"What are you doing?" said Augusta.
"We are saying grace," answered Lucy.
"Oh, I forgot," said Augusta; "your mamma is religious, and makes you do all these things. How tiresome it must be! And where's the use of it? It will be time enough to be religious, you know, when we get old, and expect to die."
"Oh, but," said little Henry, "perhaps we may never live to be old; many children die younger than we are."
Whilst Henry was speaking, William and Edward stood listening to him with their mouths wide open, and when he had finished his speech they broke out into a fit of laughter.
"When our parson dies, you shall be parson, Henry," said Edward; "but I'll never go to church when you preach."
"No, he shan't be parson—he shall be clerk," said William; "then he will have all the graves to dig."
"I'll tell you what," said Henry: "your mamma was never worse out in her life than when she said hers were good children."
"Take that for your sauciness, you little beggar!" said Master William, giving Henry a blow on the side of the head; and he would have given him several more had not Lucy and Emily run in between.
"If you fight in this room, boys, I shall tell my mamma," said Miss Augusta. "Come, go downstairs; we don't want you here. Go and feed your dogs."