Harriet Martineau

The Settlers at Home Harriet Martineau

Book Excerpt: ... yard, ran and snatched him up, flung him over her shoulder, and carried him away screaming, till, to pacify him, she set him down among the poultry, which he presently found more amusing than young cabbage plants."Now we shall have a set of new cups for the spring, presently," said Oliver, as he measured lump after lump with his little foot-rule."Cups for the waters!" exclaimed his father. "So that is the reason of this prodigious hurry, is it, my boy? You think tin cups not good enough for your mother, or for her customers, or for the waters. Which of them do you think ought to be ashamed of tin cups?""The water, most of all. Instead of sparkling in a clear bright glass, it looks as nasty as it tastes in a thing that is more brown and rusty every time it is dipped. I will give the folk a pair of cups that shall tempt them to drink--a pair of cups as white as milk.""They will not long remain white: and those who broke the glasses will be the more bent upon spoiling your cups...