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The Aimwell Stories
OSCAR:
Or The Boy Who Had His Own Way.
by
WALTER AIMWELL,
Author of "Clinton," "Boy's Own Guide," Etc.
With Illustrations.
[Frontispiece: Winter Scene on Boston Common.]
[Title-Page: Vignette.]
Boston:
Gould and Lincoln,
69 Washington Street.
New York: Sheldon and Company.
Cincinnati: Geo. S. Blanchard.
1861.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by
Gould and Lincoln,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court,
of the District of Massachusetts
PREFACE.
In the story of OSCAR is portrayed the career of a bright but somewhat
headstrong boy, who was over-indulged by his parents, and who usually
managed to "have his own way," by hook or by crook. The book is designed
to exhibit some of the bad consequences of acquiring a wayward and
lawless spirit, and of falling into indolent, untruthful, and disobedient
habits. These are its main lessons, intermingled with which are a
variety of others, of scarcely less importance to the young.
_Winchester, Mass._
ADVERTISEMENT.
"PRECEPTS MAY LEAD BUT EXAMPLES DRAW."
"THE AIMWELL STORIES" are designed to portray some of the leading phases
of juvenile character, and to point out their tendencies to future good
and evil. This they undertake to do by describing the quiet, natural
scenes and incidents of everyday life, in city and country, at home and
abroad, at school and upon the play-ground, rather than by resorting to
romantic adventures and startling effects. While their main object is to
persuade the young to lay well the foundations of their characters, to
win them to the ways of virtue, and to incite them to good deeds and
noble aims, the attempt is also made to mingle amusing, curious, and
useful information with the moral lessons conveyed. It is hoped that the
volumes will thus be made attractive and agreeable, as well as
instructive, to the youthful reader.
Each volume of the "Aimwell Stories" will be complete and independent of
itself, although a connecting thread will run through the whole series.
The order of the volumes, so far as completed, is as follows:--
I. OSCAR; OR, THE BOY WHO HAD HIS OWN WAY.
II. CLINTON; OR, BOY-LIFE IN THE COUNTRY.
III. ELLA; OR, TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF.
IV. WHISTLER; OR, THE MANLY BOY.
V. MARCUS; OR, THE BOY-TAMER.
VI. JESSIE; OR, TRYING TO BE SOMEBODY.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
A KITCHEN SCENE.
Bridget and her little realm--A troop of rude intruders--An imperious
demand--A flat refusal--Prying investigations--Biddy's displeasure
aroused--Why Oscar could not find the pie--Another squabble, and its
consequences--Studying under difficulties--Shooting peas--Ralph and
George provoked--A piece of Bridget's mind--Mrs. Preston--George's
complaint--Oscar rebuked--A tell-tale--Oscar's brothers and sisters--His
father and mother.
CHAPTER II.
OSCAR IN SCHOOL.
Oscar's school--The divisions and classes--Lively and pleasant
sights--Playing schoolmaster--Carrying the joke too far to be
agreeable--Oscar's indolence in school--Gazing at the blackboard--A
release from study, and an unexpected privilege--Whiling away an
hour--Doing nothing harder work than studying--A half-learned lesson--A
habit of Oscar's--A ridiculous blunder--Absurd mistakes of the British
government about the great lakes--Oscar less pardonable than
they--Another blunder--Difference between guessing and knowing--Oscar
detained after school--His recitation--Good advice--Remembering the
blackboard--Willie Davenport--A pounding promised.
CHAPTER III.
PAYING OFF A GRUDGE.
Whistler--Why Ralph liked him--Why Oscar disliked him--A caution--A
sudden attack--An unexpected rescue--The stranger's advice--A brave
and manly answer--Whistler refuses to expose Oscar's name--The
boys separate--George's report of the scene, and Ralph's
explanation--Oscar's return--His sister's rebuke--His mother's
inquiries--Misrepresentations--Willie exonerated--Forgiving
enemies--An unpleasant promise called to mind--Mr. Preston's action
in the matter--Oscar refuses to punish himself--The chamber--A
surprise--Falsehood--Exposure--The account settled--Silence--Late
rising and a cold breakfast--What Mrs. Preston said--Its effect upon
Oscar--Concealed emotion--Mistaken notions of manliness--Good impressions
made--George's narrow escape.
CHAPTER IV.
THE HOTEL.
Alfred Walton--His home--Hotel acquaintances--Coarse stories and
jokes--Andy--His peculiarities--Tobacco--A spelling lesson--The
disappointment--Anger--Bright and her family--Fun and mischief--The owner
of the pups--A promise--A ride to the depôt--A walk about the
building--Examining wheels--The tracks--An arrival--A swarm of
passengers--Two young travellers taken in tow--Their story--Arrival at
the hotel--A walk--Purchase of deadly weapons--A heavy bill--Gifts to
Alfred and Oscar--A brave speech for a little fellow--Going home.
CHAPTER V.
THE YOUNG TRAVELLERS
The Sabbath--Uneasiness--Monday morning--A pressing invitation to play
truant--Hesitation--The decision--Oscar's misgivings--Manners of the two
travellers--A small theft--Flight--A narrow escape--A costly cake of
sugar--The bridge to Charlestown--The monument--The navy yard--Objects of
interest--Incidents of Joseph's life--A slight test of his
courage--Oscar's plans--Going to dinner--A grand "take in"--Alfred's
disclosures--Real character of the young travellers--Their tough
stories--A mutual difficulty--Confessing what cannot be concealed--Good
advice and mild reproof--The teacher's leniency explained.
CHAPTER VI.
WORK.
A command--Passing it along--Reluctant obedience--A poor excuse--A bad
habit--Employment for vacation--Oscar's opposition to the plan--Frank
the errand-boy--Thanksgiving week--A busy time--Oscar's experience as
store-boy--Learning to sweep--Doing work well--A tempting invitation--Its
acceptance--A ride--Driving horses--The errand--The return--Oscar
at the store--Sent off "with a flea in his ear"--The matter
brought up again--Oscar's excuse unsatisfactory--Ralph's services
rewarded--Difference between the two boys.
CHAPTER VII.
THANKSGIVING DAY.
Grandmother's arrival--Surprises--Presents--Oscar at a
shooting-match--Bad company--Cruel sport--Home again--Prevarication--A
remonstrance--Impudence, and a silent rebuke--The dinner--A stormy
afternoon--A disappointment--Evening in the parlor--A call for
stories--How the Indians punished bad boys--What Oscar thought of it--An
Indian story--The hostile party--The alarm--The stratagem--The onset--The
retreat--The victory--Laplot River--Widow Storey's retreat--Misfortunes
of her husband--Her enterprise and industry--Fleeing from the
British--The subterranean abode--Precautions to prevent discovery--Uncle
James--The fellow who was caught in his own trap--Old Zigzag--His
oddities--His tragic end--How the town of Barre, Vt., got its name--A
well-spent evening.
CHAPTER VIII.
GRANDMOTHER LEE.
One of her habits--Ella's complaint--Alice's reproof--Ella's rude reply
to her grandmother--A mild rebuke--A sterner reproof--Shame and
repentance--Popping corn--George's selfishness--A fruitless search for
the corn-bag--Bad Temper--An ineffectual reproof--George's obstinacy--How
he became selfish--Difficulty of breaking up a bad habit--What he lost by
his selfishness--Oscar's dog--He is named "Tiger"--His portrait--His
roguishness--Oscar's trick upon his grandmother--Unfortunate
ending--Tiger's destructiveness--A mystery, and its probable
solution--Oscar's falsehood--Tiger's banishment decreed, but not carried
out--Grandmother Lee's remonstrance with Oscar--Bridget's onset--Oscar's
excuse--Moral principle wanting--Mrs. Lee's departure.
CHAPTER IX.
WINTER SPORTS.
Coasting--Oscar's sled--Borrowing and lending--A merry scene on the
Common--Various sleds and characters--A collision--Damage to Ralph and
the "Clipper"--Not accidental--The guilty parties called to account--No
satisfaction obtained--Ralph's trouble--Oscar's anger--His revenge--A
fight--His termination--Skating--Tiger on the ice--His plunge into an
air-hole--His alarm and escape--Going home--Unfounded fears
awakened--Tiger's shame--A talk about air-holes--What they are for, and
how they are made--Skaters should be cautious--A change in Tiger's
habits--A great snow-storm--Appearance of the streets--Fun for the
boys--A job for Oscar--He is wiser than his father--Nullification of a
command--The command repeated--Icy sidewalks--Laziness and its excuses--A
wise suggestion--Duty neglected--Oscar called to account--His
excuses--Unpleasant consequences of his negligence--The command repeated,
with a "snapper" at the end--The dreaded task completed.
CHAPTER X.
APPEARANCES.
A compulsory ride--Merited retribution--A sad plight for a proud
boy--Laughter and ridicule--Oscar's neatness and love of dress--The
patched jacket--Oscar's objections to it--Benny Wright, the boy of many
patches--His character--The jacket question peremptorily settled--A
significant shake of the head--A watch wanted--Why boys carry
watches--Punctuality--Oscar's tardiness at school--The real cause of
it--Thinking too much of outside appearances--Character of more
consequence than cloth--An offer--The conditions--A hard question--How to
accomplish an object--Oscar's waywardness--Boarding-school
discipline--The High School--An anticipated novelty.
CHAPTER XI.
THE MORAL LESSON.
Oscar's shrewdness--His reputation for integrity--A new
want--Perplexity--A chance for speculation--A dishonest
device--Its success--Secrecy--The fraud discovered--Oscar's
defence--Restitution refused--Indignation--The Monday morning
lesson in morals--Dishonesty--Rectifying mistakes--The principle
unfolded--Restoring lost articles--A case for Oscar to decide--His
reluctant decision--Taking advantage of another's ignorance--Duty of
restitution--Other forms of dishonesty--Better to be cheated than to
cheat--Effect of the lesson upon Oscar.
CHAPTER XII.
SICKNESS.
Wet feet--A command disobeyed--Dabbling in the water--Playing
on the ice--An unexpected adventure--Afloat on an ice-cake--A
consultation--Danger and alarm--Spectators--A call for help--A critical
situation--The rescue--Effects of the adventure--Feverish dreams--Strange
feelings--The doctor's visit--Lung fever--The Latin prescription--Oscar's
removal--He grows worse--Peevishness--Passing the crisis--Improved
behavior--Getting better--General rejoicings--Further improvement--Return
of a bad habit--Fretfulness and impatience--A dispute--First attempt to
sit up--Its failure--First day in an easy chair--The sweets of
convalescence--Danger of a relapse.
CHAPTER XIII.
GETTING WELL.
Hunger--An evil suggestion--First visit down stairs--Midnight
supper--Weakness and exhaustion--An ill turn--The doctor's visit--The
mystery explained--Contents of a sick boy's stomach--The doctor's abrupt
farewell--His recall--Promise of obedience--Punishment for
imprudence--Directions--Effects of the relapse--Slow recovery--The
menagerie procession--A wet morning--Disobedience--Exposure, and its
consequences--Reading--The borrowed book--The curious letter--Puzzles,
with illustrations--Guessing riddles--Oscar's treatment of Benjamin--His
present feelings towards him--Ella's copy of the letter--Oscar's growing
impatience--An arrival--Uncle John--The loggers--Cousins never seen--A
journey decided upon--Solution of riddles, conundrums, &c.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE JOURNEY.
Setting out--A long and wearisome ride--Portland--The hotel--Going
to bed--The queer little lamp--Lonesomeness--The evening
prayer--Morning--Breakfast--The railroad depôt--Oscar's partiality for
stage-coaches and good horses--Eighty miles by steam--Dinner--The
stage-coach--An outside seat--The team and the roads--Villages--Mail
bags--Forests and rivers--End of the stage ride--Jerry--An
Introduction--A ride in a wagon--Bashfulness--An invisible village--The
journey's end--Mrs. Preston--More shy cousins--Supper--Evening
employments--Attempting to "scrape acquaintance"--Mary tells Oscar his
name--More questions--The tables turned--Getting acquainted in bed.
CHAPTER XV.
BROOKDALE.
A dull morning--New acquaintances--Inquiries about Jerry's school-time--A
long vacation--Work--Playmates--Rain--A fine sunrise--The distant pond--A
call to breakfast--Preliminary operations--Jerry's uncombed head--Oscar's
neatness--Jerry sent from the table--Bad manners--Bathing in the pond--An
anticipated pleasure interdicted--The river--A walk--The pond--Map of
Brookdale--Going to ride--The Cross-Roads--Billy's speed discussed--The
variety store--All sorts of things--Oscar's purchase--Returning
home--Short evenings--A nap--A queer dream--Oscar's smartness at
dreaming--Making fun of a country store--Mary's question--Crying
babies--Teasing--Walking backwards--A trip and a fall--A real crying
baby--Mary comforted--Jerry cuffed--Mortification.
CHAPTER XVI.
IN THE WOODS.
Forgotten medicine and renewed health--An excursion
planned--A gun wanted, but denied--Setting out on a long
tramp--Swamps--Upland--Brooks--How Brookdale got its name--Cutting
canes--Birch and beech--How to crook the handle of a cane--The philosophy
of it explained--The cigars--Fine groves--Stopping to rest--The
forest described--Birds and guns--Other game--Jim Oakley's strange
animal--Moose--The man who met a bear--A race--Mysterious disappearance
of the bear--The probable cause of his visit--The boy who killed two
bears--Oscar's courage--Prospect Rock--A fine view--The rabbit--The
woodchuck's hole--Crossing a swamp--Mosquitoes--The pond--The
hermit's hut--Some account of "Old Staples"--Buried treasures--Making
a fire--Baking potatoes and toasting cheese--Drinking pond
water--Dinner--Hunting for the hermit's money--What they meant to do with
it--A bath proposed--Smoothing over the matter--Going Into water--Drying
their hair--Going home--Lost In the woods--Arrival home--One kind of
punishment for wrong-doing.
CHAPTER XVII.
CLINTON.
The missing cap--Splitting wood--Jerry and Emily--A quarrel begun--The
cap found--A drink of buttermilk--Oscar's opinion of it--Jerry's love for
it--Another delay--Feeding the fowls--A mysterious letter--The Shanghae
rooster's complaint--Curiosity excited--The suspected author--Clinton's
education--Keeping dark about the letter--Who Clinton was--Where
he lived--Killing caterpillars--How caterpillars breed--The young
turkeys--The brood of chickens--The hen-coop--Clinton's management of
the poultry--His profits--Success the result of effort, not of luck--The
"rooster's letter" not alluded to--The piggery--The barn--"The horse's
prayer"--A new-comer--Her name--A discovery--Relationship of Clinton to
Whistler--Mrs. Davenport--Oscar conceals his dislike of Whistler--The
shop--Specimens of Clinton's work--Going home.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE LETTER.
A forgotten duty called to mind--Letter writing--A mysterious
allusion--The private room--No backing out--Making a beginning--Getting
stuck--Idling away time--Prying into letters--A commotion among the
swallows--Teaching the young ones how to fly--A good lesson lost--Mary
and her book--Her talk about the pictures--A pretty picture--A wasted
hour--Making another attempt--His success--Effects of being in earnest--A
copy of Oscar's letter--Emily's inquisitiveness--A rebuke--The message
she wanted to send--The meadow lot--Mulching for trees--Going to the old
wood lot--Cutting birch twigs-Forgetting to be lazy--The load--A ride to
the Cross-Roads--Mailing the letter--Paying the postage in advance.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE RECALL.
Hankerings after a gun--A plan--Jim Oakley's gun--A dispute--An open
rupture--The broken gun--Going home mad--A call from Clinton--The
toiler--Summons home--Disappointment--Bad feeling between Oscar and
Jerry--How they slept--Remarks about their appearance at the breakfast
table--Borrowing trouble--Another visit proposed--Jerry's explosion of
anger--His imprudence--Confinement down cellar--An unhappy day--"Making
up" at night--A duty neglected--Inquiries about the gun--Starting for
home--A pleasant drive--The stage-coach--The cars--Luncheon--Half
an hour in Portland--The Boston train--A spark in the eye--Pain and
inflammation--Boston--Ralph's surprise--Welcome home--The eye-stone--The
intruder removed.
CHAPTER XX.
DOWNWARD PROGRESS.
Oscar's dread of going to school--Unsuccessful pleas--Oscar at
school--His indifference to his studies--A "talent for missing"--A
reproof--Kicking a cap--Whistler's generosity--Benny Wright--Oscar's
bad conduct--Regarded as incorrigible--The tobacco spittle--Oscar's
denial--Betrayed by his breath--A successful search--The teacher's
rebuke--The new copy--Its effect--A note for Oscar's father--What it led
to--Concealment of real feelings--Bridget's complaint--The puddle on the
kitchen floor--Oscar's story--Conflicting reports--A new flare-up--The
truth of the matter--Bridget's departure--Examination day--The
medals--The certificate for the High School--A refusal--Bitter fruits of
misconduct.
CHAPTER XXI.
NED MIXER.
Vacation--Associates--Edward Mixer--His character--Loitering around
railroad depôts--An excursion into the country--The railroad
bridge--Fruit--A fine garden--Getting over the fence--Looking for birds'
nests--Disappearance of Edward and Alfred--A chase--Escape of the
boys--Hailing each other--Edward's account of the adventure--A grand
speculation--Pluck--Secrecy--Curiosity not gratified--Arrival of Oscar's
uncle--The officer's interview with Mr. Preston--The real character and
history of Ned--Timely warning--Oscar's astonishment--What he knew
concerning Ned--A hint about forming new acquaintances--Oscar's
removal from city temptations decided on--A caution and
precaution--Departure--Ned's arrest and sentence--The "grand speculation"
never divulged.
Illustrations.
WINTER SCENE ON BOSTON COMMON . . . . . . FRONTISPIECE
VIGNETTE . . . . . . . . . TITLE-PAGE
PLAYING SCHOOLMASTER.
THE ASSAULT.
BRIGHT AND HER FAMILY.
THANKSGIVING MARKET SCENE.
TIGER'S COUNTENANCE.
THE OVERTURN.
AFLOAT ON THE ICE.
A QUEER NAME.
THE DOUBLE FACE.
THE CAT-ERECT.
MAP OF BROOKDALE.
THE DINNER IN THE WOODS.
MARY AND THE PICTURE-BOOK.
THE STAGE-COACH.
HUNTING FOR BIRDS' NESTS.
OSCAR.
CHAPTER I.
A KITCHEN SCENE.
Bridget, the Irish servant girl, had finished the house-work for the
day, and sat down to do a little mending with her needle. The fire in
the range, which for hours had sent forth such scorching blasts, was
now burning dim; for it was early in October, and the weather was mild
and pleasant. The floor was swept, and the various articles belonging
in the room were arranged in their proper places, for the night. The
mistress of the kitchen,--for Bridget claimed this as her rank, if not
her title,--was humming a queer medley of tunes known only to herself,
as her clumsy fingers were trying to coax the needle to perform some
dextrous feat that it did not seem inclined to do in her hands. What
she was thinking about, is none of our business; but whatever it was,
her revery was suddenly disturbed, and the good nature that beamed from
her face dispelled, by the noisy clattering of more than one pair of
little boots on the stairs. In a moment, the door opened with a jerk
and a push, and in bounded three boys, with as little display of
manners or propriety as so many savages might exhibit. The oldest
directed his steps to the closet, singing, as he peered round among the
eatables:
"Eggs, cheese, butter, bread,--
Stick, stock, stone-dead."
"Biddy," he continued, "I 'm hungry--give me something to eat, quick."
Bridget paid no attention to this demand, but only twitched her needle
with a little more energy.
"I say, Biddy," continued the boy, "what did you have for supper?
Come, give me some, I 'm half starved."
"And why did n't ye come when the supper was ready, if ye wanted any?"
said Bridget. "If ye won't ate with the rest, it's not me that will
wait upon ye, Master Oscar."
"Well," continued Oscar, "if you won't help me, I guess I can help
myself. Ralph, what did you have for supper?"
The boy addressed named over several articles, among which were cake
and mince-pie, neither of which could Oscar find in the closet.
"Where did you put the pie, Biddy?" he inquired.
"It 's where ye won't find it," replied Bridget, "that's jist where it
is."
"I bet I _will_ find it, come now," said Oscar, with a determined air;
and he commenced the search in earnest, prying into every covered dish,
opening every drawer and bucket, and overhauling and disarranging every
part of the closet. Bridget was just then in too irritable a mood to
bear this provoking invasion of her realm with patience. In an angry
tone, she ordered the intruder to leave the closet, but he took no
notice of the command. She repeated the order, making it more emphatic
by calling him a "plague" and a "torment," but he did not heed it.
Then she threatened to tell his parents of his misconduct, but this had
no effect. Oscar continued his search for some minutes, but without
success; and he finally concluded to make his supper of bread and
butter, since he could find nothing more tempting to his appetite.
The fact was, Oscar was getting in the habit of being absent from his
meals, and calling for food at unseasonable hours, much to the
annoyance of Bridget. She had complained of this to his mother several
times, without effect; and now she thought she would try a little
expedient of her own. So, when she cleared away the supper-table that
evening, before Oscar came home, she hid away the cake and pies with
which the others had been served, and left only bread and butter in the
closet. She gained her end, but the boy, in rummaging for the hidden
articles, had made her half an hour's extra work, in putting things to
rights again.
As Oscar stepped out of the closet, after his solitary supper, he moved
towards the youngest of the other boys, saying:
"Here, George, open your mouth and shut your eyes, and I 'll give you
something to make you wise."
George declined the gift, but Oscar insisted, and tried to force it
upon him. A struggle ensued, and both rolled upon the floor, the one
crying and screaming with anger, and the other laughing as though he
considered it good fun. George shut his teeth firmly together, but
Oscar succeeded in rubbing enough of the mysterious article upon his
lips to enable him to tell what it was. It proved to be a piece of
pepper, a plate of which Oscar had found in the closet.
This little experiment, however, did not leave George in a very
pleasant frame of mind. It was some time before he got over his
blubbering and pouting. Oscar called him a "cry-baby," for making such
a fuss about a little bit of pepper, which epithet did not aid him much
in forgetting the injury he had received.
After awhile, quiet and harmony were in a measure restored. Ralph and
George got their school-books, and began to look over the lessons they
were to recite in the morning; but Oscar not only remained idle,
himself, but seemed to try to interrupt them as much as possible, by
his remarks. By-and-bye, finding they did not take much notice of his
observations, he took from his jacket pocket a small tin tube, and
commenced blowing peas through it, aiming them at his brothers, at
Bridget, and at the lamp. Ralph, after two or three had taken effect
on his face, got up in a pet, and took his book up stairs to the
sitting-room. George scowled and scolded, as the annoying pellets flew
around his head, but he did not mean to be driven away by such small
shot. Bridget, too, soon lost her patience, as the peas rattled upon
the newly-swept floor.
"Git away with yer pays, Oscar," said she; "don't ye be clutterin' up
the clane floor with 'em, that's a good b'y."
"They aint 'pays,' they are _peas_," replied Oscar; "can't you say
peas, Biddy?"
"I don't care what ye call 'em," said Bridget; "only kape the things in
yer pocket, and don't bother me with 'em."
"Who 's bothering you?" said Oscar; "me 'pays' don't make any
dirt--they 're just as clean as your floor."
"Ye 're a sassy b'y, that's jist what ye are."
"Well, what are you going to do about it?"
"Faith, if it was me that had the doin' of it, I bet I 'd larn ye
better manners, ye great, impudent good-for-nothin', if I had to bate
yer tin times a day."
"You would n't, though, would you?" said Oscar; and he continued the
shower of peas until he had exhausted his stock, and then picked most
of them up again, to serve for some future occasion. He had hardly
finished this last operation, when his mother, who had been out,
returned home. As soon as she entered the kitchen, George began to
pour out his complaints to her.
"Mother," he said, "Oscar 's been plaguing us like everything, all the
evening. He got me down on the floor, and rubbed a hot pepper on my
mouth, and tried to make me eat it. And he's been rummaging all round
the kitchen, trying to find some pie. And then he went to shooting
peas at us, and he got Bridget real mad, and Ralph had to clear out, to
study his lesson. I told him--"
"There, there, George, that will do," replied his mother; "I am sick of
hearing these complaints. Oscar, why is it that I can't stir out of
the house, when you are at home, without your making trouble with
Bridget or the children? I do wish you would try to behave yourself
properly. You are getting the ill-will of everybody in the house, by
your bad conduct. I really believe your brothers and sisters will
begin to hate you, before long, if you keep on in this way. For your
own sake, if for nothing more, I should think you would try to do
better. If I were in your place, I would try to keep on good terms
with my brothers and sisters, if I quarrelled with everybody else."
Oscar made no reply to this, and the subject was soon dropped. His
mother was too much accustomed to such complaints of his misconduct, to
think very seriously of them; and he was himself so used to such mild
rebukes as the foregoing, that they made little impression upon his
mind. The boys, who all slept in one chamber, soon retired for the
night; but Oscar took no further notice of the occurrences of the
evening, except to apply the nickname of "mammy's little tell-tale" to
George--a title of contempt by which he often addressed his little
brother.
I am afraid that the title of "tell-tale" was not wholly undeserved by
George. True, he often had just cause of complaint; but he was too
ready to bring whining accusations against his brothers and sisters,
for every trifling thing. He complained so much that his mother could
not always tell when censure was deserved. It had become a habit with
him, and a dozen times a day he would go to her, with the complaint
that Oscar had been plaguing him, or Ella had got something that
belonged to him, or Ralph would not do this or that.
George, who was the youngest of the children, was at this time seven
years old; Ralph was two years and half older, and Oscar, who was the
oldest son, was about half way between thirteen and fourteen. They had
two sisters. Alice, the oldest, was fifteen years of age, and Eleanor,
or Ella, as she was commonly called, was about eleven.
The father of these boys and girls was a shop-keeper in Boston. His
business required so much of his attention, that he was seldom with his
family, except at meal-times and nights. Even in the evening he was
usually at the shop; but when it so happened that he could remain at
home after tea, it was his delight to settle himself comfortably down
in the big rocking chair, in the well-lighted sitting-room, and to muse
and doze, while Alice sang, and played upon the piano-forte. He had so
many other cares, that he did not like to be troubled with bad reports
of his children's conduct, This was so well understood by all the
family, that even George seldom ventured to go to him with a complaint.
The management of domestic affairs was thus left almost entirely with
Mrs. Preston, and she consulted her husband in regard to these matters
only when grave troubles arose.
I have thus briefly introduced to my readers the family, one of whose
members is to form the principal subject of the following pages.