[Illustration]
OLD WONDER-EYES;
AND
OTHER STORIES FOR CHILDREN.
BY
MR. AND MRS. L. K. LIPPINCOTT.
(GRACE GREENWOOD.)
With Engravings from Designs By White.
PHILADELPHIA:
GAUT & VOLKMAR,
H. COWPERTHWAIT & CO.
1858.
Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
L. K. LIPPINCOTT,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
STEREOTYPED BY MEARS & DUSENBERY.
To Maggie P----
WE DEDICATE THESE LITTLE STORIES,
HOPING THAT ALTHOUGH SHE MAY NOT NEED THIS PROOF TO KNOW THAT
WE LOVE HER,
IT WILL NEVERTHELESS BE AS PLEASANT TO HER TO RECEIVE
AS IT IS TO US TO GIVE.
_Christmas, 1857._ L. & G.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
OLD WONDER-EYES 7
OLD HORACE, AND MY LITTLE PIG HUMPY 14
THE ROOSTER-MOTHER 42
MY AUNT'S PRESENT 46
A CURIOUS DOG STORY 64
WILLIE WATSON 71
THE TALE OF OUR KITE 78
PHILIP ANNESLEY'S RETURN 85
SNOWDROP 93
MY FIRST DAY IN TROWSERS 101
THE STOLEN BIRDS' NEST 114
THE STORY OF GRACE DARLING 127
HYMN 142
Old Wonder-Eyes.
Once, when I was in England, I visited some friends, who lived in a
pleasant part of the country. They had a fine old house, filled with
all sorts of beautiful things; but nothing in-doors was so delightful
as the wide, green lawn, with its smooth, soft turf, and the garden,
with its laburnums, and lilies, and violets, and hosts on hosts of
roses. There was a pretty silvery fountain playing among the flowers,
so close to a little bower of honey-suckles that the butterflies
fluttering about them had to be very careful, or the first they knew,
they got their wings soaked through and through with spray.
About the house and grounds were all kinds of beautiful
pets--greyhounds, and spaniels, and lap-dogs, and rare white kittens;
gay parrots, and silver pheasants, and sweet-singing canaries; but
here, in this pleasantest spot, right under the honeysuckle-bower, all
alone by himself, in a large green cage, sat an ugly gray owl. He was
the crossest, surliest old fellow I ever saw in all my life. I tried
very hard to make friends with him--but it was of no use; he never
treated me with decent civility; and one day, when I was offering him a
bit of cake, he caught my finger and bit it till it bled; and I said to
Mrs. M----,
"What _do_ you keep that cross old creature for?"
I noticed that my friend looked sad, when she answered me and said--
"We only keep him for our dear little Minnie's sake--he was her pet."
Now I had never heard of her little Minnie--so I asked about her, and
was told this story:--
* * * * *
Minnie was a sweet, gentle little girl, who loved everybody, and every
creature that God had made--and everybody and every creature she met
loved her. Rough people were gentle to her, and cross people were
kindly; she could go straight up to vicious horses, and fierce dogs,
and spiteful cats, and they would become quiet and mild directly. I
don't think that anything could resist her loving ways, unless it were
a mad bull or a setting-hen.
One night, as Minnie lay awake in her bed, in the nursery, listening
to a summer rain, she heard a strange fluttering and scratching in the
chimney, and she called to her nurse, and said,
"Biddy! what is that funny noise up there?"
Biddy listened a moment, and said,
"Sure it's nothing but a stray rook. Now he's quite gone away--so go to
sleep wid ye, my darling!"
Minnie tried to go to sleep, like a good girl; but after awhile she
heard that sound again, and presently something came fluttering and
scratching right down into the grate, and out into the room! Minnie
called again to Biddy; but Biddy was tired and sleepy, and _wouldn't_
wake up. It was so dark that Minnie could see nothing, and she felt
a little strange; but she was no coward, and as the bird seemed very
quiet, she went to sleep again after awhile, and dreamed that great
flocks of rooks were flying over her, slowly, slowly, and making the
darkness with their jet black wings.
She woke very early in the morning, and the first thing she saw was a
great gray owl, perched on the bed-post at her feet, staring at her
with his big, round eyes. He did not fly off when she started up in
bed, but only ruffled up his feathers, and said--
"Who!"
Minnie had never seen an owl before; but she was not afraid, and she
answered merrily,
"You'd better say 'Who!' Why who are you, yourself, you queer old
Wonder-Eyes?"
Then she woke Biddy, who was dreadfully frightened, and called up the
butler, who caught the owl, and put him in a cage.
This strange bird was always rather ill-natured and gruff, to everybody
but Minnie--he seemed to take kindly to her, from the first. So he was
called "Minnie's pet," and nobody disputed her right to him. He would
take food from her little hand and never peck her; he would perch on
her shoulder and let her take him on an airing round the garden; and
sometimes he would sit and watch her studying her lessons, and look as
wise and solemn as a learned professor, till he would fall to winking
and blinking, and go off into a sound sleep.
Minnie grew really fond of this pet, grave and unsocial as he was; but
she always called him by the funny name she had given him first--"_Old
Wonder-Eyes!_"
In the winter time little Minnie was taken ill, and she grew worse and
worse, till her friends all knew that she was going to leave them very
soon. Darling little Minnie was not sorry to die. As she had loved
everybody and every creature that God had made, she could not help
loving God, and she was not afraid to go to Him when He called her.
The day before she died, she gave all her pets to her brothers and
sisters, but she said to her mother--"_You_ take good care of poor old
Wonder-Eyes--for he'll have nobody to love him when I am gone."
The owl missed Minnie very much; whenever he heard any one coming, he
would cry "Who!" and when he found it wasn't his friend, he would
ruffle up his feathers, and look as though he felt himself insulted.
He grew crosser and crosser every day, till there would have been no
bearing with him, if it had not been for the memory of Minnie.
* * * * *
The next time I saw the old owl, sitting glaring and growling on his
perch, I understood why he was so unhappy and sullen. My heart ached
for him--but so did the finger he had bitten; and I did not venture
very near to tell him how sorry I was for him. When I think of him now,
I don't blame him, but pity him for his crossness; and I always say to
myself--"_Poor old Wonder-Eyes!_"
Old Horace,
AND
MY LITTLE PIG HUMPY.
A deep, broad, lazy-flowing river! It is one of the loveliest things
in nature. When I was a little boy I lived near one, and among my very
pleasantest memories are those of the days when I fished, and swam, and
dived in its clear deeps, or sailed my tiny boats and played "dick,
duck, drake" over its sleepy surface.
About half-way up the hill-slope which made the western bank of this
river, stood our house. It was a large, dark old building--somewhat
gloomy-looking on the outside, may-be, to a stranger; but _inside_,
even in the most out-of-the-way corners of those great rooms, there was
no gloom--the sunshine of peace and love made light everywhere. The
dear old home!
Among my father's servants there was an old negro, who, as occasion
required, was, by turns, coachman, gardener, carpenter, and
house-servant. His name was Horace; he had no other name, I believe--at
least, I never knew of any. Horace was one of the blackest negroes I
ever saw, and as large-hearted as he was black. He was very fond of
children, and very good-natured usually, though not always, as you will
see, by-and-by.
Horace could make the nicest little wagons and sleds, and the clearest,
sweetest-toned willow whistles in the world, I used to think. He could
tell to a day, almost, and without trying them, when the May-duke
cherries had reached their luscious prime; he could remember,
from year to year, exactly in which row, and how far from the end,
the early-ripe apple tree stood; he knew too, the very moment, I
thought, when the frost had opened the chestnut burrs and ripened the
persimmons, so that they would not pucker up our mouths, as they did
sometimes, when we were so foolish as to think we knew better than he;
he could pick out the luckiest places for our rabbit-traps, and could
always find worms for bait, no matter how dry the weather, when we
wanted to go a-fishing. In short, Horace knew everything, it seemed to
me then.
At the time of which I write, I was eight years old, the younger of two
brothers, and Horace's favorite. He used to say that my rosy, chubby
face, black, saucy eyes, and laughing, rollicking, topsy-turvy ways,
were "better comp'ny" for him than the more thoughtful, quiet, sober
bearing of my brother Walter.
Walter went to school in the village, which was about a mile from our
house, over the hill; but I said my little lessons to my mother, at
home, an hour every morning and afternoon.
When it was not lesson-time, Horace and I were nearly always together;
no matter what he might be at work on, he could usually contrive to
find something to please me and keep me near him.
One morning, while I was saying my lesson, my father had given Horace a
severe scolding for his forgetfulness, which was the only fault he had,
I believe, but it was a most grievous one, and often led to serious
trouble. After I had finished my lesson, without knowing anything about
the scolding he had had, I went out into the garden, where Horace was
working, and asked him to fasten a wheel on my little wagon, and help
me to gear up my dog, Branch, to it.
"No! go 'long--I'se busy!" said he, without looking at me, and puffing
out his great lips. Then he added, in a muttering way, to himself,
"Nebber did see sich a bother as dese yer boys is!"
I was rather a passionate boy, and this roused me at once. I said
something saucy back to him; then he said something else; then I said
something in return, ending by calling him "an old nigger," and went
back to the house.
Nothing could have offended Horace more than that "old nigger," which
had slipped off my tongue in the heat of my passion, and for which I
was heartily sorry a moment after--for, like a great many other negroes
I have known, although he frequently called himself so, he would suffer
no one else to.
All day long he did not speak to me, nor look at me, though I made a
pretence of having several errands to the garden and went right by
him--and at night I went to bed quite unhappy about it.
The next morning, I moped about the house, and tried to amuse myself
with my humming-top, but it would not spin to suit me, and I threw it
aside pettishly and went down to the kitchen, to ask old Wangie, the
cook, to tell me a story, while she washed the breakfast things.
I found Wangie and Horace, with the other servants, still at their
breakfast; so, without saying anything, I went up to the window and
began to blow my breath against the glass, and make figures on it with
my fingers. Once I turned my head, and found Horace looking at me with
an earnest, wistful look that seemed to say, "I am ready to make up;"
but I was proud, and could not bring myself to say anything--though a
little soundless voice down in my heart kept urging me to, and though
I knew I had been most in fault--until just as Horace was getting up
from the table, when the little voice overcame my pride, and, tilting
one of the loose flag-stones of the floor up and down with my foot, I
said, without looking at him,
"Horace, I ain't mad at you, if you ain't mad at me." When I had got
thus far I felt so much better that I looked up frankly into his face,
and added, "And I am sorry I called you what I did."
"Lor' bress de chile!" said he; "Ise sorry too. I know'd de boy
couldn't stay mad at ole Horace long, and ole Horace couldn't at him,
sartin. But ye see, Mass' L----, when you com'd to me I was busy; and
den Mass' B---- had jis been talking sharp to de ole nigger, 'cause he
forgit to take de gray pony to be shod. I tells ye what, Mass' L----,
it make ole Horace feel 'siderably bunkshus[A] for a leetle bit;
but Missus says we must forgib and forgit. De Lor' knows I kin do de
_forgittin_' part so well, 'tain't no use to say nothin' 'bout t'other.
De ole nigger all right now, though, and he got de purtiest sight to
show de boy he ebber see in all he born days."
[Footnote A: This is one of Horace's own words, and I never heard any
translation of it.]
With that he picked up his hat, took me by the hand, and off we
started, the best of friends again.
How well I remember that day! It was in the middle of May, and the
sunshine was so warm and bright, the sky so clear and blue, and the
grass, as we passed through the orchard, looked so beautiful, with here
and there a snowy drift of apple-blossoms, into whose honeyed hearts
the little pilfering bees were diving--and the birds sang so joyously,
and such fragrant prophecies of the golden summer-time came floating to
us upon every breath of the wind, that I said to Horace, I thought it
must be a Sunday that had slipped out of Heaven, by mistake.
"Dun'no, Mass' L----," said he; "but I 'spec dey don't make no mistakes
up dar."
During this we were crossing the orchard toward a little closely-fenced
lot, about an eighth of a mile from the house, in which were the sheep
and pig-pens.
I was not yet perfectly well assured of Horace's good humor, and so,
although I was terribly curious to know, I had not dared to ask him
where we were going, or what we were going to see.
Horace carried a pail of milk, which he had picked up as we passed
the milk-house, in one hand, while I had hold of the other with both
of mine, and was jumping and swinging along, when, just after we had
entered the enclosure and were passing one of the large pig-pens, he
set down the pail, and taking me at one of my jumps, with a slight
lift of his brawny arm, set me up on the edge of the pen, exclaiming--
"Look dar now, boy! Wasn't ole Horace right--aint dey de purtiest
little tings y'ebber did see?"
Right down under me lay the old sow, and rollicking and rooting,
and butting and squealing around her were eight of the prettiest,
darlingest, cutest little pigs that ever saw the sunshine.
One little fellow, black all over, was lying by himself, with his head
lifted up a little, so that he could see me. This one did not seem so
glad and spry, and fat and saucy as the others, and there was something
in his look that brought a warm feeling to my heart, and made me pity
him.
"Well, Mass' L----, which one's ye gwine for to choose for your'n?"
said Horace, after I had sat there some minutes.
I looked at them all, except the little black one, again, and finally
decided upon a pert, head-over-heels sort of a fellow, that was
racing up and down the pen as furiously as though he had had a coal
of fire fast to his tail, and was trying to run away from it. Every
once in a while he would stop short, as if he had forgotten something,
and suddenly remembered it--then he would look up at me in the most
quizzical way imaginable, with his little impudent eyes, give a snort,
a quick jerk of the head, and away again. He was as white as snow all
over, except his tail and one ear, which were black. He seemed to
understand that I was going to make a choice, and to be determined that
I should choose him; and this frolicking and frisking were his ways of
"showing his paces," I suppose; or else his funny little black tail was
twisted up so tightly that he couldn't keep still.
Just as I was turning around to say to Horace that I chose that one,
something, I did not know what, made me look down at the little black
ugly one again. He was still looking up at me, with a sick, sad,
hopeless, yet patient look, and at once it seemed to me that I heard
that little voice again--heard it with the ears of my heart, as it
were--"Choose him!"
I turned around to Horace, who seemed to be getting impatient at my
taking so long to choose, and said very quietly, and somewhat sadly,
perhaps, for I remember that my voice and the way I spoke seemed to
astonish him as much as my choice--"I'd like to have that one for mine,
Horace."
"What! Mass' L----! y'ain't gwine for to take dat ar little pigininny!
Why he ain't o' no 'count, no how!--an' he look sick too--mebby he die.
Let ole Horry choose for ye. I'd take de little feller wid de black
tail and ear,"--pointing to the one I had fixed upon at first--"he's as
peert as a jack-knife; and den, white's a mighty sight purtier color
dan black--dat is, for _pigs_," added he, catching himself, for one
of Horace's hobbies was the notion that black was "de best color in de
world for folks."
But all Horace said about the little pig looking sick, and that "mebby
he die," only made the little voice beg the more earnestly--"Take him!
take him!" and I said to it, softly--"I will," and to Horace, aloud--
"Please let me take the little black one, Horace. I want to nurse him
and make him well, like the others."
Horace looked a little displeased at what he thought was wilfulness in
me, but said nothing more. He then took up the pail and poured the milk
into the trough--my father being of the opinion that it was never too
early to begin to feed pigs. At once the little fellows--all save mine,
who lay still and alone, only turning his strangely sad eyes from me to
the trough--made a furious rush towards it, crowding, squealing, and
pushing like--so many little pigs as they were, and like nothing else
in the world. Some plunged their heads into the milk, clear up to their
eyes, which fairly twinkled and snapped with roguery, and one--the one
with the black tail and ear, scrambled into the trough bodily, just
as though he wanted to get more than the others, and thought he could
absorb it with his legs and body, as well as take it in at his mouth;
then, not satisfied with this, he went marching up and down the trough,
treading on the snouts of his fellows, until they got angry, and rooted
him out entirely.
I wanted to take mine up to the house and give him some warm milk and
nurse him, but I saw that Horace was not much pleased with him, and I
was afraid of renewing our quarrel by proposing it then.
More than a week passed, with my going down twice every day with
Horace, to feed the funny, noisy little rascals, and staying there more
than an hour sometimes, to watch them eat, and frolic about the pen.
After the first day, I made so bold as to ask Horace to let me take
some warm milk in a little old pan, for mine. He consented, and would
even get over into the pen and hand him out to me, while I put him down
on the ground, in the sunshine, and scratched his back and head while
he ate, until he grew to know me, and Horace grew to like him and to be
as anxious about him and as tender toward him as I was.
As I said, more than a week passed in this way, when, one morning,
Horace said he should let them take a little run outside. So he propped
up the sliding door with a stick, and drove the old sow out, while the
little pigs came tumbling after. I stayed a long time, watching them
root and frisk about--mine always lagging behind the others and never
playing any--till it came dinner-time, and I went up to the house.
After dinner I went with Tom (one of our hired hands), over to the
mill, and did not get back till tea time. Just as I was getting into
my place at table, I heard a squeal from the kitchen, and with the
thought of my pig in my mind, rushed down to see what was the matter.
Horace had just come in and was standing by the fire, with Wangie and
Tom, looking at my poor little pig, who lay on an old bag in his arms,
dead--as I thought, till Horace, in laying him down on a chair, jarred
him a little, and made him squeal again.
He had fallen down into an old dry cistern there was in the sheep-yard,
and broken "he right _hand_ foreleg," as Horace said.
"Betta kill um," said Tom--"he not werry fat, but'll do to roast for de
kitchen."--Tom and I had never been very good friends, and you may be
sure that this speech did not help to make us so.
"Go 'way, boy!" said Horace, whose heart was always as gentle as a
girl's; "he Mass' L----'s pig, and he gwine for to be doctored."
Horace's idea struck me, and without thinking, without my hat--the
tears streaming down my face, and nearly dark as it was, I took piggy
in my arms and started off toward the village, to find my uncle, who
was a physician.
Just as I got to the gate at the end of the lane, I met him riding over
to take tea with us.
"What's the matter--what have you got there, and where are you going
at this time of the day?" asked he, somewhat startled by my singular
appearance.
"Oh, uncle!" said I, "I'm _so_ glad you've come.--Why it's my little
pig, and he fell down the cistern and broke his leg, and I was just
coming for you to mend it."
"You had better let me open his carotid," said he.
"Will that make him well?" asked I.
"Yes," said he, "it'll take all his pain away, and he won't know his
leg's broken two minutes after I do it."
"Oh, I'm so glad you can do that!" said I.
At this, my uncle laughed heartily, for he had been making fun of me
all the time--the carotid being one of the most important arteries of
the body. It supplies the brain with blood, and if he had opened it,
poor piggy would have bled to death in a minute; that's what my uncle
meant by saying it would take away all his pain.
In spite of his joking, my uncle was a very kind-hearted man, and after
he had finished laughing at my simplicity and ignorance, he got off
his horse and put the bridle over his arm, saying--"Your pig's too
heavy for you; besides, you should carry him with his legs up,--it will
lessen the flow of blood to the wounded one, and so save him a good
deal of pain,--let me take him."
He seized hold of the little fellow, who had lain perfectly quiet
since I had taken him, except now and then a low, piteous moaning,
which always started my tears afresh; but the instant my uncle touched
him, he began to squeal terribly, and struggle, till uncle said that
if I could carry him, may be I had better, for the struggling would
irritate the broken leg. So he let go of him, and he was quiet again in
a moment, except that plaintive moaning which seemed almost like human
sobbing.
About half-way up the lane, we met Horace, whom my mother had sent out
to see what had become of me. My uncle told him to get some little thin
pieces of hickory, and showed him how to make some splints. He then
told him to take little piggy, thinking I would not be strong enough
to prevent his struggling; but he squealed and took on so in Horace's
hands that I insisted on holding him, and to the surprise of all, he
only squealed once during the whole operation. There seemed to be a
magnetism in my affection which soothed and lessened his suffering;
just as you may remember when you were sick, if your dear mother or
aunt laid her hand on your forehead, or stroked your hair back, or
smoothed your pillow, it seemed to quiet your pain, and drive it away
almost entirely for the time. I think little pigs can feel this as well
as little folks, and my little pet understood that I loved and would
let no harm or hurt come to him that I could prevent; and that is why
he did not squeal when I held him.
Several weeks passed by before my uncle thought it safe to take the
splints from piggy's leg; during which I fed and tended him constantly.
During this time also, the doctor discovered that the fall had injured
his spine too, which he said would prevent his growing much, and would
cause his shoulders to gradually hump up.
Sure enough, it was not long before we noticed that a regular hump
had begun to form, just behind his shoulders, which led to his being
called Humpy. My father first called him so in sport, and though at
first I was very indignant, because it seemed like making light of the
poor little fellow's misfortunes; yet the name got fastened on to him,
in spite of Horace and me, and finally we fell in with the rest, and
called him Humpy too.
In the mean time, by his patience and gentleness through all his
long, tedious illness, by his quick appreciation of kindness and
bright intelligence, he had made himself the favorite of the whole
household--even of my father, who usually declared pigs to be
"disgusting." Still I continued to be his special and particular
friend; next to me came Horace, and we two gave him his baths in
warm soap-suds, two or three times a week, which always pleased him
amazingly, and kept him as clean as a baby. He would follow me like a
dog, through the garden, all over the house, up and down stairs, pat,
pat, pat, and if I did not notice him frequently, he would set up a
funny little squeal, and crowd right against my heels. I frequently
woke from my afternoon naps that summer, and found him snuggled down by
my side. I taught him to stand up on his hind legs, and beg for pears
and apples, and to lie down and pretend to be dead, and several other
funny tricks. I frequently took him with me when I went to ride. He
never could be prevailed upon to lie down, at such times, but would
insist upon standing on the floor of the vehicle, where he would pitch
and stagger about in a way very funny to see.
All the dogs, and cats and everything and everybody about our
establishment, seemed to have a kindly feeling toward Humpy, with the
exception of a little bantam hen of mine. She for some reason, possibly
because she was rearing her first brood of chickens, took a dislike to
him and flew at him every time he came in her neighborhood. One day as
Horace and Wangie were sitting at dinner and I was blowing soap-bubbles
out of the window, we heard a terrible squealing in the hen-yard, and
on rushing out to see what was the matter, found the little bantam
perched on Humpy's back, pecking away at his ears, like the little
shrew that she was, and he, the little simpleton, was standing stock
still, and squealing for dear life. Horace speedily rescued him from
his perilous situation, but it was a long time before he could be
coaxed into the hen-yard again.
Almost the funniest thing about little Humpy was his manner of
sleeping. The day after his leg was broken, Horace had made a snug
little low box for him, and filled it with wool for his bed, and
though Wangie was very particular about her kitchen, she had become so
attached to the little fellow during his sickness, that she suffered
the box to remain, and as it drew near winter, she would even place
it by the fire of nights. About eight o'clock in the evening, and often
earlier, Humpy would scramble into this box, and instead of lying down
on his belly or side, as little pigs all the world over do, he would
turn over on his back, with his little legs sticking up, and so sleep
all the night through. This always amused our visitors greatly; it
seemed as though they never would be done laughing at it, and indeed it
was extremely funny.
[Illustration]
Fire, from first to last, seemed to be a profound and most fascinating
mystery to Humpy. Frequently, in the early evening, he would station
himself just in front of the great open kitchen fire-place, and stand
by the half hour looking straight into the roaring flame. I used to
say at such times, that he looked like the picture of Napoleon by his
camp-fire, the night before Austerlitz, though nobody else could see
the resemblance.
Snow was another thing which he never seemed to quite understand.
Our first snow-storm that winter came in the night-time, and in the
morning, when Wangie opened the door for him to take his airing, he
seemed to be really frightened at first, and she had great difficulty
to get him out. But he soon grew to like it, and finally nothing would
please him better than to put him out where he could run and frisk and
root in it, and he would look so cunning when he came in afterwards,
with his eyelashes all filled, and his little black head and snout all
stuck over with white patches. The sound of sleigh-bells, too, was
evidently a great delight to him, and the sleigh never drove up to
the door that he did not rouse up and frolic about till the door was
opened, when he would rush out upon the piazza. Sometimes we would take
him in the sleigh with us, when he would take his stand in the bottom
with his snout resting on the side, and so ride for miles.
But, poor Humpy! his little troubled day of life was almost done.
"Hog-killing time" had come, and great kettles of water were kept
constantly over the kitchen fire, to be heated for scalding the animals
after they were killed. As Horace and Tom were lifting one of these
off, it slipped and tilted over, pouring more than a gallon of the
boiling contents right into Humpy's bed, which, owing to the busy
tumult of the day, I suppose, had not been moved away.
The poor little fellow was just taking his morning nap.--I will spare
you and myself pain, by telling the rest as briefly as possible.
In a few minutes the whole household had collected in the kitchen.
Horace had wrapped the little fellow in a blanket, but I saw my father
shake his head as he looked at him, and taking Horace aside, whisper
something to him, to which the tender-hearted old man answered aloud,--
"No, Mass' B---- don't ax ole Horace to do dat ar, 'cause he couldn't,
no how."
Father then called Tom and whispered to him, and afterwards to my
mother, who took me softly by the hand and asked me to come with her to
the sitting-room, where she explained to me that Humpy was too badly
hurt this time to get well, and told me what father had whispered to
Tom.
She had hardly finished, when I heard the crack of the pistol in the
direction of the barn,--it almost seemed to me that the ball had gone
through _my_ heart.
Horace laid my little dead pet in the old box of wool, nailed it up,
and we buried him with all the household by, at the foot of the garden,
under a sickle pear tree, the fruit of which _he_ had liked best.
And what became of dear old Horace?
After Walter and I went away from home, a great change came over
Horace; he grew silent and reserved, and liked to be alone a great
deal, and finally, with his savings, he bought a small tract of land,
on the top of one of the highest hills in the neighborhood, where he
built himself a little house and kept a great many goats. One morning
one of his nearest neighbors, on going out, found some ten or fifteen
goats at his door, bleating most piteously. Knowing that nobody
thereabouts kept goats but Horace, and suspecting that something was
wrong, he called one of his men and started over to Horace's house.
When they got there, they found Horace lying on his bed, his hands
folded peacefully across his breast--dead.
The Rooster-Mother.
A LITTLE STORY FOR THE LITTLE ONES.
Once on a time there lived in a country farm-yard, a plump, pretty,
gay-feathered hen, who among all the fowls was the liveliest scratcher
and the merriest cackler, except when she was setting on a nest full of
eggs, when she was so cross that there was no coming near her--always
squalling and bristling up on the slightest provocation. She had a
particular spite against the young pullets who had no such domestic
duties to confine them, but could go gadding and cackling about just as
they pleased.
She always appeared to be in a terrible hurry to have her brood
hatched and started in the world; and those poor weakly or lazy chicks
who were the last to get out of their shells, she was apt to treat very
unkindly.
One time she sat on ten good eggs, and in one day hatched nine fine
chickens. But the shell of the tenth egg remained unbroken for some
time longer. At last, after a good deal of pecking and rolling and
kicking about, it popped open, and a puny little cockerel crawled
out--"peep," "peep"-ing in a scared pitiful way, that ought to have
touched any hen-mother's heart. But this proud biddy seeing that he
was so small and ugly, and being very angry because he had kept her
waiting so long--coolly turned her back on him, and devoted herself to
her stronger and prettier children. That night, she refused to brood
him, and actually drove him from the nest. If it had been cold weather
I think he would have died,--but though such a wee, young thing, he had
sense enough to see that if his mother would do nothing for him, he
must look out for himself,--and as he could not nestle under her wing,
he determined to make the best of her tail-feathers. So under their
shelter, he managed to keep tolerably comfortable till morning. After
that the hen treated him a little better--but she often scolded him
and clawed him, and he led a sad life. Many times, when the children
flung crumbs to her and her brood, she would drive this poor little
half-starved chick away, and he would run and hide in the currant
bushes, and hang his head, and droop his small tail, and may-be wish
that he had never been hatched.
Now, it happened that there was also in that farm-yard a good old
rooster, who, observing how cruelly the little cockerel was treated,
resolved to adopt him. So one day, he took him under his protection; he
hunted grain and worms for him, fought for him at meal times, and _even
brooded him at night_, till the unfortunate chick was old enough to
roost.
Under his care the puny young cockerel grew strong and handsome, and my
little readers will be glad to hear that he always treated his good old
rooster-mother with kindness and respect. As for his own mother, you
will be glad also to hear that he once had the opportunity of defending
her from a fierce rat. He went at it, with beak and spur, and soon
drove it bleeding and squealing into its hole.
Then the hen was happy to make up with him; and his brothers and
sisters were very fond and proud of him ever after.
My Aunt's Present.
When I was a little girl I was very backward in all my studies. I
should not like to be obliged to tell how old I was before I was able
to read without stopping to spell out the long words.
We had then living near us an aunt, my father's only sister, a kind,
good woman, whom God took home to himself only a few months ago.
Well, this aunt felt great concern about my backwardness, as her own
children, who were all grown men and women then, had been remarkably
forward and clever, and her grandchildren were wonderfully learned
little creatures. Once, while on a visit to us, when I was about eight
years of age, she called me up to her, and put me through a short
reading lesson.
I can remember, even now, how shocked she looked when she
found that I could not read so well, nor half so fast as her
five-year-old-grandson--a conceited little gentleman, who seemed
very well pleased to surpass me. As for my aunt, she regarded me
curiously through her round-eyed spectacles, as though I had been
some wild girl of the woods. I looked down, and began twisting and
biting my apron-string, while I tried to excuse myself by laying the
blame on my unfortunate lisp, and my poor eye-sight. But my sensible,
straight-forward aunt replied that the fault all lay in my idle,
romping habits, and my love of pets and play.
I was deeply mortified, as I had a great respect for my aunt W----, for
I knew that she was good and clever, though sometimes a little too
dignified and stern, I then thought. I grew very red in the face, very
hot in the throat, and finally burst into tears. This touched my aunt's
kind heart at once, and drawing me toward her, and parting the thick,
dark hair from my forehead, she spoke gentle, encouraging words to me,
all in her own short, quick way though, which startled, almost as much
as it soothed me. She said that if I would apply myself diligently to
my books, play less and study more, so as to be able to read to her on
her next visit, a chapter in the Testament, without making a single
blunder, she would bring me a nice, new story-book, from the city of
New York, where she was about to spend a few weeks. I laughed through
my tears with joy and gratitude. I gladly promised all she asked, and
thanked her heartily; for in those days, and in the country village
where we lived, a new story-book, or indeed a new book of any kind, was
a very rare treat. If I could only hope that this little volume would
be thought half as much of, as I used to think of my books, I should be
very proud and happy to-night.
My aunt seemed pleased with my pleasure; her handsome eyes did not
look severe or reprovingly any longer, but smiled softly through her
spectacles. She patted my head quite tenderly, and inquired kindly
after the health of my pet dog, Fido. I brought him to see her, and I
wanted much to bring also my pretty kitten, Katurah, for this was in
her day--but my aunt, with all her kind-heartedness and piety, had one
peculiarity which always grieved me--she never could abide cats.
My dear uncle was different in this important respect. He was very
friendly with kittens, or perhaps made believe so, because of my great
liking for them, and not wishing to hurt my feelings, in this or any
other matter. He was the most beautiful, as well as the most lovable
old man I have ever seen. He was tall, erect, broad-chested, with
silver-white hair, smiling mouth, and pleasant brown eyes. He was
never known to speak, or look harshly at any one; and though he was
a minister, and a very learned man, I never was afraid of him in the
least.
I remember that one winter, I spent a whole fortnight at the parsonage.
It was the longest time I had ever been away from home, and when I went
back, I was a little mortified that they did not make a great ado over
me, and that my brothers and sisters did not notice how much I had
grown.
During this visit, my good uncle used every evening at twilight, to set
me up on his shoulder, and walk slowly up and down the drawing-room.
I was light and slender, and sat very securely on his broad shoulder,
with one arm around his neck and the other clasping my kitten. It
was not a frolic--we were quite still and quiet. My uncle repeated
Scripture softly, and studied out his sermons, while I thought about
my home, and kitty purred. But we all enjoyed ourselves amazingly. On
Sundays, when I sat in the minister's pew, listening to my uncle's
solemn preaching, I felt a sort of pride in the sermon, as though I had
helped to make it,--which was very foolish certainly, as after all,
kitty had done quite as much as I toward it.
The parsonage was about five miles from our house, and my uncle and
aunt used to drive over to see us in an old-fashioned, two-wheeled
chaise, which they had brought with them all the way from Connecticut.
This vehicle, which I suppose was nothing extraordinary, seemed to me
then something almost awfully grand. It was varnished very bright, and
there was a good deal of brass about it, so whenever I saw it coming up
the street, flashing in the sunlight, it appeared to me like a splendid
golden chariot, fit for a king. Indeed, when, last summer, I saw the
gorgeous state-carriage of the Queen of England, I hardly thought it
as magnificent as that same old chaise of my uncle's had once seemed to
my childish eyes.
It was a great treat for me to be taken by my uncle and aunt, for a
little drive down the street, in this chaise, which rocked back and
forth so softly that I always wondered how they kept awake in it till
they got home. Perhaps they did not, but left everything to their
steady old white pacer,--and safely enough, for "sober Sam," as we
called him, always seemed to know that he was a minister's horse, and
behaved accordingly. On the day of the visit, when my aunt had made
the agreement with me in regard to the book, they let me go with them
further than usual, allowed me to hold the reins, and even to touch up
with the whip, the fat and lazy old pacer. So unused was he to such
treatment, that, I remember, he stopped short, and looked round to see
what was the matter.
I returned home through the bright sunset time, singing and
skipping--took my Testament at once and read until after eight o'clock;
only stopping to feed my kitten and put my dolls to bed.
From that time I daily and diligently studied my reading lessons in the
New Testament. I preferred the stories of the miracles, and Christ's
beautiful Sermon on the Mount, for practice--as the affecting part of
the Gospels made me cry so hard that I could not read correctly.
Many and many were the bright hours during that summer, when I stayed
in from play, that I might earn that new book. I denied myself frolics
with Fido, I neglected the domestic affairs of my play-house, and let
my dolls get shabby, all for the sake of my promised present.
At length, I found myself able to read whole chapters without making a
single mistake--and my mother encouraged me to believe that I should
certainly win the prize.
Finally, we heard that my aunt had returned from her visit to the east,
and early one afternoon, we had the happiness to see the old white
horse and chaise bringing my uncle and aunt up the road.
I, with the others, was very much delighted to welcome our visitors,
but on my own account, rather nervous and excited to think that my
trial was so near. Two or three times that afternoon, I stole out of
the room to glance over my Bible lesson. I hardly know whether I most
dreaded or longed to be called upon for my reading, and to have it over.
Soon after tea, my aunt sat down in a window seat, and called me to
her side. Without many words, I took my little Testament from my
pocket, opened at the fifth chapter of Matthew, and began reading very
glibly,--"_And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain,
and_"--
"Stop!" said my aunt, "you must not choose your own place to
read--it's my business to do that!"
She then took the book from me, and actually opened at the first
chapter. Now, my dear children, you remember, don't you, what this
first chapter of Matthew's Gospel is? It is made up almost entirely of
the hardest kind of Scripture names--many of which I should not like
to be called upon to read aloud, even now. I felt my heart sink at
once, and already mourned my book as lost. But I went to work quite
calmly--I conquered four or five of the first names, then I began
to stammer--then paused to spell them out in my mind--then stopped
altogether.
My aunt said "a-hem!" and looked at me over her spectacles, with a
queer, quizzical, "I've caught you!" sort of a look.
I dropped my head in shame and perplexity. My aunt sat still and stern,
and awfully silent. At length, I looked up through the long hair that
had fallen forward over my face, and said, as coaxingly as I knew how--
"You know, dear aunt, these are the names of great kings and
patriarchs--and it's not just proper to read them over fast--is it?"
"Ah, you naughty girl," she replied--"that is a foolish get-off--it
won't do. You cannot always expect to choose where and what you are to
read. A _good_ reader will be at home anywhere. It is plain you do not
deserve the book."
I was wretchedly disappointed and mortified; but I did not cry this
time. I was too indignant for that. I did not plead for the lost book.
I said nothing at all, but went out calmly enough to the gate, with the
rest, to see our visitors off.
This evening my aunt did not invite me to ride in the chaise, but took
my little brother Albert instead. I was sorry for this--not that I
would have gone, but I should have liked to have drawn myself up to
my full height, and to have said--"No, I thank you, Mrs. W----." She
kissed me, as usual, but I did not kiss her back--and I thought she
felt it. I fear that I did not kiss my uncle very affectionately,
though I knew he was not to blame.
I lounged about the gate for awhile, and made believe I felt very much
at my ease--then I went out into the garden and sat down behind some
lilac trees, and buried my face in my apron, and went off into a good
hearty cry. I also relieved my hot, angry heart, by talking to myself,
something in this petulant, passionate way:--"Oh dear, it's too, too
bad! such fun as I have given up to get ready for this reading--so
much good time wasted! It wasn't fair--it was right down mean in her
to set me at those long, hard, crooked names, that never ought to be
read--that never ought to have been made at all! She's mighty proud of
knowing so much Scripture--just as if a minister's wife could help it!
I don't love her--I'm glad she's gone--_I_ don't want to ride in her
old chaise!"
In the midst of this fit of passion and ill-humor, my pretty white
kitten came to me and rubbed against me coaxingly, purring very softly.
But I let her purr away, and took no notice of her. Fido came bounding
along, and, crouching down beside me, began rooting under my arm to get
at my face, and licked my hand and whined, till, I am ashamed to say, I
got out of patience, and gave him a smart slap on the jaws. He sprang
up indignantly, and went and laid himself down under a currant bush, to
pout. Then I hid my face in my apron again, and went on with my crying.
[Illustration]
All at once, I heard my little brother calling me, from the other
end of the garden. But I did not move--I did not answer him--but
only muttered to myself--"It's too bad; they won't leave me alone a
minute--they are all against me--I can't even _cry_ in peace." But soon
I heard his voice and his step coming nearer. Then he stood over me,
saying joyfully--
"Sister, sister, see here, what auntie sent back to you! She had it in
the chaise-box all the while!"
I looked up, and down into my lap was dropped _such_ a beautiful
book, with a bright red cover, and gilded leaves, and hosts of fine
pictures! I was half beside myself with joy. I jumped up so quick that
I overturned my brother, and trod on kitty's tail. I hastily begged
pardon of both, and then ran off to Fido, to make friends with him. But
a slap on the jaws was the one insult that he never would forgive in a
hurry. He put on a doubly injured air and sullenly refused to receive
my apology; though it was as handsome a one as I knew how to make.
I took him by the paw and told him how sorry I was for what I had
done--then I patted his head caressingly--but he turned over toward the
currant bush, and his tail never wagged an inch. So I left him to pout
it out, while I ran into the house to show my gift to mamma and the
rest.
They all thought it exceedingly pretty, and said that my aunt was very
good to give me so handsome a present, for so poor a performance. I
thought so too, and felt troubled in my conscience for not having
kissed her, when she went away. I forgave her for the fright she had
given me--but, I grieve to say, I had a sort of spite against those
good old kings and patriarchs for a long time after.
As soon as I grew sufficiently calm, I sat down and looked through
my book. It was a volume of Natural History, Travels, and Wonderful
Adventures. Oh! how plainly I remember to this day, every picture it
contained. There was one of an old Turk, sitting cross-legged, on a
carpet, smoking a great pipe, with such a long winding stem that I
wondered the smoke didn't get lost in it. There was a Chinaman, with
his hair braided in a long tail that nearly touched the ground--so
that if he should step backward suddenly, he might trip himself up.
And a Chinawoman, with such tiny little feet that if it had not been
for the name of the thing, she might as well have had no feet at all.
Then there was a picture of Noah and his family entering the ark--all
crowding in as though in a hurry to get out of the rain; and another
of a happy Arab family, sitting in their tent, with their horse in
the midst, which quite put me out of conceit with houses. Indeed, I
proposed to my brothers, to fasten a blanket upon hop-poles and camp
out that very night. They all said that it was a brave plan, the only
objection being that we had no warm sand to sleep on, and no kind,
gentle pony to keep us company--our old gray mare having a young
colt, and being always particularly cross at such times. Then there
were portraits of wonderful animals and serpents, the like of which
I had never seen; there was a boa-constrictor, winding himself round
and round a poor antelope, and squeezing him so tight that I almost
listened to hear the bones crack. There was a giraffe, stretching
his long neck up and out as though to look over the hills to see the
sun rise. There was a family of apes on a tree, enjoying themselves,
chattering and eating nuts, and swinging by their tails; and a kangaroo
mother running away from a tiger, and carrying her little ones in her
apron. There was an angry elephant tugging at the body of a great tree,
to get at a hunter who had wounded him. I remember how surprised I was
on inquiring for his trunk, to find that this was only the common name
of the great proboscis which he held before him, for I had been so
foolish as to suppose that he carried it on his back, or strapped on
behind him.
I treasured up this volume for years and years. I loved it all the
better for the grief I had suffered when I supposed I had lost it by my
poor reading, and though I have had hosts of handsomer and more costly
books since, I have never had one I prized half so highly as My
Aunt's Present.
A Curious Dog Story.