Just then he saw something that made him start back and catch his companion’s hand.
“Quick, quick!” cried he. “Let us run away or he will catch us!”
“Who will catch us?” asked the stranger.
“Mr. Toil, the old schoolmaster,” answered Daffydowndilly. “Don’t you see him in the field there?”
He pointed to an old man who seemed to be the owner of the field. He had taken off his coat and was working in his shirt sleeves. He did not rest a moment. All the time he kept saying,
“Make hay while the sun shines, my men.”
Sure enough, he did look just like Mr. Toil. His voice, too, was the same, yet Mr. Toil must have been in the school room at that time.
“Don’t be afraid,” said the stranger. “This is not Mr. Toil, the schoolmaster. It is one of his brothers. He is a farmer. People say he is worse than the schoolmaster. But he won’t trouble you, unless you go to work on his farm.”
Daffydowndilly believed this, yet was glad to get away. By-and-by they saw some carpenters building a house. Daffydowndilly wanted to stop again. He loved to watch the men making doors and putting in windows. How neatly they did their work.
It was a pretty sight to see the shavings roll from under the plane. They looked like ribbons.