"That you afford man an important supply, No ass in his senses would ever deny : But then, in return, 'tis but fair to allow, They are of some service to you, Mistress Cow. "Tis their pleasant meadow in which you repose, And they find you a shelter from winterly snows. For comforts like these, we're indebted to man, And for him, in return, should do all that we can.' The cow, upon this, cast her eyes on the grass, Not pleased to be schooled in this way by an ass; 'Yet,' said she to herself, though he's not very bright,

6

I really believe that the fellow is right.'

BUILDING OF A HOUSE.

'FATHER,' said Harry Jackson, one evening as they were returning home from a walk, 'I heard Mr. Jones the builder say to you yesterday, that he had orders to commence building a house for Squire Gray, as soon as possible, on the plot of land we have just passed. I have been thinking how very much I should like to go from time to time and see what the various workmen do, and examine the different tools they use.'

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Would you, my boy,' replied his father; I am sure Mr. Jones, who is an old friend of mine, will gladly allow you to visit the place at any time, and I have no doubt the men will answer any sensible questions you may ask, provided you do

not trouble or hinder them. I am pleased with your wish, and will at once seek Mr. Jones' permission for you to go as often as you like. It will be a capital way, Harry, of employing your leisure time during the school holidays which are at hand. Mr. Jones, like myself, is always willing and happy to assist any one who shows a desire to acquire useful knowledge. He has often told me, that he was once a poor boy, and was taught at a village school. He entered this town with only a few shillings in his pocket, and a scanty bundle of clothes in his hand. Still there was one thing he had always retained in spite of his poverty, and that was a very good character.'

'And how did he manage, father, to make so much money?'

'He became an apprentice, and firmly made up his mind to improve his condition in life; and by honest industry, and the blessing of God, he has risen to be one of the wealthiest men in the town. Moreover, he is respected by every one who knows him.'

Mr. Jones' permission was soon obtained, and Harry longed for the day to arrive when the house was to be begun. It came at last during the first week of his holidays. As soon as breakfast was over, he started for the site, where he found plenty of workmen busily engaged. Some were bringing great numbers of bricks; some were working with saws, hammers, and chisels, chipping and sawing away at large stones; while others were

mixing lime, water, and sand together to make mortar. But most of the men were digging a deep trench in the ground. One of them told Harry that this hole was for the foundation of the house. 'The walls,' said the man, 'would not stand firm if they rested only above the ground, so that we are obliged to build them some distance below the surface.' Harry then went up to a bricklayer, who was just beginning to lay some of the first rows of bricks in the foundation. After watching him a little, while he said, 'Andd o you make the bricks ?'

Bricklayer. No, they are made of clay by the brickmaker. He mixes the clay with sand or ashes, and after this has been ground in a mill, or trodden by men or cattle in a pit, it is made with water into a stiff paste. This paste is moulded into bricks, which are first dried and then baked in what is called a kiln. They are sent here, as you see, in cartloads. My business is to first spread a bed of mortar, upon which a row of bricks is placed; over this, another bed of mortar is spread with this tool called a trowel; then another row of bricks, and so on. The mortar dries and becomes as hard as the bricks, which it binds firmly together.

BUILDING OF A HOUSE.

(Continued).

Some days passed, during which Harry could not go to see how the new house was progressing. When he did at length visit it, as he came near

he heard the sound of hammering. He was surprised to find a number of high poles around the house, forming, with some planks, a kind of wooden frame, called a scaffold. This, he was told, had been put up for the workmen to stand on, and that it had been raised higher and higher as the walls were built up.

On Harry's looking about for the masons and bricklayers, he found they were all gone, and instead there were now at work some men with hammers, planes, saws, and lots of other tools, which each one carried in a sort of basket. men were busy with some large beams. Harry went up to Mr. Jones, who was present, and asked him what they were doing.

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These

These men,' said Mr. Jones, are carpenters. At present they are making the roof of the house. You see this roof is nothing more than a number of large, heavy beams, placed from wall to wall. These are called rafters: they are very strong, to support the rest of the roof.

'One end of each rafter is made to rest on the wall, and then it slants upwards, so as to meet the opposite one. These rafters are fastened very firmly together at the top by being notched or jointed into each other.

• The spaces between the rafters are covered by thin strips of deal called laths, upon which the slates or tiles are laid. The carpenters have many other things to do besides the wood-work of the roof. They make all the window-frames and

doors, the floors and partitions, and also the staircase, which leads from the ground floor to the highest story.'

The next time Harry visited the house, the slater was just finishing his last bit of work. Harry watched him, and saw that each slate had two small holes bored in it, and through each of these the slater drove a nail, thus fastening the slate on to the roof.

Harry. But how have you managed to make each row of slates overlap the ones just beneath them, like the scales of a fish?

Slater. That is easily explained. You see I began close to the top of the wall, over which the first row of slates must project a little way, so that the rain may run quite off the walls. Then another row is placed so as to overlap these, but higher up, and thus by working upwards we come to the top of the roof.

Harry. Thank you, I understand it clearly now, and I think I know why you place them in that manner. Is it not that the rain may run off the roof without getting in between the slates?

Slater. You are right, that is the reason.

Harry saw also the plasterer covering the ceilings and walls with plaster, which was spread on with flat wooden trowels. In one of the rooms where this work was finished and dry, a bricklayer was whitewashing the ceiling.