n. One morning he stepped out to see how an
outhouse which he was thatching went on. He was surprised to find
the work at a stand. He walked over to the thatcher's house. "Tom,"
said he, "I desire that piece of work may be finished directly. If a
shower comes my grain will be spoiled." "Indeed, master, I sha'n't
work to-day, nor to-morrow neither," said Tom. "You forget that 'tis
Easter Monday, and to-morrow is Easter Tuesday. And so on Wednesday
I shall thatch away, master. But it is hard if a poor man, who works
all the seasons round, may not enjoy these few holidays, which come
but once a year."

"Tom," said the farmer, "when these days were first put into our
prayer-book, the good men who ordained them to be kept, little
thought that the time would come when _holiday_ should mean
_drunken-day_, and that the seasons which they meant to distinguish
by superior piety, should be converted into seasons of more than
ordinary excess. How much dost think now I shall pay thee for this
piece of thatch?" "Why, you know, master, you have let it to me by
the great. I think between this and to-morrow night, as the weather
is so fine, I could clear about four shillings, after I have paid
my boy; but thatching does not come often, and other work is not so
profitable." "Very well, Tom; and how much now do you think you may
spend in these two holidays?" "Why, master, if the ale is pleasant,
and the company merry, I do not expect to get off for less than
three shillings." "Tom, can you do pounds, shillings, and pence?" "I
can make a little score, master, behind the kitchen-door, with a bit
of chalk, which is as much as I want." "Well, Tom, add the four
shillings you would have earned to the three you intend to spend,
what does that make?" "Let me see! three and four make seven. Seven
shillings, master." "Tom, you often tell me the times are so bad
that you can never buy a bit of meat. Now here is the cost of two
joints at once: to say nothing of the sin of wasting time and
getting drunk." "I never once thought of that," said Tom. "Now,
Tom," said the farmer, "if I were you, I would step over to butcher
Jobbins's, buy a shoulder of mutton, which being left from
Saturday's market you will get a little cheaper. This I would make
my wife bake in a deep dishful of potatoes. I would then go to work,
and when the dinner was ready I would go and enjoy it with my wife
and children; you need not give the mutton to the brats, the
potatoes will