CHORE-BOYS 153 



and to the last drop, and did all without grumbling ; 

 but he banged the pails and the pots and the pans 

 and the chairs, and everything he touched ; and he 

 shouted and whistled and sang at all times and 

 seasons, until I wondered whether milking itself 

 might not be less hard to endure. 



It seems altogether contemptible not to have 

 been above such trifles, but I wasn't above much, 

 and I had no experience of the heavy toll hard work 

 demands of mind and body, as even Hilaria had 

 seemed to take it for granted that I was hopeless 

 at skilled labour, and only fit to fetch and carry in 

 domestic concerns. Noise I hated more than any 

 evil thing, and would have cheerfully walked miles 

 or lived with the dumb to avoid it, but it happens 

 that one of the most attractive traits in average 

 Canadians is that they speak quietly and work 

 almost silently, so that I walked honestly into the 

 pleasant belief that in manual labour gentleness 

 always accompanies a fine intelligence. Certainly 

 lack of gentleness lowers the grade of the finest 

 intelligence. Hardwick shouted at the horses, 

 threw on their collars and harness, threw it off, 

 and always arrived on any scene of action with that 

 irksome bang and a clamour which must be wearing 

 to the nerves of animals and is certainly wearing 

 to implements, so that although I liked him and 

 liked his work I found him very hard to bear in 

 places. However, feeling that land and beasts 

 and stable were in good hands I turned my atten- 

 tion to the beautiful necessity of the cottage. 



The first thing I had observed within doors was 

 that the kitchen was long, and had an air of space, 

 and although the windows were guiltless of a solitary 



