“I give the other boy one and sixpence,” said the farmer, “but thee’s very small.” “I’m sprack,” said Jan, confidently. “And I be fond of pigs.” “Massey upon me,” said Master Salter, laughing again. “’Tis a peart young toad, sartinly. A might be fifty year old, for the ways of un. Well, thee shall have a shilling and thee tea, or one and sixpence without, then.” And seeing that Jan glanced involuntarily at the table, the farmer added, “Give un some now, missus. I’ll lay a pound bill the child be hungry.” Jan was hungry. He had bartered the food from his “nunchin bag” at dinner-time for another child’s new slate-pencil. The cakes were very good, too, and Mrs. Salter was liberal. He rose greatly in her esteem by saying grace before meat. He cooled his tea in his saucer too, and raised it to his lips with his little finger stuck stiffly out (a mark of gentility imparted by Mrs. Lake), and in all points conducted himself with the utmost propriety. “For what we have received the Lord be praised,” was his form of giving thanks; to which Mrs. Salter added, “Amen,” and “Bless his heart!” And Jan, picking up his hat, lifted his dark eyes candidly to the farmer’s face, and said with much gravity and decision,— “I’ll take a shilling a week and me tea, Master Salter, if it be all the same to you. And thank you kindly, sir, and the missus likewise.” CHAPTER XIX. THE BLUE COAT.—PIG-MINDING AND TREE-STUDYING.—LEAF-PAINTINGS.—A STRANGER.—MASTER SWIFT IS DISAPPOINTED. WHEN Jan returned to the windmill, and gravely announced that he had hired himself out as pig-minder to Master Salter, Mrs. Lake was, as she said, “put about.” She considered pig-minding quite beneath the dignity of her darling, and brought forward every objection she could think of except the real one. But the windmiller had no romantic dreams on Jan’s behalf, and he decided that “’twas better he should be arning a shillin’ a week than gettin’ into mischief at whoam.” Jan’s ambition, however, was not satisfied. He wanted a blue coat, such as is worn by the shepherd-boys on the plains. He did not mind how old it was, but it must be large; long in the skirt and sleeves. He had woven such a romance about Master Salter’s swineherd and his life, as he watched him week after week from Dame Datchett’s door with envious eyes, that even his coat, with the tails almost sweeping the ground, seemed to Jan to have a dignified air. And there really was something to be said in favor of sleeves so long that he could turn them back into a huge cuff in summer, and turn them down, Chinese fashion, over his hands in winter, to keep them warm. Such a blue coat Abel had possessed, but it was not suitable for mill work, and Mrs. Lake was easily persuaded to give it to Jan. He refused to have it curtailed, or in any way adapted to his figure, and in it, with a switch of his own cutting, he presented himself at Master Salter’s farm in good time the following morning.