Tommy, who had been skulking about all day, came in, and being very
hungry, was going to sit down to the table, when Mr. Barlow said, "No,
sir; though you are too much of a gentleman to work, we, who are not so
proud, do not choose to work for the idle!"

Upon this Tommy retired into a corner, crying as if his heart would
break; when Harry, who could not bear to see his friend so unhappy,
looked up, half-crying, into Mr. Barlow's face, and said, "Pray, sir,
may I do as I please with my dinner?"

"Yes, to be sure, my boy," was the reply.

"Why, then," said Harry, "I will give it to poor Tommy, who wants it
more than I do."

Tommy took it and thanked Harry; but without turning his eyes from the
ground.

"I see," said Mr. Barlow, "that though certain gentlemen are too proud
to be of any use to themselves, they are not above taking the bread that
other people have been working hard for."

At this Tommy cried more bitterly than before.

The next day, when they went into the garden, Tommy begged that he might
have a hoe, too, and, having been shown how to use it, soon worked with
the greatest pleasure, which was much increased when he was asked to
share the fruit provided after the work was done. It seemed to him the
most delicious fruit that he had ever tasted.