10

they could, and soon met a company of soldiers, gayly dressed, with beautiful feathers in their caps, and bright muskets on their shoulders. In front marched two drummers and two fifers, beating on their drums and playing on their fifes with might anl 5 main, and making such lively music that little Daffydowndilly would gladly have followed them to the end of the world. And if he was only a soldier, then, he said to himself, old Mr. Toil would never venture to look him in the face.

"Quick step! Forward march!" shouted a gruff voice.

Little Daffydowndilly started, in great dismay; for this voice which had spoken to the soldiers sounded precisely the same as that which he had heard every day in Mr. Toil's school-room, out of Mr. Toil's own mouth. And, turning his eyes to the captain of the company, what should he see but the very image of old 15 Mr. Toil himself, with a smart cap and feather on his head, a

pair of gold epaulets on his shoulders, a laced coat on his back,. a purple sash round his waist, and a long sword, instead of a birch rod, in his hand. And though he held his head so high, and strutted like a turkey-cock, still he looked quite as ugly and 20 disagreeable as when he was hearing lessons in the school-room. "This is certainly old Mr. Toil," said Daffydowndilly, in a trembling voice. "Let us run away, for fear he should make us enlist in his company!"

"You are mistaken again, my little friend," replied the 25 stranger, very composedly. "This is not Mr. Toil, the schoolmaster, but a brother of his, who has served in the army all his life. People say he 's a terribly severe fellow; but you and I need not be afraid of him."

"Well, well," said little Daffydowndilly, "but, if you please, 30 sir, I don't want to see the soldiers any more.'

So the child and the stranger resumed their journey; and, by and by, they came to a house by the roadside, where a number of people were making merry. Young men and rosy-cheeked girls, with smiles on their faces, were dancing to the sound of a

3

3

fiddle. It was the pleasantest sight that Daffydowndilly had yet met with, and it comforted him for all his disappointments.

"Oh, let us stop here," cried he to his companion; "for Mr. Toil will never dare to show his face where there is a fiddler, and 5 where people are dancing and making merry. We shall be quite safe here!"

But these last words died away upon Daffydowndilly's tongue; for, happening to cast his eyes on the fiddler, whom should he behold again but the likeness of Mr. Toil, holding a fiddle-bow 10 instead of a birch rod, and flourishing it with as much ease and dexterity as if he had been a fiddler all his life! He had somewhat the air of a Frenchman, but still looked exactly like the old schoolmaster; and Daffydowndilly even fancied that he nodded and winked at him, and made signs for him to join in 15 the dance.

"Oh, dear me!" whispered he, turning pale. "It seems as if there was nobody but Mr. Toil in the world. Who could have thought of his playing on a fiddle!"

"This is not your old schoolmaster," observed the stranger, 20 "but another brother of his, who was bred in France, where he learned the profession of a fiddler. He is ashamed of his family, and generally calls himself Monsieur le Plaisir; but his real name is Toil, and those who have known him best think him still more disagreeable than his brothers."

25

"Pray let us go a little farther," said Daffydowndilly. "I don't like the looks of this fiddler at all."

Well, thus the stranger and little Daffydowndilly went wandering along the highway, and in shady lanes, and through pleasant villages; and whithersoever they went, behold! there 30 was the image of old Mr. Toil. He stood like a scarecrow in the cornfields. If they entered a house, he sat in the parlor; if they peeped into the kitchen, he was there. He made himself at home in every cottage, and stole, under one disguise or another, into the most splendid mansions. Everywhere there was 35 sure to be somebody wearing the likeness of Mr. Toil, and who,

as the stranger affirmed, was one of the old schoolmaster's innumerable brethren.

Little Daffydowndilly was almost tired to death, when he perceived some people reclining lazily in a shady place, by the side 5 of the road. The poor child entreated his companion that they might sit down there, and take some repose.

"Old Mr. Toil will never come here," said he; "for he hates to see people taking their ease."

But, even while he spoke, Daffydowndilly's eyes fell upon a 10 person who seemed the laziest, and heaviest, and most torpid of all those lazy and heavy and torpid people who had lain down to sleep in the shade. Who should it be, again, but the very image of Mr. Toil!

"There is a large family of these Toils," remarked the stran15 ger. "This is another of the old schoolmaster's brothers, who was bred in Italy, where he acquired very idle habits, and goes by the name of Signor Far Niente. He pretends to lead an easy life, but is really the most miserable fellow in the family."

"Oh, take me back!-take me back!" cried poor little Daffy20 downdilly, bursting into tears. "If there is nothing but Toil all the world over, I may just as well go back to the schoolhouse!"

"Yonder it is, there is the school-house!" said the stranger; for though he and little Daffydowndilly had taken a great many 25 steps, they had traveled in a circle instead of a straight line. "Come; we will go back to school together."

30

There was something in his companion's voice that little Daffydowndilly now remembered, and it is strange that he had not remembered it sooner. Looking up into his face, behold! there again was the likeness of old Mr. Toil; so that the poor child had been in company with Toil all day, even while he was doing his best to run away from him. Some people, to whom I have told little Daffydowndilly's story, are of opinion that old Mr. Toil was a magician, and possessed the power of multiplying 35 himself into as many shapes as he saw fit.

Be this as it may, little Daffydowndilly had learned a good lesson, and from that time forward was diligent at his task, because he knew that diligence is not a whit more toilsome than sport or idleness. And when he became better acquainted with 5 Mr. Toil, he began to think that his ways were not so very disagreeable, and that the old schoolmaster's smile of approbation made his face almost as pleasant as even that of Daffydowndilly's mother.

Why was

named?

HELPS TO STUDY

Notes and Questions

Do you think he disliked school because of work or because of Mr. Toil?

Why do you think so? Read sen

tences that tell you.

What was his purpose in running
away from school?
Who joined him?

On their way they met several
groups of workers. What hap-
pened in each case?

What conclusion did Daffydowndilly finally make? Read the lines that tell you.

Do you think everyone should do his part of the world's work?

"stalked"

"sedate"

"ugly-visaged"

Why should we learn to enjoy work?

Do you think Mr. Toil was a real person?

What was Hawthorne's purpose

in writing this story? Which of all the experiences that Daffydowndilly had in his walk with the stranger surprised him him most?

Has it ever been your own experience that the mere seeking of pleasure has proved tiresome? Do you know anyone who finds real pleasure in doing work that might prove uninteresting and tedious to you?

Words and Phrases for Discussion

"'ingenuous"

"innumerable"

"magician"

THE FOUNTAIN

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

1

Into the sunshine,

Full of the light,

Leaping and flashing From morn till night!

2

Into the moonlight,

Whiter than snow,

Waving so flower-like

When the winds blow!

3

Into the starlight,

Rushing in spray,

Happy at midnight,
Happy by day!

4

Ever in motion,

Blithesome and cheery

Still climbing heavenward,

Never aweary ;—

5

Glad of all weathers,

Still seeming best, Upward or downward,

Motion thy rest;