The Kind Brother. 21

any more of them; besides, I wanted to see a
little of the world, so I took a trip to Switzer-
land. I was told that it is a beautiful country,
and that one can live there for nothing—which
just suited a fellow in my position. But the
Swiss are brutes! When I asked them for a
morsel to eat, they told me that I was old
enough to gain my own living, as if it were
worth one’s while to leave one’s own country
to go and work elsewhere.’

‘I believe there is no country, replied Fred
seriously, ‘where poor people are not obliged
to work ; and I do not look upon this necessity
of labouring honestly as an evil, but it is a still
greater evil for poor people to refuse to work.’

‘It is all very well for you to talk,’ answered
Francis,—‘ you who pass for being so wise and
good. As for me, I was born to be rich; and
the sooner people give me what is my due, the
better for them.’

‘Listen, replied Fred. ‘There are some
things all very well when said as a joke; but
you yourself must know that your complaints
about your position in life will not mend it, and
that you must put up with it, such as it is,
Those who from sickness or other causes are