"Oh! very well, very well, considering all things."
"Bad night out," said the man, as he sat down near a stove, that was sending forth a genial heat.
"Yes, bad enough," returned Martin. A thought of the damp and chilly air without caused him to shiver suddenly, and draw a little nearer to the stove.
"Which makes us prize a comfortable place like this, where we can spend a pleasant evening among pleasant friends, so much the more."
"Yes. It's very pleasant," said Martin, spreading himself out before the stove, with a hand upon each knee, and looking with an absent-minded air, through the opening in the door, which had once been closed by a thin plate of mica, and seeing strange forms in the glowing coals.
"Pleasant after a hard day's work," remarked the man, with an insinuating air.
"I don't know what life would be worth, if seasons of recreation and social intercourse did not come, nightly, to relieve both body and mind from their wearisomeness and exhaustion."
"Yes—yes. It's tiresome enough to have to sit and turn a wheel all day," said Martin.
"And a relief to get into a place like this at night," returned the man, rubbing his hands with animation.
"It's a great deal better than sitting at the wheel," sighed Martin.