"Certainly, Mr. Becker."
"Very good, then; it is in the midst of such labors that we pass our lives. Before we fell comfortably asleep on feather beds, those formidable bones which you see in our museum were flying in the air; the cup which I now hold in my hand was a portion of the clay on which you sit; the canoe with which you ran away the other day was a live seal; the hats that we wear, were running about the fields in the form of angola rabbits. So with everything you see about you; for fifteen years, excepting the Sabbath, which is our day of rest and recreation as well as prayer, we have never relapsed from labor, and you are at liberty to adopt a similar course, if you feel so disposed."
"No want of variety," said Jack; "if you do not like the saw-pit, you can have the tannery."
"Neither are very much in my line," replied Willis.
"What then do you say to pottery?"
"I have broken a good deal in my day."
"Yes, but there is a difference between breaking it and making it."
"What appears most needful," remarked Fritz, "is, three or four acres of fresh land, to double our agricultural produce."
"Is land dear in these parts?" inquired Mrs. Wolston, smiling.
"It is not to be had for nothing, madam; there is the trouble of selecting it."