thicker an' no
harm, an' I allays putten a sprig o' mint in mysen; but how's ye t' know
that? The lads arena like to get folks as 'll make their parridge as I'n
made it for 'em; it's well if they get onybody as 'll make parridge at
all. But ye might do, wi' a bit o' showin'; for ye're a stirrin' body
in a mornin', an' ye've a light heel, an' ye've cleaned th' house well
enough for a ma'shift."

"Makeshift, mother?" said Adam. "Why, I think the house looks beautiful.
I don't know how it could look better."

"Thee dostna know? Nay; how's thee to know? Th' men ne'er know whether
the floor's cleaned or cat-licked. But thee'lt know when thee gets thy
parridge burnt, as it's like enough to be when I'n gi'en o'er makin' it.
Thee'lt think thy mother war good for summat then."

"Dinah," said Seth, "do come and sit down now and have your breakfast.
We're all served now."

"Aye, come an' sit ye down--do," said Lisbeth, "an' ate a morsel; ye'd
need, arter bein' upo' your legs this hour an' half a'ready. Come,
then," she added, in a tone of complaining affection, as Dinah sat down
by her side, "I'll be loath for ye t' go, but ye canna stay much longer,
I doubt. I could put up wi' ye i' th' house better nor wi' most folks."

"I'll stay till to-night if you're willing," said Dinah. "I'd stay
longer, only I'm going back to Snowfield on Saturday, and I must be with
my aunt to-morrow."

"Eh, I'd ne'er go back to that country. My old man come from that
Stonyshire side, but he left it when he war a young un, an' i' the right
on't too; for he said as there war no wood there, an' it 'ud ha' been a
bad country for a carpenter."

"Ah," said Adam, "I remember father telling me when I was a little lad
that he made up his mind if ever he moved it should be south'ard. But
I'm not so sure about it. Bartle Massey says--and he knows the South--as
the northern men are a finer breed than the southern, harder-headed and
stronger-bodied, and a deal taller. And then he says in some o' those
counties it's as flat as the back o' your hand, and you can see nothing
of a distance without climbing up the highest trees. I couldn't abide
that. I like to go to work by a road that'll take me up a bit of a hill,
and see the fields for miles round me, and a bridge, or a town, or a bit
of a steeple here and there. It makes you feel the world's a big place,
and there's other men working in it with their heads and hands besides
yourself."

"I like th' hills b