Michael now bought a cow and two pigs, and made some profit by them.  In six years more he bought the cottage he lived in; and twelve years after this, that is twenty-four years after he was married, he rented a little farm.  By this time he had seven children; and as he had made his cottage larger, they all lived at home and helped him.  His eldest boys worked at the farm, and the girls milked the cows and made the butter, under the care of their mother, and kept the poultry.

As for Michael himself, though he was well off, he kept on his old trade, and went on in his old habits.  The last time I saw him before I left the place in which he lived, he was teaching his youngest child to read while he was at work, just as he had taught his eldest.

I have often thought of Michael’s words, “There is no place in the world for idle people.”

[Illustration:  Industry]