his appetite never failed;
and when, as was sometimes the case, one of the neighbours sent a small
piece of meat, or any little article of food to his wife, under the plea
of ill health he managed to appropriate nearly the whole of it. He was
selfishness embodied, and a serious injury to his family, as few cared
to keep him up in his laziness.

One evening, a few days later, Mrs. Cole, who had been absent several
hours, came in looking very tired, and after laying aside her old bonnet
and shawl, informed them that she had obtained a place for Johnny. It
was four miles distant, and the farmer's man would stop for him on his
way from town, the next afternoon. What a beautiful object was farmer
Watkins's homestead, lying as it did on the sunny slope of a hill;
its gray stone walls, peeping out from between the giant trees that
overshadowed it, while everything around and about gave evidence of
abundance and comfort. The thrifty orchard; the huge barn with its
overflowing granaries; the sleek, well-fed cattle; even the low-roofed
spring-house, with its superabundance of shining pails and pans, formed
an item which could hardly be dispensed with, in the _tout ensemble_ of
this pleasant home.

Farmer Watkins was an honest, hard-working man, somewhat past middle
age, with a heart not naturally devoid of kindness, but, where his
hirelings were concerned, so strongly encrusted with a layer of habits,
that they acted as an effectual check upon his better feelings. His
family consisted of a wife, said to be a notable manager, and five or
six children, the eldest, a son, at college. In this household, work,
work, was the order of the day; the farmer himself, with his great
brown fists, set the exa