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diff --git a/old/55080-0.txt b/old/55080-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 83fd851..0000000 --- a/old/55080-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5087 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Worst Boy in Town, by John Habberton - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The Worst Boy in Town - - -Author: John Habberton - - - -Release Date: July 9, 2017 [eBook #55080] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORST BOY IN TOWN*** - - -E-text prepared by David Edwards, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images -generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 55080-h.htm or 55080-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/55080/55080-h/55080-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/55080/55080-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/worstboy00habbiala - - - - - -Illustration: "A NAUTICAL EXPEDITION." - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -THE WORST BOY IN TOWN - -by - -JOHN HABBERTON - -Author of "Barton Experiment," "Other People's Children," -etc., etc. - - - - - - -New York -G. P. Putnam's Sons, -182 Fifth Avenue -1880 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -Copyright by -G. P. Putnam's Sons, -1880. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TO VERY BAD BOYS, - - AND TO THE FINE OLD FELLOWS - - WHO ONCE WERE CALLED VERY BAD BOYS, - - THIS BOOK IS SYMPATHETICALLY DEDICATED - - BY THE AUTHOR. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS. - - ------- - - - CHAPTER - - I—A NAUTICAL EXPEDITION - - II—A CORNER IN WHISKEY - - III—INJURY AND RESTITUTION - - IV—SHARP AXES AND SHARPER WITS - - V—EXPERIMENTS IN GRAVITATION - - VI—THOUGHTS OF REFORM - - VII—IN TROUBLE AGAIN - - VIII—FUGITIVES FROM JUSTICE - - IX—THE STOOL OF REPENTANCE - - X—YOUNG AMERICA IN POLITICS - - XI—A QUIET LITTLE GAME - - XII—SWEET SOLACE - - XIII—THE BOY WHO WAS NOT AFRAID - - XIV—PAYING FOR A SPREE - - XV—RUNNING AWAY - - XVI—LOSING A REPUTATION - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER I. - - A NAUTICAL EXPEDITION. - - -"You're the worst boy in town!" - -The speaker was Farmer Parkins, and the person addressed was Jack -Wittingham, only son of the most successful physician in Doveton. -Farmer Parkins had driven to town quite early in the morning to make -some necessary purchases, and he had been followed by his faithful -yellow dog, Sam, who had been improving the opportunity to make some -personal calls and tours of observation. One of these last-named -recreations carried him near the back door of a butcher shop to which -Jack had gone to deliver an order for his mother. Adjacent to the -butcher's place of business was the shop of the village tinman, and -behind this were strewn sundry kitchen utensils which had proved to be -too badly damaged to be mended. Jack had noticed the dog when that -animal first put in his appearance in search of a scrap of meat or -bone, and had thereafter observed his motions with that peculiar -interest which dogs seem always to inspire in boys. Then he happened -to see a very dilapidated tea-kettle behind the tin-shop, and when -dogs and tea-kettles become closely associated in the mind of a boy, -even if the boy himself be of excellent birth and breeding, and quite -tender-hearted beside, the juvenile traditions of many generations -have generally the effect of causing the dog and the kettle to enter -into an entangling alliance which the animal regards with accumulative -aversion, and about which the tea-kettle, whose expressions are -ordinarily so cheery, indulges in much unrythmical noise. Into such a -combination were Farmer Parkins' yellow dog Sam and an old kettle -forced very soon after Jack first beheld them both, and as yellow Sam -hurried down street in an honest attempt to rid himself of his -superfluous tin-ware, and as Jack followed him to note the results, -with a view to the more accurate affixing of tin kettles to the tails -of the dogs of the future, yellow Sam dropped exhausted in front of -his master's horses, and the dog's master came out of a store near by, -just as Jack, with a fragment of barrel-hoop, was trying to stimulate -the animal to renewed exertion. It was then that the farmer remarked, -with admirable vigor, - -"You're the worst boy in town!" - -Jack had heard this very expression so many times before that he was -half inclined to believe it true, yet how it could be a fact was a -something that bothered him greatly. He laughed when Farmer Parkins -said it, and he replied also, by several facial contortions, which -were as irritating as they were hideous; he stuck his hands into his -pockets, and bravely tried an ingratiating smile or two upon such -passers by as had overheard the farmer's remark, but as soon as he had -reached an alley down which to disappear, Jack suddenly became a very -chop-fallen, unhappy looking boy, and he murmured to himself, - -"That's what everyone says. I don't see why. I don't swear, like Jimmy -Myers, nor steal, like Frank Balder, I don't tell lies—except when I -have to, and I go to Sunday-school every Sunday, while there are lots -of boys in town who spend the whole of that day in fishing. I didn't -mean to hurt old Parkin's yellow dog; I only wanted to see what he'd -do. And just didn't he travel?—oh, oh! But I don't see why I'm the -worst boy in town. I declare. If it isn't just the morning to go -fishing—warm, cloudy, worms easy to get. I wish't was Saturday, so -there wouldn't be any school, and I wish school teachers knew what fun -it is to go fishing; then they'd be easier on a fellow who played -hookey, and they'd ask him where he caught them, and how many, and how -big they were, instead of picking up their everlasting switches and -making themselves disagreeable. Perch would bite splendidly to-day, -and there are people in this town who'd be glad to have a good mess of -perch. I declare! I've just the idea; school or no school, whipping or -no whipping, it ought to be done. I'll go right away and see if Matt -can't go with me." - -Jack moved rapidly through streets which crossed the main thoroughfare -of the town; then he approached a wood-pile where a boy of about his -own age was at work; before this boy's eyes Jack dangled two new -fish-lines and some hooks, and exclaimed— - -"Come along, Matt!" - -"I can't," said Matt, gazing hungrily at the new fishing tackle, "the -governor wouldn't like it at all." - -"Oh, never mind the governor," said Jack, "I'll explain things to him -when we get back." - -Matt seemed to be in some doubt as to whether the influence of his -tempter with the governor amounted to much, for the functionary -alluded to was master Matt Bolton's own father, a gentleman who held -quite firmly to the general opinion about Jack. Besides, Matt was -vigorously attacking the family wood-pile, his honest heart alive with -a sense of the need there was for him to do all in his power to -relieve his overworked father, and alive, too, with the conviction -that he would have to work industriously if he would chop and split a -day's supply before school-time. Besides, a fishing excursion implied -truancy, which, in turn, implied the certainty of a whipping in school -and the probability of punishment at home. - -"Father would be very angry," said Matt, as he sighingly withdrew his -eyes from the new fishing tackle, "and he has already enough to bother -him, without having things made worse by me." - -"But Matt, he won't feel bad when he knows what you did with the fish. -We'll give them to widow Batty. (This resolution of Jack's was newer -even than his tackle, for he had formed it while he talked). "She's -been sick, you know, and I heard your father say the other day that -she must have a hard enough time, at best, to feed that large family -of her's." - -"But suppose we don't catch any?" suggested Matt. - -"Then you can tell him what we meant to have done if we had caught -some. Besides, we can't help catching a lot at such a splendid -fish-hole as the mill-dam. I think it's awful that a whole family -should go hungry just because it hasn't got any father. Didn't your -governor ever read you out of the Bible of visiting the fatherless and -widows in their affliction?—mine has." - -Boys are no more likely than adults to resist Satan when he appears as -an angel of light, so Matt speedily agreed to go as soon as he had -prepared a day's supply of firewood. - -"Got another axe, and I'll help you," said Jack, and within five -minutes those two boys were making chips fly at a rate which would -have been the wonder of a hired wood-chopper, while Matt's mother, who -happened to glance through a window wondered why Jack's father could -accuse that boy of laziness. Then both boys carried the wood to the -kitchen door, unearthed some worms between sundry logs at the -wood-pile, and disappeared as stealthily as if in their benevolent -project they were animated by the scriptural injunction, to not let -the left hand know what the right hand was doing. - -Reaching the brow of a little hill upon which the village was -situated, Jack exclaimed— - -"I vow, if the river hasn't overflowed its banks." - -"Umph," replied Matt, "I knew that a week ago." - -"Well," said Jack, "so did I, but I forgot it. We can get to the dam -easily enough, though; it's only half a mile across the lowlands to -the river, and there are fences all the way. Riding rail fences is -bully fun. Wait till I get my rod; I've got two and I'll lend you -one." - -Jack extracted two bamboo rods from the blackberry thicket where he -habitually kept them, lest they should occasion unpleasant questions, -as they certainly would have done had his frequent expeditions with -them begun at the house of his excellent father. Then both boys -mounted the fence, which was of rails, and their trip to the dam was -fairly begun. - -Now to travel by fence-rail is a delightful method of passing time, as -all liberally educated boys know, if one is bound for no where in -particular, but when one is two, and both are boys, and are in quest -of fish, and the middle of the day is approaching, in which fish do -not bite, half a mile of rail fencing is a trip which consumes -patience with great rapidity. Had the adventurers been other than -boys, they would have turned back at once, but when a boy gets a -project clearly into his head he never gives any one an excuse to say -that the mule is the most obstinate of all living animals. Jack soon -grew impatient of his slow progress, and conceived a brilliant idea. -Raising himself to his feet on a rail of reasonable flatness (for a -fence rail) he steadied himself with his rod, and accomplished with -safety and celerity the trip to the angle where the rail terminated. - -"Hurrah, Matt!" he shouted, "look here!" and he walked along another -rail. - -Matt saw and was glad, and following Jack's example, he made some -excellent time himself. - -"We'd never have learned that trick if it hadn't been for the -overflow. How glad I am that I came, and—Ow!" Jack's abrupt -termination was due to his own course having temporarily terminated, -for the third rail upon which he ventured, not having been designed -for the particular object which Jack had in view, had been split -triangularly, and one of Jack's shoes had slipped to one side, the -other slipping in an opposite direction, and the young man came down -astride the unyielding oak with a thud whose sound was something -inaudible when considered in the light of the anguish which it caused. -No new word presented itself for use just then; Jack continued to -remark "Ow," with a variety of long-drawn inflections, while Matt -precipitately lowered himself to a position of safety, and manifested -no inclination to go farther. After some moments devoted strictly to -facial contortion, Jack succeeded in changing his position so that -both legs hung upon the same side of the fence, then he examined the -rail closely, as if to see if the tip of his spine had not driven a -hole through it, and remarked, - -"We'd better do this in our stockinged feet." - -Matt thought so too, so both boys removed their shoes, tying them -together with the strings upon which the fish were to be strung, and -slinging them across their shoulders. Their progress thereafter was -considerably more rapid, but a sudden shriek and a splash of -voluminous sound and displacement announced that Matt had fallen -entirely from his rail, and when Jack came to view the scene, Matt was -swelling the flood with his own tears. - -"I declare," exclaimed Jack, "that's too bad, old fellow! And you had -the worms in your pocket, too—I hope the water hasn't got into the box -and drowned them so they can't wiggle when they're on the hooks. Say, -its warm; your clothes will dry on you, before we reach the dam. Oh, -I'll tell you what,—we'll take them off and wring them out, and go -swimming at the same time." - -At the prospect of an unlooked for sport, Matt dried his tears, and a -broad flat rail having been found the boys disrobed and took whatever -comfort could be found in water eighteen inches deep with a field of -corn stubble at the bottom of it. Matt's clothes seemed rather clammy -as he again resumed his normal position inside them, but Jack -described so delightfully the assortment of fish which he wished to -catch, that damp clothing became a mere thing of the forgotten past. -Started again, Jack moved rapidly for some moments, but suddenly -stopped and shouted, - -"Hurry up, Matt; here's the splendidest thing that ever was!" - -Matt obeyed orders, and while yet twenty rail lengths behind he heard -Jack shout, - -"Here's a bridge that floated away from one of the little brooks; -we'll just make a raft of it and reach the dam in less than no time." - -Matt eyed the bridge with manifest favor; it was simply two logs,—mud -sills—connected by three cross-ties, upon which the planking was laid. - -"Won't the current trouble us when we reach the river road?" he asked. - -"We won't go that way," said Jack. "We'll go through the fields and -then along a wood road that goes through the timber. It's half a mile -the shorter way, besides being the safer. Come ahead; we'll use our -rods for poles to push the raft with." - -"Then we've got to knock down fences," said Matt. - -"Well," said Jack, who had a conscience in hiding somewhere about him, -"we'll come back in a few days, when the flood has gone down, and put -them up again. And we'll play the raft is a ram—a regular Merrimac, -you know,—and the fences are an enemy's fleet, or a chain stretched -across the river. Let's back out and get a good start." - -The bridge, which did not draw a foot of water, was backed across the -road, one boy stood at each side, and at a signal from Jack it was -driven against the fence, through which it crashed most gloriously, -sprinkling a dozen fence-rails about the surface of the water. - -"Hooray!" shouted Jack, "now for the next one! The Union forever!" and -then Jack, while _en route_ for the next fence, finding himself -unequal to the task of extemporizing a stirring address to his -command, began to quote from "Rolla's Address to the Peruvians," which -was considered the gem of that much used book, "The Comprehensive -School Speaker"—"My brave associates, partners of my toils, my -feelings and my fame, can Rolla's words add fresh vigor to the——" - -Just then the raft struck the fence, but this latter being of the -"staked and ridered"[1] pattern, the result was that the raft came to -a sudden standstill, and the crew were thrown flat upon it, their -respective heads hanging somewhat astern and in danger of being -water-soaked. - -Footnote 1: - - A rail fence across the angles of which two rails meet in X shape, - their lowest ends driven into the grounds a little way and a rail - lying in the upper angle of the X. - - -"Blazes!" exclaimed Jack wrathfully, as he endeavored to staunch a -bleeding nose, "what did a man need to have a staked and ridered fence -just here for? Well, we'll have to push down a couple of stakes and -break our way through." - -The commanding officer's plan was speedily acted upon, and the raft -went on swimmingly until it seemed to slide upon some obstruction, -then it came to a dead stop. - -"Grounded on an old corn hill, I suppose," said Jack. "Well, 'starn -all,' as old Barnstable says in the Fourth Reader." - -But no amount of pushing availed to move the raft, and the sudden -breaking of Jack's rod gave affairs a new and discouraging aspect. - -"We can't both fish with one rod," said Jack, after descending into -and emerging from the depths of his mind. "I'll tell you what let's -do, we'll take off our clothes, make them into a bundle, and carry -them ashore on our heads, as explorers sometimes do when they ford -rivers." - -"What!" asked Matt, "and not get any fish for poor Mrs. Batty and her -children?" - -"That _is_ a pity," said Jack, with some signs of embarrassment, and -the gathering together of the loose and fleeting ends of previous -plans and resolutions. "But, you see, it must be nearly eleven -o'clock; we've used up an awful lot of time, and we've got to get -ashore yet, and be back home by the time school is out, else the -folks'll know we've been playing hookey. I wonder if we couldn't get -the poor old woman some blackberries? It's only June now, though, and -I never saw a ripe blackberry before the first of July. Perhaps -there's some early cherries in Milman's orchard." - -With this slight salve for the consciences whose wounds had begun to -smart, the boys stripped once more, waded ashore through a corn-field -in which the hills of sharp cut stalks seemed omnipresent, dressed -themselves, and sneaked into the Milman orchard, where they made wry -faces while discussing the probable value to the widow Battay of the -few pale pink cherries they found. Dinner was reached and, eaten, -somehow with less appetites than was usual after a morning spent in -school, and then the boys, each by himself, made hasty search for -whatever suitable material might be soonest found to insert between -shirts and jackets, to break the force of what, in the memory of many -old fellows who once were school-boys, was the inevitable penalty of -truancy. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - A CORNER IN WHISKEY. - - -"You're the worst boy in town!" - -For several days after their unsuccessful fishing expedition, Jack and -Matt were extremely obedient and undemonstrative. Village school -teachers, in that country, were not unfrequently the stout-armed sons -of farmers, and when they plied the rod, any memory of the occasion -was not likely soon to become dimmed. It was perhaps for this reason -that even when Matt or Jack amused himself by whistling, the airs -selected were sure to have been written on minor keys, and that both -boys sought earnestly, each by himself, for some method of setting -some positive moral success against their late failure at benevolence. - -The opportunity did not linger long. Matt was sitting in the house one -evening, wondering whether to go to bed at once, or wrestle again with -an exasperating problem in cube root, the answer to which, as printed -in the book, he felt thrice assured was wrong, when a long whistle of -peculiar volume and inflection informed him that Jack was outside and -had something to communicate. Matt sprang to his feet, for only a -matter of extreme importance would have brought Jack across town at so -late an hour. The worst boy in town was found by Matt to be hanging -across the garden gate and so powerfully charged with virtuous -indignation that he was unable to contain it all. - -"Look here, Matt," said he, "you know what an awful thing whiskey is, -don't you?" - -"I should think I did," replied Matt, "Havn't I been to every -temperance meeting that's been held?" - -"So you have," said Jack, "Well what do you think? There's Hoccamine, -the corner storekeeper, gone and bought seven barrels." - -"Isn't that dreadful!" exclaimed Matt. "If he starts a rum-shop here, -it'll spoil the custom of his store." - -"He isn't going to have a bar," explained Jack, "he's going to sell by -the gallon. But what's the difference?—rum is rum, and it does harm, -no matter in what way it is sold." - -"It's perfectly awful," said Matt. - -"All right," said Jack, "Now I'll tell you what I propose. It wasn't -brought up to the store until after dark—I suppose they were -ashamed—and it is on the sidewalk beside their store, to be put down -cellar as soon as the clerks come in the morning." Then Jack put his -lips down to Matt's ear, and whispered, "Let's spill it for them?" - -"Gracious!" whispered Matt, "how can we?" - -"Easily enough," said Jack. "We'll bore a gimlet hole in each barrel, -and it'll have all night to run. I've got a gimlet. You slip out of -the house about twelve o'clock, and so will I; we'll meet at the -church steps, and then unchain the demon only to destroy him forever." -(Jack's last clause was quoted verbatim from a temperance address to -which he had lately listened.) - -"I'm your man," said Matt. - -"I knew you would be," Jack replied; "I could have done it alone, but I -was sure you'd enjoy helping, and I'm not the sort of fellow that goes -back on a friend, you know. Twelve o'clock sure,—does your clock -strike the hours?" - -"Yes." - -"So does ours. Can you keep awake until then? If you can't I'll give -you half of my cloves to eat. I've saved them the past few Sunday -nights when I havn't been sleepy in church." - -Matt accepted the proffered assistance, and Jack departed, while Matt -went into the house and to bed with the firm conviction that he was -too excited to sleep any for a week to come. It was nine when he -retired, and at the stroke of ten he had not had occasion to touch the -cloves except to nibble the blossom end from one, just to have a -pleasant taste in his mouth. It was many hours, apparently before the -clock struck eleven; had it not been for the loud persistent ticking -Matt would have believed the old timepiece had stopped. As it was, he -had fully made up his mind that the striking weight had not been -wound, when suddenly the hammer rattled off eleven. Between eleven and -twelve, Matt ate all the cloves, pinched himself nearly black and -blue, pulled his hair, rubbed his ears, and did everything else he had -ever heard of as an antidote to sleepiness. Finally he dressed himself -and descended, intending to be at the front door when the clock should -strike. As he stepped from the last stair his foot fell upon the -family cat, who habitually reposed upon a rug lying just there, and -the cry which that cat uttered was more appalling to Matt than the -roar of a royal Bengal tiger would have been. Matt's parents, however, -had clear consciences, so the agonized scream did not seem to awaken -them. Then Matt's heart beat so violently that he began to wonder why -the sound of its throbs did not shake the house. He tiptoed to the -door, but his shoes squeaked, and though he experimented, by setting -down his feet, heel first, by walking on the outer edge of his shoes, -and then upon the inner, the squeak continued. Then he sat upon the -floor and removed his shoes, when, to his great relief, the clock -struck twelve. Why that clock did not rouse him with its clamor every -night and every time it struck was a great mystery to him as he softly -opened the door, closed it, sped away in his stockinged feet, and -determined to smuggle a bit of soap out of the house and settle with -those stockings before they went to the family washtub. - -Reaching the church, Matt was sure he saw a shadow hold up a gaunt -forefinger by way of warning, but this speedily resolved itself into -Jack, who was elevating the gimlet, and who approached and whispered— - -"In hoc signo vinces," as old Constantine says in the "Universal -School History." - -Both boys hugged every fence and wall until they reached the offending -barrels; then Matt's heart began pumping again, receiving some -sympathy from that of Jack. The last-named youth suddenly whispered, - -"Want to strike the first blow?" - -"I guess not," said Matt, flattening himself as closely as possible -against the wall of the store. "You thought of it first." - -Jack knelt before one of the barrels, bored a hole as low as possible, -and a small stream of liquid and a strong smell of whiskey appeared -instantly and at the same time. Then another hole was bored at the -top, to admit air, and the industry of the stream increased suddenly, -as Jack learned by a jet which struck his own trowsers and made itself -felt on the skin beneath. Matt operated upon the second barrel, Jack -unlocked the demon in the third, and so the boys proceeded -alternately, until while over the sixth barrel Matt's enthusiasm -interfered with his steadiness of hand and he broke the gimlet. - -"That's too bad," whispered Jack. "I guess we'd better leave, but old -Hoccamine won't find five empty barrels a very small hint to stop -outraging the sentiments of the inhabitants of this town." - -Both boys made haste to depart, wasting no time in formal adieux. As -soon as they had reached the church and cemetery, in neither of which -they feared listeners, Jack exclaimed in a low tone - -"This is a proud day for Doveton, Matt; can't you make some excuse to -come up town in the morning to hear Hoccamine swear when he learns -about it?" - -"I'll ask mother if she doesn't need something from some store," said -Matt; "good night." - -The boys went their separate ways, each unconsciously carrying the -smell of whiskey in the shoe soles which had several times been wet -with it, as they moved about the sidewalk, so when Mr. and Mrs. Bolton -awoke in the morning, it was not strange that the lady exclaimed— - -"Where can that strong smell of whiskey come from? I didn't know there -was a drop in the house." - -"Nor I," said Mr. Bolton. The odor could not be attributed to the -servant, for she lived elsewhere, and had not yet come to her daily -labor. Mrs. Bolton was not superior to the ordinary human interest in -mystery, so she continued, - -"Where can it be? Oh, husband, it can't be that Matt, our only darling -boy, is getting into bad ways?" - -Mr. Bolton sprang from his bed and hurried to Matt's room; there were -too many other fourteen-year old boys in Doveton who had already -trifled with liquor, and Matt's father had at once become suspicious. -But he returned in a moment saying, - -"Thank God, it isn't that; the blessed scamp's breath is as sweet as -it was when he was a baby. But what can it be?" - -Mr. Bolton quickly dressed himself and went through the house, but -soon hurried back exclaiming— - -"Thieves! The front door is ajar." - -Both householders took part in a hasty search, but Mrs. Bolton found -her silver spoons safe though they had been in plain view in a -dining-room closet. Mr. Bolton found no clothing missing, nor could -the subsequent search prove that anything whatever had been taken. - -"I have it!" exclaimed Mrs. Bolton suddenly. "I heard the cat scream -terribly in the night. It is plain that the rascal stepped upon her, -and then ran away, supposing her noise would arouse the house. What a -narrow escape!" - -Matt slept throughout the excitement like one who has a conscience -which was not only void of offense, but had the additional peace which -comes of virtuous deeds successfully accomplished. It was only after -considerable effort, indeed, that he could be roused at breakfast -time. As for Jack, he was up long before the lark, and on his way to -the market (which was opposite Hoccamine's store) to purchase some -scraps of meat for a mythical dog. He meekly stood outside with his -package, for what seemed to him centuries, awaiting the opening of -Hoccamine's store. Then he hurried home, ate the merest excuse for a -breakfast, and cooled his heels at Matt's wood-pile for at least an -hour, and when his companion finally appeared, yawning profoundly, -Jack shouted— - -"Oh, Matt, 'twas worth a million dollars. Hurry up, can't you?" - -Matt quickly roused himself to consciousness that life was real, life -was earnest, and joined Jack, who exclaimed— - -"Fun? why there was oceans of it, with hundreds of lakes and ponds -thrown in. First there came along old Burt, on his way to market, and -as soon as he saw the stuff in little puddles by the curbstone, and -smelt what it was, he just lay down on his stomach and began to drink. -He signed the pledge at the last temperance meeting, too; isn't it -awful? Then Captain Sands came along, and stopped to look, and so did -Squire Jones and Joe, the barber, and everybody that came to market -saw the crowd and went over, so I thought 'twas safe to go over -myself. All of a sudden over came Hoccamine, who had been to market, -and then—well, you never heard such swearing at a fight. He declared -that somebody had been stealing it, and Squire Jones told him it was a -righteous judgment on him, and then Hoccamine swore some more and -called the Squire names, and the Squire said he'd never buy another -penny's worth from a man who had abused him in that way, and Hoccamine -told him to take his infernal pennies and buy of—of the old fellow -down below, you know, if he chose. Then Hoccamine opened the store and -got out some pails and scoop-shovels, and tried to save some of the -liquor out of the gutter. Oh, it was just glorious." And Jack, unable -to express his feelings in any other way, danced about madly and -jumped over several logs of wood. - -Then Matt, who has listened with considerable interest, yet with a -pre-occupied air, told the story of the attempted burglary, but -explained away the supposition that the thief was scared off by the -cat. - -"That shows," said Jack, briskly, "how necessary the work was that we -did last night. Whiskey made that thief, you see—I shouldn't wonder if -what you were about at the same time had something to do with his -being influenced to go away. Don't you know how these things happen in -books sometimes? I once read—" - -Jack suddenly ceased talking, but burst out laughing, and finally -dropped upon the chips and rolled about in a perfect convulsion of -laughter, while Matt looked on in mute astonishment. - -"Oh, Matt," he exclaimed finally, "don't you understand? That smell of -whiskey was on you somewhere—I smell it now. And you were so excited -when you went in, that you forgot to latch the door—I've done the same -thing, once or twice. Oh, oh, oh, that's too rich. I'll die if I can't -tell somebody." - -Matt immediately swore his companion to strict secresy, but later in -the day, which happened to be Saturday, he became so uncomfortable at -hearing his father discuss the attempted burglary with everyone who -entered the store that he confessed the whole affair to Mr. Bolton. -That gentleman made a valiant effort at reproof, but he did not love -Hoccamine more than business rivals usually love each other, and he -was an earnest advocate of total abstinence, so he made some excuse to -get at his account books, and for the remainder of the day he was -subject to violent fits of laughter whenever he was not trying to -truthfully modify his story of the burglary to the many acquaintances -who came in to enquire about it. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - INJURY AND RESTITUTION. - - -Dr. Wittingham, whose only son Jack was, sat in his office one morning -compounding a complicated and consequently a favorite prescription of -his own, and at the same time pondering upon the equally complicated -character of his boy. The doctor had been a boy himself, a third of a -century before, and an extremely lively one, if the traditions of his -native village had been correctly handed down, but a man's memory is -not in the habit of going backward half a lifetime, unless in search -of old sweethearts, so the doctor owned to himself that Jack was -without exception the most mischievous boy he had ever known or heard -of. - -"It passes all explanation, too," said the doctor, sitting down and -watching his prescription as it filtered slowly into a glass beneath -it. "I'm a man of good behavior if ever there was one, his mother was -a lady born and bred, he knows the Bible better than our minister -does, and there's nothing good but what the boy seems to take a lively -interest in. I was going to write a book upon heredity, basing it upon -the development of that boy's character as inherited from his parents -and modified by such teachings as I have imparted, to improve the -original stock. But bless me! I'm sometimes unable to find the -original stock at all, and as for the improvements I intend to make in -it, well, they're as invisible as the ailments of some of my rich -patients. Whatever I say to him seems to filter through him more -rapidly than that mixture is doing through the paper, and leaves not -even a sediment behind, while whatever he shouldn't hear seems to -stick to him like an adhesive plaster. Before he goes to school, he -recites his lessons to me in the most perfect manner; when he comes -home he brings a written complaint from the teacher, who has found him -outrageously mischievous all day long; and when his mother takes any -of his torn jackets and trowsers in hand, she is certain to find two -or three more documents of the same kind which Jack has kindly -forgotten to deliver, perhaps out of regard for my feelings. He will -chop wood all day Saturday for the Widow Batty or some other needy -person, until I determine he's growing to be too good to live; then my -own dinner comes up underdone because he hasn't considered that -wood-chopping, like charity, should begin at home. I've heard no -complaints of him for nearly a week; there must be a terrible shower -of them brewing somewhere." - -There was a knock at the door, and the town supervisor of roads -entered. - -"Ah, good morning," said the doctor, briskly. "Who's under the weather -now?" - -"Wa'al," drawled the supervisor, "nobody, I reckon 'less its you. -Here's a little bill I'm sorry to have to bring to you, but its had to -be done." - -The doctor took the paper from the Supervisor's hand and read as -follows: - -"Dr. Andrew Wittingham to town of Doveton, Dr. One-half cost of -replacing Second Brook Bridge, $11.62." - -"What on earth does this mean?" exclaimed the doctor after reading the -bill several times. - -"Bolton has paid the other half," said the supervisor; "its for that -bridge that Jack and Matt hooked, you know, and left in the middle of -Prewitt's corn field half a mile from where it belonged." - -"Hooked a bridge?" exclaimed the doctor, "I don't understand. Jack -never said anything to me about it." - -"Didn't he?" asked the supervisor with an ironical grin. "Wa'al, like -enough he didn't; 'twas during the June freshet, you know, an' the -boys found it loose, an' went raftin' around on it. Like enough they'd -have fetched it back, but they rammed it through one fence after -another, an' at last they got it aground. We tried to get it under a -log wagon an' haul it back, but 'twas no go, an' we havn't put the -hire of the wagon into the bill, for the man wasn't to charge anything -if he didn't get it through. Shouldn't wonder, though, if Prewitt -brought in a bill for damages, he says it'll do him out of twenty -hills of corn, besides being a nuisance to plough around. An' he and -the next man are out about a dozen fence rails each." - -The doctor recognized the inevitable, yet remarked that the price -seemed a large one for a bridge in a country where lumber was so -cheap. - -"Just what it cost," remarked the supervisor, "the whole thing came to -$23.25, an' in dividin' I threw the odd cent on to Bolton, for I think -the medical profession ought to be encouraged." - -The doctor paid the bill, and bade his visitor a rather curt good -morning. Then he went to the door and shouted "Jack!" in tones which -would have been heard by the young man if he had been at school, which -he was not. - -"Jack," said the doctor, sternly, when the youth appeared, "I've just -had to pay for a bridge which you stole in June." - -"I didn't," promptly answered the boy. - -"It amounted to the same thing, in dollars and cents, as stealing," -said the doctor. "How many hours of fun did you have that day?" - -Jack thought profoundly for a minute or two, and replied, meekly, - -"About two, I suppose." - -"And to pay for those I have had to lose the receipts of about a day -of hard, disgusting work. Do you consider that the fair thing, for one -who is doing everything he can for your good?" - -"No, sir," replied Jack, honestly contrite in the presence of this new -view of the case. - -"Then why did you do it?" - -"Because." - -"Because what?" - -"Because." - -"Because you're an ungrateful scamp, and don't care for anything but -your own pleasure." - -"Yes I do, father," said Jack, beginning to cry, "I"—— - -"Don't make excuses, sir," interrupted the doctor; "you shall do extra -work, at whatever a laborer would be paid, to make up the cost of that -bridge, and do it on your holidays and Saturdays, too. Now I want you -to go and burn that old bridge, or I'll have to pay for the annoyance -it will give Prewitt." - -Jack lingered for a moment, as bad boys often do on such occasions, -longing to say something which he could not put into words, and to -hear some recognition of what he felt was good within him. Had the -doctor used a mere tithe of the patience and love that Heaven had been -compelled to display in reforming him, he might have attached Jack to -him by that love which is the best of all educators in things wise and -thoughtful. But the doctor, like the boy, lived first, though -unconsciously, for himself, and so with an impatient gesture he drove -Jack from the door. The boy filled a pocket with matches and lounged -off, muttering to himself, - -"It'll be bully fun to burn the old bridge, anyhow, I shouldn't wonder -if it would take a couple of days, and there'll be that much school -time gone, but I say—Matt ought to be made to help—oh, wouldn't that -be jolly! I'll go ask his father right away—everybody calls him an -honest man, and he oughtn't to see me paying Matt's debts." - -Jack hurried at once to Mr. Bolton's store; as he entered, the -proprietor, who was alone, picked up a hoe-handle, and exclaimed— - -"You young scoundrel, I've a good mind to break every bone in your -rascally body. Don't you ever dare to coax my boy to go anywhere with -you again, or I'll half kill you. You're the worst boy in town." - -Rightly assuming that the opportunity for presenting his request was -not a promising one, Jack departed at once, and hung about the -schoolhouse until the mid-morning intermission; then he seized Matt -and announced the situation, taking care to omit mention of his -interview with Bolton senior. Matt at once volunteered assistance, and -an hour later the boys had burning upon the bridge a glorious fire of -dead boughs and broken rails. When the boards had burned in two, the -boys pried the two logs toward each other, and thereafter they -adjusted the logs several times, getting each time some smut upon -their clothes as well as occasional burns upon their hands. When at -length the logs seemed able to take care of themselves the boys -strewed some green twigs upon the ground to lie on, and as they were -stretched upon them, chatting in the desultory manner peculiar to -every one who lies down about a fire, Jack remarked, - -"Say Matt, do you know that people in this world are awfully unfair to -boys?" - -"I guess I do," replied Matt, "but what made you think of it just -now?" - -"Why, my govenor gave me fits this morning about this bridge, and -called me ungrateful and all sorts of things. I s'pose he thought he -told the truth, but I know better. I'd do anything for him—I'd die for -him. Why, one day that big mulatto Ijam, that he can never collect his -bills of, came in looking awful ugly, and blazing about being sued, -and I was sure he meant to hurt father; I just got a hatchet and stood -outside the door, ready to rush in and tomahawk him if he did the -least thing. It made me late at school, and I got licked for that, but -I didn't care, and the teacher wrote a note home about it and I got -scolded, but I didn't tell what I'd done." - -"My father's the same way, sometimes," said Matt. - -"I know he is," said Jack, hastily debating (with decision in the -negative) whether he should tell of his own morning experience with -Mr. Bolton. - -"Now," continued Jack, "I've got to work all my holidays at something, -I don't know what, until I earn enough money to pay my share of that -bridge—you know the two govenors have had to settle for a new one?" - -"Mercy, no!" exclaimed Matt. - -"They have, this morning," said Jack. "I shouldn't wonder if you'd -catch it when you go home, but there's some bully mullein leaves under -the hill that you can put inside the back of your jacket." - -Matt devoted some moments of disagreeable reflection to this topic; -then his sense of companionship came to the surface, and he said— - -"I'll help you, Jack—unless father punishes me in the same way. What -do you suppose you'll have to do?" - -"I don't know yet," said Jack, "but I've got a splendid idea. The -govenor has just bought his winter's supply of wood, as he generally -does in June, and he always has it cut while its green because it -costs only a dollar and a quarter a cord, while the men charge a -dollar and a half when its seasoned. I'll ask him to let me work it -out in that way." - -"Why, Jack," remonstrated Matt, "it will take you more than half a -year of holidays." - -"No, it won't," said Jack, "I can chop nearly a cord a day when I work -hard. Besides, I've got an idea worth more than my own industry. I'm -going to blow at school, and around among the boys, about what a -splendid wood-chopper I am." - -"I'll say the same thing about you," said Matt. - -"All right; we'll both talk of my particular swing with the axe until -the whole crowd will be mad enough to take the conceit out of me at -any price. Then I'll offer a bet of something worth having—a half -dollar against half a dime, say—that I can chop and split more in a -single day than any other boy in town. Lots of them will take up the -bet, we'll appoint a day, the place to be our wood, pile, and every -boy to bring his own axe. You shall be umpire, so you won't have to do -anything but walk about and egg the others up to business." - -This brilliant device took complete possession of Matt, and as for -Jack, within a week there was not a boy in town who could pass him -without making a face at him, and scarcely a mother dependant upon her -own boys for fuel but had an abundant supply without having to beg for -it. Many indignant boys offered indefinite bets in favor of their own -skill with the axe, but the sagacious Jack declined them all on the -ground that he could not honorably bet on what he called a sure thing. -When finally he offered his own wager, it was accepted by acclamation -by nearly the whole of his own arithmetic class, numbering -twenty-nine. The boys from the other school hoped they were not to be -excluded just because they lived in a different part of the town, and -Matt went on a special mission to them to assure them that this was to -be, figuratively speaking, an international contest, in which all -territorial lines were to be as if they existed not. Some other boys -who never went to school, hardened young rowdies, who, as a rule did -nothing, and accumulated a large stock of vitality which was not -always expended in proper ways, heard of the approaching match, swore -by all sorts of persons, places and things that they only wished they -might "take a whack at that game," and were cordially invited to -participate. Then the would-be contestants met in convention, and Jack -formally deposited his half dollar in the hands of Matt, who was to be -stake-holder. There being some difficulty in deciding how the bets -against Jack were to be held, the challenger magnanimously declined to -accept any bet, if the crowd would agree, each for himself, that the -man who cut least, and he alone, should be loser of a half dime in -case of Jack's triumph. - -After a fair canvass of conflicting interests as to date, which -involved the withdrawal of several boys who had agreed to go fishing -or shooting, or berrying, or visiting, it was decided that the ensuing -Saturday morning would be the most available time, particularly as -Jack explained that his father who, he was sure, would stop the whole -thing if he heard of it in advance, would start before daylight that -morning to attend a consultation miles away by rail. The idea that the -proceeding would be displeasing to any adult silenced at once the -objections of all who had preferred another date, and it even brought -back the boys who had pleaded prior engagements. - -As for Dr. Wittingham, he was completely astounded and wonderfully -pleased when Jack, with a frank business-like air, proposed to cut the -ten cords of winter wood as an offset to the bridge bill of eleven -dollars and sixty-two cents. The doctor patted Jack's head, called him -a noble fellow, gave him a stick of licorice, and promised him a -dollar for himself on the completion of the work. - -"Now," said the doctor, when Jack had left his presence, "I think I've -a good hard point for that work on heredity; Impose a rational penalty -for offense, and its manifest justice will improve both the reasoning -and moral nature of the offender." - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - SHARP AXES AND SHARPER WITS. - - -During the week preceding the great contest with axes there was very -little truancy, fighting or bad hours to be complained of by the -parents of the boys of Doveton. The excitement natural to an -approaching struggle was sufficient even for the nerves of the most -irrepressible juvenile natures in town. Most of the boys went into -training at their respective family wood-piles, and those who had no -uncut wood on hand resorted to the unprecedented operation of -requesting permission to work at that of somebody else. The story of -the bet became noised abroad, beyond the limits of the town, and -several sturdy country boys having signified their desire to earn -fifty cents by a half day's work, the crowd allowed them to enter for -the contest, for anything was more endurable than Jack Wittingham's -conceit; Jack himself welcomed them, of course, in the most hearty -manner in the world. Toward the last of the week the sound of the -grindstone was heard in the land, and as several boys had asked and -received permission to use saws instead of axes, the melodious voice -of the hand saw file arose to stimulate in nervous persons of -religious tendencies an increased appreciation of the promised peace -of Heaven. Then every carpenter who owned a boy of wood-chopping age -suddenly missed his best oil stone, and sundry axes had their edges -dressed so keenly that no one denied their owner's assertions that a -man might shave himself with those axes and not know but they were -rabbit paws or puff balls. The juvenile rowdies, who treasured old -copies of sporting papers, read up on the training of prize-fighters, -with the result that they indulged in ablutions with unhabitual -frequency, and took an amount and variety of exercise which threatened -to exorcise the demon which inhabits the juvenile loafer. - -The morn of the eventful day dawned at last, and, early as it was when -Doctor Wittingham had to start for the railway station, there was -already approaching his wood-pile fat Billy Barker, who was so -treacherous a sleeper that he had remained awake all night so as to be -on hand in time in the morning. Then one of the loafers, whose family -owned no timepiece, lounged up, and made Billy very uncomfortable with -prophecies that a certain boy would hardly escape melting on such a -warm day as that particular Saturday promised to be, and that only a -pair of leg boots could be trusted to save enough of the remains to -justify a full sized funeral. Then one of the country boys appeared, -riding bareback upon an ancient mare, and his extreme taciturnity -became as annoying to Billy as the chaffing of the loafer had been, -while the loafer himself visibly abated his arrogance by a degree or -two. Then the Pinkshaw twins approached, each with an axe in one hand -and a piece of bread and butter in the other. Matt Bolton came next, -quite out of breath, for though he had half an hour to spare, a sense -of his official responsibility had somehow impelled him to run every -step of the way from his own home. Lame Joey Wilson staggered in soon -after, with his heavy "saw horse" and saw, and close behind him came a -country boy whose family had brought him as far as the main street in -the farm wagon. Then two loafers, successful catchers of occasional -saw logs and drift wood, lounged up from the river. Several boys from -the neighborhood known as the other side of town, approached in a -body, led by big Frank Parker, who was the largest boy in school and -who it was always considered a privilege to follow. Then as the hour -for business came nearer, boys approached from all directions so -rapidly that they could scarcely be catalogued, and when Matt drew his -sister's watch from his pocket for the twentieth time and announced -that it was ten minutes of eight, there were present forty-three boys, -five horses (belonging to the delegation from the country), besides -three unemployed men who had come to look on. The stalwart appearance -of some of the larger contestants terrified certain small, weak and -lazy boys into determining to throw up the sponge in advance, but when -the challenger, the boastful Jack himself, sauntered out from the -house with an axe on his shoulder, a toothpick in his mouth and an -intolerable air of self-sufficiency in his face, the nerves of the -most timid boy grew suddenly as fine as steel, and he determined to -drop dead on his axe rather than let that bragging Jack crow over him -any longer. - -Suddenly Matt mounted the wood-pile, consulted his sister's watch, and -exclaimed— - -"Only five minutes more. Now, fellows, this is to be a fair fight, you -know. Every man picks his own place, carries wood to it from the pile, -cuts each stick into three equal lengths, and throws in front of him -whatever he chops. If at twelve o'clock there's any doubt who has done -most, the biggest piles are to be laid up straight against a stake, -and carefully measured. Nobody need split his wood. When it's time to -begin, I'll holloa 'One, two, three—go!' and when twelve o'clock comes -I'll say 'One, two, three—stop!' I'll have a pail of water and a cup -here by the fence, for anyone who wants a drink." - -The boys were already carrying the four foot sticks of wood to their -chosen locations, and between the confusion of selecting desirable -places and that occasioned by snatching from a wood-pile which did not -afford elbow-room for forty-three boys at a time, there was -considerable bad feeling engendered, and sundry punishments with -impolite names were promised for the indefinite future. The country -boys had judiciously hugged the ends of the wood-pile from the moment -of their arrival, which prospective advantage certain other boys -attempted to nullify by taking wood from the ends, and there might -have ensued a serious collision had not Matt, who had moved the -judge's stand from the wood-pile to the fence, shouted, - -"Eight o'clock. One, two, three—go!" - -Thirty-nine axes came down nearly as one, and four saws began a not -discordant quartette across the bark of sundry sticks, while the three -unemployed men thrust their hands deep into their pockets and adjured -the boys, collectively, to "go in." A chip from fat Billy Barker's axe -started to avenge Billy upon his tormentor of an hour before, and it -struck the loafer in the back of the neck with such force that the bad -boy howled with anguish, and volubly condemned his soul to all sorts -of uncomfortable places and conditions. The axes soon broke the -uniformity of their stroke; some flew at the rate of nearly a blow a -second, others, particularly those of the country boys, were slow, but -oh, so regular! Still others, confined almost exclusively to the -loafers, struck the wood rapidly and with a particularly vicious -hardness which was not without its influence upon boys of small -spirit. The peculiar ringing of an occasional "glance" was heard, and -soon a yell from Scoopy Brown, who was a very awkward boy, called -general attention to that youth, who was sitting upon the ground -holding one of his feet and weeping bitterly. A careful examination -determined that his axe had not gone deeper than the stocking, so -Scoopy dried his tears and began work again, his spirits sharpened by -many uncomplimentary remarks by the loafers and others who had lost -time by stopping work to look at him. - -Within a quarter of an hour fat Billy Barker had visited the -water-pail three times; a quarter of an hour later he was curled up -with agony beside the fence, his only consolation consisting in making -dreadful faces at the big loafer who had proved a tolerable prophet. -At the same time two other boys, one of whom had broken an arm within -three months, and the other being so small that he realized the folly -of contending against many large boys, retired from the contest, and -took place among the spectators, who already consisted of seven men, -one woman (with baby) and two dogs. Then one of the loafers declared -that although he could beat as easily as falling off a log, fifty -cents wouldn't pay for half a day of work under such a sun. Of the -spare forty who remained, nearly half were of apoplectic hue, so that -Matt the umpire, consulting his sister's watch, felt in duty bound to -inform them that barely half an hour had elapsed, and that they would -never get through the morning unless they took things easier. - -As for Jack, he did splendidly. With great sagacity he had selected -the largest sticks, these requiring less handling, and fewer delays -between an old stick and a new one, besides making a heap look more -bulky. His axe was in capital condition, as his physique always was, -his nerve was equally good, and he had the additional incentive of -wanting to keep up the general interest, which would be sure to flag -if he were discovered to be falling behind. The country boys led him a -close race, and compelled him to do his best, as did also two of the -loafers. At the end of the first hour, Matt the umpire, who had -attended closely to his sister's watch for the ten minutes preceding, -shouted "Nine o'clock," and most of the country boys stopped for a -brief rest. Jack was glad to follow their example, and at the same -time one of the loafers took a flask bottle from his pocket and -swallowed considerable whiskey. A request, proffered by another -loafer, that the bottle be passed was met by a reply similar in tenor -to that given by the five wise virgins to their foolish companions, -and the apparent meanness of this proceeding made even the weariest -boy determine to at least beat that particular loafer. - -Half-past nine came, and with it a loud snap which proved to proceed -from the saw block of lame Joey Wilson. As Joey was a very pleasant -little fellow, with a widowed mother whose lot in life was not the -easiest, another boy, who had a saw, pressed it upon Joey, and thus -honorably retired from a contest which had kept his back aching -frightfully for nearly an hour. Then two or three other boys honestly -acknowledged themselves completely used up, and they retired to such -shade as the fence afforded and constituted themselves an invalid -corps of observation. The loafer who had drank the whiskey dropped -suddenly, muttered something about sunstroke, and crawled away -unlamented by any one. - -At the cry of "Ten o'clock!" the working force had dwindled to -twenty-seven axes and two saws. Two boys had been legitimately -summoned from the field by their legal guardians, and at least half a -dozen others longed earnestly for a similar fate. Jack began to be -doubtful of the entire success of his scheme, but the country boys all -stuck manfully to business, and at least one of them was beginning to -show signs of becoming excited. The remaining loafers, too, hung on -very well, and so did a spare half dozen of other boys, mostly large. -The crowd was still large and industrious enough to astonish several -farmers who drove into town, and the road became literally paved with -chips. The invalid corps increased at about the rate of four men an -hour between ten and eleven, but by this time Jack's mind was easy, -for the only danger was that there would not be wood enough left with -which the fittest who survived could complete the half day. Nearly all -the loafers broke down, as loafers always do during the decisive hour, -and the strife narrowed down to the country boys, one loafer, big -Frank Parker, lame Joey Wilson and Jack. Each boy had his special -adherents; the loafers cheered their own representative with much -outlandish language, most of the men encouraged the country boys, the -delegation from the other side of town urged big Frank Parker to "lay -himself out," to "come down lively," to "sling himself," and to do -many other things which to the youthful mind seem best signified by -idioms of great peculiarity, but the mass of sympathy was pretty -equally divided between Jack and lame Joey Wilson. Eligible sticks of -wood began to be sought at the piles of those who had abandoned the -contest, and Matt the umpire had to exert the extreme measure of his -authority to prevent the partizans of the two favorites from rushing -in and carrying wood for them. The breaking of the axe-helve of one of -the country boys elicited a tremendous roar from the entire -assemblage, which was now upon its feet. The lame Joey Wilson faction -began to sing the chorus "Go in lemons, if you do get squeezed," which -was known to be Joey's favorite air and the song stimulated Joey -wonderfully, noting which fact the adherents of Jack started "John -Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave," which Jack was known to -consider the finest thing ever written. But somehow the tune did not -stimulate Jack as it was expected to do; perhaps the words with which -the air is indissolubly associated had a depressing effect upon him, -besides, the two songs were roared with about equal volume of sound, -and as they are written in different keys, measures, and time, the -general effect was horribly discordant and annoying to a tired man. - -At half past eleven the remaining sticks, like angels' visits, became -far between, and finally dwindled to one, over which two of the -country boys fought, dropping it in their struggle, to be triumphantly -snatched and sawed by lame Joey Wilson. Then Matt, the umpire, first -ascertaining from his sister's watch that it was not yet twelve -o'clock, announced that any man might take a stick from any other man -who had uncut sticks before him. At thirteen minutes of twelve, five -of the six country boys were upon their last sticks and the other had -a single stick yet uncut before him, which seemed to lie between Jack -and lame Joey Wilson. Jack's axe glanced several times and Joey got -the stick, and at precisely ten minutes before twelve Joey had the -last stick reposing in three pieces upon his pile. The whole crowd -rushed in, but Matt shouted— - -"Everybody get back—quick—get back! every man piles his own wood!" - -Some little delay occasioned by the difficulty of getting stakes -against which to stake the piles which seemed largest, was ended by an -order to pile against the fence. It was generally admitted, by every -one but the country boys, that the decision must be between Jack and -Joey, and as Jack was quick upon his feet and Joey, an account of his -lame leg, was slow, the former was allowed to assist the latter, but -no one noticed that Jack took considerable wood from the piles of the -boys who had been unsuccessful with the saw; the result was that -Joey's pile was so much the larger that no one insisted upon a -measurement, and Matt handed the half dollar to lame Joey Wilson -without a protest from any one, though the shouts that went up formed -a conglomerate sound which was truly appalling to any adult ear which -it reached. - -Then the boys separated and started homeward with their respective -axes, saws, and saw-horses. Dr. Wittingham met several of them, as he -returned at an earlier hour than Jack had expected from his -consultation. What to make of the unusual number of business looking -boys he did not know, but as he went around to the wood-pile to see -how his son had begun his self-imposed penalty, the truth dawned upon -him, and he exclaimed: - -"I've used every evening this week upon that chapter of heredity, and -now it isn't worth the paper it's written on!" - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - EXPERIMENTS IN GRAVITATION. - - -As June disappeared in the beginning of July, the long vacation of the -Doveton schools began, and with it began Dr. Wittingham's special and -particular annual annoyance, which consisted of keeping Jack out of -mischief. To compel the boy to work all the while was something at -which the good doctor's heart naturally revolted, but it seemed that -when Jack was unoccupied even for half an hour an indignant complaint -by some one was absolutely sure to follow. The doctor was not the only -man who had charge of a boy of mischieveous tendencies, so there was -considerable private jubilation among parents when a lone foreigner -strayed into the town, announced himself as a Polish exile, and -offered to carry a class in French through the summer vacation. The -French language was not held in intelligent esteem by all Doveton -parents, but every one of them understood the value of peace of mind, -so within forty-eight hours the exile was guaranteed an eight weeks -class of twenty boys, at six dollars per boy, and was granted the -upper floor of one of the schoolhouses free of rent. - -This arrangement for the consumption of the summer vacation did not -meet Jack's views at all, and he protested so strongly that the doctor -yielded, after exacting perfect behavior as the price of liberty. Jack -promised; he would have promised anything rather than have spent all -those delicious days indoors. There was altogether too much -out-of-doors that demanded his attention; the blackberry harvest in -which Jack earned most of his year's spending money, came in July; the -march of civilization was working destruction with hazel-nut patches, -so that prudent boys desired to know in advance where not to go in the -fall; it was the "off year" for black walnuts, so it was advisable to -ascertain where were the few trees which neglected to be in the -fashion; there were several young orchards which had bloomed for the -first time, and must be visited for sampling purposes, lest perchance -there might some very early varieties come into bearing and be -gathered before he had seen them, slippery elm bark was not entirely -past its prime, several new kinds of fish-bait were to be tested on -the perch which Jack was sure dwelt in jealous seclusion in certain -deep holes in the river, the country district was to be scoured for -new litters of puppies of desirable breed—in short Jack had so much -work laid out that the vacation promised to be a very busy one. - -But by the time the French class had been in session a week, Jack -began to feel unutterably lonesome. Matt was in the class; so was lame -Joey Wilson, who was always a pleasant companion; the Pinkshaw twins, -who had no equal as tree-climbers, were also there, and so was big -Frank Parker, whose superior strength and wisdom were not to be -despised. Jack gave unwonted attention to the family garden so as to -be within sound of the mid-morning intermission, and when the -teacher's bell summoned the boys back to school again, Jack not -unfrequently sat upon the school wood-pile during the long hour which -ensued before the dismissal which brought him and the boys together -again. Then satan began to find mischief for Jack's idle hands, and -small pebbles not unfrequently flew into the open windows of the -school-room, occasioning pleasing diversions for the boys and -annoyance for the teacher. Every body knew who threw them, but when -questioned by the teacher they all, with general mental reservation, -professed utter ignorance. The exile-teacher was not of the best -temper, so he took his stand near a window, with the text-book in one -hand and half a brick in the other, but Jack, warned by friendly hands -hanging out of the windows of the side upon which the teacher stood, -operated from the other side and occasioned many spirited races -against time, the teacher's course being across the schoolroom, while -Jack's goal was the friendly shelter of the schoolhouse porch. But -even this diversion grew tiresome, and Jack, from pure loneliness, -finally came to sneaking up the stairway, sitting on the floor of the -hall, and listening by the hour to what to him seemed the idiotic -jabber of his late schoolmates. - -Then listening itself grew tiresome; besides, the position was -uncomfortable, so one day Jack climbed up the little hatchway which -led to the cockpit and belfry, laid a board across several beams, -stretched himself upon it, and listened at ease, for there were sundry -cracks in the ceiling. Jack was not long in discovering that one of -these cracks, in its meanderings, passed directly over the teacher's -chair, and that sundry small fragments of plaster could be scratched -from its sides and dropped upon the exile's head. - -This discovery aroused the inventive spirit which seems dormant in the -mind of every American, waiting only for appropriate occasion to call -it forth, Jack carefully marked that portion of the crack which -directly overhung the teacher's head. He remained where he was until -school was dismissed; then he cautiously picked at the side of the -crack, between two laths, until it was wide enough to admit a grain of -corn dropped edgewise; then he went below, dusted away the fallen -plaster with his hat, and went home through the unlocked door with a -feeling that the next morning was at least six weeks away. - -But the next morning came, according to all correct timepieces, at the -proper hour, and the French class had got fairly under way upon some -of the exasperating paradigms of an irregular verb, when suddenly a -grain of corn fell upon the bald head of the exile. Fat Billy Barker, -who was abler at staring than studying, happened to see the falling -body, and as the startled teacher arose from his chair, Billy began to -laugh. The teacher immediately marked him as the offender, dashed at -him and gave him several hard blows with a switch, after which Billy -put his head down upon his desk, wept, and declined to make a -statement. But the teacher had hardly reseated himself when another -missile of the same sort had struck him; Billy's head and hands being -still down, the teacher exclaimed, - -"Oh, Barkare, zen it was not you; I vill apologize, Barkare,—I have -mooch sorrow. Vatever boy it vas should be whipped by Barkare!" - -Again the recitation began and another grain of corn fell, this time -in full view of the entire school. A general titter resulted, and this -so enraged the teacher that he strolled rapidly down the aisles, -displaying two rows of terribly white teeth, and shaking his ruler at -nearly every boy individually. This operation had a very sobering -effect, and even Jack was so appalled by the noise of the teacher's -footfalls that he remained quiet nearly an hour. Finally he dropped -two grains in quick succession, and the boys, who had been feverishly -awaiting something new, laughed aloud with one accord. The teacher -sprang to his feet, seized both ruler and switch, and roared. - -"Now, who did it? Barkare, you vill tell me, an' let me avenge ze -vipping you did haf?" - -Billy gulped down the truth and declared he did not know. - -"Vilson," shouted the teacher, "you is ze good boy of ze school; you -will tell me, I know, Vilson?" - -But Joey, looking as innocent as if he were saying his prayers, shook -his head negatively. - -"Mistare Frank Parkare," continued the teacher, "you haf nearly ze -years of a man, and cannot enchoy to see ze destruction of discipline. -Who vas it that throw ze corn-grain." - -And big Frank Parker unblushingly and solemnly said that he did not -know. - -"Efferybody tell me," exclaimed the teacher, resuming his chair with -dignity, "or ze class will stay in ze room till it starve to death. -How like you zat, mes garçons, eh?" - -The boys did not seem particularly to enjoy the prospect, and Jack -himself sobered somewhat at the thought of inflicting such a penalty -upon his friends. But just there he conceived a new idea, and emerging -quietly from his hiding place, he ran home, obtained a vial from his -father's office, filled it with water, and hurried back. He was -anxious to see as well as to hear the result of his impending -operation, so he removed his board, lay along one of the beams, -steadying himself by his left hand, and held the mouth of the vial -over the teacher's head. Lame Joey Wilson was just translating -fragmentarily, as follows: - -"Avez-vous-le-chien-rouge-du-charpentier-avec—" - -What the carpenter-owner of the dog really had, remained unexplained -during the remainder of the session. Jack had intended to let but a -single drop of water fall, and he could generally trust his hand at -such work, for his father sometimes allowed him to assist in -compounding prescriptions. But on this particular occasion -anticipation proved too much for reality, for Jack laughed to himself -so violently over the fun about to ensue that his hand shook, a stream -of water poured through the hole, and trickled all over the teacher's -chair. And, worse still, Jack discovered that a two-inch beam is not a -safe place of repose for the human frame in moments of profound -agitation, for he lost his balance, tried to save it with one elbow -and one foot, which between them dislodged great masses of plaster -from the laths and dropped it upon the teacher's desk. - - -Illustration: EXPERIMENT IN GRAVITATION. - - -Even then the truth might not have been suspected, had not Jack, -frightened at the mischief he had caused, lost all self-control and -tumbled off the beam and upon the laths. Crack! Crack! went several -laths, a violent commotion was heard upon the remainder, and, as the -school started to its feet and the teacher dropped back in terror, a -boy's foot and a section of trowser-leg appeared for an instant -through a hole in the ceiling, only to be instantly withdrawn. - -"Ah!" snarled the exile, seizing his half brick and ruler, and -starting for the hall, "I haf ze villain!" The entire class followed, -in time to hear a rustling sound and to see the teacher's half brick -go up the hatchway, through which the bell rope was being rapidly -drawn. - -The teacher danced frantically about and shouted, - -"Somebody go for the police—ze constable, what you call him! I would -gif five dollare if I had my pistol viz me here. Somebody bring one -little laddare—zen I go up ze hole an' drag down ze diable. I show you -vat I do, you bring me ze laddare!" - -Nobody stirred; every one preferred to remain as spectator. Suddenly -the teacher's half brick descended, followed by a nail keg, a dusty -roll of discarded maps, and a piece of board. - -"It is one _attaque de force_!" exclaimed the teacher, retiring -precipitately upon the feet of lame Joey Wilson, who had squeezed well -to the front. "Ze rascal shall go to ze prison. Will nobody go for ze -constable? Zen I will give ze alarm from out ze window." - -The exile put his head out the window, just in time to see Jack, who -had thrown the bell rope over the front of the building, sliding down -the same, and making dreadful faces because of the pain which friction -occasioned in his hands and legs. With a fiendish yell the teacher -threw the ruler, which missed Jack. Just as the young man felt that -the rope was no longer between his knees yet the ground not invitingly -near, the teacher reappeared with an inkstand which he threw with such -excellent aim that it struck Jack in the side. The boy immediately -loosened his hold and dropped about fifteen feet, striking upon his -side. In an instant he was upon his feet and hurrying homeward without -as much hilarity as might have been expected, for in falling he had -broken his left arm. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - - "When the devil was sick - The devil a saint would be." - -The only consolation that Master Jack could conjure up, as he carried -his broken arm home, was that his father would undoubtedly consider -the disaster a sufficient punishment for the offense. Jack could not -at first imagine why his arm should indulge in such sudden and -terrible twinges and object so nervously to being rubbed or held. The -pain which it experienced from the shaking consequent upon running -caused Jack to subside into a walk as soon as he had assured himself -that he was not followed; even then the pain gave no indication of -subsiding. Suddenly the truth dawned upon the boy's mind, and between -the shock occasioned by the discovery and the sense of at least a -month of vacation to be utterly lost, Jack became so weak and faint -that when he at last reached home he dropped upon the office step and -his head fell heavily against the door. The doctor, who fortunately -was at home, opened hastily and exclaimed, - -"Well, what's the latest?" - -"Oh, father," gasped Jack, "I've tumbled, and I'm afraid my arm is -broken." - -The doctor helped the boy into a chair, eliciting a howl as he did so. -A short examination of the arm caused additional howling, and during -the quarter hour consumed by the operation of setting, Jack abandoned -all preconceived ideas of the nature of fun. Finally, when the doctor -carefully removed his clothing, put him into bed, and told him he -would have to lie there for at least a fortnight, Jack dragged the -pillow up to his face with his unhurt arm, and moistened it most -uncomfortably with tears. Half an hour later, when his father had -broken the news to his mother, who had nerves, and the lady came up to -see him, she found him sobbing violently. - -"Jack, Jack," she exclaimed, "this will never do. There is always a -fever with arms broken above the elbow, and if you excite yourself it -will come on too soon, and it may destroy your reason." - -"I wish it would," sobbed Jack, "I'd a great deal rather be crazy than -lie here in my senses all through this jolly, awful month. I can't -pick a blackberry, and I can't have any money for Christmas, and I -know Frank Parker guesses one of the new baits I was going to try on -the perch, and it'll be just like him to go and catch every one of -them. It's just horrid." - -"Jack!" remonstrated Mrs. Wittingham, "can't you think how horrid it -is for you to go and break your arm, and make more work for every body -in the house?" - -"Yes," said Jack, "but you don't think that makes me feel any better, -do you?" - -"Then," said Mrs. Wittingham, "you should take your suffering as a -judgment from the Lord." - -"He might have put it off until after vacation, anyhow," exclaimed the -bad boy, at which Mrs. Wittingham clapped her fingers to her ears and -fled, and informed her husband in almost the same breath, that the -dreadful boy deserved a sound whipping even now, and that nothing but -the grace of God could ever make Jack what he should be. - -But after Jack had recovered from his rage, and had been surprised -into taking a short nap, he began to view the situation in about the -light which his mother would have liked him to use. It certainly had -been great fun to tease that French teacher—the thought of it provoked -even now a merry chuckle which a twinge of the arm suddenly -discouraged—but it was equally certain that the teacher himself did -not seem to enjoy it. As for sliding down a bell rope, no boy had ever -done it before, to Jack's knowledge, but oh, how his hands were -smarting! The more he thought of them the worse they burned; he must -have something cooling put upon them, even if he had to confess how he -came by them. Some one would be sure to tell his father of his -exploits at the schoolhouse, so why shouldn't he confess in advance -and get the credit for it? - -May be the broken arm was a judgment upon him, as his mother -suggested. Well, he would admit that he deserved it, though he still -doubted the necessity for its infliction at this particular season of -the year. He would do his best to learn by it, anyhow—he certainly was -going to have time enough in which he could do nothing else. So Jack -confessed, and had his hands treated to a cooling lotion. The doctor, -having previously heard the story from the vivacious tongue of the -outraged exile himself, and having spent a delightful hour, partly -retrospective, in laughing over the latest capers of his son, was in a -position to listen with judicial gravity and to express his horror at -frequent intervals and in fitting terms. Then Jack listened to a long -and solemn lecture which was more wordy than pithy, and was told that -he must avoid even exciting subjects of thought for a fortnight to -come. - -"Mayn't Matt come to see me?" asked Jack in faltering tones. - -"Only for two or three minutes at a time," said the doctor; "even -conversation will excite you." - -"I want to talk to him," said Jack. - -"Why can't you talk to your mother and me?" asked the doctor. - -It is beyond all things astonishing what silly questions may be asked -by sensible men when they have forgotten their own boyhood days, and -it is not surprising that Jack could not easily frame an answer to the -doctor's question. - -"Did Matt ever feed or clothe you?" asked the doctor. - -Jack admitted, with some trifling modifications of the first -condition, that Matt had not. - -"Did he ever give you a home, or take care of you when you were sick, -or pay your school bills?" - -Jack shook his head. - -"Then why can't you care so much for your mother and me as you do for -him?" continued the doctor. - -Jack was silent. - -"It's because you're an ungrateful young scamp," exclaimed the doctor -with considerable temper, as he arose and left the room. - -"Father," shouted Jack, "it isn't! Please come back?" - -The doctor, considerably startled by such an exhibition of feeling, -hastily returned. - -"Father," said Jack, turning his head in spite of considerable pain -which the motion inflicted upon his arm, "it's because—because Matt's -a boy." - -"Umph!" exclaimed the doctor, "that is a reason—a wonderful reason. I -should think you would want to have it patented, or copyrighted, or -something." - -The doctor retired, pondering upon human depravity as exemplified by -ingratitude, and Jack, having plenty of time, began to devise some way -of shaming his father out of so unjust an idea as that his boy was -ungrateful. When he became a man and a steamboat captain he would -bring all the doctor's medicines free of charge—perhaps that wouldn't -heap coals of fire upon the old gentleman's head—oh, no! Indeed, he -was not sure but he might one day become a missionary—missionaries -must have jolly times on tropical islands where they can always go -about in their shirt sleeves, have for nothing all the bananas they -can eat, and shoot lions, and birds of paradise, and things, right -from their own doors. Perhaps when he sent his father a tiger-skin -rug, and his mother a whole lot of ostrich plumes, and a monkey, and -some cunning heathen gods to put on her parlor mantel, his father -would talk about ingratitude then, but Jack rather guessed not! Then -when his mother came in with a plate of water-toast, Jack surprised -her by remarking. - -"Mother, when marble time comes, I'll give you all the buttons I win." - -"What do you mean, Jack?" said the lady. - -"Why, we play marbles for buttons sometimes, and there's only two or -three boys in town that can beat me, and I never play with them." - -"Where do they get the buttons to bet?" asked Mrs. Wittingham, "and," -she continued, a dire suspicion coming suddenly to mind, "where do -_you_ get them?" - -"I—I don't know," said Jack feebly, at which answer his mother sniffed -alarmingly, and left Jack to feel that grown folks were most -shamefully suspicious, and that they couldn't appreciate gratitude -when it was offered them. - -Two or three days later the fever set in, and Jack dreamed for days of -Polar explorations, where he could go swimming in cooling seas and sun -himself dry on iridescent icebergs. He planned a wonderful voyage of -discovery to the North Pole, and it was of inestimable comfort to him -to report progress to Matt, in the five minutes which that youth was -allowed daily at the sufferer's bedside. The tenor of his thoughts was -daily interrupted by his mother, who considered the occasion demanded -Bible reading instead of personal sympathy for the youth, who could -not leave his bed to attend family prayers, and she so frequently -selected passages descriptive of a locality the temperature of which -is the reverse of polar, that Jack had to do a great deal of mental -rambling to get his thoughts in proper trim again. - -At last the fever subsided leaving Jack extremely weak in body, but of -a temper simply angelic. He prefaced every request with "please," he -never forgot to say "thank you," and he sang little hymns softly to -himself. Mrs. Wittingham was delighted beyond measure, and when she -suggested that the minister might like to call, and Jack replied that -it would be very nice to have a chat with that gentleman, the lady -became considerably alarmed on the subject of the boy's recovery. Mr. -Daybright, the minister, was really a very pleasant man, as Jack -discovered, now that he had time to "take his measure," as he himself -expressed it, and after Mr. Daybright had talked with him for half an -hour, and prayed with him, and departed, Jack did not know but he -might finally conclude to be a minister himself, and have cake and -cider offered him in the middle of the afternoon when he called upon -boys with broken arms. - -Then Jack's Sunday-school teacher called, and suggested that the class -should come in a body, on the following Sunday, and Jack accepted the -suggestion with fervor, and the class came, and stood decorously in a -row, and sang several hymns, and looked as sober as if fish-lines and -peg-tops and balls and birds' nests and orchards and crooked pins and -truancy did not exist anywhere nearer than the planet Neptune. Then -the teacher gave Jack a book from the Sunday-school library, which -book he had selected with Jack's particular condition of mind in view, -and although it proved to be the story of a dreadfully priggish but -very pious little London footman, whose nature, tastes, temptations -and general environment were utterly unlike Jack's, the boy labored -manfully through it, and endeavored to persuade himself that he -enjoyed it. - -In fact, so thorough an overhauling did Jack's conscience receive that -he even felt himself called upon to confess to the doctor his affair -with Hoccamine's whiskey, but although the doctor had heard the story -a month before from the lips of Matt's father, he had not yet reached -that mental balance which would enable him to reprove the boy and -still leave him impressed with a sense of the vileness of the rum -traffic, so the doctor said only "Well," in a very grave way, and made -an excuse to leave the sick chamber. - -A few days later Jack was allowed to sit under the great trees in -front of the house, and as he was positively forbidden to leave the -grounds, to run, or to make any exertion which might disturb the arm, -which he carried in a sling, he fell to noting the habits of birds -with their young, until he became so affected that he silently vowed -never to rob a nest again. He found in the flowers and the shrubbery -many a charm which he had never suspected when weeding them; he -contemplated cloud pictures until an overwhelming sense of the -beautiful compelled him to decide upon an artistic career, and he -watched every motion of whatever laborer happened to be in sight until -he determined that he never again would throw a chip or anything else -at a laboring man, no matter how funny he might look or how fluently -he could swear when he espied his tormentor. - -Finally, to the delight of his parents and many other people who were -responsible for boys, but to the general depression of the boys -themselves, it became known that Jack had signified his intention of -joining the church. Mr. Daybright admitted that in years Jack was -rather young to take such a step, but, on the other hand, he had a far -abler mind, and—even although he was called the worst boy in town—a -cleaner record than half the adults who came into the fold. Mr. -Daybright had explained to him, as men often will to boys other than -their own, that boys need not stop being boys and being happy just -because they become good, so there was considerable disappointment -experienced by such youths as shrewdly imagined that Jack's change of -heart would result in his large and varied assortment of knives, -lines, marbles, skates, etc., being thrown upon the market at reduced -prices. Jack explained, with considerable vigor, that because he was -going to give up mischief it did not necessarily follow that he should -become a muff, or a soft head, or a twiddler, or an apron string, or a -foo-foo, or a stick-in-the-mud, or a dummy, or any other of a dozen or -two unpopular varieties of boy which he mentioned, but that he -proposed to "keep his shirt on," remain "forked end down," retain -possession of his eye-teeth, and have as good a time as anybody else -could who didn't have to suffer for it afterward. And the unregenerate -boys went away slowly and without the great possessions which they had -expected to carry with them, while one of them who was generous as -well as shrewd was heard to say that bully old Jack Wittingham wasn't -going to flunk out after all, and that a fellow could do many a worse -thing than to join the church. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - - "When the devil was well, - The devil a saint was he." - -Jack sat, one evening, on a horse-block just outside the front gate, -contemplating the evening star and such of its companions as were -putting in their respective appearances. He was attired rather more -carefully than was considered necessary for a Doveton boy on any day -but Sunday, and his countenance was in keeping with his garb; while -his hair was brushed to a degree of smoothness almost dandyish. -Suddenly one-half of the Pinkshaw twins approached and asked Jack if -he didn't feel like going that night to a meeting to be held by the -German Methodists, who were holding a series of week-day evening -services. - -"I can't," said Jack. "We're expecting—expecting a visitor, and I must -stay home to meet him." - -"That's too bad," said the half of the Pinkshaw twins, scraping the -dust into a heap with his bare feet, "for they've got old Vater -Offenstein, all the way from New Munich, to do the exhorting, and they -expect a great time." - -"They are real good people, those German Methodists are," said Jack, -"but you'll have to excuse me to-night. Get some other fellow to go -with you." - -"I can't," explained young Pinkshaw. "Nearly all the boys are going to -a party at Billy Barker's sister's, but Billy and I don't speak since -he traded me a dog that was given to fits, so I'm not going." - -Jack sympathized with the Pinkshaw twin in his loneliness; besides, he -did not know but some feeling stronger than mere curiosity was drawing -the boy toward the church; certainly he, Jack, would never have -divulged a religious feeling in any but a roundabout way. The church -was but a five minutes' walk, and he could excuse himself and come -away after the Pinkshaw twin became fairly interested. So he -accompanied the boy, their direction being toward the sound of some -very spirited singing, which could be distinctly heard above all other -evening sounds. Arrived at the little church, Jack found that his -companion would not have lacked congenial society even had he come -alone, for in the back seats were already congregated several boys of -respectable parentage, and a loafer or two besides, as well as half a -dozen adults who frequently occupied back seats in churches. Jack -would have retired at once, but the famous Vater Offenstein had just -ascended the pulpit, removed his coat, laid it across the desk and -opened the Bible, and Jack, who was just then full of sympathy with -all believers of the Word, was anxious to observe the old man's -method. - -The service began with an earnest prayer, to which responses were -offered from most of the benches near the altar. Then a rich old -German choral was finely rendered, after which Vater Offenstein -proceeded to business. Jack understood a little of the exhortation, -having studied German, and he ventured a silent prayer that its whole -meaning might be taken in by Sam Mugley, the sadler shop apprentice, -who understood German and all the ways of the evil one beside. The -discourse was apparently a powerful one, for "Amen!" "Gott macht es!" -"Liebes Herr und Heiland!" and various other responses escaped -frequently from the faithful. Old Nokkerman, man-of-all-work at Matt -Bolton's father's store, seemed particularly excited; he waved to and -fro on his seat, his shock of long uncombed hair with a bald spot in -its centre making him particularly noticeable. The old man's cranium -did not, however, attract attention only from admirers of the -picturesque, for suddenly a small but rapid ball of soft-chewed paper -made a fair bull's eye on the circle of bare scalp, and flattened -itself over considerable space. Old Nokkerman turned speedily to -perceive only several rows of solemn-faced unregenerates, Jack's eye -being the only one he could catch, so he shook his fist warningly at -the general line of occupants of the back seats, and then resumed his -blissful manifestations as quickly as if the religious ecstacy were a -mere habit which could be assumed or laid aside at will. A hurried -interchange of views took place in a whisper on the furthest seat -back, with the result that Sam Mugley, the sadler shop apprentice, -slyly drew a small tin putty-blower from an inner breast pocket, and -aimed a ball of putty at old Nokkerman's cranial target. The shot -missed its mark, being low and to one side, and struck Fritz Shantz a -smart blow in the back of his neck. As Shantz was a butcher as well as -a devout Methodist, he rose instantly with blood in his eye, and -started for the back of the church, his mien being so terrible that -one of the more cautious of the loafers hurried out of church and took -to his heels, thus diverting suspicion from the guilty person, and -laying up for himself a day of wrath which Shantz determined should -not be long postponed. - -Jack was really in sympathy with the worshippers, and was also -indignant, with them, at the godless disturbers of the excellent tone -of the meeting, but it was out of the power of any healthy boy with a -keen sense of the ridiculous to avoid a little laughter at the -peculiar ways of old Nokkerman and the butcher under their annoyances. -And a little laughter in a boy of fourteen is quite likely to be -something like the beginning of strife; it led to more and yet more, -until Jack was too full to restrain his merriment, and it bubbled out -of his eyes and all over his face. The brethren knew by experience -that when disturbances began so early in the evening, the occasion -demanded sharp eyes and prompt action, so several of the occupants of -the "Amen" seats kept a pretty steady sidelong glance at the back -benches, while one brother walked quietly out of church and notified a -constable that trouble was expected. - -Meanwhile, Vater Offenstein continued his exhortations, alternating -between heavenly love and the brimstone of the unpopular extreme of -the debatable land, and the excitable among the brethren and sisters -responded more and more fervently, and Gottlieb Wiffterschneck sprang -to his feet and jumped up and down shouting, "Ach, Herr Jesu!" when -the horse doctor's boy, who had been biding his time outside the -church just under one of the windows, carefully trained a huge syringe -to bear upon the altar, and deluged Vater Offenstein's face with -water, which, like the precious oil upon the head of Aaron, ran down -upon his beard and garments, and shed considerable upon the Holy Book -beside. This was too much for even good Vater Offenstein, so instead -of repeating the sublime prayer of the dying Stephen he picked up a -small wooden bench upon which short preachers usually knelt in the -pulpit, and hurled it at the window, missing the open space and -sending it through two panes of glass and the intervening sash. This -provoked a laugh even from one or two of the faithful, so the -occupants of the back benches released themselves from all restraint, -and laughed aloud in a most unseemly manner, while Vater Offenstein -wiped his face and hair with his coat, and quoted appropriate passages -of Scripture most dreadfully between his teeth, translating some of -them into English for the benefit of the race from which alone the -annoyances of the brethren proceeded. A general quiet being thereby -induced, the exhortation was resumed for a short time, and ended in an -invitation to the penitent to go forward to the altar and be prayed -for. - -While the brethren sang a hymn, several sinners passed up the narrow -aisle and Jack turned his head with the hope that he might see Sam -Mugley, the saddler shop apprentice, join the band, but the wicked Sam -was just in the act of blowing a second putty-ball, and Jack's head -coming suddenly in range as it turned, the ball struck Jack fairly in -one eye, causing the boy to emit a howl of anguish. In an instant -Shantz the butcher had collared Jack and shaken him soundly, -exclaiming, - -"Dat iss vat a gute Amerigan boy iss, iss it?" - -"Somebody hit me in the eye with something," screamed Jack, "and it -hurts awfully. _Oh!_" - -"Den dat iss too bad," said Shantz. "Dell me who it vass and I will -break effery bone in hiss body." - -But Jack could not tell, and several sympathizing brethren gathered -about him and suggested that he should take a seat farther forward, -and be where the bad boys could not annoy him. Although this -suggestion, thanks to the mysterious ways of the unfathomable German -mind, was equivalent to asking him to put himself more directly under -fire, Jack gladly availed himself of it, so as to remove himself from -an environment which was full of cause for suspicion. - -By this time the assemblage was on its knees, listening to a prayer by -Petrus von Schlenker. Petrus' prayer was very earnest, but it was also -long; it was delivered with such rapidity that Jack could not -understand a word of it, so the exercise became rather monotonous to -him, and he opened his eyes and looked about. Under the single slat -which formed the back of the bench, and directly in front of him, Jack -beheld the broad and well-patched trowsers-seat of Nuderkopf -Trinkelspiel, and Satan, who long ago became noted for putting in an -appearance when the Sons of God were in council (See Job, Chap. I), -suggested to Jack that through such a mass of patches a bent pin might -work its way for quite a distance without doing any serious damage to -the wearer. Jack broke an anticipatory laugh square in two, and closed -his eyes in prayer to be delivered from temptation, but when he opened -his eyes again there were the patches, apparently a little more -inviting than before. Jack did not exactly wish that some good brother -on the bench behind Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel would think to crook a pin -and place it on Nuderkopf's bench just as the latter arose to take his -seat, but he wished, in case anyone _should_ be prompted to do such a -thing, that he, Jack, might have his head turned just then so as to -observe the result of the operation. And still Petrus von Schlenker's -prayer went on, and Jack's eyes remained open, and the boy was glad -that he did not occupy the seat behind Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel, lest he -might be tempted. Suddenly there came to Jack something which would -have been called an inspiration had its tendency been different. He -remembered that he had a pin in the lapel of his own jacket, and it -occurred to him that this pin might be bent so as to have a reliable -base, and the point might be inserted in the seat of Nuderkopf -Trinkelspiel's trowsers, where it would be in position to attend to -business as soon as the worshippers resumed a sitting posture. Jack -promptly whispered to himself "Get thee behind me, Satan," suiting the -action to the word by removing the pin from the coat and dropping it -on the floor. But there it was more tempting than it had been before; -it lay there, bright, thick and strong, demanding that Jack should -look at it. It was no common, soft pin, to collapse at the first sign -of pressure, but tough enough to serve as a nail, if occasion -required. Jack was really curious to know if so unprecedented an -application of a pin could be successful, because, if he became a -preacher, as he instantly resolved he would, he might some time preach -in German in that very church, and then if such a trick were served -upon any one, he would be able to detect the guilty person. Besides, -the patch seemed to repose upon other patches, and probably the pin -point could not more than pierce the cloth itself, where it would be -when Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel knelt at the next prayer, and it would -demonstrate what would be the effect of a similar operation upon a -thinner pair of trowsers. - -Jack picked up the pin and bent it with the greatest care, though it -would have seemed to an exact scientist that the upright portion was -unnecessarily long for a purpose merely experimental. He inserted it -with the greatest nicety between the coarse threads of the homespun -patch, and though he admitted that Petrus von Schlenker was considered -a very good man, he determined that his prayer was too long to be -efficacious. Suddenly the voluble Petrus said "Amen," the audience -arose, Jack's heart bounced into his mouth, Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel -began to sit down, the brethren started the noble choral beginning - - "Groser Gott wir loben dich; - Herr, wir preisen deiner stärke," - -when suddenly Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel emitted a most appalling yell, -and followed it up with so many others of a similar character, that -the song sank to a faltering termination, and the singers crowded -around their disturber, scarcely knowing whether to attribute the -disturbance to pain or to grace. Several minutes elapsed before -Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel sought the cause of his agony, but when at -length he extracted the pin from the seat of his trowsers and held it -aloft in explanation, no one failed to comprehend the cause of his -agitation. Then astonishment gave place to mystery, for it passed -conjecture how the pin could even have got upon the bench, with -several reliable brethren just behind Nuderkopf and one at either side -of him. During the general arising, Jack considered it safer to start -homeward to see the company that had been expected early in the -evening, but he lingered outside the window just a moment, to see the -excitement subside, and great was his mirth as he beheld the wondering -faces of the honest Germans. Here he was joined by the Pinkshaw twin -and two or three other boys, but just then Vater Offenstein reminded -the congregation that time was rapidly bearing them on to eternity, so -the brethren resumed their seats, and Jack was going to start for home -when the Pinkshaw twin asked, perhaps forgetting Jack's new -professions, - -"What next?" - -Lazy George Crayton remarked that he had brought some torpedoes which -he had saved over from the fourth of July, but none of them had -exploded when he threw them, perhaps because in the church he could -not get good elbow-room when he threw. - -Jack had determined not to make any more trouble, but if there was -anything which he despised above all others, it was a person who could -never think of but one way to do a thing. So he reproached George -Crayton with being a dunderhead, and George replied that if somebody -was smarter than somebody else, perhaps somebody would have the -kindness to show how. So Jack thought carefully for a moment or two, -and then asked if anyone had an old letter in his pocket. Nobody -answered in the affirmative, but as Jack said that any stout sheet of -paper a foot long would do, a boy who lived near by sped homeward, and -soon returned with a sheet of foolscap. Jack rolled this into a tube, -put several torpedoes into it, put his lips to one end by way of -illustration, and remarked - -"There!" - -"I'll bet you can't blow them hard enough to snap," whispered the lazy -George in reply. - -Such an aspersion of the power of his lungs was too much for Jack's -principles, so he peered cautiously about the church for an -appropriate mark. Vater Offenstein was the most prominent and tempting -one in sight, but him Jack regarded almost as the Lord's anointed. On -either side of the pulpit, however, were large oil lamps, and inviting -attention to the one which was nearest, Jack took deliberate aim and -blew a mighty blast. He missed the lamp, but the wall behind the -pulpit was hard enough to stop any small projectile, and against this -the torpedoes crashed almost as a single one, and caused Vater -Offenstein to jump nearly across the pulpit. Half a dozen of the -faithful hurried out of doors, and after them, to see the fun, dashed -all the occupants of the back seats, while from some unknown hiding -place sprang the constable. Away flew the boys, all in the same -direction, and after them went the constable, the brethren and the -whole body of the scoffers. Jack and the Pinkshaw twin easily got away -from their pursuers and found friendly cover in the darkness, but a -confused sound of harsh voices, dominated by a loud wail, indicated -that lazy George Crayton had been caught. - -"Oh, oh, oh," exclaimed Jack in a hoarse whisper, "isn't it too -dreadful?" - -"Never mind," said the Pinkshaw twin, reassuringly, "they haven't got -_us_." - -"They _will_ get us, though," said Jack. "That George Crayton will -tell on us—he's an awful coward when he gets cornered. What shall I -do?" - -"Lick him," suggested the Pinkshaw twin; "lick him until he'll be -afraid to say his soul's his own the next time he gets into a scrape." - -"That isn't it," said Jack. "The thing will get all over town, and all -this time I ought to have been at home to see Mr. Daybright, who was -to come to our house to-night for the express purpose of examining me -on my evidences!" - -The Pinkshaw twin had nothing to say in reply to this information, and -Jack sneaked home and hung about the doorway until he assured himself -that Mr. Daybright had gone; then he made some lame excuse for his -absence and retired to a very uneasy pillow. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - FUGITIVES FROM JUSTICE. - - -On the next morning there was a marked scarcity of boys in places -where, at ordinary times, boys most did congregate. The scamps who had -scrambled about the edge of sacrilege on the preceding night, kept -themselves carefully secluded from the general gaze, while other -mischievous boys, having learned by sad experience that suspicion, -like lightning, is much given to striking at objects that do not merit -any such attention, devoted themselves industriously to home affairs, -or went upon solitary journeys into the suburbs. - -And these precautionary measures proved to be not without sense, for -at a tolerably early hour the Post Office, which was also the office -of the most popular of the two local justices of the peace, was -approached by a strong delegation from the outraged Society of German -Methodists. First came the renowned Vater Offenstein, supported by the -Reverend Schnabel Mauterbach, pastor of the church. Vater Offenstein -had not been able to keep his hair and clothing wet during the hot -August night, but the water thrown from the syringe had not been very -clean, so there were great stains upon the cotton shirt which its -wearer would swear had been put on clean on the day of the service. -The pastor bore the soiled and still damp copy of the Holy Book. Then -came old Nokkerman, his hair carefully combed and soaped down, so that -the justice might plainly see the bald spot which had been used as a -target. Beside old Nokkerman walked Shantz the butcher, with his coat -off, so that he might display the great red spot where the putty-ball -had struck him. After them walked Petrus von Schlenker, to offer an -affidavit that he had prayed during the service, though anyone who -knew the gifts of the tongue of Petrus would have accepted a mere -statement on that point as conclusive. Beside Petrus waddled Nuderkopf -Trinkelspiel, jealously guarding in an empty paint can the bent pin -which had caused him to disturb the meeting; he also bore, in their -normal position, the well-patched trowsers through which the point of -the pin had found its way. - -Then came the sexton of the church, carrying under one arm the bench -which Vater Offenstein had hurled at Satan's representative; in -another hand he carried the broken glass and sash wrapped in two -thicknesses of newspaper, and in his pocket was a match-box containing -the papers and such other fragments as could be collected of the -offending torpedoes. A number of witnesses followed, so that the -postmaster-justice's little office was completely filled. Then the -pastor announced that the party had called to make and substantiate a -complaint, and various statements were volunteered before the justice -could impress the assemblage with the necessity for administering -oaths. Vater Offenstein, immediately upon being sworn, opened his -coat, displayed his soiled shirt, and impressively held the Good Book -aloft, opened at its stained, wet pages. Shantz the butcher delivered -his own sworn statement with his face to the wall, the impressiveness -of the proceeding being somewhat abated by his completely covering -with his immense forefinger the red spot on the back of his neck; old -Nokkerman bent nearly double so as to display his baldness as he -talked; Petrus von Schlenker talked volubly to no purpose until cut -short by the justice, and Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel, trying at the same -time to hold aloft the torturing pin, look the justice impressively in -the eye, and yet display the seat of offending beneath his upraised -coat-tail, presented a figure which utterly destroyed judicial -gravity. Then the sexton laid upon the table the little bench which -Vater Offenstein had cast from the pulpit, and carefully unrolled the -broken glass and sash, and brought up from the depth of his pocket the -little but positive proof in the shape of fragments of torpedoes. Then -the constable brought in lazy George Crayton, who had spent the night -in the town jail, and who looked as pallid and guilty as if he had to -answer for the crime of murdering a whole family. - -George did not waive an examination; on the contrary, he had such a -passion for confession that he included, in his list of accomplices, -the name of every boy in town against whom he had any grudge whatever, -and it was not until after the examination that it occurred to him -that he personally had done nothing whatever to disturb the meeting. -Then George's father gave bonds that his son should keep the peace, -after which he led the youth home to the pain which follows -discipline. Shantz the butcher turned up his shirt collar, the pastor -and Vater Offenstein departed with the sacred Book, the sexton carried -the pulpit bench back to its legitimate position. Old Nokkerman tried -to scratch his head, but discovered, as his fingers slid impotently -over the soaped locks, that the ends of justice are sometimes attained -only through extra annoyance to the offended; Petrus von Schlenker, -who had been slowly realizing that he had sustained no personal -grievance, made the best of his time by engaging the justice on local -politics; Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel carefully secured the offending pin, -and the constable went in search of the yet unapprehended offenders. - -Meanwhile, the innocent half of the Pinkshaw twins, who had been -listening outside the window, had heard the list of the offenders -pronounced by the justice as he wrote the warrant, and discovered to -his horror that his own name was included therein, the informer having -been uncertain as to which Pinkshaw twin was present. An inborn sense -of equity suggested to him the application of the principle of an -alibi, but later he realized that to be innocent yet suspected, would -justify him in escaping the hated French class, and yet save him from -the ordinary penalty of truancy. Away he sped to notify the whole -list, and within half an hour nearly all the boys whose names were -upon the warrant were informed of their legal status, while the -constable, who fully realized how much work was before him, had barely -finished strengthening himself at Gripp's rum-shop. - -The first man notified was Jack, and as that youth had an utter -abhorrence of loneliness he suggested to the Pinkshaw twin that he -should name the Dead House blackberry patch as a safe place of -rendezvous, inasmuch as nobody would be likely to go there, the -blackberry season being over, there being no contagious disease raging -in town, and the house being off the road to any where. He also -suggested that the boys should bring with them whatever provisions -they could lay hands upon. Then Jack, with his heart in his stockings, -and his eyes feeling ready to overflow, made haste to collect a -hatchet, a box of matches, his fishing tackle and whatever else he -could think of, in his haste, as likely to mitigate the privations of -exile. Great as his haste was, he found time to hide in the corncrib -for a moment or two, kneel devoutly, and inform the Lord that he -hadn't meant to do anything wrong, and that he hoped when next there -was a scrape impending, the Lord would send an angel to forcibly drive -Jack from the scene of action. More mature sinners, as they smile -pityingly at this style of repentance, would do well to examine their -own business consciences, and restrain their smiles until they -ascertain whether they have not themselves indulged in many a similar -_ex post facto_ operation. - -Arrived at the Dead House blackberry patch, Jack found quite an -assortment of solemn-faced boys under the shady side of the high board -fence. All of the guilty parties were there, except Sam Mugley, the -saddler shop apprentice, whose employer had agreed to surrender the -boy when necessary; there were also present many boys who preferred to -flee the evils which they knew—to wit, French paradigms—than endure -those they knew not of. Several boys immediately demanded of Jack what -was to be done, and while the interrogated youth retired within -himself to devise a plan of action, Ben Bagger, who read all the -popular literature for boys, suggested that they should organize under -the title of "The Bloody Land Pirates," and prey upon the society -which had unjustly cast them out, but this suggestion was severely -damaged by Jack, who said that the duty of the hour was to see that -things were made no worse. Then Jack decreed that the party should -retain its present quarters, separating if it chose, at nightfall, to -slumber in neighboring barns, fishing at dawn and after sunset, and -diverting itself by whatever means were available, until a general -amnesty could be procured. - -For an hour or two the group amused itself with conversation, the -guilty Pinkshaw twin causing considerable merriment by a recital of -the experiences of the righteous Germans on the preceding night. Jack -endeavored to withdraw himself from the Pinkshaw twin's audience, but -who does not enjoy retrospects of affairs which in themselves were -enjoyable? So he lingered, afar off, yet within sound of the Pinkshaw -twin's voice until that youth alluded to Jack having taken a seat -among the pious, and then Jack, like the cowardly apostle Peter, began -to curse and to swear. The ways of Peter came to his mind, both -reproachingly and in comfort, for he remembered that Peter had behaved -valiantly after discovering what a blatant, white-livered sort of a -fellow he was, and Jack, to stifle his conscience, was willing for the -moment to believe that if he himself swore, lied and put in a general -denial, the evil might be excusable for the sake of the good it might -bring. In this respect he so much resembled many an unscrupulous -wire-puller in church affairs that no theological partizan can fail to -sympathize with him. - -After the story of the German Methodist meeting had concluded, -conversation languished, and several boys complained of hunger. Jack -took charge of the commissariat and having carefully garnered all the -provisions that had been brought, he suggested to those who were -guiltless (except of truancy) that if they would go boldly to the -justice, claim to have been at Billy Barker's sister's party at the -time of the outrage, and offer Billy, his sister and his mother in -evidence, they would, without doubt, be cleared. When these boys had -reluctantly departed, the assemblage was reduced to five boys, three -of whom had done nothing worse than laugh at the capers which had been -played upon the faithful, Jack and the Pinkshaw twin, who pleaded -guilty of having thrown the spitball at old Nokkerman's bare scalp, -constituting the remainder. - -How these were to pass the time until night was a serious problem, -when one of the innocent, who was also a loafer, produced a grimy pack -of cards, and therewith he soon won all the fractional currency in -possession of his companions; then he departed, having doubly avenged -himself upon fate by dining heartily upon the stores of the exiles. Of -the quartette which remained, Jack was outwardly the most cheerful and -careless, but inwardly—well, he could not help thinking of the Spartan -boy who allowed a fox to prey upon his vitals while he was denying any -knowledge even of the existence of a fox anywhere nearer than the -Apennines. Ruling in hell might have its social advantages over -serving in heaven, but in whatever location a man may be, there will -the appropriate mental temperature be also. Jack's remorse was genuine -and terrible, and he admitted to himself that he would gladly make any -reparation, endure any obloquy, suffer any punishment, in fact, go -through anything that could be devised—except being caught by the -constable. - -When supper time came and went, it was discovered that the larder -would be empty in the morning, but fortunately Matt appeared, coming -at night, like Nicodemus, for fear of the authorities, and brought -with him a whole loaf of bread and fifty or sixty cubic inches of -boiled ham. But the boys slept out of doors that night, and awoke with -such appetites that the bread and ham disappeared and they were still -hungry. Then they stole many ears of scarcely ripe green corn, which -they roasted and ate for dinner without successfully filling their -respective aching voids. A raid was made upon a patch of early -potatoes, but these did not roast satisfactorily, as any of the boys -might have known had they ever tried an early potato before. The final -result was that the boys slept supperless, and were at the mill-dam -before daylight, where they were successful in demonstrating to -certain occupants of the water that catching the early worm is not an -unmixed blessing. But even fish, broiled on sticks or fried on a -heated plowshare which somebody had stolen, are not particularly -palatable when eaten without salt or bread. So the party finally -sneaked toward town with hungry faces, vigilant eyes, and waistbands -which would lap past their accustomed meeting place, and fasten, -without extra tugging, at the first suspender button. - -Meanwhile, the constable had been prowling industriously about the -town, stimulated beyond average official enthusiasm by the offer of a -ten-dollar bill from the German Methodist treasury, for the -apprehension of all the culprits. He had examined the innocent boys -with the result of determining that the juvenile mind is deceitful -above all things and desperately wicked. He had been to the mill-dam -only to discover traces of early work by workers who, like the Arabs, -had "silently stolen away;" he had watched under the windows of him - - "——Who returneth, - Whose chamber lamp burneth - No more,——" - -He had examined the cock-loft of the school, ridden along the river -bank, sneaked beside the fences of popular orchards, and lain in -ambush near brushheaps where laying hens most did congregate. He had -even tracked, to unprofitable localities, various boys whom he -suspected of conveying aid and comfort to the enemy, and all he could -show for his pains was a badly sunburned nose, and a pair of boots -considerably damaged by brush-wood and concealed stumps. - -At noon, on the third day, he was completely exhausted, and determined -that if ever a good watermelon could supply a pleasing finale to a -noon-day meal, it was then. So he walked out to his own melon-patch, -chuckling, as he went, over the strict seclusion of the same, for it -occupied the centre of a hollow square, the sides of which consisted -of dense rows of tall corn. As he approached this from his own back -door, he perceived how vain is the cunning of man when confronted by -the intuition of the bad boy; for there—at ease, and enjoying the -particularly large melon which he had been reserving against a day -when upon his wife might accidentally be inflicted a deluge of -company—sat the boys for whom he had been looking. - - -Illustration: THE STRONG ARM OF THE LAW. - - -The constable roared "Halt!" but with no more success than if he were -an army officer in the midst of a panic, for the boys separated in the -corn rows, and the official was undecided as to which to follow. So, -indulging to an injudicious extent in that profanity which so -naturally attends indecision and failure, he strove gloomily to the -foot of his garden to discover, to his great delight, that Jack had -stumbled, fallen and knocked all the breath out of his body without -seeming able to regain enough for practical purposes. In an instant -Jack was in the official's arms, and though he bit, scratched, kicked -and begged, he was speedily invested in a pair of handcuffs in the -constable's dining-room, and afterward led slowly through the main -street to the town jail. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - THE STOOL OF REPENTANCE. - - -It was customary in Doveton to put sober offenders against the peace -in the second floor rooms of the jail, for these, though not -containing everything that a fastidious taste might desire, were well -lighted and ventilated. But as the constable led Jack to jail, he -thought upon his own despoiled melon patch, so he decided to put the -young man into the dungeon which was reserved for the most depraved -disturbers and desperate villains. As Jack was pushed into this -receptacle he noticed, with a sinking of the heart, that the door was -a foot thick, built of most chilling oak-tree hearts, and strapped -with huge bars of iron. Not that he had contemplated escape; he was -just then too feeble of soul to contemplate anything but his own -iniquity; but he had the natural, healthful objection to restraint, -and when restraint can be measured by the cubic foot it is depressing -almost to idiocy. Then the constable shot four massive bolts, each one -of which seemed to give Jack's heart a mighty thump as it grated and -groaned into its proper place. Jack turned to look at the window. It -was of rough glass, so that a prisoner could not look out; it was only -six inches high, though its length was about two feet, and it was -crossed both inside and outside by stout bars of iron let into the -stone. The furniture, when Jack's eyes became sufficiently accustomed -to the dim light to see it all, consisted of a dingy cot of canvas and -a broken pitcher containing the water left by the cell's last -occupant, who had gone to the state prison two months before for -passing counterfeit money. The only decorations were some cobwebs, -which in tone harmonized with the general effect of the interior, and -an engraving, upon the stone of the lightest side of the cell, of a -frightful looking being with horns, hoof and barbed tail, having -beneath it the inscription, "ThE DEViL Taik Evry boDDy." The odor of -the apartment was undesirable. - -By the time Jack had learned this much, he threw himself upon the -canvas cot, careless of what else there might be to observe, and -sobbed violently. This, then, was the end of the boy who had been so -good for a month, who was going to join the church and be useful in -persuading other boys out of bad courses, and be a missionary, -perhaps, and a minister at the very least! Everybody now would think -him a hypocrite; he would probably be sent to the penitentiary for a -year or two, for now that the proper occasion for recalling the fact -had passed, he remembered to have heard that disturbing religious -assemblages was a great crime in the eyes of the law. Perhaps they -would send him to the reform school, which would be a thousand times -worse than the penitentiary, for the word "reform" suggested as -dreadful possibilities to Jack as it ever did to a self-made -politician. When he came out again what would happen to him? He had -never seen any persons but loafers pay any attention to discharged -prisoners who made Doveton their abiding place. Nobody would let their -boys play with him then—if, indeed, by that time he had enough youth -and spirits left to want to play; he would have to sit on the back -seats in church among the sad-eyed, uninteresting reprobates who now -sat there, instead of among the neatly dressed boys who sat under the -eyes of their parents and the preacher. - -Then Jack thought of the hereafter, in the literal, material manner, -which was the natural result of the religious teachings he had -received. If angels knew everything and went wherever they pleased, -and if his deceased brothers and sisters became angels just after they -died—they had been angelic while they lived—how must they feel to see -their well-born, carefully taught brother in so dreadful a place as a -common prison? As Jack thought of it he wished the prison bed had a -cover under which he could hide; but as it had not, he squeezed his -face and flattened his nose upon the rough, dirty canvas. The thought -of his parents recalled the wish, frequently felt by Jack, that -somebody would understand him, know how earnestly he longed to be -good—some one to whom he could tell some of the splendid thoughts he -sometimes had—thoughts which would simply astonish his parents out of -their senses, if he could feel free to tell them. Why didn't people -give him credit for what was in him, instead of eternally finding -fault with him for what came out of him? Was he a jug that he should -be judged in such a manner? Looking the matter squarely in the face, -however, how was any one to know what was inside of him except by what -proceeded from him? - -This train of reasoning was promptly dismissed as unpleasant in the -extreme, and Jack began to search his pockets for something that might -assist him in consuming time more endurably, when some one at the -grating in the door startled him by exclaiming: - -"Well, young man!" - -Jack recognized the voice of his father, and his heart went down, -down, down, apparently through the floor, and all the way into the -depths of the middle of the western half of the Pacific Ocean, which, -by careful investigation, Jack had determined was the geographical -antipode of Doveton. Then the door opened, and Jack's father entered, -and, oh, horror of horrors! he brought with him Mr. Daybright, the -minister. Jack sat upon the side of the cot and nervelessly dropped -his face into his hands and his elbows upon his knees. - -"Well, young man," resumed the doctor, "what have you got to say for -yourself?" - -Jack preserved utter silence, but determined that he never before -heard so exasperating a question. - -"My poor boy," said Mr. Daybright, sitting down beside Jack and -putting his arm around him, "Satan has indeed been making a mighty -fight to secure your immortal part." - -"I think so too," sobbed Jack, glad of a chance to lay the blame of -his mischievousness upon somebody else, and determining that if he -ever _did_ become a minister, he would make things lively for Matt -Bolton's father, who denied the existence of a personal devil. - -"So think I," remarked the doctor, "and a very successful job Satan -has made of it. I wish he would give me a few lessons in the art of -getting hold of boys." - -The minister thought to himself that it was not necessary for the -doctor to go so far for information when he could have obtained it -from present company, but as the doctor paid a large pew rent in Mr. -Daybright's church, that divine thought it inadvisable to offend a -person upon whom a portion of his own salary depended. But he could -safely say what he chose to Jack, so he said: - -"Rouse yourself, my dear young friend; you still live and move and -have your being, and - - 'While the lamp holds out to burn - The vilest sinner may return,' - -you know. Why not, in this unsavory place, eschew finally and forever -all bad associations?" - -"I will—oh, I will!" cried Jack. - -"I've heard something of the sort before," remarked the doctor. "I've -heard it from this young scamp himself, and, Mr. Daybright, you and I -have often heard it from men who thought they were upon their -death-beds." - -"Blessed be death-beds, then," fervently exclaimed the minister. -"Jack, why don't you determine to say, hereafter and always, 'Get thee -behind me, Satan!' when wrong impulses make themselves known in your -mind?" - -"I have done it," said Jack, recalling his experience with the pin in -the German Methodist meeting, "but it don't take him long to get -around in front of me again." - -The doctor hid an unseemly giggle in his handkerchief, and the -minister himself was temporarily silenced; then the doctor managed to -straighten out his voice, as he said: - -"Listen to me, my boy. I can take you out of this vile hole, but only -by subscribing a hundred dollars to the debt of the German Methodist -church, repairing their broken window, giving them a new Bible, -changing my custom from the market to Shantz the butcher, who doesn't -sell the best of meat but does charge the highest prices, asking -Bolton to raise the salary of old Nokkerman, reducing the amount of my -bill to Petrus von Schlenker"— - -"I didn't do anything to any of these people," interrupted Jack. - -"Whether you did or not," said the doctor, "doesn't affect the case. -You did something, whatever it was, to disturb that meeting; those men -were all there, they are all among the complainants, and must be -satisfied in order to persuade them to withdraw their complaint." - -"Didn't—didn't Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel want anything?" asked Jack -falteringly. - -"Oh!" exclaimed the doctor, "it _was_ you who made him sit upon that -crooked pin, was it? How did you do it?" - -Jack, finding himself trapped by his own words, meekly explained the -operation which led to Nuderkopf's spasmodic loquacity, both visitors -holding their mouths as he did so. Then the doctor resumed the -disturbed line of the conversation by asking: - -"What do you propose to do?" - -"Oh!" said Jack, raising his head, "I'll be a minister, and preach to -bad boys all my life, if you will only get me out of here, and send me -off to some seminary where nobody knows me." - -"Umph!" grunted the doctor. "And what sort of a living do you suppose -you'll earn in that business?" - -"'Quench not the Spirit,'" quoted the minister, and the doctor -inwardly acknowledged the justice of the rebuke, though he -hypocritically remarked that he had spoken thus only to test Jack's -sincerity. - -"Will you let other boys alone—keep away from them entirely?" asked -the doctor. - -This was severer than Jack had anticipated, even when in the depths of -contrition and apprehension, so he dropped his head again, and -realized anew what a dreadful thing sin was when one came to look it -fairly in the face. - -"Do you hear me?" asked the doctor. - -"All but Matt, father," said Jack. "He never does anything wrong, -unless I put him up to it, and I'll promise never to tell him any good -thing again, if you'll let me go with him." - -"Good thing!" ejaculated the doctor. "What sort of repentance do you -call that, dominie, when outrageous capers are characterized as good -things?" - -The minister shook his head gravely, and answered: - -"My dear young friend, you must realize that what you call good things -are really bad things. Until you fully understand this, there is -nothing to prevent your getting into just such trouble again." - -"Then I'll call everything bad," said Jack; "blackberrying, fishing, -answers to hard sums,——" - -"Gently, boy," said the minister. "None of these things do harm to any -one." - -"I supposed they did," cried Jack, "for I like them all, and it seems -as if whatever I like is bad." - -"Not at all," said the minister, while the doctor hastily drew forth -his notebook and made the following note for the great work on -heredity: "When a person is suffering, he is liable to believe that -things have always been as they are at that particular moment; hence -the unhealthy poems, novels and dramas which certain disordered minds -spring upon the public." Then the doctor replaced his notebook, -contemplated the weeping boy for a moment or two, sat down beside him, -put his arms around him, and exclaimed: - -"My darling boy, I love you better than I love my life." The doctor -lied terribly, as most busy people do who affirm strong, unselfish -sentiments, but Jack was not in a condition just then to question the -character of any one who cared to befriend him, so he hid his face in -his father's breast and cried as if he could not stop. He even threw -his own arms about the doctor with a mighty grip, considering how -young the boy was. - -"Think of your mother, too," pleaded the doctor. "She has suffered -more for you than you ever can for yourself, and she is dreadfully -feeble and nervous; _do_ try to lighten the load which at best must be -very heavy to her." - -"I will," said Jack; "indeed I will. I'll darn all my own stockings." - -"And," said the minister, who wished all things done decently and in -order as established by Providence, "pray daily for grace to overcome -every sin." - -"I always do," said Jack, "but it don't always work." - -"It never will," said the minster, "if you don't act as if your prayer -was in earnest. No amount of praying will keep you out of a mud-puddle -if you persist in wanting to go into it." - -"Well, come along," remarked the doctor, who had consulted his watch, -and remembered a patient who expected a call just then. The door -opened, and the trio stepped into the hall; just then there came along -a zephyr which had passed a kitchen where onions were being boiled, -but for all that, Jack thought it the most delicious breeze that ever -blew. The constable, who stood outside the door gave Jack a most -discomposing scowl which was not entirely disconnected with -remembrances of water melons; but Jack, instead of repaying the scowl -in kind, which he could have done with entire success from his own -incomparable collection of faces, inwardly determined that at some -appropriate time he would privately apologize to the official and -repay his water melon in kind. As his father and the minister turned -toward the main street, Jack exhibited strong manifestations of -reluctance, so both gentlemen concluded it would be only merciful to -lead the boy homeward through less frequented streets. But it seemed -to Jack as if the whole town had known of his impending release, and -were lying in wait to look at him. Shantz the butcher drove by and -glared at him; old Nokkerman, _en route_ for supper, looked upon him -reproachfully; Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel, who was mixing mortar in front -of a new building, contemplated him with the stony stare which is not -peculiar to cockneys only, and Matt himself went by without bestowing -even a friendly wink upon him. - -Worst of all, as the trio passed Billy Barker's house, the nice little -sister of Billy happened to step outside the door. Jack dropped his -eyes ever so far, but he could not resist looking out of their extreme -corners to see what she might think of him. The face which he saw -contained considerable wonder, but it also expressed a sorrow which -was unmixed with reprobation, and by the time that Jack reached home -he was brimful of a feeling to which he had hitherto been an utter -stranger. It was not love, as that sentiment is conventionally -defined, for it was entirely devoid of passion and selfishness, but it -is not surprising that Jack, having never heard love talked of but in -one way—to wit, a strong regard for one person by another person of -the opposite sex—should go home with the firm conviction that he was -oceans deep in love with nice little Mattie Barker. To get a kind look -from a person of whom you have never heard anything bad, a person who -never scolded you, nor meddled with any of your affairs, and in whose -face you can see no evidence of guile, will doubtless cause _you_, -adult reader, to contemplate such person with earnest regard, and if -you are a man and the person alluded to is of the other sex, you will -hardly be able, even in the light of your past experience among -humanity, to imagine any reason why she may not be an angel in human -form. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER X. - - YOUNG AMERICA IN POLITICS. - - -For a month Jack labored manfully to keep his pledge to eschew the -society of boys, and a very miserable month it was. He at first -determined to not even answer any boy who spoke to him, but this led -to his being called "Proudy," and "Codfish," and "Bloated Aristocrat." -All this was very galling to a youth who considered himself as -pre-eminently a man of the people. Then, one day, as he was hoeing -potatoes in the family garden, half a dozen boys leaned on the fence -for an hour, and shouted themselves hoarse by exclaiming in concert, -"Tombstone!" To hold one's tongue, as Jack did throughout the -infliction, is to prove one's self a possessor of a high degree of -self-control. When, however, the half dozen boys grew angry at their -inability to elicit any response, and began to throw stones at the -young gardener, Jack's endurance escaped him suddenly and he dashed at -the fence, hoe in hand. All the boys fled except one who, being a -rowdy, had hugged one of the palings in the affectionate manner -peculiar to rowdies, and had unconsciously established an entangling -alliance between the paling and a hole in his shirt. Him, Jack pounded -over the head with the hoe handle until utter breathlessness compelled -the operator to discontinue his labors; then Jack cut him loose with -his pocket-knife and sent him away after an interchange of terrible -threats had been effected. As the rowdy's skull had a roof of wondrous -thickness, he sustained no injury in his mental parts, so he changed -his base only to a point from which he could watch Jack's going in and -coming out. - -An hour later, as Jack was going to the store, with two empty jugs to -be filled, respectively, with vinegar and molasses, the rowdy sprang -at him from a sheltering fence corner. Jack shouted "Foul!" but the -rowdy was not particular to regard the rules of the ring just then, so -he stuck one dirty finger in Jack's mouth so as to obtain a secure -grip, and then with amazing celerity, invested Jack with a bloody nose -and a black eye. Jack was not going to abandon the family property, -even in a fight, so he retained tight hold of the jugs, raised his -hands alternately and smote his antagonist, first with one jug and -then with the other. Then the rowdy made haste to cry "Foul!" but -Jack, merely remarking, "What's sauce for the goose—" allowed the -rowdy to complete the quotation for himself, striking him meanwhile -wherever an unprotected point presented itself. A final blow in the -pit of the stomach caused the rowdy to curl up on the lap of mother -earth, and then Jack discovered, for the first time, that all that -remained of the jugs were their respective handles, and that the rowdy -was bleeding profusely in several places. - -Jack had never before seen a more dangerous wound than a cut finger, -and even of these he had seen but one at a time, so he greatly feared -that the rowdy would bleed to death. What to do, he did not know; he -recalled the little affair of Moses with the Egyptian taskmaster, and -determined that flight was the dictate of prudence, but as for burying -his victim in the sand, there was no sand nearer than the river bank, -a mile away, and the dirt under the rowdy was a hard-beaten footpath. -Away flew Jack toward home and into his father's office, where he -exclaimed: - -"Father, there's a rowdy dying out on the path to the store." - -"Heaven be praised!" said the doctor; "that'll lessen the state prison -expenses a few dollars." - -"He's bleeding to death," explained Jack. - -"Oh," said the doctor arising and snatching a case of instruments, -"that's a different thing; it now becomes an opportunity for -experimental surgery." - -"It was I that killed him," continued Jack, in a very thin voice. - -"Eh?" exclaimed the doctor, dropping his instruments. "Then you'd -better get out as fast as you can, and not let me know where you are -until you have to. Don't _ever_ do it—I don't want even to see you -again—I wash my hands of you forever." - -"Father!" screamed Jack in utter agony, while gallows trees sprung up -before his eyes in every direction, "let me tell you how it was." And -Jack hastily detailed his experiences of the morning, concluding with: - -"It was all because I was trying so hard to mind you, and not have -anything to do with boys." - -The doctor threw his arms around the youth, and exclaimed: - -"You're a darling, noble, splendid boy, but there is no knowing how a -jury may look at the case, when your previous reputation is -considered. Get ready to hide." - -Jack hurried up to his room for what seemed to him necessities, but he -had time to reflect upon his varied experiences to do right, with -their lamentable results, and to wonder if it were not really true, as -was implied by some novels he had been unfortunate enough to read, -that fate occasionally forbade some people to do right successfully. -Of one thing he was very sure; come what would, he never could ask -nice little Mattie Baker to become the wife of a murderer. Then he -tiptoed feebly, after one or two ineffectual efforts, to his father's -room, which overlooked the scene of the battle; it might be that the -doctor had reached the wounded boy in time to staunch the flow of -blood before it was eternally too late. From the window, Jack, with -great astonishment and not entirely without disgust, beheld the rowdy -sauntering away with his hands in his pockets, while beside him walked -the doctor, violently shaking his fist and head at the beaten man, and -filling the air with threats which a breeze wafted back to Jack. - -The surprise was too much for Jack's nerves; he dropped upon his -father's bed and doubted whether he ever would regain his breath -again; then he bemoaned the loss of the vagabond life which had been -just within his grasp, and which is the ideal of every boy at a -certain period of his life. From this he was recovered by the thought -that, after all, nice little Mattie Barker was not to be entirely a -memory of the past. His eye and nose finally obtruded themselves upon -his attention, and very unsightly objects they were in a mirror; he -hoped nice little Mattie Barker would not see him until his face -regained its natural appearance; and he would certainly take care -never to have himself so disfigured again. - -Then his father returned, hastily searched the house for Jack, caught -him in his arms, and actually cried over him, upon which the boy felt -himself a hero indeed. But when his father assured him that his latest -exploit would have a wonderful effect in keeping boys away from him, -Jack did not seem so elated as the doctor would have had him; he -looked so solemn that the doctor asked what the matter was, and Jack -burst out crying, and answered: - -"I'm so dreadfully lonely all the time." - -The doctor started to ask if either he or his wife were not always at -home, but recalling the drift of a previous conversation on the same -topic, he grew suddenly very cool and undemonstrative and removed -himself, whereupon Jack, who read the human face as correctly as boys -usually do, waxed angry, and lost sight of all his principles, as -every one does in anger, and determined that if he could not have fun -with the boys he would have it without them, and have all he wanted, -too. - -He did not lose much time in discovering a way of amusing himself. -August had worked through into September, and though the public was to -have no opportunity of disarranging national affairs at the ballot-box -that autumn, a gubernatorial campaign had opened most vigorously in -the State of which Doveton considered itself the mainstay. The rival -candidates were Baggs and Puttytop, and though both were men of fair -intellect and reputation, as politicians go, and the adult mind could -find but little reason to distinguish between them, the boys of -Doveton, who never for a moment doubted that they were in perfect -sympathy with the inner sense of statesmanship, and knew the -constitutional rights and special needs of Doveton beside, were, to a -man, for Baggs. Jack had gained this precious bit of information from -Matt, so he promptly ranged himself, mentally, with his natural -allies, and sought for means to discourage the Puttytop adherents, who -stupidly saw not though they had eyes, and heard not though they had -ears. - -Just then an announcement was made that the famous General Twitchwire, -who was stumping the state for Puttytop, would address the sovereign -voters of Doveton in the main room of the county court house, on the -evening of the second Wednesday in September, the regular fall session -of the county court having begun on the morning of the same day, and -the town being full of countrymen who had legal grievances of their -own, or of some one else, to look to. - -Now the county court house was a new building which the demon of -improvement had lately caused to be erected, and as the appropriations -had been exhausted in the manner not unknown to political managers -elsewhere, the main room was the only one which had been completed. -Pipes had been laid for gas, one of them terminating in the ceiling in -the centre of the room, but for evening meetings it was, at present, -necessary to light lamps or candles. So, early in the afternoon -preceding the Puttytop meeting, Jack secreted himself in an upper room -of the court house, with a monkey-wrench, a gunmaker's saw, and a yard -of rubber tubing in his shirt bosom. He dragged a step ladder down -into the main room, and standing upon this he wrenched from its place -the cap upon the pipe from which the central chandelier was one day to -hang. Then he returned to the room above, sawed in two the pipe which -was to feed the chandelier, stretched an end of his rubber tube over -the lower portion of severed pipe, and yelled through it to test the -apparatus. He heard his cry repeated in the lower room so distinctly -that his only fear was that somebody outside might hear it. Then he -sat upon the floor, munched crackers, wished that he had a drink of -water, and waited. - -Evening came at last, and from the edges of the window casings, Jack -saw the adherents of Puttytop coming from various directions. From the -neighborhood of the hotel came the noise of the Doveton Brass Band -playing "Hail to the Chief;" this indicated that the famous General -Twitchwire was to be escorted in style to the court house, and Jack -lamented that he could not be outside, behind some good board fence, -to throw stones at the band, but he recalled the line, - - "They also serve who stand and wait," - -from the Sixth Reader, and was nobly sustained thereby. Then the sound -of the music came nearer, the band playing - - "The Campbells are coming," - -and then Jack saw a transparency, and yet another, and it required -every word of his comforting line to support him in his privation. A -tremendous hubbub in the room below came up through the gas pipe and -rubber tube, and Jack applied his ear to the latter to hear what -General Twitchwire might endeavor to delude his hearers into -believing. - -The address began on time, and General Twitchwire had just informed -his audience that if through supineness and lack of concerted action -the gubernatorial chair became occupied, he would not say filled, by a -person with the deficient mental acumen and erroneous views which -characterized the person who was the standard-bearer of the party -opposed to good government, the consequence could not fail to be most -disastrous—when a distant yet loud voice was heard to exclaim,— - -"You don't say!" - -The speaker glared angrily about, and the chairman of the meeting, who -had taken the precaution to arrange that admission should be only by -tickets of a peculiar color, wondered whether counterfeit tickets had -been imposed upon the doorkeeper. The general resumed the thread of -his discourse, and had just pronounced a glowing eulogium upon -Puttytop, when a voice exclaimed: - -"Hang Puttytop! Give us a man!" - -Then the sheriff and two constables, all of whom were Puttytop men, -began suspiciously to scan the audience. But not a Baggs adherent -could they see, except Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel, to whom it was well -known that a frequenter of Gripp's rum-shop had sold a ticket for ten -cents, the inducement offered being that the meeting would close with -a lottery, in which every ticket holder would be entitled to a prize -of some sort. But Nuderkopf, judging by his snores, was slumbering -soundly; besides, the disturbing voice used a better English accent -than Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel could ever be suspected of acquiring. - -Several other remarks of the speaker were greeted with derisive yells -through Jack's speaking tube, and the famous General Twitchwire took -occasion to remark, with a great display of offended dignity, that if -the authorities could not suppress such disturbers it was pretty -certain that the party in Doveton was upon its last legs. - -"Gott macht es!" (God grant!) shouted Jack down the pipe. - -This seemed to offer a clue to the offender. The language was -certainly Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel's, and he was positively the only -Baggs man present, so the sheriff and the two constables dashed at him -and rudely aroused him. It was the only evening meeting, except some -of a religious character, which Nuderkopf had attended during his -residence in Doveton; he had frequently to be aroused in church; he -was very religious and musically inclined; the force of association -caused him to imagine he was in church; the silence to indicate a -temporary and dangerous stagnation of religious service, so he cleared -his throat and successfully launched the first line of a devotional -song before he opened his eyes, when a rude hand was clapped over his -mouth and another was applied with great force to the side of his -head, and then he was pulled at and dragged, and finally lifted over -the back of his seat, which happened to be the last bench of the jury -box, and was dropped out of the window, landing on the sidewalk three -feet below, in a state of confusion which bordered upon imbecility. - -This was too much for such of Nuderkopf's religious associates as were -there present, even although they were Puttytop men, so they arose to -points of order, several of them speaking at a time, and they were -rebuked by the chair, and hooted at by the rowdies, who always -infested political meetings; and one excitable German cast an -opprobrious epithet at a conspicuous rowdy, and the rowdy retorted by -snatching a transparency from a bearer and throwing it lancewise at -the German, and the cloth caught fire, and a general yell ensued, and -everybody looked out for number one, with the result of making number -two of everybody else, and the famous General Twitchwire stepped -suddenly to a window and jumped out, and the sheriff and the two -constables bawled "order" until they were themselves their only -auditors, and a body of quiet but observant Baggs men in the window of -a house directly opposite, agreed with each other that the Puttytop -ticket didn't seem to be looking up so very much, after all. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - - A QUIET LITTLE GAME. - - -When Jack finally left his hiding place in the court room, it was with -a pretty distinct conviction that no one would ever discover his -secret, and that the evil of this life seemed as ruthless in its -pursuit of Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel as in his own case. Then there -slowly developed within him the thought that Nuderkopf, who had been -the principal sufferer by the trick of the speaking-tube, was not even -a member of the despised Puttytop faction; so Jack, like many another -mischief-maker who injures some one of whom he had never thought while -planning his departures from rectitude, sought refuge from his -conscience by plunging into gloomy reverie upon the fateful lack of -sequence in earthly affairs. - -Not the least of his troubles was the fact that, whereas in other days -he might have called all the boys in town together and told them the -story of his effort to purify the State government, and delighted his -soul over their enjoyment of it, he could now tell it only to Matt, -who, while a very true friend, had not as keen a sense of the -ludicrous as Jack could have desired. Still, one hearer would be -better than none, and Jack wondered whether it might not yet be early -enough for him to hurry to Matt's house and impart the delicious -story, when suddenly, to his great delight, he met Matt himself. - -"Where have you been?" asked Matt, "I've been over by your house -whistling for you for the past hour. And the loveliest thing—oh, my! -Will Pinkshaw has learned a new game of cards—poker, they call it, and -it's splendid. Gamblers play it for money, but it's just as much fun -to bet buttons, or beans, or corn-grains, or anything. Will and I have -been playing it in the moonlight, by your side fence, ever since dark, -and we must have played a hundred games." - -"It isn't too late for me to learn, is it?" said Jack. "The moon will -shine all night." - -"Oh, somebody might come along," protested Matt. "The constables prowl -around after ten o'clock, you know." - -"Then let's go into the stable and get on the hay under the big -window," said Jack. "The moon shines in there—nice soft seat, out of -sight—everything." - -"But we haven't any cards," said Matt. - -"Then borrow Will Pinkshaw's," said Jack. "You bring 'em up to the -stable—you know the way—and I'll have a handful of corn ready, and -we'll have a jolly quiet game for a little while." - -Matt was nothing loth to act upon this suggestion, for new games with -cards—or anything else—have a way of utterly enthralling the juvenile -mind. Within ten minutes he was back with the cards, but their owner -had refused to loan the precious pasteboards unless they were -accompanied by himself, and Jack experienced a great though secret joy -that without his own direct agency he was brought into company with a -boy other than Matt, and at a place somewhat different from the -Sunday-school where alone he had fraternized with boys during the -month. The _modus operandi_ of the game was speedily made known to -Jack, the corn was scrupulously divided into three equal portions, and -the play began. Jack had not read Hoyle, so perhaps it was the devil, -who is said to be particularly encouraging to green players, that -decided nearly every game in Jack's favor. Matt was soon "busted," and -meekly borrowed twenty grains of corn from the winner, but the -Pinkshaw twin, who had bet no more carefully than Matt, remained -financially equal to his engagements. - -Jack began to wonder whether the Pinkshaw twin might not have sold his -soul to the devil, like some gambler he had read of whose money was -magically reproduced as fast as he lost it. The thought caused him to -fix his eye upon the Pinkshaw twin as if he had been fascinated by -him, and soon he discovered that the arch-adversary of souls operated -from the heart of the owner of the unfailing pile, for the Pinkshaw -twin, who had been pre-informed of the currency to be used, was seen -to slyly take some corn from his pocket and lay it upon his pile. - -In an instant a sharp quarrel ensued, the Pinkshaw twin lying most -industriously and displaying an empty pocket in evidence, but a -careful examination of Jack's winnings showed that many grains of -sweet corn were among them, whereas there was no such grain in the bin -from which Jack had supplied the general exchequer. So the Pinkshaw -twin sullenly confessed, and pleaded that playing for corn-grains was -no fun, anyhow, for a fellow couldn't do anything with them after he -had won them; he therefore proposed that the party should play for -buttons. - -"Where will we get them?" asked Matt. - -"Cut off the suspender buttons on our trowsers," suggested the -Pinkshaw twin. "Neither of you fellows wear galluses, do you?" - -The suggestion was acted upon, and the volume of currency being -somewhat limited, the betting proceeded quite cautiously. But luck was -still against the Pinkshaw twin, so, desperately remarking that his -jacket was an old one, he removed the buttons from that garment also. -And still he lost, so he attacked his shirt front, although Matt -suggested that shirt buttons were hardly big enough to bet with. These -same went the way of the others, and then the Pinkshaw twin, realizing -that no one would see him on his way home, denuded his trowsers of all -the remaining buttons, and tied a string around his waist to hold the -garments up. Losing these, he pledged his pocket knife to Jack for ten -buttons, with the privilege of redemption within twenty-four hours. -Then, when he wanted to "raise" handsomely on "two pair," he had -nothing to do it with, Jack declining to lend anything whatever on the -miserable security of a dirty handkerchief, so he offered to bet his -pack of cards as fifty buttons, and Jack agreed, and calmly displayed -"three of a kind" and the Pinkshaw twin was a ruined gamester. - -The Pinkshaw twin had been accumulating a large stock of bad temper, -however, as the game progressed, and of this he partially divested -himself, as the party arose, by striking Jack a heavy blow between the -eyes. Over went Jack, backward, upon some hay which inclined downward; -away he rolled, until stopped by bringing up suddenly against the -shelving roof; there he found himself upon one of those unreasonable -hens who persist in stealing a nest late in the season, and "setting" -thereupon with maternal instincts, the end of which is never -calculated in advance. The hen naturally protested, in the loud manner -which is said to be an attribute of her sex in general, and as Jack -was slow in changing his position, she continued to protest, and then -Jack heard the house door open and his father hurry down the back -steps, probably in search of chicken thieves, the which abounded in -Doveton. - -"The other window!" whispered Jack hurriedly. All three of the boys -scrambled to it, and jumped out, the Pinkshaw twin becoming somewhat -involved with his trowsers, the string securing them having broken. He -soon scampered off, however, holding his clothing together as he ran; -Matt's retreating footsteps were already inaudible, while Jack, -hurrying around to the front gate and tiptoeing up the back stair and -through the open door, was in his room and in bed before he realized -that his jacket, upon which he had been sitting, had been left behind. -Just then the clock struck two, but Jack determined promptly that the -old timepiece must be out of order, as it frequently was. - -He had the cards, though, and they were irrevocably his, and to be one -of the only two or three boys in town who possessed property the sale -of which was prohibited by law, was glory enough to have acquired in -one night, even at the expense of a blow in the face. With their -possession, however, he had also acquired responsibility: his mother -might be suddenly moved to "look over" his clothing before breakfast, -as she frequently did when intent upon repairs; or the doctor might -search his pockets, as he occasionally had done, in search of -something that would explain the extreme quiet which, once in a while, -characterized Jack. So the boy got out of bed, and put the cards and -the Pinkshaw twin's knife into one of his stockings, and hid them -under his pillow. - -Jack listened for his father's return until he was drowsy and he -finally went to sleep and fell instantly into a dream of hearing a -great army, with confused trampling, pass by him on some road in which -he could not view them, and then that the army engaged in battle with -some other army, shouting and screaming fitfully, and firing great -guns spasmodically, and then there was a terrific crash, and a general -roar, and the armies and the dream sank into nothingness, and Jack -knew nothing more until aroused by the breakfast bell. He was very -drowsy as he arose, but he remembered that it was the morning for the -regular semi-weekly change of stockings, so he clothed himself and -descended to breakfast to find his father very silent and his mother -overflowing with the sad fact that during the night the stable had -burned to the ground and the doctor had barely saved his horse, -carriage and harness. - -Jack was greatly affected by the information, and recurred to his -wonder whether the devil in person might not have been helping the -Pinkshaw twin after all. Certainly, they, the players, had struck no -light. After a slight breakfast Jack hurried out to view the remains, -but the doctor was on the ground before him, and was holding up a -partly burned jacket, which he was inspecting with great care. - -"Jack!" exclaimed the doctor. - -"Sir?" answered Jack, most courteously. - -"I threw this out of the window last night, having found it on the -hay, just where the fire began. There are charred matches in the -pockets. How did that jacket get there?" - -"I left it there yesterday," said Jack. "I was up there yesterday, -lying about, and it was so warm that I took off my jacket." - -"And sat on it, I suppose, and wriggled around on it and ignited the -matches, and burned down my stable. Couldn't you have set fire to the -house, too, while you were about it, so as to have ruined me -completely?" - -Jack rightly considered this a very cruel speech, but he hung his -head. - -Among the many bystanders, attracted by a rarity such a fire generally -is in a village, was the gunsmith, and as he gazed upon the many bits -of portable property which had been thrown from the burning stable, -his eye fell upon something familiar, and he picked up the saw which -Jack had used on the court-house gas pipe; examining it hastily, he -exclaimed: - -"Why, here is my own saw, which I had such a long hunt for yesterday -afternoon." - -"I just borrowed it while you were out," explained Jack. "I was going -to bring it back this morning and tell you about it." - -"What did you want of such a tool?" demanded the doctor. - -"I wanted to saw a piece of iron," said Jack, with downcast eyes. - -"Who's been cutting the hose of my carriage sprinkler?" asked the -doctor, suddenly espying the yard of rubber pipe, which Jack had -fondly supposed would never be missed from the long coil from which he -had cut it. - -While Jack was casting about in his mind for some plausible excuse, he -heard, to his unspeakable relief, his mother shouting from the back -door: - -"Doctor, doctor, come here right away! Don't wait a single minute." - -The doctor obeyed the summons, and Jack was consoling himself with the -thought that the monkey wrench, which belonged to the stable, could -not tell tales about him, and the hen, if still alive, could not talk -English, when the doctor's well-known voice struck terror to his soul -by exclaiming loudly: - -"Jack, come here!" - -Jack went into the house, and was confronted by the father of the -Pinkshaw twins, who had brought a buttonless coat and a pair of -trousers as evidence of the truth of his boy's statement that Jack had -fought with him, knocked him down, and cut the buttons from his -clothes out of simple malice. (It may be remarked, in passing, that -the Pinkshaw twin had shrewdly determined that Jack would rather be -unjustly punished on such a charge than confess the truth.) - -"You needn't deny it," said Mr. Pinkshaw; "my boys always tell the -truth." (N. B. Everybody's boys do.) "I'll warrant you have the -buttons in your pocket now, saving them up until next marble time, -when you'll play them away." - -"Jack," said the doctor, "empty your pockets." - -Jack had not the strength to resist or devise any way of reducing, -without exposure, the protrusion of that one of his pockets which held -the buttons. How he wished that the lately despised shirt buttons, so -small, so insignificant, had constituted the whole body of the -previous evening's currency, instead of its being inflated by the huge -papier-mache sailor buttons from the Pinkshaw twin's jacket. - -The doctor came rudely to his assistance, however, and soon the floor -was covered with buttons, to the identity of most of which Mr. -Pinkshaw could swear. - -"My boy says Jack stole his knife, too," said Mr. Pinkshaw. - -"I didn't!" vehemently protested Jack, and a close search failed to -prove that Jack spoke untruly. Just then the Wittingham servant came -to the door, holding aloft in one hand a stocking and in the other a -dirty pack of cards and the knife, exclaiming: - -"The loike av this was undher masther Jack's pillow, ma'am." - -"That's my boy's knife!" exclaimed Mr. Pinkshaw. - -"Are the cards his, too?" asked the doctor. "I hope so, for the sake -of Jack's back." - -"They _were_ his," said Jack, determining that all hope for -concealment was past. "I won them from him at poker, and won the knife -and the buttons too." - -"It's a lie!" shouted Mr. Pinkshaw. "My boys have their faults, but -they never gamble." - -"Ask Matt Bolton, if you don't believe me," said Jack. - -The doctor looked as fixedly at Jack as if he were trying to discern -rudimentary horns, hoofs and tail. Then he arose suddenly, seized -Jack, thrust him into his room, muttered something about bread and -water for a week; then the old man fell upon his knees, and besought -the Lord for guidance as earnestly as many another person has done -after neglecting to use any of his heaven-given sense and opportunity -for the control of lively children. - -As for Jack, he sat moodily down upon a chair, and formed at least one -resolution, to which he had long been urged: If he ever gained his -liberty again, he would never, never, never, on clean stocking day, -leave his dirty stockings lying about for some one else to pick up. - -And on the evening of that day the doctor pored over the skeleton of -his intended book on heredity, but the best he could do was to devise -a chapter head, and even this was quoted from another book containing -some excellent hints upon heredity: - - "When the unclean spirit leaveth a man," etc. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - - SWEET SOLACE. - - -Jack was willing to live on bread and water for a week; he would have -acknowledged the justice of any penalty short of death, for the -burning of the stable would not appear to him other than a dreadful -calamity for which he was primarily responsible. He did not mean -anything wrong, to be sure, when he designated the stable as the place -for the game, but it began to seem to him that what one meant or did -not mean was of very little consequence when he made any departures -from the beaten path of rectitude. He had not put matches in his -pocket for the sake of burning the stable; he had meant nothing wrong -by sitting on his jacket that night—he had only done so that he might -be cooler, and that it might prevent the sharp stalks of hay from -protruding so successfully through his thin trowsers. He could not -foresee that the Pinkshaw twin—hang him!—would get angry, and stamp -over that coat as he struck the winner—for that was undoubtedly the -time, when, under the crunching of the Pinkshaw shoe-heel, the matches -were ignited. Why couldn't the old jacket have burned up, instead of -remaining to tell tales? What could have brought the gunmaker, usually -so industrious, to view so uninteresting an object as a burned stable, -and how came he to walk just where he could espy his own saw? Why -should the doctor have assumed, at sight, that the yard of hose had -been cut from his own carriage sprinkler? And why had the whole affair -happened on the evening preceding clean stocking day? - -"Morality is the order of things." Jack may never have heard this -saying, but he became slowly of an opinion which embodied the same -idea, and he determined upon a reformation which should leave nothing -to be desired in point of thoroughness. He would not say anything -about it to his father and mother, but he would let the truth burst -upon them of its own irresistible force some day. He had his doubts as -to whether an announcement of his resolution would have any particular -effect any way, for his parents had heard something of the sort -before, without beholding any particular fruition thereof. He would -give up every single pleasure which could not be justified by the -Bible itself. His issue of veracity with the Pinkshaw twin came to his -mind, with the suggestion that the only boyish method of settling such -affairs was hardly consistent with the nature of his good resolutions. -Still, had not Ananias and Sapphira been struck dead for lying?—surely -to give the Pinkshaw twin a sound drubbing would not only be excusable -but necessary, as a matter of moral duty. Had not Mr. Daybright -himself preached a sermon to prove that every man was, morally, his -brother's keeper, and was not lying positively forbidden by one of the -Ten Commandments? - -As for the stable, Jack determined that the first thousand dollars he -earned when he became a man should be given to his father to -compensate for the loss of the building and its contents. The building -cost but little more than half that sum, but the interest which would -accumulate in six or seven years would bring the loss up to the amount -determined upon, and Jack was determined to be honest to the last -penny. And if the Pinkshaw twin was any sort of a fellow when he -became a man—though from present appearances this seemed improbable—he -would see the justice of providing the money himself, for he had had -no moral right to get angry at the result of fair play, particularly -after having been himself detected in the act of cheating. Jack -determined to reason calmly with the Pinkshaw twin on this -subject—after the other settlement had been made, of course. - -Then Jack began to realize that he had eaten a very light breakfast, -and that the smell of boiling and roasting and baking which was wafted -up from the kitchen was particularly tantalizing to a fellow who had -to dine on plain bread. But even this serious thought was overborne by -a graver one which came suddenly to his mind: could nice little Mattie -Barker ever bring herself to love a gambler who had burned down a -stable—his own father's stable, too? This was too great an agony to be -endured—he could give up his darling sins, but nice little Mattie -Barker was a darling of a different kind. Something ought to be done, -and that very promptly, to disabuse Mattie's mind of the erroneous -reports which would be sure to reach the young lady's ears, but what -could it be? He might write to her the plain, unvarnished tale of the -affair, but that would have to admit that he had gambled, and which -would Mattie be likely to dislike most—a possible incendiary or a -confessed gambler? - -Suddenly, to Jack's great relief, there entered Matt, whom Mr. -Wittingham had failed to realize had been a participator in the -irregularities which led to the destruction of the barn. To him Jack -explained the situation regarding the stable, and a right doleful time -the two boys had together until Jack remembered that he had not yet -informed his bosom-friend of the affair with the political meeting. -Jack endeavored to recount the incidents thereof in the light of his -new resolutions, but Matt's hilarity became speedily contagious, and -within a scant ten minutes Jack detected himself, to his great horror, -in the act of framing a revised and enlarged order of disturbances for -the next great Puttytop meeting, which would take place in about a -fortnight, and was arranging that Matt, whom he had half an hour -before vowed to lead into right ways, should blow torpedoes at the -speaker through the open windows from a long tube which Jack would -have made for the purpose. - -Then nice little Mattie Barker came to mind during a lull in the -conversation, love being merely secondary to action, as it is in most -other restless natures, and Jack, not without some confusion and -halting of speech, informed Matt that he was in love. - -"Why, are you sure?" asked Matt. - -"It's a dead sure thing," declared Jack. - -"Dear me!" ejaculated Matt. - -"Dear Mattie Barker!" exclaimed Jack, and instantly his countenance -ran through the whole chromatic scale of facial expression, and then -dropped low, perhaps to rest from its sudden exertion. - -"That's who, is it?" said Matt. - -"Yes," said Jack. "I didn't mean to tell you, Matt, but it came out -all of a sudden. I meant to ask you, though, to go and explain things -to her, so she shouldn't have to think any worse of me than she needs -to." - -"All right," said the literal Matt, "but I couldn't very well have -told her if I hadn't known who she was, you see." - -"Yes, that's true," admitted Jack. - -"Well, I guess I had better do it at once, for I saw her sitting on -the back piazza, peeling peaches, as I came along, and there's no time -like the present, you know." - -Jack acknowledged to himself the general application of Matt's plea -for promptness, but he somehow wished that the explanation might be -deferred, for he was doubtful as to what message to send, so he asked: - -"What will you tell her, Matt?" - -"Oh, I'll say you didn't set the barn afire," said Matt, "and that -your worst present fear is that she may believe you did." - -"That's pretty good," said Jack, beginning to walk up and down the -room, "and it's delicate, too; you can tell her I haven't sent that -message to any other girl in town, and that I'd rather die than do it. -Go ahead." - -But Matt could not think of anything else to say, and Jack himself -thought of something, but made several ineffectual attempts to give -voice to it. At length he assumed a heroic attitude and said: - -"Tell her that in my rigorous confinement my sole comfort is taken -from thoughts of her." - -"Golly!" exclaimed Matt; "that sounds just like a book! It's just -stunning. I'll write that down and commit it to memory on the way, for -it's too good to spoil." - -Matt pencilled the sentence on the back of a bill which he had been -sent to pay, and over Matt's shoulder Jack read the words several -times, with a comfort which gradually grew into pride. Then he said: - -"I wish I had something to send her as a proof of my—regard. Do you -suppose she ever plays marbles nowadays—I've got a gorgeous glass -alley that I could send her." - -"I don't know about that," said Matt, thinking profoundly, "but I -guess it would be all right, for she can trade it to her brother Billy -for his sleigh-line to make a skipping-rope of—I'll just suggest that -to her." - -"Good," said Jack. "You are a true friend, Matt. When do you suppose -you could come back and report? I can't wait till to-morrow morning, -but mother won't let you come in a second time to-day, I'm afraid." - -"I'll come under the window and whistle," said Matt, "and you can put -your head out and I'll whisper up." - -"All right," said Jack, "and you'll hurry, won't you?" - -Matt promised haste and departed just in time, for Jack's father came -in to say that now that Matt had become a gambler, his visits would -have to be discontinued. Then Jack felt desolate indeed, and he cried, -and began to make a series of promises, but he was cut short with the -remark: - -"I've heard a great deal from a promising boy; I think I'd enjoy a -performing one, as a change." - -Jack had thought some of developing to his father his great plan of -restitution for the burned stable. But now he determined most -resolutely to remand this great deed to the limbo of surprises, -although six or seven years would be a great while to defer the -enjoyment of observing the effect upon the doctor of the intended -operation. - -Then Jack's mother came in, bearing a tray containing several slices -of bread and a glass of water, and she held the tray before her, -exclaiming: - -"Behold the wages of iniquity, my son." - -Jack beheld, with a hungry glance, and determined that iniquity, -besides being unpleasant, was paid for in currency of but slight -intrinsic value. He recalled, somewhat to his confusion, the passage -of Scripture which asserts that the wicked "have more than heart can -wish," and he wondered if his spare repast might not be an indication -that he was not so very wicked after all. - -"Jack," said Mrs. Wittingham, "you are killing me by inches. I've -reached an age when I am easily affected by anything unusual, whether -it is good or bad, and everything I hear about you upsets me." - -"Nobody ever says anything about the good things I do, mother," -complained Jack. - -Mrs. Wittingham remembered to have had some such thought at certain -times in her own life, when her good deeds were regarded as actual -matters of course, whereas her petty imperfections had been causes of -complaint and unkindness. But to admit such a thing would be to give -the boy sympathy, and should wrong-doers have the consolation which -sympathy would afford? So Mrs. Wittingham lost an opportunity of at -least narrowing the gulf between her only child and herself, and -continued: - -"Oh, dear!—I would give anything if I could understand you. I never -did any of the dreadful things you do." - -"You were a girl," explained Jack. - -"My brothers never did such things, either," said Mrs. Wittingham. - -"I guess they didn't run and tell you every time they did anything," -the boy suggested. - -"They had nothing to tell," said Mrs. Wittingham. And she told the -truth; her brothers had lacked the vitality necessary to persistent -mischief-making and had always been considered good boys, though their -manliness after they reached adult years was strictly of a negative -nature, and they had invariably failed in business and everything else -they undertook, barring the one who had used slyness as a substitute -for strength, and decamped for parts unknown with the funds of a -corporation of which he had been cashier. But Jack could devise no -retort to his mother's last remark, so he moodily took a slice of -bread, and the lady departed, contemplating her son with a look far -more loving than she ever indulged in when the boy's eyes were upon -her. - -Jack ate his dinner with considerable gusto, complaining to himself -only of insufficient quality. As he lifted the last slice from the -plate he discovered a bit of paper under it, upon which was pencilled -the Scriptural saying, "The wicked shall not live out half their -days," and Jack considered this line the most unsatisfactory dessert -that had ever been placed before him. He admitted the truth of all -Scripture, however, and he meekly hoped that he might live long enough -to earn money to make the payment for that burned stable—this he could -surely do, if the wicked were allowed a full half of three score and -ten years. - -A sudden whistle under the window banished every thought, pleasant and -unpleasant, except of nice little Mattie Barker, and though from where -Jack sat to the window measured only three or four steps of distance, -Jack felt that he consumed at least an hour in traversing it. Finally -he looked down, and Matt looked up and whispered: - -"It's all right." - -"Glory!" whispered Jack. - -"The glass alley went right to the spot," continued Matt, "for she -said she'd wanted that sleigh-line for months, but Billy had been too -stingy for anything." - -"What did she say—about me, I mean," whispered Jack. - -"Oh, nothing much," said Matt, "that is—well, she said it was too bad -that you couldn't get out, and that you should have to suffer for -somebody else's meanness, but she hoped you'd never gamble again." - -"I won't," said Jack: "I'll swear it on my Testament, right away." And -Jack's head was withdrawn for a moment, and then reappeared, its owner -remarking: - -"There—that thing is fixed." - -"And she sent you a posy—I've got it in my hat. How will I get it up -to you?" - -"I'll let a fish line down," whispered Jack, and hastily suited the -action to the word. "Put it on the upper hook," Jack continued, -"that's a new one, and no fish has ever mussed it any." - -The precious token of regard was hauled up, and Jack kissed it, -modestly retiring his head as he did so. Then he looked from the -window again, with an extremely radiant face, and whispered: - -"Oh, Matt, I never was so happy in all my life!" - -"Not even when you'd got up to a woodpecker's nest?" asked Matt. - -"No," said Jack, "nor when I caught that big salmon last year, -either." - -"Is that so?" asked Matt, reflectively. "Then I guess it's time for me -to be thinking about getting in love. And I know it's dinner time. -Good-bye." - -Matt departed, and for the first time in his life, Jack did not regret -the absence of his favorite companion. Fortunately he had not drunk -the water from his goblet, so he placed the flowers therein, and he -looked at them, collectively and individually, and he took them out -again and kissed their stems, because those were what nice little -Mattie Barker's fingers had touched when she plucked them, and he -skipped six or seven years as if they were mere syllogisms and he a -politician, and his fancy invested him with a moustache and nice -little Mattie Barker in a dress which touched the ground, and they -were living in a beautiful house overlooking the river, with the -finest of fishing rods and double-barrelled guns on racks in the -parlor, and a beautiful easy chair which should be Matt's very own, -and a span of crack horses, which he would sometimes lend his father, -and things, and things, and things. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - THE BOY WHO WAS NOT AFRAID. - - -When Jack emerged from his enforced retirement of the week, it was -with an aristocratic complexion, a fine sense of rectitude, and a -powerful conviction that in spite of his unsavory reputation having -had additional light cast upon it by the burning stable, there still -was something worth living for, and that the something aforesaid was -nice little Mattie Barker. The bouquet she had sent him had been -carefully preserved throughout the week, though it had not always been -easy to secrete it on the approach of his mother and father. Why he -should have hidden it from them he could not have told, for they would -have assumed that he had culled it himself, and they were more than -glad on account of the new regard for flowers he had shown since his -sickness; but it made Jack feel very manly to hide that bouquet, to -imagine that it would be removed if discovered, and to think of the -desperate deeds he would do rather than have it torn from him. - -In spite of love, however, the boy felt somewhat as a discharged -criminal is supposed to feel. He did not know where to go, or what to -do. The prohibition of the society of other boys had been strengthened -by new and stringent clauses. Jack could not very well seek out girls -to play with, unless he chose to run the risk of being laughed at, and -being suspected of fickleness by nice little Mattie Barker. His recent -conversations with his mother had not been of a variety of which he -wanted more, his father was pleasant enough of speech—when not -pre-occupied—but he would persist in affixing a moral or a warning to -every sentence he spoke, and though Jack felt sure that no person -living had a higher regard for moral applications than himself, he did -not care to have them in everything. His father liked butter, as was -proper enough, but did he mix it with everything he put in his -mouth—cake, coffee, fruit, etc.? Jack rather thought not. - -Perhaps the doctor had never heard of the pope's bull against the -comet and its impotence, or he might have evolved a moral application -for his own use, in the matter of prohibiting Jack from associating -with other boys. No matter how earnestly the world, in the time of the -pope alluded to, expressed its objections to associating with comets, -the comet came right along as straight as a due deference to solar -control would allow. And the order of seclusion imposed upon Jack did -not make him any the less yearned after by his late playmates. It -began to be noticed, by boys of observing habits, that the youth of -Doveton were falling into ruts, and showing no inclination to depart -from them; that there was nothing particular to do; that the -procession of games, each according to its season, was lapsing into -irregularity; that nobody got up anything new, and the only plausible -reason seemed to be the absence of Jack. In a general convention of -boys it was agreed, with but two dissenting voices—those of the jugged -loafer and the buttonless Pinkshaw twin—that what society needed was -to have Jack resume his place in it, and the two dissenters were -informed that if they didn't make the vote unanimous they would find -it advisable to move to the next town. - -Then it was informally resolved that Jack's father was an old hog, and -a protest from lame Joey Wilson, who declared that during his own -illness, which had made him lame, the doctor had been just lovely to -him, only made it more inexcusable that the doctor should not be -better to Jack. To such a pitch of indignation did the feeling against -the doctor arise, that after the nine o'clock evening bell broke up -the convention, the braver and more close-tongued boys expressed their -disapprobation of the doctor's course by building a rail fence, some -forty lengths long, around the doctor's front gate, carrying the rails -from a pasture a square away. To remove this fence, and replace the -rails in their rightful positions, required all of Jack's time during -the following week, noting which fact the boys doubted whether their -operation against the doctor had been a positive success, while Jack -himself perceived, as he perspired, that even sympathy has its -penalties. - -But he adhered manfully to his good resolutions. As the time for the -next Puttytop demonstration approached, he determined that he would -leave all his delightful devices to the friend who suggested them to -him, while to Matt, who one day sneaked to the fence and asked when -that new torpedo blower could be had, Jack tragically exclaimed, "Get -thee behind me, Satan." To be sure, he said it before he had taken -time to ponder upon the advisability of saying it, and the instant it -escaped his lips he wished he had only thought it instead of uttering -it; but none of this reconsideration had any effect upon Matt, for on -receipt of the unexpected reply, he had bestowed just one frightened -look upon Jack and then taken to his heels, and remained invisible to -Jack through all subsequent days until he received an apologetic note, -after which confidence was restored by supplementary proceedings at -the front gate. - -The great Puttytop demonstration was effected without disturbance, but -there were some signs of despondency manifested by those interested in -the local ticket, which Puttytop helped and was helped by, for the -Germans, incensed by the treatment which Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel had -received, made their grievance an affair of nationality, and went over -bodily to the Baggs faction. As the few last days of the campaign -approached, Jack's patriotic spirit began to chafe at inaction, and he -finally became excited to the pitch of asking his father whether he -might not take part in the great and final Baggs torchlight -procession. The doctor was astonished by the temerity of this request, -but he was himself a Baggs man, Doveton was too far from any great -city for politics to have become exclusively rowdyish, the marshals of -the procession were nearly all church members, Jack had been quiet for -a long time, so the doctor gave his assent, taking the precaution, -however, to make a personal appeal to each marshal to keep an eye on -the boy. - -Jack was overjoyed, and proceeded at once to make a transparency and -covered it with stirring mottoes. Then he made another, a very fine -one it was, too, which he embellished with the inscription, "Truth -crushed to earth shall rise again," and this he presented to Nuderkopf -Trinkelspiel. But Nuderkopf intimated that he had had enough of -politics to last him until the next campaign, so he used the -sympathetic transparency to shield a plant of late tomatoes from the -frost, and when Jack learned this he confided to Matt that he washed -his hands of that ungrateful Dutchman, then and forever. - -Somehow Jack had frequent and imperative needs to consult other boys -before the night of the procession, but each time he asked the -permission of his father, and made known the subjects of the -conversation desired, until the doctor began to believe that Jack was -really trying to do right. As for the subjects of consultation with -the boys, they ranged all the way from lights for transparencies to -the particular style and succession of hoots to be uttered on passing -Puttytop headquarters. Upon this last-named affair Jack bestowed a -great deal of time, and, finally, having gone to Matt's for something, -and found nearly all the boys in the Bolton barn, he conducted a -rehearsal with such success that within five seconds after the first -note had sounded, the Bolton horse had started back in wild affright, -snapped his halter-strap, and bumped the side of the barn behind him -so forcibly that he was stiff for a month afterward. - -When the procession finally formed, Jack's transparency was the -observed of all observers. On one side he had acknowledged his youth, -but warned the opposition against despising it by the inscription, -"Little, but Oh, My!" On the second face of the transparency, -Mephistopheles, all in red, laid a gaunt hand, black, upon an ungainly -individual in blue. Lest the meaning of this painting might seem -doubtful to the general gaze, the name of Mr. Puttytop appeared under -the blue personage. A third side was ornamented with the portrait of -the opposition candidate, and it must have been a good one, for Jack -had cut it from a Puttytop poster which had been tacked to his -father's new stable. In this picture the adapter proved himself to be -not without genius, for over the whole of that portion of the -candidate's cranium which had been devoted to hair, Jack had affixed -real putty, fastening it in place with pins, their heads enlarged with -red sealing wax and their points bent inside the canvas. The effect of -this work of art, when it came under a light from the outside, was -that of a bald-headed man, upon whose scalp a bad case of smallpox had -concentrated its energies. On the fourth and last side there was a -palpable allusion to the bibulous habits of which Puttytop had been -accused by the managers of the Baggs faction, for the ornament was a -sketch of a declivity, beginning at an upper corner and drooping -downward almost to the opposite corner; on the top of this began a -series of red spots which increased in size, number, and intensity of -tint until they culminated in the general deep red at the base; under -all this was the inscription, "His Nose." - -Many were the stones and imprecations hurled at this _chef d'œuvre_ as -the procession moved through the streets, and all of Jack's strength -of mind and body was required to enable the young man to manage his -temper and hold his transparency upright. It would hardly be safe to -say that the doctor, who viewed the procession from a corner, entirely -approved of his son's taste, but the boy's upright bearing pleased the -old gentleman, and as one of the marshals, who was also Jack's -Sunday-school teacher, rode very close behind Jack, the doctor went -home feeling that his boy was in safe hands. - -But the final disposing of the procession did not conclude Jack's -patriotic duties. A large paper balloon, inscribed "Baggs Forever, One -and Inseparable," was to be sent up by the boys. This was to be placed -in the heavens by means of heated air, to be provided by a burning -sponge saturated with alcohol, and hanging on a wire which was -stretched across the open mouth of the balloon. The boy who had been -charged with procuring the alcohol had dishonestly spent the money for -powder and shot with which to go hunting, but he had made good the -deficiency by stealing his mother's bottle of cooking brandy. It -burned to a charm, the balloon soared gracefully aloft amid a loud -chorus of "Ah!" and then the boy who held the bottle and who knew the -liquor by its smell, remarked that it was a pity not to put the -remaining contents where they would do the most good. The motion was -seconded by one or two bad boys who were not unacquainted with liquor, -and the bottle was passed from mouth to mouth, Jack being the fourth -who received it. - -"I don't drink," said he, holding the bottle and wondering whether it -would be best to empty it on the ground. - -"You're afraid to," said one of the drinkers, to whom Jack had been -held up, to the extreme pitch of exasperation, as a good temperance -boy. - -"Of course he's afraid," said another bad boy. - -The mere smell of the brandy made Jack shudder, but this was as -nothing to the trembling caused by the charge of fear. Afraid? well, -he _was_ afraid—of being laughed at, so he placed the bottle to his -lips. He did not know anything about the quantity to drink, except -that when he drank water out of a bottle as he frequently did when out -after berries in summer, he usually took about a dozen swallows, so he -swallowed industriously until one of the bad boys who had not drunk -complained that none was being left for the others. Then it seemed to -him that he had been swallowing the whole of a great conflagration, -and that he would cough himself to death, if, indeed, he did not die -of the uncontrollable trembling that agitated his frame. - -During the long-drawn moment in which this new misery was being -experienced by Jack, most of the remaining boys had been vociferating -discordantly about something, and when Jack regained some little -control over himself he saw that the balloon was the cause of their -agitation; it had lost its balance, perhaps from too much of the -brandy getting to its head, and in turning sideways it had caught fire -and begun to fall. It caused a beautiful though dissolving view, and -soon there was nothing remaining but the sponge, which was coming down -as brightly and apparently as swiftly as a meteor. Everybody ran to -see where it fell, and although the sponge was making considerably the -best time, it had by far the greater distance to travel, so the boys -had nearly reached it when it tumbled into the well-stocked pig pen of -Shantz, the butcher, where it was received with all the hubbub which -the appearance of so unusual a visitor could warrant. The spectacle of -a brightly-blazing sponge in a small enclosure, with a dozen hogs -squealing at it, was one which commended itself to the boys by its -utter novelty, but when the proprietor of the establishment opened his -own back door, and descended the yard with a club, the scene became -suddenly devoid of interest, and the place which knew the boys but -now, knew them no more that evening. The boys afterward agreed, while -talking the matter over, that any sensible man would first have cast -the dangerous visitor from the pen. But Shantz had seen so much of -juvenile mischief that whenever he saw a boy near the scene of any -irregularity, he thought more of preventing future trouble than of -curing that which existed, so he left the pigs to take care of the -sponge, and gave chase to the boys. - -Jack did his best to keep up with his companions, but he had never in -his life suspected our quiet old globe of such unstable ways as she -indulged in during that short run. The world tipped to one side until -Jack was certain that he would roll over to his left in a moment and -slide straight down hill to the Atlantic Ocean, which was five hundred -miles away. Then the world tipped the other way, and Jack felt himself -going, going, going, until he felt sure that in a minute or two he -would be caught and impaled on some lofty peak of the Rocky Mountains, -more than a thousand miles to the right. Then all the stars of heaven -forsook their orbits and dashed about each other in a manner which -made Jack too giddy to look at them, so he looked straight before him -at the steeple of the Presbyterian Church, just in time to see it -dissolve itself into two steeples, which trembled awhile and then -indulged in a mad strife to see which should overtop the other. The -antics which Hoccamine's store indulged in were very dangerous to a -brick structure which had been erected by contract, as that had. Then -Jack seemed to be treading on air, a league at a step, yet unable to -approach any nearer to his companions. - -Suddenly his collar tightened, though he could not imagine why; then -the judgment-day seemed surely to come, for stars and steeples and -stores all mixed themselves in utter confusion, and Jack fell backward -some thousands of miles, apparently, and the last sensation he -experienced was of seeing a giant about a mile high, but of a face, -form and voice identical with those of Shantz the butcher, and the -giant raised a club, which was certainly the trunk of the largest of -the California big trees, and—— - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - PAYING FOR A SPREE. - - -When next Jack became conscious of his own existence, it was with a -conviction that the giant who looked like Shantz the butcher had set -his feet against a mountain or something, and was bracing himself with -all his force against the top of Jack's head. Then he felt assured -that the giant had taken out Jack's eyes, filling the cavities with -two enormous leaden balls, and that the giant had filled his mouth -with wool, and put ice under his back, having first run an unyielding -iron rod all the way through his spinal column, and that the giant had -bound his knees and elbows in splints so that neither could be bent, -and then had fiendishly set a great fire blazing in front of his face. -After what seemed hours of dumb terror, Jack succeeded in parting his -eyelids, and the leaden balls within them answered the natural purpose -of eyes pretty well, for he saw that he was lying on the ground, with -the sun, already several hours high, shining right in his face, and -that he was quite close to a fence, and out of the way of any of the -beaten paths of the town. - -Then he found he could move one of his arms from the shoulder, and -then, after considerable effort, he could bend his elbow, and he felt -the other elbow and assured himself that it was not bound after all. -Then he managed to raise himself by one arm, though the iron rod in -his spine was not as elastic as he could have wished, and a cautious -look upward and a painful twisting of his neck showed that the giant -was no longer pressing on the top of his head, though the sense of -compression still remained. This soon gave way to a sensation of -lightness, and Jack fell backward; though he managed to turn upon his -side a moment or two after. - -Some misty moments were consumed in attempts to determine who he was -and how he had come to be in that particular place, the final result -being that Jack became convinced that he had been drunk. The mere -recalling of his last experiences of the previous night made him so -lightheaded that he clutched frantically at a tuft of grass to keep -himself from tumbling upward. Then he realized that he had never -before in his life been so terribly thirsty, so he entered the side -gate of the garden near which he had been lying, and drank freely from -the well-pail. Even this exertion left him so shaky that he had barely -strength enough to get outside the garden before he dropped. Then he -curled up outside the fence, shaded his eyes with one hand, and -determined that the sun had never before been so bright. - -Then he set himself to thinking. His father and nice little Mattie -Barker came into his mind, arm in arm as it were, but the latter soon -drove out the former, with the result of making the young man more -miserable than he had ever been under the oppressive terrors of -parental wrath. He had barely escaped losing her by being suspected of -incendiarism and being a confessed gambler, but what were these to a -genuine, positive case of drunkenness? No one had seen him in his -present condition—at least, it was safe to assume that no one had, for -to see a drunken person in Doveton was to talk about him, with the -result of soon having a crowd of lookers-on. He had not meant to get -drunk, but, honestly, had he ever deliberately intended to do any of -the dreadful deeds of which he had been guilty! Once, while lounging -in a courtroom, and in the cessation of putty-blowing which he had -thought wise while the sheriff's eye seemed upon him, he heard a -lawyer inform a jury that the law always considered the intention of -the wrong-doer, and now Jack wished that his adored might have heard -that address. He wondered if Matt could be trusted to carry her a -message about something else, and then lead conversation deftly toward -the unintentional wrong-doers of the world, and impress upon little -Mattie the fact of which he had been informed in court. But, no, Matt -was such a literal fellow. - -Meanwhile, there had been an unusual commotion in the Wittingham -household. Jack not having responded to the breakfast bell, the -servant was sent to awaken him, but she returned with the information -that he was not in his bed, nor had he been there during the night, -for the coverlid and pillows were as smooth as if untouched. Then the -doctor growled and Mrs. Wittingham fretted; and the doctor said he -supposed the young scamp had gone home with Matt, and Mrs. Wittingham -hoped the boy had not gone to the river and got drowned in the dark; -and the doctor said he did not see why women always imagined -improbable things as soon as anything happened that was out of the -usual order, and Mrs. Wittingham said she could not understand why men -always would be unsympathetic just when there were aching hearts that -longed for tenderness; and the doctor called himself a brute, upon -which Mrs. Wittingham disposed of a tear or two which had come -unbidden, and the doctor declared that the skin of the young reprobate -should pay for those tears. But the cuticle alluded to did not appear, -either with or without its natural occupant, nor could a search of the -stable throw any light upon the mystery. - -Then the doctor drove to Matt's, and discovered that the boy was not -there, and he stopped at the jail, ostensibly to ask about the -keeper's baby, but really to give the official a chance to say -something, if Jack had got into trouble and his old quarters again. -But still he remained uninformed, so he began to interview such boys -as were visible; these knew nothing, as boys always do when questioned -about one of their own number who seems to be wanted by his right -guardians. No one had seen him since the balloon caught fire, though -they quieted one very unscientific fear of the doctor's by declaring -positively that he had not gone heavenward with the balloon itself. - -Suddenly the doctor was accosted by Shantz the butcher, who was -driving by, and who said: - -"Doctor, you know dot bad boy dot you got?" - -The doctor admitted that he did. - -"Vell, den," said Shantz; "yust you hear vat I say—better it is dot -you do it. You not keep dot boy some oder blace, den I kick him some -oder blace, py shimminy cracious! Dat's yust vat it is, I dell you." - -"What had he done to you?" asked the doctor. - -"Vat he has done?" echoed Shantz. "Vell, vat he didn't mebbe come -pooty nigh a dooin', dot ding is mighty bad, now I dell you. He drew a -pig sponge full of fire at my hogs. You dink I vant to sell roast -hogs? No, sir! an' ven I do, I puts 'em over de fire—I not put de fire -right ofer de hogs, an' den git yust lots of boys to come an' laugh -vile de pigs is squeaking, cause I reckon dey don't like to be roasted -midout being killed before dot." - -"Why didn't you thrash him, if you caught him at such a trick?" asked -the doctor. - -"Vy didn't I?" asked Shantz. "Vell, I yust did, but 'twasn't no goot; -he vouldn't holler, but yust tumbled on de ground an' vas vorse as a -whole dressed pig to pick up again." - -A few questions as to time and place followed, and the doctor drove -hurriedly off, vowing to himself that if Shantz had really injured the -boy, the burly German should have a large account to settle. To tell a -man to punish Jack was one thing—to find that the man had taken the -doctor at his word, and in advance, too, was quite another. The doctor -drove toward Shantz's house, looking carefully about him and asking -questions of every one he met, so it came to pass that just as Jack -was wondering how to get home and explain his absence without telling -the whole truth, he heard his father's voice, startingly near at hand, -shouting: - -"Jack, did he hurt you much?" - -"Sir?" answered the miserable boy. Then Jack recalled the likeness of -the giant of the previous night, so he feebly said, questioningly, -"Shantz?" - -"Yes—the villain!" exclaimed the doctor. "My poor boy, come here, and -let me see what he did to you. It was bad enough for you to throw a -burning sponge into his pig-pen, but——" - -"I didn't, father," said Jack. "The sponge fell from the balloon." And -Jack told in detail the story of the ascension and untimely end of the -balloon, though his recital was so fragmentary and delivered with so -much shading of the eyes and rubbing of the head that the doctor grew -seriously alarmed for the boy's reason. It took him but a second or -two to dismount from his carriage and lay his hand on Jack's head, yet -even in this short time his conscience pricked him sorely for his many -sins of omission concerning his only son, and he formed enough of good -resolutions to pave at least a mile of the infernal pathway. - -"Let me see your eyes," said the doctor. - -Jack lifted them, heavy and bloodshot. - -"No concussion of the brain, thank the Lord," said the doctor. "Now -show me your tongue." - -Jack opened his mouth, and that very instant the doctor sniffed the -air suspiciously; then with both hands he held the boy at arms' length -and exclaimed: - -"You've been drinking, young man." - -Jack looked up guiltily for just a second, and then dropped his eyes. - -"Go home this instant!" said the doctor; "take off your clothes and go -to bed, and stay there until I come. I never gave you a bit of -sympathy without finding that I'd wasted it. Go along—quick!" - -As the doctor spoke, he reached for his carriage-whip, so Jack moved -off much faster than a moment or two before he would have thought -possible under the existing physical circumstances. When the doctor -had turned his carriage and moved off to visit some patients whom he -had been neglecting all the morning, Jack's fears were sufficiently -allayed to justify his thinking about the weather, for it seemed to -him that the sun had never shone so hotly even in midsummer. Then he -wondered what his father would do to him. He had been punished with -great severity many a time, though his faults had never before been so -grievous as this present one; the mere thought of being punished at -all was more than in his present physical and mental condition he -could bear. - -Suddenly an old thought occurred to him: he would run away. He had -many a time determined to do so, but on such occasions the weather was -too cold, or too hot, or he had an uncompleted trade on hand, or he -was penniless, or something. Now, however, the expected punishment -overbalanced every lesser fear. Perhaps he would starve, but he would -not be so dreadfully sorry if he did; he would escape the scoldings -and punishments that he knew of, while that which might come after -death would at least have the alleviating quality of novelty. But -there was little likelihood of his starving; runaway boys in books and -story papers never did anything of the kind—they always fell upon -streaks of luck, and finally married heiresses. Jack did not care to -marry an heiress; nice little Mattie Barker was rich enough for him, -but alas! she would have to remain a sweetly mournful memory. He would -at least strive to obtain her sympathy; he would write her a touching, -a tenderly-worded farewell, and then, as he came into his fortune in -other lands, he would write her respectful anonymous letters—perhaps, -even, he might write her in verse, though about that he could not -speak with certainty at present. One thing he knew—he did wish his -head would stop aching so dreadfully. - -Arrived at home, he went softly to his own room, bolted the door, and -sat down to write. He wrote and tore at least a dozen letters before -he could pen one which seemed to suit him; this, when completed, read -as follows: - -"Miss Mattie Barker: - - Dear Madam, - - Farewell forever. - - JACK WITTINGHAM." - -It then seemed to him that his father deserved a parting word, so he -wrote: - - "Dear Father: - - You want me to be good, and so do I, but circumstances - over which I seem to have no control, prevent the consummation of - my earnest desire and intention.[2] When I come back, I shall be a - man, and rich enough to comfort you in your declining years, and - mother too. - - Your affectionate son, - - JACK." - -Footnote 2: - - Jack had found this sentence in a note from one of his father's - unfortunate debtors, and he had been carefully saving it for years - until a proper opportunity for using it should occur. - - -This letter had been begun at the top of the page, with the intention -that it should cover the entire front, but as it was, there was a -considerable blank space at the bottom. So Jack labored hard to devise -a postscript, but his head was not equal to much composition. Suddenly -his fond resolution came to mind; it was to have been a dead secret, -but now it seemed only just that his father should have something to -break the shock of his son's departure—something particularly -comforting and uplifting. So he wrote: - -"P. S. The first thousand dollars I earn, I'm going to send to you, to -pay for the stable that burned down on account of the matches in my -jacket pocket getting scrunched under Bob Pinkshaw's foot." - -This postscript gave Jack a great deal of comfort as he looked at it, -but he doubted whether it was the part of prudence to linger over it. -So he sealed and addressed both letters, and put his father's on the -mantle in the doctor's room, just under the hook where the doctor's -watch was always hung at night; the other letter he determined to mail -at the first post-town he reached in his wanderings. - -Then he got a little hand-valise of his father's, having failed to -find a pocket-handkerchief large enough to hold the traveling outfit -which he considered necessary. He packed all his fishing tackle, a red -shirt, a pair of swimming tights, the box containing the remains of -nice little Mattie Barker's bouquet, some underclothing, his Sunday -suit, and his whole assortment of old felt hats. He looked around the -room lest he might have forgotten something, and beheld the little -Bible which his mother had given him on his tenth birthday. He had not -read a word from it for a month, but then runaway boys always carried -their mother's Bibles, or Testaments, he was not sure which—and they -beat everything for turning off murderous bullets or the daggers of -assassins. Then he remembered how his mother had looked at him and -kissed him when she gave him that Bible, and he wished that she had -always looked so, and he nearly cried without knowing why, and he -longed to go find his mother and give her a great hug and kiss, but it -would be just like her to ask awkward questions if he did. He would -have a last look at her, anyhow, come what might, so he tiptoed to the -sitting-room, and there she sat darning one of Jack's stockings, with -a lot of others before her, and she was looking very tired and seemed -to have been crying. - -"She won't have to darn stockings any more," said Jack to himself, -"and that'll be a comfort." Then he slipped out of the back door, -through the garden, behind the blackberry rows, into the meadow, and -so down to a wild little gully which would lead him out of town unseen -by any one. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - - RUNNING AWAY. - - -Jack's first care was to get out of town; once out of sight of any -house, however, he began to wonder seriously what course he should -take. The terrible thirst with which he was consuming suggested that -he should keep close to the river, the water of which, now that -October had come, was quite cool. There was a scarcity of houses along -the river bank, and Jack had entirely forgotten to bring any food with -him; still, if he developed no more appetite than he had at present, -he would want nothing to eat for days. Besides, the river bank was -well wooded for miles, and though the trees had begun to shed their -leaves, there was still foliage enough to secrete a boy from anyone -who might be impertinently curious. Still better, the dry leaves would -make a delightful couch, and Jack began to think that the sooner he -tried them the more comfortable he would be, for his head persisted in -aching, and his legs were very weak. So within two miles of town, he -halted, scraped a great many leaves against a fallen tree, as he had -heard was the habit of hunters and trappers, and stretched himself -upon them. The air was balmy, the shade was most grateful, so Jack -soon dropped into a slumber. - -When he awoke, it was quite dark, and he found himself unaccountably -chilly. Fortunately he had brought matches, so he managed to make a -fire of leaves and dead sticks, and the blaze was very cheering. But, -somehow, he could find no side of that fire at which he could stand -without having the wind blow smoke into his eyes, and his -brandy-swollen optics were not in a condition to endure smoke with -equanimity, even for the sake of belonging to a runaway who was going -to enable them to see all the wonders of distant lands. Finally, Jack -scraped the fire toward his bed, and by lying on the latter he avoided -the smoke and obtained his first tuition in positive woodcraft. Piling -on additional wood, he soon had a very bright fire, in front of which -he again dropped asleep, but the fire crawled from leaf to leaf until -it reached his bed, and he awoke to find himself half smothered, and -his clothing charred in several places. His tours for fuel began to -extend farther than the light of his fire, so that he had to feel -about very carefully for wood, and the rustle in which the dead boughs -indulged as he dragged them from beneath the leaves suggested snakes, -of which Jack stood in deadly terror. The obduracy of several small -dead trees provoked him beyond the limits of his small store of -patience, the smokiness of old and rotten boughs did not tend to peace -of body and mind, so Jack began to swear and then to cry. Both of -these exercises made him feel better in some way, however, and he at -last succeeded in making a very large fire. - - -Illustration: JACK IN CAMP. - - -But he realized, for the first time in his life, that the blood of a -man recovering from intoxication, acts as if it had been passed -through a refrigerator. He revolved before that fire as if he had been -upon a turnspit, but cold chills would creep down his back while his -front was roasting. He wished that somebody had accompanied him, so -that he would not be so dreadfully lonesome, and the remarks of a -distant owl, who exclaimed "Hoo—hoo—hoo—hoo—are you?" in endless -iteration, did not at all satisfy his longing for human society. There -was at least one comfort to be anticipated,—the morning could not be -far distant. - -As Nature slowly cleared his head, Jack began to weave plans for the -future. Whether to go east or west, he could not for a long time -decide. The two countries were about equi-distant, and each had its -advantages, but the tendency of story papers for boys preponderated -strongly in favor of the latter; besides, the names of certain western -localities were particularly enticing, so he decided to go west. He -wished he had a revolver, but if he could beg or work his way west on -the trains, as runaway boys always did in stories, he might have money -enough left to buy a second-hand pistol. Besides, he could sell his -personal effects—all but his fishing tackle and his Bible and nice -little Mattie Barker's bouquet; as for the Bible, he must have a -breast pocket made for that at once. If the morning would only come! - -Suddenly he heard a familiar bell; ha!—a fire had broken out in -Doveton, and he was not there to see it. Well, he deserved some -punishment for his wrong-doings, and he felt that this would be a -sufficient one, for a fire was a rarity at Doveton, and he was -therefore losing a great deal. The peal ran on, but stopped at the -ninth stroke. What? Could it be but nine o'clock? The night seemed to -grow darker and colder all in an instant, as Jack realized that he -must have fallen asleep about noon and was to be alone in the woods -all night. - -Then the wind awoke, and made the most dismal of noises in the trees -overhead, and it blew harder and harder, and once in a while it -disturbed a bird who protested shrilly and with a suddenness that sent -Jack's heart into his mouth. The wind stirred the leaves, and Jack -recalled, with violent agitation, the fact that a panther had been -seen in those very woods a few years before. He had heard that such -animals were attracted by bright lights, so the reflection of fire on -dewy leaves a little way off took, to Jack's eyes, the shape of the -glaring eyes of a wild animal. He hastily separated the sticks on his -fire, and beat down the coals, looking behind him several times a -minute as he did so, for fear the animal might spring suddenly upon -him. Would a mother's Bible arrest the jaws of a panther, he wondered, -and if so, to what part of his person would it be advisable to tie the -Holy Book? - -Then the velocity of the wind increased, and, soon a drop of water -struck Jack in the face. It must have been dew, shaken from the trees -overhead? But no; another drop came, and then another, and then -several at a time, and then too many to count. It was raining! Jack -began to cry in good earnest, but something must be done, so he began -to strip bark from the dead tree against which he had lain. It came -off in very small pieces at first, but by careful handling, Jack -managed to get several strips long enough to reach from the ground to -the log as he lay under them. But even then things did not work as -they should. Between each two pieces there was an aperture, so in a -few moments the rain had marked out at least four vertical sections of -Jack's clothing and made itself felt on his skin. A slight drawing up -of the knees displaced one piece of bark, and the cautious twisting -necessitated by the replacing of this piece, disarranged two others. - -And this was the sort of thing which he would probably have to endure -all night! Jack cried and shivered, and shivered and cried, until his -coat sleeve was wet with tears, and his remaining garments were soaked -with the rain which the continual displacement of the bark admitted. -He thought of other lone wanderers—Robinson Crusoe, Reuben Davidger, -the Prodigal Son, but all of these had lucky things happen to them. -Even the last-named personage had something to eat, such as it was, -while Jack now felt as he imagined Esau did when he traded off his -birthright for a mess of pottage. He would certainly starve before -daylight, in spite of the money he had to buy food with. - -Meanwhile his parents were as miserable as himself. The doctor spent -the morning, between professional visits, in devising some new and -effective punishment for the boy. But when he found Jack's room empty, -and was unable to learn that the boy had been home at all, he forgot -all about punishment, and started on horseback in search, with the -fear that Jack's unsteady legs and light head had got him into -trouble. He searched fence corners, wood-piles and barn-yards between -his house and the place from which Jack had started, and he -questioned, without success, everyone he met. Returning in real -agitation through a fear that the boy might have fallen into a well in -search of the water for which he must be constantly longing, the -doctor retired to his own room for special prayer and supplication, -when he found Jack's letter. With this he hurried to his wife, and so -frightened the lady that the doctor attempted at first to make light -of the whole matter, but his fears and his apprehensions were too much -for him, so he sank listlessly into a chair and covered his eyes, -while Mrs. Wittingham cried, and wrung her hands, and asked what was -to be done. - -"I don't know," said the doctor. "I know what should have been done -long ago—I always do, after trouble has come, and it's too late to -remedy it. We should have made ourselves more companionable to Jack, -but instead of that, we've only tried to make him a person like -ourselves. We're so bound up in our own round of daily affairs that -we've never paid much attention to him except when he has got himself -into mischief." - -"I'm sure I've always seen that he had food and clothing, and you have -sent him to school, and given him everything he's asked for that was -within reason." - -"Within _our_ reason, yes," said the doctor, "but I remember to have -had tastes different from my parents, when I was a boy, and they were -not at all bad, either." - -"I've prayed for him, heaven knows how earnestly," said Mrs. -Wittingham. - -"So have I," said the doctor, "but I don't cure my patients by prayer. -And my own boy, my only son, who has more good qualities than all my -patients put together, I've never paid special attention to, except -when his ways were irregular. And I am the man whose address—'An Ounce -of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure,'—made me such a name when I -read it before the State Medical Association! Oh, consistency!" - -"But what are you going to do, doctor?" asked Mrs. Wittingham. -"There's no knowing where he may be, or what he will do—perhaps we'll -hear of him in some penitentiary." - -"Or in Congress," said the doctor. "He'll be a smart enough rascal to -get there, with that busy brain and smart tongue of his." - -"But you must do something, doctor," pleaded Mrs. Wittingham. - -"I'll tell you what I'll do first," said the doctor springing from his -chair; "I'll go and burn up that infernal book on heredity; a man who -can't understand his own flesh and blood, isn't fit to write about -those of the rest of the race. Then I'll hire both constables to track -him, first swearing them to secrecy. I guess I won't burn the book, -though—I'll learn enough by this experience to tell the truth instead -of running a lot of theories on the public." - -The constables were on the road in an hour, and the doctor, pleading a -sudden call out of town, turned over his patients to the least -disagreeable of his rivals, and took the road himself. But no one -seemed to have seen Jack. Matt knew nothing about him, and the doctor -reached home at midnight looking as many years older as he certainly -was, wiser and sadder. - -All night long Jack's parents lay awake in each other's arms, crying, -praying, reproaching themselves and excusing each other, and forming -self-denying resolutions for the future in which they hoped to have -their boy again. With each gust of wind, Mrs. Wittingham shuddered and -suggested dreadful possibilities, and the doctor comforted his wife -while he kept to himself suggestions equally dreadful. The rain sat -the doctor to fearing dangerous sickness to the boy who was in such -unfit condition to breast a storm. When _he_ was a scrapegrace boy -himself, and away from home, he had always sense enough to go into a -barn when it rained, but he never thought to attribute this much of -wisdom to Jack, for his thoughts kept recurring to the boy's earlier -days, when Jack was a sturdy, merry, helpless baby, and his parents -had planned such a delightful future for the jolly little rogue. - -A swing of the gate leading to the barn-yard brought the doctor to his -feet, and hurried him out into the storm with bare head and feet, but -alas, it was only the wind. A muffled step on the back piazza called -him again from his bed, but he found only the family cat. He grew too -weak to try to silence his wife's fears, too weak to think, too weak -to examine his own apprehensions, too weak to do anything but pray and -promise. At early dawn he dressed himself and hurried out to feed his -horse, so that the animal might be ready for an early start. He gave -the pony an extra measure of corn, and climbed into the hay-loft to -push down some hay. An old hat of Jack's lay upon the hay a little way -off, and the doctor snatched it and kissed it passionately, his eyes -filling with tears as he did so. Then, as he wiped his eyes, he saw -something else that reminded him of his boy, though he scarcely knew -why. He stopped to pick it up, and a loud yell resulted, for the dingy -object was Jack's hair, the owner of which had burrowed the remainder -of himself deep in the warm hay. Tears, fears, prayers, good -resolutions and all other products of night and penitence escaped the -doctor as if they were dreams, and he exclaimed: - -"Well, sir?" - -"Oh, father!" said Jack. - -"Is this as far as you've been?" demanded the parent, indignant about -what seemed to him sympathy obtained under false pretences. - -"Oh, no," said Jack, "I've had an awful time. You may punish me all -you want to, but you can never make me suffer as I've done to-night." -And Jack cried as if his heart would break. - -"Your poor mother," said the doctor, "has been nearly crazy." - -"Let me see her!" said Jack. "Just let me see her once more." And in a -moment Jack had jumped from the hay-loft window and was limping toward -the house. - -The doctor, recalling with some shame his good resolutions, followed -with all possible haste, though by the conventional means of exit, and -when he entered the house, he beheld the runaway hugging and kissing -his mother in most frantic fashion. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - LOSING A REPUTATION. - - -Jack was so overjoyed at getting home again that his plain little room -seemed a palatial residence when he entered it. As long sections of -bare skin were visible through his dried but burned clothing, and as -the latter was also well sprinkled with hay-seed, he made haste to -change his apparel. He really hoped his father would whip him, he had -been so bad, and lest the punishment should not be as heavy as he -deserved he put on very thin clothing, and neglected to put anything -between jacket and skin to temper the blows. If his father did not -punish him, he would punish himself; he would go without pie and cake -for a year, or he would commit to memory a chapter of the Bible every -day. Of course nobody in the village would speak to him now, but he -didn't care, if only he could remain at home, never to go away, not -even when he became a man. - -Suddenly, as he emptied the remaining pockets of his burned clothes, -he found the letter which he had intended to mail to his sweetheart -from some convenient post-office. At sight of this his heart gave a -mighty bound, and he retracted his resolution to remain at home all -his life, unless, indeed, his mother might be brought to fully approve -the choice of his heart. He would lose no time in consulting both his -parents about this affair of the affections, and he counted it as a -sin that he had not done so long before. What very different people -from what he had supposed them to be, that night had taught him his -father and mother were! - -The expected punishment not manifesting itself, Jack ventured out of -his room and stood upon the back piazza to look at the garden, which -suddenly appeared to him to be the finest garden that the world ever -knew—the garden of Eden excepted, perhaps. - -From here he listened to the breakfast bell, and wondered if any bread -and water would be sent to him; if not, he would at least have the -consolation of knowing that he didn't deserve any. But suddenly his -father shouted that his breakfast would be cold if he didn't eat it -soon, so Jack descended, in a maze, to the nicest breakfast he had -ever seen, and oh! wonder of wonders, his father gave him a cup of -coffee, a luxury which he had been taught to forego, because the -doctor thought it very injurious to growing boys with large heads. -Jack occasionally stole a loving look at both parents, but it pained -him greatly to discover for the first time, that his father looked as -if he was going to be an old man, and he was confused by seeing his -mother's eyes fill with tears at short intervals. - -When breakfast was over, the doctor went into his office without -saying a word to Jack, and Mrs. Wittingham, first kissing her boy, -went to her household affairs, and Jack felt very uncomfortable. He -was too full to be silent, but it was not the sort of fullness, so -often experienced, that could be relieved by whistling, or singing, or -dancing, or teasing the family cat. He was absolutely longing to pay -the penalty of his misdeeds, and he was determined not to be the cause -of any delay, so he followed his father into the office—a thing he had -never done before in his life in the face of impending conflict. The -doctor was surprised beyond measure by this unexpected demonstration, -and his astonishment increased as Jack, after lounging about -uncomfortably for a few moments, suddenly exclaimed: - -"Father, I want to be punished." - -"Bless me!" exclaimed the doctor, turning so suddenly that a powder -which he was preparing dusted all over his clothing. "Have you lost -your senses, my boy?" - -"No, sir," said Jack, hanging his head. "I guess I've just found them. -I've been a dreadfully bad boy, and I think I deserve to be punished -severely." - -"Well," said the doctor, after several moments of silent contemplation -of his boy, "that's the strangest case I ever heard of." - -The doctor dropped the paper which had held the powder, hurried to the -desk, took out the notes for his work on heredity, and made the -following memorandum: "It is undeniable that the mental, like the -physical nature, sometimes generates a quality utterly different from -itself." Then the doctor erased this, and re-wrote and amplified it. -The second form did not satisfy him entirely, so again he erased and -wrote, and repeated the process several times. As he was making his -sixth erasure he became conscious that Jack had lounged up to his -elbow. - -"Oh!" said the doctor, "you said you wanted to be punished, didn't -you?" - -"Yes, sir." - -The doctor wanted to say "Confound it!" but he habitually refrained -from such remarks before his boy; as he looked back to his doubly -scrawled page, however, he unconsciously penned "Confound it!" -directly after his late erasure, and he followed it with exclamation -points to the end of the line. - -"What do you think should be done to you?" asked the doctor, finally. - -"I don't know," said Jack, "but it ought to be something dreadful, for -I've been so bad." - -"Why did you get drunk?" - -"I didn't mean to do it," said Jack, "but that's just the way with -everything I do," and Jack explained the affair with the -brandy-bottle. - -"You did something worse than get drunk when you took that brandy, my -boy," said the doctor. - -"I suppose so," said Jack; "I always do something worse. But I don't -know what it was." - -"You showed yourself to be a coward," replied the doctor. "What do you -think of cowards?" - -"They'd have called me a coward if I hadn't drunk it," said Jack. - -"Yes," said the doctor, "and that's what you were cowardly about, -can't you see?" - -Jack admitted that he could. - -"Wouldn't it have taken more bravery to have laughed and fought down -such a charge, than it required to drink the liquor?" asked the -doctor. - -"Yes, sir. And I want to be punished for being a coward too." - -"Goodness!" exclaimed the doctor, seizing his hat and vanishing. A few -minutes later the Reverend Mr. Daybright, just as he had entered his -study, received a call from Dr. Wittingham, and the doctor promptly -proceeded to detail Jack's case and ask for advice. Now Mr. Daybright -belonged to a denomination which has very pronounced ideas on the -subject of sin and punishment, and the minister preached as his church -believed, and was sure that he believed what he preached, yet he -counselled the doctor to let the boy alone. - -"But he wants to be punished," urged the doctor. - -"What good can it do him?" asked the minister; "if he is in that frame -of mind, the sole object of punishment is attained in advance." - -"But he has done wrong; he has kept his mother and me in intolerable -misery for twenty-four hours, and it seems to me that something should -be done to him." - -"Ah!" said the minister, "you're thinking about revenge, which is very -different from punishment. And it is my duty, as your pastor, to urge -you to give up the thought at once, for it is unchristian and brutal." - -"Why," said the doctor, flushing angrily, "I don't want to punish him; -I simply think it a matter of duty." - -"Yes," sighed the minister, "revenge has generally been considered a -duty, so great is the influence of inheritance even upon minds -intentionally honest." - -The doctor abruptly departed, muttering to himself: - -"That's a point for the book, any how!" - -Arrived at his office, the doctor found Jack still there. He picked -the boy up in his arms, and as Jack mentally submitted to whatever was -to be his fate, his father sat down, hugged the boy close, and said: - -"My darling fellow, tell me what I can do to keep you out of further -mischief and trouble. That shall be your punishment." - -The exquisite sarcasm of the potter questioning his clay did not -strike Jack, which is not very strange, as the doctor himself was -unconscious of it. But Jack could only say: - -"I don't know." - -"I would sell everything I own, if money would do it," said the -doctor. - -Jack was still unable to answer, but the doctor's assertion caused the -boy to squeeze closer to his father's breast, which movement greatly -comforted the old gentleman. - -"I think if you'd always let me be with you, father, I would be a real -good boy," said Jack. "I like you better than I do anybody—but Matt; -yes, better than Matt either." - -"Thank you, my boy," said the doctor, with some little coolness which -Jack detected. - -"I've got to do something," said Jack, "and if I can't see things -that's good to do, I have to do others." - -The doctor remembered having had some such experience himself, in the -days of his own mischief-making, but he answered gravely: - -"I have to spend a great deal of time in sickrooms, my boy, where it -would be inconvenient for you to be." - -"Then let me be with you when you're at home," said Jack, "and," he -continued, rather hesitatingly, "let me ask questions, and you try to -answer so I can understand you." - -The doctor dimly realized that when he was busy he did not answer -questions willingly or lucidly, but he replied: - -"You ask a great many questions about things which I don't think you -should know about, Jack." - -"Well," said Jack, "I can't help thinking about them, and when you -turn me off, I nearly always ask somebody else and I find out anyhow." - -The idea that other people should be telling his boy about matters -which he declined informing him upon was a blow to the doctor's -self-respect, and his sense of propriety, too, for he knew what class -of people Jack would be likely to apply to for information, and the -nature of the answers which would be given. The doctor pondered a -little while, and then said: - -"Jack, how would you like to learn a trade? You could be with me in -the evenings, you know." - -"What sort of a trade?" said Jack. - -"Whatever you like," said the doctor, "I wouldn't for anything have -you at any that was distasteful to you. You certainly like to use -tools—you have ruined all of mine in various ways." - -"I think I'd like to be a carpenter," said Jack. - -"Then you shall," said the doctor. "If you like it, and stick to it, -I'll set you up as a builder when you learn it, but the moment you -grow sick of it I want you to let me know. You are smart enough to -become a good architect, and that's a more profitable profession than -mine." - -"May I have tools of my own?" asked Jack. - -"Yes," replied his father, "the best that money can buy. And I will go -right away and find some one who will teach you." - -The doctor went straightway to the best builder in the neighborhood, -and had the proposition civilly but promptly declined. - -"Every boy I ever took managed to ruin all my best tools within a -year," explained the builder, "to say nothing of the lumber which he -worked up into fancies of his own, and ruined by failures of one sort -and another." - -"I'll buy my boy the best and largest set of tools that you can -select," said the doctor. - -For a moment this offer seemed an inducement to the builder, for there -were many tools which he disliked to buy yet needed occasionally to -use; he might borrow from the promised outfit. But as he thought -further, he replied: - -"You're very fair, but tools aren't everything. If I do the square -thing by the boy, I must use a great deal of time in teaching him, and -time is money. My time is worth a great deal more than the boy's work -will be for a couple of years." - -"I'll pay you cash for your time," said the doctor; "I'll give you a -thousand dollars in advance, if you say so." - -This offer staggered the builder, prosperous though he was, for where -is the man who does not want a thousand dollars? - -But still the builder hesitated, and the doctor asked: - -"What else do you want?" - -"Well," said the builder, prudently retiring to the doorway of a house -he was building, "what I want is to tell you something that maybe you -won't like, but I can't help taking it into consideration. They do -say—_I_ don't say it, mind, but I've heard it from a good many—that -Jack is the worst boy in town." - -"It's a lie!" roared the doctor. "He's the best—that is, he has the -best stuff in him. He's never quiet; he learns his lessons as quickly -as a flash; he hates work about the house, just as I'll warrant you -did when you were a boy, and he must do something. He likes to handle -tools, though, and wants to be a carpenter." - -"Liking is all very well," said the builder, "but sticking to work -don't naturally follow." - -"Did you ever hear of his dropping a job of mischief until he had -thoroughly finished it?" asked the doctor. - -"No," answered the builder with great promptness. - -The final result was that sundry papers and moneys passed between the -doctor and the builder, and on the following Monday morning, Jack was -at work at seven o'clock nailing planking upon a barn. The news got -about town very rapidly, and by noon there were at least twenty boys -looking at the unexpected spectacle, and tormenting Jack with ironical -questions. When night came Jack's hand felt as if it could never grasp -a hammer again, and he was otherwise so weary that he declined, -without thanks, an invitation to go with the other boys to serenade a -newly-married couple with horns and bells. Then he helped shingle a -portion of the roof of the new barn, but his mind was greatly -distracted by the awkwardness of a boy, in an adjoining pasture, who -was trying to braid together the tips of the tails of two calves; the -consequence was that he had progressed so short a distance with his -own row of shingles that the other workmen had gone across the barn -and returned to start afresh, and, as they rested until Jack got out -of the way, they ungratefully upbraided him because of his slowness, -and he wasn't going to be called slow again, not for all the calves' -tails in the universe. - - -------------- - -This book might have been continued indefinitely, had it not been that -Jack was steadily at work which he liked, and had a great deal of his -father's society out of working hours. Gaining these, he lost his -reputation for being the worst boy in town, for although he remained -for several years a boy and a very lively one, he had something -besides mischief to exercise his busy brain upon, and a boy cannot be -honestly busy and mischievous also, any more than he can eat his cake -and have it too. Even the doctor and Mrs. Wittingham reformed, though -it was very hard for the latter to stop fretting at the boy, and for -the former to cease acting as if his son, like his horse, merely -needed food, rest and correction. - -Jack did not go about preaching reform to the boys and advising them -all to be carpenters, but he unconsciously talked from a standpoint -very different from that which he had habitually occupied in other -days, and his talk came gradually to exert considerable influence -among the boys, though they seldom noticed the change themselves. -Jack's very title, "The Worst Boy in Town," was in considerable danger -of lapsing for lack of a successor, and the inhabitants of Doveton are -still undecided as to where it belongs. - -As for the doctor's great work on heredity, it is not in print yet, -for the doctor happened one day, while mourning over a neglected and -consequently unproductive Bartlett pear tree, to drift into some -analogies between the animal and vegetable kingdoms, with the result -that he realized that if the splendid hereditary tendencies of the -tree could not prevent its bareness and its running to superfluous -wood, there could be no hope of an untrained boy, even if he was a -scion of the Wittingham stock. This idea took such entire possession -of the doctor that he went into the house and burned his manuscript as -far as completed, and all the notes beside. - -According to Jack, who professes to be an infallible authority on the -subject, nice little Mattie Barker grows nicer every day, and she has -promised to change her name in the course of time, and her parents -have endorsed her decision, for though Jack is not yet of age, steady -boys who are also bright, and have learned a business which is not -akin either to gambling or theft, are not numerous enough to be -despised. And Jack has a whole portfolio full of cottage plans, all of -his own designing, over which he and Mattie spend long and industrious -evenings, and Jack has taken a solemn vow that when the proper plan is -decided upon, and the building begins, Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel shall be -the sole hod-carrier, and shall be paid the highest market rates for -his services. - -Being practically a successful man, Jack is the receptacle for the -confidences of hosts of his old playmates, who feel that their good -qualities are not appreciated by a world which is quick to complain of -their occasional irregularities, but he has sent many of these youths -sadly away by remarking: - -"It doesn't matter how many good qualities are inside of a fellow, if -only his bad ones make themselves lively on the surface." - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -Transcriber's note: - - ○ Punctuation, hyphenation and spelling were made consistent when - a predominant form was found in this book; otherwise they were - not changed. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORST BOY IN TOWN*** - - -******* This file should be named 55080-0.txt or 55080-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/5/0/8/55080 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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