I'll have nothing of the sort in _my_ house. I hate your nasty, mean,
sneaking teetottallers--we'll have none of that sort here. D'ye hear?"
he shouted.

Neither Samuel nor Betty spoke.

"Hush, hush, Tom," broke in his wife; "you mustn't scold the childer so.
I'm no fonder nor you of the teetottallers, but childer will not be
driven. Come, Sammul--come, Betty, you mustn't be obstinate; you know
fayther means what he says."

"Ay that I do," said her husband. "And now, you listen: I'd sooner see
you both in your graves, nor have you sticking up your pledge cards
about the house, and turning up the whites of your eyes at your own
fayther and mother, as if we were not good enough for the likes of you.
Me and mine have ever loved our pipe and our pot, the whole brood of us,
and we ne'er said `no' to a chap when he asked for a drop of drink--it
shall never be said of me or mine, `They give 'em nothing in yon house
but tea and cold water!'"

"Ay, ay; you're light, Thomas," said his wife; "I'm not for seeing our
bairns beginning of such newfangled ways. Come, childer, just clap the
foolish bits of papper behind the fire, and sit ye down to your supper."

"Mother," said Betty, in a sad but decided voice, "we have seen enough
in _this_ house to make us rue that ever a drop of the drink crossed our
door-step. We've toiled hard early and late for you and fayther, but
the drink has taken it all. You may scold us if you will, but Sammul
and I _must_ keep our pledge, and keep it gradely too."

"And _I_ say," cried her father, striking his hand violently on the
table, "I'll make you both break afore ye're a day older; ye've pleased
yourselves long enough, but ye shall please _me_ now. I never said
nothing afore, though mother nor me didn't like to see ye scowling at
the drink as if it were poison; a drop now and then would have done ye
no harm, but ye were like to please yourselves--but it's different now.
We'll have none of your pledges here, ye may make yourselves sure of
that."

"You can't help yourself fayther," said Samuel doggedly: "pledged we
are, and pledged we're bound to be, but--"

Before he could say more, Johnson had snatched up one of his heavy clogs
and had hurled it at the head of his son, fortunately without striking
him; then catching up both clogs, and hastily buckling them, he strode
to the door, and pausing for a moment, gasped out, "I've said it, and
I'll stick to it; ye shall both break your te