Page:The Cottagers of Glenburnie - Hamilton (1808).djvu/193

 would be as ill as ever or a month, and wha cou'd be at the fash o' ay cleanin' at it?"

"Even once a month would keep it tolerable, but once a-week would keep it very nice; your little girls might rub it bright of a morning, without the least trouble in the world. They might learn too, to whiten the window-sill, and to keep it free from rubbish, by laying the books, and all these articles, in their proper places, instead of letting them remain here covered with dust. You cannot imagine what good it would do your young people, did they learn by times to attend to such matters; for believe me, cousin, habits of neatness, and of activity, and of attention, have a greater effect upon the temper and disposition than most people are aware of."

"If my bairns do as weel as I hae done, they'll do weel eneugh," said Mrs MacClarty, turning her wheel with great speed. Mr MacClarty's voice was just at