hand with their lessons; and, in short, unless a lad chose to
attend constantly to his book, he had no chance of enjoying a quiet
moment in the schoolroom of Mr. Toil.

"I can't bear it any longer," said Daffy-down-dilly to himself, when he
had been at school about a week. "I'll run away, and try to find my dear
mother; at any rate, I shall never find anybody half so disagreeable as
this old Mr. Toil." So, the very next morning, off started poor
Daffy-down-dilly, and began his rambles about the world, with only some
bread and cheese for his breakfast, and very little pocket money to pay
his expenses. But he had gone only a short distance, when he overtook a
man of grave and sedate appearance, who was trudging along the road at a
moderate pace.

"Good-morning, my fine little lad," said the stranger; "whence do you
come so early, and whither are you going?" Daffy-down-dilly hesitated a
moment or two, but finally confessed that he had run away from school,
on account of his great dislike to Mr. Toil; and that he was resolved to
find some place in the world where he should never see nor hear of the
old schoolmaster again. "Very well, my little friend," answered the
stranger, "we will go together; for I, also, have had a great deal to do
with Mr. Toil, and should be glad to find some place where his name was
never heard."

They had not gone far, when they passed a field where some haymakers
were at work, mowing down the tall grass, and spreading it out in the
sun to dry. Daffy-down-dilly was delighted with the sweet smell of the
new-mown grass, and thought how much pleasanter it must be to make hay
in the sunshine, under the blue sky, and with the birds singing sweetly
in the neighboring trees and bushes, than to be shut up in a dismal
schoolroom, learning lessons all day long, and continually scolded by
Mr. Toil.

But, in the midst of these thoughts, while he was stopping to peep over
the stone wall, he started back, caught hold of his companion's hand,
and cried, "Quick, quick! Let us run away, or he will catch us!"

"Who will catch us?" asked the stranger.

"Mr. Toil, the old schoolmaster!" answered Daffy-down-dilly. "Don't you
see him among the haymakers?"

"Don't be afraid," said the stranger. "This is not Mr. Toil, the
schoolmaster, but a brother of his, who was bred a farmer; and people
say he is the more disagreeable man of the two. However, he won't
trouble you, unless you become a laborer on the farm."

T