ere a lady, and not so poor.' 'I am much obliged to
you, my dear,' said she, 'for your kind good-wishes; but, indeed, love,
I am very well contented with my station: I have a good husband, and
three good children, and that is more than many a lady can say; and
riches, Master George, unless people are good, and those one lives with
are kind and obliging, will never make anybody happy. What comfort, now,
do you think a body could ever have at Squire Stately's? I declare, if
it was put to my choice, I would rather a thousand times be as I am.
To be sure, they are very rich; but what of that? they cannot eat gold;
neither can gold ease their hearts when they are bursting almost with
pride and ill-nature. They say, indeed, that Madam Stately would be kind
enough, if they would let her rest; but what with the Squire's drinking
and swearing, and the young gentleman's extravagance, and her daughter's
pride and quarrelling, she is almost tired out of her life. And so,
Master George, I say I had rather be poor Betty Flood, with honest
Abraham for my husband, than the finest lady in the land, if I must
live at such a rate. To be sure, nobody can deny but that money is very
desirable, and people that are rich can do many agreeable things which
we poor ones cannot; but yet, for all that, money does not make people
happy. Happiness, Master George, depends greatly upon people's own
tempers and dispositions: a person who is fretful and cross will never
be happy, though he should be made king of all England; and a person who
is contented and good-humoured will never be wretched, though he should
be as poor as a beggar. So never fret yourself, love, because Betty
Flood is poor; for though I am poor, I am honest; and whilst my husband
and I are happy enough to be blessed with health, and the use of our
limbs, we can work for our living; and though we have no great plenty,
still we have sufficient to support us. So pray, dear, eat your cake
yourself, for I would not take it from you for ever so much.' They then
disputed for some time who should have it: at last, George scuffled away
from her, and put it into the closet, and then, nodding his head at her,
ran away, saying, he must go to school that moment.

Betty Flood then ate her breakfast; and we heard her say something about
the nasty mice, but what we could not make out, as she muttered softly
to herself. She then came to the trunk behind which we lay, and taking
out of it a roll of new