cks. Taking an axe, he chopped an
armful, and on taking it into the house, found the family, had finished
their suppers; the biscuits and meat were all eaten.

"Come on here to your supper," said the maid-servant, angrily. "What
have you been doing?" and, without waiting for an answer, she filled a
tin basin with mush and skimmed milk, and set it before him. The little
boy did not attempt to speak, but sat down and ate what was given
him. Immediately after, he was sent into a loft to bed, where he cried
himself to sleep. Ah! when we count the thousand pulsations that yield
pain or pleasure to the human mind, what a power to do good or evil
is possessed by every one; and how often would a kind word, or one
sympathizing glance, gladden the hearts of those thus prematurely forced
upon the anxieties of the world! But how few there are who care to
bestow them! The next morning, long before dawn, the farmer's family,
with the exception of the younger children were astir. The cattle were
to be fed and attended to, the horses harnessed, the oxen yoked, and
great was the bustle until all hands were fairly at work. As for Johnny,
he was taken into the field to assist in husking corn. The wind was
keen, and the stalks, from recent rain, were wet, and filled with ice.
His scanty clothing scarcely afforded any protection from the cold, and
his hands soon became so numb that he could scarcely use them; but, if
he stopped one moment to rap them, or breathe upon them, in the hope of
imparting some warmth, the farmer who was close at hand, in warm woollen
clothes and thick husking gloves, would call out,

"Hurry up, hurry up, my boy! no idle bread must be eaten here!"

And bravely did Johnny struggle not to mind the cold and pain, but it
would not do; he began to cry, when the master, who never thought of
exercising anything but severity towards those who laboured for him,
told him sternly that if he did not stop his bawling in a moment, he
would send him home. This was enough for Johnny; anything was better
than to go back and be a burden on his mother; he worked to the best
of his ability until noon. At noon, he managed to get thoroughly warm,
behind the stove, while eating his dinner. Still, the sufferings of
the child, with his insufficient clothing, were very great; but nobody
seemed to think of the _hired boy_ being an object of sympathy, and thus
it continued. The rule seemed to be to get all that was possible out of
him, and h