trouble, and hearing them swear,' replied another voice, 'that you
can wish to do it? For my part. I think it is so wicked a thing,
that I hate to hear anybody guilty of it, much less would I be the
cause of making them commit so great a sin; and as for giving them
all their trouble over again, so far would it be from affording me
any pleasure, that on the contrary it would give me great pain;
for however you may think of it, Will, I assure you, it always
gives me much uneasiness to see people labouring and working hard.
I always think how much I should dislike to be obliged to do so
myself, and therefore very sincerely pity those who must. On no
account therefore will I do anything to add to their labour, or
that shall give them unnecessary work.'

'Pooh!' answered Will, 'you are wonderfully wise; I, for my part,
hate such super-abundant wisdom; I like to see folk fret, and
stew, and scold, as our maids did last week when I cut the line,
and let all the sheets, and gowns, and petticoats, and frocks, and
shirts, and aprons, and caps, and what not, fall plump into the
dirt. O! how I did laugh! and how they did mutter and scold! And
do you know, that just as the wash ladies were wiping their
coddled hands, and comforted themselves with the thought of their
work being all over, and were going to sip their tea by the
fireside, I put them all to the scout; and they were obliged to
wash every rag over again. I shall never forget how cross they
looked, nay, I verily believe Susan cried about it; and how I did
laugh!'

'And pray,' rejoined the other boy, 'should you have laughed
equally hearty if, after you had been at school all day, and had
with much difficulty just got through all your writing, and