gOCKTON
 
 ROCKTON. 
 
 ft 
 
 nf Spring-time 
 
 BY KEL SNO\V, ESQ. 
 
 CINCINNATI : 
 JENNINGS AND PYE. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 EATON AND MAINS.
 
 Copyright 
 
 By CRANSTON & STOWE, 
 1891.
 
 To all those who read it, 
 and to all those he wishes would read it, 
 
 (JTIjis Booh is ^cbuafeb 
 
 MY 
 
 ITS AUTHOR. 
 
 1711957
 
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 .11 i n i 1 1 1 iii i.i i in ii i II i II i it I"T* i ii i ill iii rrrri i i i i i i V 
 --'---^ --------------------------''---*'---- -.-. --*-^-^-*-j- ------ i 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 AN UNEXPECTED DIVE, 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE QUARTET APPEARS, 26 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 A SOMEWHAT QUEER MAN, 47 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 A TRAMP TO TRAMPS' ROOST, .... 
 
 68 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 BUILDING A RUSTIC BRIDGE 91 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BI.OOM, no 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A VERY RAINY SPELL, 136 
 
 5 
 i
 
 6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 MORE SUNSHINE AND FUN, . 159 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 MORE FUN AND SOME HORSE SENSE, 178 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 SOMETHING BETWEEN WHILES, 192 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 THAT THURSDAY THE START, 208 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 THE GREAT SECRET OUT 222 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 THEY WERE COOKS An,, 241 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 SOME BIG GAME BAGGED, 253 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 THE EVER-MEMORABLE DAY WINDS UP, 265 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 A DAY AND ANOTHER DAY AFTER, . 276
 
 ROCKTON, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 AN UNEXPECTED DIVE. 
 
 'PLASH! SPLASH!! 
 
 A little splash, instantly fol- 
 lowed by the big splash. 
 
 " Wow !" squeaked a voice, in a 
 droll tone of dismay, out of the 
 middle of the capitalized splash. 
 " Con junctions !" it went on, changing to a 
 pugnacious growl. "Just let me catch that 
 chap!" 
 
 Then a boy, standing above his knees in the 
 water of a bit of a pond, began wading towards 
 the shore, looking around sharply, all the while to 
 sec if his mishap had any spectators. Appar- 
 ently no living thing was near, except a cat- 
 bird, that was flitting among some alders, and 
 
 7
 
 8 ROCKTON. 
 
 uttering a flat squawk at almost every jerk of 
 its jaunty, mouse-colored body. 
 
 All this, including even the big splash, was 
 but a Lilliputian tumult in this big world of 
 ours; yet, after the nature of small things, it 
 had in it the beginnings to several boys of what 
 appeared to be "tall times," and which they 
 allowed afforded them "no end of fun." 
 
 It was the afternoon of one of those warm 
 days which sometimes gladden New England in 
 the latter part of April, and which fill a boy's 
 heart with unbounded delight. Rockton was 
 getting the full benefit of it, as it lay stretched 
 below and around a long, rocky ridge, looking 
 for all the world like the lazy body of a gigan- 
 tic tramp basking in the sunshine. Out at the 
 east was a cluster of houses answering well for 
 the head of this imaginary Gulliver. Nearer, 
 and under the ridge, the long, business portion 
 of this great town formed his enormous body, 
 with a broad street shooting out to the south for 
 a left arm, while another, running in the oppo- 
 site direction, wound like a bent right arm around 
 the east end of the ridge to Northville village. 
 To complete the illusion, for his legs there were 
 two closely built and slightly diverging streets, 
 pushed out from the body of the main village 
 through the valley to the west. 
 
 The rocky ridge north of the central village
 
 AN UNEXPECTED DIVE. 9 
 
 is a long, high swell of land, not very abrupt 
 in some portions. Having been used for the 
 grazing of cattle in earlier years, it has always 
 been known as Pond Pasture ; the first half of 
 the name being due to the existence of a spring 
 of very fair water, in a hollow under the cliff- 
 like south face of its ledgy crest, which little 
 fountain, re-enforced by the melting snows and 
 copious rains of March and April, is at that sea- 
 son broadened into a shallow pond at least one 
 hundred feet long and fully half as wide. 
 
 The afternoon this story opens, Pond Pasture 
 was not a pasture at all ; for the street, which 
 has the whimsical appearance of the right arm 
 of the reclining Rockton giant, having stretched 
 around the ridge to its north slope, has grown 
 into the enormous open hand of Northville, with 
 twice as many streets as there were overgrown 
 fingers on the hand of the son of Goliath of 
 Gath. Besides, dwelling-houses have crept up 
 and stuck themselves in all sorts of ways on the 
 north slope, almost to the top. What is left was 
 a fair pasture in a wet season, but has become 
 only a big, rough common, waiting to be cut up 
 into house-lots. 
 
 When the boy who made the big splash was 
 wading out of the not very clear pond, he had 
 reason to think no person was in sight. Reason, 
 however, is frequently at fault, especially when
 
 10 ROCKTON. 
 
 it does not make allowance for unknown facts. 
 If this boy could have looked through the 
 ledge at the top of the ridge, where it is tilted 
 and broken into fantastic shapes, he would have 
 discovered a very observant fact, and, this too, 
 within easy range of his aquatic mishap. 
 
 For more than an hour there had been a 
 man sitting on the north side of the ledge, in a 
 nook which, while it sheltered him from the 
 southerly wind, at the same time allowed him 
 the full benefit of the early afternoon sunshine. 
 By bending forward he could look into the hollow 
 which holds the little pond. He had been di- 
 viding his time between his newspaper and the 
 view from his outlook, until his ear caught the 
 sound of a voice. "All aboard for Brazil!" it 
 shouted. 
 
 Peeping through a ragged crack in the ledge 
 against which he was leaning, he saw a boy, 
 who, having brought together from somewhere, 
 a number of boards and pieces of timber, had 
 made himself a raft, and, having with a rash- 
 ness too common in boys, stripped off his shoes 
 and stockings, was teaching himself a lesson in 
 navigation. He evidently had given the names 
 of different countries to various points on the 
 shore, and was industriously poling his unwieldy 
 craft from one to another across his mimic ocean. 
 Just as he was midway in a voyage from Brazil
 
 AN UNEXPECTED DIVE. n 
 
 to Africa, another boy, who had skulked over 
 from one of the irregularly placed houses, and was 
 watching him from behind a part of the ledge, 
 picked up a stone, threw it, waited an instant 
 to see the result, and then scuttled away as fast 
 as his legs could carry him. 
 
 This stone made splash number one within 
 a few feet of where the African voyager was 
 pushing hard with his pole, causing him, as a 
 matter of course, to tumble overboard, and make 
 splash number two. 
 
 When he got fairly ashore, and had picked 
 up his shoes and stockings, he muttered : " I '11 
 bet Jim Mears did it. I '11 fix him, see 'f I 
 don't." Then he scrambled round a point in 
 the ledge, and stood staring sheepishly into the 
 laughing, hazel eyes of the man who had been 
 watching him, and who said: 
 
 " Come here, Edward, out of the wind, and 
 dry off in this hot sun." 
 
 Doubtless some boys would have " cut and 
 run ;" but this sturdy lad, if he had been sur- 
 prised into a cold bath by the splash of a stone, 
 was no coward. Besides, what was there to be 
 ashamed of? What he did do was first to laugh 
 a good, hearty, boyish laugh, that tilted up his 
 rather puggish nose, and opened wide a very 
 sizable mouth, well filled with strong, white 
 teeth and then he sat down in the sun as he
 
 12 ROCKTON. 
 
 had been bidden. Anybody looking at him 
 would know that he was nobody's bad boy. He 
 was about a dozen years old, and, as stoutish 
 boys sometimes do, looked a little as if he had 
 been stuffed into his clothes. His hair, though 
 short-cropped, seemed inclined to curl, and his 
 broad, good-humored face was well sprinkled 
 with freckles, and lighted up by a pair of honest 
 and fun-full blue eyes. He busied himself for a 
 bit in wringing the water out of the bottoms of 
 of his short trousers, and then asked : 
 
 "How long, Mr. Armour, have you been 
 here ?" 
 
 " O, long enough for you to make a voyage 
 to Brazil and half-way from there to Africa," 
 was the reply. " You made me think of a 
 friend of mine a very good and witty man 
 who made a voyage to Africa. He was seasick 
 nearly all the time, and when he was out in 
 mid-ocean wrote me a letter in which he con- 
 gratulated himself that he was only three or 
 four miles from land.'* 
 
 " O my !" said Edward, " he must have been 
 awfully sick not to know that Africa is n't farther 
 away than that." 
 
 "How far away is it?" asked Mr. Armour. 
 
 "O, it is a big, big way off. I read some- 
 thing about Stanley and the Congo River in a 
 paper, and I got father's big Johnson's Atlas,
 
 AN UNEXPECTED DIVE. 13 
 
 and Sarah measured it for me, and she said it 
 must be 'most six thousand miles from New 
 York to the mouth of the Congo." 
 
 "No doubt Sarah was right," said Mr. Ar- 
 mour ; "but how far were you from the shore 
 when you stepped off your raft?" 
 
 The fact that his father is a master mechanic 
 and has built many houses in Rockton may have 
 helped the lad, for he answered quite correctly. 
 
 " I guess about twenty-five feet." 
 
 " And I reckon by the looks of your pants 
 that you found land by going about twenty-five 
 inches. My friend didn't say how far he was 
 from Africa, but how far he would probably 
 have to go to find land." 
 
 " It would have been mighty wet when he 
 got to it," commented Edward. 
 
 "Exactly, "said Mr. Armour. "You found it 
 so when you got to it." 
 
 During this conversation the boy who had 
 played the part of a catapult and then run 
 away, had ventured out of his hiding-place, and 
 was standing in the yard before the house. 
 
 "Hello! Chumpy!" he shouted; "what's the 
 matter?" 
 
 Edward jumped up and shouted back: 
 "Con junctions!" and got no farther, for 
 Mr. Armour broke in with a " ha ! ha!" which 
 was full warrant for the strength of his lungs,
 
 !4 ROCKTON. 
 
 and reaching out he pulled the boy back to his 
 seat, and said: " Young man where did you pick 
 up this new expletive?" 
 
 Edward grew rosy, but he answered stoutly : 
 
 " Sarah says I have got an awful bad habit 
 of using slang, and what she says are half-swear 
 words. So she has been trying to break 
 me of it." 
 
 "Nice girl," put in Mr. Armour. "I like 
 her very much." 
 
 "Yes, she is as nice as any boy's sister. 
 She 's kept at me till I have left off most of the 
 words she does n't like. I'm a little peppery, 
 'cos my hair is 'most red, I s'pose. When a 
 chap gets started kind'er quick, you know, ' con- 
 found it ' is the handiest thing he can say." 
 
 "I know all about it," said Mr. Armour, " for 
 it was a trick of mine when a boy, and I did n't 
 have a sister to help me break myself of it, so 
 I had a tough job. How does it happen that 
 you spout con junctions?" 
 
 "That's just it," answered Edward. "I 
 told Sarah that ' confound it ' would come out 
 in spite of everything. She told me that for 
 awhile I had better try to put something else in 
 the place of it, and O ! Mr. Armour, when 
 you were a boy, did n't you hate grammar?" 
 
 The tall man's hazel eyes seemed to be look- 
 ing backwards through the years. He drew a
 
 -/f-V UNEXPECTED Dll'E. 15 
 
 long, deep breath, and then answered in a low, 
 kind voice: 
 
 "To be frank, I think grammar was the 
 study I understood the least, and disliked the 
 most." 
 
 " That's just me," said Edward, as he put on 
 a comically doleful look. "I don't understand 
 the stuff one bit. I keep forgetting faster than 
 I learn. Sarah had the awfulest time to get 
 me to remember the parts of speech. I got 
 them 'most all, but I stuck on conjunctions. I 
 kept forgetting this so fast, I never should have 
 remembered if she had n't made me take the 
 word to say in place of 'confound it.' It tjckled 
 me when I first tried it ; it sounded so funny. 
 I guess that was what helped me to remember 
 it. Anyhow when I got started with con 
 junctions came up real easy. So I've got rid of 
 confound it, and have got hold of all the parts 
 of speech." 
 
 "Chumpy! Chumpy!" piped out the boy in 
 the yard, "may I come over?" 
 
 "Isn't this a new name for you, Edward?" 
 asked Mr. Armour. 
 
 " It's what most of the boys call me," he an- 
 swered, and then explained : 
 
 " When I was in Miss Barber's division, she 
 gave the boys words and had them hunt up def- 
 initions at home, and then called us out on the
 
 1 6 ROCKTON, 
 
 floor to give 'em. One day my word was 
 'chump.' I looked it up in the big dictionary, 
 and thought I had it all right, and was going to 
 answer : ' A short, thick, heavy piece of wood.' 
 There was a big, woolly caterpillar crawling up 
 on Miss Barber's shoulder. I was tickling all 
 over inside thinking how she would jump an' 
 scream as soon as it touched her neck. When 
 she said: 'Edward Holt, define chump.' I was 
 all flustered, and blundered out, 'Chump A 
 short thick, heavy boy.' Then they screamed, 
 Miss Barber and all ; and she sent me to my 
 seat. Ever since they've called me ' Chtimpy.' " 
 
 " I 've known greater misfits in the real 
 names of people," said Mr. Armour, as he laid 
 his hand on Edward's plump shoulder. " I 've 
 had many a hearty laugh over them." 
 
 "Are there any in Rockton?" asked Edward. 
 
 " I never was in a place where there were 
 not," was the reply. " Down at the corner of 
 Bridge and Mill Streets is a liquor-saloon. The 
 man's name who keeps it is Trueworthy." 
 
 "That's so," put in Edward, "and I read in 
 the Rockton Argus that a fellow they call Tru- 
 man was sent to jail for stealing." 
 
 " Good men, too, have misfit names," con- 
 tinued Mr. Armour. "Who keeps the dry-goods 
 store down by Northville church ?" 
 
 " Why, Jabez Long, and he's just the pudgiest,
 
 Ax UNEXPECTED DIVE. 17 
 
 shortest man in town. But, O my! ain't lie just 
 good to us boys? and don't \ve all like him?" 
 
 "You are right, my boy," said Mr. Armour. 
 " He is a clear-headed, big-hearted Christian man, 
 happy as a king all the time, and doing his best 
 to make everybody good and happy. There is 
 another good man who runs the barber-shop just 
 beyond Mr. Long's. He is a black man, and his 
 name is White. He is an upright man. He 
 won't open his shop, and he will go to church on 
 the Lord's-day, if all Northville goes down town 
 to shave. He is one of the whitest men I know. 
 So his name is no misfit." 
 
 Just here " Chumpy " doubled up as much 
 as his short, thick body would allow, and laughed 
 until every seam in his jacket was put to a strain 
 that threatened work for Sarah. At length he 
 panted out : 
 
 " O, Mr. Armour, have you seen the man 
 who drives the red butcher's-cart ? He 's the 
 tallest, lankiest chap that ever was. They say 
 he is 'mostseven feet high, and he looks as though 
 he never ate a bit of meat in his life! Father 
 says that if he could hire half a dozen carpen- 
 ters as tall as he is, he could get rich, for he 
 would n't have to build any staging when he 
 puts up houses. 
 
 Mr. Armour joined in the laugh, for the boy's 
 description was hardly overdrawn. The man
 
 1 3 ROCKTON. 
 
 was very thin, and surprisingly tall. When 
 he stood at the tail of his cart to wait on cus- 
 tomers, his hat towered above its canvas top, 
 and when he got into the front to ride, he ap- 
 peared to draw himself in, and coil his long 
 body away. 
 
 "Do you know his name?" asked Edward. 
 Mr. Armour shook his head, and he continued: 
 "Why, it's Short! His other name is Robert, 
 and so most people call him ' Bob Short.' The 
 boys call him 'Bobbed Short.' " 
 
 "It is droll," said Mr. Armour; "but we must 
 be careful and not make sport of people's pecu- 
 liarities or infirmities. I like fun I judge 
 some think I like it too well but I do n't like 
 all kinds of fun. I must have mine of the clean, 
 jolly, health-giving kind, that helps one to be 
 brave and true to duty, and loving to others. To 
 change the subject, what is this little fellow's 
 name who has been shouting to you until he 
 has got tired of it, and is now sitting on the 
 front steps looking more dejected than you did 
 when you waded out of the pond?" 
 
 " That 's Tim Mears we call him Chippy." 
 
 "Did Miss Barber tell him to define 'Chip,' 
 and instead of answering ' a small piece,' did he 
 say, ' a small boy?'" 
 
 " No, " replied Edward, " I 'm the only boy 
 round here that 's got what Sarah says is a
 
 AN UNEXPECTED DIVE. 19 
 
 lit'rary handle to my name. When Jim Mears 
 was littler than he is now, some of the boys found 
 him in his back-yard crying because his mother 
 had sent him out to pick up a big lot of chips 
 when he wanted to play. The boys took hold 
 and helped him, and now they 'most always call 
 him 'Chippy.'" ' 
 
 " Well, he does n't appear very chipper just 
 now," said Mr. Armour. "Why does n't he come 
 over with us if he wants to? Is he afraid of me?" 
 
 " I s'pose he 's afraid I '11 pull his ears," was 
 the somewhat indirect answer. 
 
 " Pull his ears ! What for?" questioned Mr. 
 Armour. Without waiting for an answer he 
 went on : " You ought not to hurt him for a bit 
 of a practical joke that taught you how much 
 nearer you were to land than you thought. I- 
 do n't think tricks of any sort are the brighest 
 kind of sport; but if yon play off jokes on others, 
 you ought to expect they will pay you in kind. 
 I reckon you have played many a prank to tease 
 Chippy." 
 
 Edward indulged in another " chunky " 
 laugh, and said : 
 
 " I guess I have. He sits in the seat in 
 front of mine. T'other day he was studying 
 his geography lesson like all possessed, for it 
 was 'most time to recite. He 's always leaving 
 his things round anywhere. His slate was on
 
 20 ROCKTON. 
 
 the floor and I just made a slip-noose in the long 
 string there was on it, and hitched it to his 
 jacket. Just as I got it hitched, his class was 
 called, and he started, and the slate started too. 
 It whacked his heels and made him give a big 
 jump, and that made it whack the desks. My! 
 wasn't there a big clatter? and didn't I expect 
 to catch it ? But just as he turned round to see 
 what was after him the noose slipped off, and 
 Miss Barber said : ' Master Mears, I wish you 
 would learn to leave your seat properly and not 
 disturb the school by knocking things around in 
 such a heedless way.' My! I just hugged my- 
 self to think how slick I'd got out of the mess." 
 
 "Of course Jim pulled your ears well for 
 the trick the first time he caught you out of 
 school," said Mr. Armour. 
 
 "He didn't dare to try that sort of job," 
 Edward replied. 
 
 " Look here, young man," said Mr. Armour, 
 "I took you to be made of the right sort of 
 stuff. I shall have to treat you to a lecture. 
 The meanest thing in boy or man is meanness. 
 You play a trick on a school-mate because he 
 is n't stout enough to punish you for it ; and 
 then when he pays you off by another trick, you 
 turn round and flog him because you are the 
 biggest. Honor bright, now! Do you call it 
 generous or manly?"
 
 AN UNEXPECTED DIVE. 21 
 
 "N-no," answered the boy. He did not 
 laugh. Sarah, had she been there, would have 
 felt no fear of extra work from the bursting of 
 the seams of his jacket. 
 
 The bright hazel eyes of Mr. Armour 
 watched the sober face of the lad for a few 
 moments; then he broke the silence: 
 
 " There are kinds of fun a long way ahead 
 of practical joking, and I believe in going for 
 the best of every thing. Remember this: If you 
 are willing to give, you ought to be at the least 
 equally willing to take. Now, my young friend, 
 iny lecture is done. Suppose you invite that 
 other joker over, shake hands, and call it square." 
 
 There was nothing pugnacious in the voice 
 that shouted : 
 
 " Hello, Chippy ! Come over, won't you ?" 
 
 Chippy was off the steps, through the gate 
 and across the field "in a jiffy." 
 
 Mr. Armour took him kindly by the hand, 
 and Edward also offered his chubby hand, 
 and said: 
 
 " All right, old man ; I guess my ducking 
 about pays for that slate racket." 
 
 When Edward had put his stout legs into 
 his stockings and laced up his shoes, the three 
 stood talking together ; and looking down upon 
 the little pond, Mr. Armour said : 
 
 " When Edward went overboard in such a
 
 22 ROCKTON. 
 
 hurry, and I saw him paddling like a duck for 
 the shore, I thought of a story I heard when 
 a boy." 
 
 Seeing the boys evidently expected the story, 
 he went on : 
 
 "A great, overgrown, awkward chap from 
 away back somewhere, went to one of our big 
 sea-ports, to see the ships and find out what he 
 could about the sea. He had an immense long- 
 ing to be a sailor, but had just as immense a fear 
 of being hurt. He was so big, and appeared to 
 be so strong, that several captains tried to in- 
 duce him to ship for a voyage. But he did n't 
 like the idea of being far from land, and dreaded 
 great storms. At length one captain told him 
 that he intended every night to anchor so near 
 the shore that he could sleep on the land if he 
 preferred to, and that all the time he would 
 keep so near the laud that, if there should be a 
 very hard storm, he could wade ashore. The 
 bait took. He signed as a green hand, and went 
 on board the ship. Qf course the captain put 
 straight out to sea. All was bright and smooth, 
 and the first night he was told there was no use 
 running round the shore when the weather was 
 so fine. When they got well out of sight of 
 land, a big storm came down, and it became very 
 rough. The greenhorn was not only scared, but 
 seasick. He went below, and would n't show
 
 AN UNEXPECTED Dll'E. 23 
 
 his head above the hatchway. The mate tried 
 to drive him on deck, but failed. Then the 
 captain went "below, and found the fellow bellow- 
 ing like a calf. He tried to reason with him, 
 and make him understand that he was in no 
 danger. Greeny wouldn't be pacified, and flung 
 in the captain's face his promise that he would 
 not go so far away from land that he could not 
 wade ashore. On this the captain told him 
 there was nothing under the heavens to prevent 
 his wading ashore if he wished to. 'All youv'e 
 got to do,' he said, ' is to go on deck and start 
 for the shore.' This was too much for the poor, 
 scared, seasick fellow, and he started up and 
 blubbered : ' Y-yoti plaguey old fool ! Do 
 you suppose I'm ten miles tall ?' " 
 
 " I'd like to go to sea," said Chippy, after 
 his laugh at the story was over. 
 
 " Pray tell us what for?" asked Mr. Armour. 
 
 "O, for fun," was the reply. 
 
 " Just what I expected you to say," said his 
 questioner. " Now, boys, just pack this away 
 in your noddles so you will never forget 
 it. If you do anything just for fun, you will 
 be disappointed every time. Now, Edward, tell 
 what set you to paddling round on that pond ?" 
 
 Ivhvard looked up into the tall man's eyes. 
 Some-thing he saw there gave him a feeling of 
 confidence, and he answered : " I wanted to go
 
 24 ROCKTON. 
 
 into the woods this afternoon, but mother said 
 she might want me at home, and I came out here 
 to play where I could hear the bell which Sarah 
 said she would ring when mother was ready to 
 send me on an errand. I called that place there 
 a cave and played hunter for a while, and then I 
 thought I'd make a ship and be a sailor, and I 
 tried to remember the names of the countries we 
 study about " 
 
 "Tiiig-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling!" broke in the 
 bell, stopping the boy short in the middle of a 
 sentence. 
 
 Mr. Armour took each lad by the shoulder 
 and turned him around till he faced to the north. 
 Then he said: 
 
 " Look all around. As far as you can see 
 are hills and woods. What a splendid country 
 to tramp over! I am a genuine tramp, and I 
 like some kinds of boys. How would it do for 
 you two, and perhaps some more, to join me in 
 a few excursions?" 
 
 " Can 't we go next Wednesday ?" asked the 
 instantly excited Chumpy. 
 
 "Please let's go next Wednesday ?" echoed 
 Chippy. 
 
 " I think we won't go so soon," replied Mr. 
 Armour. " I am a bit like John Wesley who said : 
 ' I am always in haste, but nevei in a hurry.' 
 If you two will meet me here Wednesday after-
 
 AN UNEXPECTED DIVE. 25 
 
 noon at half-past one, provided your parents are 
 willing, you may each bring another honest, 
 jolly, stout boy, as old or even older than your- 
 selves, and we will talk things over then, and 
 see what will come of it. I am afraid that bell 
 will ring again. Now scamper." 
 
 And away they scampered. Shortly after, 
 Mr. Armour walked slowly down into North ville. 
 
 3
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE QUARTET APPEARS. 
 
 - ,.'"' "* 
 
 TV7 EARLY every Church in Rockton has a 
 -^ > clock on its tower. As Northville thinks 
 itself the very finest portion of the town, 
 as a matter of course, it regulates its high- 
 toned daily routine by a clock in the tower 
 A. of the spick-span new church, which is its 
 latest pride. Many church clocks are like the 
 famous time-keeper that Mr. Gough used to tell 
 about to his audiences, of which the owner af- 
 firmed : " When the hands point to a quarter 
 past two it strikes nine, and then I know it is 
 just twenty- seven minutes past five." It de- 
 serves to be here recorded that Northville is 
 justly proud of its clock, for it is reliable. 
 
 Hardly had the last stroke died away with 
 which it proclaimed the noon of Wednesday, 
 when there came the sound of many feet from 
 within the great square school -house on the 
 
 next street. Immediately a stream of young life 
 26
 
 THE QUARTET APPEARS. 27 
 
 poured out of its wide door-way, and overflowed 
 its ample play-ground. 
 
 Almost the first boy out was James Mears. 
 He posted himself just at the edge of the noisy 
 current, and waited for Edward Holt, when the 
 two held an earnest consultation. As parties 
 of boys started dinnerward, there were calls: 
 "Come on, Chumpy !" and " Hurry up, Chippy !" 
 but without success. As a laggard came through 
 the door, James said : " There comes Bun. 
 I'll freeze to him !" This Arctic purpose he 
 proceeded to execute by seizing a boy fast by the 
 arm. Meanwhile Miss Barber was coming down 
 the steps with a tall, quiet-mannered, fine-faced 
 boy beside her, who appeared to be some thirteen 
 years old, or thereabouts. Edward said : 
 
 " Come along, Dolly Grant. We want to 
 talk with you. Something's up." 
 
 And then these four boys walked up the 
 street, James and Edward explaining something 
 to their mates with great volubility. It could 
 not have been much past one when Edward 
 Holt made his appearance on the ledge in Pond 
 Pasture, where almost immediately he was joined 
 by James Mears, who, out of breath with run- 
 ning, panted : 
 
 " M-my but didn't I almost miss it?" 
 
 " What got in your way ?" Edward asked. 
 
 "Why, I just got in my own way," answered
 
 28 ROCKTON. 
 
 James. " I 'm awful careless, mother says. I 'm 
 'fraid it's true. I was in such a big hurry to get 
 my dinner that when I went into the house I 
 did n't see baby. He had pulled himself up be- 
 side a chair. I blundered against it, and over 
 he went with a squall loud enough to scare a 
 fellow out of a year's growth. 'Course I did n't 
 mean to hurt him. Mother, she just scolded, 
 and said if she did her duty she would have to 
 keep me in the whole afternoon. Crackey ! that 
 just scared me worse than baby's yelling. But I 
 got her to let me hold the youngster, and in a little 
 while I rocked him to sleep. Then mother put 
 him in his crib, and told me to eat my dinner. 
 Did n't I hurry ! When I was done, she told 
 me I might come over and see Mr. Armour, but 
 must come back when he was done with me." 
 " I was in a hurry for my dinner, too," said 
 Edward. " Father had some work to look after 
 down town that made him late, and I was 
 'fraid I 'd miss it. After he asked the blessing, 
 
 o " 
 
 I stuffed as fast as I could. They all laughed 
 at me. Sarah said I was an illustration of the 
 theory of ev everlution, and was only partly 
 everluted from an Anerconder, for I was swallow- 
 ing my food whole. Father said I was like Mrs. 
 Partington's Ike, and had a great verloserty of 
 appetite. Mother said she was glad I was
 
 THE QUARTET APPEARS. 29 
 
 going to see Mr. Armour ; but if I choked myself 
 eating, I would miss the fun." 
 
 The boys congratulated each other on their 
 mutual escape, the one from suffocation, the 
 other from merited punishment. They watched 
 for Mr. Armour's coining, and grew impatient 
 as they watched. They speculated as to possi- 
 ble causes which might detain him altogether. 
 Then they wondered if he might not be down 
 town, and so come from that direction. As they 
 stood looking down the south slope debating 
 this possibility, the subject of their anxiety came 
 with swift, strong steps out of the growth 
 of birches that still fringed the east part of the 
 ridge. The new, green carpet of grass gave no 
 sound of his approach, and the boys, still look- 
 ing towuward, started with surprise as he said : 
 " Well, my young friends, are you planning for 
 a joint voyage to Africa?" 
 
 " No," answered Edward, " but we were 
 afraid you would n't come it 's so late." 
 
 Mr. Armour laughed as he pulled out his 
 watch. 
 
 "How much late do you think I am?" he 
 asked. 
 
 Neither boy was able to tell him just how 
 much he was behindhand, but each affirmed 
 that it was so much as to cause the fear of his
 
 30 ROCKTON. 
 
 continued absence. They were then asked the 
 time set for the meeting, and both gave it 
 correctly as half past one. Looking at tfie 
 watch he held in his hand, Mr. Armour said : 
 
 "It is now twenty-two minutes past one. 
 You must have taken an early start. It is bet- 
 ter to be too early than too late; but it is n't well 
 to waste time by being 'too precipitate,' as my 
 grandmother used to say. Remember another 
 thing : Time spent in waiting generally drags 
 heavily. I have passed time in waiting when 
 fifteen minutes seemed longer than an hour 
 ordinarily. Always be prompt to meet an en- 
 gagement, then you won't have to wait your- 
 selves or keep any one else waiting. But where 
 are the other boys I told you to bring? Per- 
 haps they are not as eager as you are; or 
 may be you didn't find any who wished to 
 come." 
 
 James made haste to say that he had the 
 promise of Bun Strong to be on hand, and 
 Edward claimed to have been equally successful 
 with Dolly Grant. Mr. Armour inquired as te 
 the origin of these names, and was told that 
 Benjamin Strong liked buns, and was inclined, 
 when he had pennies, to invest them in this 
 kind of eatable ; hence the name. Young Grant, 
 he was informed was a nice-looking, well dressed 
 chap, when he first came to school, and wore
 
 THE QUARTET APPEARS. 31 
 
 his hair in "girl's curls." Right away, as a 
 matter of course, he was dubbed "Dolly," and 
 as his name was Adolphus, naturally enough he 
 was Dolly still. Mr. Armour pointed to the 
 clock on the Northville Church, and said : 
 
 "It is time for your mates to be in sight." 
 
 Instantly the two boys beside him looked at 
 each other sheepishly, and their looks said : 
 "What fools we are! We might have watched 
 the clock and known the time ourselves." 
 
 A sharp "Hullo" at their right caused 
 James to squeal with delight: 
 
 "Here they come!" 
 
 Out of the same birches that had sheltered 
 the approach of Mr. Armour, trotted young 
 Grant and Strong. Mr. Armour shook hands 
 cordially with each, but their impatient mates 
 chaffed them for being late. 
 
 DoHy good humoredly pointed to the clock 
 and said : 
 
 "Edward told me. to be here at half-past one 
 sharp! Ain't we here on time, Mr. Armour?" 
 
 "Right on the dot, my boy," was the reply. 
 "And now we are all here, we will just get into 
 my favorite nook for a little chat." 
 
 It was a lovely afternoon. The skies were 
 cloudless, the air balmy, and the grassy slopes 
 grateful to the eye in the velvety green of 
 spring. The season was unusually early. Trees
 
 32 ROCKTON. 
 
 and shrubs were already clothed with light 
 foliage and musical with the songs of birds. 
 Benjamin Strong evidently had a good ear for 
 music. He wanted all to listen and count the 
 different birds whose notes they could hear. 
 James expressed wonder that birds were able to 
 find their way south in winter, and come back 
 at the right time in spring. 
 
 Adolphus, in his quiet way, suggested that 
 perhaps they did not all go away in winter ; 
 whereupon Edward poohed at him and told him 
 that there was 'nt a bird to be seen in winter 
 "'cept crows." But Adolphus stood to his guns 
 without flinching, and told them that his father 
 had seen lots of birds when he had been out in 
 the swamps in the winter. This caused a general 
 appeal to Mr. Armour. 
 
 He pointed to a robin, that had just alighted 
 on a solitary cedar about one hundred yards 
 away, and said : 
 
 "See that little fellow. If there should come 
 a cold snap and freeze the ground, he might 
 find it hard picking. However, he knows how 
 to get hi r 'iving. We call birds of this kind 
 robins, but they are thrushes. They are soft- 
 billed birds." 
 
 Here Edward struck in for an explanation. 
 
 "Soft-billed birds are not intended to eat 
 seeds and other hard substances that have to be
 
 THE QUARTET APPEARS. 33 
 
 hulled or in any way broken before they are 
 swallowed. Boys did you ever see a hen's 
 teeth?" 
 
 "They haven't got any" cackled Edward. 
 "I came into the house one day when there 
 was company and went to tumbling things 
 'round to find niy ball. Sarah had me out in 
 the hall in a jiffy, and told me that she believed 
 gentlemanly boys were about as scarce as hen's 
 teeth. I went out in the stable and caught one 
 of our old biddies, and she had n't a tooth in 
 her head. I thought p'r'aps she 'd lost 'em 
 'cause she was old ; so I caught a pullet, but 
 she was just as bad off." 
 
 All laughed heartily at the boy's lesson in 
 natural history, and Mr. Armour advised him as 
 often as he saw a hen, at least to think about 
 good manners. He then continued his remarks 
 about birds. 
 
 "Hen's teeth, you see, are really in the crop 
 or craw. Gravel and other hard and sharp 
 substances serve to grind up food. The hard- 
 billed bird cracks his seeds before he swallows 
 them. Soft-billed birds eat worms, grubs, 
 insects, and their eggs ; besides they eat fruits. 
 This is for general diet. All birds, more or less, 
 I think, eat worms, insects, and fruits. Some 
 hard billed-birds go south. The bobolinks are 
 the famous rice-birds some people think such
 
 34 ROCKTON. 
 
 nice eating. I am told that nowadays they 
 shoot large numbers of the English sparrows, 
 and serve them in restaurants for genuine rice- 
 birds. I was taught when a boy that all our 
 song-birds went south in winter, but it is a 
 mistake. That robin that you scared away 
 when you laughed at Edward may not have 
 been farther south than some part of Connecticut, 
 or New Jersey at the farthest. Goldfinches and 
 linnets are said to go into the thickets, where 
 they are well sheltered." 
 
 Here young Strong, who had been listening 
 with mouth wide open, asked : 
 
 "What do they get to eat?" 
 
 "Trust Bun to think "of eatables," chipped 
 in Chippy. 
 
 "Well," continued Mr. Armour, "it is quite 
 a matter to think of. Bird or boy can't get along 
 a great while without food. So the great 
 Father kindly cares for all. Thistle-heads, 
 grasses, the various kinds of golden-rod, and 
 hundreds of plants I can't think of or don't 
 know the names of, are full of seeds. These 
 are food for the birds, and when the snow 
 covers the ground they know enough to 
 fly straight to Dame Nature's cupboards, 
 just as a hungry boy goes to his mother's 
 clipboard." 
 
 " If they do get enough to eat, I should think
 
 THE QUARTET APPEARS. 35 
 
 they would freeze to death," was the comment 
 of Edward. 
 
 To this Mr. Armour replied : 
 
 "You can judge whether they are likely to 
 freeze by what you know. The sparrows stand 
 our roughest winters without going into the 
 swamps. Perhaps it is because they are noisy, 
 pugnacious pests, that they do n't freeze. I 
 have known them to roost behind rny blinds on 
 the iron fastenings when the mercury was ten 
 degrees below zero, and they came out in the 
 morning as lively and impudent as ever. Par- 
 tridges find shelter in the deep snow when it is 
 very cold. What they do when we have an open 
 winter I do n't know. I think they are not 
 badly off. I have been in very thick woods, in 
 valleys and on sheltered hill-sides, when a 
 regular blizzard was blowing outside, and found 
 these spots still and quite warm. Anyway, the 
 birds do n't freeze ; for in some of the tramps I 
 hope we may enjoy together, we will be sure to 
 see large numbers of them." 
 
 This reference to tramps set the boys to 
 talking excitedly at least all but young Grant. 
 Evidently he was more mature and better in- 
 formed than the others, though he joined with 
 them in hearty good fellowship. 
 
 James wished they could all start for Africa at 
 once. When Mr. Armour asked him what he
 
 36 'ROCKTON. 
 
 thought he could find there to interest him, he 
 replied : 
 
 "O, lions, tigers, elephants, rhinoceroses, 
 hipperpottermuses, and crokerdiles." 
 
 "You think there would be big fun in finding 
 all these, do you ?" 
 
 '"Course I do," and his black eyes snapped 
 and shone. 
 
 "What fun would there be if a lion, tiger, or 
 an elephant should chase you ?" 
 
 "I'd shoot him." This very courageously, 
 and a look as if he wished the biggest possible 
 elephant was just then coming towards him. 
 
 Mr. Armour laughed in a queer way that 
 generally set others to laughing, and said : 
 
 "If I am not mistaken, last Saturday after- 
 noon I saw a chap about the size of James Hears 
 running away from this very spot, for fear he 
 would be hurt. But perhaps he saw something 
 bigger than an elephant." 
 
 The bluster went out of the little fellow so 
 completely, and he shrank into such a dejected- 
 looking boy, that Mr. Armour hushed Edward 
 and Benjamin, who began to chaff him, and said : 
 
 " It was too bad for me to make a point that 
 way. I think he is a brave man who runs away 
 when he can do no good by staying to get hurt. 
 An Irishman said he had rather be a living 
 
 O 
 
 coward than a dead hero. I do n't believe in
 
 THE QUARTET APPEARS. 37 
 
 being any kind of a coward. There are times 
 when it is more courageous to run than to fight. 
 If one of the African crocodiles that James would 
 like to see, were coming for us just now, with 
 great 'openness of countenance,' and evidently 
 very hungry, I might wish to see him as much 
 as any one, but I would prefer not to furnish him 
 a dinner, and would get out of his way as fast as 
 might be needful." 
 
 Sunshine having returned to James's face, and 
 the tongues of all the boys set freshly to wag- 
 ging, they talked of the wonders strewn through 
 this big world, of which they had read or heard, 
 while their companion quietly listened and made 
 mental notes. At length young Grant, in a 
 respectful way, asked him if, when a boy, he had 
 ever longed to go and see some of the big sights, or 
 do some of the wonderful things he heard about. 
 
 "I think" was the reply, "that he would be 
 a very dull boy who never did. Boys were born 
 to do something. It is this longing for some- 
 thing that they think great or noble which, if it 
 is rightly guided, will help to make them true 
 men. I read the other day of a bit of a chap 
 who hoarded his pocket-money until he could 
 buy two pistols. Then he buckled on a belt, 
 stuck in it the pistols and a carving knife, bor- 
 rowed his father's double-barreled gun and 
 started off on foot for the West, to kill and
 
 38 ROCKTON. 
 
 scalp some Indians. It is this spirit of adven- 
 ture, rightly guided, that has given the world 
 such men as Columbus, Magellan, Cook, Wash- 
 ington, Franklin, Livingstone, Stanley in fact, 
 all its good and great men. I felt some of it when 
 a boy, but it didn't develop much in any direc- 
 tion. My first experience in running away from 
 home cured me of all desire to repeat it ; just as 
 James, if he should hunt up a crocodile and 
 be eaten by him, would be completely cured of 
 the desire to see him." 
 
 This confession of juvenile obliquity was 
 followed by a bombardment of questions from 
 the boys that did not cease until he capitulated 
 and told the story of his attempted exploits. 
 
 " When I was a little shaver," he proceeded, 
 "I thought it would be wonderfully fine to be 
 my own master and go anywhere, or do any- 
 thing I pleased. Our house was on a street at 
 the edge of the village. I used to look across 
 the fields and a great sand plain, and see big 
 hills away to the west, and I was always long- 
 ing to travel and meet with some wonderful ad- 
 ventures. One day things did n't go to my lik- 
 ing. I felt mean and snappish, and threatened 
 to run away. Mother told me I need n't run 
 away; I might go, and welcome. When I pro- 
 tested that I would never come back, she said 
 she was all the more willing for me to go. I
 
 THE QUARTET APPEARS. 39 
 
 got my cap and said good-bye. There was just 
 the queerest look in her eyes when she said 
 that, as I never was coming back, I had better 
 take some doughnuts in my pocket. She 
 brought them and I stuffed two or three away. 
 Then I got my bow and arrows to shoot my 
 game, stuck my little hatchet in the belt of my 
 blouse, for a tomahawk, and started across the 
 fields. I remembered that I had n't kissed my little 
 sister good-bye, and was almost a' mind to turn 
 back and do so ; but I thought it would n't be manly, 
 and so I pulled a stifFupper lip and went on. Then 
 I thought mother seemed glad to be rid of me, 
 and, as I had been cross and peevish before, the 
 first thing I knew I was bawling. Crying and 
 jumping a ditch did n't go well together. I 
 stubbed my toe, tumbled in the ditch, broke 
 my bow, and got wet in a very sudden and dis- 
 heartening manner. But I was bound to run 
 away ! At last I got across the sand plain. 
 Then I sat down, hot, tired and hungry ! How 
 good those doughnuts tasted ! Then I was 
 half crying again as I thought I should never 
 eat another. It made me feel desperate, and I 
 got up and trudged. Up through the pastures 
 on the big hill I went. It grew hot. I thought 
 it must be about ten o'clock. I lay down under 
 a bush, and thought; and then all was blank for 
 awhile, till a big bug crawled on my nose and
 
 40 ROCKTON. 
 
 woke me up. A striped snake wriggled out 
 from under another bush close by, and that 
 brought me to my feet. More : it made me 
 afraid of bushes ; there might be more snakes ! 
 I was thirsty ; worse still, I was hungry and had 
 no doughnuts ! I thought I would go into an- 
 other pasture, and see if I could find some 
 berries. I got over or under the bars, and had 
 gone a little way when a cow came out of a 
 clump of bushes, shaking her head at me, as I 
 then thought (now I know it was because of the 
 flies), and I ran for the fence, shaking all over. 
 When I got on the other side of the fence, and 
 saw no cows or snakes, I sat down on a hump 
 of grass to rest. In a few moments I felt some- 
 thing running up my trowser's leg, and then 
 came an awful nip ! I jumped and screamed 
 and slapped. I had been sitting within a foot 
 of a black ant's nest, and one of their sentinels 
 had felt insulted at the intrusion. By this 
 time I did n't feel a desire to go into any pas- 
 ture, lie under any bush, or sit down on any- 
 thing. I thought of mother how I longed 
 to see her ! of father, and of baby sister. Of 
 course, I had run away, and never should see 
 them again. Then I cried some more. O dear ! 
 There was my pet kitten ' Why had n't I 
 brought it along? O, worse and worse ! was n't 
 this the very afternoon my jolly uncle Charles,
 
 Tin: O f 'A K TET APPEARS. 4 1 
 
 mother's youngest brother, had promised to take 
 ine to ride over to Firetown! By this time I 
 wasn't crying; I was just bellowing. I forgot 
 all about running away, and put all my tired, 
 tear-soaked energies into running home. How 
 long the way seemed ! How heavy my aching 
 feet ! I was the gladdest boy in America when 
 I got into our back yard. I crept into the 
 house, forgetting the hatchet, still sticking in 
 my belt, sat down in my little chair in the 
 kitchen, and went on with my boo-hoo solo. 
 By and by mother came in to get supper ready. 
 After awhile she asked : 
 
 " 'Henry, did you see your uncle Charles 
 this afternoon ?' 
 
 "'N-n-no! Boo! hoo! boo! ho o oo !' 
 
 " 'He came round with his gray colt to give 
 you a ride. If he didn't find you, I presume he 
 took your cousin William.' 
 
 " Gall and wormwood all this ! Did n't I 
 call myself all sorts of hateful names ; and cried 
 until I fell asleep in my chair. I dreamed I 
 was away over on the hill-side, and was running 
 away from a big snake, when a cow came out of 
 the bushes and caught me on her horns, and was 
 tossing me up in the air. Just as I screamed, 
 ' I want to go home !' I woke up, and mother 
 was shaking ine and telling me : 
 
 " ' Father has come home, and supper is ready.' 
 4
 
 42 ROCKTON. 
 
 11 1 was too tired to eat. My head, back, 
 legs, and feet ached what part of me didn't 
 ache? My face and neck were sun-burnt. It 
 was a successful treatment by counter-irritation. 
 After mother heard me sob through my prayer, 
 and laid me in my bed, I put my arms around 
 her neck and told her I never would run away 
 again. Just before I dropped to sleep I heard 
 father and mother talking and laughing. He said 
 something which sounded like ' radical cure if 
 there is anything left of the boy,' to which 
 mother replied I can hear her sweet, low voice 
 now ' There 's the hatchet and the experi- 
 ence.' She was right. I have the hatchet 
 laid away carefully, and I have n't lost the ex- 
 perience." 
 
 The quartet of boys unanimously voted 
 that Mr. Armour's story was " first-rate," and 
 then returned to their talk about exciting ad- 
 ventures. After awhile Mr. Armour asked 
 them if there was not some boy who could be 
 invited to join them to whom it would be a 
 treat. As he put it: "Some good-hearted 
 youngster, who does n't have as many mates or 
 chances for fun as yourselves." 
 
 Edward suggested that four boys were 
 enough. Mr. Armour's face wore a peculiar ex- 
 pression. Some people thought nearly every- 
 thing about him peculiar. Young Grant, talk-
 
 THE QUARTET APPEARS. 43 
 
 ing with his mother about him, said : " He 
 doesn't say anything sometimes ; but he looks 
 just like a man does when he is putting down 
 something in a memorandum-book that he means 
 to be careful to remember." 
 
 When Chumpy made his ''close corpora- 
 tion " remark, the eyes of this tall man made a 
 note which read like this: "Humph! Selfish 
 young man, are you? Must take that ugly 
 kink out!" 
 
 Benjamin Strong suggested that Brick 
 Walters might be the right boy to be invited, 
 as he had the hardest chance, and this because 
 his mother was poor and had to keep him busy 
 with little chores most of the time when out of 
 school, so that he could n't play as much as 
 other boys, and, hence seemed to be " kinder 
 lonely like." 
 
 The note made by Mr. Armour's eyes was 
 this: "Good! You may be a bit greedy, but 
 you are generous." 
 
 James objected that Brick's mother "does 
 washing " This chip must have hit Mr. Ar- 
 mour in the eyes for instead of making a note, 
 they blazed at poor Chippy with almost fire 
 enough to burn him as he said : 
 
 " Get that sort of wickedness out of your 
 heart and head at once. I have to depend on 
 Mrs. Walters to keep me clean. I'm bound at
 
 44 ROCKTON. 
 
 least to respect those I have to depend upon. 
 If anything, the fact I do depend on them would 
 make them better than myself. There is no 
 woman in Rockton more worthy of respect than 
 Mrs. Walters, and she is the queen of laundresses 
 besides. The boy who doesn't respect her, 
 can 't travel with me n how James's chin 
 dropped ! " unless I can cure him of such misera- 
 ble foolishness." 
 
 Adolphus, when asked, gave a good account 
 of young Walters, and Mr. Armour pulled out 
 two packages from his coat-pocket, and said : 
 
 " I am going to plant some beans in the 
 garden of the house where I board. I bought 
 these as I came along. You boys are my Club 
 of Tramps, and no other boy can come in with- 
 out your vote. Master Strong proposes the 
 name of Bernard Walters." Here he gave each 
 boy a black and a white bean. "You are now 
 to vote on the question of the admission of this 
 candidate. My hat is the ballot-box. The 
 white beans are for admission, the black are 
 against. If there is a black bean in the hat the 
 candidate is rejected." 
 
 He passed the hat around, and each boy put 
 his hand in it. When he emptied it on the 
 grass, four white beans dropped out, and he said: 
 
 " The ballot is clear, and Bernard Walters 
 is elected a Tramp."
 
 THE QUARTET APPEARS. 45 
 
 \Yhen asked why this new member was 
 called Brick, Edward said : 
 
 " When he first came to school we called 
 him Brick- top, 'cause his hair is red. But one 
 day a big boy was pestering Gracie Brown, and 
 knocked her down in the mud, and he just 
 pitched in and walloped him. Miss Barber 
 punishes us awfully for fighting, but when 
 Gracie told her story, she only patted him on 
 the head and called him a perfect brick. So 
 now \ve 'most always call him Brick." 
 
 Mr. Armour then had the boys look to the 
 east, and told them that the wide range of wild 
 land in that direction would be explored on 
 their first tramp> He further told them that, 
 north and west, there were great stretches of 
 unsettled country, with ponds and streams, and 
 many natural curiosities, which could supply 
 amusement and instruction for more tramps 
 than they could find time to take. 
 
 Before this meeting of the Tramps broke 
 up, he said: 
 
 " I am captain of this squad, and I expect 
 every boy to obey orders like a soldier. I will 
 appoint Adolphus my lieutenant, and you will 
 obey all orders that come through him. I shall 
 see your parents, and have their consent to our 
 tramps together. My first General Order is for 
 all to meet me at Mr Long's store at one o'clock
 
 46 ROCKTON. 
 
 precisely, next Saturday afternoon, unless you 
 hear from me to the contrary." 
 
 He gave each boy his hand, and then went 
 down through the birches faster than he 
 came up.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A SOMEWHAT QUEER MAN. 
 
 in Rockton," was what Benny Strong's 
 grandmother said when she came from Ver- 
 mont to live with her son. The old lady 
 was right. It is a busy, thriving populous 
 A town. Not only are there a great many peo- 
 ple, but there are a great many different people. 
 To be peculiar in Rockton is to be very much 
 in fashion. Indeed, this dissimilarity is so uni- 
 versal that paradoxically it is the chief simi- 
 larity, for it is common to all. All strangers 
 who have thus been enlightened with regard to 
 its people will understand that when Rockton 
 says of any man, " He 's queer," why, he is queer. 
 When Mr. Armour came down from Pond 
 Pasture on Wednesday afternoon, and walked 
 up School Street, Annis Crab flattened her some- 
 what prominent nose against the glass in a 
 vain attempt to discover his destination. When 
 he was out of sight, she asked Granny Norcross, 
 
 47
 
 48 ROCKTON. 
 
 who had hobbled across the street for an hour^s 
 gossip: "Ain't he queer?" 
 
 The wrinkled old woman was regaling her 
 beak-like nose with a pinch of snuff; but she 
 paused between sniffs to croak, " Drefful." 
 
 Let every reader take a good look at his 
 photograph, caught as he walked along the 
 street beyond the reach of Annis Crab's gimlet 
 eyes. "Tall!" Of course; and very tall 
 among short men. Five feet eleven inches in 
 his stocking feet would be quite an exact guess. 
 Six feet as he stood or walked. Eyes hazel, 
 bright, full, and well, busy ! His hair matched 
 his eyes, and there was plenty of it under the 
 wide-awake hat that had a trick of sliding 
 down on the back of his head. Complexion 
 clear, palish, but healthful, as could readily be 
 seen, because his face was clean shaven, all but 
 the upper lip, on which grew what little four- 
 year-old Minnie Wise when she kissed him, 
 called a " tellerabul bid muss-tass." His mouth 
 was large, and, as such mouths ought to be, 
 firm and well-shut, the wide, flexible nostrils 
 above affording ample proof that he knew how 
 to breathe. The corners of his mouth drooped a 
 little under the heavy thatch of the mustache, 
 as if in sympathy with the eyes above in their 
 habit of seeing the bright and droll side of 
 things. His body was long and rather lean.
 
 A SoMi:\riiAT QUEER MAN. 49 
 
 The shoulders stooped a little, perhaps yes, 
 perhaps; for his back was flat, and he could 
 stand O, so straight ! sometimes. His arms 
 were long and swung free. His hands corre- 
 sponded. They were not thick but long and 
 muscular. As he walked around the corner of 
 School and Linden Streets his pace seemed leis- 
 urely enough, but young Walters, who was beside 
 him, was pretty nearly exhausted, and broke into 
 a trot to recover his wind. 
 
 It must be admitted that most people enter- 
 tained the same opinion of Mr. Armour as 
 did Annis Crab, with this difference : Most peo- 
 ple liked him exceedingly Annis apparently 
 did n't. It was Annis who said to Aunt Nancy 
 Dwight, when his name happened to be men- 
 tioned : "I don't see how you can like 'him, 
 he's so queer." To this the sunny-faced old 
 lady replied: " He may be queer, but that 's just 
 the reason why I like him." Annis in this in- 
 stance, as in many others, was in a minority of one. 
 
 Some readers may be curious to know the 
 business of this "queer "man. Herbert Ar- 
 mour certainly had something to do ; at any rate he 
 generally was busy, but he seldom appeared to 
 be in a hurry. When asked by a stranger in 
 town with whom he happened to be chatting, 
 where his place of business was located, he 
 vaguely answered, " O, all over the lot," and 
 
 5
 
 50 ROCKTON. 
 
 then asked his questioner what he thought of 
 the results of recent excavations in Egypt, of 
 which he of course was utterly ignorant. 
 
 One day he boarded the fast New York ex- 
 press, and could scarcely read an item in the 
 newspaper, he was so pestered with questions 
 by the man who occupied the other half of the 
 seat. He answered politely but reservedly for 
 awhile, still trying to read, but the beetle-headed 
 Paul Pry would not let him alone. 
 
 As the train was "slowing up" for New 
 Haven station, the man began to arrange his 
 "traps" to leave the car. When he was ready 
 he nudged Mr. Armour, and said: "Now don't 
 try to be so close-mouthed." Then touching 
 his big "grip," he added in a confidential tone: 
 " I ve got a patent nutmeg-grater, a flapjack 
 turner, a mouse-trap, and a knife-sharpener that 
 I 'in trying to get on the market." Just at that 
 moment the train stopped, and a brakeman 
 sticking his head in at the door, shouted, " New 
 Haven." The big bore had got out of his seat 
 but his curiosity would not let him leave without 
 twisting another question like a corkscrew into 
 his victim. He leaned over and pointing to Mr. 
 Armour's modest russet hand-bag, said: 
 
 "Come and tell us; what are you trying to 
 introduce ?" 
 
 " Y0u '11 give me away," was the reply.
 
 A So ME iv HAT QUEER MAN. 51 
 
 " No ; I won't," affirmed beetle-head, very 
 stoutly. 
 
 By this time nearly all the passengers were 
 listening. Mr. Armour lifted the bag from his 
 knees, and having placed it carefully on the seat 
 beside him, looked up at the eager face of the 
 bundle-lad.ened and curiosity-burdened man, 
 and said : 
 
 " Well, if you won't give it away I will tell 
 you confidentially, you know " here beetle- 
 head nodded sagaciously, and winked with his 
 dexter eye " I am trying to introduce a con- 
 trivance to help people mind their own 
 business." 
 
 Lawyer Newhall, who was also on his way to 
 Xe\v York, where he was to appear in the famous 
 case of Pinch vs. Scratch, told the story all 
 over Rockton when he got back. 
 
 Yes, Herbert Armour was " queer." If he 
 chanced to see a drunken man who tumbled 
 clown, he would pick him up carefully, talk to 
 him softly, and lead him home. Quite likely he 
 would stop around until he "sobered off." But 
 if a balky horse aggravated a hot-tempered 
 driver, and he resorted to heavy lashing and 
 cursing, this same soft-spoken man would not 
 hesitate to clap his muscular hand on the 
 swearer's shoulder, and tell him to stop both his 
 blasphemies and his blows. Droll stories are
 
 52 ROCKTON. 
 
 told of what " Granny Norcross " called his 
 " goin's on." A farmer came in from what is 
 known as the Ward District, some two miles out, 
 and left his team before Mr. Long's store, while 
 he did an errand for his wife. On the wagon- 
 seat was a little mite, hardly big enough to 
 walk, much less to care for herself or the horse. 
 Evidently the farmer reckoned the old horse 
 perfectly safe, for he did not tie him. Scarcely 
 was he inside the store when a barge full of 
 rollicking school-boys came down the street. 
 They were waving flags, shouting, singing, 
 blowing horns, in fact doing about all they could 
 to make a big noise. The farmer's old horse 
 looked up, snorted, and started. Mr. Armour 
 was coining up the street, and saw the child and 
 her danger. He did not jump before the fright- 
 ened horse, or make the least noise. He turned 
 and ran for a few rods at a surprising speed be- 
 side the horse, at the same time seizing the bits. 
 The next instant he had spoken, the weight of 
 his strong hand was felt, and he was leading the 
 horse quietly back, as if catching runaways was 
 the most commonplace and simple thing in the. 
 world. The farmer terrified at the danger of 
 his child, was profuse in his thanks, when what 
 did this tall man do but turn on him, and be- 
 rate him as he afterwards, said, " 'S if I was a 
 pickpocket" for risking the life of his child so
 
 A SOME ir HAT QUEER MAN. 53 
 
 heedlessly, and forcing other people to endanger 
 their lives to prevent the consequences of his 
 negligence. When the confused father tried to 
 stammer out that the horse was old and safe, he 
 was told that he had no business to leave a horse 
 unhitched under such circumstances, even if it 
 were " a saw-horse." 
 
 One evening he was walking in one of the 
 worst localities in the town. A snow-storm had 
 ended in a warm rain, and the streets, and es- 
 pecially the gutters, were full of slush. A lot 
 of half-drunken rowdies were having what they 
 called a " high old time." They would block the 
 way and drive timid passers into the slush, and 
 then make the night hideous with their roars ol 
 drunken laughter. Mr. Armour noticed their 
 pranks, and as he came near them saw that there 
 was a young woman, who dared not pass through 
 the crowd, and who was intercepted by some of the 
 roughs when she would turn back. In a mo- 
 ment he was beside her, telling her in his quiet 
 way to move along with him. At his " step 
 aside, gentlemen," they all gave way, except a 
 great lout of a bully who leaned before Mr. Ar- 
 mour to get a look in the girl's face, only to be 
 shouldered into the gutter. As he was well 
 filled with "Jersey lightning," he was more 
 than full of fight, and started after the man who 
 had caused him to wet his feet. Mr. Armour
 
 54 ROCKTON. 
 
 hearing his oaths and rapid approach, told the 
 girl to go on her way without fear, and then 
 turned back. The bully struck straight at him 
 only to have the blow neatly parried, and at the 
 same time to be tripped in a way that caused 
 him to pitch backwards into the gutter, where 
 he began to call on his mates to " take him off." 
 Mr. Armour reached down, grasped him by his 
 collar and lifted him on to the edge of the side- 
 walk apparently as easily as he had canted him 
 over, and walked away with a contented smile 
 on his face, as though the tripping up of bullies 
 was the pleasantest of pastimes. 
 
 All sorts of queer speeches are reported as 
 having been made by this tall fellow on partic- 
 ular occasions. Of these only one sample need 
 be given. There was a big social gathering 
 somewhere in the town, and though he some- 
 times avoided such places, declaring he had no 
 taste for "herb-tea dissipation," he was present 
 on this occasion. The conversation turned at 
 length on missions and missionary work. Miss 
 Jennie Gusher her real name was Jeannette, 
 but she was of too light weight for anything but 
 the diminutive was very sentimental over the 
 condition of little trowserless and bookless 
 heathen boys. She expressed a great desire to 
 expend her shallow energies in their behalf. She 
 simpered at Mr. Armour, and asked : " Do
 
 A SOMEWHAT QUEER MAN. 55 
 
 you think I could relieve their sad, sad lot, 
 if I should devote my life to it?" Then, as 
 he did not answer, but appeared to be thinking, 
 she went on to repeat her desire to cross the 
 seas for their good, to which she added her fear 
 that she would not be able to master the lan- 
 guage or impress the minds of these small, half- 
 nude idolaters. Finally, she again appealed to her 
 listener, entreating him to tell her how she might 
 learn whether she was adapted to the work. 
 
 There was not even the shadow of a smile 
 on his face as he told her she could very readily 
 prove her value as a missionary. That there were 
 a lot of little, half-naked heathen she might try 
 her powers upon down in Swamp Lane. Swamp 
 Lane was formerly a cart-path leading from the 
 center of the town to a swamp on the south. 
 Here a dozen families of the worst class had 
 built cabins or huts that swarmed with dogs, 
 pigs, and ragged and unruly children. With his 
 face still "as sober as a judge," he explained: 
 
 " You see, if no other damage was done, it 
 would cost a deal of money to send you so far 
 away, which would, of course, be uselessly ex- 
 pended, if, as you seem to fear, you should prove 
 a failure. Now, it won't cost a dime to send you 
 to Swamp Lane. The heathen there need you 
 just as much as they do in Asia or Africa. If 
 you succeed there, you can anywhere. If you
 
 56 ROCKTON. 
 
 do n't succeed,- there won't be any money wasted. 
 Besides yon can get home in less than an hour 
 without the slightest risk of shipwreck on the 
 way." 
 
 It would be impossible to describe the dis- 
 gust on Miss Jennie's face, or the scornful tilt of 
 her little nose as these unwashed, young " Swamp 
 Laners " were thrust under it. It is doubtful if 
 she saw the point, but the company did, with 
 perhaps a few exceptions. Skinner Flint, a nar- 
 row-headed, narrow-minded, penurious man, who 
 had grown rich by hoarding, was present, but he 
 did not see the point. He seldom or never did, 
 of anything witty or humorous. The boys ab- 
 breviated his name to "Skin Flint," and declared 
 it to be as impossible for him to laugh as 
 one of the tanned hides in which he dealt. 
 
 Deluded by the gravity of Mr. Armour's 
 countenance into thinking that there was agree- 
 ment of opinion between this popular gentleman 
 and himself, he expressed his approval of the 
 suggestion for missionary work in Rockton, and 
 with pomposity and obtuseness common to his 
 class, quoted the devil's pet adage : " Charity 
 begins at home." There was an instantaneous, 
 lighting gleam from a pair of hazel eyes, followed 
 by a low, even voice, which said : 
 
 " My dear sir, that is a lying humbug that has 
 been bed-ridden for thousands of years."
 
 A SOM Kir HAT Ql'KER Ji/Aff. 57 
 
 Whatever can be done with such a " queer 
 man?" It might reasonably be expected that 
 people would refuse to put up with his ways. On 
 the contrary, they seemed to like them. After the 
 double broadside he had discharged at this gath- 
 ering, he was the lion of the evening. Skinner 
 Flint begged him to call at his house as a great 
 favor, while Miss Gusher simpered at him worse 
 than ever. It must, however, be remembered 
 that he was unmarried. 
 
 It must also be said that this "queer man" 
 was especially liked by boys. It was the almost 
 daily aggravation of Annis Crab that if her green 
 eyes looked^ out of the front windows of her 
 house, outside of school-hours, she saw him, as 
 she snappishly told her happily deaf old mother, 
 "just wasting his time with a passel of boys at 
 his heels." 
 
 One day he was passing the big school-house 
 in Northville just as the children came pouring 
 out for recess. Merry voices called his name, and 
 he stopped and lifted his hat to the crowd. Just 
 at the same time Wesley Jones, a red-faced, jolly 
 hearted fanner, drove along with a couple of 
 bushels of Early Harvest apples he was intend- 
 ing to peddle out somewhere in the village. Mr. 
 Armour beckoned him to stop, which, nothing 
 loath, he did, and was asked the price of his 
 fruit, which he gave as one dollar and a half per
 
 58 ROCKTON. 
 
 bushel. He was asked what he would take for 
 the lot, and sell on the spot. 
 
 " Why," he said, " if you want a basket of 
 them apples for yourself, you can have them for 
 nothing and cartage thrown in. But law me !" 
 he added with a wink, "I don't see what use 
 you have for 'em." 
 
 Mr. Armour laughed at the little joke, and 
 said : 
 
 " I am a single man, but I have a lot of 
 sweethearts, and they are apple hungry." Then 
 taking out of his pocket a couple of silver dol- 
 lars, he added : " I will give you two dollars 
 for your apples, and won't charge you anything 
 for seeing the fun." 
 
 How the blue-frocked farmer laughed ! He 
 reached for the dollars, and said : 
 
 " Gosh, I ain't going round the town ped- 
 dlin' apples by the peck when I can sell whole- 
 sale. Besides I can see your 'fun, and get back 
 home in time to do a big stroke of work." 
 
 Mr. Armour stepped to the window where 
 Miss Barber stood watching the sports of her 
 rather wild urchins, and after he had spoken 
 with her, he returned to his place beside the 
 wagon while she held a moment's conference 
 with the other teachers, which resulted in an ap- 
 proving nod when she reappeared. It took but a 
 moment to secure silence.
 
 A SOMEWHAT QUEER MAN. 59 
 
 "Stand just where you are till I tell you 
 what to do.'' They stood. " How many girls 
 like apples? Up with your hands." Up they 
 went. " How many boys like apples? Hands 
 up!" 
 
 " Girls, you get in a row. Little girls first. 
 Do n't crowd ! Now come along in a line. Do n't 
 hurry !" and every girl had an apple in a very 
 short time. Then came the boys with equal de- 
 light. When all were served perhaps a peck of 
 apples were left, and these he asked Mr. Jones to 
 leave at Mrs. Walters as it would be but a rod 
 or two out of his way, and was off in a twink- 
 ling to escape the cheers which he heard some 
 of the boys proposing. 
 
 It has already been noticed that the portion 
 of Rockton known as Northville, has grown in 
 a fashion peculiarly its own, well up on the 
 north slope of the ridge which intervenes be- 
 tween it and the central portion of the town. 
 The street on which James Mears and Edward 
 Holt lived runs from east to west almost at its 
 very summit. It was intended to give it a high- 
 sounding name. All thought it deserved it. 
 Each had "just the fit " to propose: "High," 
 u Tip-top," " Summit," " Lookout," " Seaview " 
 (somebody affirmed that, with a good glass, some- 
 thing that looked like the sea could be seen on 
 a clear day), " Sunrise Avenue," " Sunset ditto,"
 
 60 ROCKTON. 
 
 " Upland," " Cloudland Avenue " (no part of the 
 ridge was two hundred feet above the valley), 
 " Overlook ;" as has been said every one had a 
 name. Agreement seemed impossible. At one 
 of the meetings of the residents a wag suggested 
 that inasmuch as no name could be found upon 
 which two could agree, they had better dub it at 
 once " Nameless Street." This, of course, could 
 not be agreed to, but practically it was a name- 
 less street for a considerable time. At length the 
 boys began to call it " Ridge Street," presently 
 the older people fell into the habit of the boys, and 
 after a while residents on it had the name used 
 in the direction of their letters. Then the rest 
 of the town used it. Thus what everybody dis- 
 agreed about was settled, and by general con- 
 sent. " Ridge Street " it was christened, and 
 Ridge Street it is to this day. 
 
 It might have been about fifteen minutes 
 before eight on Wednesday evening, when Mr. 
 Armour walked with his usual leisurely swing 
 along this street. The exact time is of no im- 
 portance, but it is certain that nearly three-quar- 
 ters of an hour before the sun had dropped from 
 sight behind a fringe of woods far away to the 
 west, and the ruddy reflection of his setting had 
 died out in the windows of the houses. Great 
 shadows were spreading softly over the land- 
 scape. The darkness seemed to fall like a mystic
 
 A SOMEWHAT QUEER MAN. 61 
 
 curtain, from the heavens, through which the 
 stars faintly peeped, but with a growing bright- 
 ness in their twinkling glances. Out of the deeper 
 darkness of the town below there began to shoot 
 forth, here and there, answering gleams, as though 
 heaven and earth' were signaling to each other ; 
 the stars above telling of God's love and ever- 
 watchful care, the lights beneath answering back 
 of human hope and trust in darkness. Both 
 seemed shining prophecies of the coming day 
 when there shall be no need of " candle, neither 
 light of the sun." 
 
 James was on hand, with a cordial greeting 
 for his tall friend. The short call which fol- 
 lowed must have been in every way satisfactory ; 
 for when the door opened again to let the vis- 
 itor out, Mr. and Mrs. Mears both stood in it, 
 wishing him good evening with pleasant smiles, 
 while the face of the fairly capering boy was 
 a picture of exuberant delight. 
 
 As the firm and regular steps of the evening 
 caller fell on the walk leading to the main en- 
 trance of Mr. Holt's substantial dwelling, a 
 keen-eyed observer might have thought he no- 
 ticed the faint outline of a form sitting in the 
 deep dusk at the parlor window. However, this 
 might have been an illusion ; for as Mr. Armour 
 came near and glanced at the window, there 
 was absolutely nothing to be seen. Still it was,
 
 62 ROCKTON. 
 
 as Granny Norcross is apt to say about things, 
 " curious " that Sarah Holt should almost in- 
 stantly answer the ring of the bell, and still 
 more unaccountable that a man with such long 
 legs, and in good health, should require full five 
 minutes to get from the outside door to the sit- 
 ting-room. Perhaps he was hunting for a place 
 to hang his hat. 
 
 But the sitting-room! Yes. It was a sitting- 
 room. The first impression was that of light. 
 There was plenty. The smallest child sitting 
 at the window would surely have been seen from 
 the outside. Then it was cheerful. Not merely 
 because of light, but somehow in itself. One 
 side was fitted with shelves, and they were filled 
 with books, pamphlets, and papers. There were 
 not so many very recent works, but those of 
 the old masters. Mr. Armour once remarked as he 
 was running his eyes over them : " You have here 
 the cream of literature." Whatever there might 
 have been of gilt on the bindings had become 
 dimmed, and they wore the look of having been 
 freely used. Appearances in this case were not 
 misleading. Mr. Holt was a broad-shouldered, 
 solidly built man of middle height, with a well- 
 shaped, wide-browed head, crowned with thick, 
 curling chestnut hair. His beard was thick, 
 close trimmed, and reddish. Both beard and 
 hair showed faint streaks of gray. His eyes were
 
 A SoMKirriAT OI T /-:KR MAN. 63 
 
 blue, keen, but very pleasant. It may be briefly 
 said that he was a brainy, broad-minded, (some 
 men are brainy, but narrow-minded) large 
 hearted, true-souled, energetic man, with a 
 straightforwardness of speech, and action which 
 brought him large confidence from good men, 
 and at least respect from many of the other 
 sort. 
 
 The principal person in the room has not 
 been first noticed. At least Mr. Armour always 
 considered her so. As he is an unusually wise 
 man, undoubtedly he was right. In no respect 
 did people more heartily indorse his judgment 
 than in this. This calm-browed, intelligent- 
 faced, womanly woman, who could describe? 
 Her smooth hair had its threads of silver, and 
 there were lines about the earnest, kindly eyes, 
 which told the story of a day of great sorrow, 
 which closed the bright young lives of a son and 
 a daughter. 
 
 All this time Mr. Armour has been left in the 
 act of entering the sitting-room. It is to be 
 hoped that he did not become tired with his 
 snail-like progress. Probably he did not, for 
 Miss Sarah was by his side all the while, and 
 he appeared to have a greater dislike to "hur- 
 ryinent" than usual." 
 
 As it looked a little ha/.y in th: east, the time 
 of this digression might have been employed in
 
 64 ROCKTON. 
 
 settling weather " probabilities." Any way the 
 tall man looked down on the graceful, young 
 woman with a smile that ought not to have been 
 called out but by a prospect of a spell of very 
 sunshiny weather. 
 
 Edward Holt was on hand, as usual, and wel- 
 comed his friend somewhat noisily. He has al- 
 ready been well introduced and will often show 
 himself in these pages. Sarah Holt at this point 
 makes her first appearance in person. She was 
 the eldest of four children, and at this time a 
 well - formed, healthy, and sprightly young 
 woman, somewhere in her early " twenties." 
 Sitting fully in the light her complexion can 
 bear it she looks like both father and mother. 
 Her hair is a tawny chestnut, and no matter how 
 much she tries to smooth it, has a trick of pull- 
 ing itself out in curls like little tendrils, and 
 fluffing all around her shapely little head. She 
 is a witty, sensible, lovely girl. Her parents are 
 proud of her. 
 
 The young men of Rockton watch her when 
 she goes into church, and watch her when she 
 comes out. If Annis Crab is to be believed, 
 they watch her all the time between this coming 
 in and going out. But then Annis is getting 
 tired of "watching and waiting" for somebody 
 to watch her, and is evidently growing a trifle 
 sour and spiteful. If this were not so, she
 
 A SOMEWHAT QUEER MAN. 65 
 
 would not have snapped ont to Aunt Nancy 
 D wight: 
 
 " Seems to me Mr. Armour is mighty fond of 
 wasting his time in Pond Pasture." 
 
 " Perhaps he goes up there to get rid of 
 women," said this sweet, old saint, at which re- 
 ply Annis only sniffed. 
 
 When the clock on the mantle in Mrs. Holt's 
 sitting-room sent out its one soft, musical note 
 for half-past eight, Edward looked up into his 
 mother's, and then his father's eyes. What he 
 saw therein was hardly satisfactory, for his chin 
 took a large drop; but he arose, and wishing his 
 friend a comically mournful "good-night," took 
 himself off to bed. 
 
 Evidently Mr. Armour was felt to be much of 
 a friend, and when the boy's footsteps died away, 
 he was, for a few moments, a subject of remark. 
 
 Mr. Holt said he was a good boy he thought 
 him honest, capable enough, and all that, but 
 that he was " inclined to be selfish." When he 
 had thus expressed himself, his eyes sought those 
 of his wife, and seemed to ask: " How can he 
 be selfish with such a mother?" Her eyes, as 
 they looked back full of light and love, seemed 
 to ask : " How can he be selfish with such a 
 father?" 
 
 Mr. Armour was listening in silence, and his 
 eyes seemed to be asking: " Is it possible that 
 
 6
 
 66 ROCKTON. 
 
 a boy can be selfish with such a mother and 
 father?" They seemed to be adding to it 
 " and with such a " but the voice of Mr. Holt 
 caused him to turn his head, and the rest of this 
 mental question had no expression. 
 
 Mrs. Holt talked in her sweet, even voice of 
 her boy, and told of the great sorrow which had 
 bereft their home. She thought that they might 
 have caused this selfishness in Edward by the 
 tenderness in which he had been reared. She 
 hoped for the best. She wished him to grow 
 manly, and large-hearted ; and expressed her 
 conviction that a man like their friend might be 
 able to do more to correct this wrong bent than 
 even those who loved him in his home. 
 
 Before he left, Mr. Armour mentioned his 
 plan to find at least amusement and profit to 
 himself in a few tramps around the neighboring 
 country in company with some Northville boys, 
 and asked that Edward might be allowed to join 
 him. 
 
 This was of course agreed to, and the visitor 
 took his departure, not however, as in his pre- 
 vious call, attended by the family conclave. Per- 
 haps mischievous Edward had hid his hat. The 
 distance from the sitting-room to the front door 
 had not shortened during his stay, for it took 
 fully as much time to travel it as it did before. 
 At length the boy who could not sleep, but was
 
 A SOMEWHAT QUEER MAN; 67 
 
 listening in his room above, heard a flute-like 
 voice say " good-night " followed by the closing 
 of a door which significant sounds caused him 
 to turn his face to the wall, and testily mutter, 
 " Con junctions !"
 
 CHAPTER IV- 
 
 A TRAMP Tb "TRAMPS' ROOST." 
 
 10.40 A. M. Recess at 
 school-house on School Street. Five 
 
 boys holding confabulation in a corner of 
 
 the play-ground. 
 
 11.45 A. M. In the school-room. Five 
 /v-boys, with eager eyes, stealing furtive glances 
 at the clock. 
 
 12.3 P. M. Outside the school-house. Five 
 boys in a hurried consultation. 
 
 12. 4 P. M. A red-haired chap scudding east 
 along School Street. A tall boy, with a chubby- 
 cheeked mate, scampering around the corner of 
 the first street leading north. Edward and 
 James splitting the wind in a race towards 
 Ridge Street. 
 
 12.25 P. M. In five houses in Northville, 
 five boys making heroic efforts to spoil their 
 digestion by rapid eating. 
 
 12.40 P. M. Ridge Street. Edward rushes 
 out of the yard with an ear-spliting "whoop-la!" 
 68
 
 A TRAMP TO " TRAMPS' ROOST:'' 69 
 
 Half a minute later James tumbles pell-mell 
 over a slop-pail on the back stoop of his home, 
 and chips a bit of cuticle off his shin, and an- 
 other off his elbow as he "brings up," or down 
 rather, at the bottom of the steps. 
 
 "Bother the luck!" he grunts. Then he 
 scrambles up, and runs out to meet Edward with 
 a wild " hurrah !" 
 
 "Tip-top, ain't it?" 
 
 " Splendacious !" 
 
 Away they go, full of life and hope, and 
 with merry hearts trot down the street into the 
 village. 
 
 12.50 P. M., sharp. In front of a store. 
 Over the door a big sign with "Jabez Long, 
 Dry Goods," in gilt letters. Before the door 
 four chattering boys. Even Adolphus Grant is 
 unusually loquacious. Edward and James are 
 both talking excitedly at the same time. 
 Benjaming Strong is talking by spurts, but, true 
 to his ruling passion, makes his jaws do double 
 service by devouring what looks, as it rapidly 
 disappears, very much like a bun. 
 
 Mr. Long comes out to greet them with a 
 smile. This starts the gabbling chorus afresh. 
 The good man listens with interest, and his 
 laugh has as jolly a ring as either of the boys'. 
 Said he : " I 've almost a mind to run along, too." 
 
 " Do ; please do," they all chorused.
 
 70 ROCKTON. 
 
 " I 'd just delight to do it. I feel just as 
 young this minute as ever I did. Sometimes I 
 feel so much like a boy I act like one. Then 
 the rheumatism grabs me, and pinches and 
 jabs me, and says : ' Take that for trying to act 
 like a gosling when you are an old goose !' " 
 
 As the boys continued to urge him to go, he 
 promised to try to arrange to join them in some 
 of their tramps, and then asked : 
 
 " How many of you have taken a lunch 
 along?" 
 
 All were silent. Even Bun had n't a cake 
 to his name. 
 
 " I '11 wager an old shoe-string," he continued, 
 " that you were in such an awful hurry that you 
 swallowed your dinners whole, and didn't allow 
 yourselves time for more than half rations at that." 
 
 The faces of the still-silent boys satisfied 
 him that he had won his wager. In an instant 
 he had darted through the door of the next 
 shop. The prospective tramps had not done 
 " dusting each others' jackets," as they called 
 it, for their stupidity in forgetting their stomachs, 
 when he was back with four neat, brown paper 
 parcels in his hands. As he gave one to each 
 boy he said : 
 
 " Molasses pakes and cheese are just the bill 
 of fare for a hungry tramp, when he stops for 
 a lunch in Brush Hotel. Stuff them in your
 
 A TRAMP TO " TRAMPS' ROOST.' 71 
 
 pockets. I guess you '11 find them as Some- 
 body called something else, ' werry ftllinV 
 That is " here he chuckled, " if you keep up 
 with Mr. Armour's long legs all the afternoon." 
 
 12.58 P M. Same place. Four boys stuff- 
 ing four paper packages into four pockets, look 
 suddenly up and shriek in unisoii, " Here he 
 comes !" 
 
 Less than sixty seconds later Mr. Armour 
 had shaken Mr. Long's generous hand, and was 
 surrounded by the boys, each declaiming and 
 patting his protuberant pocket. 
 
 " Time will be up in thirty seconds," he 
 said. " We must be moving, for I told Bernard 
 Walters we would pick him up on the way." 
 
 " Hold on for just ten of 'em," puffed Mr. 
 Long, as he bobbed once more over the steps ot 
 the other store. Back he came almost as quickly, 
 and handing another paper parcel to Mr. Ar- 
 mour, wheezed out : 
 
 " It 's my treat. Did n't know young Walters 
 was one of your squad. He 's one of my bright 
 boys. Tell him not to give all the cakes to 
 Ben Strong." 
 
 Even Bun joined in the laugh at this u dig," 
 that lasted until its author had waved the jolly 
 boys and their leader good-bye as they disap- 
 peared around the corner. 
 
 1.3 P. M. Annis Crab's house. Granny
 
 72 ROCKTON. 
 
 Norcross at the front window. She had poked 
 over " airly," as she said, " for fear it '11 rain ter- 
 morrer, an' I shall hev' ter stay ter home " Annis, 
 for once, is in the background. 
 
 " 'Sakes alive!" squeaked the little old gossip, 
 as she caught sight of the squad marching up 
 the street, " ef there ain't thet long-legged Ar- 
 mour with a passle of boys taggin' at his heels." 
 
 This caused Annis to change front, and 
 make a charge upon the window. Her green 
 eyes snapped as her tongue snapped : 
 
 " I hope to goodness they won't get into 
 any scrape !" 
 
 Annis lived in perpetual fear for other peo- 
 ple. She was in a constant state of apprehen- 
 sion that somebody or everybody would " get 
 into a scrape." Whatever she meant by this, no 
 mortal ever discovered ; but it has come to be a 
 standing jest. When a Northvillian meets with 
 some funny mishap, his friends joke him for 
 getting into one of " Annis Crab's scrapes." 
 Solomon Whagg came along one day as she was 
 sitting at th open window, where she could 
 work and watch. He pulled up with a solemn 
 look on his face, and asked: 
 
 " Have you heard the news ?" 
 
 "Mercy on us! No. Who's run away? 
 Who's dead?" 
 
 The o!4 man's face grew more solemn. He
 
 A RRAMP TO " TRAMPS' ROOST." 73 
 
 groaned, as Granny Norcross afterwards said, 
 " clear down ter his boots," and replied, " No ; 
 he hasn't run away " here he groaned again, 
 and rubbed his eyes with a big turkey-red cotton 
 handkerchief " and he is 'nt dead." 
 
 By this time Annis was half-way out of the 
 window and the yellow, wrinkled face of Granny 
 Norcross was pushed out over her shoulder. 
 
 "What is it?" "Who is it?" "When was 
 it?" The questions came tumbling over each 
 other like boys playing leap-frog. 
 
 The old man only groaned the more dolor- 
 ously, and shook his head. 
 
 "No; you'll tell, and there'll be mischief." 
 
 " No we won't," they both protested as they 
 protruded themselves still further through the 
 window. "Tell us who it is, any way?" 
 
 "Won't you ever tell nobody?" 
 
 "No; never!" shrilly chorused the pair. 
 
 "Honor bright?" 
 
 "Yes; yes; honor bright ! Now, Solomon 
 Whagg, you just out with it. Who is it?" 
 
 The old man looked all around as if to make 
 sure nobody else could be within hearing. Then 
 dropping his voice to a hoarse whisper, he said : 
 
 " The old scratch will be to pay if you dare 
 tell of it. It's Amos Brown." 
 
 "Amos Brown!" Annis almost shrieked. 
 "Who would have thought it?" 
 
 7
 
 74 ROCKTON. 
 
 " Husli ! The neighbors will hear you," 
 pleaded Solomon, with a great look of fear on 
 his grizzled face. 
 
 " Amos Brown !" quacked Granny Norcross. 
 " He ! he ! Deacon in the Church, too !' 
 
 "Yes," commented Annis, "tall too, and 
 homely. Old enough to be my grandfather, 
 and always looking sober as an owl." Here her 
 eyes gave their accustomed snap. "He's just 
 the kind of man that is always getting into 
 scrapes. Say, who found him out?" 
 
 Solomon shook his head sagaciously, and 
 said : 
 
 " Nobody found him out exactly. He sort 
 of confessed it. You see, I was down by his 
 big factory, and he was standing at the lower 
 end looking sadder than he generally does, and 
 everybody knows he looks mournful enough for 
 two funerals. Well, I saw him, as I told you, 
 and I said : ' Deacon, you look kind'er sorry. 
 What's the matter?" He just shook his head 
 and said : ' Friend Whagg, I am in a scrape.' 
 I said: 'You don't tell me so, Deacon.' He 
 said : ' Yes I do. I am in the biggest scrape 
 there has been in Rockton for a very long 
 time!'" 
 
 The old man protested that if the deacon 
 had n't confessed to him he never would have 
 believed it, and after repeated injunctions to
 
 A TRAMP TO " TRAMP& ROOST." 75 
 
 the gossips in the window never to lisp a word 
 to any one else, he stumped sadly away. 
 
 Twenty-four hours later it was well-nigh all 
 over the town, that the very biggest scandal in its 
 history had occurred ; that Deacon Amos Brown 
 had got into the worst possible scrape, and had 
 intended to run away ; but being prevented in 
 this, had fully confessed his guilt. Presently 
 Solomon Whagg was freely quoted as authority 
 for the grave report. Of course, somebody 
 ought to notice it, as Mr. Brown was a leading 
 citizen and deacon of a down-town Church. 
 At length a couple of his brethren called on 
 him, and informed him of the serious reports in 
 circulation. He looked sad, admitted that there 
 was some truth in the story, and referred them 
 to Solomon Whagg, who, he said, knew all about 
 the matter, and had his permission to make it 
 public. Of course they hunted up Solomon 
 immediately. The hoary old mischief-maker 
 laughed immoderately in the faces of his anx- 
 ious questioners, and then proceeded to en- 
 lighten them. 
 
 "You see," he said, "I was down at the 
 deacon's factory, and he had the hind-side of 
 it rigged with a stage, and was helping the 
 men scrape it. He had it painted two years 
 ago with mineral paint, and the pesky stuff 
 blistered and peeled so badly, the whole of that
 
 76 ROCKTON. 
 
 side of the factory just had to be scraped before 
 it could be painted again. I said : ' Deacon this 
 is a big scrape.' He said: 'Yes, it is the big- 
 gest scrape I ever knew in this town.' I said : 
 ' I 'm going to tell Annis Crab you have got 
 into a scrape.' He said : ' If you do, it will be 
 .all over town in a week.' So you see, we 
 kind'er agreed that I should tell her, and see 
 what would come of it." 
 
 Of course the town was convulsed. The 
 joke was hugely enjoyed. When it was ex- 
 plained, everybody remembered that Amos 
 Brown, despite his diaconate, was the soberest, 
 driest, most practical joker in town, and that 
 Solomon Whagg was an inveterate likewise, 
 and the deacon's life-long crony and abettor. 
 Had the yarn come direct to most people, it 
 would have been received as a joke. Annis 
 was the gull who swallowed the fishy story, 
 and then squalled for foul weather. 
 
 When Mr. Armour and the boys no when 
 the boys and Mr. Armour reached the corner of 
 the street on which Bernard Walters lived, they 
 found that young gentleman philosophically 
 dangling his heels from the top rail of a con- 
 venient fence, and altogether ready to obey the 
 order, " Fall in." He thanked Mr. Armour as 
 he received the " ammunition " sent by Mr. 
 Long, and as he hid it away in one pocket, he
 
 A TRAMP TO " TRAMPS' ROOST" 77 
 
 gave him a knowing look, and tapped the 
 pocket on the other side that bulged with the 
 evidence of his forethought. "You'll do," was 
 the silent note of the hazel eyes. 
 
 It required but a few moments to reach the 
 outskirts of the village. Leaving the highway, 
 the party turned to the left through a wide 
 reach of pasture-land that rose away to the east 
 in swells until these broke into somewhat jagged 
 peaks or crests. The general direction of these 
 ridges was from north to south ; but when they 
 had advanced towards them for perhaps a quar- 
 ter of an hour, and had reached the top of the 
 nearest, Mr. Armour directed the notice of the 
 boys to an eccentric freak of nature a shal- 
 low ravine cut diagonally through the remain- 
 ing crests, forming an almost level path for their 
 feet. The sides of this ravine were quite steep, 
 and plentifully covered with a short second- 
 growth of pines. Along this delightful path 
 they trudged, singing and shouting in honest, 
 hearty, boyish glee, until it began to lead them 
 downwards into a little oblong valley, well 
 filled with a larger growth of forest-trees. At 
 the south end was a small pond, with a narrow 
 margin cleared of the larger growth. Into this 
 valley they descended, and found an unobstructed 
 way for their feet in an old "logging road" 
 around the head, or north end of the pond.
 
 78 ROCKTON. 
 
 Though there was a brisk wind outside, all was 
 still in this quiet nook. The sun poured golden 
 splendors into it, and a summer warmth filled 
 it. As the boys chatted and approached the 
 pond, a loud whi-r-r-r-r startled them as a par- 
 tridge or grouse took wing from a clump of 
 bushes, almost at their feet. Mr. Armour told 
 them to watch sharply for the next. A few steps 
 more, and Bernard, who was in front, stopped 
 short and pointed ; but before his excited mates 
 could really See where, whi-r-r-r-r, went the shy 
 bird. All saw it on the wing. 
 
 No ; if the truth must be told, not quite all. 
 Benjamin was lagging a little behind unno- 
 ticed, while the others were " pointing " game. 
 When they, as the flush of their excitement cooled, 
 turned to look for him the waning crescent of a 
 ginger-cake suffered a total eclipse in his vora- 
 cious mouth. 
 
 Edward pulled off his hat, and declared he 
 could creep into the bushes and catch a par- 
 tridge in it. James started up the steep side of 
 the valley, to find one, and, as usual, tumbled 
 down no ; this time it was up. Adolphus 
 started through the bushes. His foot caught in 
 a bull-brier, and he pitched head-first into a 
 hole. While all these mishaps were happening 
 Mr. Armour was walking along the logging- 
 road, and was a few rods in advance. Suddenly
 
 A TRAMP TO " Tx AMPS' ROOST:* 79 
 
 he stopped ; then, turning back a few steps, he 
 called softly to the boys to make haste, but to 
 be very still about it. While they were coming, 
 he cut, with his pocket-knife, a sizable alder 
 from a clump close by the road. This he was trim- 
 ming carefully, when the boys gathered round 
 him full of questions, as a matter of course. 
 Edward was anxious to know if he was"goin' 
 fishing." He was told that possibly they might 
 get a " bush-eel," whereat there were ten big 
 eyes full of astonishment and wonder. 
 
 When Mr. Armour had reduced his alder to 
 a well-trimmed rod, about eight feet long, he 
 told the boys to follow him without noise. Go- 
 ing forward a little way he pointed to an open 
 space beside the road where the ground was 
 raised a bit, and where the sun's rays were fall- 
 ing full and warm. " O ! O ! O ! O !" sounded 
 from the throats of five startled boys. 
 
 On this flat mound lay an enormous snake. 
 It was not coiled up, but, as Bernard whispered, 
 " scattered round in kinks." Evidently while 
 it was sunning itself it was sleeping. After 
 they had watched it for a few moments, Mr. 
 Armour stepped swiftly to within a few feet of 
 it, and brought his rod down in a quick, sharp 
 stroke that changed a sleeping snake into a 
 black, writhing, reptilian mass. Another sharp, 
 well-directed cut of the rod, and the black folds
 
 8O 
 
 relaxed, and became still. Then, with the butt 
 of his rod in a fold of the body, he drew it into 
 the road. As he straightened it out in the 
 path, he said: 
 
 "The first blow broke its back, I think, and 
 the last broke its neck." 
 
 Benjamin stared with big eyes at the scaly 
 reptile for a while and asked : 
 
 " Is n't it the biggest snake you ever saw?" 
 
 " It is the biggest I have seen to-day," Mr. 
 Armour replied, " but I have seen larger at other 
 times." 
 
 In answer to various other questions, he told 
 them it was a black snake. That there were 
 two varieties of the black snake, the difference 
 between them so far as he knew, being mainly 
 in the scales. He laid the rod which he 
 had used beside the snake, and found it was 
 some six inches the longest. He then said that 
 if he only had a rule, he could tell the length 
 of this one. Bdward pulled a little ivory foot- 
 rule out of his pocket, and offered its use. 
 
 " See what comes of being a carpenter's 
 son," said Mr. Armour, and proceeded to measure 
 the stick, which proved to be seven feet eleven 
 inches long. When this was done, he said : 
 "You can tell your folks, if you feel you must 
 brag a little, that you were in at the death 
 of a snake full seven feet five inches long."
 
 A TRAMP TO " TRAMPS' ROOST" 81 
 
 As they proceeded on their way around the 
 pond, bearing to the south, every boy's mind was 
 full of, and his eyes were on the watch for, 
 snakes. They learned the lesson that it is the 
 unexpected that happens, while that which is 
 much sought after, is seldom found. 
 
 However, next to seeing snakes was hearing 
 about them, and Mr. Armour had to meet a 
 fusilade of questions from the squad. 
 
 " I have not met with many large snakes," 
 he said, " but I have seen a few. I think most 
 dictionaries and encyclopedias tell us that there 
 is one species of black snake in this country 
 five or six feet long, and another seven or eight. 
 I do n't know enough serpent lore to tell you 
 which species the one just killed belongs to, 
 but I killed two on the same day, and in the 
 same spot, one of which was seven feet and a 
 half long, the other more than eight feet and a 
 half. I was walking with my father one even- 
 ing when a boy, and a man came out of a pas- 
 ture dragging the biggest I ever saw. How long 
 he was I do not know. The man who had it 
 was tall and large. He held it up on a stick. 
 The stick was about as high as his shoulder, and 
 the head and tail of the snake were on the 
 ground. I know this man and father took one 
 of the bars which had been let down for the 
 cows to pass, and stretched the snake out beside
 
 fj 
 82 ROCKTON. 
 
 it and the snake was the longest. It must have 
 been more than ten feet long. The man who 
 killed the snake is Alonzo Buell, the high sheriff 
 of this county. I have heard my father tell of 
 one that must have been still larger. He saw it 
 more than twenty-nine years ago, for I was a 
 six-months-old baby in mother's arms. They were 
 driving on the old turnpike that runs across the 
 country about six miles north of where we are. 
 I have heard my father tell the story many times. 
 He said he looked ahead^ and saw a black snake 
 lying across the road. Its head was on the west 
 side, and its body was stretched across both 
 wheel ruts, and over the east side down into the 
 gutter, but that he could not see its tail. He got 
 out- and looked for a club, but saw none. He 
 did not dare to go for the snake with his whip. 
 Mother was frightened and begged him to get 
 into the wagon which he did, and whipped up 
 the old horse to run over the snake if possible. 
 When he got within some forty or fifty feet of 
 it, it drew itself suddenly backwards, and went 
 over the wall and across the field at a rapid rate 
 with its head at least three feet high. I never 
 knew my mother to tell an untruth or exaggerate, 
 and I have several times heard her confirm this 
 story of my father. He said he got out after 
 the snake had left, you understand and paced 
 from where the head lay to where he lost sight
 
 A TRAMP TO " TRAITP& ROOST" 83 
 
 of the body in the tall grass. He always insisted 
 that this serpent was full fifteen, if not sixteen, 
 feet long. I was fishing one day, and caught 
 what you boys would call a pumpkin seed, I 
 suppose, and tossed it back into the edge of 
 some bushes, and a striped snake came squirm- 
 ing along, and undertook to swallow it for din- 
 ner. Down snakie's throat went the tail and 
 body of the fish, until the dorsal fin was reached. 
 Then there was fun. The pumpkin seed flopped 
 vigorously. The snake squirmed and thrashed. 
 The meal was too big, or the eater too little. I 
 tapped the last on the head, and pitched the first 
 into the water. But let us drop snake yarns, and 
 climb this hill. It will pay." 
 
 The road or path they had been following 
 rose gradually from the valley, and wound along 
 among the hills. On the right was a steep 
 wooded eminence, evidently affording an outlook 
 over a wide reach of country. Up this they 
 scrambled, shouting and laughing zigzagging 
 their way when they could not ascend directly, 
 and when they reached the summit, found a 
 smooth ledge, shaded by pines, on which they 
 clambered for an outlook. They had not real- 
 ized how rapidly the path they had been follow- 
 ing had ascended from the valley, or how high 
 the hill they had been climbing. Once on its 
 top, every boy shouted in sheer delight. Ben-
 
 84 ROCKTON. 
 
 jamin said the whole world was below them, and 
 cheered for all creation to hear. What oceans 
 of woods stretching far away and around ! What 
 a view of Rockton, with its great hives full of 
 human ants, and its tiny bits of homes scattered 
 all around ! How flat the Ridge looked, and what 
 a mere chalk mark appeared Ridge Street ! 
 
 " It 's a splendid view," said Adolphus. 
 
 "I guess it is," said Bernard, 
 
 " It '11 break our necks to get down," said James. 
 
 " Let 's sit down on this rock," said Edward. 
 
 " Let 's have something to eat," said Ben- 
 jamin. 
 
 " It 's a unanimous vote," said Mr. Armour. 
 " Let 's at it at once." 
 
 And at it they all went with vigorous jaws, 
 until nothing was left of Mr. Long's generous 
 treat, but the sheets of brown paper that had 
 been wrapped around it. 
 
 Content with themselves and all the world 
 below, the various members of the little party 
 lolled around in the sunshine, or wandered to 
 various points of observation. Young Grant 
 picked up, and carefully smoothed out the dis- 
 carded wrappers, and went off by himself. As 
 he sat at a distance well doubled up, the paper 
 on his knee, and a stub of a pencil in his hand, 
 Benjamin declared he was reckoning up the 
 profits of the expedition. Whereat Bernard said,
 
 A TRAMP TO ll TRAMPS' ROOST" 85 
 
 he might be trying to reckon up how many mo- 
 lasses cakes it would take to keep Bun in good 
 condition on a week's tramp. Not to be outdone, 
 James suggested that he might be making a map 
 of the route they had traveled. To this Edward 
 rejoined, by shouting to the scribbling Adolphus 
 to " put in a big star to mark the spot where 
 Chippy skinned his nose by tumbling up-hill." 
 
 So rippled the fun from center to circumfer- 
 ence of this lofty lookout, until the suggestion 
 of Mr. Armour, that it was " about time to be 
 jogging," converged the scattered tramps around 
 their " head center." 
 
 Adolphus suggested that, in memory of the 
 lunch and rest, the hill-top should ever after 
 be known by the boys as "Tramps' Roost" a 
 proposition which was declared to be "carried 
 unanimously" amid tumultuous applause. 
 
 Bernard followed this very popular sugges- 
 tion by another to the effect that the squad of 
 tramps ought to provide a good name for its 
 collective individuality. This set Edward off 
 into a voluble description of a book his father 
 bought him on his last birthday anniversary, 
 which he described as "All about 'the Up the 
 Ladder Club,' " and affirmed to be "just 
 bang-up." 
 
 Bernard's eyes sparkled as he heard all this, 
 and, sidling up to its owner, the little fellow
 
 86 ROCKTON. 
 
 asked for the loan of the book. Edward's face 
 lost something of its eager look as he mumbled 
 something about being afraid it might get dirty 
 or torn. Just at that moment Mr. Armour 
 appeared to be looking towards Rockton, as if 
 trying to learn something new of its geography, 
 but all the while the hazel eyes were making 
 notes. While the boys were still discussing 
 Bernard's suggestion, he sat down on the high- 
 est point of rock, and said : 
 
 "I believe I'm not quite ready. Sit down, 
 all of you." When each had disposed of him- 
 self according to his inclination, and all were 
 more or less reclined, he told them to look all 
 around on the wonderful scene. "See," he said, 
 "how full of beauty and delight everything ap- 
 pears to be." Then he asked Edward, "Who 
 made all these wonderful things?" 
 
 "Why, God." This in a somewhat offended 
 tone, as if the question implied his ignorance. 
 
 "What did God make all this for?" 
 
 "For for folks, I s'pose." 
 
 "Exactly. Young man, when you think 
 about this again, don't think 'God made 
 things,' and stop just there; but think 'God 
 made things for folks.' And, Edward, I wish 
 you to tell me who made the nice house I see 
 away over there, on Ridge Street. The biggest 
 one, I mean."
 
 A TRAMP TO "TRAMP& ROOST." 87 
 
 " Why, you know, Mr. Armour. Father 
 built it." 
 
 "Never mind what I know Who put all 
 the nice things in it? And who pays for all the 
 good things to eat?" 
 
 " Father." 
 
 "What does he do all this for?" 
 
 "W-why, for mother an' Sarah an' me." 
 
 "Why does he do it?" 
 
 "'Cause he loves us." This very emphat- 
 ically. 
 
 "Why does he love you?" 
 
 The boy wrinkled his forehead, as if per- 
 plexed. Mr. Armour said: 
 
 "Think it out, Edward," and waited. 
 
 At length the wrinkles smoothed, and 
 Chumpy answered: 
 
 "I guess it's because he is a good man." 
 
 "There never was a more correct guess," 
 said Mr. Armour. "Now, I wish you all to re- 
 member this catechism I have put Edward 
 through, and apply it to what we began with. 
 Did God make all we see?" Five boys nodded 
 assent. "Did he make this for folks for us?" 
 Five heads bobbed again. "Did he make this 
 for us because he loved us?" Still again five 
 heads bowed. "Now think, as Edward did. 
 Doesn't he love us because he is good?" There 
 was a deeper expression in each eye, and, as
 
 88 ROCKTON. 
 
 once more five heads slowly nodded, the lips of 
 each said, "Yes." 
 
 Mr. Armour sat awhile in silence, which the 
 boys shared. At length he brought his eyes to 
 bear on Edward, who saw another question in- 
 evitable. 
 
 "You say your father is a good man. He 
 is; one of the best. But suppose, Edward, 
 that he let your mother, sister, and yourself live 
 in a hovel, and wouldn't earn bread, or fire, or 
 clothes for you, nor do the smallest thing to 
 make you comfortable and happy, in such a 
 case, what kind of a father would you think 
 him to be?" 
 
 The boy was growing defiant at the bare 
 supposition ; but he blurted out : 
 
 "He'd be a mighty mean one." 
 
 "Why would he be mean?" 
 
 "'Cause he would. He 'd be stingy and lazy 
 'nd ugly 'nd selfish!" 
 
 " Precisely. You are a bright boy, Edward. 
 Now, tell me; if a father should do everything 
 for his children, and fill all their lives with 
 plenty and sunshine, and one of his boys should 
 be stingy, wanting all the good things himself, 
 and selfish, ready to take all he could get, and 
 never wishing to do anything for others, what 
 kind of a boy would you call him?" 
 
 Now, Edward was, as Sarah once told him,
 
 A TRAMP TO "TRAMPS' ROOST" 89 
 
 "a greedy little pig" in many things. It wa 
 his one great fault to be selfish. To his credit 
 it must be set down that he was an honest lit- 
 tle fellow. He blushed a rosy red under his 
 freckles, and it ran to hide itself under the roots 
 of his hair ; but he looked up bravely in Mr. 
 Armour's eyes and answered : 
 
 "I guess he 'd be a mighty mean boy." 
 No comment direct followed this reply, but a 
 few remarks were made by Mr. Armour on the 
 whole matter. 
 
 "You see, boys, just how it is. If a father 
 loves his son, the son ought to love him in re- 
 turn, and learn by this to love others. God is 
 good. Because he is, he loves us. Because he 
 loves us, he blesses us. We ought to love him 
 in return. If we have his love in us, we will 
 love him because he is good; and we will love 
 all his creatures, and try to do them good. 
 This is just what the Golden Rule means, and 
 this is just why we are taught to love one an- 
 other. Now, I wish you to put one thing down 
 in your minds, and never forget it. Selfishness 
 is the meanest, wickedest thing in all the big 
 universe. It is at the bottom of all sin, if it 
 is n't the sin itself. God is unselfish. If we 
 are like him, we will be so too. The more un- 
 selfish we are, the better we will be. The lec- 
 ture is ended. I propose you break ranks for
 
 go ROCKTON. 
 
 two or three minutes, while I confer with Lieu- 
 tenant Grant." 
 
 But the lecture was not quite ended. Ed- 
 ward was seen walking away, with his arm over 
 Bernard's shoulder, and he was saying: 
 
 "You '11 like all about Sid and Charley 'nd 
 Aunt Stanshy 'nd the rest. Father has promised 
 to get the rest of the set, 'nd you shall have them 
 when they conie."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BUILDING A RUSTIC BRIDGE. 
 
 ARMOUR'S conference with young 
 Grant did not consume many mo- 
 ments. When the boys drew together again, 
 Edward called attention to Bernard's sugges- 
 tion, which had led them out into such a 
 'rwide field, and proposed that they come 
 back to it. Said he : 
 
 " It won't do for us to travel much further 
 without a name." 
 
 Mr. Armour proposed that each should sug- 
 gest a name in turn, until one should be found 
 on which all could agree. He further proposed 
 that the eldest should make the first suggestion, 
 and so downward to the youngest. There be- 
 ing no dissent, Adolphus was the first asked to 
 propose a name. 
 
 " Merry Rangers," said he. 
 "Not much," snorted Edward. 
 " Don't like it," followed James. 
 "No; don't I," echoed Benjamin. 
 " It 's pretty good," assented Bernard. 
 
 91
 
 92 
 
 " Now, Edward, it is your turn ; see if you 
 can better it." 
 
 "Lively Squad." 
 
 " Pooh ! worse than mine," avowed Adolphus. 
 
 " Next thing to squat," laughed James. 
 
 "Sounds flat," criticised Benjamin. 
 
 " It might do," allowed Bernard.' 
 
 Then it was James's turn. 
 
 " Happy Tramps," he shouted. 
 
 " Tramps do n't look happy," disputed 
 Adolphus. 
 
 "Tramps steal," charged Edward. 
 
 " Tramps are always hungry," squeaked 
 Benjamin. 
 
 " And want cold victuals," put in Bernard. 
 
 "Now, Master Benjamin, do your level best 
 and name this concern," said Mr. Armour. 
 Benjamin was a little slow, for the other boys 
 playfully suggested the names of various eatables 
 he could use, and he said they " put him out." 
 
 " Five Scouts," was his nomination. 
 
 " I scout that," declared Adolphus. 
 
 "Fiddlesticks," derogated Edward. 
 
 " Won't be one," protested James. 
 
 "It's N. G.," affirmed Bernard. 
 
 " Well, Bernard, it turns out that on your 
 young shoulders 'rest this heavy burden of re- 
 sponsibility. I trust you are aware that our 
 eyes are upon you. Give us a name odd
 
 BUILDING A RUSTIC BRIDGE. 93 
 
 enough, musical enough, and yet common 
 enough to please us all." 
 
 This grandiloquent speech had well-nigh 
 upset poor Bernard if he had not thought to 
 look up into Mr. Armour's eyes, and had not 
 seen therein kindliness and encouragement. 
 This helped him rally his courage, and he said : 
 
 " If you can't find anything better as there 
 are five of us boys, and we make some noise 
 we might call ourselves 'The Jolly Quintet.'" 
 
 "I'll agree to that," assented Adolphus. 
 
 "Best of all," asseverated Edward. 
 
 " Better 'n none," chirped James. 
 
 " Do n't care what you call us, s' long's we're 
 not called late to dinner," very characteristically 
 piped Benjamin. 
 
 And so it was settled. To make sure the 
 name was a good fit the boys sent up three 
 lusty cheers and a tiger. Then Mr. Armour 
 said he had discovered that Master Adolphus 
 had been indulging his poetical fancies, and 
 probably had made 'The Jolly Quintet' immortal 
 in verse, and that he hoped his young friend 
 would gratify all by reading what he had writ- 
 ten. Adolphus, of course, blushed modestly as 
 became so young a poet, and asked to be ex- 
 cused five minutes until he could put the finish- 
 ing touch to his lines, which the new name 
 made necessary. At the end of that time he
 
 94 ROCKTON. 
 
 read from the luncheon-wrappers the following, 
 which he had scribbled while the others were 
 conversing : 
 
 "WHO THEY WERE." 
 
 BY ONE OF THEM. 
 
 Six wonderful tramps 
 
 Went on a spree, 
 And frightened a bird 
 
 Under a tree. 
 
 Now this jolly six, 
 
 Which were three pair, 
 Just made all the birds 
 
 And rabbits stare. 
 
 There was Chumpy ; he, 
 
 Was awful fat, 
 But tried to catch the 
 
 Bird in his hat. 
 
 There was Chippy ; he 
 
 Seldom was still, 
 And tumbled alike 
 
 Down or up hill. 
 
 There was Brick ; he was 
 
 Still as a mouse, 
 And had far the most 
 
 Cake in his blouse. 
 
 There was Bun ; he felt 
 
 A hungry ache 
 As long as he had 
 
 A bit of cake. 
 
 There was Dolly ; he 
 
 Was tall as a pole, 
 But managed to get 
 
 Dumped in a hole.
 
 BUILDING A RUSTIC BRIDGE 95 
 
 The sixth was a Mr. 
 
 Armour by name. 
 Who found the snake, and 
 
 Finished the same. 
 
 These were the six birds 
 
 Of a feather ; 
 Or tramps who traveled 
 
 The woods together. 
 
 In years to come, when 
 
 Historians squint it, 
 They '11 write big things of 
 
 The Jolly Quintet. 
 
 This epic was punctuated by a round of ap- 
 plause at the mention of each name, and at its 
 conclusion received, as newpaper reports are 
 apt to say, "vociferous applause." 
 
 The young poet both blushed and bowed his 
 acknowledgments, and apologized for the dis- 
 crepancy between the number six, which he had 
 used nearly all the way through, and the quintet 
 of the last line. He, however, saw no way to 
 help himself. There were "six on the tramp," 
 and the boys had voted themselves a " quintet." 
 
 Mr. Armour said : 
 
 " If posterity happens to discover the incon- 
 gruity, it can set it down as a fine example of 
 poetic //r-sense. In. this prosaic present, we 
 know it to be sober truth. But it is time for us 
 to be on the trail. I am going to lead. Let 
 every boy look sharp !"
 
 96 ROCKTON. 
 
 This "Look sharp" was good advice, for 
 they were led down the southeast side of the 
 hill at a rattling pace, and the descent was steep. 
 Lieutenant Grant reported that James distanced 
 the rest, being helped along by several surprising 
 tumbles. When they reached the bottom, their 
 pace was not much slackened. All were well 
 rested, and all eager to follow. Mr. Armour ap- 
 peared to be familiar with the woods. Without 
 stopping, and with only now and then a quick 
 glance around, he decided his course. Taking 
 advantage of natural formations, and avoiding 
 thickets, in about ten minutes, rapid walking, the 
 squad was drawn up around him in the country 
 road that runs eastward from Rockton. He 
 suggested that if they had already met with 
 mild adventures enough to satisfy them they 
 could easily march home in a short time. This, 
 Edward vigorously scouted, affirming that he 
 was n't " tired one bit," and that the afternoon 
 was n't more than " half gone." The rest 
 chorused a desire for more adventures if they 
 could be- had. Of this Mr. Armour was not 
 quite sure. He said : 
 
 "I have thought if we could reach a spot I 
 know of that is, perhaps, a mile away, we could 
 find some early spring flowers that would well 
 pay us for the trouble." 
 
 "Jolly! if it ain't but a mile, we can do that
 
 BUILDING A RUSTIC BRIDGE. 97 
 
 in no time," commented James. " I am afraid 
 it will prove to be with us as it was with a 
 chap I heard of whose ' best girl ' lived within 
 half a mile of him, and yet was three milos 
 away." 
 
 " My ! how could that be?" asked Benjamin. 
 
 "Easy enough," replied Mr. Armour; "his 
 girl lived across the river, and within a half 
 mile, but he had to go up stream a mile and a 
 half to find a bridge." 
 
 " Pooh!' why didn't the goose take a boat?" 
 put in Bernard. 
 
 " For precisely the same reason that I am 
 afraid will bring us to grief," was the answer, 
 "the want of a boat. There is a narrow strip of 
 swampy land south of us, and quite long. Later 
 in the season it is generally dry enough to cross, 
 but I reckon we shall find it wet enough now." 
 
 " We can do as that fellow did when he 
 went to see his girl ; we can go round," said 
 Grant, sagely. 
 
 "Yes, we can; but I judge we won't; at 
 least not to-day. If we should try the west end, 
 we would have rough land and tangled thickets, 
 that would destroy all the pleasure of the walk. 
 Then, if we should undertake to go round the 
 east end, the swamp is broader, and we would 
 have a good three miles' scramble, and by the 
 time we could reach the place I desire, it would 
 
 9
 
 98 ROCKTON. 
 
 be too late to spend any time there, and get 
 home before dark." 
 
 "Let's wade through the swamp," proposed 
 Edward. 
 
 " I am afraid you would not find it as easy 
 or safe as wading through a frog-pond to finish 
 an African voyage." 
 
 This reply subdued Edward to a very solemn 
 silence, and set James to snorting in a very ex-, 
 plosive way. 
 
 If the faces of some of the boys showed ev- 
 idence of disappointment, that of young Wal- 
 ters wore a look of great confidence. 
 
 "He'll find a way," he said, in an aside to 
 Adolphus. 
 
 This was not altogether misplaced confi- 
 dence ; for the object of it straightened himself 
 up, and said: 
 
 "This isn't quite the thing. Standing here 
 doesn't get us anywhere. Remember this' ir- 
 resolution is a vice; decision of character is a 
 virtue, in boy or man. Don't be pig-headed 
 or selfishly obstinate; but be decided, and don't 
 waste time in debating whether it is best to be 
 it. One thing more : be decided in your sports, 
 and all little things as well as big. Edward, it 
 is better for you to put this all down in your 
 memory and act on it, than to find a crocodile 
 or shoot a buffalo. The point with us now is
 
 BUILDING A RUSTIC BRIDGE. 99 
 
 to get across the swamp. I think a straight 
 line to the place I wish to reach would not 
 oblige us to walk much over three-quarters of a 
 mile. I happen to know that this swamp is 
 really two swamps. There is a tongue of land 
 that runs nearly across it. All we have to do is 
 to go to the next bars, lay our course directly for 
 this point, and get across if we can. If we find 
 we can't, we can do the next best thing, which 
 probably will be honestly to own up we are 
 beat, back out as gracefully as circumstances 
 will allow, and get ourselves good-naturedly 
 home. Come on!" 
 
 It required but a moment to reach the bars. 
 As they scrambled over and under and through, 
 Adolphus expressed wonder that any one should 
 take the trouble to build a wall or fence around 
 such poor land. Mr. Armour, as usual, had a 
 story to fit. He said: 
 
 "I heard of a traveler who was riding along 
 over a very poor strip of country, and came 
 upon another man who was building a fence. 
 He pulled up his horse, and said: 'What, in the 
 name of common sense, are you fencing that 
 land for? Why, there isn't a blade of grass 
 growing on it, and there never will. Bless you ! 
 if the cattle should get into it, they would starve 
 to death.' The other man squinted at the post 
 he was setting, to see if it was plumb, and then
 
 100 ROCKTON. 
 
 replied: 'Waal, stranger, thet's jest it. I'm 
 buildin' this yer fence to keep 'em aout.' " 
 
 This was a philosophical explanation, satis- 
 factory to all the boys, and .they laughingly fol- 
 lowed the swift steps of their leader, who was 
 taking a bee-line for the point of land he had 
 described. Evidently he was familiar with the 
 way, and the boys, who were following in single 
 file, had nothing to do but follow. This must 
 be slightly qualified ; for James, overflowing 
 with customary eagerness, not only had to fol- 
 low, but several times had to pick himself out 
 of the bushes into which he inadvertently 
 tumbled. The rapid pace and the unevenness 
 of the ground tried Edward's wind, but he held 
 on good-naturedly until Mr. Armour's cheery, 
 " Here we are," brought a respite. 
 
 It required but a glance for each boy to see 
 how accurate was the knowledge of their leader 
 in regard to the route he had chosen. The 
 strip of high land was thrust almost across the 
 swamp. Indeed, from its extreme, it was ap- 
 parently not more than ten feet to the other 
 side, which was an abrupt bank on which were 
 growing a few hemlocks. It did look to the eager 
 boys as though they could jump the little space. 
 Adolphus offered to try it while Edward re- 
 newed his suggestion to wade across. Mr. Ar- 
 mour refused to allow either attempt to be made,
 
 BUILDING A RUSTIC BRIDGE. 101 
 
 telling them that while he had generally found 
 it dry enough at this point to cross, the amount 
 of water then in the swamp rendered it impos- 
 sible; that, what might be a soil dry enough 
 in a short time to bear the weight of a person, 
 was then only an oozy mire, several feet deep, 
 and if either got stuck in it, it would be well- 
 nigh impossible to get out. 
 
 "I gave you," he said, "back in the road, a 
 lecture on decision. Now open your ears for 
 another. Always keep your wits about you. 
 Like Barnaby Rudge's raven Grip, ' never say 
 die.' If you get in a corner, do n't be confused. 
 Do n't try to think of forty things all at once. 
 This would be confusion in itself. Think of one 
 way out. If that way appears to be no way, 
 then try another. Think of one thing at a time 
 until you think of the right thing. Now, here 
 we are, with at least ten feet of water, and very 
 soft mud between us, and a steep bank we wish 
 to reach. What shall we do ? Shall we back 
 out?" 
 
 " No," answered every nonplused boy. 
 
 " Having settled it as the first thing that we 
 won't give it up, the next thing in order is 
 what ? Who can tell ? 
 
 " Get across, of course," volunteered James. 
 
 " But is getting across the first thing ?" 
 
 " 'Course it ain't," replied Edward. " The
 
 102 ROCKTON. 
 
 first thing is to make a bridge, and then we can 
 get across just as easy as nothing." 
 
 " Suppose, then, we all agree with Edward, 
 and consider it settled that the next thing we 
 are to do is to build a bridge," said Mr. Ar- 
 mour. "Then the next thing to determine is 
 what kind of a bridge. If it is to be a single 
 arch, then we must have plenty of stone, out of 
 which we can build our piers. Shall it be of 
 trestle work? or a suspension bridge? or what? 
 Besides, who is the smart chap on whom we can 
 rely to build the other end?" 
 
 There were ten dubiously lighted eyes that sent 
 wandering glances up and down, and all around. 
 There were a pair of hazel eyes also, glancing 
 around ; but these were full of mirthfulness. At 
 length their owner said : 
 
 "Adolphus, can't you help us out of this 
 scrape?" 
 
 " N-no, sir ; unless we can build a monkey 
 bridge." 
 
 There was a still more roguish gleam in 
 Mr. Armour's eyes, as he asked : 
 
 " Do you mean to intimate that there is 
 plenty of material for such a bridge at hand?" 
 
 Edward and James pretended to be very in- 
 dignant with Adolphus for calling them monkeys, 
 and fell to scolding him at a furious rate, he all 
 the while protesting his innocence. Benjamin
 
 BUILDING A RUSTIC BRIDGE. 103 
 
 took no part in this diversion, but was hunting 
 his pockets for a stray bit of cake, while Mr. 
 Armour and Bernard were enjoying the fun 
 hugely. Finally the latter came to the rescue, 
 and said: 
 
 " Do n't jaw him any longer. If he wants a 
 monkey bridge, let 's lay him across the mud as far 
 as he will reach, and then we can jump the rest." 
 
 Mr. Armour thought best to interfere at this 
 point. 
 
 " I am thinking, Adolphus, that you will 
 have to pray, as a friend of mine said, he was 
 obliged to pray, to be delivered from your friends. 
 The only way out for you that I can see, is to 
 tell us what you meant by a monkey bridge." 
 
 Bernard promised that if he would do this 
 he should not be used for a stringer. Thus as- 
 sured Adolphus, explained. 
 
 u I read in a book of travels that monkeys 
 make bridges of themselves when they want to 
 cross small rivers. A monkey will run up a 
 tree and hold on to a high branch with his tail 
 and hind feet ; then another will climb the tree 
 and get hold of the other in the same way ; and 
 they will keep on until they have a chain of 
 monkeys hanging from the branch. Then they 
 will manage to swing back and forth until the 
 lower end swings across the stream, when the 
 end monkey catches hold of something, and the
 
 104 ROCKTON. 
 
 bridge is made. All the rest of them have to 
 do is to run up the tree and down the chain of 
 monkeys, and so get across." 
 
 " Tell your granny such a lie," shouted 
 Edward. " How are the monkeys in the bridge 
 to get over?" 
 
 All laughed at this sally ; but Master Grant 
 was equal to the emergency. " I do n't know 
 anything about it. I 'in only telling you what 
 the book said. It had a picture of a string of 
 monkeys hanging from the upper branch of a 
 tree on one side of a river, and stretched across 
 it to the lower branch of a tree on the other 
 side. The book also said that, when all the 
 monkeys, except those on the bridge were over, 
 that a big monkey would let the one at the lower 
 end of the bridge get hold of him and then he 
 would run up the tree to the top and get hold of 
 a limb there. Then the other end would let go 
 and swing over. Then they could take their 
 bridge to pieces in the same way they made it." 
 
 When he was done, Bernard chuckled and 
 said : u Well, if we are monkeys, we have n't got 
 tails. So your scheme is n. g." 
 
 This was so self-evident as to need no reply. 
 The boys looked at Mr. Armour as if to ask, 
 "What next?" To this unspoken question he 
 replied : 
 
 " If we can't build a monkey bridge, Adol-
 
 BUILDING A RUSTIC BRIDGE. 105 
 
 phus's description suggests something. We might 
 prove the theory that men are descended from 
 monkeys, by our power of imitation Suppos- 
 now there was a tall white birch right here, why 
 could n't one of us climb it, and bend it down, 
 and then we all get hold and give it a swing 
 across to the other side, would n't it be as good 
 as a monkey bridge?" 
 
 " 'Course it would," affirmed Edward, ap- 
 provingly. 
 
 " Let 's do it," said James, staring around 
 resolutely. 
 
 " Agreed," replied Mr Armour; "but won't 
 you please put your hand on the particular birch 
 you think best adapted to be our bridge." 
 
 " Whew !" ejaculated the boy, and then 
 puckered his lips drolly, and blew a long, shrill 
 whistle that gave further expression to his blank 
 amazement. Mr. Armour laughed, for he had 
 caught them all with his supposititious tree. 
 There was not a white birch in sight on their side 
 of the swamp, though they could discern the 
 graceful shape of several on the higher land on 
 the other side. 
 
 Young Grant evidently was making a prac- 
 tical use of the lecture on thinking, for he 
 asked : 
 
 " If there is no birch can 't we make some 
 other tree do?"
 
 106 ROCKTON. 
 
 " Perhaps not as well," was the reply : 
 " Still, another kind of tree would do, if we 
 could use it. There stands one that, if my eyes 
 don't deceive me, is long enough to reach 
 across. What if we should try to bend it 
 down ? 
 
 " It 's too big " " too stiff " " we can t," 
 were the answers. 
 
 " Never mind about all that," he went on. 
 " Suppose we try. Who '11 volunteer to shin it?" 
 
 Four of the boys glanced dubiously up into 
 the tree, but not a young hero stirred or looked 
 as heroes are supposed to do. Bernard alone 
 surveyed the natural ladder complacently, as he 
 said: 
 
 " I could climb the thing easy enough, but 
 I could n't bend it any more than a crow could 
 by lighting on it." Considering his size this was 
 pretty fair judgment 
 
 "Are n't you afraid to climb it?" asked Mr. 
 Armour. 
 
 " No," answered the boy, " I 've climbed 
 bigger ones than that." 
 
 " Well, Adolphus, you are larger and stronger 
 than Bernard can 't you climb it for us?" 
 
 Adolphus grew rosy, and gazed at the tree 
 intently for a moment. Then he grew rosier 
 and shook his head. 
 "Afraid?"
 
 BUILDING A RUSTIC BRIDGE. 107 
 
 "I I guess I am," he replied, a little 
 faintly. 
 
 " Good for you," said Mr. Armour, as he put 
 his hand on the lad's shoulder : " I 'm afraid to 
 risk my bones too ! Catch me climbing trees 
 when I can get along without it. Catch me 
 taking any risks when there is no need. When 
 I was a youngster I could climb almost any- 
 where. I had a light body, and strong hands 
 and arms. No matter how high up I went I 
 never grew dizzy, or was in the least frightened. 
 But I went down South, and had while there 
 the swamp fever, and since that I have been 
 dizzy if I went up very far. I 'm not a bit 
 ashamed to say I am afraid. I dislike very 
 much to ride in elevators. I always feel queer 
 if I am in the upper stories of a tall building. 
 It is no special credit to Bernard that he can 
 climb that tree. He could do it safely prob- 
 ably. It is no discredit to the rest of us that 
 we have no inclination to try it. Listen, my 
 young friends, to another important lecture. 
 The theme is TRUE COURAGE. Courage is not 
 to face danger because it is danger, but because 
 it is duty. It is not courage for a boy or man 
 to do a risky or dangerous thing simply be- 
 cause it is such, or he is dared to do it. To 
 do this is the opposite of courageousness, and 
 and is rightly called foolhardiness. One ought
 
 108 ROCKTON. 
 
 to be afraid to hazard life or limb unneces- 
 sarily. Rather than a weakness, it is a virtue. 
 The true hero is neither bully nor fool. Keep 
 out of danger if you can ; but when it ought to 
 be faced, then face it the best you can. I 
 heard, years ago, a story of two officers who 
 were riding side by side into a battle. One 
 was very jolly and unconcerned, the other was 
 very quiet. The jolly fellow looked up into 
 the other's face, and saw it was white. He 
 felt indignant at him for what he thought his 
 cowardice, and said: 'You're scared.' 'Yes,' 
 said the other, 'I am scared. Ifjy0*were half 
 as scared as I am you would run;' which was 
 probably the truth. True courage is not to be 
 fearless of, or insensible to danger. I am in- 
 clined to think that real heroes have always 
 been capable of fear. They have been more 
 courageous because of it. Be afraid of many 
 things. Be afraid of getting hurt when there is 
 no need! Be afraid of doing a mean or selfish 
 thing! Be terribly afraid of anything low or 
 wicked ! The lecture is ended. ' Attention, 
 Company!' We must build not a monkey bridge, 
 but a bridge for Darwin's children of monkeys, 
 in five minutes. Follow as fast as you can, 
 and work like beavers." 
 
 He led the way rapidly to a clump of 
 alders, and with his stout-bladed pocket knife
 
 BUILDING A RUSTIC BRIDGE. 109 
 
 began to cut them down, telling the boys to 
 carry them to where they were to bridge the 
 bog. He worked until each had a load, and 
 then followed what he called his " long brush " 
 to lay it across the narrow strip of oozy mud. 
 It required but a few moments to do this, and 
 then he stepped back a few paces enough to 
 give him a short run, and allow him to jump 
 to the other side ; a not very remarkable feat, 
 but one that excited the admiration of the boys. 
 He pulled himself up the bank, and cut a few 
 armfuls of boughs from a drooping hemlock. 
 These he cast down the bank, and following 
 them began to lay them across the alders, trusting 
 his weight upon them until he had made the 
 whole length safe. The bridge was a fact. It 
 was rustic and safe. It was the work of but a 
 few moments. The Jolly Quintet went over dry 
 shod.
 
 VL- 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. 
 
 IT did not require long for The Quintet to 
 scramble up the bank after the long legs 
 of their leader. As they paused for a mo- 
 ment to recover breath under the hemlocks, 
 Bernard, who had kept close to Mr. Armour 
 all the while, looked up shyly, and said : 
 " I guess you knew all the while how we 
 could get over." 
 
 "Young man," was the reply, "are you try- 
 ing to make me convict myself of playing 
 rogue ?" Then seeing that the boy's eyes shot 
 out an indignant denial of this counter-charge, 
 he continued : " No, I did not have any partic- 
 ular way in mind. I felt confident that there 
 would be some way. I only thought that it 
 might prove a good opportunity to teach you 
 boys to think when you are in a corner instead 
 of getting muddled. It was n't much of a lesson 
 or much of an emergency. Perhaps this was all 
 no
 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. in 
 
 the better. It is a good way to begin with small 
 things, and by them learn to manage larger 
 things. The alder bridge was only one thing I 
 thought of while we were chatting and plan- 
 ning. I took that because it gave all something 
 to do." 
 
 "What other way was there?" asked 
 Chumpy. 
 
 Mr. Armour pointed to what had been a 
 small tree, but having been uprooted, it had lain 
 where it fell until most of the branches, and 
 part of the top had rotted away. 
 
 "There," said he, "is a bridge ready made. 
 Probably we would u't have to go far to find 
 others. My first thought when I found there 
 was too much mud for you to jump, was to 
 jump over myself, and find something like that 
 half-rotten tree, and drag it along for you to use 
 as a bridge. I '11 warrant we could devise 
 another way if there was any need." 
 
 " 'Course we could," chimed in Edward. 
 " Just see there " pointing to four thin, flat 
 stones that looked like layers split from a seamy 
 ledge. " I could take and lay one out about two 
 feet from the edge, step on it, and lay down 
 another about as far off. The four of 'em would 
 let me go across." 
 
 "You make me think of Pomp's conun- 
 drum," responded Mr. Armour. " He asked,
 
 112 ROCKTON. 
 
 Sambo, ' How 'am it dat de squirr'l dig he hole, 
 an' he doan'd leab no dirt round de outsides?' 
 Samlx) gave it up, and Pomp told him he man- 
 aged it by beginning at the other end. ' How 's 
 him git dar?' Sambo asked. Pomp shook his 
 head solemnly, and answered : ' Bar's de mis- 
 t'ry, Sambo, dar's de mist'ry.' Here are flat 
 stones enough to build Edward's bridge, but 
 how could he have got across to get the 
 stones?" 
 
 The boy was equal to this emergency for he 
 replied : 
 
 " I took you along to do that." 
 
 This greatly amused Mr. Armour who told 
 the boys that he thought he owed them a treat, 
 and asked them which they would have, "berries 
 or water." 
 
 " Say berries, boys," Benjamin eagerly im- 
 plored which they did. 
 
 " I guess you will cry louder for water after 
 you get the berries," prophesied Mr. Armour, 
 as he led the way to a small clearing where 
 the wintergreen was plentiful, the red berries 
 peeping from under the waxy green leaves. 
 " Fall to, now, and help yourselves as fast as 
 possible, for, like an extra fast express, we only 
 stop five minutes for this kind of refreshment." 
 
 Then began a hasty scrambling during which 
 the purveyor of the pleasure gave himself up to
 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. 113 
 
 the enjoyment of the scene. The afternoon air 
 was delightfully warm. The west wind was 
 slightly swaying the tree-tops, and with its 
 gentle breath prevented oppressive heat. The 
 sun was thrusting long, slant bars of light 
 through the trees that already were beginning 
 to deck themselves with tender foliage. There 
 were a thousand odors blending together to fill 
 with incense the " templed grove." The songs 
 of birds were not wanting to add melody Lo 
 beauty. There was a sound of life all around 
 as if the world were awaking from sleep to 
 general activity. The listening ear caught the 
 faint hum and drone of insects amid louder 
 and shriller sounds. From a tree-top a thrush 
 sent forth a song of praise, singing in spring- 
 time joy as only a thrush can sing. But the 
 sun's rays were far too level for extended enjoy- 
 ment of what grew more delightful with every 
 moment. The warning "Time's up!" called the 
 boys to resume their walk. 
 
 " They are awful thick, ain't they?" Edward 
 affirmed, and asked in the same breath. To this 
 Mr. Armour replied : 
 
 " They are pretty plenty for this region." 
 
 "Did you ever see them thicker?" inquired 
 Benjamin. 
 
 " Yes," was the answer. " Several times I 
 have seen them in great abundance. I was 
 
 10
 
 1 14 ROCKTON. 
 
 taking a short vacation, some years ago, in the 
 eastern part of Maine. The youngest son of the 
 gentleman with whom I was staying found out 
 I enjoyed fishing, and proposed to take me back 
 into the woods a dozen or fifteen miles, where, 
 he said, I could catch plenty of trout. I had a 
 magnificent ride over a grass-grown country 
 road, and found the stream, but I did n't find 
 any trout. Nothing bit but the flies. I whipped 
 the water until I was disgusted, and then 
 reeled up my line, took my rod apart, and said 
 I had all the fishing I wished. My young friend 
 went to the wagon and brought out some boxes 
 that proved to be packed with eatables. We 
 took an hour for that dinner, and it was one of 
 the very best I ever ate. The boxes, that were 
 full when we began, were nearly empty, while 
 the men that were empty when we began, felt 
 more than full when we were done. Indeed, 
 the reason we were done was because we were 
 so very full. Then we lolled back in the sun, 
 and I took a short nap. When I woke up I 
 thought I would look around a bit. I presume 
 there was n't a house within half-a-dozen miles 
 at the least. The land had been cleared that 
 is, the timber had been cut off. There was a 
 very small and very straggling second growth. 
 Not a hundred yards from where we ate our 
 dinner I found a strip of land fairly red with
 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. 115 
 
 wintergreen berries. Every little stalk appeared 
 to be heavy with them. I called my friend to 
 bring the boxes, and we went to work and picked 
 for a quarter of an hour, possibly a little longer, 
 until it occurred to rne that there was nothing 
 they could be used for " 
 
 " Couldn't you eat them ?" interrupted Ben- 
 jamin. 
 
 "O yes, and I could eat dry peas, and for a 
 steady diet I think I should much prefer them 
 to the berries. I asked the young man if he 
 knew anything that could be done with them. 
 He said they might be fed to the hens, but was 
 suspicious that this might prove fatal to them. 
 But I told him it would never do to spend a 
 day fishing, and carry nothing home, so he put 
 the boxes in the wagon. How the girls laughed 
 when we got back and jolly, healthy, whole- 
 some, sensible girls they were too to see those 
 red berries! They said they believed they never 
 had seen so many in all their lives. They were 
 not little red bits, about the size of bird-shot. A 
 large part of them were as big as medium-sized 
 cranberries. One of the girls got a half-peck 
 measure, and emptied our boxes into it, and it was 
 heaping full. They kept them for a day or two, 
 and showed them to the neighbors when they 
 called; but what they did with them after that I 
 never knew. But let 's be moving."
 
 1 1 6 ROCKTON. 
 
 <( I hope it will be water," said Benjamin ; 
 " I 'in dry as a fish." 
 
 " If I remember, you are the boy who voted 
 unanimously for berries." 
 
 " Yes, sir, I 've got them, too ; and now I want 
 to give them a soaking." 
 
 He was promised a chance to test his power 
 of absorption, when he should have gone a little 
 further, which assurance was equally grateful to 
 all the boys. Edward was for stripping off his 
 jacket he was so warm. Mr. Armour vetoed 
 this, .but remarked that looser garments were 
 preferable in vigorous exercise or on long 
 tramps. This started the chubby fellow on a 
 new line. With characteristic energy he urged 
 that The Jolly Quintet, having a peculiar name, 
 ought by all means to provide itself with a suit- 
 able dress to be its ornament and distinction, 
 when, as he said, " Instead of being just boys, 
 we are a Quintet." This rather incoherent 
 speech, or rather the dress it was intended to 
 advocate, received the hearty approval of three 
 of the boys, Bernard only remaining silent. 
 Mr. Armour, with one of his queer smiles, no- 
 ticed a double expression on his face. There 
 certainly was a look of approval ; but over this 
 was spread a dubious shadow quite droll to see. 
 
 Bernard Walters was a manly little fellow, 
 and loved his mother, and this all the more
 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. 117 
 
 that she was poor and worked hard to care for 
 him and a younger sister. Mrs. Walters was 
 a quiet, sweet-faced woman, who lived in a 
 bit of a cottage in Northville. She was com- 
 paratively a new-comer. Her history has noth- 
 ing romantic or strange in it. An elder brother 
 and herself had been left orphans when quite 
 young, and had been cared for by a maiden 
 aunt. Her brother chose to follow the sea, and 
 she, when her aunt died, leaving her at the age 
 of twenty-three years, married a young man ot 
 estimable character, an orphan like herself, but 
 of not very robust health. The attachment be- 
 tween the brother and sister was very strong, 
 and he insisted that the newly married couple 
 should remove to the vicinity of New York City, 
 where he could make his home with them when 
 on shore. He claimed that this was their duty, 
 as he never intended to marry. He did more 
 than urge. He found a small business, just 
 suited to his brother-in-law's taste and strength, 
 and bought out the proprietor. He prepared a 
 snug little home, and then extended the young 
 people's honeymoon by going after them, and 
 bringing them, bag and baggage to it. Here 
 they lived for years. Bernard, named for his 
 uncle, was born, and grew to be a lively little 
 fellow, nearly ten years of age. Carrie, his 
 blue-eyed sister, was nearly four years younger.
 
 Il8 ROCKTON. 
 
 Captain Cherington having assumed com- 
 mand of a very large ship, planned an extended 
 voyage. Hardly had he sailed when a fire broke 
 out in a neighbor's house, and Mr. Walters 
 overtaxed himself in helping clear it. The 
 sickness which followed was too much for his 
 frail constitution, and in two months he was 
 dead. Mrs. Walters was fever-stricken, and for 
 weeks was very ill. When she could leave her 
 bed, she found her affairs were not very pros- 
 perous. Heavy expenses had been incurred, the 
 business had suffered for want of attention, and 
 the lease of the house in which she lived was 
 nearly expired. 
 
 During all this time she heard nothing from 
 her brother. At length she was forced to sell 
 the business, and when she had paid all her 
 debts, she found that she had comparatively but a 
 small amount of money left. She waited in 
 vain to hear from Captain Cherington. At 
 length, as she came fully to face the fact that 
 she must find means to support herself and 
 children, she determined to return to her early 
 home, thinking that perhaps she might find it 
 less expensive living, and could more readily 
 obtain work. 
 
 A lady in the train on which she traveled 
 had a sick child. She insisted on caring for it, 
 while the wearied mother rested. The result of
 
 SPXING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. 119 
 
 tins, very naturally, was womanly exchange of 
 confidences. Mrs. Avery fell in love with the 
 sweet-faced little widow, and insisted that Rock- 
 ton would be just the place for her to find a 
 home. Indeed, she confided to her new friend 
 that Mr. Avery had a small cottage that would 
 be "just the thing," and he strange inconsist- 
 ency thought so little of it that he would sell 
 it, she was sure, at a very low price. This ex- 
 plains why Mrs. Walters was living in a very 
 cozy and very little cottage on Linden Street, 
 in the eastern part of the Northville portion of 
 Rockton. 
 
 Somehow she had even more than enough 
 money to buy it, and could put in the bank a 
 few hundred in case a "rainy day" should 
 come; although it must be evident to all who 
 have read this short history that she had already 
 had her share of aqueous weather. 
 
 When she took possession of her new home 
 she undertook fine sewing as a means of sup- 
 port, but in a little while she discovered that 
 there was more money and less "wear and tear" 
 in the wash-tub. She was a sensible woman. 
 She wanted all the money she could earn, and 
 she wished to do it as easily as possible. Hence 
 it is to be set down to her credit that she be- 
 came a washerwoman and laundress. Hence, 
 also, it happened that while Bernard had plenty
 
 120 ROCKTON. 
 
 to eat and serviceable clothes, he had to work 
 as well as play, and had but little money for fun. 
 
 Perhaps all this veritable history passed 
 through Mr. Armour's mind as he listened to 
 the chat of the boys and watched Bernard's face 
 as he trudged silently along; then again, possi- 
 bly not. All the same, he was a large-hearted 
 man. Every reader must have long ago discov- 
 ered this. "Quick-witted, too." Yes, more than 
 this, he was sharp-witted. His answer to the 
 urgent questions of Edward and others shows 
 this. He said : 
 
 "You have started something I shall want 
 to think over. You know the old man who 
 wanted the boy to cry 'Boo!' to the colt he was 
 breaking, and got tumbled off, complained that 
 it was 'too big a boo for so small a colt.' We 
 do n't want them making fun of us. I '11 tell 
 you what I will do. Some time next week I 
 shall be down town. I '11 have Bernard meet 
 me, and I will use him to try things on. If I 
 can find what I want, I '11 dress him up ; and 
 then, if you all like the style, you can copy it. 
 If I do n't find what suits me, I will order to 
 my notion, and of a size that will fit Bernard. 
 I wish you to see just how everything looks be- 
 fore you adopt it. Bernard shall be my lay 
 figure; and I '11 appoint him my orderly, to carry 
 my hatchet, or anything else I may choose. To
 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. 121 
 
 pay him for all the work he will have to 
 do, I shall let him keep the samples that 
 is, if you go in for them when you see them. 
 If" 
 
 Seldom is a subject so abruptly dropped. 
 Benjamin let out a blood-curdling screech, and 
 sprang ahead as if shot from a catapult. Great 
 was the merriment when the frightened boy con- 
 fessed that he thought a snake was after him. 
 Eager to hear all Mr. Armour said, he had dis- 
 turbed a long crooked stick, that lay under the 
 bushes and leaves in such a way as to suggest 
 to his ear and eye a big snake. Adolphus told 
 him it was men with the delirium tremens that 
 were in the habit of " seeing snakes." What- 
 ever more of fun might have arisen from this 
 little scare it is impossible to say, for at that 
 moment the busy eyes of Mr. Armour made a 
 discovery which proved a diversion, although it 
 was somewhat in the line of young Grant's re- 
 mark. In a hollow place, under a decaying 
 stump, were three flat pint-bottles of very dark 
 green glass. Bernard suggested that they should 
 be smashed. Adolphus, who was rather bookish 
 for his years which fact, by the way, was far 
 from being to his discredit put in as a counter- 
 suggestion that they leave them for the discov- 
 ery and astonishment of later generations, who 
 in their superior knowledge, might imagine that
 
 122 ROCKTON. 
 
 they had found relics of the pre-Adamite age. 
 To this Mr. Armour responded: 
 
 " They are in a sense this now. If Adam 
 and Eve were tempted by Satan, he surely 
 must have been a pre-Adamite hater of our race. 
 The wine-cup is rightly called, ' the cup of 
 devils.' Alcohol is the most fatal agent Satan 
 employs. In this sense these whisky-flasks are 
 relics of the work of pre-Adamite evil. Think 
 Of human beings guzzling such stuff ! I heard 
 a man talking to some boys and girls at a tem- 
 perance-meeting in a country town. He said 
 very many bright things I have forgotten, but 
 one I specially remember because it was so apt. 
 He stopped short, and was silent for a moment, 
 which was a very good way to get attention. 
 Then he asked: 'Children, do you know how 
 a farmer can have a big, fat hog ?' Every child 
 pricked up his ears, and every farmer in the 
 audience besides. 'Who will tell me?' was his 
 next question. The big boys were shy, and hung 
 down their heads, but a little girl squeaked out 
 1 1 know, Mister.' ( All right,' he said, ' you tell 
 us, my dear.' ' Well,' answered the feminine 
 mite, ' yo dit a 'ittle, weeny teenty pid, and dust 
 dive it all it will eat, and it will drow a bid hod 
 its own self.' How the hard-headed farmers 
 roared and stamped ! The old town hall fairly 
 shook. Everybody saw the point. There is to
 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. 123 
 
 me something very swinish about drunkenness. 
 Some vices seem to require brains ; none are 
 needed for the development of the drink vice. 
 If you wish to be clean, sensible, true men, be 
 teetotalers all your days." 
 
 "I wonder where temperance people got 
 that word," said Adolplms. " I heard somebody 
 say that he saw in a paper that they got the 
 word because some people would n't drink any- 
 thing stronger than tea so they were called 
 tert-totalers. Is that so Mr. Armour?" 
 
 "No," was the reply; "I heard Mr. Gough 
 say that it originated at a meeting in Preston, 
 at which Mr. Joseph Livesey presided. A man 
 named Dickey Turner said : " Mr. Chairman, I 
 finds as how the lads gets drunk on ale and 
 cider, and we can 't keep 'em sober unless we 
 have the pledge total ; yes, Mr. Chairman, 
 tee-tee-total.' 'Well done, Dickey,' said Mr. 
 Livesey, ' we will have it teetotal.' This must be 
 correct, for Webster says the word was formed 
 'by reduplicating for the sake of emphasis 
 the initial letter of the adjective total? . But 
 this will do for the present lectures must never 
 be too long. The next thing in order will be 
 the spring." 
 
 By this time The Quintet had followed its 
 leader up a gradual ascent to the top of a high 
 strip of land which lifted itself, bluff-like, above
 
 124 ROCKTON. 
 
 diverging gorges and ravines on the east. After 
 allowing a moment's pause to admire the view, 
 he said : 
 
 "There was a spring under this cliff last 
 year, and must be now, unless Dame Nature, 
 in a fit of spleen, has dried it up. I '11 explore 
 a bit and report." 
 
 Descending rapidly by points of the ledge 
 that cropped out on the precipitous face of the 
 cliff, he was not long in gaining a level plat or 
 shelf, supporting a deeper soil, where the abun- 
 dance and greenness of the grass was evi- 
 dence of a corresponding abundance of warmth 
 and moisture. His cheery shout, "Here it is!" 
 was precisely what might be expected as the 
 result of his search. Directing the boys to 
 move along the summit a little way towards 
 the southwest where the descent could more 
 easily be made, he watched them as they 
 scrambled no, this is a mistake ; to scramble is 
 to go up he watched them as they dangled, 
 slipped, slid, dropped, and eased themselves 
 down. This omnifarious feat was accomplished 
 with safety by all, except James Mears. He, 
 with characteristic persistency in blundering, 
 very nearly brought himself to grief. It was a 
 close shave for the young shaver. When the 
 proper path for descent had been indicated, this 
 headlong youngster, with his usual precipitancy.
 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. 125 
 
 made a dive for the face of the little precipice, 
 with a reckless boast that he would be first 
 down. Immediately there was some loosened 
 dirt, and stones, and more boy there were legs 
 and arms enough for half a dozen boys in a 
 squalling pigmy avalanche that brought up in a 
 clump of bushes, where it stuck fast, and kicked, 
 and hung suspended, and squealed. The slow- 
 but-sure way was altogether the quickest, if not 
 the shortest, and all the other boys were down 
 (safely as has been said) before down fallen, 
 crestfallen, and dirty James had extricated 
 himself frcm the really friendly bushes which 
 had received his downfalling body with liter- 
 ally outstretched arms. He had lost his cap 
 his jacket was half-way over his head, his face 
 wore a sorry, disappointed look, and he was 
 feeling himself over as if counting the various 
 parts of his anatomy to discover which of them 
 might be missing or broken. Bernard picked 
 up his cap and clapped it on his confused little 
 head ; Adolphus pulled down his jacket. Ed- 
 ward fell to dusting him off; while Benjamin 
 sympathetically tendered him the solace of 
 the remnant of a cake which he, in a fit of gen- 
 erosity, had borrowed from the remnants of 
 Bernard's luncheon. 
 
 Mr. Armour was laughing ; if it was wrong, 
 the fact must not be disguised. It was something
 
 1 26 ROCKTON. 
 
 of a dangerous tumble , but, then, it was so 
 comical! And poor James stood with such a 
 woe-begone droop in his body ! and there was 
 such a look on his face ! Half-mournful, half- 
 tickled, half-hurt how many halves is this ? 
 half-vexed and half-ashamed, while over all was 
 a silly, serious, -apprehensive and imploring 
 " I 'm a little donkey, but do n't-tell-on-me- 
 p-1-e-a-s-e " expression that was altogether 
 "too funny for anything." If it was wrong, as 
 a matter of sentiment, for Mr. Armour to laugh, 
 as a matter of feeling and fact he could n't help 
 it. Why, a wooden man would have laughed 
 could he have seen the fun. This being so, our 
 tall friend must be absolved. At any rate he 
 laughed. Then he sat down on a big stone, and 
 laughed some more. When the original boy, 
 who had been lost to sight in the heedless ca- 
 tastrophe, was at least partially restored, he said : 
 
 " James, you make me think of a man who 
 slipped at the top of a long flight of hotel stairs, 
 and bumped all the way to the bottom. The 
 clerk, porter, and all hands started to help him ; 
 but he looked up at them with a face as solemn 
 as a grave-stone, and said : ' Did n't I do it 
 slick ? That 's the way I always come down 
 stairs.' " 
 
 James grinned a little sheepishly, it must 
 be admitted and then all " made tracks " for
 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. 127 
 
 the spring, which was in a little basin under the 
 shelter of a slanting rock. By this time Ben- 
 jamin's berries had been eaten long enough 
 really to need a soaking. When all were sat- 
 isfied, Mr. Armour led them around under the 
 cliff a little further, and pointed down into a 
 ravine of considerable extent, and told them 
 that the water from the spring found its way 
 into it, when, with water added from other springs, 
 it became a small brook. Into this ravine he 
 proposed to descend, and in it, to spend a short 
 time before returning home. Before this was 
 done he said: 
 
 "My dear young friends, hear words of wis- 
 dom. When you undertake anything, be sure 
 you know how to do it. Always find out the 
 best way. Now, if we find spring flowers, we 
 must get them home fresh and bright. Most 
 people, when they gather them, carry them 
 round in their warm hands until they become 
 wilted and faded." Here, he took from his 
 pocket a reel, wound with small, soft twine, 
 which he unwound, cutting it in lengths of two 
 feet or more. When he had given several of these 
 to each boy, he further explained: "When you 
 have gathered a fair bunch of flowers wind a 
 string around the stems, and tie it, leaving ends 
 enough to hang il to a button or button-hole. 
 In this way you will keep the flowers as cool as
 
 128 ROCKTON. 
 
 possible, carry them downwards as you ought, 
 and at the same time have your hands free to 
 pick more. This will also keep the different 
 kinds separate and allow them to be arranged at 
 leisure." To illustrate his meaning he tied to- 
 gether a bunch of common saxifrage, which he 
 had gathered while the boys were drinking at 
 the spring, and making a loop with the ends of 
 the string he drew it tightly over a button of 
 his coat. " Now, you see," he continued, " I 've 
 a nice little nosegay made of about the sweetest 
 of our early spring flowers, that 'most anybody's 
 sister would be pleased to wear to church to- 
 morrow." 
 
 The ravine into which the happy boys were 
 led was not amazing and overwhelming in its 
 magnitude like the great gorges of the West, 
 but was a quiet, romantic nook, such as lovers of 
 the beautiful delight in. It descended gradually 
 for perhaps a third of a mile, narrow all the 
 way, yet widening a little as it opened into lower 
 land at the southeast. A very little brook 
 tinkled along amid the stones near the middle. 
 On either side of this, and slightly above it, the 
 ground was comparatively level, which was in 
 turn bordered by the sides of the ravine that 
 rose abruptly like walls. The latter had small 
 trees growing in their fissures, and were tapes- 
 tried all over with mosses and ferns. High over
 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. 129 
 
 head the trees were bright in the beams of the 
 descending sun, while a faint, golden, mist-like 
 splendor was shed downwards into the bosky 
 depths. 
 
 When The Quintet with rapid steps had 
 covered fully half of the length of the ravine, 
 Mr. Armour called a halt, and bade the boys 
 look along the ground before them. It was, in 
 spots, fairly blue with patches of the loveliest 
 and most modest of spring flowers. In our 
 rough Eastern climate, none blossom earlier, and 
 none repay more fully with their beauty those 
 who seek them. 
 
 "What are they?" asked Edward. 
 
 " Hepatica," replied Mr. Armour. " They 
 are wonderful little flowers, in my eyes, and 
 are of many shades, as you will see when you 
 gather them. It is very seldom they grow so 
 large and plentifully as they do here. It is the 
 best spot for them I know. Now, let every boy 
 get a big bunch, and then I will show you some- 
 thing else." 
 
 Following his own orders, he busied himself 
 in gathering, here and there, of the largest and 
 most variously tinted blossoms until he had a 
 cluster suited to his fancy, which he hung to a 
 button after the manner of the saxifrage. When 
 he called the boys together he sent Adolphus 
 across the brook to find a perfect leaf of the
 
 130 ROCKTON. 
 
 plant on that side, and asked Bernard to find 
 one on the side where they had gathered their 
 flowers. When they returned, each with a leaf, 
 Mr. Armour was standing with his back towards 
 them. He said : 
 
 " You may put the leaves in the hands of 
 the other boys, and I can tell which side each 
 leaf came from." 
 
 The boys had their heads together instantly, 
 and when they had arranged the leaves in a way 
 they thought would prevent his guessing cor- 
 rectly, told him they were "ready." They had 
 laid the leaves together on a flat stone. Mr. 
 Armour picked- one up, and said : 
 
 " This grew on this side, and," picking up 
 the other " this youngster, you thought you 
 could swindle me this grew on this side, too." 
 The boys stared with astonishment, and then 
 laughed. u You thought you would catch me. 
 Now I '11 tell you what to do. One of you has 
 the leaf from the other side. I '11 turn around 
 no, I '11 walk away and you may get a dozen 
 leaves from this side, mind, and put the other 
 leaf with them, and I will pick it out the first 
 time." 
 
 He walked away briskly while the boys ar- 
 ranged for the trial. When he came back there 
 were several leaves on the stone. He looked at 
 them, put his finger on one, and said : " That is
 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. 131 
 
 the leaf that Adolphus picked on the other side." 
 The boys were still more astonished. Edward 
 wanted to know how he guessed. " I did n't 
 guess," said Mr Armour; "I know the dif- 
 ference. See, here,' and he held two leaves 
 out. " Can't you see these leaves are not alike ?" 
 
 Adolphus looked at them closely, and replied : 
 " This one is sharper-pointed than the other." 
 
 "Exactly," said Mr. Armour. "When a 
 leaf grows on a north slope of a ravine or hill, 
 it grows pointed like this, but when it grows 
 on a south slope like the one over there, it 
 grows with rounded lobes like the one you 
 brought. So you can tell the difference now as 
 well as I can." 
 
 "Why do they grow so?" inquired Bernard. 
 
 "That reminds me of something bright," 
 said Mr. Armour. " I read the other day that ' It 
 is the Why's boy that asks the questions.' I do n't 
 know why these leaves grow so. I never met 
 any one who could tell me. But come along ; 
 I 've more beauties to show you." 
 
 Crossing the tiny brook and following its 
 course for a few moments they did, indeed, find 
 more beauties, for they saw, all around, the lovely 
 wax-white blossoms of Bloodroot. It seemed 
 true, as Benjamin said, that there was "no end 
 to 'em." These flowers were unusually large. 
 More string was soon called for, and " I 've got
 
 132 ROCKTON. 
 
 enough," the general affirmation. It required 
 but a short time to ascend the ravine on the 
 side on which they found these flowers. When 
 they gained the top of its wall, the spring 
 w.here they drank was half a mile on the left. 
 They were making a straight path towards the 
 rustic bridge, and Edward, running beside Mr. 
 Armour, was wishing they " could have 'nother 
 adventure," when a strange sound a little off 
 their course arrested their attention. Edward 
 did n't run so fast, but asked : " Was n't it a 
 wild bull?" Benjamin thought it "couldn't be 
 a bear." Mr. Armour said : " It sounds more 
 like crocodiles. Do n't they cry, Edward ?" 
 This young gentleman allowed himself ignorant 
 of most of the habits of these scaly creatures. 
 Then Mr. Armour proposed that they should 
 investigate a little. They had not gone far 
 when the sound became much louder. It was a 
 downright roar. There was also a rushing and 
 thrashing in the bushes as though something 
 yes, two somethings were coming. Edward 
 and James had (< changed front " and gone " to 
 the rear." Bernard had picked up a stick. The 
 roaring increased ; the thrashing likewise ; the 
 bushes waved, and a boy and a girl rather a 
 girl and boy, for she was much the taller, 
 rushed out. Both were boo-hoo-ing with terrific 
 energy. The girl, as soon as she saw Mr. Ar-
 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. 133 
 
 mour, rushed at him boo-hoo-ing still louder, 
 and begged him to show her the way home. 
 The boy stopped his bellowing, and looked 
 sheepish. Edward said he had seen him before, 
 and knew that he was a Rockton boy. After 
 awhile the whole story came out. The boy 
 was some eight or nine years old, and as solidly 
 built as young Holt. His sister was about 
 eleven years old, and as Benjamin said, "as slim 
 as a slate-pencil." For her age she was extraor- 
 dinarily tall. They had started out for a walk 
 in the woods, got turned around, and so had 
 been running away from home in a vain attempt 
 to reach it ; and had bellowed themselves hoarse 
 in their fright. It was hard work to get them 
 headed right. They insisted that Rockton was 
 away to the east, but at length concluded to fol- 
 low The Quintet. The boy proved to be a ter- 
 rific brag. He so far recovered as to assert that 
 he had n't been scared, and had n't been lost. 
 "'Twas only Polly making the touse." He 
 knew the way home "just like a book." 
 Adolphus whispered to Bernard that probably 
 this was so, and that he did n't believe he could 
 read anything but the primer. After they had 
 crossed the alder bridge the boy declared he 
 knew the way, and when they reached the bars 
 Mr. Armour told him as he knew the way he 
 had better start along ; which he did, turning
 
 134 ROCKTON. 
 
 to the east, the girl following. When The 
 Quintet and its leader faced to the west, and 
 were under way, the girl turned and ran after 
 them. As she overtook them she asked Mr. 
 Armour: 
 
 "Do you live in Rockton?" 
 
 " Yes," he answered. 
 
 " Are you going there now ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Then I 'm going with you. That fool 
 does n't know the way." 
 
 This was evident enough. After a bit he 
 came scampering behind. For a wonder he held 
 his tongue all the way into Northville, where 
 he left, following his sister, who from thence 
 knew the way home. 
 
 The sun had gone down when they entered 
 the village. Mr. Armour turned up Linden 
 Street with Bernard ; probably to smooth the 
 way for the new uniform. 
 
 As Edward and James, having said good 
 night to Adolphus and Benjamin, had nearly 
 reached the foot of Ridge Street, Annis Crab 
 met and halted them. She hoped they hadn't 
 " been in any scrapes." James chuckled, and 
 said : " We 've been in lots of them." The care- 
 less boy evidently thought of several strips of 
 scraped cuticle he at that moment possessed. 
 The sharp, green eyes of Annis made an-
 
 SPRING BEAUTIES IN BLOOM. 135 
 
 other discovery. Each boy had a bunch of 
 flowers. Just before they entered the village The 
 Quintet had halted, and e,ach member had put 
 all his flowers into one bunch, and carried them 
 in his hand. The remarkable fact that Annis 
 discovered was, that Edward had two bunches, 
 and one was very fine, indeed. She begged for 
 one, but the boy was stubborn. James's eyes 
 twinkled, for he had seen those flowers before ; 
 and he remembered that when Mr. Armour left 
 them his hands were empty. The next morn- 
 ing when Annis, who was late in church, looked 
 up at the choir, she whispered to herself: "Bless 
 my soul, if Sarah Holt is n't prinked out with 
 spring flowers. Gracious 1 I've seen those very 
 flowers before."
 
 ainui jfi tfi vVV yy* <o<*J -< joe VV< 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A VERY RAINY SPELL. 
 
 WHEW \ How it rained ! Smiling May 
 forsooth I Instead of a gay, laugh- 
 ing, winsome maid, this was a doleful dam- 
 sel, dissolved in tears of the wettest kind 
 of weeping. Did it rain? Well, occasion- 
 ally, but the most of the time for days, it 
 was too busy pouring to attend to such trifling. 
 " Never seed such a fust of May in all my 
 born days," growled the oldest inhabitant as he 
 mopped the donation of a small cataract out of 
 the back of his neck. Solomon Whagg, with a 
 pair of big spectacles on his nose, and a lugu- 
 brious pucker on his face, sat day by day in his 
 house, without the faintest attempt at a joke. 
 He divided his time between his paper and the 
 weather, peering anxiously over his glasses now 
 and then, to see if there were any signs of its 
 breaking away. On the fifth day he took from 
 its nail " The Old Farmer's Almanac," and read 
 the astonishing prognostication, " Look out 
 136
 
 A VERY RAINY SPELL. 137 
 
 for raiii about this time," which stretched 
 from the first to about the middle of May, 
 whereupon the aforesaid pucker condensed into 
 a long, pathetic whistle, which at the end, as if 
 rightly to balance itself, broadened out into a 
 testy " Pshaw !" and a snort of disgust. So 
 unusual a display of temper in this renowned 
 humorist spread a questioning look of astonish- 
 ment over the usually placid features of good- 
 natured, matter-of-fact Mrs. Whagg. This found 
 its answer as her perturbed husband read and 
 commented: '"Look out' yes, look out! Did 
 any one ever see nastier weather? 'for rain.' 
 Rain! Mercy sakes, old lady ; this is n't a rain, 
 it's a deluge." 
 
 Looking from School Street up Linden Street 
 there was a small, blurred, whitish something 
 which showed itself faintly through the falling 
 torrents. Inside the little cottage, fires were 
 burning, and all the available space was hung 
 with newly-washed clothes in what Mrs. Wal- 
 ters called a " dismal attempt to make fair 
 weather ;" but this remark was very nearly the 
 only dry thing in the room. There was a wist- 
 ful expression in Bernard's eyes as he chucked 
 a fresh supply of wood into the stove ; but it 
 changed to a gleam of humor as he said : 
 " There 's soft water enough to run our business 
 for a year, mother." 
 
 12
 
 138 ROCKTON. 
 
 There were no eager conferences in corners 
 of the School Street play-grounds, for these were 
 nearly in condition for aquatic sports ; and the 
 instant school was dismissed every boy scudded 
 for home without as much as a good-bye to his 
 mates. 
 
 Adolphus bravely busied himself with his 
 books, but poor Benjamin was too much dispir- 
 ited to eat his usual allowance. 
 
 Granny Norcross fretted and fumed, snuffed 
 and scolded, until she made the atmosphere so 
 sultry as almost to drive the rest of the family 
 out into the rain. Annis Crab put on rubber 
 boots and a water-proof gossamer, and started 
 out for a constitutional. She had not gone far 
 when an unpleasant sense of coldness and wet- 
 ness across her shoulders set her to berating 
 Jabez Long for selling her goods that were not 
 water-proof. If truth must be told, she bought 
 this very gossamer for a birthday present for 
 herself when she was seventeen years old, and 
 now she is but it is unfair to tell! It sur- 
 prised her deaf old mother to see her returned 
 so soon. The only explanation she gave was 
 that it rained " too hard for anybody to get into 
 any sort of a scrape." 
 
 Jabez Long was in blissful ignorance of the 
 anathemas irate Annis launched at him. He 
 thought he had done a fair stroke of business,
 
 A VERY RAINY SPELL. 139 
 
 for he had loaned a half-dozen umbrellas, and 
 put a little drab waterpoof over the dripping 
 form of seven-year-old Mamie Brown, whose 
 father had been for months laid np by a bad 
 fall, and told her never to let him see her out 
 in a rainy day without it. In the absence of 
 any other customers, he perched himself on his 
 counter, drummed with his heels, rubbed his fat 
 hands together, chuckled, whistled, nodded, 
 winked, and smiled as he thought of good things 
 to do, when it should clear off. Outside the store 
 it was dark almost to twilight gloom, but inside 
 there was plenty of sunshine. At any rate, Mr. 
 Armour who came in, dripping like a great New- 
 foundland dog fresh from a bath, felt a sense of 
 June warmth and brightness as soon as he en- 
 tered. It would have been rare sport to be behind 
 the piles of sheetings and calicoes, and seen and 
 heard these cronies confabulating. They plotted 
 plenty of mischief that Annis never could find 
 out, and nobody ever knew except those who 
 were benefited by it. 
 
 But was n't Ridge Street catching it ! It 
 seemed just floating away by itself a soaked, 
 dreary island in an ocean of mist, through which 
 the town below could but vaguely be seen. Sarah 
 Holt, as she looked out upon it, said it made her 
 think of Ararat, where Noah's ark found the top 
 of it sticking out of the water.
 
 140 ROCKTON. 
 
 James Mears was so utterly disheartened 
 that he absolutely forgot to blunder, and sat so 
 still that baby Harry undertook to supply this 
 deficiency by climbing into his lap and tumbling 
 out. This feat successfully accomplished, he 
 sat on the floor and added a succession of squalls 
 to the tempest without, and these brought Mrs. 
 Mears upon the scene, and unlucky James to 
 additional grief. 
 
 Of all our boys, it must be allowed, Edward 
 Holt was as little annoyed as any, except per- 
 haps young Grant. Circumstances, as we have 
 seen, had tended to develop the selfish side of 
 his nature. He was in many ways bright and 
 sharp, but was very slow with his books. This 
 was due, largely, to the fact that, unlike many 
 other children, he could not readily commit to 
 memory what he did not understand. When he 
 saw clearly the reason for a thing he never for- 
 got. So far grammar was a muddle, and he 
 stuck at words. All this gave his father no 
 concern. He said: "Edward is bright enough. 
 By and by he will see into things, and will sur- 
 prise us with his progress." 
 
 So it came about that he tried his boyish 
 philosophy on the gloomy weather, and succeeded 
 in behaving himself much better than many 
 older people in Rockton. Possibly Miss Sarah 
 Mr. Holt sometimes called her "Sunshine "
 
 ' A VERY RAINY SPELL. 141 
 
 helped him. The dampness had kinked her fair 
 hair into a bewitching mass of dainty little curls, 
 and she went around the house singing like a 
 bird. She bantered Edward about projected 
 tramps, and proposed in view of the depressing 
 effect of the weather, that the boys call them- 
 selves "The Grumpy Quintet.'' It was in no 
 small degree amusing to watch this young phi- 
 losopher in his mental struggles to solve some 
 knotty question Embargoed by the storm, 
 he had ample time for such intellectual em- 
 ployment. How he sat and pondered ! To 
 help himself out, he crossed his legs, and 
 clasped his knee with his hands. Boys imitate 
 their elders, and in this trick he was uncon- 
 sciously copying his father. His freckled fore- 
 head was corrugated in puzzled lines ; his eyes 
 half-shut; his lips tightly pursed indeed, the 
 whole boy was a very comical example of pro- 
 found mental absorption. 
 
 "Say, Sarah," he said, after a long spell of 
 cogitating abstraction " What is unselfishness, 
 any way?" 
 
 It is to be hoped that all have learned that 
 this young woman was both clear-headed and 
 quick-witted. Hence it was her answer to Ed- 
 ward's question was indirect, 
 
 "What do you think it is, brother?" 
 
 " Dun 'no 's I know."
 
 142 ROCKTON. 
 
 "Never mind, if you don't know all you 
 wish. Just tell me what you think." 
 
 Edward hugged his knee a little closer, nod- 
 ded his head as he thought, and finally replied : 
 
 " Ain't it for a feller to forget to think about 
 himself, and think about other folks?" 
 
 Many sisters who think they have plenty of 
 good sense, would have shown their want of it 
 just here by pulling Edward up short, and lec- 
 turing him sharply on his inexcusably bad gram- 
 mar. Not so, Sarah Holt. She had been well 
 taught, and had a fine sense of propriety in the 
 use of words. She often wondered why her 
 brother was so heedless. She was very careful, 
 when with him, to speak correctly, hoping that 
 his imitativeness might help correct his glaring 
 fault. She was equal to occasional lectures, as 
 will be seen, but she was also wise enough to 
 know that right thoughts and right moral direc- 
 tion are of first importance. Had she " pitched 
 into " Edward about his string of grammatical er- 
 rors, he might have been cross, he would not 
 have pondered longer on the vital importance of 
 unselfishness, and one great lesson of life might 
 never have been learned. What she did, was 
 to say : " I think you have got it about right. I 
 suppose you meant when you said ' think about 
 other folks,' that we ought to care for other 
 people? "
 
 A VERY RAINY SPELL. 143 
 
 To this question Edward nodded a reflective 
 assent. 
 
 " I understand," she continued, " that un- 
 selfishness is what you say it is forgetfulness 
 of self, while we remember all the more to care 
 for others. Selfishness is mean and little. It 
 is chicken-hearted, for it is always afraid it will 
 be robbed. It is afraid it will lose something if 
 others get good. Unselfishness is large-hearted- 
 ness ; a grand generosity that is glad when 
 others are benfited." 
 
 " I s'pose, then, a feller ought to be glad 
 when other fellers have a good time if he 
 ain't having a good time himself ?" said the boy. 
 
 "Yes, if you put it that way. An unselfish 
 boy would prefer that half a dozen of his mates 
 should enjoy themselves, and he have a dull 
 time, rather than to have a good time himself, 
 and all the rest have a dull time. But do n't 
 you see that if this boy, by having his dull 
 time, could help all the others have a good 
 time, his dull time would n't be a dull time ? 
 How could he be dull or unhappy if he is mak- 
 ing six other boys happy? No, he ought to be 
 the cheerfullest and happiest boy of all. Do n't 
 you see it ?" 
 
 Edward brightened up all over. He un- 
 clasped his hands, slapped his fat little thigh, 
 curled up his freckled nose in a gleeful laugh,
 
 144 ROCKTON. 
 
 and said : " I just see it now. A chap has n't got 
 to be mis'rable to make others happy ! He can 
 be jollier than anybody in making others jolly." 
 
 "Too many people," said Sarah, " make the 
 great mistake of thinking that goodness or un- 
 selfishness brings unhappiness because of the 
 sacrifices required. Edward, when are you the 
 happiest? When you have done wrong or 
 right?" 
 
 " I do n't think a feller is ever very happy 
 when he has done wrong," replied the boy very 
 soberly. 
 
 " If that is true, why is it that a boy ever 
 does wrong?" The answer to this question 
 came still more slowly. Edward not only puck- 
 ered his brows, his eyes seemed to be looking 
 backward as if searching for a reason in his 
 memory. At length he said : 
 
 " I guess they think of the fun at the time, 
 and forget it '11 hurt afterwards." 
 
 " I shall have to call you my philosophical 
 brother if you keep on thinking, and talking so 
 wisely," said Sarah. " I hope you will always 
 remember that the only real fun is that which 
 can be enjoyed twice. I mean enjoyed once, 
 and then enjoyed forever. Do you understand ?" 
 
 Edward nodded a thoughtful assent, and his 
 sister patiently waited for what he might say. 
 
 " I s'pose real fun is to do what makes a fel-
 
 A VERY RAINY SPELL. 145 
 
 ler feel good when he does it, and then makes 
 him allers glad he did it," was the way he put 
 it; and Sarah thought this so nearly right that 
 she made no attempt to correct it. She, however, 
 was hardly prepared for the question which fol- 
 lowed: "If a feller who forgets himself, and 
 tries to make others happy, makes himself the 
 happiest, ain't he selfish after all ?" 
 
 Here was a chance for this young woman 
 with the chestnut curls to end the conversation 
 by telling the questioner that he was getting be- 
 yond his depth, or that he w r as misunderstand- 
 ing things, and thus put him so far back in his 
 rainy-day studies in moral philosophy as to dis- 
 courage him for years to come. How many sis- 
 ters, under like circumstances, would have pa- 
 tiently picked out the mental tangle ? Sarah 
 laughed, a rippling, joyous laugh that became 
 her well, and said : 
 
 " I am very glad you asked this question. 
 I will try to think correctly, and hope you will 
 learn to do so. If we get hold of this matter 
 right it will appear plain. Every one ought to 
 desire to be right, and have ' the good feeling,' as 
 you call it, of being right. Suppose you should 
 do good to others for the sole reason that you 
 wish to be happy yourself; would n't it be 
 selfishness?" 
 
 " 'Course it would," assented Edward. 
 13
 
 146 ROCKTON. 
 
 "So it appears to me," continued Sarah. 
 "And there would be nothing very broad or 
 noble in the motive. You would not be doing 
 good to others because it would make them 
 happy, or because it was their right. The same 
 selfish motive which would lead you to do good to 
 others because it would make you happier, would 
 lead you to do wrong to them if that would 
 make you the happiest." 
 
 Like a wise teacher, she here stopped and 
 asked Edward himself to think out an answer 
 to his question. His eyes had snapped and 
 twinkled while she had talked as if he was 
 " seeing into things," and his answer was not 
 long delayed. 
 
 "I s'pose a chap ought ter forget himself, 
 and do good to others just 'cause it will make 
 them happy." 
 
 "Exactly," said Sarah. "He is to do this 
 because he puts their happiness before his own. 
 He may wish to be happy, but he thinks more 
 of others than he does of himself, and is bound 
 to make them happy if he can. If he succeeds, 
 he is happy because they are happy. Even if 
 he fails, though this is not very likely, he is 
 happy because he has honestly tried to do good. 
 His happiness is the reward of his unselfish- 
 ness. In the other case, we supposed the hap- 
 piness would be the reward of selfishness, and
 
 A VERY RAINY SPELL. 147 
 
 of another, and a very cheap kind. Do you see 
 it now?" 
 
 " 'Guess I do," replied Edward, smiling and 
 stretching his fat body with evident satisfaction. 
 After a moment, however, his face clouded with 
 another troublesome question, on seeing which 
 Sarah asked: "What is it now, niy brother? 
 Have you struck another snag ?" 
 
 " Yes," said he. " It all sounds nice, but 
 how's a little chap like me to be doin' good and 
 making folks happy ?" 
 
 "It may be easier for me to tell you if you 
 will first tell me whom you would like to make 
 happy," replied Sarah. 
 
 "Well, I want to make everybody happy; 
 but I'd like ter make mother, father and you 
 happy, any way." 
 
 " Perhaps," said Sarah, "I can help you out 
 by telling you a story." It may not before have 
 been said of this young woman that she had the 
 somewhat rare art of story-telling; but Edward, 
 at least, was well aware of this fact, and at her 
 suggestion of this kind of a treat, was instantly 
 bristling all over with interest. She began it 
 must be confessed in a somewhat stereotyped 
 way. " There was once a little boy ; he was a 
 fairly good boy, as boys go. He had a nice 
 father and mother, and, like you, had also a 
 grown-up sister."
 
 148 ROCK-TON. 
 
 " Where did he live?" interrupted Edward. 
 
 " Pretty well up in the world, I can assure 
 you," Sarah replied, good-naturedly ; and then 
 she proceeded with her story. " Now this boy's 
 father and mother, to say nothing of his sister, 
 loved him very much, and wished very much to 
 be proud of all he did and said. He was a 
 good-hearted, happy-natured little fellow ; but 
 was inclined to be selfish. His father and 
 mother made so much of him, he took their 
 love for granted, and in his selfishness thought 
 he need not make much effort to please them. 
 So he was careless about the house, noisy when 
 he ought to be quiet, and had a bad habit of 
 using words wrong, and using wrong words. If 
 he had been careful enough to please them, and 
 unselfish enough to break his bad habits " 
 
 "Con junctions! that ain't a story at all! 
 You mean me," shouted Edward ; and then 
 subsided with a crestfallen look. 
 
 "Do you object to my story because it isn't 
 true ?" asked Sarah. 
 
 " N-n-no !" answered Edward, and then 
 bravely and honestly added : " 'Cause 't is." 
 
 "And can not my brother, who is really a 
 manly little fellow, manage it so I can, by and by, 
 tell a different story, and have it equally true?" 
 
 It was a prodigious sigh that our chubby 
 little hero heaved as he knitted his brows, and
 
 A VERY RAINY SPELL. 149 
 
 screwed up his lips in evident determination of 
 purpose. At length, he said, quite softly : 
 
 "111 try." And then with the peculiarly 
 humorous look, seldom long absent from his 
 face, he glanced up at his sister, and added : 
 " You '11 have to help me about the words, 
 'cause you ought ter do good." 
 
 She answered : 
 
 " Like you, I '11 try. Suppose I begin 
 now ?" 
 
 "All right. Go ahead!" he replied, and 
 heroically straightened himself up for the lesson. 
 
 "Seeing that our 'conjunctions' scheme has 
 worked so well, I think the same plan will do 
 for further use, if we just broaden it a bit," said 
 Sarah. " The trouble probably lies in the fact 
 that you got hold of some words wrong by the 
 help of others ; then you found it easier to clip 
 a class of words, and you continue to use all 
 these word wrong by force of habit." 
 
 " 'Zactly," ejaculated Edward, sententiously. 
 
 " Well," continued Sarah, " the best way I can 
 think of for the cure for a bad habit, is to make 
 the right way still more of a habit. You will 
 have to be sharply on the lookout and work 
 hard. How often do you say 'cause for 
 because?" 
 
 "'Most allers," replied Edward. 
 
 " This word will do for a beginning, and a
 
 150 ROCKTON. 
 
 good illustration of our plan of cure," said 
 Sarah. " If you use a word rightly until this 
 becomes more of a habit than the wrong way, 
 you will work a complete cure. Suppose you 
 take this word because, and when alone repeat 
 it aloud, hundreds of times, being careful all the 
 while to put a slight emphasis on the first syl- 
 lable, like this, Realise. It will not require long 
 to get it right. When you think of the word the 
 habit will not be to think 'cause, but because. 
 When you get this word all right, then take an- 
 other. You answered me a moment ago in a 
 short sentence of two words. You said : ' 'Most 
 allers.' You meant ' almost always.' You 
 will learn, in time, to use right words, as well 
 as to pronounce them properly. If you had an- 
 swered my question by saying : ' Most of the 
 time,' then most would have been correct. 
 When you are sure of 'because,' take hold of 
 ' always ' until you always pronounce it cor- 
 rectly. If you will try this plan faithfully with 
 one word after another, it will not be long be- 
 fore you will surprise and please us all. I am 
 sure you can master one word each week." 
 
 "I can fix one everyday," courageously pro- 
 tested Edward. 
 
 "Then," said Sarah, " I am confident that in 
 six months, we shall have with us a young gen- 
 tleman whose speech will be a model of propriety."
 
 A VERY RAINY SPELL. 151 
 
 Perhaps some may think the foregoing to be 
 altogether too long a conversation for even a 
 very long, rainy spell. It must, however, be 
 borne in mind that Rockton was called to en- 
 dure an exceptionally extended spell of falling 
 weather, and in it, the members of The Jolly 
 Quintet must talk ; for indeed they could do little 
 else. The Wednesday after the "big "Satur- 
 day already described, was too damp even for 
 Edward to sail to Africa; and alas for boyish 
 hopes ! the following Saturday was no better. 
 Tuesday afternoon had come around. The 
 floods of rain had, in the morning, called forth 
 the signal for one session of the public schools. 
 Edward Holt, as we have seen, passed a part of 
 the afternoon in conversation with Sarah. She 
 might have gone on adding precept to precept ; 
 but wise girl that she was, she preferred to let 
 the seed she had sown have a chance to grow, 
 rather than dig it up in trying to plant more. 
 
 "What are you going to do to-morrow after- 
 noon?" she asked her brother, as he stood look- 
 ing disconsolately out of an east window. 
 
 " 'Dun-no'. ' Guess I '11 go up in the attic, 
 so I won't be drownded," he replied. 
 
 She joined him at the window, where both 
 looked at the clouded skies. 
 
 " Do you s-snfi-pose. it will ever clear off?" he 
 dolefully asked.
 
 " For answer she patted his head, and said : 
 
 "This would be the only storm I have ever 
 seen that did not. I shall always think this one 
 a big blessing. I would n't exchange that ' sup- 
 pose' of yours for a week's sunshine!" 
 
 Edward shook his head dissentingly at this 
 estimate, and said: 
 
 "I 'd sup-pose, it for an hour, just as fast as 
 ever I could, for one single bit of sunshine. O 
 my!" he cried, interrupting himself, and quiver- 
 ing all over with excitement. "I guess it's go- 
 in' to clear off after all! Just look there!" 
 
 And "look there " Sarah did. If her brother's 
 eyes had not been busy with what he saw out- 
 side, he might have discovered that there was 
 something in her eyes that said something about 
 fair weather or some other equally pleasant 
 matter. Standing on the top of the ridge was 
 the tall form of Mr. Armour, and he was look- 
 ing around as calmly as if there never had been 
 a rain-storm to trouble him. 
 
 " Splendid! It does n't rain a drop !" Edward 
 joyously piped, and Sarah encouraged him by 
 saying: 
 
 "I believe it has not been raining for more 
 than an hour." 
 
 "Hurrah! there goes Jim Mears!" Edward 
 shouted, as he caught sight of that young 
 worthy running across the field. "Cricky ! what
 
 A VERY RAINY SPELL. 153 
 
 a tumble!" was his next ejaculation, as the 
 heedless runner caught his foot in a bramble, 
 and turned an involuntary summerset into some 
 bushes that benevolently held out their slender 
 arms to make his fall harmless, but at the same 
 moment justly punished him for his carelessness 
 by a copious shower-bath from their dripping 
 leaves. Edward did not wait to see what would 
 follow this tumble, but started for his hat with an 
 alacrity surprising in so chubby a boy. Before he 
 could reach the outside door, Sarah called him 
 back, and suggested that, as the long storm had 
 probably left the fields and woods in a bad con- 
 dition for an excursion, he had better invite The 
 Quintet to visit him on the next afternoon, as it 
 would be a half-holiday. She also suggested 
 further that it might be very pleasant for them 
 to play together in the big, new barn ; that they 
 could come, even if it proved rainy; and that, 
 to make it perhaps still more pleasant, he might 
 ask them all to tea. To say that Edward's eyes 
 danced, is putting it quite too mildly. As a 
 matter of fact, the whole boy danced. But his 
 hilarity suddenly subsided into a sobriety so in- 
 tensely comical that not to have laughed at it 
 would have been very unnatural in his sister. 
 
 "What is the matter?" she asked. "You 
 look as though I had proposed the extermination 
 of The Quintet."
 
 154 ROCKTON. 
 
 "I I think it will be selfish in me to let 
 you do it. It will make lots of work for you or 
 mother." 
 
 Sarah nodded at him gleefully, and said: 
 
 "Never you fear, my brother! It is unself- 
 ish in you to think of mother and me, but it 
 will not require much extra work. Besides, I 
 shall enjoy, perhaps as much as you, having the 
 boys to tea. They are bright and well-behaved. 
 I like to have you with them. Invite them, to 
 please mother and me." 
 
 Edward's smile came out again. He made 
 a rush for the door, and grasped the knob ; then 
 turned back to where his sister stood, and with 
 a latent roguishness in his eyes, gravely asked: 
 
 "Shall I invite Mr. Armour too?" 
 
 If he thought, or any reader could suppose, 
 that this wide-awake young woman could be 
 troubled by such a question, it will have to be 
 set down as a mistake. Sarah took Edward's 
 hat from his hands, clapped it on his short- 
 cropped head, led him to the door, and pushing 
 him gently out, said : 
 
 "The very reason why I told you to invite 
 the boys to-morrow is because Mr. Armour is al- 
 ready engaged to be here to tea." 
 
 Edward settled his hat in a bewildered way, 
 blew a whistle which said " I 'm beat this time, 
 sure!" and then, answering back a welcoming
 
 A VERY RAINY SPELL. 155 
 
 shout from James, scampered away towards the 
 top of the ridge. 
 
 "Why didn't you come ont soon as you saw 
 Mr. Armour?" asked James, when that gentle- 
 man had shaken hands with the latest arrival. 
 
 "B-fe-cause I was talking with Sarah," was 
 the reply. 
 
 Mr. Armour smiled, and his eyes made a 
 note which connected the half-stutter and em- 
 phasis of the beginning of this answer and the 
 name of the sister. He said: 
 
 "I am glad of another improving attack of 
 con-] unctions. But" and he pointed to the 
 well-filled pond "I judge if you were ship- 
 wrecked on a voyage to Africa to-day, Edward, 
 you would find it farther to land than you did 
 the day I saw you wading ashore." 
 
 Of course Edward and James talked; indeed, 
 talked a great deal. Their tall friend talked 
 some enough, at least, to keep their tongues 
 going and made mental notes all the while. 
 
 Edward was full of plans for a "grand time" 
 the next afternoon, and James volunteered to be 
 his messenger to the three absentees. Both 
 dubitated about the weather, but Mr. Armour 
 sniffed the air like an "old salt," and told them 
 the storm had spent its strength, and he saw 
 signs in plenty of fair weather. On this as- 
 surance, James, with a commendable faith, pro-
 
 156 ROCKTON. 
 
 posed to go home and "ask mother," and run 
 down into Northville with Mr. Armour, when 
 he returned home, and "ask the rest right 
 away." Mr. Armour commended the boy for his 
 willingness to undertake the mission and his 
 thoughtfulness in regard to his mother's permis- 
 sion, but said: 
 
 "I intend to call on Bernard this evening, 
 to see if the new uniform fits him. If it does, 
 we will have it on exhibition to-morrow after- 
 noon. As I go around to his mother's house, it 
 will not be many steps out of my way to call 
 on the other boys. Besides, I wish to see their 
 parents. They should understand all about our 
 plans. We will do nothing unless they heartily 
 approve. Perhaps I had better go home with 
 James, on my way down, and see his mother." 
 
 James admitted that this plan was the best, 
 and owned that he was in some disgrace at 
 home. He gave a humorous description of his 
 stupid despondency on account of the weather, 
 and how "the little kid" had climbed into his 
 lap, and then disastrously tumbled out. "Gra- 
 cious!" he said; "but wasn't there trouble, and 
 right away too! Mother thinks a pile of that 
 infant! Lucky his head hasn't growed hard! 
 There 's a bunch on one corner as big as a small 
 onion. He 's toddling round with a patch of 
 brown paper on it that mother makes me wet in
 
 A VERY RAINY SPELL. 157 
 
 cold water every now and then, she says, to re- 
 mind me of my carelessness; and the youngster 
 just sets up and howls like fury every time I do 
 it. I believe it 's just to make mother think I 
 am hurting him, and get her to make me howl 
 too! Before I let him fall again, I'll tie a 
 pillow on his head!" 
 
 This recital amused Mr. Armour and Ed- 
 ward, and neither neglected the opportunity to 
 poke fun at James for his habitual heedlessness. 
 The former said : 
 
 "1 hope this new bump you have caused to 
 be raised on your little brother's head may 
 prove a big bump of caution. *But there is your 
 mother at the door, with him in her arms. I 
 will go over and make friends with him, and 
 talk with her as I do it." 
 
 So saying, and bidding Edward good-bye 
 until the morrow, he strode away, with James at 
 his heels; and in a moment was snapping his 
 fingers at the youngest Mears, who, with a base 
 ingratitude common to his age, stretched out his 
 hands, and kicked in his mother's arms, in 
 frantic efforts to get to this new-comer, who im- 
 mediately had him perched on his shoulder, 
 where he screamed with pride at his elevation, 
 and pounded on Mr. Armour's hat in supreme 
 content. 
 
 The conversation which accompanied these
 
 158 ROCKTON. 
 
 maneuvers must have been quite satisfactory, 
 for Mrs. Mears's face was wreathed in smiles ; 
 while James, equally smiling, was by her side, 
 holding fast to one of her hands. When she 
 said, "Nothing could be nicer, or please me 
 more," James gave her hand a grateful squeeze, 
 and mentally vowed to grow a big bump of cau- 
 tion on his own head. 
 
 Mr. Armour gave back to his mother's arms 
 the youngster with the brown-paper plaster, 
 who yelled a terrific remonstrance; and leaving 
 her still smiling, and James a radiant ditto, and 
 the bumped yearling bumptiously squalling, he 
 lifted his hat, and with long, swift strides, was 
 soon lost to sight on his way home.
 
 
 yq^rejCfyq^^ 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MORE SUNSHINE AND FUN. 
 
 ARMOUR proved to be a reliable 
 weather prophet. During Tuesday 
 night it cleared off a hopeful sign to 
 weatherwise people, as if nature thereby in- 
 tended to atone for the unusually long 
 I storm by promising a compensatingly long 
 spell of pleasant weather. Rockton came out 
 in grateful force on Wednesday morning to en- 
 joy the sunshine in common with the whole de- 
 lighted country. Solomon Whagg was out 
 bright and early, and went the rounds of North- 
 ville, keeping up, all the bright forenoon, a per- 
 fect fusilade of small jokes. Granny Norcross 
 hobbled around her immediate neighborhood, 
 and told everybody she could reach what an awful 
 spell of " n urology " the " terubble wethur" 
 had caused her to endure. Even Annis Crab 
 smiled back at the sun. True, it was a little 
 watery after so much rain; still it was undeni- 
 
 159
 
 l6o ROCKTON. 
 
 ably a smile ; and when she stepped into Jabez 
 Long's store, she felt so good-natured that she 
 entirely forgot to berate him, as she had prom- 
 ised herself she would, for selling her a water- 
 proof that would wear out, but instead actually 
 bought herself a couple of cotton handkerchiefs 
 out of a "job lot" that the enterprising propri- 
 etor was advertising as a great bargain at five 
 cents each. 
 
 Jabez Long, everybody said, was always all 
 sunshine; but this morning he "just beamed." 
 So at least Edward Holt and James Hears said 
 to each other, after they had chatted a few mo- 
 ments w r ith him, as he stood in the doorway of 
 what he sometimes was pleased to call his 
 "Great Dry Goods Emporium." He threat- 
 ened to leave this "Emporium" to take care of 
 itself, and run up on Ridge Street in the after- 
 noon and spoil their sport. They laughingly 
 challenged him to make his threat a promise. 
 Edward advised him- to get Annis Crab who, 
 showing not the slightest symptom of haste, 
 was lingering on the sidewalk, listening to the 
 merry talk and admiring her purchase to tend 
 the store for him; and she actually seemed 
 pleased at this suggestion. Mr. Long proposed 
 for an improvement on Edward's plan, that he 
 had better take Annis along with him to visit 
 the boys; whereat she bridled up, and said she
 
 MORE SUNSHINE AND FUN. 161 
 
 was mortally afraid so giddy a chap as he would 
 get her "into some scrape;" and then she walked 
 away, chuckling at her own wit, and happier 
 than she had been for a week. 
 
 When she was well out of ear-shot, Mr. Long 
 asked the boys what sort of a time they were 
 going to have in the afternoon, and winked and 
 wheezed and laughed in such a funny way that 
 Edward told James, in an aside, that he be- 
 lieved the jolly storekeeper knew more about 
 things than he would tell. This was true ; and 
 if the sharp little fellow had but stopped to 
 think of what happened the evening before, he 
 might have found ample reasons to strengthen 
 his surmise. 
 
 The story of Tuesday evening has not yet 
 been told. This is a good place for it. It has 
 previously been said that Mr. Holt's house 
 could be found at the west end of Ridge Street. 
 In fact it is the last house on the street. Not 
 that the street really ends; but just after it 
 passes this house it becomes two divergent 
 streets, like an immense Y, which run their 
 well laid-out way down to the foot of the ridge, 
 and end in another street, which connects 
 Northville with the west end of the principal 
 part of the town. Just where Ridge Street 
 branches out in the manner above indicated, it 
 is crossed at right-angles by another street,
 
 1 62 ROCKTON. 
 
 which comes up the gradual ascent of the south 
 side of the ridge, and, after passing Ridge Street, 
 drops directly down the abrupter north slope 
 into the western edge of Northville. When 
 these streets were first staked out, Mr. Holt 
 purchased the corner lot, on which he afterward 
 built his house, facing, as he wished it, to the 
 south. He was quite correct when he told his 
 wife he had "done a good bit of business." Not 
 only did he buy this lot, but a number of lots 
 all around it, and thus made himself fairly sure 
 of the quality of his neighbors. 
 
 When he felt he could afford it, he biiilt the 
 house of this story, to please, as he always said, 
 his wife. It is not Queen Anne, Elizabethan, 
 or Dutch in style. Its builder did not attempt 
 anything old-fashioned, or any startling new- 
 fashioned monstrosity, but put up a substantial 
 house of a style that just suits its inhabitants, 
 and, as a matter of course, about every one else 
 who sees it. When this house was completed 
 to the entire satisfaction of Mrs. Holt, and paid 
 for to the still greater satisfaction of all con- 
 cerned, Mr. Holt said he thought the time had 
 come to build something to please himself. 
 When asked, "What?" he replied: "I have 
 plenty of land and I am going to build a barn." 
 Some of his friends suggested "a stable;" but 
 he told them that his early days were spent on
 
 MORE SUNSHINE AND FUN. 163 
 
 a farm, and that the barn was the delight of his 
 boyhood, and, if he knew himself, he would 
 build a big barn. And a " big barn " it is ! 
 How "big" it is useless to try to tell. Mrs. 
 Holt once laughingly said: "If our family ever 
 gets too large for the house, I can get my hus- 
 band to finish off the barn, and move into it 
 and keep boarders." Well, this barn was well 
 built, and the ridge dwellers are not a little 
 proud of its generous proportions and neat 
 cupola. One of them jocosely said to Mr. Holt: 
 "When the ridge is all built over, you can put 
 in a few more windows and finish it of?" inside 
 for a meeting-house." He good-naturedly re- 
 torted: "I will do so just as soon as my neigh- 
 bors are pious enough to require it." 
 
 This big barn has something to do with this 
 story. Soon after Edward returned from his 
 meeting with Mr. Armour and James Mears, on 
 Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Holt came home. Ed- 
 ward thought he was unusually early; but of 
 course this was none of his business. Then, 
 too, supper was remarkably early; but this also 
 was none of his business. Then Sarah had an 
 errand for him at Mr. Long's store. He won- 
 dered she had not sent by him when he went to 
 school, and wondered she was in such a hurry- 
 she could n't wait till he went down in the 
 morning. Still, this was none of his business.
 
 1 64 ROCKTON. 
 
 Besides, he was not averse to a run down into 
 Northville, hoping that perhaps he might come 
 across some of The Jolly Quintet, and so bear to 
 them his own invitation for the morrow. Then, 
 again, he wondered that Sarah, instead of trust- 
 ing to his memory, and so help him to a habit 
 of remembering, as she was accustomed to do, 
 should send a note; but he concluded that this, 
 like all other unusual things he had noticed, was 
 none of his business. When he went out of the 
 side door to carry the note, he noticed two of his 
 father's best workmen were in front of the barn, 
 and this puzzled him still more ; but as they 
 said nothing, he wisely held his own tongue and 
 went his way, full of joyous anticipations of 
 the good time he would have in playing host to 
 his mates. He was half inclined to turn back 
 and ask his father to put up a swing in the 
 barn, but concluded the request would do as 
 well when he returned. He was still more puz- 
 zled when he entered Mr. Long's store and de- 
 livered Sarah's note ; for as soon as he opened 
 it that droll worthy seemed inclined to burst out 
 laughing, but he puckered his face in a queer 
 way, nodded to himself, winked mysteriously at 
 Edward, and then bustled away as if in search 
 of something of very great importance. After 
 awhile he came back with a small parcel, which 
 he asked Edward to be kind enough to take
 
 MORE SUNSHINE AND FUN. 165 
 
 around to a house on Cross Street, and deliver 
 to the woman who lived in it, while he was fill- 
 ing Sarah's order. This was another surprise 
 for the little fellow; but he trudged happily 
 away, for it was a pleasure to oblige Mr. Long. 
 When he was gone, Mr. Long put on his spec- 
 tacles and read Sarah's note again. This was 
 how it ran: 
 
 " MR. JABEZ LONG: My Dear Friend, Please 
 send by Edward two spools of No. 60 cotton, to 
 match the inclosed sample. I also wish you to 
 detain him in some way, as you doubtless can. 
 We would like an hour, or more if possible, in 
 which to prepare a surprise for him, and do not 
 wish him to have even a hint of it until to- 
 morrow afternoon. 
 
 " Respectfully yours, 
 
 "SARAH A. HOLT." 
 
 "Smart girl, that Sarah Holt," chuckled Mr. 
 Long; and then he busied himself with cutting 
 off half a dozen samples of goods, each of which 
 he carefully tagged and marked with its price, 
 and put the whole in an envelope, \vhich he di-. 
 rected to Mrs. K. M. Harding, No. 14 Cedar 
 Street. This done, he stood and looked at the 
 envelope in a knowing way, with his head on 
 one side. "There," he said to himself in a 
 complacent tone, "this will keep our chubby
 
 1 66 ROCKTON. 
 
 little gentleman busy for twenty or thirty min- 
 utes more." When Edward came back, he said: 
 "Young man, if I shut up this Great Dry Goods 
 Emporium to-morrow afternoon, or trust it to 
 other people, so I can climb up to your jam- 
 boree, I 've got to have all my errands done. I 
 promised Mrs. Harding some samples of goods 
 to-morrow. If you want me on Ridge Street, I 
 want you to show it by carrying them over to- 
 night. But do n't hurry ! I '11 send word to 
 Sarah that I kept you running errands for me, 
 and make it all right." 
 
 Edward started on this second errand, whis- 
 tling, and wondering, as he went, at this strange 
 freak in Mr. Long, but unsuspicious of any con- 
 spiracy with regard to himself. 
 
 Meanwhile there was some remarkably quick 
 work being done on Ridge Street. Hardly was 
 his son out of sight when Mr. Holt was with 
 the men Edward had noticed, and they had been 
 re-enforced by another. The four went to work 
 in the barn with a will. There was a conspiracy, 
 and it was no new thing. For days old Charley 
 had hauled occasional loads of sawdust. Edward 
 had noticed this, and when he asked his father 
 what he could do with so much of the stuff, was 
 told in a vague way that there were uses in 
 plenty for it, and was directed to spread some of 
 it on the floor of the box-stall where old Charley
 
 MORE SUNSHINE AND FUN. 167 
 
 found comfortable quarters when not at work. Be- 
 sides the sawdust several small loads of manufac- 
 tured lumber had been left around the barn-floor, 
 and there was more on the big wagon outside. 
 Whatever plan was in Mr. Holt's mind, his men 
 evidently knew something about it. He stripped 
 off his coat, opened a box of tools, gave a few 
 plain directions, and all "fell to" as if a very 
 big job must be done in a very short time. There 
 was the rapid sound of saws, hammers, and of 
 general activity which quickly brought Mrs. 
 Holt and Sarah upon the scene. They expressed 
 not the slightest surprise ; hence it is but just to 
 infer that they knew what was going on. If any- 
 thing further could be gathered from their gen- 
 eral appearance, they were not only greatly 
 interested in the proceedings, they also very 
 much approved of them. 
 
 u It is fortunate we got all these contriv- 
 ances made beforehand, so we have nothing to 
 do but put them together," remarked Mr. Holt 
 as he drove a stout wooden pin to hold a tenon 
 securely in place. To this, one of the men re- 
 plied : 
 
 " It 's lucky you decided beforehand just 
 where to put them, so we 've nothing to do 
 but whack them together and fasten them in 
 place." 
 
 Mrs. Holt watched the men as they sprang
 
 1 68 ROCKTON. 
 
 cheerfully around at their work, but she still 
 more carefully watched through a window to 
 see if any one might be coming along Ridge 
 Street. Sarah saw she felt a bit anxious, and 
 quietly said : 
 
 "You need not fear, mother! I think my 
 note to Mr. Long has made sure there will be 
 ample time." 
 
 And ample time there was for whatever was 
 being done. Before the spools of number sixty 
 cotton were found, and declared to be a good 
 match for the sample, and Edward, with a reply 
 to Sarah's note in Mr. Long's oddly sprawling 
 handwriting, was on his upward way home, Mr. 
 Holt said : 
 
 " Everything is all right. You have done a 
 good job, boys. It has taken us just an hour 
 and ten minutes. You will each find you are 
 credited with two hours' overwork. Now, we will 
 lock up, and keep dark !" 
 
 When Edward entered the house and deliv- 
 ered Mr. Long's note, and the ridiculously small 
 bundle that came with it, he found his father 
 in dressing-gown and slippers, and busy with 
 his paper as if nothing whatever had happened. 
 His mother was as placid of countenance as she 
 usually appeared. She soberly inquired : 
 
 " Have n't you been quite a long time on your 
 errand, my son?"
 
 MORE SUNSHINE AND FUN. 169 
 
 Edward did not see the broad smile on the 
 face of his father, or the comical glance he shot 
 at Sarah from behind his paper. This young 
 woman's responsive laugh she managed to turn 
 to good account by answering for her brother: 
 
 " Mr. Long must be having a small rush of 
 business. His note says he took the liberty to 
 detain Edward long enough to send him on a 
 couple of errands." 
 
 Mr. Holt here saw a chance to indulge his 
 desire to laugh without suspicion, and as he 
 shook all over, asked : 
 
 " Are n't you going into the dry goods busi- 
 ness rather early in life, Edward ?" 
 
 The boy here thought he saw his oppor- 
 tunity to ask the favor he had had in mind all 
 the time he was trudging down into Northville 
 and back. 
 
 " Mother and Sarah are going to get supper 
 for our Quintet, and let me invite the boys to 
 spend the afternoon here to-morrow. Won't 
 you, please father, put up a big swing in the 
 barn?" 
 
 For a moment Mr. Holt made no reply, but 
 seemed to be turning this request, or something, 
 over in his mind. At length he said : 
 
 " Edward, I will make a bargain with you. 
 If you will agree let me see if it will do 
 h'm yes I think it will if you will agree
 
 1 70 ROCKTON. 
 
 that you won't go to the barn until the boys all 
 get here to-morrow afternoon, I will agree on 
 my part that there shall be a big swing put up 
 in good shape by the time they are ready to use 
 it. What do you say ? Shall it be a bargain?" 
 
 Edward's eyes grew large. Had James 
 Hears been around, he would have said "they 
 stuck out " " Stay away from the barn?" What 
 could this mean? But his father's word was 
 " as good as a bond," and .he wished for the 
 swing very much. So with good sense, he very 
 emphatically and joyously replied: 
 
 "Yes, sir, I'll agree to it." 
 
 Mr. Holt turned again to his paper, re- 
 marking : 
 
 " I am sure you will keep your part of the 
 contract, and I feel equally sure the swing will 
 be there." 
 
 What was there in this remark to set Sarah 
 off in tuneful peals of laughter? And why 
 should his mother drop her work and join in it? 
 All the bewildered boy could do was to add his 
 cackle to the puzzling mirth, and content him- 
 self with the promise of his father. When the 
 evening prayer had been offered, he went hap- 
 pily to bed to dream of the coining afternoon 
 with the boys, and the swing. It would have 
 been surprising, if, when he awoke on Wednes- 
 day morning, and found everything so bright
 
 MORE SUNSHINE AND FUN. 171 
 
 and beautiful, he had not thought of the bargain 
 he had made with his father, and wondered not 
 a little whether the swing was already up, or 
 just when or how it would be done. But he got 
 no further in his conjectures, and wisely decided, 
 as he could fully trust his father's word, to wait 
 until the terms of the contract would allow him 
 to see it as it then would surely be. Perhaps 
 this conclusion made him so unsuspicious of the 
 winking and joking of Mr. JabezLong. To be sure 
 he looked wistfully at the barn when he came 
 home from school ; but the big doors opened on 
 the other street, and the honest little fellow 
 would n't walk around on that street even for a 
 sly peep. At dinner he longed to ask his father; 
 but it occurred to him that it might appear that 
 he was afraid his father had forgotten his part 
 of the bargain. No ! he would wait a little 
 longer. 
 
 Dinner over, he was out at the old trysting 
 place on the top of the ridge to meet his mates 
 whom he had repeatedly instructed to "be sure 
 and come early." With a " whoop la!" and a 
 ringing " hurrah !" James Mears was almost 
 immediately running across the lots to join him, 
 and for a marvel did not tumble either up or 
 down. 
 
 "O my! isn't it just glorious?" he asserted 
 and interrogated in another shout as he reached
 
 172 . ROCKTON. 
 
 the top of the ridge, panting for breath from his 
 headlong race against time, and with his eager 
 face shining in the sunlight. 
 
 " Splendacious!" was Edward's reply; and 
 then, as if he was not quite sure this was right, 
 he correctively added, "Splendiferous!" 
 
 After such a pyrotechnical display of un- 
 Websterian adjectives there was not much more 
 to say of the weather, and little else to do but 
 wait and conjecture how long they must wait 
 for the others. They could see by the clock on 
 Northville church that it was a few moments 
 before one o'clock. After sage deliberation, they 
 jointly concluded that it was not probable that 
 all would be through dinner as early as them- 
 selves, and that, allowing for possible delays, they 
 ought not to expect any re-enforcements before 
 half-past one. So with commendable patience 
 they sat down to tell stories and while away the 
 time while they waited. Edward was almost 
 biirsting with a great desire to tell about the big 
 swing in the big barn ; but with great self-control 
 he determined to leave it for a surprise for James 
 as well as the rest ; and a surprise it was ! 
 
 When the hands on the church-clock told 
 their sharp eyes that it was eighteen minutes 
 past one, James began to rehearse a story he 
 had but recently read, but it was never finished. 
 His narrative had run but a moment or two
 
 MORE SUNSHINE AND FUN. 173 
 
 when it was cut short by a faint "halloa!" in 
 the distance ; and Edward, without the slightest 
 regard for the feelings of the narrator, jumped 
 to his feet, began an exaggerated Indian dance, 
 and shouted, " There they come," following this 
 with a series of frantic " hurrahs !" that might 
 have brought out the Northville Fire Brigade if 
 the wind had been in the south. James was 
 equally vociferous, and continued so until the 
 three from the village who had started together 
 from Mr. Long's store, had made their way 
 through the birch growth, and scaled the ledge. 
 Mutual, and hearty congratulations were first in 
 order, but Edward cut them short in his impa- 
 tience to lead the column in an advance on the 
 big barn. As there could not be the slightest 
 objection on the part of any to this movement 
 they were instantly on the way. 
 
 As they entered the yard, Miss Sarah ap- 
 peared at the front door, and invited them to 
 come into the house and rest. Edward stoutly 
 expressed his choice for the barn, and his mates 
 politely chorused their concurrence. So, leaving 
 the young woman laughing merrily in the porch, 
 they trooped away at the heels of the excited Ed- 
 ward, whose sturdy legs soon carried him through 
 the big barn-doors, which were invitingly wide 
 open, as if expecting him and the jolly com- 
 panions who rushed in after him.
 
 174 ROCKTON. 
 
 "Whew!" 
 
 "O my!" 
 
 " Hurrah !" 
 
 " This beats all !" 
 
 "Capital! isn't it?" 
 
 Thus five breathless boys all at once. Sur- 
 prise was in each varied tone; blank surprise 
 on each boyish face. But Edward's face showed 
 the blankest surprise of all! Adolphus Grant, 
 though himself much surprised, could not help 
 noticing it, and asked : 
 
 "What's the matter with you, old man? 
 You look as if you are what Granny Norcross 
 calls ' dumb-foundered !'" 
 
 " What 's hit you now ?" asked Benjamin 
 Strong. 
 
 But not a word answered Edward. With 
 wide-open mouth and staring eyes, he stood and 
 stared ! Was there a swing? Certainty there was, 
 and a marvel of a swing, too. It was no common 
 thing made of ropes. It was hung from big 
 staples in the beams ' 'way up ' overhead. Ed- 
 ward had noticed these staples for more than a 
 week, and had wondered what they could have 
 been put there for. And the swing itself! 
 Why, it was as Adolphus critically and approv- 
 ingly affirmed, " a wonderful back-acting con- 
 trivance." It was strong enough for all the 
 boys to pile in at once, and so constructed that
 
 MORE SUNSHINE AND FUN. 175 
 
 they could bring into action a leverage with 
 their feet, and thus make it, as they all said, 
 "Go of itself, without anyone to push." Be- 
 sides, it was so hung that it could swing out of 
 the big doors, and thus leave the larger part of 
 the barn floor clear, even when it was in motion. 
 But this swing was only a small part of the 
 great surprise. 
 
 "My! what are all these contraptions?" 
 asked James, as he rushed farther into the in- 
 terior of the barn with the rest following him. 
 
 What were they, indeed ? And what was the 
 matter with poor Edward? He was still more 
 " dumb-foundered." Adolphus, who had read 
 some in "Arabian Nights," asked him if 
 Aladdin had been there with his wonderful lamp ; 
 but our chubby hero only shook his head in mute 
 amazement. What magic had been at work? 
 There was a smooth, horizontal bar in two stout 
 upright posts. There was a pair of horizontal 
 bars. Across the barn, and not too high up, 
 was a row of swinging bars. There was also 
 a well, call it a gymnastic ladder, with smooth 
 rungs, just big enough to grasp properly, and so 
 arranged that a boy could go up obliquely with 
 his hands for about eight feet, cross over hori- 
 zontally, ten feet more, and come down another 
 oblique. Nor was this quite all. Some well- 
 smoothed planks had been placed on edge, and
 
 176 ROCKTON. 
 
 securely fastened around all the space occupied 
 by these various " contraptions," and a wise 
 precautionary use had been found for the be- 
 fore-mentioned sawdust. It had been spread 
 evenly over all the space inside the planks, thus 
 making a soft cushion about eight inches thick 
 to receive harmless any boy who should hap- 
 pen to fall. 
 
 James could not contain himself. He 
 jumped for the horizontal bar, and -swung him- 
 self upon it. With his usual skill in blunder- 
 ing, he not only swung himself on it, but over 
 it, and came down flat on his back on the saw- 
 dust beneath, thus at the outset proving the 
 wisdom of its provision. He laughed. He could 
 afford to, for he was not one bit hurt. All the 
 rest laughed. Miss Sarah, who was coming in 
 at the moment, and witnessed this first "flop," 
 laughed too. All laughed ! No, not quite all. 
 Edward was sober. " Sober as an owl," Ber- 
 nard said. The little fellow still winked, and 
 stared, and his chubby chin quivered. His 
 sister saw he was completely overcome, and 
 came promptly to his help. 
 
 " Well, Edward, do n't you think we have 
 done a good thing?" she asked. Without wait- 
 ing for an answer, she went on : " We did have 
 to work shrewdly and sharply to keep you 
 from knowing of it. We had things all planned
 
 MORE SUNSHINE AND FUN. 177 
 
 for some time. Father made the various parts 
 as he found opportunity. Everything was ready 
 last week except the bringing home and putting 
 up. Then we thought of an afternoon for the 
 boys. Last night, when I sent you down to Mr. 
 Long's, I asked him, in my note, to keep you 
 awhile, and father and his men made quick work 
 of putting things together. But did n't I laugh 
 last night when you made that bargain?" 
 
 While she was talking, Edward's face became 
 rosy. As he saw how this pleasant and gainful 
 joke had ^been played, his sense of humor as- 
 serted itself, and he began to laugh with his 
 mates, who were crowding around him. Could 
 there have been a happier boy ? What a loving 
 mother and father! And what a splendid sister! 
 There were big, honest tears of gratitude and af- 
 fection in his eyes as he laughed. His mother 
 came into the barn to see the fun, and he ran 
 to her and kissed her while the residue of The 
 Jolly Quintet, in the uncontrollable exuberance 
 of their sympathetic joy, gave three rousing 
 cheers. 
 
 When all had admired to their heart's con- 
 tent, and Mrs. Holt and Sarah had left them to 
 themselves, the boys stripped off their jackets, 
 and set themselves to testing each gymnastic 
 "contraption" until they were tired.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MORE FUN AND SOME HORSE-SENSE. 
 
 "HEN the members of The Quintet 
 had reached the unanimous conclu- 
 sion that they had quite enough gymnas- 
 tics, they amused themselves with games 
 requiring less exhaustive efforts. Thus en- 
 ^" fe a g e d> the moments flew by until Adolphus 
 Grant, who had attained to the manly dignity 
 of a real watch which, by the way, he assured 
 his mates was no "Waterbury" declared it was 
 ten minutes past four o'clock. On this an- 
 nouncement all piled into the wide-seated s,wing, 
 and set themselves, as Bernard said, "a-wag- 
 ging" to cool off, and deliberate as to what next 
 to do. As they swung to and fro, now in and 
 now out, there came the whirring sound of 
 swiftly-rolling wheels and the accompanying 
 hoof-beats of a horse, and Mr. Armour drove 
 around the corner from Ridge Street in a light 
 "Democrat" wagon, with none other than jolly 
 178
 
 MORE FUN AND SOME HORSE-SENSE. 179 
 
 Jabez Long beside him. In a twinkling, five 
 boys were out of the swing, and this time five 
 boys were vociferously cheering. 
 
 Mr. Long protested that they would scare 
 him and the horse ; but that animal minded the 
 noise less than the flies that had begun to buzz 
 about him, and only looked around at Mr. Ar- 
 mour as if to ask him what all the rumpus was 
 nbout. That gentleman sprang from the wagon, 
 and, after helping Mr. Long down, proceeded to 
 tie the horse. Of course all the boys gathered 
 around. 
 
 " I think he is a very nice-looking horse," 
 said Adolphus, critically. He was given to no- 
 ticing horses, probably from the fact that his 
 father was doing a large amount of expressing 
 and teaming, and had a stable full of them. 
 
 "Yes, he is quite a good one," replied Mr. 
 Armour, as he stroked his velvety nose. 
 
 They all began to admire him except Mr. 
 Long, who declared : 
 
 "The gray rascal ran away with us up Ridge 
 Street." 
 
 "Whose horse is he, Mr. Armour?" asked 
 Benjamin. "I never saw him before." 
 
 "No; he is afresh importation. I bought 
 him awhile ago, and have had him kept on the 
 home farm, that my oldest brother might handle 
 him and get him in shape to drive."
 
 T8o ROCKTON. 
 
 "Can he go?" asked Bernard. 
 
 "Go?" put in Mr. Long. "He goes too 
 much! Didn't I tell you he ran away with us? 
 I 'im going to walk home and save my precious 
 neck." 
 
 "He can go a little, I admit," said Mr. Ar- 
 mour; "but he is as 'kind as a kitten,' and I 
 would trust Miss Holt to drive him." 
 
 Doubtless he mentioned the name of this 
 young woman for the reason that at that mo- 
 ment she was coming towards the barn. As 
 she came up, the horse, as if pleased with the 
 compliment paid him, reached out his nose until 
 it touched her sleeve, sniffed, and then gently 
 whinnied. Nodding pleasantly to Mr. Long, 
 she asked Mr. Armour: 
 
 "Is this the gray you told me about?" 
 
 An instantaneous photograph would have re- 
 vealed a queerly knowing expression in Mr. 
 Long's eyes as he heard this question. Mr. 
 Armour did not notice it. He was looking at 
 Miss Sarah, and informing her that this was the 
 identical gray horse. 
 
 "Pray, what is his name?" she inquired. 
 
 "Josephus," he replied. "For short, I call 
 him Joe He answers very well to either 
 name." 
 
 It may here be said that Josephus was a 
 rather remarkable animal. He was tall and
 
 MORE FUN AND SOME HORSE-SENSE. 181 
 
 stongly made, and, though somewhat high in 
 bone, was not gaunt. His clean head was well 
 fitted to a long, thin, curving neck, and he car- 
 ried it so high that a check was a superfluity. 
 His deep-chested and well-made body was set 
 on good, strong, clean legs, which were gathered 
 well together under him as he stood to be ad- 
 mired. His color was dapple-gray, and he had 
 a dark mane and tail. 
 
 Mr. Armour told his story while the little 
 group looked him over. He said. 
 
 "The first time I saw him he was in a dump- 
 cart. He was long-haired, and very poor for 
 lack of keeping, and was covered with wales 
 from unmerciful whippings. His more brutish 
 owner said he was a contrary brute and no good. 
 He also said he was so ugly in the stable that 
 he would like to sell him if he could find a man 
 fool enough to give anything for him. I had 
 no desire to distinguish myself as a fool, but I 
 had been thinking of buying a horse. I saw 
 that this one was quite young; and though he 
 had a bad leg, caused by a kick from another 
 horse, and had suffered from cruel treatment 
 and neglect, he was still as sound as a dollar. 
 I knew by his head that he had brains, and 
 naturally was of a good disposition. I was con- 
 fident that if he showed any ugliness it was due 
 entirely to ill-usage. I was satisfied, from his
 
 1 82 ROCKTON. 
 
 appearance, that he had 'the go' in him, and 
 that decent treatment would make him all right. 
 He was a hard-looking specimen though, and 
 most people would have said he was not worth 
 twenty-five dollars. The man asked forty dol- 
 lars. He said he could pull like the mischief 
 when he had a mind to. This he admitted was 
 not often. I offered thirty dollars for what was 
 left of him. At length he split the difference, 
 and I paid thirty-five dollars, and had him led 
 out to the farm and put him in charge of my 
 brother for treatment, who laughed at my trade 
 but confirmed my judgment. You can all see 
 what has come of my venture. I wished for a 
 first-class roadster, and here he is. Twelve 
 miles an hour over our hilly roads is play for 
 him, and he never seems in the least tired. He 
 never sees a hill unless I insist upon it, and he 
 can walk my legs off in less than an hour ; for 
 he is altogether the fastest walker I have seen. 
 I will show you something how knowing he is." 
 
 Here he unhitched him and started him off 
 at a word. When he had gone nearly to the 
 corner of the street, it needed but another word, 
 and he stopped short. He then as readily obeyed 
 the signal to back around, and returned to his 
 master and stood looking at him as if he were 
 asking, "What next?" 
 
 After a few more displays of his docility and
 
 MORE FUN AND SOME HORSE-SENSE. 183 
 
 intelligence, Mr. -Armour called him up to the 
 post and tied him, saying: 
 
 "Brother William never tied him. He says 
 he will stand all day, and hungry, too, without 
 it ; but I never leave any horse without this 
 precaution." 
 
 He then took a "grip" from the wagon, and 
 said to Miss Sarah: 
 
 " I have a bit of business to attend to. Won't 
 you allow me, please, to take Master Bernard 
 into a room and get him into his uniform?" 
 
 To the request Sarah readily assented, and 
 led the way into the house. 
 
 It was not a very long time for the other 
 boys to wait, eager as they were, before Mr. 
 Armour came back, followed by Bernard, evi- 
 dently not a little vain of his new rig. It was 
 a dark-blue suit throughout blue stockings, 
 knee-breeches, a shirt with a sailor's collar; and 
 a soft felt hat to match. Around his slim waist 
 was a broad, buff-colored leather belt. The rest 
 of the boys at once gathered, admiring, around 
 the proud little fellow, and good-naturedly ban- 
 tered him on his appearance. Mr. Armour ex- 
 plained that he had found it about the most dif- 
 ficult task he had ever undertaken to select a 
 uniform, and that he had been able to think of 
 nothing more appropriate. He told the boys he 
 had first thought of something in the style of a
 
 1 84 ROCKTON. 
 
 fatigue-cap for the head-gear, but, on the whole, 
 he had concluded that hats would be preferable 
 for the service to which they were to be put. 
 When the boys had all chorused repeatedly their 
 entire satisfaction, he said : 
 
 "I have seen the parents of all, and they 
 have entirely and heartily approved. By their 
 direction, I am to take the rest of you down to 
 Mr. Hunt, the clothing dealer at the Center, and 
 he will measure you and have the suits ready 
 for you next Saturday, at noon. It will not 
 take many minutes to attend to this part of the 
 business with Josephus to help us; so, pile in, 
 you four, two on the seat and two behind, and 
 we will be off." 
 
 Didn't they pile in! Mr. Armour untied 
 the horse and stepped in himself. Josephus 
 tossed his head, as if to say, "See how I will 
 do it," and was off at a spanking trot, which 
 put the merry party out of sight in a moment. 
 
 Hardly had the sound of the wheels died 
 away, when Miss Holt called for Bernard. 
 
 "Come into the house, and we will get up a 
 surprise of our own while they are away," she 
 said. 
 
 When he obeyed her request, she asked him 
 to go into the room he had used before, and 
 change the new outer shirt for his jacket, and 
 bring it to her. This done, she told him to sit
 
 MORE FUN AND SOME HORSE-SENSE. 185 
 
 down, and watch what she would do. Now, 
 this rather remarkable young woman, with her 
 other accomplishments, was quite skillful in em- 
 broidery, and could make her fingers and sewing- 
 machine "do just anything she pleased," at 
 least Edward said so. 
 
 As she sat down before her machine, she at- 
 tached the embroiderer, and, opening one of the 
 drawers, took out some spools of silk, and, in a 
 very short time, had the machine clicking away 
 at a furious rate. Bernard sat in almost breath- 
 less wonder while " things just flew," as he told 
 her when she had finished. This she did by the 
 time Josephus had wheeled the gleeful party 
 back again. When she arose, she held up her 
 work with evident satisfaction to herself; for 
 she nodded her bright head at it, as if to say, 
 "You'll do." Telling Bernard to go into the 
 room and make one more change, she flitted 
 into the buttery, and then out into the yard to 
 caress Josephus, who whinnied again as he saw 
 her coming, and daintily took the lump of sugar 
 she offered him on her open palm. 
 
 It was not very long before Bernard made 
 his appearance, and was greeted with a shower 
 of exclamations and questions. Mr. Armour so 
 far forgot himself as to indulge in a whistle of 
 astonishment, and his eyes made one of their 
 
 occasional notes. How even a smart young 
 
 1 6
 
 1 86 ROCKTON, 
 
 woman could have accomplished so much in so 
 short time, was a wonder; but the boys thought 
 the work itself a still greater wonder. 
 
 Around the collar of Bernard's new blue 
 shirt she had put a yellow band, and in each 
 corner a five-pointed star. On each shoulder 
 there was a neat shoulder knot. Around the 
 cuffs there was a band matching the collar. On 
 the left side of the front there was a beautiful 
 white lily, while on the other side there was a 
 five-pointed yellow star. How Mr. Long grinned, 
 and getting behind the young woman's back, 
 made a speech to the boys in pantomime that 
 fairly convulsed them ! Mr. Armour said some- 
 thing in a low tone, and this, or the sunshine, 
 made her face look a trifle rosy. Speaking loud 
 enough to be heard, he asked her to explain her 
 work to the boys. Now, as before intimated, 
 Miss Sarah was not inclined to little preach- 
 ments, but she told the boys that she put the 
 white lily oh the left side, hoping they might re- 
 member it as an emblem of purity, and try and 
 keep their hearts pure; and that she intended 
 the five-pointed star as the special badge of The 
 Quintet, and hoped it would shine brightly in 
 good deeds. 
 
 Adolphus chivalrously proposed that Miss 
 Sarah A. Holt be made a life patron of their 
 club, which went through with double-handed
 
 MORE FUN AND SOME HORSE-SENSE. 187 
 
 unanimity, for each boy shoved up all his digits 
 as high as he could, and Jabez Long did the 
 same. Seeing him do this, and perhaps re- 
 minded by his stomach, Benjamin Strong moved 
 that, "Whereas and inasmuch as Mr. Jabez 
 Long furnished the first refreshments The Jolly 
 Quintet ever enjoyed in its collective capacity, 
 and is in all respects its generous friend, he be 
 elected one of its life patrons." This passed 
 by a unanimous vote and an encore, Mr. Ar- 
 mour said, and then called on the newly made 
 life patrons for speeches. Mr. Long dodged out 
 of the door, but Miss Sarah said: 
 
 "We life patrons ought to do something for 
 The Jolly Quintet, which has conferred such 
 high honors upon us. For my part, if the boys 
 \vill go for their suits early Saturday afternoon, 
 and will bring them to the house, I will em- 
 broider them like this Bernard has on, and will 
 also put a narrow stripe or cord on the outer 
 seam of the trousers. Mr. Long, for his part, 
 and to punish him for dodging a speech, shall 
 furnish the silk." 
 
 At the close off these very satisfactory re- 
 marks, Adolphus pulled of his cap, and called 
 for three rousing cheers for the first life patron 
 of The Quintet; after which Mr. Armour said: 
 
 "I will drive Josephus down to the Center, 
 Saturday noon, and get the suits, and bring
 
 1 88 ROCKTON. 
 
 them to our most efficient and respected life 
 patron." 
 
 On hearing this promise, Bernard, with great 
 gravity, proposed that Josephus should also be 
 made a life patron, which was as gravely voted, 
 and followed with the usual cheers. This time 
 Josephus whinnied a response, as if he under- 
 stood that he had been honored; or was it a 
 horse-laugh at their nonsense? 
 
 When, at this point in the proceedings, Mr. 
 Holt drove up, old Charley looked suspiciously 
 at the unusual crowd, but suffered himself to be 
 unharnessed and led into his ample stall ; where, 
 with supreme indifference to anything else, he 
 proceeded to munch his supper, and perhaps 
 afterward to meditate on the inferiority of all 
 two-legged races. 
 
 Miss Sarah informed all concerned that tea 
 would be ready in precisely fifteen minutes, and 
 then slipped away to make her promise good. 
 There is no need of describing the scene around 
 that big extension-table, made by Mr. Holt's 
 own hands, and this evening drawn out to its 
 fullest extent. "Flaky biscuit?" Yes. "Splen- 
 did butter?" Yes. " Stacks of cake, dear to a 
 boy's eye and taste?" Yes. "The nicest of 
 preserves, equally dear?" Yes. Everything 
 was "just splendid," if what all the boys said, 
 and the men looked, may be believed.
 
 MORE FUN AND SOME HORSE-SENSE. 189 
 
 Mr. Holt sat on one side of the table, and 
 Mrs. Holt opposite. He declared he never 
 would sit at one end of his table and have his 
 wife away at the other end. He wanted her 
 where he could see her easily, and wished him- 
 self to be where he could look after everybody 
 else. Mr. Armour sat at one end and Mr. Long 
 at the other, the boys filling the spaces be- 
 tween and the other spaces within. Adolphus, 
 with great gallantry, made a place for Miss 
 Sarah beside himself; which precocious maneu- 
 ver caused sundry nudges and jealous side- 
 glances among the residue of The Quintet, and 
 ornamented Mr. Armour's face with one of the 
 broadest of comical smiles. 
 
 As a matter of course there was much talk 
 concerning future tramps; but nothing very defi- 
 nite was proposed until Adolphus said that Miss 
 Barber had told him that probably the next 
 Thursday the most of the rooms in the school- 
 building would be closed, in order that the 
 teachers might visit other schools. This an- 
 nouncement unloosed a mimic Babel of tongues. 
 After the boys had proposed, suggested, and 
 wished all they could think of, they appealed to 
 Mr. Armour to decide. He said: 
 
 "If there is to be no school on Thursday, 
 and you can be spared from home, you may 
 meet me at Mr. Holt's barn at eight o'clock."
 
 IQO ROCKTON. 
 
 "Where will we go?" all interruptingly 
 chorused. 
 
 "No matter now," he replied. "You obey 
 orders. Every one of you bring a generous 
 luncheon of bread, neatly done up. No butter 
 on it, remember. Butter is very good, but when 
 spread on bread and grown warm, it is spoiled 
 and spoils the bread. If you bring any cake, 
 let it be of a plain kind, and only one slice." 
 Here Benjamin made a wry face. " Edward 
 will bring, besides his luncheon, a piece of fat, 
 salt pork, as big as my fist," and he held up a 
 clenched hand that made every boy laugh. 
 "Mind, Edward, that it is wiped dry, and rolled 
 up in enough paper to prevent its soiling any- 
 thing else. All other fixings I will have on 
 hand." 
 
 Then, turning to Mr. Holt, he asked: 
 
 " May T leave Josephus for that day in your 
 barn, and will you give him a dinner?" 
 
 "Yes, and a supper besides," was the reply. 
 
 The boys were greatly excited and full of 
 inquisitiveness ; but their tall friend gave no 
 further hint of his intentions. At a quarter to 
 eight he said : 
 
 " I think it is time to go. I am sure Jo- 
 sephus will be delighted to wind up this ex- 
 ceedingly good time by taking us home."
 
 MORE FUN AND SOME HORSE-SENSE. 191 
 
 Mr. Long demurred. He said : 
 
 "I've told you I have a special regard for 
 my neck." 
 
 It was, however, of no use ; for he was told 
 that the "Great Emporium" needed his pres- 
 ence right away, and he must ride. 
 
 Josephus was soon at the front gate. Mr. 
 Holt, with his wife and Sarah and Edward, 
 stood in the porch to say good-bye. Mr. Armour 
 and Mr. Long, with Bernard squeezed between 
 them, were on the front seat, while the rest of the 
 boys were stowed in behind. Then four glee- 
 ful, boyish voices gave three gleeful cheers, 
 while two men waved their hats, and Josephus 
 whinnied. 
 
 Then a full, pleasant voice said: 
 
 "Go on, Joe." 
 
 And he went ! with the boys laughing out of 
 their full hearts, and Mr. Jabez Long holding on 
 to the seat as if for dear life.
 
 ^1" \L v!/* *sL* *vL* *sl--* *sl^* "Nt^ *sl'* ' 
 
 3feo5oG^k^roGror^oc^fe3Ooc^^^ 
 
 ^.j^S 
 
 J 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 SOMETHING BETWEEN WHILES. 
 
 P r ROM that memorable Wednesday after- 
 noon, around to the second Thursday 
 morning following, was a very long time for 
 our five eager boys to wait, as every one 
 will allow who was ever a boy, and fond of 
 boyish fun. But the days of their waiting 
 
 were by no means idle days in Rockton. This 
 story is of necessity narrowed to a few of the 
 doings of a few boys. Rockton was full of boys 
 and girls, and to write ten lines about each of 
 them and their friends would make a book so 
 appallingly big that no publisher in the whole 
 world would dare print it. Neither could all 
 Rockton be busy with the affairs of The Jolly 
 Quintet. Even Mr. Armour had many other 
 and very weighty things on his hands. He often 
 said, he could find work enough for fifty men, 
 if he could find the men willing to do it. While 
 the history herein narrated was being made, 
 192
 
 SOMETHING BETWEEN WHILES. 193 
 
 even the few men, women, and boys who figure 
 in it were doing a great many other things and 
 of greater importance too which will never be 
 thus recorded. 
 
 It will probably be remembered that Annis 
 Crab once called Mr. Armour " queer." Rock- 
 ton and especially that part of it known as 
 Northville had for some time been settled 
 down in the firm conviction that he was very 
 different from a great many other men. More- 
 over it seemed to be quite well pleased with the 
 fact. 
 
 To say that everybody liked this tall, " queer" 
 man might not be the exact truth ; nevertheless 
 it would not be an easy task to find a half-dozen 
 people with hardihood enough to express a dis- 
 like. Even Annis Crab would smile longer 
 after he had smiled at her than she would if 
 any other man looked at her. Granny Xorcross 
 everybody knew to be an inveterate growler ; 
 but she would hobble out into the front yard on a 
 pleasant day for the chance to speak with him, if 
 she happened to see him coining down the street. 
 
 William Murch, the burly blacksmith, whose 
 shop is on Cedar Street, and who, sad to say, 
 had long been a bruiser and drunkard, and very 
 profane, and who, as a natural consequence, had 
 been in the habit of abusing his betters, was 
 deferentially polite to Mr. Armour. And this 
 
 17
 
 194 ROCKTON. 
 
 was not all ; this " turrubble man," as Granny 
 Norcross called him, actually reformed ! Rock- 
 ton never got over this wonder. 
 
 One day Murch had gathered quite a crowd 
 around him on a street-corner, and was cursing, 
 swearing, and berating everybody. Mr. Armour 
 came along, heard him a moment, and then 
 pushed his way through the crowd, and gave 
 the profane bully a " dressing down " in a clear, 
 level voice, the like of which no one who list- 
 ened had ever heard before. The great, hulking 
 sot and blasphemer was cowed and shamed, 
 and slunk away. Then this "queer" man 
 turned upon the crowd who had been listening 
 and laughing at Murch's foulness, and gave 
 them, if possible, a more scathing " dressing 
 down " for abetting his wickedness. 
 
 Some months after this, Murch was in his 
 shop, and, for a marvel, sober. It was a rainy 
 day, and quite a group of his cronies had gath- 
 ered in his shop for shelter from the wet, and 
 to while away a dreary hour. Murch was ham- 
 mering away at a red-hot iron he was fashion- 
 ing into a horse-shoe, when Mr. Armour, who 
 was on his way up the street, halted at the door 
 long enough to say, " Good afternooon, Mr. 
 Murch ; glad to see you making the sparks 
 fly," and then, with his frank smile, was gone. 
 
 No sooner was his back turned than one of
 
 SOMETHING BETWEEN WHILES. 195 
 
 the rough crowd made some rude remark in a 
 low tone, which Murch heard, and instantly 
 he blazed up hotter than his forge fire,. and said : 
 
 " You jest shet up ! He 's a squar', good 
 man, an' doin' lots of good." 
 
 " Like ter know what good he 's done?" the 
 fellow grunted, eying Murch in astonishment. 
 
 " He told me the truth about my deviltry 
 when you fellers were eggin' me on," replied 
 the incensed blacksmith. " And that ain't all. 
 He 's tried since to do me good. When my wife was 
 getting up from the fever my cussid ways brought 
 on her, an' the doctor said she ought ter ride out 
 an' git the air to help her along, what did he do 
 but come round with a nice, big, easy carriage " 
 this was before Josephus made his appearance 
 in Rockton "I don't know where he got it; 
 s'pose he hired an' paid for it an' he just took 
 wife an' all the children " there were several 
 young Murches "out for a good, long ride. The 
 very last time I went on a tear, he found me an' 
 got me home, and then stuck by me till I so- 
 bered off. Yes, siree! Any man who says any- 
 thing agin' him will have me in his hair! I'm 
 bust if I hain't a mind to squar' round, as he told 
 me to, an' be a man." 
 
 "What! Leave off driukin' an' swearin'?'' 
 asked 'the most courageous of his hearers. 
 
 "Yes, siree?" was the answer, and the l>i.^
 
 196 ROCK-TON. 
 
 hammer came down on the fast cooling iron with 
 a mighty thud. 
 
 " You dassen't," sneered the loafer. 
 
 This was altogether too much for Murch. 
 He dropped his hammer, and coming nearer the 
 group, he said : 
 
 " Look here, boys ! Sam Smith says I dassen't 
 quit. Hain't I dared to git drunk as a fool? 
 Hain't I dared ter swear, an' fight, an' abuse 
 my fam'ly like a brute; an' hain't I dared to be 
 a disgrace an' cuss to this naberhood for years ?" 
 Every one of this string of questions he empha- 
 sized by bringing his huge right fist down into 
 the palm of his left hand. As all were silent, 
 and looking at him in this new mood, almost in 
 terror, he broke out again : " Why do n't yer 
 answer me? Hain't I dared to do all these?" 
 
 "Yer have, Bill, sartin' true!" said old Mal- 
 achi Barnes, who was just then coming in with 
 a trace-chain that needed welding ; " and it 's 
 high time you quit !" 
 
 " That 's what I jest told the boys !" Murch 
 replied, " an' Sam Smith says I dassen't." Then 
 turning to the crowd, he said: "And yer jest 
 stand up, every one of you !" Utterly amazed, 
 they all got up. Murch continued : " Now, 
 you all hear me ' No more drink for me ! 
 I'm jest going to turn squar' round! I'll put 
 on a clean shirt an' go ter meetin' Sundays!
 
 SOMKTHlXf? BETWEEN WHILES. 197 
 
 There 's my little wife ! God bless her "and his 
 great voice softened and faltered " she 's the 
 best wife ever tied to a brute! I '11 git her an' 
 the little ones out of that shanty in the back 
 yard ! I 'in goin' ter be respectable an' good ! 
 Yer may jest tell all the town !" 
 
 It may have been a strange, it was a very happy 
 occurrence, that as he began this last speech, 
 a slight, sorrowful-looking woman was coining 
 into the shop by the rear door, and heard every 
 word of it. All the geniuses who ever wrote, 
 take them together, could not paint the marvel- 
 ous transformations in her face while she list- 
 ened. At the first tones of her husband's loud 
 voice there was a dark shadow on it, as if she 
 feared the worst ; then came a puzzled, doubtful 
 expression ; then a hope-light broke through 
 the shadow ; then all color faded out as though 
 she was about to faint; then over all her fea- 
 tures came a surge of color and unspeakable 
 gladness. When she heard the last words, her 
 look of mingled thankfulness and joy was fairly 
 dazzling Malachi Barnes afterwards said : " It 
 lighted up the whole shop." 
 
 Whatever she came for was forgotten, and 
 never afterwards could she remember the er- 
 rand. All she could say was, U O Bill!" but ten 
 thousand angels could not put more rapture into 
 a hallelujah. " Bill " turned at the word, and
 
 198 ROCKTON. 
 
 was by her side in a moment. Putting "his arm 
 around her, he drew her forward until both were 
 standing in the midst of the now thoroughly 
 excited men. 
 
 " Did yer hear me, Mollie ?" he asked. 
 
 She looked up into his face too full of her 
 great joy to speak again, and nodded. The big 
 fellow stooped and kissed her, and then said : 
 " God helping me, I '11 do jest what I 've said I 
 would." 
 
 There was another listener. Mr. Armour, 
 on his way back from somewhere, caught the 
 sound of the strident voice of the blacksmith. 
 He stopped out of sight beside the door, where, 
 under his dripping umbrella, he heard the 
 words which filled Mrs. Murch with so great 
 joy. He now came in, and walking up to Mr. 
 Murch, grasped him by t\\f hand, and said : 
 
 "This is a grand start. You are headed 
 right. Go on, and all good people will stand 
 by you." 
 
 Sam Smith said it was the wettest time he 'd 
 ever seen. Murch sobbed and cried, the tears 
 streaking his smutty face. His wife cried softly, 
 and O, so gladly! A delightful sun-shower! 
 Malachi Barnes just blubbered aloud like a well- 
 whipped school-boy. Every loafer, even to 
 Sam Smith, sniffed, sniveled, or cried. Mr. Ar- 
 mour's voice was husky, and he wiped his shin-
 
 SOMETHING BETWEEN WHILES. 199 
 
 ing eyes with the back of his hand precisely as 
 he would if he were crying too. Yes, it was a 
 very wet time ; and it caused a spring-time of 
 tender joy, that grew at length into the wealth 
 of a radiant summer of delight. 
 
 On the very day The Jolly Quintet were tak- 
 ing their first, so to speak, corporate tramp, 
 there was an empty tenement behind the shop, 
 where Mr. Murch was singing in a thunderous 
 bass, and pounding iron from morning until 
 night. There had been a flitting that all Rock- 
 ton had been interested in. Then, too, the Mrs. 
 Murch, that Rockton had known for years, was 
 gone forever! Not that there had been a 
 funeral ; things were altogether too jolly for 
 that ! The Mrs. Murch who came smiling 
 into the shop, was a bright, plump, little woman, 
 who stepped around as lively as the proverbial 
 cricket. Mr. Murch looked at this new Mrs. 
 Murch with great admiration. How could he help 
 it? She was so lovely and so well dress,ed ! And 
 the old Mrs. Murch, seeing she was gone forever, 
 did n't care one bit. This new Mrs. Murch 
 came in to tell the very lover-like Mr. Murch, 
 that the last bit of work in getting the new 
 home " all fixed up," was done, and she was 
 out just for the fun of walking around with 
 nothing else to do. And what did the great big 
 fellow do but off with his leather apron, souse
 
 206 ROCKTOTJ. 
 
 hands, arms, and head in a tub of water, and 
 then rub them until they shone. Then he on 
 with coat and hat, and, without the least regret 
 for the old Mrs. Murch as has been said, now 
 gone forever insisted on taking this smiling, 
 dimpling, girlish, new Mrs. Murch down to the 
 center of Rockton, where he treated her to a set 
 of China that made half the women in North- 
 ville envious for three months after. 
 
 It has been said that there was a great deal 
 going on while our Quintet were forced to wait 
 for that extra Thursday. 
 
 Mr. Armour had, in his peculiar way, to look 
 after many boys and girls. The Saturday fol- 
 lowing that " good time " on Ridge Street he 
 had half the girls and boys of North ville with 
 him in a delightful walk to a small grove he 
 had discovered, where there was plenty of shade, 
 and a spring of clear, cool water. Here they 
 frolicked until they were satisfied, and then who 
 should appear but four of The Quintet, tugging 
 along two enormous baskets of sandwiches that 
 Mr. Armour had found somebody to provide, 
 and that Adolphus Grant's father had brought 
 with the boys in his express wagon, to the edge 
 of the grove. 
 
 Quite a number of Northville mothers, having 
 got their Saturday's work largely done, came out 
 to see the fun, and admire the healthy voracity of
 
 SOMETHING BETWEEN WHILES. 201 
 
 their children, as the sandwiches disappeared 
 with marvelous celerity. Besides these, there 
 were some elder sisters, and Annis Crab came 
 out to see u the scrape," of course. But why 
 should n't she ? She furnished two loaves of just 
 the whitest and nicest bread ; moreover, she 
 prepared more sandwiches than any one else. 
 
 Mr. Jabez Long came up, fanning himself 
 furiously with his straw hat, just in time to see 
 the last boy filled, and to capture a sandwich for 
 himself. As he bit a huge semicircle out of its 
 side, Annis asked him how he could afford to 
 leave " The Great Emporium " on Saturday aft- 
 ernoon. Our droll friend chuckled while he 
 munched, and told her that the kind Providence 
 that watched over old maids and old bachelors 
 had provided him with a first-class saleswoman, 
 who would do a smashing business in his absence. 
 This has incidentally something to do with our 
 story, and may need a little explanation. 
 
 The Thursday morning immediately follow- 
 ing the never-to-be-forgotten " good time " on 
 Ridge Street, Adolphus Grant was on his way to 
 Mr. Long's on an errand for his mother. It 
 was quite early, and he met Bernard Walters 
 with a basket of freshly washed and ironed 
 clothes perched on his little wagon. " Hey, 
 Brick," he said ; " business must be rushing to 
 have you delivering goods so early."
 
 202 ROCKTON. 
 
 Usually Bernard is a bright, good-natured 
 boy, and brimful of healthy fun ; but this 
 morning he was dumpish and sad. As he 
 looked at Adolphus, his chin quivered and his 
 face was full of woe-begoneness and sorrow. 
 
 " Why, old fellow, you look bad ; what 's the 
 matter with you ?" Adolphus asked. 
 
 " N-nothing with me," was the reply. 
 
 "'What is the matter, then?" 
 
 " M-mother has got a bad hand," answered 
 Bernard, quite ready to cry. 
 
 And then he told the story of his sorrow as 
 best he could ; how his mother had been 
 troubled with her ringers for several days, but 
 had kept at work because there was a great 
 press of work caused by the recent long rainy 
 spell ; how her hand had pained her so much 
 she could scarcely use it at all ; how she had 
 been able to sleep but a few moments at a time 
 for three nights ; how, on the clay before, she 
 just managed to finish the batch he then had on 
 his wagon, and when this was done, went to see 
 Doctor Blood, who said she had a felon, and 
 that it had been neglected so long there was 
 nothing to do but open the finger with his 
 lancet, and make thorough work of it. Tears 
 ran down his cheeks while he told the story. 
 
 "I wish I had it on my hand instead of 
 mother's," he said, his eyes full of pain and love.
 
 SOMEWHAT BETWEEN WHILES. 203 
 
 When still further questioned by Adolphus, 
 he told him how the lancing of the finger had 
 brought relief, and how his mother, worn out by 
 the pain she had suffered, was soundly sleeping; 
 and how he got up as quietly as he could, and 
 started the fire, and now was taking Mrs. 
 Waite's washing home because he knew his 
 mother wished it done. When he had thus told 
 his story, he picked up the tongue of his wagon 
 and sadly hauled it away. 
 
 When Adolphus entered Mr. Long's store, 
 that estimable man saw the shadow on his 
 young friend's face, and, possessed as he was of 
 an inquiring mind, it was not many minutes be- 
 fore Bernard's story was repeated to him. 
 
 "Hum-m-m!" he said to himself, after Adol- 
 phus was gone. "I wonder " and then he 
 went around the store with a wrinkle of deep 
 thought between his eyes. Customers were not 
 very plenty after the children, on their way to 
 school, had done their errands, or made a few 
 small purchases for themselves. He went on put- 
 ting things to right about the store in a methodical 
 but mechanical way, that allowed him to indulge 
 in a very long and a very brown, brown study. At 
 about half-past ten o'clock he was rolling up the 
 piece of red flannel he had been showing to a 
 woman whose husband, being the "skipper" of 
 a "coaster," will not wear at sea shirts made of
 
 204 ROCKTON. 
 
 any other material, when he stopped short, and 
 his face broke into a smile. He nodded his head 
 in his characteristically sagacious way, as if 
 complimenting himself for his genius, slapped 
 his fat thigh sharply, and ejaculated : 
 
 "Sure as guns, it's just the thing!" 
 
 And then, as if there might possibly be a 
 little uncertainty lurking somewhere in the 
 matter, he added: 
 
 "I'll try it on, see if I don't!" 
 
 Then he called out: 
 
 "Sue! Sue!" 
 
 Sue is his niece, and was book-keeper and 
 general assistant about the establishment, but 
 who, on account of her own private affairs, the 
 nature of which will shortly be disclosed, had 
 been absent from her post more than half the 
 time for several weeks. 
 
 "What is it?" she asked from the desk at 
 the rear of the store, where she was posting the 
 books. 
 
 "You just look after this concern while I 
 am out," he replied, at the same time jamming 
 his hat resolutely on his head and making tracks 
 for the door, through which he instantly disap- 
 peared. In a very short time, for a man of his 
 build and habits, he was on Linden Street, and 
 rapping at Mrs. Walters's door. There must 
 have been some matter of considerable impor-
 
 SOMKU-IIAT Bi-:r\\-EE\ WHILES. 205 
 
 tance under consideration, for it was nearly an 
 hour before he came out and walked slowly 
 back to the store. The result of his visit must 
 have been quite satisfactory; for Annis Crab, 
 who saw him as he went by, said to her mother: 
 
 "There goes Jabez Long. He looks might- 
 ily tickled about something." 
 
 This "something" became a public posses- 
 sion almost immediately. 
 
 Mrs. Walters appeared, "bright and early," 
 on Friday morning, in the "Great Emporium." 
 She bought nothing; but, with a smiling face, 
 went behind the counter where Sue laughing 
 and giggling, as young women will and delight- 
 fully, too, proceeded to initiate her into the 
 mysteries of the business. Mr. Long, it seems, 
 did not know that she had learned much of 
 these mysteries while her husband was alive. 
 
 The next Monday morning, when Solomon 
 Whagg dropped in on his customary rounds, he 
 stared at the comely widow as she was busy 
 straightening laces, and was too much surprised 
 for the smallest kind of a joke. When she had 
 gone to the farther part of the store to consult 
 with Sue, he looked a half-dozen questions at 
 Mr. Long at once, which this accommodating 
 gentleman proceeded to answer. 
 
 "You see, that niece of mine is so anxious 
 to better her condition in life, that she has
 
 206 ROCKTON, 
 
 promised young Henry Fall, down at the 
 Center " 
 
 "Everybody knows that," interrupted Sol- 
 omon. 
 
 "Of course everybody knows it," continued 
 Jabez; "but everybody don't know they are 
 going to be married in about six weeks ; and 
 Henry has bought the new cottage that Mr. 
 Holt built on Blossom Street, and they are 
 going to keep house there. Sue has pestered me 
 for weeks. She has been over there more than 
 half her time, fixing things up. I wonder some 
 one has not found her out. What to do to fill 
 her place I could not for the life of me tell. 
 As good luck would have it, Mrs. Walters got 
 a convenient felon on her finger that shut down 
 on her business for awhile. I saw my chance, 
 and clinched a bargain with her at once." 
 
 "Smart woman," commented Solomon ap- 
 provingly. 
 
 "Smart? You've just hit it," said Jabez. 
 "Just look at those shelves! Takes to this 
 business as 'a duck does to the water.' Beats Sue 
 all hollow; and Sue is a good, smart girl too." 
 
 Mr. Long was not far out of the way in his 
 eulogy. He who saw Mrs. Walters about the 
 store saw a trim, energetic, sweet-faced little 
 woman, who won the hearts of all Mr. Long's 
 customers, not excepting Granny Norcross, who
 
 SOMEWHAT BETWEEN WHILES. 207 
 
 perhaps, because of the natural contrariness of 
 her disposition, declared that she was " harn- 
 sumer than that gigglin' Sue;" which remark, 
 when it was repeated to Sue, only made her 
 giggle the more. Only a neat-fitting cot on the 
 first finger of Mrs. Walters's right hand told 
 anything about the felon All the rest of her 
 shapely fingers were so nimble and dexterous as 
 to promise astonishing results when the other 
 should complete its rapid recovery. Bernard 
 was delighted, and more frolicksome than ever. 
 It was evident Edward Holt would have no 
 further occasion to run errands for Mr. Long.
 
 afet&uiJ&a^^ ** 4 "- 
 
 VfW J/'M/'W \if\l f^1i"\1t"\1f\1f 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THAT THURSDAY-THE START. 
 
 I 
 
 S the days were going slowly by, and 
 Thursday was so tardily approaching, 
 our young friends held several sessions in 
 " committee of the whole," and sagely de~ 
 bated the probable nature of the excursion 
 ^ which Mr. Armour had promised. Perhaps 
 the slight mystery which hung over it made 
 their anticipations all the more delightful. Ben- 
 jamin thought that they were not to go a great 
 way or be gone a very long time, else they 
 would have been instructed to take more "grub." 
 Edward thought it might be possible that they 
 were to go hunting 'coons or rabbits from the 
 fact that when Mr. Armour brought the suits to 
 his sister to be decorated, he also left in her care 
 a box which had a label on it, on which he saw 
 the words ' Pocket Rifle." Bernard suggested 
 that it might be a tramp to " Cannon Rock," 
 
 and gave as his reason, that he had recently 
 208
 
 THAT THURSDAY THE START. 209 
 
 heard Mr. Armour tell Mr. Long that it was 
 well worth the long walk required to see it. 
 James, with supreme indifference, allowed, he 
 didn't "care a snap " where they might go, or 
 what they might do, so long as they should go 
 somewhere, and have a good time. Finally all 
 agreed to the inevitable, and concluded they 
 would just wait and see. For not a boy 
 thought it would be of the least use to ask Mr. 
 Armour as to his intentions. 
 
 The letter-carrier for the Northville District 
 left at each boy's house, on Tuesday, a postal- 
 card on which was written the following note : 
 
 " MY YOUNG FRIEND, What time I spend 
 with you can not all be given to play. I have some 
 work for you. Meet me at Mr. Long's to-morrow, 
 at four o'clock, sharp. 
 
 "HERBERT ARMOUR." 
 
 Not a boy was missing when the lieutenant 
 laughingly called the roll, five minutes before 
 the hour appointed. When Mr. Armour ap- 
 peared, all were ready to obey the order to " fall 
 in " except James, who, in responsive eagerness, 
 fell out in his usual maladroit way. They 
 were led around onto Cedar Street, and halted 
 beside a cord of wood, sawed and split, which 
 had been dumped on the sidewalk in front of 
 
 the little cottage, the house of Mr. Alfred Brown, 
 
 18
 
 2IO ROCKTON. 
 
 who, as before related, was badly disabled by 
 a fall. Having shown the boys the wood, 
 Mr. Armour led them through the little yard 
 into the ell of the cottage, which was partly 
 used as a shed. Here they found little Mamie 
 Brown who looked at them fearlessly out of her 
 blue eyes. This may be largely due to the 
 fact that Mr. Armour, instantly had her in his 
 arms. 
 
 " What is this midget of mine doing here, 
 all alone?" he asked. 
 
 " Havin' a pitnit," replied the mite, and 
 nodded her head knowingly. 
 
 " Are you having a good time?' asked 
 Adolphus. 
 
 " Yeth," she lisped. 
 
 " What did you have to eat?" inquired Ben- 
 jamin, true to his instincts. 
 
 "O sumfin' nice," and she smacked her bits 
 of lips, and asked in return : 
 
 " Dont 'oo with 'oo had thum too?" 
 
 "You be kind enough to tell us what you 
 had, Mamie, and then we will know what a 
 treat we have missed," said Mr. Armour. 
 
 The midget looked at him gravely for a mo- 
 ment, and then answered reflectively as if call- 
 ing up one by one the various dainties on which 
 she had feasted : 
 
 " O, I had beddy an' butty an' puddy."
 
 THAT THURSDAY THE START. 211 
 
 And then to make sure that her auditors should 
 not think that she had been indulging in an al- 
 together Barmecide feast, she added : " But I 
 didn't have any butty or any puddy!" 
 
 This "brought down the house" with such 
 a roar, that she slipped down and out of Mr. 
 Armour's arms, and whisked into the house 
 leaving him to show the boys where the wood 
 was to be neatly piled, and to bid them strip off 
 their jackets and be about it. Of course he did 
 not stop to watch them; he had other business. 
 Nothing was said by any of the boys about the 
 morrow (and this was a marvelous self-re- 
 straint) except that Adolphus, in as unconcerned 
 a manner as he could possibly assume, asked 
 just before he left them, what he thought the 
 weather might be. 
 
 The corners of the tall man's mouth twitched 
 suspiciously under his big mustache, but he 
 answered in a tone of great indifference: 
 
 " I do n't think it will storm very hard the 
 next twenty-four hours." And Adolphus "dug 
 into the wood-pile. The wood went in in a hurry. 
 Three lugged and two piled, and they changed 
 about to equalize the work, until the job was 
 done. Moreover it was neatly done. 
 
 Wee Mamie came out of hiding, and danced 
 around to see the fun. When the last arinfnl 
 was piled up, and jackets were on again, and
 
 212 ROCKTON. 
 
 the boys were going out of the yard she stood 
 in the doorway and piped after them : 
 
 "Thank 'oo! 'Go's dood boys. Thum time 
 'oo may turn to my pitnit !" 
 
 Perhaps some may think that Wednesday is 
 rather an early start for a tramp on Thursday ; 
 but it is in harmony with the advice given to 
 his sons by a very old man who had been no- 
 torious for being behindhand all his days : 
 
 " Boys, if you set a day to go anywhere, be 
 sure and start the day before !" 
 
 Doubtless this indirect start helped Thurs- 
 day's doings. If our boys had not done Wednes- 
 day afternoon's work they might have been 
 awake nearly all the night thinking of the next 
 day. As it was, they got a little tired, slept 
 soundly, and woke up Thursday morning in 
 proper season and "fresh as larks." 
 
 Long before eight o'clock there was a sweet 
 jargon of voices in Mr. Holt's big barn. Mr. 
 Armour could not be far away, for Joseph us 
 had usurped old Charley's place in the roomy 
 box-stall. Edward insisted that his father had 
 given orders to this effect. All the boys thought 
 they were quite ready for the start. Each had 
 brought his luncheon, neatly wrapped, which 
 Miss Sarah had marked with his name, and 
 carried into the house. In their eagerness this 
 was forgotten. But they had a special inspec-
 
 THAT THURSDAY THE START. 213 
 
 tion to undergo. This was by Miss Barber, 
 who declared that she " could not resist the temp- 
 tation to see the boys in their new toggery," 
 and had taken an early start, intending, of course, 
 after The Quintet was gone, to coax Miss Sarah 
 to accompany her in her school visitation at the 
 Center. The promise to decorate the suits had 
 been kept, and lilies, stars, and bands were con- 
 spicuously displayed. 
 
 Shortly before eight o'clock Mr. Armour 
 came out of the house. He had a bundle of 
 well something, carefully wrapped and bound 
 with straps in such a way as to leave a long 
 loop for carrying it. He also had another 
 something, which appeared to be about ten 
 inches square and one and a half inches thick 
 that is, if a thing can appear which does not 
 appear at all for this something was entirely 
 covered with an enameled cloth case. He had 
 still another something, in a stiff leather case, 
 the form of which was so suggestive that Ber- 
 nard Walters at once said : 
 
 " It's a baby ax." 
 
 Mr. Armour called him a bright boy, and 
 said : 
 
 " Your great power of discernment shall be 
 rewarded. Unbuckle your belt, pass it through 
 these loops, and buckle it on again. You shall 
 be hatchet-bearer for the company." He then
 
 214 ROCK-TON. 
 
 directed Edward to fasten the square case to his 
 belt in the same manner, which he did, hand- 
 ling it the while with a puzzled, questioning 
 look on his face. He was told he need not 
 push his investigations any further, as he would 
 be taught its use in due time. What the first 
 bundle, so long and large around, contained, was 
 a matter of profound speculation. Each offered 
 to carry it, but Mr. Armour said it was his share 
 of the " traps." 
 
 By the time these arrangements had been 
 made, Miss Sarah appeared on the scene, and 
 not empty-handed, for she was dangling five 
 enameled cloth pouches or wallets something 
 like soldiers' haversacks, but on a smaller scale. 
 These, she said, held the luncheons, small tin 
 dippers, and old newspapers, and gave one to 
 each boy. How to get them properly on was 
 the next thing to be settled. They were for slip- 
 ping the strap of the wallet over the head and 
 across one shoulder, and let it hang by the 
 side. But Mr. Armour stopped them, and said : 
 " There is a better way. Each strap has a 
 buckle so the loop can be adjusted to suit the 
 wearer." He then showed them how to put 
 both head and arms through the loop, thus 
 bringing the strap across the back and under 
 the arms with the wallet in front. Then, by 
 passing the wallet backwards over the head, it
 
 THAT THURSDAY THE START. 215 
 
 was made to rest on the shoulders somewhat 
 like a soldier's knapsack, only it was higher up. 
 This made it more easy to carry, while the strap 
 at the same time would act as a shoulder-brace. 
 
 When each had his wallet in place, it was 
 discovered that on the lap of each had been 
 painted the letters J. Q., while at the bottom, in 
 much smaller letters, were the initials of the 
 wearer. Mr. Armour stared, and for truth 
 must be told whistled. Miss Holt laughed, 
 and explained that when he brought them along 
 with the suits, and put them in her care, it oc- 
 curred to her that something of the sort might 
 be done to give a finished look to the equip- 
 ment, and under this impulse she had painted 
 the letters. She further explained: 
 
 "I thought the words 'Jolly Quintet ' would 
 be too much of a good thing. I tried one with 
 the initials, 'J. Q.,' and it pleased my fancy. 
 We have the Y. M. C. A.'s, the W. C. T. U.'s, the 
 I. O. O. F.'s, and the G. A. R.'s, and why not 
 the J. Q.'s ? It will be short and slightly mys- 
 terious to the uninitiated. 
 
 " Hurrah for the ' J. Q.'s !' " shouted Ben- 
 jamin, while Miss Barber flourished her hand- 
 kerchief, and declared she had always wished 
 s^e was a boy, so she could make all the noise 
 she liked. 
 
 Mr. Armour tapped the bulging pockets ot
 
 2l6 ROCKTON. 
 
 his sack-coat, said he guessed nothing had been 
 forgotten, threw the strap of the mysterious 
 bundle over his shoulder, and led the boys out of 
 the barn and down the steep street on which it 
 faced. When they reached the road which runs 
 from Northville around the west end of the 
 ridge, they followed it to where it intersects an- 
 other road, which comes up from Rockton Center. 
 Here Mr. Armour called a halt, and said : 
 "We'll wait for the Plainfield stage." 
 Plainfield is a fairly thriving agricultural 
 town, the principal village of which is six miles 
 north of Rockton Center, and, of course, just so 
 far away from the railroad. Every week-day 
 morning a stage comes down with the mail to 
 meet the early trains east and west at Rockton, 
 and returns at about eight o'clock. Not a boy, 
 probably, could have been found in Rockton 
 over seven years of age, who had not often seen 
 this well-preserved relic of by-gone days and 
 ways ; yet it is quite safe to say that the J. Q.'s 
 did not possess a member who could boast that 
 he had enjoyed a ride in it. Would n't it be a 
 treat? Even staid Adolphus threw up his hat 
 in great glee. When it came click-clacking, see- 
 sawing along behind a pair of big fat horses, it 
 had only one passenger a nice, motherly-look- 
 ing old lady, who was on her way to Plainfield 
 to visit a married daughter, as she told Mr. Ar-
 
 THAT THURSDAY THE START. 217 
 
 mour within a very few minutes. All the boys 
 wished to ride on the seat with the driver an 
 evident impossibility. As there was a seat still 
 higher up, Mr. White (why have there been so 
 many stage-drivers of this name?) soon had four 
 boys wedged into that, and Lieutenant Adolphus 
 beside himself, on the box. Meanwhile Mr. 
 Armour had stowed himself inside with the 
 aforesaid nice old lady "for ballast," he said 
 and, as above indicated, in ten minutes had a 
 good part of her family history. 
 
 The boys had a merry time. The venerable 
 stage-coach clicked -clacked and see -sawed 
 with rhythmic alliteration. The fat horses 
 switched their tails, and jogged along as though 
 they had nothing else to do but jog, switch flies, 
 and listen to half-grown human nonsense. 
 
 Mr. White was a little chunk of a man, 
 with merrily twinkling eyes under shaggy and 
 grizzly eyebrows, very red cheeks, and a fringe 
 of white whiskers under his chin. Not only 
 was he a little man, but he managed to say 
 " leetle " at almost every breath. He was just 
 a "leetle " late that morning because he had a 
 "leetle" more errands than usual to do. It 
 was just a " leetle " warm, the road was a" leetle" 
 sandy, and a " leetle " more hilly going up than 
 coming down ; the pesky flies were a " leetle " 
 bothersome, the " critters " were just a " leetle " 
 
 19
 
 2l8 ROCKTON. 
 
 lazy ; he had a "leetle" larger load than usual, 
 and he guessed he had better " go a leetle slow," 
 and let them enjoy the ride, as the morning 
 was a "leetle" nice; and, besides, he liked to 
 have " leetle men " ride with him. If he had 
 said " leetle boys " every mother's son of the J. Q.'s 
 would have been indignant; but as he qual- 
 ified the " leetle" with the big-sounding little 
 word men, every one felt honored an excusa- 
 ble weakness not altogether confined to boys. 
 
 The morning was, as Mr. White said, a 
 " leetle nice." It was not too hot, neither was 
 it a. bit chilly for the boys on their high, swaying 
 seat. A few fleecy clouds, snow-white in the 
 sunshine, were tokens of a fair day with light 
 winds. This road to Plainfield has but a few 
 houses. The face of the country through which 
 it runs is hilly, and shows, to the eye, great 
 stretches of woods. As the coach, with its 
 merry load, lumbered slowly along, squirrels on 
 either side barked at it as an intruder. Here 
 and there a rabbit started up by the roadside, 
 hopped along before the jogging horses for a few 
 rods, and then, with a parting flirt of its stumpy 
 tail, disappeared in the underbrush. All was 
 delightful. 
 
 Mr. White not only was humorous, he was 
 equally inquisitive. All stage-drivers appear to 
 be relatives of the celebrated Paul Pry. He
 
 T//.47 THURSDAY THE START. 219 
 
 asked the boys if they were "young sailors," 
 and when Edward gravely told him they were 
 The Northville J. Q.'s, the astonished and puz- 
 zled oddity ejaculated, 
 
 "ShoM Du tell!" 
 
 Adolphus undertook to enlighten him more 
 fully, and gave a sketch of the very short his- 
 tory of The Quintet, every point of which was 
 greeted with an incredulous " sho ' ! " 
 
 When they had ridden some three miles, and 
 Ijad come where a road branched to the east, 
 Mr. Armour called to the driver to stop. The 
 boys were a little surprised ; but as he got out, 
 there was nothing for them to do but get down. 
 When it came to settling with Mr. White, that 
 worthy's eyes twinkled faster than ever. He said 
 he was a " leetle " inclined to think that the 
 honor of driving for the J. Q.'s on their first 
 ride together was quite enough pay. If Mr. 
 Armour wanted very badly to pay a " leetle 
 something" for himself, he might pass him up a 
 quarter, but that was every cent he would take. 
 Mr. Armour began to reason with him, but was 
 cut short with : 
 
 " Do n't you worry. They haven't rid but a 
 leetle ways. If I ain satisfied, and the cattle 
 don't object, you needn't complain." 
 
 So Mr. Armour passed up his quarter. The 
 boys stood in line, and taking off their hats, gave
 
 220 ROCKTON. 
 
 generous driver White a cheer. He cracked his 
 whip, sang out, "Git up, there!" the old lady 
 stuck her head out, shook her handkerchief, and 
 said, "Good-bye," and the coach went click- 
 clacking and see-sawing away at its usual speed. 
 Every boy looked at Mr. Armour. Every face 
 asked, "What next?" "Now, my young heroes, 
 we 've got to ' frog it,' " he said, and led the way 
 down the road to the east. This proved to be a 
 cross-road, and but little used. When Adolphus 
 asked where it led, he was told that it runs across 
 the country for several miles until it intersects 
 the county road leading north, and that they 
 were to follow it about a mile and a quarter. 
 After which they might expect the fun to begin. 
 Just as though it had not been fun every mo- 
 ment since the start ! How they shouted ! 
 What races they ran ! Mr. Armour had to exert 
 himself to be even the tail of the procession. 
 
 As they climbed quite a hill and saw that the 
 road dropped down into a valley beyond, Ben- 
 jamin was for stopping awhile to dispose of his 
 lunch, but the rest were eager to get on. Mr. 
 Armour called all the boys about him, and asked 
 if any qne would lend him a jackknife. Ed- 
 ward had left his at home. So had James, who 
 said the old thing was n. g., for he had broken 
 the blade trying to bore a hole in a board. 
 Adolphus had a penknife which he offered for
 
 THAT THURSDAY THE START. 221 
 
 use, but declared the blades were pewter. 
 Bernard had one, but he " guessed " it would n't 
 cut and he guessed correctly. 
 
 When it was clearly proven that the J. Q.'s 
 were really bankrupt in cutlery, Mr. Armour fished 
 in his pockets and brought out for each boy a 
 new knife a good -sized, single-bladed jack- 
 knife and said this was Mr. Long's contribu- 
 tion towards their equipment. After a little 
 time had been spent in admiring the knives, 
 and they had been found to be properly ground, 
 and ready for use, they were told they were quite 
 near the end of their walk, as they were to stop 
 at the first house. Down the hill they went and 
 into the valley, and, at the same time, out of the 
 woods and into a clearing, on the farther side of 
 which stood a house. As he led them into its 
 grass-grown yard, Mr. Armour said: "In a few 
 moments more my little secret will be out."
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE GREAT SECRET OUT. 
 
 [THE boys looked around in silent per- 
 plexity. If they were within a few 
 moments of the secret which for days had 
 tantalized them, where was it? and what was 
 it? Had Mr. Armour been playing a prac- 
 A-tical joke? Hardly probable. But what 
 then? And each boy looked blankly at his 
 mates. So far as could be seen, there was but 
 small chance for any adventure. Several things 
 they did see. There was an old one-story cot- 
 tage-house standing broadside to the road, and 
 half-hidden by a tangled growth of trees and 
 shrubbery. Beyond this house, and partly be- 
 hind it, w r as an old barn with its gable end 
 towards the road ; its " shaky" appearance giv- 
 ing the impression that it had seriously made 
 up its mind to a general collapse, and was 
 only waiting a favorable moment for the ca- 
 tastrophe. On the south side of this barn was 
 a large cow-yard surrounded by a high stone 
 
 222
 
 THE GREAT SECRET Our. 223 
 
 wall of such an unusual thickness and so solidly 
 built as, at the first sight, to force the humorous 
 conviction that, no matter what other things 
 tumbled, it would stand forever. At the corner 
 of this wall was a well with mossy curb, and an 
 old-fashioned well-sweep. Everything house, 
 barn, well, and a dilapidated carriage of a non- 
 descript pattern that might have come out of the 
 Ark everything in sight at least, was guiltless of 
 paint. If anything about the premises had ever 
 known a moment when it was new, at that 
 precise moment it left off being so, and went 
 about growing old and weatherbeaten just as 
 fast as it could. 
 
 As Mr. Armour and the boys walked noise- 
 lessly over the grass towards the barn, not an- 
 other human being was in sight. A fine calf 
 tied to a stake, and a few sedate hens, appeared 
 to hold entire possession. In a field beyond 
 was a cow and a few more hens. Pausing for a 
 moment, they heard a faint, scratching sound, 
 coming from a shed in the rear of the house. 
 When they looked in at the wide door of this 
 shed, they saw a very short, very fat old man, who 
 must have been at great pains to get himself 
 into many clothes of a faded brown color; for 
 he was literally bundled up in them. His felt 
 hat had its broad brim turned down all around, 
 leaving only the tip of his nose and the lower
 
 224 ROCKTON. 
 
 part of his stubby-bearded face in sight. He 
 was sawing wood ; but the saw was moving so 
 slow that Edward told Adolphus, in an aside, 
 that he believed he would n't get the stick he 
 had on the horse sawed in an hour. This old 
 oddity paid no attention to Mr. Armour or the 
 boys, but slowly pushed the saw, helping it 
 along by an occasional grunt. The balance of 
 the time he evidently was talking to himself, 
 but all that could be heard was, "Mum-m-mum- 
 m-m-inum." When Mr. Armour spoke to him 
 he did not even lift his eyes, but scratched, 
 grunted, and mumbled as before. As they turned 
 from the shed, Bernard roguishly told Mr. Armour 
 that his " secret" evidently did n't intend to give 
 him away. But they were to be more successful 
 with their next discovery. 
 
 As they went towards the barn, a little dried- 
 up specimen of humanity came out of it, and in 
 a thin, squeaking voice, gave them greeting. 
 
 " H-how dy-d-doo ! B-be-ben 'spectin' ye 'd 
 b-be a-l-long." 
 
 He was nearly as odd-looking as the over- 
 dressed unintelligibility in the shed. He must 
 have been between sixty and seventy years old, 
 and was not taller than Adolphus. He was also 
 narrow-chested and round-shouldered, and 
 pinched and shrunken in appearance as if he 
 had been kiln-dried, and all fat and moisture
 
 THE GREAT SECRET OUT. 225 
 
 evaporated. He was dressed in a cotton shirt 
 and blue overalls. The bottoms of the latter 
 were tucked in his boots. All his scanty cloth- 
 ing was noticeably clean. His straw hat was 
 turned up behind and down before. Out of the 
 weazened face, under it, blinked a pair of very 
 light-blue eyes, which were held apart by a 
 long, peaked nose, which overhung a little, 
 puckered-up mouth. His scanty, white beard 
 must have been untrimmed for years. As al- 
 ready observed, he had a squeaking voice. Be- 
 sides this, he stuttered convulsively, and had a 
 habit of what might be called dry-spitting, some 
 two or three times in almost every sentence. 
 Later on, in the day, he told the boys some- 
 thing of himself. How he was " b-borned " in 
 the old house which his father built when a 
 young man ; how, after he was " out " of his 
 "time," he. worked for years as a "h-hossler" 
 in the vicinity of "B-Bosting;" how he got 
 kicked by a " p-p-pesky hoss, and 1-like ter 
 b-ben killed," and was a long time getting 
 round; how his father sent for him to come 
 home, and how, as he was very old, and his 
 brother was not " v-very sus-sus-sosher-b-bul," 
 the old gentleman gave him the farm to stay and 
 take care of them. When questioned as to the 
 extent of this gift, .he said he owned " b-b-bout 
 t-t-two hun-hundred a-acres," the larger part
 
 226 ROCKTON. 
 
 of which was woodland. Mr. Armour after- 
 wards told the boys that the father of these odd- 
 ities had been dead for years, and that they 
 had continued to live together since that event, 
 doing their own house-work, and grubbing along 
 in a fashion entirely their own. But all this 
 must be understood as information in advance. 
 
 In reply to the stuttered and expectorated 
 salutation of the little proprietor of the estab- 
 lishment, Mr. Armour said : 
 
 " Glad to see you this morning, Mr. Blake. 
 I suppose you have all things ready for us?" 
 
 " Y-yes, sir," he answered, and going into 
 the barn he brought out three paddles which 
 were evidently "home-made," having been 
 roughly fashioned out of pieces of boards. 
 Throwing these down he went back and brought 
 out two old tin dishes, and said : 
 
 " Th-tho't I-I m-m-might as w-well p-put 
 th-ther b-bait in t-t-two d-dishes, s-so th-there 'd 
 b-be one in e-each en-en-end of th-the b-b-boat." 
 
 " Crickey, boys! It's fishing!" squealed 
 Benjamin, and jumped up and down in his 
 delight. 
 
 The secret was out. Fishing it was to be. 
 But where was the water ? Not one of the 
 sharp-eyed J. Q.'s had seen pond or river. Mr. 
 Armour told them that as the road did not run 
 over the top of the hill, they had not been able
 
 THE GREAT SECRET OUT. 227 
 
 to see all there was in the valley, and directing 
 three of the boys to carry the paddles, and the 
 other two the dishes of bait, he led them around 
 the barn and into the pasture. Briskly walking, 
 in a few moments they had crossed it, and were 
 in the woods and following a cart-path, which 
 wound its way downward through the pines. 
 Before Edward could ask how much farther they 
 would have to go, Bernard, who had challenged 
 Benjamin to race, and had darted on ahead, 
 cried out, "Here it is!" 
 
 Sure enough ! There it was. They had 
 come to the shore of a pond large enough to be 
 called a lake, if it had graced some localities. 
 Though the trees grew almost to the water's 
 edge on the side where they stood, there was 
 but little underbrush ; and there was a little strip 
 of gravelly beach, with a broad, flat-bottomed 
 boat drawn upon it, which Edward forthwith 
 declared to be " a scow." 
 
 The boys instantly piled their traps on a 
 great flat rock, but Mr. Armour took the hatchet 
 from its case, and struck off a part of two or 
 three branches of a tree, and hung the wallets 
 on the pegs which remained, thus " keeping 
 them out of the way of ants," he said: " Which 
 would not hesitate to begin a feast on their con- 
 tents without the formality of asking per- 
 mission."
 
 228 ROCKTON. 
 
 By this time Bernard was ready with the 
 suggestion that if they were to catch fish it 
 would be wise, as well as necessary, to cut some 
 poles. This caused Benjamin's chin to drop, 
 and he cried out in great consternation: "O, 
 Mr. Armour, why did n't you tell us we were 
 coming a fishing, and then we could have 
 brought some hooks and lines?" 
 
 " Too bad, is n't it, my boy ?" Mr. Armour 
 affirmed, and interrogated in reply, and then 
 busied himself in unstrapping the mysterious 
 bundle he had claimed as his share of "the 
 traps." When it was unrolled the sight of 
 half a dozen jointed fishing-rods set the boys off 
 in a fusilade of rapturous exclamations. Mr. 
 Armour explained that he had a friend whose 
 business it was to make fishing-rods, and that he 
 had selected a lot of fine canes, and had quite a 
 number of rods made up to his liking, thinking 
 they might come handy when he went fishing 
 with his friends. 
 
 "These," he said, "were made expressly for 
 fishing for small fish from a boat." 
 
 He then opened the enameled cloth case 
 which Edward had brought, and took out .of it 
 a square sheet-iron pan. This had a piece of 
 board fitted into it like a cover, which, when it 
 was lifted, revealed plenty of lines wound on 
 reels. Each boy was quickly supplied, and the
 
 THE GREAT SECRET OUT. 229 
 
 work of " rigging up " began. The rods, when 
 jointed, proved to be "just the things ;" for they 
 were light and tapering, yet strong, and nearly 
 twelve feet in length. 
 
 Edward, who had often fished with his 
 father, went around helping the others pass the 
 lines through the tips of the rods, and down 
 through the rings, and fasten them at the butts. 
 This he did until all were in proper order ; and 
 then he coolly turned his attention to his own 
 preparations, as if this was the last thing to do. 
 
 Mr. Armour looked at him with a smile, and 
 the note his eyes made was something like this: 
 " What a kind, unselfish boy this is getting to 
 be !" What he said was : 
 
 " Edward, if the last is to be first, you will 
 catch the first fish." 
 
 Just then Mr. Blake he, with the impedi- 
 ment came down to tell them there were two 
 stones tied to ropes to be used as anchors ; and to 
 make his assertion good, dragged them out of their 
 hiding-place. One of these was placed in each 
 end of the boat, which was shoved off in read- 
 iness for its cargo of boys. Adolphus was sent 
 to the further end, Benjamin to the thwart next 
 to him; Edward and James took seats on the 
 middle thwart; next came Bernard, while Mr. 
 Armour stood at the end resting on the shoic. 
 Before he shoved the boat off, he asked Mr.
 
 230 ROCKTON. 
 
 Blake if he had any objections to their building 
 a fire to cook their dinner, provided they were 
 careful ; to which that good-humored specimen 
 of dessicated humanity, replied : 
 
 " I-I d-do n't care, s-so-so long's y-you 
 d-do n't s-s-set th-the p-p- pesky p-pond 
 a-a-fi-fi-fire." 
 
 This, no one having the least desire to do, 
 Mr. Armour shoved off the boat, at the same 
 time stepped in and seated himself, and with 
 one of the clumsy paddles sent the unwieldy 
 craft on its way. Every boy offered to paddle ; 
 but he told them they had but a short distance 
 to go, and all they need do would be to sit still and 
 keep the boat level. This pond, be it known, 
 is pear-shaped, and they were at the small or 
 narrow end. As Mr. Armour, without changing 
 his position, paddled the boat straight for the 
 other side, the boys wondered how he could do 
 it so skillfully. Adolphus said that when he 
 tried to paddle a boat he had to shift his paddle 
 from side to side or the boat went "round and 
 round." Mr. Armour told them it was simple 
 enough when understood, and that when a boy 
 he had been fortunate enough to own a birch 
 canoe, and had learned to use the paddle when 
 navigating it. By the time Edward had shown 
 James and Benjamin how to bait their hooks, 
 the boat had very nearly reached the lily-pads
 
 THE GREAT SECRET OUT. 231 
 
 on the north side of the pond, and Mr. Armour 
 directed Adolphus to be ready with the anchor 
 at his end. A few strong strokes of the paddle 
 placed the boat opposite a little cove. 
 
 u Down with your killick ! Easy !" he said, 
 at the same time letting the stone at his end 
 slip noislessly into the water. 
 
 " Do n't allow much slack to the rope, Adol- 
 phus, and tie it into the ring in the end of the 
 boat," was the next direction. When the boat 
 was anchored " fore and aft," the command, 
 " Fish," was needless. All were ready. No, 
 not quite ; for Benjamin wished he had a float 
 so he " could know when the fish were biting." 
 
 Mr. Armour said : 
 
 " My young friend, anybody can pull in a 
 fish that is well hooked. If you are to be a 
 fisherman you must learn to catch fish. With 
 these light rods you can feel the slightest nibble. 
 You must learn to hook the fish that nibbles by 
 a quick motion of your wrist, and then without 
 allowing your line to slack you can pull it in. 
 If you get the hang of this kind of fishing, you 
 may be able to catch trout some other day." 
 
 " Is this a good day for fishing ?" asked 
 Edward. 
 
 " A fair day for us, I think, though much de- 
 pends on what one is trying to catch, and some- 
 thing on the place."
 
 232 ROCKTON. 
 
 " What kind of fish are there in this pond?" 
 inquired Adolphus. 
 
 " Several kinds," was the reply, "but we will 
 try for but one. A lowering day is generally sup- 
 posed to be a good day for pickerel; but I have 
 caught some of my finest strings when the sun 
 was shining brightly. Bullheads bite best on 
 dark days or at night. A trout is really a night 
 fish, and could be best caught then if one could 
 see to do it. I never had much difficulty in in- 
 ducing perch to bite on bright days. I came 
 here that we might try our skill in catching 
 them. I think we all would enjoy a fish din- 
 ner. I have eaten almost every kind of fresh- 
 water fish in these parts. When perch are prop- 
 erly killed, dressed, and cooked, they are to me 
 the sweetest of all fish. Probably most people 
 would laugh to hear me say it ; but I think you 
 will all say about the same thing before one 
 o'clock that is, if we keep still and fish." 
 
 Adolphus went at it as sedately as an old 
 man forced to earn his living by fishing. Ed- 
 ward still directed James and Benjamin, but 
 managed to watch his own line. Mr. Armour 
 took Bernard in charge, and soon had him anx- 
 iously waiting, as he affirmed, for " a big bite " 
 which was to be the signal for him to " pull in 
 a whale." Benjamin squealed, "I 've got one !" 
 and jerked his line hard enough to have pulled
 
 THE GREAT SECRET OUT. 233 
 
 the head off an ordinary fish ; but nothing 
 appeared as it flew in the air. Edward under- 
 took to show him how to manage when he had 
 a bite. Said he : 
 
 " You just pull a bit when the fish nibbles, 
 and if you hook him, then " and he "suited the 
 action to the word " " you pull him in like 
 this " and up came a fine perch, quivering in 
 the air, and scattering drops of water from its 
 scaly sides. 
 
 "O-o-o!" "O-o-o!" "O-o-o!" exclaimed 
 Benjamin, James, and Bernard in interjectional 
 concert, while Edward coolly proceeded to un- 
 hook his fish. "Hold on, young man !" said Mr. 
 Armour; and the "young man" held on, but 
 looked up wonderingly. " I must show you 
 how to kill your fish," he continued, and mov- 
 ing to the thwart where Bernard sat, he took 
 the fish, still with the hook in its mouth, from 
 Edward. Holding it in his left hand, he showed 
 the boys an open jackknife in his right. The 
 sharp blade of this he passed under the gills, 
 and through the head of the perch. " You see 
 how it kills the fish at once," he said. " Besides 
 it bleeds it. This you should always do, for at 
 least three reasons : First, it is merciful ; it 
 puts an end at once to the sti iff rings of the fish ; 
 second, it prevents its flopping around un<Ki- 
 foot while it is dying; third, the fish is much 
 
 20
 
 234 ROCKTON. 
 
 better for eating. If Mr. Blake should have an 
 ox manage to get into this pond and drown, no- 
 body would think the beef fit to eat. When a 
 fish is taken out of the water, and allowed to 
 die in the air it simply drowns ; yet most people 
 treat the fish they catch in this way. Remember, 
 if you wish fish fit to eat, always kill them the 
 first thing you do after catching them." 
 
 He then showed them how to place their 
 knives to have them handy, and yet where they 
 would not inadvertently cut themselves. 
 
 The fishing went on famously. Each boy af- 
 firmed he had "caught on " to the way of doing 
 it, and sundry perch well " caught on " his hook 
 were the triumphant evidence thereof. Edward 
 still helped his mates, and fished for himself 
 with gratifying results, while Mr. Armour sel- 
 dom drew up his line without a perch to show 
 for the exertion. Adolphus, admiringly said to 
 him : " It makes no difference where you drop 
 your hook, the fish seem to be in a hurry to 
 have you catch them." As for himself, as with 
 justifiable pride he swung in " the biggest yet," 
 he declared, " I am having all the fun I want." 
 " The man or boy is to be pitied who does not 
 enjoy the sport of catching fish when they bite! 
 He must have outlived himself!" This state- 
 ment may be a little strong, but it is what Mr. 
 Armour said.
 
 THE GREAT SECRET OUT. 235 
 
 " Con junctions !" growled Edward, that 
 instant through his teeth, as n. fine perch with 
 an aggravating plash dropped from his hook 
 into the pond. Then he looked up roguishly 
 into Mr. Armour's face, and said : " I guess no 
 chap, no matter how old he is, enjoys losing a 
 fish after he bites." 
 
 This was too obvious for dissent, and Mr. 
 Armour continued his monologue. 
 
 " There is another remarkable fact about 
 fishing ; when the fish bite fairly well a fisher- 
 man hardly ever thinks of looking at his watch." 
 
 " It wouldn't help him catch fish if he did," 
 commented Bernard, as he drew in his tenth 
 perch. 
 
 " Do n't you think a hundred perch ought 
 to satisfy us?" asked Mr. Armour, as he landed 
 another. 
 
 " Why, they just keep biting," replied Ben- 
 jamin, evidently greatly astonished at the ab- 
 surdity of the question. 
 
 " What if they do ? We ought not to catch 
 more than we need. We have already all we 
 shall eat, and all we can well carry home, or 
 find use for when we get there. To kill fish 
 just for the sake of killing them is not very 
 noble fun, in my judgment." 
 
 " But men kill lions, tigers, and bears just for 
 the sake of killing them," persisted Benjamin.
 
 236 ROCKTON. 
 
 " Partly true," was the reply, " though you 
 must remember that lions, tigers, and bears are 
 wild and ravenous beasts. It would not be safe 
 to have them in the vicinity of our homes. 
 Perch don't kill sheep or men. But allow that 
 ravenous beasts are more ferocious than they are 
 said to be, and I have the feeling that to go out 
 into wild lands and shoot them just for the sake 
 of shooting them, is not very manly sport. 
 Brutish as the Indians are said to be, I have never 
 heard they are brutish enough for this. But it 
 is time to be thinking of dinner, and I hope to 
 shoot something eatable before we go ashore." 
 
 This announcement made ten eyes stare in 
 big surprise. Shoot something? Whew! Adol- 
 phus asked him if he intended to do it with one 
 of the clumsy paddles ; and then pulled up the 
 stone at his end of the boat. Mr. Armour had 
 already done so. The Quintet had not finished 
 laughing at the ridiculousness of " shooting 
 something " with nothing to shoot it with, when 
 Mr. Armour unbuttoned the top button of his 
 coat, and out of a deep inside pocket took a 
 mimber thirty -two -caliber Wesson's pocket 
 rifle. From a corresponding pocket in the 
 other side, he pulled out a skeleton stock, and 
 leisurely fitted it in its place. Out from another 
 pocket came a box of cartridges, and the rifle 
 was loaded and handed to Bernard, who was
 
 THE GREAT SECRET OUT. 237 
 
 told to hold it very carefully. The boys stared 
 more and more. There certainly was an un- 
 expected something to shoot with, but wHat 
 was there to be shot? Had Mr. Armour got that 
 in his pocket, too ? Evidently not, for he took 
 up his paddle, and as he slowly pushed the boat 
 along, said: 
 
 " We will go up to the end of the pond on 
 our way back, and perhaps I can get a shot at 
 a lazy pickerel sunning himself." 
 
 In reply to a question from Adolphus, as to 
 the possibility of this, he further said : 
 
 "Yes, it 'is possible; for pickerel have been 
 shot. I do n't know why it is, but at this time 
 of day, in bright weather, pickerel are some- 
 times seen lying sluggishly in shallow water. 
 I have tried them several times with bait, but 
 never have been able to get them to notice it. 
 I have threshed the water all around them with 
 my line, and not have them stir. Once I worked 
 my hook under a lazy fellow and caught him by 
 the gills. Why they lie in this way, I can only 
 guess. Pickerel are voracious, and generally, un- 
 less deceived, take their food alive, and, of 
 course, swallow it whole. At times they are 
 very big feeders. A friend of mine caught a 
 big one by trolling, and when he dressed it he 
 found a smaller one in its stomach, and this 
 smaller one had a big shiner in its stomach.
 
 238 ROCKTON. 
 
 Now tins pickerel ought not have been hungry, 
 and probably was not, yet my friend said it was* 
 the most ravenous bite he ever had. It seems 
 reasonable that when pickerel have made a 
 very hearty meal they should, like other crea- 
 tures that swallow their food whole, take after- 
 dinner naps to help digestion, and it is quite as 
 reasonable that at such times they should be 
 found basking in the sunlight in shallow water." 
 
 By the time all this had been said, he 
 had brought the boat quite near the cove in the 
 end of the pond, where the bottom was some- 
 what sandy, the water shallow, and partly 
 covered with patches of lily-pads. Telling 
 Bernard to hold the rifle ready to be handed to 
 him on his signal, and the rest to keep perfectly 
 still, he gave the boat a little more motion, at 
 the same time, swinging it around so that his 
 own end pointed towards the shore as it drifted 
 along under the impulse he gave it. Laying the 
 paddle across the boat he reached his hand for 
 the ready rifle, and as his eyes sent a quick 
 glance around, whispered: 
 
 " Now do n't move or speak. There is a big 
 fellow just ahead, and I '11 try for him." 
 
 Rising slowly and steadily to his feet, he 
 waited for the boat to drift a few feet further in, 
 and then bringing the rifle to his face and 
 pointing it downwards, there was a sharp crack,
 
 THE GREAT SECRET Our. 239 
 
 and the plash of the bullet in the water. The 
 next instant all saw a gleam of white where it 
 had blurred the surface, and Mr. Armour catch- 
 ing up his paddle, by a couple of swift strokes, 
 drew the boat towards the fish, which stunned 
 by the concussion, had turned on its back. 
 "Will he get it ?" was the silent question of 
 each almost breathless boy. Doubtful, certainly.; 
 for, only partly stunned, the pickerel turned on 
 its side. The next instant it would doubtless be 
 away. But the rough paddle came down on its 
 head, and, as Benjamin gleefully said, " put Mr. 
 Pickerel to sleep again," and Mr. Armour, reach- 
 ing down, lifted it by the gills and laid it in the 
 boat. Then all the J. Q.'s cheered until the 
 wooded shores rang, while Mr. Armour, with his 
 knife, according to Bernard's report, " killed it 
 again." 
 
 It required but a few moments to paddle 
 Edward's " scow " back to the starting-place, 
 where Mr. Blake was fourfd, serenely spitting, 
 and waiting, he having brought, by Mr. Ar- 
 mour's direction, a small can of milk, a wooden 
 pail with some potatoes, and a tin tea-kettle. 
 When Mr. Armour brought his pickerel ashore, 
 this little man stuttered out: "M-m-mor'n 
 th-than a th-three-p-p-pounder; 1 ' but James re- 
 sented this light estimate, and affirmed: 
 
 " It's bigger'n that," and appealed to Mr.
 
 240 ROCKTON. 
 
 Armour for confirmation, who wisely left tlie 
 weight of his fish an open question by saying : 
 "It is large enough to make a dinner for a 
 small family." 
 
 The boys made haste to place the perch be- 
 side the pickerel. Edward affirmed : 
 
 "There are more than a hundred," but Ben- 
 jamin boasted: 
 
 " Pooh ! We caught more than that !" 
 This was true, for Mr. Armour had directed 
 that some they caught should be at once re- 
 turned to the water as unfit for use. Anyway, all 
 agreed that they had a nice lot, and were justly, 
 proud of their success. Benjamin was the most 
 boastful, and Mr. Armour asked him: 
 
 "Do you think you could eat them all?" 
 The boy looked at the scaly pile, and an- 
 swered : 
 
 "I could try if if they were cooked." 
 How far he succeeded must be told in an- 
 other chapter.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THEY WERE COOKS ALL. 
 
 IT must not be supposed that the courage- 
 ous appetite confessed by Benjamin was 
 due to his inordinate fondness for fish, but 
 to that general state of hungriness which 
 was his constitutional peculiarity. He would 
 NT have had "a snack" from the supplies in 
 his wallet, if Mr. Armour had not at once called 
 on all the J. Q.'s to serve as cooks. On the princi- 
 ple of the organ-blower, who claimed that he was 
 quite as necessary to its playing as the organist, 
 he said, "We are all to be cooks to-day," and 
 set all at work without delay. To Adolphus he 
 gave the hatchet, and leading him to an old 
 pine-tree top, which had been left conveniently 
 near, he directed him to chop the branches into 
 firewood not over a foot in length ; and to keep 
 at it until he had a big pile in readiness. Mr. 
 Blake modestly offered his services, and was 
 told to wash and pare the potatoes, and then 
 21 241
 
 242 ROCKTON. 
 
 "slice them as thin as thin paper," to which 
 directions he replied, " E-eg-eg-zak-zak'ly ;" and 
 pulling out a big clasp-knife, was at work with- 
 out further remark. Mr. Armour then cut a few 
 boughs from a hemlock, and spreading them on 
 the ground near the water's edge, told Benjamin 
 and James to wash all the slime off the perch, 
 and lay them on the boughs ready for dressing. 
 A thin, flat stone, evidently split from the big, 
 flat rock already mentioned, was pointed out to 
 Bernard, and he was directed to rub it with 
 gravel and then wash it off thoroughly. Ed- 
 ward was by no means left idle, for Mr. Armour 
 informed him he was to assist in arranging for 
 the fire, and might begin at once to "tote" 
 stones. Evidently Mr. Armour was no novice 
 in rustic cooking, for in a very short time he 
 had inclosed, with well-laid stones, a space some 
 two feet long and a foot wide, leaving it open on 
 the side to the wind. When this was done, he 
 took from the wrap which had been round the 
 fishing-rods, something rolled in paper, which 
 proved to be two square, iron bars, about twenty- 
 eight inches long. These he placed on his fire- 
 place lengthwise, and about seven inches apart, 
 and made them secure by another course of 
 stones. On one end he laid the flat stone which 
 Bernard had zealously scrubbed and rinsed. 
 This he so placed that half or more of its width
 
 THEY WERE COOKS ALL. 243 
 
 rested on the bars. During these perfecting ar- 
 rangements, Edward had made himself busy in 
 bringing of the product of Adolphus's industry. 
 Mr. Armour's ever-ready knife whittled a few 
 sticks into kindlings, and before Mr. Blake had 
 shaved the last potato into the thinnest of thin 
 slices, the fire was brightly burning; and Adol- 
 phus v/as told that he had prepared enough 
 fuel, and might rest himself by keeping a blaze 
 going that would make sure of a big bed of 
 coals. Edward ran to rinse and fill the tin tea- 
 kettle, and set it on the bars to boil. 
 
 "Now the jackets must come off the perch," 
 said Mr. Armour, and at it he went. "Get 
 some hemlock boughs, Bernard, and lay them 
 near the water, and you shall rinse off the fish 
 as we dress them. James will pull out the fins, 
 and Benjamin will get that square piece of 
 board that came in the pan, and cut off the 
 heads of the fish, and pass them along to Ber- 
 nard to wash." 
 
 As he gave these directions he took a perch 
 in his left hand or rather, between his fore- 
 finger and thumb, thus pinching the head of the 
 fish through its gills. Thus holding it, he ran 
 the keen blade of his knife along both sides of 
 its dorsal fin, and once along its under side. 
 Turning the perch back up again, without 
 changing his grip, he slipped the knife-blade
 
 244 ROCKTON. 
 
 under the skin near the head, and stripped off 
 "like a flash," Bun said first one, and then the 
 other half. 
 
 "My! How he does make their jackets fly!" 
 Edward admiringly exclaimed, who stood ready 
 to help everybody. 
 
 Mr. Blake stuttered: 
 
 "'G-ger-gess I-I ker-ker-kin d-do th-that 
 ter-too," and went at the other side of the 
 perch heap with a dexterity fully equal to that 
 of Mr. Armour. 
 
 By the time Adolphus reported that there 
 was "a jolly bed of coals," the perch were all 
 dressed, and lying well washed and white and 
 hard, in readiness for the frying-pan. Then it 
 was that the sheet-iron pan Edward had brought 
 in its case found its proper place. On two of 
 its sides, and opposite to each other, were rings 
 which, when turned up, allowed a green, round 
 stick to be passed through them for a handle. 
 Holding it over the fire a moment or two, it 
 became hot, and then Mr. Armour dipped it 
 sizzling into the pond, when lo! it came out 
 clean and dry. Edward was sent for his wallet, 
 which proved to contain not only the pork pre- 
 viously ordered, but a package of salt; and an- 
 other, the contents of which, on being opened, 
 all pronounced to be meal. The square piece 
 of board which had covered the pan, and after-
 
 THEY WERE COOKS ALL. 245 
 
 wards been used in decapitating perch, came 
 again in play. All this was but the blowing of 
 the organ, but it helped make the music of 
 cooking fish. Mr. Armour cut the pork into the 
 tiniest of cubes, and while it was frying in the 
 pan, the very indispensable square of board was 
 heaped with meal; and four dozen perch were 
 perched on a clean stone, ready to be rolled in 
 the meal, and cooked in the pan. 
 
 Benjamin, who stood looking on with greedy 
 eyes, in an intense aside, said to James: 
 
 "There won't be quite seven apiece, if Mr. 
 Blake stays to dinner; but if he don't, there 
 will be just eight apiece." 
 
 It would take too long, or might be too tan- 
 talizing, to tell how the pan was filled with fish, 
 and how they were watched and turned until 
 they were according to Bun's veracious asser- 
 tion "done as brown as doughnuts;" or how, 
 when done, they were placed on the flat stone 
 at the end of the fire-place, to be kept hot until 
 they should be served; or how this operation 
 was repeated until the last fish was cooked. 
 When this "supreme moment" was reached, 
 poor Benjamin, with his longing eyes and water- 
 ing mouth, had to be taught another lesson in 
 patience and abstinence. 
 
 "Now for the potatoes," said Mr. Armour. 
 "Saratoga chips will be nowhere!"
 
 246 ROCKTON. 
 
 How they fried! How the boys danced 
 around! "To get up an appetite," they said, 
 though it must be allowed that this was en- 
 tirely needless. Mr. Blake, who had privately 
 spoken a word with Mr. Armour, darted off like 
 a boy, and by the time the first batch of pota- 
 toes were well browned, was back with a bright 
 tin milk-pan, into which they were speedily 
 transferred by the aid of a big iron spoon he 
 had also brought along. The frying-pan was 
 again filled, and the boys directed to prepare 
 the big, flat rock for use as a table. Wallets 
 were opened, and the luncheons so arranged as 
 to leave each boy room to sit on the edge of the 
 rock. The tin cups or dippers were placed be- 
 side the luncheons; and portions of newspapers 
 laid down to serve for plates, and weighted 
 with small stones to prevent their blowing 
 away. 
 
 When the second batch of potatoes had gone 
 into the milk-pan, and still another was cook- 
 ing, Mr. Armour fished in one of his pockets, 
 and pulled out a little package, the contents of 
 which he poured into the tea-kettle, and set it 
 on the rock, and said: 
 
 "I think our tea will be ready when every- 
 thing else is ditto." 
 
 Benjamin affirmed that he had "been 'ditto' 
 for a long time." To this ravenous remark,
 
 THEY WERE COOKS ALL, 247 
 
 Mr. Armour appeared to give no heed, but fished 
 in Edward's wallet and found "just one pack- 
 age more," which proved to contain sugar, 
 and probably as a happy thought of Miss 
 Sarah a couple of tea-spoons. 
 
 "Just enough," Mr. Armour said. "One to 
 serve the sugar, and one to loan each of the com- 
 pany to stir it in." 
 
 The package of sugar, with the spoons, went 
 on the big rock ; so also the pan of potatoes and 
 the milk-can. Then Mr. Armour, with pieces 
 of paper for holders, lifted the hot, flat stone 
 with its great pile of perch, and placed it in the 
 very center of their big natural table, and said: 
 
 "All ready at last." 
 
 But he was a little fast. No paper plate or 
 tin cup had been placed for Mr. Blake. Sure 
 enough, it was Edward who discovered the 
 omission. Mr. Blake insisted: 
 
 "Y-yer-you d-don't w-war-warnt n-no sus- 
 sus-stranger;" but the boys made a louder and 
 longer insistence, and declared they would not 
 eat, hungry as they were, unless he would play 
 guest. A piece of paper was laid down and 
 duly ballasted with stones, the cover of the milk- 
 can having lost its handle was solemnly placed 
 beside it for a cup, and the boys contributed of 
 their luncheons until the little lingual limper 
 avowed: "I-I '11 b-bu-bust f-f 'I e-e-eat it a-all!"
 
 248 ROCKTOM. 
 
 At last all things were really ready Benja- 
 min more than ready but Mr. Armour said : 
 
 "Here, as everywhere, we should be thank- 
 ful for good things;" and taking off his hat, all 
 instinctively following his example, he rever- 
 ently asked a blessing on the food which was 
 lying before them. 
 
 How they fell to! The big spoon did big 
 duty in serving the potatoes, and each paper 
 plate was heaped. Then each boy reached for 
 a fish, which he took by the tail, and proceeded 
 to dispose of in a very primitive fashion. 
 
 "Saratoga chips!" commented Edward, with 
 his mouth full. " They are poor fodder along- 
 side of these." 
 
 Most of the boys allowed their wagging jaws 
 time to assent to this eulogium. Benjamin 
 alone was silent; he was too busy stuffing him- 
 self for flattering comparisons, small talk, or 
 anything else than stuffing. 
 
 Mr. Blake stuttered at Mr. Armour the com- 
 pliment that he could get big wages as a cook 
 for some metropolitan hotel, but that gentleman 
 modestly replied: 
 
 "It would be a losing business, unless I could 
 take the J. Q.'s along to catch fish for me." 
 
 The gratifying gastronomic work went on, 
 until there were more bones in sight than fish. 
 Not that our friends were troubled with the
 
 THEY WERE COOKS ALL. 249 
 
 former, for perch dressed and cooked as were 
 those of their feast give no such annoyance. 
 The dressing removes the fins and some of the 
 smaller bones; and when well cooked, the meat 
 readily separates from the remaining bones, leav- 
 ing quite a skeleton as evidence of the prowess 
 of the eater. 
 
 Mr. Armour quoted the "old saw:" 
 
 "A carpenter should be known by his chips," 
 to which Edward instantly rejoined: 
 
 " .r-pecially Chippy." 
 
 There was a general laugh at this poor pun ; 
 but James growled out, with greasy mouth : 
 
 "Getting mighty /ar-ticular how you speak;" 
 thus unconsciously doing respect to his mate's 
 new habit of careful utterance. 
 
 Before dinner was ended, the last batch of 
 potatoes went to re-enforce the milk-pan, but the 
 boys protested they had no other place for it. 
 Adolphus, declaring he could not and would not 
 eat any more, got himself on his feet ; a maneu- 
 ver which was imitated by all except Benjamin. 
 This voracious young gentleman still sat, and 
 ruefully eyed the hot stone, on which there re- 
 mained several toothsome perch. 
 
 "Can't you finish the job?" laughingly in- 
 quired Mr. Armour. 
 
 The boy shook his head disconsolately, and 
 rubbed his distended stomach for a reply. Adol-
 
 250 ROCKTON. 
 
 phus and Edward offered to take him away, and 
 roll him over a log, if they could find one. At 
 length he, too, got up, and like the rest declared 
 he could not "eat one bit more." 
 
 What could be done with the remainder? 
 They could not carry it home, nor did they wish 
 to throw it away. Mr. Blake unobtrusively 
 hinted that, if they had no use for it, he would 
 carry it to the house for his brother, who was 
 " fer-fer-fond of f-f-fish." So the perch were 
 laid on the potatoes, and he was told he was 
 more than welcome to the contents of his own 
 pan. Adolphus whispered to Mr. Armour that 
 they had thus discovered that the queer bundle 
 of duds up at the house could eat. 
 
 The next thing was to care for the perch 
 which had not been cooked. Bernard got into 
 the boat, and found several which had been 
 overlooked. These were dressed, together with 
 the pickerel which Mr. Armour had placed in 
 the water to keep it in good condition. This 
 pickerel he strung through the gills with a piece 
 of line, to which he tied a short, round stick for 
 convenience in carrying, and then rolled it in 
 an old newspaper, making this secure with more 
 line. This done, he assorted the perch, making 
 of them four piles, three of which contained a 
 dozen and a half, the fourth a round dozen. 
 Edward was told he needed no more perch to
 
 THEY WERE COOKS ALL. 251 
 
 stimulate his active brain, while Bernard was as- 
 sured that a dozen fish were sufficient for his small 
 household; so each of four boys rolled up his 
 perch in whatever paper he had left, and, put- 
 ting them in his wallet, hung it on the tree. 
 
 After an hour spent in resting and strolling 
 through the woods, Mr. Armour called The 
 Quintet together, that they might get into har- 
 ness for the homeward march. The frying-pan 
 was burned clean and hid in its case, the hatchet 
 again made safe to carry, and, when all the 
 traps were properly adjusted, the party returned 
 to the house. 
 
 Mr. Blake, who had preceded them to feed 
 his taciturn brother, was awaiting them. Mr. 
 Armour asked him for a handful of unbroken 
 rye-straw, which, having obtained, he proceeded 
 further to dress up his pickerel. First he thor- 
 oughly wet the paper around it, and then, lay- 
 ing it on some straw and placing more over it, 
 he tied it up so as to make a complete cover or 
 sheath for it. Cutting the spare straw off at 
 both ends, he held it up and said: 
 
 "Young fishermen, you see my pickerel will 
 keep fresh, my clothes will not be soiled, and 
 ' Paul Pry,' if I should meet him, could n't tell 
 what I am carrying." 
 
 Well, it was time to go. No doubt about 
 this. Mr. Armour shook hands with Mr. Blake
 
 252 ROCKTON. 
 
 in a way which made that worthy gentleman 
 grin, chuckle, double up his fist, thrust it down 
 into his overalls pocket, and stutter: 
 
 "Ga-ga-glad ter-ter s-s-see ye-you a-a-any 
 t-ter-time." 
 
 At a signal from Adolphus, the J. Q's got in 
 line, took off their hats, and gave three cheers 
 and a tiger; after which they followed Mr. Ar- 
 mour into the road, where he called a halt, and 
 told them they could go home the way they 
 came or take a shorter cut across the country. 
 He explained that there was a cart-path leading 
 south through the woods, which would bring 
 them to the foot of a high ridge, which they 
 could see something of a mile away, and which 
 they would have to climb. On the further side 
 of this ridge there was another cart-path, made 
 by lumbermen, which would lead them very 
 nearly home. This way would be considerably 
 rougher than the public road, but it would be 
 nearly two miles shorter. Both ways would be 
 pleasant, and they might take their choice. 
 Adolphus put it to vote, and it was unani- 
 mously decided to take the short cut if Mr. 
 Armour would play the part of guide. As they 
 turned into the wood road, Edward said: 
 
 "Mr. Armour has his rifle, and may shoot 
 some big game." 
 
 He did not know he was a prophet.'
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 SOME BIG GAME BAGGED. 
 
 TT7HE cart-path into which Mr. Armour 
 -g- led the boys winds its way delightfully 
 thiough a thrifty second growth of oak and 
 birch, and occasionally skirts low places 
 where grow fir and juniper. As its general 
 L course is north and south, the rays of that 
 afternoon's sun could not flood it, but instead 
 cast a cool shade, which added much to the com- 
 fort and pleasure of the walk. At first the boys 
 trudged on at a rapid gait, singing, "Marching 
 through Georgia" and other marching choruses; 
 but the " whirr " of a partridge now and then, 
 and the occasional glimpse of a rabbit as it 
 whisked out of the path, diverted their attention 
 and slowed their pace. There was a general 
 clamor for Mr. Armour to show his skill with 
 the rifle, but in reply he read them the humane 
 lesson, " To kill for fun is simply brutal." On 
 this he enlarged by saying: " I wish for all boys 
 
 253
 
 254 ROCKTON. 
 
 to have all the fun they have right to ; for hon- 
 est amusement and legitimate adventures will 
 help make them wiser, better, and healthier. 
 Nothing which is brutal can do this. I wish 
 you to be jolly ; but you ought to be ambitious 
 to be manly boys. Always crush out of your 
 minds the least thought or desire for anything 
 cruel, mean, or unworthy. Go for the noblest 
 pleasures every time ; and remember this : the 
 highest joy is always found in being kind, ten- 
 der, and truthful, and in doing good. It is 
 against the law to shoot partridges, rabbits, or 
 other game at this season. If it were not, I 
 would not shoot them unless I wished to eat 
 them." 
 
 " I heard Mr. Allard say that he was ' no pot- 
 hunter.' What did he mean?" asked Adolphus. 
 
 " I suppose he meant it to be understood 
 that he is what is called ( a sportsman,' and does 
 not kill game, simply for the game. If this is 
 so, he shoots game to show his skill, or to im- 
 prove it. To take away the lives of God's harm- 
 less creatures for this purpose is unmanly, for it 
 is unnecessary ; more, it is wanton cruelty. If 
 a ' pot-hunter ' is one who kills game to put in 
 his pot, and who kills only what he wishes to 
 eat, then, in my judgment, the 'pot-hunter' is 
 the more manly, and the real sportsman." 
 
 Of course such talk as this opened the w r ay
 
 SOME BIG GAME BAGGED. 255 
 
 for more. Benjamin, a short time before, had 
 read an account of the doings of a hunting 
 party in the Wild West, and he launched into 
 a somewhat lurid description of the daring 
 deeds, hair-breadth escapes, and wild animals 
 slain, of which it told. Evidently he had been 
 much delighted with it. 
 
 It may not have been said in so many words 
 that Mr. Armour is a wise man ; if not, let it 
 now go down for a fact. He did not say, 
 "Young man, such books are not fit to read!" 
 O no ! But he did say : 
 
 " We read, and perhaps sometimes ought to 
 read, books describing actions we are not bound 
 to imitate. If you read the description of a 
 drunken brawl, you ought not to have a desire 
 to get drunk and fight. On the contrary, you 
 ought to be more strongly fixed in the deter- 
 mination to do neither. The danger in such 
 books as Benjamin has been reading is, that 
 boys are by them often led to think that there 
 is something specially heroic in unnecessary 
 dangers and hair-breadth escapes. If you will 
 learn to study the acts of men, and discern 
 their true nature and worth, then good may 
 come, out of the reading. But what is there 
 heroic in a man who, because he is daring, and 
 holds his life cheap, faces a grizzly bear for the 
 poor glory of killing it if he can?"
 
 256 ROCKOH. 
 
 At this time they had reached a clearing 
 where the choppers, in trimming trees, had left 
 large piles of the limbs, now well dried. Calling 
 attention to these, Mr. Armour continued : 
 
 " Suppose that I should set fire to all this 
 brush, and get it to blazing furiously; and then 
 should challenge you all to jump into it or run 
 through it, would you do it?" 
 
 " Not much !" replied Adolphus ; and the 
 rest agreed with him. Even Benjamin said he 
 could n't see any use there could be in spoiling 
 his clothes or getting burned to death. 
 
 "What if I should call you cowards because 
 you would n't do it?" asked Mr. Armour. 
 
 " It just just would n't be true," answered 
 Edward stoutly. 
 
 " That is a very polite way of saying it 
 would be a lie! You are correct. Now sup- 
 pose that while the brush was burning all 
 around on the edges of the clearing, you should 
 see your little sister, or some small child in the 
 center, and in danger of being burned to death ! 
 Then what would you do ?" 
 
 " I'd get her out in a minute," replied Adol- 
 phus, with flashing eyes. He thinks he has just 
 the loveliest and most lovable little sister in the 
 whole world and thinks right for Adolphus. 
 
 " But what if you should be burned to death 
 in trying to save her?"
 
 BIG GAME BAGGED. 257 
 
 " I I do n't think I would think of that," 
 answered the boy with a modest flush on his 
 face. 
 
 There was a tender expression in Mr. Ar- 
 mour's eyes as he said : 
 
 " That would be true heroism, Adolphus. 
 But if I should challenge you to run through 
 the fire, and you should do so for fear I would 
 call you a coward if you refused, do n't you see 
 you would be a coward after all ? There is noth- 
 ing brave in doing a thing because it is daring 
 it is simply fool-hardy. I wish the J. Q.'s to be 
 brave and face danger when there is need of 
 facing it; and I wish them to be just as brave, 
 and utterly refuse to be fool-hardy." 
 
 How long this conversation might have contin- 
 ued it is not possible to say ; as a matter of fact it 
 was suddenly brought to an end by Edward, who 
 looked up roguishly at Mr. Armour, and said : 
 
 "Any way, I 'd like to shoot at something." 
 
 This wise man was wise enough to follow 
 this lead and change the subject. The party 
 had reached open ground at the base of the 
 ridge, which must be climbed before they could 
 strike the path on the other side. Having 
 plenty of time, a rest was in order. While the 
 boys stretched themselves on the mossy turf, 
 Mr. Armour walked to the perpendicular face of 
 a ledge about two hundred yards away, and,
 
 258 ROCKTON. 
 
 taking a paper target from his pocket, unfolded 
 it and fastened it upon the ledge. Coming 
 back, he asked for the hatchet, and cutting a 
 forked sapling, trimmed it and drove it into 
 the ground as a rest for the rifle. Taking this 
 out and loading it, he arranged and explained 
 the sights, and then offering it to Edward, told 
 him to shoot. This the eager boy was about to 
 do, but suddenly seemed to change his mind, 
 and declared he would " shoot last," if at all. 
 The others were quite willing he should wait; 
 and Bernard, Benjamin, James, and Adolphus, 
 in turn, had "a crack" at the target. Adolphus 
 hit the outer edge of the paper; the others freely 
 admitted they "hit nowhere." Then came Ed- 
 ward, whose shot left a black dot inside the 
 outer ring. All insisted that Mr. Armour should 
 show them what he could do, and, without the 
 rest, he managed to plant a bullet just under the 
 bull's-eye. After another round, with about the 
 same result, except that Mr. Armour's second 
 bullet clipped the upper edge of the bull's-eye, 
 they resumed the homeward march. 
 
 It required some smart scrambling to climb 
 the ridge; but, slipping, scratching, shouting, 
 laughing, and puffing, they at length accom- 
 plished it, and found a fine view and time to re- 
 cover their wind at the top. As they looked 
 south, the woods stretched away in green bil-
 
 SOME BIG GAME BAGGED. 259 
 
 lows for nearly two miles, beyond which they 
 could see the tip of the spire of Northville 
 church, and still beyond that the clustering 
 houses which have in part overrun the old-time 
 Pound Pasture. 
 
 Edward and James soon pointed out their 
 homes. All wished to know if they were to 
 travel "straight away" for Northville. Mr. Ar- 
 mour showed them where they were to make 
 their way down the south side of the ridge and 
 towards a swamp, on the edge of which they 
 could find a wood road, leading them in a 
 slightly westerly direction. This road, he told 
 them, would bring them out into the highway 
 they had traveled in the morning, at a point 
 about half a mile from where they took the 
 stage. But he said they could make their walk 
 shorter by turning into a foot-path and coming 
 out on Brent's Hill, a sharp elevation northwest 
 from Mr. Holt's, and about half a mile distant. 
 After giving James an extra and needful lesson 
 in cautiousness, he directed an oblique descent 
 into the valley and towards the swamp. Each 
 sought the easiest way down, and when the foot 
 of the ridge was reached the party was some- 
 what separated. 
 
 Mr. Armour and Edward were nearest the 
 swamp, the latter, boy-like, in advance. As he 
 parted some low bushes, something suddenly
 
 260 ROCKTON. 
 
 started up which looked immense to his aston- 
 ished eyes. This something leaped away, and 
 in an instant was on one of the lower branches 
 of a big hemlock. Mr. Armour heard the sharp 
 cry of the surprised boy, and the scratching 
 sound which the something made as he "treed" 
 it. His rifle was out in an instant; for his 
 quick eyes saw and recognized the big game. 
 Without stopping to adjust the stock, he slipped 
 a cartridge from his vest-pocket into its place, 
 and drew a bead on the "varmint." He could 
 not see its head, and if he had been able to see 
 so small a mark without the stock, his aim 
 might not have been sure. As the creature 
 stood, with arching back and bristling hair, 
 ready for a spring and escape, he brought, as 
 near as he could judge, the sights to bear over 
 its heart. The next instant there was a sharp 
 crack, a plunge into the bushes, and the sound 
 of a following flurry. Bidding Edward stand 
 perfectly still, and hastily reloading his rifle, he 
 made his way cautiously in the direction of the 
 sound. The rifle cracked again, and the flurry 
 was over. 
 
 The other boys came bursting through the 
 bushes as Mr. Armour dragged into a clear 
 space the creature he had shot. There was a 
 sizable hubbub. No boy had ever seen the 
 like. What was it? Benjamin eyed it suspi-
 
 SOME BIG GAME BAGGED. 261 
 
 ciously, but at a safe distance, and asked Mr. 
 Armour if he was sure it was quite dead. Adol- 
 phus wished to know if it was a catamount, and 
 Edward asked if it was not a panther. They 
 were told that those were names for the puma, 
 or American lion, a very large animal, and ex- 
 ceedingly dangerous to encounter. Edward at 
 length ventured another guess, and guessed 
 " it must be a wild-cat." 
 
 " Quite right this time," said Mr. Armour. 
 " It is a very large specimen of the bay lynx 
 or Bob-cat. I have seen several of this species 
 in my rambles, but none so large as this." 
 
 "Are there any other kinds about here?" 
 asked Adolphus. 
 
 " There are said to be four occasionally 
 found in the United States. I never have seen but 
 one alive, and know of but one more being seen 
 in this part of the country. The Canada lynx is 
 usually of a gray color, and has longer and larger 
 legs than the bay lynx, but has a body smaller 
 in proportion. Once in a while one of this 
 species is seen in this State." 
 
 " Do they kill folks ?" asked Benjamin, who 
 had edged up to the dead lynx and was pok- 
 ing it with a stick. 
 
 "Hardly," replied Mr. Armour. "They are 
 inoffensive unless attacked in a corner, or 
 wounded so they can not get out of the way.
 
 262 ROCKTON. 
 
 Then, of course, they scratch and bite, and do 
 so as as hard as they can. A friend of mine 
 had a pair of pantaloons ruined by one he had 
 disabled. This fellow would have got into a 
 ledge or some hole out of the way if he had 
 seen the chance. Edward frightened him and 
 he went up the tree for safety, and to look 
 around. He was just ready to take "scotch 
 leave," when I let go at him. When I saw him 
 I was anxious to bring him down. Last winter 
 I was looking for a specimen in the Natural 
 History Rooms in Blankopolis, where I go some- 
 times to study, and I could not find one ; but 
 now I can supply the deficiency. 
 
 " How can we get Mr. Lynx home ?" dubi- 
 ously inquired Bernard. 
 
 "We'll lug him," proposed Edward. 
 
 Adolphus shook his head, and said: "That's 
 what no two of us boys can do." 
 
 " But four of us could carry him if each 
 should take hold of a leg." This was Bernard's 
 solution of this transportation problem. 
 
 Benjamin evidently intended to be perfectly 
 safe, and objected. "He might come to, and 
 scratch or bite." 
 
 Bernard was equal to this emergency, and 
 replied : " The rest of us can carry him, and 
 you can walk behind and see he does n't 
 bite us."
 
 SOME BIG GAME BAGGED. 263 
 
 All the while Mr. Armour had been an 
 amused listener. He now said : " I will let you 
 carry our prize, but I must make it easy for you." 
 
 He asked Edward for the hatchet, and 
 walked away ; the boys heard a few vigorous 
 whacks, and before they were done debating as 
 to what he was doing, he was back with two 
 small, white birches. Out of these he trimmed 
 a pair of poles about eight feet long, leaving 
 several branches on one side, and near the middle 
 of each. Laying these on the ground parallel to 
 each other, and about twenty-four inches apart, 
 he asked Bernard to open the frying-pan case 
 and hand him a fishing-line. He then bent the 
 loose ends of the branches around the opposite 
 poles, and tied them fast, thus making a small 
 rude litter, and then cut a few boughs from the 
 hemlock, and spread them like a mat upon it. 
 This done, it required but a moment to have 
 the lynx ready for transportation. Edward and 
 Adolphus were the first detail. The former, be- 
 ing the shorter, stepped between the poles in 
 front, while Adolphus did the same behind. 
 Mr. Armour gave the word, and they picked up 
 the load. The limber birch branches, and the 
 hemlock boughs bent just enough under the 
 body of the lynx to prevent it from rolling off; 
 and Edward declared it was just the thing, and 
 that he could carry his end all the way home.
 
 264 ROCKTON. 
 
 Mr. Armour went back and picked up the 
 pickerel, which he had dropped, when he caught 
 sight of the lynx, and when all were ready, told 
 them to follow him in Indian file. In a short 
 time they struck the wood road which proved 
 broad and smooth enough to allow four boys to 
 carry the lynx. They were in no hurry that 
 is, after awhile ! They thought the lynx was 
 an enormous creature when they first saw it. 
 Paradoxically they declared it was not heavy to 
 carry. It grew considerably in their estimation 
 as they trudged towards Northville. Edward 
 humorously declared that- if they had twenty 
 miles to lug the thing it would get to be as 
 heavy as an elephant. 
 
 .What if it did take an hour longer to get 
 home? Did anybody in Northville ever before 
 go fishing, and come home with a monstrous 
 wild cat? For a time the pickerel was at an 
 obscuring discount. They marched slowly, 
 rested often, congratulating themselves all the 
 while until they came where they must leave 
 the cart-path, and take the shorter trail leading 
 over Brent's Hill. Then the load must be borne 
 by twos. But they changed often, and tugged 
 cheerfully. Brent's Hill, on the north, is not 
 steep, and by the time Benjamin was expressing 
 his longings for supper they had topped it, and 
 come to a delightful place to rest
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE EVER-MEMORABLE DAY WINDS UP. 
 
 "TT7HERE!" ejaculated Edward, with a 
 - comical inflection of relief; " let that 
 immense Bob-cat, wild-cat, and bay lynx 
 lie in the shade and shrink some before we 
 tug him the rest of the way." 
 
 Probably the other fragments of the 
 J. Q.'s were equally thankful. At least no one 
 objected at all when Mr. Armour said : 
 
 "You have brought our prize to the edge of 
 civilization, and now we will find some other 
 mode of transportation." 
 
 They had indeed come to the edge of civil- 
 ization, and not a thin edge either ; for they had 
 Rockton at their very feet. Brent's Hill, on its 
 south side, is a somewhat abrupt elevation. It 
 is not very long from east to west. Its top is 
 higher than Ridge Street; and while much of 
 the center of Rockton can not be se"en from it, 
 there is a fine view of Northville, from which it 
 
 23 265
 
 266 ROCKTON. 
 
 -is but a few moments' walk, and other portions 
 of this thriving town. 
 
 Mr. Armour and the boys (and the lynx) had 
 not stopped to rest on the very crest of the hill, 
 but a little under it, on the south side, where it 
 drops away in a gentle descent, thus forming a 
 shallow basin, or hollow, quite free from rocks 
 (plentiful elsewhere), and containing perhaps 
 half a dozen acres of very good soil. This 
 spot, because of its peculiar situation, and the 
 improvements made upon it, is one of the prin- 
 cipal show places of Rockton. There is noth- 
 ing very grand about the buildings or grounds; 
 but they are neat, attractive, and rather dainty 
 in appearance. 
 
 Some fifteen years before the time of this 
 story, a Mr. Wentwojth, who had amassed a 
 considerable fortune, and was largely interested 
 in several manufacturing enterprises in the 
 State, saw the location, bought it, erected the 
 buildings, and ornamented the grounds to please 
 the taste of his wife. It may be hard to make 
 a picture of all our friends were enjoying, but 
 the beauty is there to be seen if not described. 
 The house is not "a mansion " or "a villa." It 
 is a neat, vine-grown cottage, with wide veran- 
 das, and is pleasing to the eye and suggestive 
 of- comfort- within. The outbuildings show 
 equal taste. These buildings are set in an
 
 THE DAY WINDS UP. 267 
 
 ample lawn, with graveled paths and roadway. 
 The grounds are not laid out like any others in 
 the town. The buildings are not shaded by 
 trees, but stand open to the air and sunlight. 
 On the east, north, and west sides of the grounds 
 Mr. Wentworth planted trees of many kinds, 
 and in all sorts of odd arrangements. These 
 trees have flourished vigorously, and now the 
 grounds, as has been said, are very pleasant 
 and attractive. Even Annis Crab can not find 
 fault with them, but has been heard quite en- 
 thusiastically to say: "They are just 'cute and 
 lovely." 
 
 For some years Mr. Wentworth and his in- 
 valid wife enjoyed this home. He called it 
 Mount Hope. This was not for a reason kin- 
 dred to that which Solomon Whagg, Esq., gave, 
 when asked by a visitor in Rockton why one of 
 its public ways was called Elm Street. Solomon 
 heard the question with an almost expressionless 
 gravity on his face, and with an overpowering 
 solemnity of tone answered: "Because there is 
 a row of maples on each side of it!" No one 
 can tell what would become of Rockton were it 
 not for this perpetrator of small jokes. Doubt- 
 less he is all the more popular from the fact that 
 his jokes are small. If they were big or exceed- 
 ingly witty, Rockton might not understand 
 them. All laugh at his innocent fun, and all
 
 268 ROCKTON. 
 
 the more, perhaps, because they can not tell 
 why. And indeed why should they? There 
 may be no wit in what he said of another street, 
 yet Rockton laughs at it to-day, will to-morrow, 
 and for all days to come. It was at a town- 
 meeting. They were trying to fix on a name 
 for a street which had just been accepted as a 
 public way. Houses had been built upon it 
 nearly its whole length. Every one had a name 
 for it ; but when votes were taken, overwhelm- 
 ing majorities rejected them all. Finally Sol- 
 omon arose, and, with his usual ponderous so- 
 lemnity, proposed, in order to unite all factions 
 and please everybody, that this public way be 
 named "Green Street." It went through with 
 a rush, and unanimously. After the vote was 
 declared, somebody asked Solomon his reason 
 for suggesting this name. He arose, and with- 
 out a semblance of a smile, answered: "Because 
 no one of that name ever lived on it." "Green 
 Street" is painted upon the signs on its coiners, 
 but all the "old-timers" still call it "Solomon's 
 Joke." 
 
 To return. Mr. Wentworth was not trying 
 to be funny when he named his charming little 
 estate Mount Hope, but was giving expression 
 to a great love. Hope is the baptismal name 
 of the noble, cultured woman who graced it. 
 She objected to its use, but love prevailed.
 
 THE DAY WINDS UP. 269 
 
 It has been said that Mrs. Wentworth is an 
 invalid, and the sorrowful truth is that robust 
 health will never bless her frail body. Her in- 
 firmities at length forced a flitting to a more 
 genial climate. For some years, it has been a 
 well-known and universally lamented fact that 
 she will never return for a long stay at Mount 
 Hope ; and at the time this story opened Mr. 
 Wentworth had given orders for its sale. 
 
 When the J. Q.'s made their appearance on 
 this Thursday afternoon, there were no signs of 
 life about the premises except that a horse at- 
 tached to a light express-wagon was standing in 
 the shed connected with the stable. The boys 
 dropped down on the rustic chairs and benches 
 on the east side of the grounds, from which 
 they could see the front of the cottage, with its 
 closed doors and blinds. It was a delightful 
 place to rest. Home was at hand. The after- 
 noon sunlight was flooding all their beloved 
 Rockton, and blessing Northville in particular, 
 with its unstinted opulence. Behind them was 
 the day, with its rare enjoyments; beside them 
 the harmless body of the bay lynx, and they 
 were happy. Happy? They overflowed with 
 irrepressible joyousness. James, in the exuber- 
 ance of his raptures, cried, nay, shrieked out: 
 "O, but hasn't this just been a boss day!" 
 He threw up his hat, kicked his heels in
 
 270 ROCKTON. 
 
 air, and tumbled backwards off the bench to 
 the great peril of his neck. When he had 
 shame-facedly righted himself, and the laughter 
 of his mates over his involuntary summerset 
 had subsided, all fell to admiring the place. 
 Adolphus said he wished he might own it when 
 he came to set up for himself. Likewise said 
 Edward, James, and Benjamin. Bernard had 
 got beyond wishing. He said: " I just mean to 
 buy it when I get to be a man." The flood- 
 gates were opened. They talked and romanced 
 into much enthusiasm, if not to their hearts' 
 content. Finally, it was agreed upon that it 
 should be the object of each of The Jolly Quin- 
 tet to own and live at Mount Hope. Standing 
 together and clasping hands, they laughingly 
 made the compact that he of their number who 
 should succeed in this purpose, should celebrate 
 it by a grand entertainment, and invite his 
 mates and their friends. 
 
 Some things occur suddenly. Some things 
 are so very abruptly sudden in their occurrence 
 as to cause speechless astonishment. So it hap- 
 pened to this ring of covenanting boys. They 
 heard a slight noise in the direction of the 
 house. They looked, and lo! the front door 
 opened, and out of it came Sarah Holt, followed 
 closely by Jabez Long, Abraham Clark, and Sol- 
 omon Whagg, Esq. Grand tableau ! Five boys,
 
 THE DAY WINDS UP. 271 
 
 with round, bulging eyes, wide-open mouths, 
 and speechless! How long? Well, for boys, 
 relatively quite long. Actually, before this new 
 party could cross the lawn, they were cheering 
 themselves hoarse. 
 
 "It is like having our fun all over again," 
 said Adolphus, when greetings had been ex- 
 changed. 
 
 The new-comers each asked questions, and 
 the boys, all at once, tried to tell the story of 
 the day. Solomon inquired where they got their 
 "big tom-cat," and cracked innumerable small 
 jokes, which kept the boys in an uproar. But 
 a stranger story than that of their fishing, the 
 big pickerel, or the whopping big lynx, was told 
 by this sober-faced punster. Wonderful! He 
 said : 
 
 " Mr. Jabez Long, our estimable friend, has 
 bought Mount Hope." 
 
 Who could believe it? In chorus they ap- 
 pealed to Mr. Long. He replied : 
 
 " I suppose so ; that is, if my check is not 
 refused when the papers are ready." 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Long is in immediate prospect of 
 being the proud owner of this delightful estab- 
 lishment," reaffirmed Mr. Whagg. 
 
 Thus it was ; Mr. Wentworth, the day before 
 had dropped into Mr. Long's store (they are 
 great friends), and in the course of their com vr-
 
 272 ROCKTON. 
 
 sation the fact that the place was for sale was 
 mentioned. Mr. Long said he had often wished 
 that he could afford to buy it. Whereupon Mr. 
 Wentworth began to urge him to do so. He 
 said he would rather, by many dollars, he should 
 own it than have it go to a stranger. Finally, 
 he named an astonishingly low price, to which 
 he added two conditions, which were that the 
 name should not be changed, and that if his 
 wife's health allowed, he should occupy the 
 house two weeks in the summer. Mr. Long 
 thus bought the estate for a little more than 
 half its market value. He had come up, while 
 the boys were tugging the lynx homeward, to 
 look the house through, and see what condition 
 the furniture was in, this being included in his 
 purchase. When Sol&mon Whagg called for 
 him, Miss Sarah was in the store, also Abra- 
 ham Clark, a good-natured young man, who a 
 few months previous had opened a provision 
 store near the " Emporium," and who was 
 fast winning the good graces of the people of 
 Northville. 
 
 Mr. Whagg said that some woman ought to 
 go along with them, and see if the moths and 
 Buffalo bugs had left anything of carpets, cur- 
 tains, or upholsterings. As Mrs. Walters was 
 needed to wait on customers, Miss Holt volun- 
 teered her services, and this brought Mr. Clark
 
 THE DAY WINDS UP. 273 
 
 to the front, who offered to drive up with her if 
 she did not object to his delivery wagon. That 
 she did not, explains how she came to appear in 
 the company that so suddenly appeared to the 
 boys. 
 
 It may as well be recorded that the 
 moths and bugs had spared the carpets, 
 and other properties in the house. So Mr. 
 Long's new cottage was furnished very neatly 
 throughout, and all this he had " bought for 
 a song," he said. " And will be every dol- 
 lar paid for next week," chimed in Mr. Whagg 
 ponderously. 
 
 Lest it may be forgotten, it may be said that 
 Solomon Whagg, Esq., as the title indicates, is 
 a justice of the peace, and devotes much of his 
 valuable services to the drawing of various legal 
 documents for his fellow-townsmen. He also 
 has a real estate agency, " conducted," as he af- 
 firms, " in a mild way." This information will 
 account for his presence in the transfer of the 
 Mount Hope estate. 
 
 A doleful insistence from Benjamin that he 
 was perishing for something to eat turned the 
 attention of all homeward. Mr. Clark protested 
 that he should fail of his duty if he did not 
 drive Miss Holt across to Ridge Street, and Mr. 
 Armour informed him that he was at liberty to 
 do so if the wild-cat was put in the back of the
 
 274 ROCKTON. 
 
 wagon to watch them! It was agreed this 
 should be done ; Mr. Clark claiming the priv- 
 ilege of exhibiting the lynx in his store win- 
 dow that evening and the next day ; and agreeing 
 to deliver it at Mr. Holt's barn very early Saturday 
 morning. As he drove down the hill, Bernard's 
 sharp eyes saw something beside the lynx which 
 looked like straw, and he also noticed that Mr. 
 Armour had nothing but his bundle of fishing- 
 rods to carry. 
 
 Down the hill went the men and boys no, 
 boys and men. When the street leading up to 
 Mr. Holt's big barn was reached, Edward and 
 James turned into it. Not many minutes after, 
 Mr. Armour stood at the corner of the street on 
 which he then had lodgings. Looking quizzically 
 at young Walters, he said : " Bernard, when 
 you fix on the time for your entertainment of the 
 J. Q.'s at Mount Hope, I shall expect the first 
 invitation." Mr. Long was seized with a sudden 
 fit of coughing that sent the blood to his face 
 until it was as red as the scarlet flannel he 
 sells. Mr. Whagg winked his eyes in his sol- 
 emn face for all the world like an owl blinking 
 in the sun, while Bernard looked up at Mr. Ar- 
 mour with a guileless smile, and replied : " It 
 will be a long time till then, but I will invite 
 you now." 
 
 " Bless the little innocent ! How unsuspecting
 
 THE DAY WINDS UP. 275 
 
 and ignorant it is !" chuckled Mr. \Vhagg, which 
 remark set Mr. Armour and Mr. Long off into 
 mem- peals of laughter, and sent Bernard trot- 
 ting home in wonderment to ask his mother 
 what it all meant.
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 A DAY AND ANOTHER DAY AFTER. 
 
 *rwv 
 
 FRIDAY generally follows Thursday, and 
 Friday dawned bright and clear out of 
 the night of what to the J. Q.'s will ever be 
 known as " That Thursday." At recess 
 Miss Barber got them all around her, and 
 listened to their story of its adventures and 
 pleasures. It was talked over at least at five 
 dinner -tables, where fish were eaten, not be- 
 cause it was Friday, but because there were 
 fish to eat. 
 
 There were two guests who dined at Mr. 
 Holt's ; it is almost needless to say they were 
 Mr. Armour and Mr. Long. There were sly 
 jokes about " wild-cat schemes," and others 
 of like nature from the latter, replied to by 
 the former in obscure but apparently tell- 
 ing references to " Mount Hope," and a 
 " Mount of Promise ;" but it was all Greek to 
 
 Edward. 
 
 276
 
 A DAY AND ANOTHER DAY AFTER. 277 
 
 The dinner was served late, and before it 
 was ended he had to leave for school, where, just 
 before it opened, he met the rest of the J. Q.'s, 
 who smacked their lips and bragged of perch. 
 This time he would not be outdone, or out- 
 bragged. He wiped his mouth with a con- 
 tented and superior air, and said: "I believe 
 baked pickerel is better than perch any day." 
 This proved "a squelcher," and especially so 
 for Benjamin, who longed for baked pickerel all 
 the afternoon. 
 
 It .must have been that Edward's ears burned 
 as he ran to school, for the door of the dining- 
 room hardly closed behind him when he be- 
 came the theme of conversation for those who 
 remained. Mrs. Holt thanked Mr. Armour for 
 his interest in her son, and spoke of the great 
 change in his general conduct about the house ; 
 his thoughtfulness for others even in little 
 things, and his more studious and quiet ways. 
 To all this Mr. Armour replied that the chief 
 influences molding the character of Edward 
 were to be found where they ought, in his par- 
 ents and home ; and that what he had done to 
 please the boys had been far more of a pleasure 
 to himself. Mr. Holt joined heartily in the 
 thanks; but said he had thought that possibly 
 the singling out of a few boys from among the 
 large number in Northville might be misunder-
 
 278 ROCKTON. 
 
 stood by some. To this Mr. Armour assented 
 in part, but said he had it in mind to use the 
 five boys for the good of others, and intended as 
 he could find opportunity to make the J. Q.'s a 
 center around which he could gather many boys 
 for their amusement and profit. 
 
 Miss Sarah spoke of the greatly increased in- 
 terest Edward was showing in his studies, and 
 of his all-round growth even in the short time 
 The Quintet had had a history. Mr. Long 
 thought this was good evidence that boys could 
 get better very fast, and wished it was true of 
 men. 
 
 It will be remembered that on "That Thurs- 
 day " morning Josephus was left in Mr. Holt's 
 barn. It will also be equally well remembered 
 that Mr. Armour went from Mount Hope di- 
 rectly to his lodgings. It is a fair inference that 
 after supper he took a stroll in the direction of 
 Ridge Street; for how else could he and Mr. 
 Long have ridden behind Josephus when they 
 came to dinner? They went away some time 
 after it was over, in the same manner. 
 
 Quite early on Saturday morning James 
 Mears saw Josephus hitched to a top buggy, and 
 standing* by the post before Mr. Holt's barn ; 
 but he did not see what Edward saw, which 
 was something in a bag in the hind part of the 
 buggy. Neither did Edward see some other
 
 A DAY AND ANOTHER DAY AFTER. 279 
 
 things ; for after he had started down the street 
 oil an errand, his sister Sarah came out of the 
 house in her newest bonnet and her sweetest 
 smile, and got into the buggy, followed by Mr. 
 Armour. And, then, away went Josephus to- 
 ward the great city, which boasts of the before- 
 mentioned Natural History Rooms. What for? 
 Well, who knows? But this is certain, whoever 
 now enters these rooms may see in a large glass 
 case, a very formidable looking creature with a 
 stub-tail, open mouth, and glaring eyes ; and all 
 who may desire information concerning the 
 same, can see a card between its forepaws, on 
 which the card and not the paws is very 
 legibly written the following : " L. rufus, Bay 
 Lynx, or Bob-cat, shot May th, A. D. 188-, by 
 
 H. A., in Rockton, M ." 
 
 It will not do to give the real name of the 
 city herein called Blankopolis, where this "finest 
 specimen " may be found. Were this done, 
 some shrewd hunter of particulars would quite 
 likely be off instanlcr to visit its justly cele- 
 brated Natural Histoiy Rooms, and thus be 
 able to fix the exact location of the hazel-eyed 
 man who shot the lynx. Then there would be 
 trouble ! His awful modesty, and more to be 
 dreaded spunk, would be aroused. Then this 
 veritable history would be suppressed before tin- 
 first edition could be sold. Then the later his-
 
 280 
 
 ROCKTON. 
 
 tory of the J. Q.'s and their friends, the ro- 
 mance of Annis Crab, the entertainment of 
 Bernard, and the account of many surprising 
 surprises, and amusing amusements could not 
 be written. 
 
 THE END.