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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Hoosier School-boy, by Edward Eggleston
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Hoosier School-boy
+
+Author: Edward Eggleston
+
+Release Date: December 8, 2007 [EBook #23771]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOOSIER SCHOOL-BOY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "NOT THERE, NOT THERE, MY CHILD!"]
+
+THE HOOSIER SCHOOL-BOY
+
+By
+EDWARD EGGLESTON
+
+New York
+Charles Scribner's Sons
+1919
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Copyright, 1883, By
+CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
+
+Copyright, 1910, By
+FRANCES G. EGGLESTON
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CONTENTS
+
+   CHAPTER                                                PAGE
+
+         I. The New Scholar                                  3
+        II. King Milkmaid                                   15
+       III. Answering Back                                  23
+        IV. Little Christopher Columbus                     34
+         V. Whiling Away Time                               43
+        VI. A Battle                                        48
+       VII. Hat-ball and Bull-pen                           58
+      VIII. The Defender                                    70
+        IX. Pigeon Pot-pie                                  80
+         X. Jack and His Mother                             97
+        XI. Columbus and His Friends                       102
+       XII. Greenbank Wakes Up                             113
+      XIII. Professor Susan                                119
+       XIV. Crowing After Victory                          127
+        XV. An Attempt To Collect                          137
+       XVI. An Exploring Expedition                        148
+      XVII. Housekeeping Experiences                       154
+     XVIII. Ghosts                                         166
+       XIX. The Return Home                                177
+        XX. A Foot-race for Money                          189
+       XXI. The New Teacher                                203
+      XXII. Chasing the Fox                                210
+     XXIII. Called To Account                              222
+      XXIV. An Apology                                     229
+       XXV. King's Base and a Spelling-lesson              238
+      XXVI. Unclaimed Top-strings                          243
+     XXVII. The Last Day of School, and The Last
+            Chapter of the Story                           252
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+"Not there, not there, my child!"                Frontispiece
+
+                                                  FACING PAGE
+Jack amusing the small boys with stories of
+hunting, fishing, and frontier adventure                   44
+
+"Cousin Sukey," said little Columbus, "I want to
+ask a favor of you"                                       120
+
+Bob Holliday carries home his friend                      258
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+THE HOOSIER SCHOOL-BOY
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE NEW SCHOLAR
+
+
+While the larger boys in the village school of Greenbank were having a
+game of "three old cat" before school-time, there appeared on the
+playground a strange boy, carrying two books, a slate, and an atlas
+under his arm.
+
+He was evidently from the country, for he wore a suit of brown jeans, or
+woollen homespun, made up in the natural color of the "black" sheep, as
+we call it. He shyly sidled up to the school-house door, and looked
+doubtfully at the boys who were playing, watching the familiar game as
+though he had never seen it before.
+
+The boys who had the "paddles" were standing on three bases, while three
+others stood each behind a base and tossed the ball around the triangle
+from one hole or base to another. The new-comer soon perceived that, if
+one with a paddle, or bat, struck at the ball and missed it, and the
+ball was caught directly, or "at the first bounce," he gave up his bat
+to the one who had "caught him out." When the ball was struck, it was
+called a "tick," and when there was a tick, all the batters were obliged
+to run one base to the left, and then the ball thrown between a batter
+and the base to which he was running "crossed him out," and obliged him
+to give up his "paddle" to the one who threw the ball.
+
+"Four old cat," "two old cat," and "five old cat" are, as everybody
+knows, played in the same way, the number of bases or holes increasing
+with the addition of each pair of players.
+
+It is probable that the game was once--some hundreds of years ago,
+maybe--called "three hole catch," and that the name was gradually
+corrupted into "three hole cat," as it is still called in the interior
+States, and then became changed by mistake to "three old cat." It is, no
+doubt, an early form of our present game of base-ball.
+
+It was this game which the new boy watched, trying to get an inkling of
+how it was played. He stood by the school-house door, and the girls who
+came in were obliged to pass near him. Each of them stopped to scrape
+her shoes, or rather the girls remembered the foot-scraper because they
+were curious to see the new-comer. They cast furtive glances at him,
+noting his new suit of brown clothes, his geography and atlas, his
+arithmetic, and, last of all, his face.
+
+"There's a new scholar," said Peter Rose, or, as he was called, "Pewee"
+Rose, a stout and stocky boy of fourteen, who had just been caught out
+by another.
+
+"I say, Greeny, how did you get so brown?" called out Will Riley, a
+rather large, loose-jointed fellow.
+
+Of course, all the boys laughed at this. Boys will sometimes laugh at
+any one suffering torture, whether the victim be a persecuted cat or a
+persecuted boy. The new boy made no answer, but Joanna Merwin, who, just
+at that moment, happened to be scraping her shoes, saw that he grew red
+in the face with a quick flush of anger.
+
+"Don't stand there, Greeny, or the cows'll eat you up!" called Riley, as
+he came round again to the base nearest to the school-house.
+
+Why the boys should have been amused at this speech, the new scholar
+could not tell--the joke was neither new nor witty--only impudent and
+coarse. But the little boys about the door giggled.
+
+"It's a pity something wouldn't eat you, Will Riley--you are good for
+nothing but to be mean." This sharp speech came from a rather tall and
+graceful girl of sixteen, who came up at the time, and who saw the
+annoyance of the new boy at Riley's insulting words. Of course the boys
+laughed again. It was rare sport to hear pretty Susan Lanham "take down"
+the impudent Riley.
+
+"The bees will never eat you for honey, Susan," said Will.
+
+Susan met the titter of the playground with a quick flush of temper and
+a fine look of scorn.
+
+"Nothing would eat you, Will, unless, maybe, a turkey-buzzard, and a
+very hungry one at that."
+
+This sharp retort was uttered with a merry laugh of ridicule, and a
+graceful toss of the head, as the mischievous girl passed into the
+school-house.
+
+"That settles you, Will," said Pewee Rose. And Bob Holliday began
+singing, to a doleful tune:
+
+  "Poor old Pidy,
+  She died last Friday."
+
+Just then, the stern face of Mr. Ball, the master, appeared at the door;
+he rapped sharply with his ferule, and called: "Books, books, books!"
+The bats were dropped, and the boys and girls began streaming into the
+school, but some of the boys managed to nudge Riley, saying:
+
+  "Poor old creetur,
+  The turkey-buzzards eat her,"
+
+and such like soft and sweet speeches. Riley was vexed and angry, but
+nobody was afraid of him, for a boy may be both big and mean and yet
+lack courage.
+
+The new boy did not go in at once, but stood silently and faced the
+inquiring looks of the procession of boys as they filed into the
+school-room with their faces flushed from the exercise and excitement of
+the games.
+
+"I can thrash him easy," thought Pewee Rose.
+
+"He isn't a fellow to back down easily," said Harvey Collins to his next
+neighbor.
+
+Only good-natured, rough Bob Holliday stopped and spoke to the new-comer
+a friendly word. All that he said was "Hello!" But how much a boy can
+put into that word "Hello!" Bob put his whole heart into it, and there
+was no boy in the school that had a bigger heart, a bigger hand, or half
+so big a foot as Bob Holliday.
+
+The village school-house was a long one built of red brick. It had taken
+the place of the old log institution in which one generation of
+Greenbank children had learned reading, writing, and Webster's
+spelling-book. There were long, continuous writing-tables down the sides
+of the room, with backless benches, so arranged that when the pupil was
+writing his face was turned toward the wall--there was a door at each
+end, and a box stove stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by a
+rectangle of four backless benches. These benches were for the little
+fellows who did not write, and for others when the cold should drive
+them nearer the stove.
+
+The very worshipful master sat at the east end of the room, at one side
+of the door; there was a blackboard--a "newfangled notion" in 1850--at
+the other side of the door. Some of the older scholars, who could afford
+private desks with lids to them, suitable for concealing smuggled apples
+and maple-sugar, had places at the other end of the room from the
+master. This arrangement was convenient for quiet study, for talking on
+the fingers by signs, for munching apples or gingerbread, and for
+passing little notes between the boys and girls.
+
+When the school had settled a little, the master struck a sharp blow on
+his desk for silence, and looked fiercely around the room, eager to find
+a culprit on whom to wreak his ill-humor. Mr. Ball was one of those
+old-fashioned teachers who gave the impression that he would rather beat
+a boy than not, and would even like to eat one, if he could find a good
+excuse. His eye lit upon the new scholar.
+
+"Come here," he said, severely, and then he took his seat.
+
+The new boy walked timidly up to a place in front of the master's desk.
+He was not handsome, his face was thin, his eyebrows were prominent, his
+mouth was rather large and good-humored, and there was that shy twinkle
+about the corners of his eyes which always marks a fun-loving spirit.
+But his was a serious, fine-grained face, with marks of suffering in it,
+and he had the air of having been once a strong fellow; of late,
+evidently, shaken to pieces by the ague.
+
+"Where do you live?" demanded Mr. Ball.
+
+"On Ferry Street."
+
+"What do they call you?" This was said with a contemptuous, rasping
+inflection that irritated the new scholar. His eyes twinkled, partly
+with annoyance and partly with mischief.
+
+"They _call_ me Jack, for the most part,"--then catching the titter that
+came from the girls' side of the room, and frightened by the rising
+hurricane on the master's face, he added quickly: "My name is John
+Dudley, sir."
+
+"Don't you try to show your smartness on me, young man. You are a
+new-comer, and I let you off this time. Answer me that way again, and
+you will remember it as long as you live." And the master glared at him
+like a savage bull about to toss somebody over a fence.
+
+The new boy turned pale, and dropped his head.
+
+"How old are you?" "Thirteen."
+
+"Have you ever been to school?"
+
+"Three months."
+
+"Three months. Do you know how to read?"
+
+"Yes, sir," with a smile.
+
+"Can you cipher?" "Yes, sir."
+
+"In multiplication?" "Yes, sir."
+
+"Long division?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I've been half through fractions."
+
+"You said you'd been to school but three months!" "My father taught
+me."
+
+There was just a touch of pride in his voice as he said this--a sense of
+something superior about his father. This bit of pride angered the
+master, who liked to be thought to have a monopoly of all the knowledge
+in the town.
+
+"Where have you been living?"
+
+"In the Indian Reserve, of late; I was born in Cincinnati."
+
+"I didn't ask you where you were born. When I ask you a question, answer
+that and no more."
+
+"Yes, sir." There was a touch of something in the tone of this reply
+that amused the school, and that made the master look up quickly and
+suspiciously at Jack Dudley, but the expression on Jack's face was as
+innocent as that of a cat who has just lapped the cream off the milk.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+KING MILKMAID
+
+
+Pewee Rose, whose proper name was Peter Rose, had also the nickname of
+King Pewee. He was about fourteen years old, square built and active, of
+great strength for his size, and very proud of the fact that no boy in
+town cared to attack him. He was not bad-tempered, but he loved to be
+master, and there were a set of flatterers who followed him, like
+jackals about a lion.
+
+As often happens, Nature had built for King Pewee a very fine body, but
+had forgotten to give him any mind to speak of. In any kind of chaff or
+banter, at any sort of talk or play where a good head was worth more
+than a strong arm and a broad back, King Pewee was sure to have the
+worst of it. A very convenient partnership had therefore grown up
+between him and Will Riley. Riley had muscle enough, but Nature had made
+him mean-spirited. He had--not exactly wit--but a facility for using his
+tongue, which he found some difficulty in displaying, through fear of
+other boys' fists. By forming a friendship with Pewee Rose, the two
+managed to keep in fear the greater part of the school. Will's rough
+tongue, together with Pewee's rude fists, were enough to bully almost
+any boy. They let Harvey Collins alone, because he was older, and,
+keeping to himself, awed them by his dignity; good-natured Bob Holliday,
+also, was big enough to take care of himself. But the rest were all as
+much afraid of Pewee as they were of the master, and as Riley managed
+Pewee, it behooved them to be afraid of the prime minister, Riley, as
+well as of King Pewee.
+
+From the first day that Jack Dudley entered the school, dressed in brown
+jeans, Will Riley marked him for a victim. The air of refinement about
+his face showed him to be a suitable person for teasing.
+
+Riley called him "milksop," and "sap-head"; words which seemed to the
+dull intellect of King Pewee exceedingly witty. And as Pewee was Riley's
+defender, he felt as proud of these rude nicknames as he would had he
+invented them and taken out a patent.
+
+But Riley's greatest stroke of wit came one morning when he caught Jack
+Dudley milking the cow. In the village of Greenbank, milking a cow was
+regarded as a woman's work; and foolish men and boys are like
+savages,--very much ashamed to be found doing a woman's work. Fools
+always think something else more disgraceful than idleness. So, having
+seen Jack milking, Riley came to school happy. He had an arrow to shoot
+that would give great delight to the small boys.
+
+"Good-morning, milkmaid!" he said to Jack Dudley, as he entered the
+school-house before school. "You milk the cow at your house, do you?
+Where's your apron?"
+
+"Oh-h! Milkmaid! milkmaid! That's a good one," chimed in Pewee Rose and
+all his set.
+
+Jack changed color.
+
+"Well, what if I do milk my mother's cow? I don't milk anybody's cow but
+ours, do I? Do you think I'm ashamed of it? I'd be ashamed not to. I
+can"--but he stopped a minute and blushed--"I can wash dishes, and make
+good pancakes, too. Now if you want to make fun, why, make fun. I don't
+care." But he did care, else why should his voice choke in that way?
+
+"Oh, girl-boy; a pretty girl-boy you are--" but here Will Riley stopped
+and stammered. There right in front of him was the smiling face of Susan
+Lanham, with a look in it which made him suddenly remember something.
+Susan had heard all the conversation, and now she came around in front
+of Will, while all the other girls clustered about her with a vague
+expectation of sport.
+
+"Come, Pewee, let's play ball," said Will.
+
+"Ah, you're running away, now; you're afraid of a girl," said Susan,
+with a cutting little laugh, and a toss of her black curls over her
+shoulder.
+
+Will had already started for the ball-ground, but at this taunt he
+turned back, thrust his hands into his pockets, put on a swagger, and
+stammered: "No, I'm not afraid of a girl, either."
+
+"That's about all that he isn't afraid of," said Bob Holliday.
+
+"Oh! you're not afraid of a girl?" said Susan. "What did you run away
+for, when you saw me? You know that Pewee won't fight a girl. You're
+afraid of anybody that Pewee can't whip."
+
+"You've got an awful tongue, Susan. We'll call you Sassy Susan," said
+Will, laughing at his own joke.
+
+"Oh, it isn't my tongue you're afraid of now. You know I can tell on
+you. I saw you drive your cow into the stable last week. You were
+ashamed to milk outside, but you looked all around----"
+
+"I didn't do it. How could you see? It was dark," and Will giggled
+foolishly, seeing all at once that he had betrayed himself.
+
+"It was nearly dark, but I happened to be where I could see. And as I
+was coming back, a few minutes after, I saw you come out with a pail of
+milk, and look around you like a sneak-thief. You saw me and hurried
+away. You are such a coward that you are ashamed to do a little honest
+work. Milkmaid! Girl-boy! Coward! And Pewee Rose lets you lead him
+around by the nose!"
+
+"You'd better be careful what you say, Susan," said Pewee,
+threateningly.
+
+"You won't touch me. You go about bullying little boys, and calling
+yourself King Pewee, but you can't do a sum in long division, nor in
+short subtraction, for that matter, and you let fellows like Riley make
+a fool of you. Your father's poor, and your mother can't keep a girl,
+and you ought to be ashamed to let her milk the cows. Who milked your
+cow this morning, Pewee?"
+
+"I don't know," said the king, looking like the king's fool.
+
+"You did it," said Susan. "Don't deny it. Then you come here and call a
+strange boy a milkmaid!"
+
+"Well, I didn't milk in the street, anyway, and he did." At this, all
+laughed aloud, and Susan's victory was complete. She only said, with a
+pretty toss of her head, as she turned away: "King Milkmaid!"
+
+Pewee found the nickname likely to stick. He was obliged to declare on
+the playground the next day, that he would "thrash" any boy that said
+anything about milkmaids. After that, he heard no more of it. But one
+morning he found "King Milkmaid" written on the door of his father's
+cow-stable. Some boy who dared not attack Pewee, had vented his
+irritation by writing the hateful words on the stable, and on the
+fence-corners near the school-house, and even on the blackboard.
+
+Pewee could not fight with Susan Lanham, but he made up his mind to
+punish the new scholar when he should have a chance. He must give
+somebody a beating.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+ANSWERING BACK
+
+
+It is hard for one boy to make a fight. Even your bully does not like to
+"pitch on" an inoffensive school-mate. You remember Æsop's fable of the
+wolf and the lamb, and what pains the wolf took to pick a quarrel with
+the lamb. It was a little hard for Pewee to fight with a boy who walked
+quietly to and from the school, without giving anybody cause for
+offence.
+
+But the chief reason why Pewee did not attack him with his fists was
+that both he and Riley had found out that Jack Dudley could help them
+over a hard place in their lessons better than anybody else. And
+notwithstanding their continual persecution of Jack, they were mean
+enough to ask his assistance, and he, hoping to bring about peace by
+good-nature, helped them to get out their geography and arithmetic
+almost every day. Unable to appreciate this, they were both convinced
+that Jack only did it because he was afraid of them, and as they found
+it rare sport to abuse him, they kept it up. By their influence Jack was
+shut out of the plays. A greenhorn would spoil the game, they said. What
+did a boy that had lived on Wildcat Creek, in the Indian Reserve, know
+about playing bull-pen, or prisoner's base, or shinny? If he was brought
+in, they would go out.
+
+But the girls, and the small boys, and good-hearted Bob Holliday liked
+Jack's company very much. Yet, Jack was a boy, and he often longed to
+play games with the others. He felt very sure that he could dodge and
+run in "bull-pen" as well as any of them. He was very tired of Riley's
+continual ridicule, which grew worse as Riley saw in him a rival in
+influence with the smaller boys.
+
+"Catch Will alone sometimes," said Bob Holliday, "when Pewee isn't with
+him, and then thrash him. He'll back right down if you bristle up to
+him. If Pewee makes a fuss about it, I'll look after Pewee. I'm bigger
+than he is, and he won't fight with me. What do you say?"
+
+"I shan't fight unless I have to."
+
+"Afraid?" asked Bob, laughing.
+
+"It isn't that. I don't think I'm much afraid, although I don't like to
+be pounded or to pound anybody. I think I'd rather be whipped than to be
+made fun of, though. But my father used to say that people who fight
+generally do so because they are afraid of somebody else, more than they
+are of the one they fight with."
+
+"I believe that's a fact," said Bob. "But Riley aches for a good
+thrashing."
+
+"I know that, and I feel like giving him one, or taking one myself, and
+I think I shall fight him before I've done. But father used to say that
+fists could never settle between right and wrong. They only show which
+is the stronger, and it is generally the mean one that gets the best of
+it."
+
+"That's as sure as shootin'," said Bob. "Pewee could use you up. Pewee
+thinks he's the king, but laws! he's only Riley's bull-dog. Riley is
+afraid of him, but he manages to keep the dog on his side all the time."
+
+"My father used to say," said Jack, "that brutes could fight with force,
+but men ought to use their wits."
+
+"You seem to think a good deal of what your father says,--like it was
+your Bible, you know."
+
+"My father's dead," replied Jack.
+
+"Oh, that's why. Boys don't always pay attention to what their father
+says when he's alive."
+
+"Oh, but then my father was--" Here Jack checked himself, for fear of
+seeming to boast. "You see," he went on, "my father knew a great deal.
+He was so busy with his books that he lost 'most all his money, and then
+we moved to the Indian Reserve, and there he took the fever and died;
+and then we came down here, where we owned a house, so that I could go
+to school."
+
+"Why don't you give Will Riley as good as he sends?" said Bob, wishing
+to get away from melancholy subjects. "You have got as good a tongue as
+his."
+
+"I haven't his stock of bad words, though."
+
+"You've got a power of fun in you, though,--you keep everybody laughing
+when you want to, and if you'd only turn the pumps on him once, he'd
+howl like a yellow dog that's had a quart o' hot suds poured over him
+out of a neighbor's window. Use your wits, like your father said. You've
+lived in the woods till you're as shy as a flying-squirrel. All you've
+got to do is to talk up and take it rough and tumble, like the rest of
+the world. Riley can't bear to be laughed at, and you can make him
+ridiculous as easy as not."
+
+The next day, at the noon recess, about the time that Jack had finished
+helping Bob Holliday to find some places on the map, there came up a
+little shower, and the boys took refuge in the school-house. They must
+have some amusement, so Riley began his old abuse.
+
+"Well, greenhorn from the Wildcat, where's the black sheep you stole
+that suit of clothes from?"
+
+"I hear him bleat now," said Jack,--"about the blackest sheep I have
+ever seen."
+
+"You've heard the truth for once, Riley," said Bob Holliday.
+
+Riley, who was as vain as a peacock, was very much mortified by the
+shout of applause with which this little retort of Jack's was greeted.
+It was not a case in which he could call in King Pewee. The king, for
+his part, shut up his fists and looked silly, while Jack took courage to
+keep up the battle.
+
+But Riley tried again.
+
+"I say, Wildcat, you think you're smart, but you're a double-distilled
+idiot, and haven't got brains enough to be sensible of your misery."
+
+This kind of outburst on Riley's part always brought a laugh from the
+school. But before the laugh had died down, Jack Dudley took the word,
+saying, in a dry and quizzical way:
+
+"Don't you try to claim kin with me that way, Riley. No use; I won't
+stand it. I don't belong to your family. I'm neither a fool nor a
+coward."
+
+"Hurrah!" shouted Bob Holliday, bringing down first one and then the
+other of his big feet on the floor. "It's your put-in now, Riley."
+
+"Don't be backward in coming forward, Will, as the Irish priest said to
+his people," came from grave Harvey Collins, who here looked up from his
+book, thoroughly enjoying the bully's discomfiture.
+
+"That's awfully good," said Joanna Merwin, clasping her hands and
+giggling with delight.
+
+King Pewee doubled up his fists and looked at Riley to see if he ought
+to try his sort of wit on Jack. If a frog, being pelted to death by
+cruel boys, should turn and pelt them again, they could not be more
+surprised than were Riley and King Pewee at Jack's repartees.
+
+"You'd better be careful what you say to Will Riley," said Pewee. "I
+stand by him."
+
+But Jack's blood was up now, and he was not to be scared.
+
+"All the more shame to him," said Jack. "Look at me, shaken all to
+pieces with the fever and ague on the Wildcat, and look at that great
+big, bony coward of a Riley. I've done him no harm, but he wants to
+abuse me, and he's afraid of me. He daren't touch me. He has to coax you
+to stand by him, to protect him from poor little me. He's a great
+big----"
+
+"Calf," broke in Bob Holliday, with a laugh.
+
+"You'd better be careful," said Pewee to Jack, rising to his feet. "I
+stand by Riley."
+
+"Will you defend him if I hit him?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, then, I won't hit him. But you don't mean that he is to abuse me,
+while I am not allowed to answer back a word?"
+
+"Well--" said Pewee hesitatingly.
+
+"Well," said Bob Holliday hotly, "I say that Jack has just as good a
+right to talk with his tongue as Riley. Stand by Riley if he's hit,
+Pewee; he needs it. But don't you try to shut up Jack." And Bob got up
+and put his broad hand on Jack's shoulder. Nobody had ever seen the big
+fellow angry before, and the excitement was very great. The girls
+clapped their hands.
+
+"Good for you, Bob, I say," came from Susan Lanham, and poor, ungainly
+Bob blushed to his hair to find himself the hero of the girls.
+
+"I don't mean to shut up Jack," said Pewee, looking at Bob's size, "but
+I stand by Riley."
+
+"Well, do your standing sitting down, then," said Susan. "I'll get a
+milking-stool for you, if that'll keep you quiet."
+
+It was well that the master came in just then, or Pewee would have had
+to fight somebody or burst.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+LITTLE CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
+
+
+Jack's life in school was much more endurable now that he had a friend
+in Bob Holliday. Bob had spent his time in hard work and in rough
+surroundings, but he had a gentleman's soul, although his manners and
+speech were rude. More and more Jack found himself drawn to him. Harvey
+Collins asked Jack to walk down to the river-bank with him at recess.
+Both Harvey and Bob soon liked Jack, who found himself no longer lonely.
+The girls also sought his advice about their lessons, and the younger
+boys were inclined to come over to his side.
+
+As winter came on, country boys, anxious to learn something about
+"reading, writing, and ciphering," came into the school. Each of
+these new-comers had to go through a certain amount of teasing from
+Riley and of bullying from Pewee.
+
+One frosty morning in December there appeared among the new scholars a
+strange little fellow, with a large head, long straight hair, an
+emaciated body, and legs that looked like reeds, they were so slender.
+His clothes were worn and patched, and he had the look of having been
+frost-bitten. He could not have been more than ten years old, to judge
+by his size, but there was a look of premature oldness in his face.
+
+"Come here!" said the master, when he caught sight of him. "What is your
+name?" And Mr. Ball took out his book to register the new-comer, with
+much the same relish that the Giant Despair showed when he had bagged a
+fresh pilgrim.
+
+"Columbus Risdale." The new-comer spoke in a shrill, piping voice, as
+strange as his weird face and withered body.
+
+"Is that your full name?" asked the master.
+
+"No, sir," piped the strange little creature.
+
+"Give your full name," said Mr. Ball, sternly.
+
+"My name is Christopher Columbus George Washington Marquis de Lafayette
+Risdale." The poor lad was the victim of that mania which some people
+have for "naming after" great men. His little shrunken body and high,
+piping voice made his name seem so incongruous that all the school
+tittered, and many laughed outright. But the dignified and eccentric
+little fellow did not observe it.
+
+"Can you read?"
+
+"Yes, sir," squeaked the lad, more shrilly than ever.
+
+"Umph," said the master, with a look of doubt on his face. "In the first
+reader?"
+
+"No, sir; in the fourth reader."
+
+Even the master could not conceal his look of astonishment at this
+claim. At that day, the fourth reader class was the highest in the
+school, and contained only the largest scholars. The school laughed at
+the bare notion of little Christopher Columbus reading in the fourth
+reader, and the little fellow looked around the room, puzzled to guess
+the cause of the merriment.
+
+"We'll try you," said the master, with suspicion. When the fourth-reader
+class was called, and Harvey Collins and Susie Lanham and some others of
+the nearly grown-up pupils came forward, with Jack Dudley as quite the
+youngest of the class, the great-eyed, emaciated little Columbus Risdale
+picked himself up on his pipe-stems and took his place at the end of
+this row.
+
+It was too funny for anything!
+
+Will Riley and Pewee and other large scholars, who were yet reading in
+that old McGuffey's Third Reader, which had a solitary picture of
+Bonaparte crossing the Alps, looked with no kindly eyes on this
+preposterous infant in the class ahead of them.
+
+The piece to be read was the poem of Mrs. Hemans's called "The Better
+Land." Poems like this one are rather out of fashion nowadays, and
+people are inclined to laugh a little at Mrs. Hemans. But thirty years
+ago her religious and sentimental poetry was greatly esteemed. This one
+presented no difficulty to the readers. In that day, little or no
+attention was paid to inflection--the main endeavor being to pronounce
+the words without hesitation or slip, and to "mind the stops." Each one
+of the class read a stanza ending with a line:
+
+  "Not there, not there, my child!"
+
+The poem was exhausted before all had read, so that it was necessary to
+begin over again in order to give each one his turn. All waited to hear
+the little Columbus read. When it came his turn, the school was as still
+as death. The master, wishing to test him, told him, with something like
+a sneer, that he could read three stanzas, or "verses," as Mr. Ball
+called them.
+
+The little chap squared his toes, threw his head back, and more fluently
+even than the rest, he read, in his shrill, eager voice, the remaining
+lines, winding up each stanza in a condescending tone, as he read:
+
+  "Not there, not there, my child!"
+
+The effect of this from the hundred-year-old baby was so striking and so
+ludicrous that everybody was amused, while all were surprised at the
+excellence of his reading. The master proceeded, however, to whip one or
+two of the boys for laughing.
+
+When recess-time arrived, Susan Lanham came to Jack with a request.
+
+"I wish you'd look after little Lummy Risdale. He's a sort of cousin of
+my mother's. He is as innocent and helpless as the babes in the wood."
+
+"I'll take care of him," said Jack.
+
+So he took the little fellow walking away from the school-house; Will
+Riley and some of the others calling after them: "Not there, not there,
+my child!"
+
+But Columbus did not lay their taunts to heart. He was soon busy talking
+to Jack about things in the country, and things in town. On their
+return, Riley, crying out: "Not there, my child!" threw a snow-ball
+from a distance of ten feet and struck the poor little Christopher
+Columbus George Washington Lafayette so severe a blow as to throw him
+off his feet. Quick as a flash, Jack charged on Riley, and sent a
+snow-ball into his face. An instant later he tripped him with his foot
+and rolled the big, scared fellow into the snow and washed his face
+well, leaving half a snow-bank down his back.
+
+"What makes you so savage?" whined Riley. "I didn't snow-ball you." And
+Riley looked around for Pewee, who was on the other side of the
+school-house, and out of sight of the scuffle.
+
+"No, you daren't snow-ball me," said Jack, squeezing another ball and
+throwing it into Riley's shirt-front with a certainty of aim that showed
+that he knew how to play ball. "Take that one, too, and if you bother
+Lum Risdale again, I'll make you pay for it. Take a boy of your size."
+And with that he moulded yet another ball, but Riley retreated to the
+other side of the school-house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+WHILING AWAY TIME
+
+
+Excluded from the plays of the older fellows, Jack drew around him a
+circle of small boys, who were always glad to be amused with the stories
+of hunting, fishing, and frontier adventure that he had heard from old
+pioneers on Wildcat Creek. Sometimes he played "tee-tah-toe, three in a
+row," with the girls, using a slate and pencil in a way well known to
+all school-children. And he also showed them a better kind of
+"tee-tah-toe," learned on the Wildcat, and which may have been in the
+first place an Indian game, as it is played with grains of Indian corn.
+A piece of board is grooved with a jack-knife in the manner shown in the
+diagram.
+
+[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF TEE-TAH-TOE BOARD.]
+
+One player has three red or yellow grains of corn, and the other an
+equal number of white ones. The player who won the last game has the
+"go"--that is, he first puts down a grain of corn at any place where the
+lines intersect, but usually in the middle, as that is the best point.
+Then the other player puts down one, and so on until all are down. After
+this, the players move alternately along any of the lines, in any
+direction, to the next intersection, provided it is not already
+occupied. The one who first succeeds in getting his three grains in a
+row wins the point, and the board is cleared for a new start. As there
+are always three vacant points, and as the rows may be formed in any
+direction along any of the lines, the game gives a chance for more
+variety of combinations than one would expect from its appearance.
+
+[Illustration: JACK AMUSING THE SMALL BOYS WITH STORIES OF HUNTING,
+FISHING, AND FRONTIER ADVENTURE.]
+
+Jack had also an arithmetical puzzle which he had learned from his
+father, and which many of the readers of this story will know, perhaps.
+
+"Set down any number, without letting me know what it is," said he to
+Joanna Merwin.
+
+She set down a number.
+
+"Now add twelve and multiply by two."
+
+"Well, that is done," said Joanna.
+
+"Divide by four, subtract half of the number first set down, and your
+answer will be six."
+
+"Oh, but how did you know that I put down sixty-four?" said Joanna.
+
+"I didn't," said Jack.
+
+"How could you tell the answer, then?"
+
+"That's for you to find out."
+
+This puzzle excited a great deal of curiosity. To add to the wonder of
+the scholars, Jack gave each time a different number to be added in, and
+sometimes he varied the multiplying and dividing. Harvey Collins, who
+was of a studious turn, puzzled over it a long time, and at last he
+found it out; but he did not tell the secret. He contented himself with
+giving out a number to Jack and telling his result. To the rest it was
+quite miraculous, and Riley turned green with jealousy when he found the
+girls and boys refusing to listen to his jokes, but gathering about Jack
+to test his ability to "guess the answer," as they phrased it. Riley
+said he knew how it was done, and he was even foolish enough to try to
+do it, by watching the slate-pencil, or by sheer guessing, but this only
+brought him into ridicule.
+
+"Try me once," said the little C. C. G. W. M. de L. Risdale, and Jack
+let Columbus set down a figure and carry it through the various
+processes until he told him the result. Lummy grew excited, pushed his
+thin hands up into his hair, looked at his slate a minute, and then
+squeaked out:
+
+"Oh--let me see--yes--no--yes--Oh, I see! Your answer is just half the
+amount added in, because you have----"
+
+But here Jack placed his hand over Columbus's mouth.
+
+"You can see through a pine door, Lummy, but you mustn't let out my
+secret," he said.
+
+But Jack had a boy's heart in him, and he longed for some more boy-like
+amusement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A BATTLE
+
+
+One morning, when Jack proposed to play a game of ball with the boys,
+Riley and Pewee came up and entered the game, and objected.
+
+"It isn't interesting to play with greenhorns," said Will. "If Jack
+plays, little Christopher Columbus Andsoforth will want to play, too;
+and then there'll be two babies to teach. I can't be always helping
+babies. Let Jack play two-hole cat or Anthony-over with the little
+fellows." To which answer Pewee assented, of course.
+
+That day at noon Riley came to Jack, with a most gentle tone and winning
+manner, and whiningly begged Jack to show him how to divide 770 by 14.
+
+"It isn't interesting to show greenhorns," said Jack, mimicking Riley's
+tone on the playground that morning. "If I show you, Pewee Rose will
+want me to show him; then there'll be two babies to teach. I can't be
+always helping babies. Go and play two-hole cat with the First-Reader
+boys."
+
+That afternoon, Mr. Ball had the satisfaction of using his new beech
+switches on both Riley and Pewee, though indeed Pewee did not deserve to
+be punished for not getting his lesson. It was Nature's doing that his
+head, like a goat's, was made for butting and not for thinking.
+
+But if he had to take whippings from the master and his father, he made
+it a rule to get satisfaction out of somebody else. If Jack had helped
+him he wouldn't have missed. If he had not missed his lesson badly, Mr.
+Ball would not have whipped him. It would be inconvenient to whip Mr.
+Ball in return, but Jack would be easy to manage, and as somebody must
+be whipped, it fell to Jack's lot to take it.
+
+King Pewee did not fall upon his victim at the school-house door; this
+would have insured him another beating from the master. Nor did he
+attack Jack while Bob Holliday was with him. Bob was big and strong--a
+great fellow of sixteen. But after Jack had passed the gate of Bob's
+house, and was walking on toward home alone, Pewee came out from behind
+an alley fence, accompanied by Ben Berry and Will Riley.
+
+"I'm going to settle with you now," said King Pewee, sidling up to Jack
+like an angry bull-dog.
+
+It was not a bright prospect for Jack, and he cast about him for a
+chance to escape a brutal encounter with such a bully, and yet avoid
+actually running away.
+
+"Well," said Jack, "if I must fight, I must. But I suppose you won't let
+Riley and Berry help you."
+
+"No, I'll fight fair." And Pewee threw off his coat, while Jack did the
+same.
+
+"You'll quit when I say 'enough,' won't you?" said Jack.
+
+"Yes, I'll fight fair, and hold up when you've got enough."
+
+"Well, then, for that matter, I've got enough now. I'll take the will
+for the deed and just say 'enough' before you begin," and he turned to
+pick up his coat.
+
+"No, you don't get off that way," said Pewee. "You've got to stand up
+and see who is the best man, or I'll kick you all the way home."
+
+"Didn't you ever hear about Davy Crockett's 'coon?" said Jack. "When the
+'coon saw him taking aim, it said: 'Is that you, Crockett? Well, don't
+fire--I'll come down anyway. I know you'll hit anything you shoot at.'
+Now, I'm that 'coon. If it was anybody but you, I'd fight. But as it's
+you, Pewee, I might just as well come down before you begin."
+
+Pewee was flattered by this way of putting the question. Had he been
+alone, Jack would have escaped. But Will Riley, remembering all he had
+endured from Jack's retorts, said:
+
+"Oh, give it to him, Pewee; he's always making trouble."
+
+At which Pewee squared himself off, doubled up his fists, and came at
+the slenderer Jack. The latter prepared to meet him, but, after all, it
+was hard for Pewee to beat so good-humored a fellow as Jack. The king's
+heart failed him, and suddenly he backed off, saying:
+
+"If you'll agree to help Riley and me out with our lessons hereafter,
+I'll let you off. If you don't, I'll thrash you within an inch of your
+life." And Pewee stood ready to begin.
+
+Jack wanted to escape the merciless beating that Pewee had in store for
+him. But it was quite impossible for him to submit under a threat. So he
+answered:
+
+"If you and Riley will treat me as you ought to, I'll help you when you
+ask me, as I always have. But even if you pound me into jelly I won't
+agree to help you, unless you treat me right. I won't be bullied into
+helping you."
+
+"Give it to him, Pewee," said Ben Berry; "he's too sassy."
+
+Pewee was a rather good-natured dog--he had to be set on. He now began
+to strike at Jack. Whether he was to be killed or not, Jack did not
+know, but he was resolved not to submit to the bully. Yet he could not
+do much at defence against Pewee's hard fists. However, Jack was active
+and had long limbs; he soon saw that he must do something more than
+stand up to be beaten. So, when King Pewee, fighting in the irregular
+Western fashion, and hoping to get a decided advantage at once, rushed
+upon Jack and pulled his head forward, Jack stooped lower than his enemy
+expected, and, thrusting his head between Pewee's knees, shoved his legs
+from under him, and by using all his strength threw Pewee over his own
+back, so that the king's nose and eyes fell into the dust of the village
+street.
+
+"I'll pay you for that," growled Pewee, as he recovered himself, now
+thoroughly infuriated; and with a single blow he sent Jack flat on his
+back, and then proceeded to pound him. Jack could do nothing now but
+shelter his eyes from Pewee's blows.
+
+Joanna Merwin had seen the beginning of the battle from her father's
+house, and feeling sure that Jack would be killed, she had run swiftly
+down the garden walk to the back gate, through which she slipped into
+the alley; and then she hurried on, as fast as her feet would carry her,
+to the blacksmith-shop of Pewee Rose's father.
+
+"Oh, please, Mr. Rose, come quick! Pewee's just killing a boy in the
+street."
+
+"Vitin' ag'in," said Mr. Rose, who was a Pennsylvanian from the
+limestone country, and spoke English with difficulty. "He ees a leetle
+ruffen, dat poy. I'll see apout him right avay a'ready, may be."
+
+And without waiting to put off his leathern apron, he walked briskly in
+the direction indicated by Joanna. Pewee was hammering Jack without
+pity, when suddenly he was caught by the collar and lifted sharply to
+his feet.
+
+"Wot you doin' down dare in de dirt wunst a'ready? Hey?" said Mr. Rose,
+as he shook his son with the full force of his right arm, and cuffed him
+with his left hand. "Didn't I dells you I'd gill you some day if you
+didn't gwit vitin' mit oder poys, a'ready?"
+
+"He commenced it," whimpered Pewee.
+
+"You dells a pig lie a'ready, I beleefs, Peter, and I'll whip you fur
+lyin' besides wunst more. Fellers like _him_," pointing to Jack, who was
+brushing the dust off his clothes,--"fellers like him don't gommence on
+such a poy as you. You're such anoder viter I never seed." And he shook
+Pewee savagely.
+
+"I won't do it no more," begged Pewee--"'pon my word and honor I won't."
+
+"Oh, you don't gits off dat away no more, a'ready. You know what I'll
+giff you when I git you home, you leedle ruffen. I shows you how to
+vite, a'ready."
+
+And the king disappeared down the street, begging like a spaniel, and
+vowing that he "wouldn't do it no more." But he got a severe whipping, I
+fear;--it is doubtful if such beatings ever do any good. The next
+morning Jack appeared at school with a black eye, and Pewee had some
+scratches, so the master whipped them both for fighting.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+HAT-BALL AND BULL-PEN
+
+
+Pewee did not renew the quarrel with Jack--perhaps from fear of the
+rawhide that hung in the blacksmith's shop, or of the master's ox-goad,
+or of Bob Holliday's fists, or perhaps from a hope of conciliating Jack
+and getting occasional help in his lessons. Jack was still excluded from
+the favorite game of "bull-pen." I am not sure that he would have been
+rejected had he asked for admission, but he did not want to risk another
+refusal. He planned a less direct way of getting into the game. Asking
+his mother for a worn-out stocking, and procuring an old boot-top, he
+ravelled the stocking, winding the yarn into a ball of medium hardness.
+Then he cut from the boot-top a square of leather large enough for his
+purpose. This he laid on the kitchen-table, and proceeded to mark off
+and cut it into the shape of an orange-peel that has been quartered off
+the orange, leaving the four quarters joined together at the middle.
+This leather he put to soak over night. The next morning, bright and
+early, with a big needle and some strong thread he sewed it around his
+yarn-ball, stretching the wet leather to its utmost, so that when it
+should contract the ball should be firm and hard, and the leather well
+moulded to it. Such a ball is far better for all play in which the
+player is to be hit than those sold in the stores nowadays. I have
+described the manufacture of the old-fashioned home-made ball, because
+there are some boys, especially in the towns, who have lost the art of
+making yarn balls.
+
+When Jack had finished his ball, he let it dry, while he ate his
+breakfast and did his chores. Then he sallied out and found Bob
+Holliday, and showed him the result of his work. Bob squeezed it, felt
+its weight, bounced it against a wall, tossed it high in the air, caught
+it, and then bounced it on the ground. Having thus "put it through its
+paces," he pronounced it an excellent ball,--"a good deal better than
+Ben Berry's ball. But what are you going to do with it?" he asked. "Play
+Anthony-over? The little boys can play that."
+
+I suppose there are boys in these days who do not know what
+"Anthony-over" is. How, indeed, can anybody play Anthony-over in a
+crowded city?
+
+The old one-story village school-houses stood generally in an open
+green. The boys divided into two parties, the one going on one side, and
+the other on the opposite side of the school-house. The party that had
+the ball would shout "Anthony!" The others responded, "Over!" To this,
+answer was made from the first party, "Over she comes!" and the ball was
+immediately thrown over the school-house. If any of the second party
+caught it, they rushed, pell-mell, around both ends of the school-house
+to the other side, and that one of them who held the ball essayed to hit
+some one of the opposite party before they could exchange sides. If a
+boy was hit by the ball thus thrown he was counted as captured to the
+opposite party, and he gave all his efforts to beat his old allies. So
+the game went on, until all the players of one side were captured by the
+others. I don't know what Anthony means in this game, but no doubt the
+game is hundreds of years old, and was played in English villages before
+the first colony came to Jamestown.
+
+"I'm not going to play Anthony-over," said Jack. "I'm going to show King
+Pewee a new trick."
+
+"You can't get up a game of bull-pen on your own hook, and play the four
+corners and the ring all by yourself."
+
+"No, I don't mean that. I'm going to show the boys how to play
+hat-ball--a game they used to play on the Wildcat."
+
+"I see your point. You are going to make Pewee ask you to let him in,"
+said Bob, and the two boys set out for school together, Jack explaining
+the game to Bob. They found one or two boys already there, and when Jack
+showed his new ball and proposed a new game, they fell in with it.
+
+The boys stood their hats in a row on the grass. The one with the ball
+stood over the row of hats, and swung his hand to and fro above them,
+while the boys stood by him, prepared to run as soon as the ball should
+drop into a hat. The boy who held the ball, after one or two false
+motions,--now toward this hat, and now toward that one,--would drop the
+ball into Somebody's hat. Somebody would rush to his hat, seize the
+ball, and throw it at one of the other boys, who were fleeing in all
+directions. If he hit Somebody-Else, Somebody-Else might throw from
+where the ball lay, or from the hats, at the rest, and so on, until some
+one missed. The one who missed took up his hat and left the play, and
+the boy who picked up the ball proceeded to drop it into a hat, and the
+game went on until all but one were put out.
+
+Hat-ball is so simple that any number can play at it, and Jack's friends
+found it so full of boisterous fun, that every new-comer wished to set
+down his hat. And thus, by the time Pewee and Riley arrived, half the
+larger boys in the school were in the game, and there were not enough
+left to make a good game of bull-pen.
+
+At noon, the new game drew the attention of the boys again, and Riley
+and Pewee tried in vain to coax them away.
+
+"Oh, I say, come on, fellows!" Riley would say. "Come--let's play
+something worth playing."
+
+But the boys stayed by the new game and the new ball. Neither Riley, nor
+Pewee, nor Ben Berry liked to ask to be let into the game, after what
+had passed. Not one of them had spoken to Jack since the battle between
+him and Pewee, and they didn't care to play with Jack's ball in a game
+of his starting.
+
+Once the other boys had broken away from Pewee's domination, they were
+pleased to feel themselves free. As for Pewee and his friends, they
+climbed up on a fence, and sat like three crows, watching the play of
+the others. After a while they got down in disgust, and went off, not
+knowing just what to do. When once they were out of sight, Jack winked
+at Bob, who said:
+
+"I say, boys, we can play hat-ball at recess when there isn't time for
+bull-pen. Let's have a game of bull-pen now, before school takes up."
+
+It was done in a minute. Bob Holliday and Tom Taylor "chose up sides,"
+the bases were all ready, and by the time Pewee and his aides-de-camp
+had walked disconsolately to the pond and back, the boys were engaged in
+a good game of bull-pen.
+
+Perhaps I ought to say something about the principles of a game so
+little known over the country at large. I have never seen it played
+anywhere but in a narrow bit of country on the Ohio River, and yet there
+is no merrier game played with a ball.
+
+The ball must not be too hard. There should be four or more corners.
+The space inside is called the pen, and the party winning the last game
+always has the corners. The ball is tossed from one corner to another,
+and when it has gone around once, any boy on a corner may, immediately
+after catching the ball thrown to him from any of the four corners,
+throw it at any one in the pen. He must throw while "the ball is
+hot,"--that is, instantly on catching it. If he fails to hit anybody on
+the other side, he goes out. If he hits, his side leave the corners and
+run as they please, for the boy who has been hit may throw from where
+the ball fell, or from any corner, at any one of the side holding the
+corners. If one of them is hit, he has the same privilege; but now the
+men in the pen are allowed to scatter, also. Whoever misses is "out,"
+and the play is resumed from the corners until all of one side is out.
+When but two are left on the corners the ball is smuggled,--that is,
+one hides the ball in his bosom, and the other pretends that he has it
+also. The boys in the ring do not know which has it, and the two "run
+the corners," throwing from any corner. If but one is left on the
+corners, he is allowed, also, to run from corner to corner.
+
+It happened that Jack's side lost on the toss-up for corners, and he got
+into the ring, where his play showed better than it would have done on
+the corners. As Jack was the greenhorn and the last chosen on his side,
+the players on the corners expected to make light work of him; but he
+was an adroit dodger, and he put out three of the boys on the corners by
+his unexpected way of evading a ball. Everybody who has ever played this
+fine old game knows that expertness in dodging is worth quite as much as
+skill in throwing. Pewee was a famous hand with a ball, Riley could
+dodge well, Ben Berry had a happy knack of dropping flat upon the ground
+and letting a ball pass over him, Bob Holliday could run well in a
+counter charge; but nothing could be more effective than Jack Dudley's
+quiet way of stepping forward or backward, bending his lithe body or
+spreading his legs to let the ball pass, according to the course which
+it took from the player's hand.
+
+King Pewee and company came back in time to see Jack dodge three balls
+thrown point-blank at him from a distance of fifteen feet. It was like
+witchcraft--he seemed to be charmed. Every dodge was greeted with a
+shout, and when once he luckily caught the ball thrown at him, and thus
+put out the thrower, there was no end of admiration of his playing. It
+was now evident to all that Jack could no longer be excluded from the
+game, and that, next to Pewee himself, he was already the best player on
+the ground.
+
+At recess that afternoon Pewee set his hat down in the hat-ball row, and
+as Jack did not object, Riley and Ben Berry did the same. The next day
+Pewee chose Jack first in bull-pen, and the game was well played.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE DEFENDER
+
+
+If Jack had not about this time undertaken the defence of the little boy
+in the Fourth Reader, whose name was large enough to cover the principal
+points in the history of the New World, he might have had peace, for
+Jack was no longer one of the newest scholars, his courage was respected
+by Pewee, and he kept poor Riley in continual fear of his
+ridicule--making him smart every day. But, just when he might have had a
+little peace and happiness, he became the defender of Christopher
+Columbus George Washington Marquis de la Fayette Risdale--little
+"Andsoforth," as Riley and the other boys had nicknamed him.
+
+The strange, pinched little body of the boy, his eccentric ways, his
+quickness in learning, and his infantile simplicity had all conspired to
+win the affection of Jack, so that he would have protected him even
+without the solicitation of Susan Lanham. But since Susan had been
+Jack's own first and fast friend, he felt in honor bound to run all
+risks in the care of her strange little cousin.
+
+I think that Columbus's child-like ways might have protected him even
+from Riley and his set, if it had not been that he was related to Susan
+Lanham, and under her protection. It was the only chance for Riley to
+revenge himself on Susan. She was more than a match for him in wit, and
+she was not a proper subject for Pewee's fists. So with that
+heartlessness which belongs to the school-boy bully, he resolved to
+torment the helpless fellow in revenge for Susan's sarcasms.
+
+One morning, smarting under some recent taunt of Susan's, Riley caught
+little Columbus almost alone in the school-room. Here was a boy who
+certainly would not be likely to strike back again. His bamboo legs, his
+spindling arms, his pale face, his contracted chest, all gave the coward
+a perfect assurance of safety. So, with a rude pretence at play,
+laughing all the time, he caught the lad by the throat, and in spite of
+his weird dignity and pleading gentleness, shoved him back against the
+wall behind the master's empty chair. Holding him here a minute in
+suspense, he began slapping him, first on this side of the face and then
+on that. The pale cheeks burned red with pain and fright, but Columbus
+did not cry out, though the constantly increasing sharpness of the
+blows, and the sense of weakness, degradation, and terror, stung him
+severely. Riley thought it funny. Like a cat playing with a condemned
+mouse, the cruel fellow actually enjoyed finding one person weak enough
+to be afraid of him.
+
+Columbus twisted about in a vain endeavor to escape from Riley's
+clutches, getting only a sharper cuff for his pains. Ben Berry, arriving
+presently, enjoyed the sport, while some of the smaller boys and girls,
+coming in, looked on the scene of torture in helpless pity. And ever, as
+more and more of the scholars gathered, Columbus felt more and more
+mortified; the tears were in his great sad eyes, but he made no sound of
+crying or complaint.
+
+Jack Dudley came in at last, and marched straight up to Riley, who let
+go his hold and backed off. "You mean, cowardly, pitiful villain!" broke
+out Jack, advancing on him.
+
+"I didn't do anything to you," whined Riley, backing into a corner.
+
+"No, but I mean to do something to you. If there's an inch of man in
+you, come right on and fight with me. You daren't do it."
+
+"I don't want any quarrel with you."
+
+"No, you quarrel with babies."
+
+Here all the boys and girls jeered.
+
+"You're too hard on a fellow, Jack," whined the scared Riley, slipping
+out of the corner and continuing to back down the school-room, while
+Jack kept slowly following him.
+
+"You're a great deal bigger than I am," said Jack. "Why don't you try to
+corner me? Oh, I could just beat the breath out of you, you great, big,
+good-for-nothing----"
+
+Here Riley pulled the west door open, and Jack, at the same moment,
+struck him. Riley half dropped, half fell, through the door-way, scared
+so badly that he went sprawling on the ground.
+
+The boys shouted "coward" and "baby" after him as he sneaked off, but
+Jack went back to comfort Columbus and to get control of his temper. For
+it is not wise, as Jack soon reflected, even in a good cause to lose
+your self-control.
+
+"It was good of you to interfere," said Susan, when she had come in and
+learned all about it.
+
+"I should have been a brute if I hadn't," said Jack, pleased none the
+less with her praise. "But it doesn't take any courage to back Riley out
+of a school-house. One could get more fight out of a yearling calf. I
+suppose I've got to take a beating from Pewee, though."
+
+"Go and see him about it, before Riley talks to him," suggested Susan.
+And Jack saw the prudence of this course. As he left the school-house at
+a rapid pace, Ben Berry told Riley, who was skulking behind a fence,
+that Jack was afraid of Pewee.
+
+"Pewee," said Jack, when he met him starting to school, after having
+done his "chores," including the milking of his cow,--"Pewee, I want to
+say something to you."
+
+Jack's tone and manner flattered Pewee. One thing that keeps a rowdy a
+rowdy is the thought that better people despise him. Pewee felt in his
+heart that Jack had a contempt for him, and this it was that made him
+hate Jack in turn. But now that the latter sought him in a friendly way,
+he felt himself lifted up into a dignity hitherto unknown to him. "What
+is it?"
+
+"You are a kind of king among the boys," said Jack. Pewee grew an inch
+taller.
+
+"They are all afraid of you. Now, why don't you make us fellows behave?
+You ought to protect the little boys from fellows that impose on them.
+Then you'd be a king worth the having. All the boys and girls would
+like you."
+
+"I s'pose may be that's so," said the king.
+
+"There's poor little Columbus Risdale----"
+
+"I don't like him," said Pewee.
+
+"You mean you don't like Susan. She _is_ a little sharp with her tongue.
+But you wouldn't fight with a baby--it isn't like you."
+
+"No, sir-ee," said Pewee.
+
+"You'd rather take a big boy than a little one. Now, you ought to make
+Riley let Lummy alone."
+
+"I'll do that," said Pewee. "Riley's about a million times bigger than
+Lum."
+
+"I went to the school-house this morning," continued Jack, "and I found
+Riley choking and beating him. And I thought I'd just speak to you, and
+see if you can't make him stop it."
+
+"I'll do that," said Pewee, walking along with great dignity.
+
+When Ben Berry and Riley saw Pewee coming in company with Jack, they
+were amazed and hung their heads, afraid to say anything even to each
+other. Jack and Pewee walked straight up to the fence-corner in which
+they stood.
+
+"I thought I'd see what King Pewee would say about your fighting with
+babies, Riley," said Jack.
+
+"I want you fellows to understand," said Pewee, "that I'm not going to
+have that little Lum Risdale hurt. If you want to fight, why don't you
+fight somebody your own size? I don't fight babies myself," and here
+Pewee drew his head up, "and I don't stand by any boy that does."
+
+Poor Riley felt the last support drop from under him. Pewee had deserted
+him, and he was now an orphan, unprotected in an unfriendly world!
+
+Jack knew that the truce with so vain a fellow as Pewee could not last
+long, but it served its purpose for the time. And when, after school,
+Susan Lanham took pains to go and thank Pewee for standing up for
+Columbus, Pewee felt himself every inch a king, and for the time he
+was--if not a "reformed prize-fighter," such as one hears of sometimes,
+at least an improved boy. The trouble with vain people like Pewee is,
+that they have no stability. They bend the way the wind blows, and for
+the most part the wind blows from the wrong quarter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+PIGEON POT-PIE
+
+
+Happy boys and girls that go to school nowadays! You have to study
+harder than the generations before you, it is true; you miss the jolly
+spelling-schools, and the good old games that were not half so
+scientific as base-ball, lawn tennis, or lacrosse, but that had ten
+times more fun and frolic in them; but all this is made up to you by the
+fact that you escape the tyrannical old master. Whatever the faults the
+teachers of this day may have, they do not generally lacerate the backs
+of their pupils, as did some of their fore-runners.
+
+At the time of which I write, thirty years ago, a better race of
+school-masters was crowding out the old, but many of the latter class,
+with their terrible switches and cruel beatings, kept their ground until
+they died off one by one, and relieved the world of their odious ways.
+
+Mr. Ball wouldn't die to please anybody. He was a bachelor, and had no
+liking for children, but taught school five or six months in winter to
+avoid having to work on a farm in the summer. He had taught in Greenbank
+every winter for a quarter of a century, and having never learned to win
+anybody's affection, had been obliged to teach those who disliked him.
+This atmosphere of mutual dislike will sour the sweetest temper, and Mr.
+Ball's temper had not been strained honey to begin with. Year by year he
+grew more and more severe--he whipped for poor lessons, he whipped for
+speaking in school, he took down his switch for not speaking loud enough
+in class, he whipped for coming late to school, he whipped because a
+scholar made a noise with his feet, and he whipped because he himself
+had eaten something unwholesome for his breakfast. The brutality of a
+master produces like qualities in scholars. The boys drew caricatures on
+the blackboard, put living cats or dead ones into Mr. Ball's desk, and
+tried to drive him wild by their many devices.
+
+He would walk up and down the school-room seeking a victim, and he had as
+much pleasure in beating a girl or a little boy as in punishing an
+overgrown fellow.
+
+And yet I cannot say that Mr. Ball was impartial. There were some pupils
+that escaped. Susan Lanham was not punished, because her father, Dr.
+Lanham, was a very influential man in the town; and the faults of Henry
+Weathervane and his sister were always overlooked after their father
+became a school trustee.
+
+Many efforts had been made to put a new master into the school. But Mr.
+Ball's brother-in-law was one of the principal merchants in the place,
+and the old man had had the school so long that it seemed like robbery
+to deprive him of it. It had come, in some sort, to belong to him.
+People hated to see him moved. He would die some day, they said, and
+nobody could deny that, though it often seemed to the boys and girls
+that he would never die; he was more likely to dry up and blow away. And
+it was a long time to wait for that.
+
+And yet I think Greenbank might have had to wait for something like that
+if there hadn't come a great flight of pigeons just at this time. For
+whenever Susan Lanham suggested to her father that he should try to get
+Mr. Ball removed and a new teacher appointed, Dr. Lanham smiled and
+said "he hated to move against the old man; he's been there so long,
+you know, and he probably wouldn't live long, anyhow. Something ought to
+be done, perhaps, but he couldn't meddle with him." For older people
+forgot the beatings they had endured, and remembered the old man only as
+one of the venerable landmarks of their childhood.
+
+And so, by favor of Henry Weathervane's father, whose children he did
+not punish, and by favor of other people's neglect and forgetfulness,
+the Greenbank children might have had to face and fear the old ogre down
+to this day, or until he dried up and blew away, if it hadn't been, as I
+said, that there came a great flight of pigeons.
+
+A flight of pigeons is not uncommon in the Ohio River country. Audubon,
+the great naturalist, saw them in his day, and in old colonial times
+such flights took place in the settlements on the sea-board, and
+sometimes the starving colonists were able to knock down pigeons with
+sticks. The mathematician is not yet born who can count the number of
+pigeons in one of these sky-darkening flocks, which are often many miles
+in length, and which follow one another for a whole day. The birds, for
+the most part, fly at a considerable height from the earth, but when
+they are crossing a wide valley, like that of the Ohio River, they drop
+down to a lower level, and so reach the hills quite close to the ground,
+and within easy gunshot.
+
+When the pigeon flight comes on Saturday, it is very convenient for
+those boys that have guns. If these pigeons had only come on Saturday
+instead of on Monday, Mr. Ball might have taught the Greenbank school
+until to-day,--that is to say, if he hadn't died or quite dried up and
+blown off meanwhile.
+
+For when Riley and Ben Berry saw this flight of pigeons begin on Monday
+morning, they remembered that the geography lesson was a hard one, and
+so they played "hooky," and, taking their guns with them, hid in the
+bushes at the top of the hill. Then, as the birds struck the hill, and
+beat their way up over the brow of it, the boys, lying in ambush, had
+only to fire into the flock without taking aim, and the birds would drop
+all around them. The discharge of the guns made Bob Holliday so hungry
+for pigeon pot-pie, that he, too, ran away from school, at recess, and
+took his place among the pigeon-slayers in the paw-paw patch on the hill
+top.
+
+Tuesday morning, Mr. Ball came in with darkened brows, and three extra
+switches. Riley, Berry, and Holliday were called up as soon as school
+began. They had pigeon pot-pie for dinner, but they also had sore backs
+for three days, and Bob laughingly said that he knew just how a pigeon
+felt when it was basted.
+
+The day after the whipping and the pigeon pot-pie, when the sun shone
+warm at noon, the fire was allowed to go down in the stove. All were at
+play in the sunshine, excepting Columbus Risdale, who sat solitary, like
+a disconsolate screech-owl, in one corner of the room. Riley and Ben
+Berry, still smarting from yesterday, entered, and without observing
+Lummy's presence, proceeded to put some gunpowder in the stove, taking
+pains to surround it with cool ashes, so that it should not explode
+until the stirring of the fire, as the chill of the afternoon should
+come on. When they had finished this dangerous transaction, they
+discovered the presence of Columbus in his corner, looking at them with
+large-eyed wonder and alarm.
+
+"If you ever tell a living soul about that, we'll kill you," said Ben
+Berry.
+
+Riley also threatened the scared little rabbit, and both felt safe from
+detection.
+
+An hour after school had resumed its session. Columbus, who had sat
+shivering with terror all the time, wrote on his slate:
+
+"Will Riley and Ben B. put something in the stove. Said they would kill
+me if I told on them."
+
+This he passed to Jack, who sat next to him. Jack rubbed it out as soon
+as he had read it, and wrote:
+
+"Don't tell anybody."
+
+Jack could not guess what they had put in. It might be coffee-nuts,
+which would explode harmlessly; it might be something that would give a
+bad smell in burning, such as chicken-feathers. If he had thought that
+it was gunpowder, he would have plucked up courage enough to give the
+master some warning, though he might have got only a whipping for his
+pains. While Jack was debating what he should do, the master called the
+Fourth-Reader class. At the close of the lesson he noticed that Columbus
+was shivering, though indeed it was more from terror than from cold.
+
+"Go to the stove and stir up the fire, and get warm," he said, sternly.
+
+"I'd--I'd rather not," said Lum, shaking with fright at the idea.
+
+"Umph!" said Mr. Ball, looking hard at the lad, with half a mind to make
+him go. Then he changed his purpose and went to the stove himself, raked
+forward the coals, and made up the fire. Just as he was shutting the
+stove-door, the explosion came--the ashes flew out all over the master,
+the stove was thrown down from the bricks on which its four legs rested,
+the long pipe fell in many pieces on the floor, and the children set up
+a general howl in all parts of the room.
+
+As soon as Mr. Ball had shaken off the ashes from his coat, he said: "Be
+quiet--there's no more danger. Columbus Risdale, come here."
+
+"He did not do it," spoke up Susan Lanham.
+
+"Be quiet, Susan. You know all about this," continued the master to poor
+little Columbus, who was so frightened as hardly to be able to stand.
+After looking at Columbus a moment, the master took down a great beech
+switch. "Now, I shall whip you until you tell me who did it. You were
+afraid to go to the stove. You knew there was powder there. Who put it
+there? That's the question. Answer, quick, or I shall make you."
+
+The little skin-and-bones trembled between two terrors, and Jack, seeing
+his perplexity, got up and stood by him.
+
+"He didn't do it, Mr. Ball. I know who did it. If Columbus should tell
+you, he would be beaten for telling. The boy who did it is just mean
+enough to let Lummy get the whipping. Please let him off."
+
+"_You_ know, do you? I shall whip you both. You knew there was gunpowder
+in the fire, and you gave no warning. I shall whip you both--the
+severest whipping you ever had, too."
+
+And the master put up the switch he had taken down, as not effective
+enough, and proceeded to take another.
+
+"If we had known it was gunpowder," said Jack, beginning to tremble,
+"you would have been warned. But we didn't. We only knew that something
+had been put in."
+
+"If you'll tell all about it, I'll let you off easier; if you don't, I
+shall give you all the whipping I know how to give." And by way of
+giving impressiveness to his threat he took a turn about the room, while
+there was an awful stillness among the terrified scholars.
+
+I do not know what was in Bob Holliday's head, but about this time he
+managed to open the western door while the master's back was turned.
+Bob's desk was near the door.
+
+Poor little Columbus was ready to die, and Jack was afraid that, if the
+master should beat him as he threatened to do, the child would die
+outright. Luckily, at the second cruel blow, the master broke his switch
+and turned to get another. Seeing the door open, Jack whispered to
+Columbus:
+
+"Run home as fast as you can go."
+
+The little fellow needed no second bidding. He tottered on his
+trembling legs to the door, and was out before Mr. Ball had detected the
+motion. When the master saw his prey disappearing out of the door, he
+ran after him, but it happened curiously enough, in the excitement, that
+Bob Holliday, who sat behind the door, rose up, as if to look out, and
+stumbled against the door, thus pushing it shut, so that by the time Mr.
+Ball got his stiff legs outside the door, the frightened child was under
+such headway that, fearing to have the whole school in rebellion, the
+teacher gave over the pursuit, and came back prepared to wreak his
+vengeance on Jack.
+
+While Mr. Ball was outside the door, Bob Holliday called to Jack, in a
+loud whisper, that he had better run, too, or the old master would "skin
+him alive." But Jack had been trained to submit to authority, and to run
+away now would lose him his winter's schooling, on which he had set
+great store. He made up his mind to face the punishment as best he
+could, fleeing only as a last resort if the beating should be
+unendurable.
+
+"Now," said the master to Jack, "will you tell me who put that gunpowder
+in the stove? If you don't, I'll take it out of your skin."
+
+Jack could not bear to tell, especially under a threat. I think that
+boys are not wholly right in their notion that it is dishonorable to
+inform on a school-mate, especially in the case of so bad an offence as
+that of which Will and Ben were guilty. But, on the other hand, the last
+thing a master ought to seek is to turn boys into habitual spies and
+informers on one another. In the present instance, Jack ought, perhaps,
+to have told, for the offence was criminal; but it is hard for a
+high-spirited lad to yield to a brutal threat.
+
+Jack caught sight of Susan Lanham telegraphing from behind the master,
+by spelling with her fingers:
+
+"Tell or run."
+
+But he could not make up his mind to do either, though Bob Holliday had
+again mysteriously opened the western door.
+
+The master summoned all his strength and struck him half a dozen blows,
+that made poor Jack writhe. Then he walked up and down the room awhile,
+to give the victim time to consider whether he would tell or not.
+
+"Run," spelled out Susan on her fingers.
+
+"The school-house is on fire!" called out Bob Holliday. Some of the
+coals that had spilled from the capsized stove were burning the
+floor--not dangerously, but Bob wished to make a diversion. He rushed
+for a pail of water in the corner, and all the rest, aching with
+suppressed excitement, crowded around the fallen stove, so that it was
+hard for the master to tell whether there was any fire or not. Bob
+whispered to Jack to "cut sticks," but Jack only went to his seat.
+
+"Lay hold, boys, and let's put up the stove," said Bob, taking the
+matter quite out of the master's hands. Of course, the stove-pipe would
+not fit without a great deal of trouble. Did ever stove-pipe go together
+without trouble? Somehow, all the joints that Bob joined together flew
+asunder over and over again, though he seemed to work most zealously to
+get the stove set up. After half an hour of this confusion, the pipe was
+fixed, and the master, having had time, like the stove, to cool off, and
+seeing Jack bent over his book, concluded to let the matter drop. But
+there are some matters that, once taken up, are hard to drop.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+JACK AND HIS MOTHER
+
+
+Jack went home that night very sore on his back and in his feelings. He
+felt humiliated to be beaten like a dog, and even a dog feels degraded
+in being beaten. He told his mother about it--the tall, dignified,
+sweet-faced mother, patient in trouble and full of a goodness that did
+not talk much about goodness. She always took it for granted that _her_
+boy would not do anything mean, and thus made a healthy atmosphere for a
+brave boy to grow in. Jack told her of his whipping, with some heat,
+while he sat at supper. She did not say much then, but after Jack's
+evening chores were all finished, she sat down by the candle where he
+was trying to get out some sums, and questioned him carefully.
+
+"Why didn't you tell who did it?" she asked.
+
+"Because it makes a boy mean to tell, and all the boys would have
+thought me a sneak."
+
+"It is a little hard to face a general opinion like that," she said.
+
+"But," said Jack, "if I had told, the master would have whipped Columbus
+all the same, and the boys would probably have pounded him, too. I ought
+to have told beforehand," said Jack, after a pause. "But I thought it
+was only some coffee-nuts that they had put in. The mean fellows, to let
+Columbus take a whipping for them! But the way Mr. Ball beats us is
+enough to make a boy mean and cowardly."
+
+After a long silence, the mother said: "I think we shall have to give it
+up, Jack."
+
+"What, mother?"
+
+"The schooling for this winter. I don't want you to go where boys are
+beaten in that way. In the morning, go and get your books and see what
+you can do at home."
+
+Then, after a long pause, in which neither liked to speak, Mrs. Dudley
+said:
+
+"I want you to be an educated man. You learn quickly; you have a taste
+for books, and you will be happier if you get knowledge. If I could
+collect the money that Gray owes your father's estate, or even a part of
+it, I should be able to keep you in school one winter after this. But
+there seems to be no hope for that."
+
+"But Gray is a rich man, isn't he?"
+
+"Yes, he has a good deal of property, but not in his own name. He
+persuaded your father, who was a kind-hearted and easy-natured man, to
+release a mortgage, promising to give him some other security the next
+week. But, meantime, he put his property in such a shape as to cheat all
+his creditors. I don't think we shall ever get anything."
+
+"I am going to be an educated man, anyhow."
+
+"But you will have to go to work at something next fall," said the
+mother.
+
+"That will make it harder, but I mean to study a little every day. I
+wish I could get a chance to spend next winter in school."
+
+"We'll see what can be done."
+
+And long after Jack went to bed that night the mother sat still by the
+candle with her sewing, trying to think what she could do to help her
+boy to get on with his studies.
+
+Jack woke up after eleven o'clock, and saw her light still burning in
+the sitting-room.
+
+"I say, mother," he called out, "don't you sit there worrying about me.
+We shall come through this all right."
+
+Some of Jack's hopefulness got into the mother's heart, and she took her
+light and went to bed.
+
+Weary, and sore, and disappointed, Jack did not easily get to sleep
+himself after his cheerful speech to his mother. He lay awake long,
+making boy's plans for his future. He would go and collect money by some
+hook or crook from the rascally Gray; he would make a great invention;
+he would discover a gold mine; he would find some rich cousin who would
+send him through college; he would----, but just then he grew more
+wakeful and realized that all his plans had no foundation of
+probability.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+COLUMBUS AND HIS FRIENDS
+
+
+When he waked up in the morning, Jack remembered that he had not seen
+Columbus Risdale go past the door after his cow the evening before, and
+he was afraid that he might be ill. Why had he not thought to go down
+and drive up the cow himself? It was yet early, and he arose and went
+down to the little rusty, brown, unpainted house in which the Risdales,
+who were poor people, had their home. Just as he pushed open the gate,
+Bob Holliday came out of the door, looking tired and sleepy.
+
+"Hello, Bob!" said Jack. "How's Columbus? Is he sick?"
+
+"Awful sick," said Bob. "Clean out of his head all night."
+
+"Have you been here all night?"
+
+"Yes, I heerd he was sick last night, and I come over and sot up with
+him."
+
+"You good, big-hearted Bob!" said Jack. "You're the best fellow in the
+world, I believe."
+
+"What a quare feller you air to talk, Jack," said Bob, choking up. "Air
+you goin' to school to-day?"
+
+"No. Mother'd rather have me not go any more."
+
+"I'm not going any more. I hate old Ball. Neither's Susan Lanham going.
+She's in there," and Bob made a motion toward the house with his thumb,
+and passed out of the gate, while Jack knocked at the door. He was
+admitted by Susan.
+
+"Oh, Jack! I'm so glad to see you," she whispered. "Columbus has asked
+for you a good many times during the night. You've stood by him
+splendidly."
+
+Jack blushed, but asked how Lummy was now.
+
+"Out of his head most of the time. Bob Holliday stayed with him all
+night. What a good fellow Bob Holliday is!"
+
+"I almost hugged him, just now," said Jack, and Susan couldn't help
+smiling at this frank confession.
+
+Jack passed into the next room as stealthily as possible, that he might
+not disturb his friend, and paused by the door. Mrs. Risdale sat by the
+bedside of Columbus, who was sleeping uneasily, his curious big head and
+long, thin hair making a strange picture against the pillow. His face
+looked more meagre and his eyes more sunken than ever before, but there
+was a feverish flush on his wan cheeks, and the slender hands moved
+uneasily on the outside of the blue coverlet, the puny arms were bare to
+the elbows.
+
+Mrs. Risdale beckoned Jack to come forward, and he came and stood at the
+bed-foot. Then Columbus opened his large eyes and fixed them on Jack for
+a few seconds.
+
+"Come, Jack, dear old fellow," he whispered.
+
+Jack came and bent over him with tearful eyes, and the poor little
+reed-like arms were twined about his neck.
+
+"Jack," he sobbed, "the master's right over there in the corner all the
+time, straightening out his long switches. He says he's going to whip me
+again. But you won't let him, will you, Jack, you good old fellow?"
+
+"No, he shan't touch you."
+
+"Let's run away, Jack," he said, presently. And so the poor little
+fellow went on, his great, disordered brain producing feverish images of
+terror from which he continually besought "dear good old Jack" to
+deliver him.
+
+When at last he dropped again into a troubled sleep, Jack slipped away
+and drove up the Risdale cow, and then went back to his breakfast. He
+was a boy whose anger kindled slowly; but the more he thought about it,
+the more angry he became at the master who had given Columbus such a
+fright as to throw him into a brain fever, and at the "mean, sneaking
+contemptible villains," as he hotly called them, who wouldn't come
+forward and confess their trick, rather than to have the poor little lad
+punished.
+
+"I suppose we ought to make some allowances," his mother said, quietly.
+
+"That's what you always say, mother. You're always making allowances."
+
+After breakfast and chores, Jack thought to go again to see his little
+friend. On issuing from the gate, he saw Will Riley and Ben Berry
+waiting for him at the corner. Whether they meant to attack him or not
+he could not tell, but he felt too angry to care.
+
+"I say, Jack," said Riley, "how did you know who put the powder in the
+stove? Did Columbus tell you?"
+
+"Mind your own business," said Jack, in a tone not so polite as it might
+be. "The less you say about gunpowder, hereafter, the better for you
+both. Why didn't you walk up and tell, and save that little fellow a
+beating?"
+
+"Look here, Jack," said Berry, "don't you tell what you know about it.
+There's going to be a row. They say that Doctor Lanham's taken Susan,
+and all the other children, out of school, because the master thrashed
+Lummy, and they say Bob Holliday's quit, and that you're going to quit,
+and Doctor Lanham's gone to work this morning to get the master put out
+at the end of the term. Mr. Ball didn't know that Columbus was kin to
+the Lanhams, or he'd have let him alone, like he does the Lanhams and
+the Weathervanes. There is going to be a big row, and everybody'll want
+to know who put the powder in the stove. We want you to be quiet about
+it."
+
+"You _do_?" said Jack, with a sneer. "_You_ do?"
+
+"Yes, we do," said Riley, coaxingly.
+
+"You do? _You_ come to _me_ and ask me to keep it secret, after letting
+me and that poor little baby take your whipping! You want me to hide
+what you did, when that poor little Columbus lies over there sick abed
+and like to die, all because you sneaking scoundrels let him be whipped
+for what you did!"
+
+"Is he sick?" said Riley, in terror.
+
+"Going to die, I expect," said Jack, bitterly.
+
+"Well," said Ben Berry, "you be careful what you say about us, or we'll
+get Pewee to get even with you."
+
+"Oh, that's your game! You think you can scare me, do you?"
+
+Jack grew more and more angry. Seeing a group of school-boys on the
+other side of the street, he called them over.
+
+"Look here, boys," said Jack, "I took a whipping yesterday to keep from
+telling on these fellows, and now they have the face to ask me not to
+tell that they put the powder in the stove, and they promise me a
+beating from Pewee if I do. These are the two boys that let a poor
+sickly baby take the whipping they ought to have had. They have just as
+good as killed him, I suppose, and now they come sneaking around here
+and trying to scare me in keeping still about it. I didn't back down
+from the master, and I won't from Pewee. Oh, no! I won't tell anybody.
+But if any of you boys should happen to guess that Will Riley and Ben
+Berry were the cowards who did that mean trick, I am not going to say
+they weren't. It wouldn't be of any use to deny it. There are only two
+boys in school mean enough to play such a contemptible trick as that."
+
+Riley and Berry stood sheepishly silent, but just here Pewee came in
+sight, and seeing the squad of boys gathered around Jack, strode over
+quickly and pushed his sturdy form into the midst.
+
+"Pewee," said Riley, "I think you ought to pound Jack. He says you can't
+back him down."
+
+"I didn't," said Jack. "I said _you_ couldn't scare me out of telling
+who tried to blow up the school-house stove, and let other boys take
+the whipping, by promising me a drubbing from Pewee Rose. If Pewee wants
+to put himself in as mean a crowd as yours, and be your puppy-dog to
+fight for you, let him come on. He's a fool if he does, that's all I
+have to say. The whole town will want to ship you two fellows off before
+night, and Pewee isn't going to fight your battles. What do you think,
+Pewee, of fellows that put powder in a stove where they might blow up a
+lot of little children? What do you think of two fellows that want me to
+keep quiet after they let little Lum Risdale take a whipping for them,
+and that talk about setting you on to me if I tell?"
+
+Thus brought face to face with both parties, King Pewee only looked
+foolish and said nothing.
+
+Jack had worked himself into such a passion that he could not go to
+Risdale's, but returned to his own home, declaring that he was going to
+tell everybody in town. But when he entered the house and looked into
+the quiet, self-controlled face of his mother, he began to feel cooler.
+
+"Let us remember that some allowances are to be made for such boys," was
+all that she said.
+
+"That's what you always say, Mother," said Jack, impatiently. "I believe
+you'd make allowances for the Old Boy himself."
+
+"That would depend on his bringing up," smiled Mrs. Dudley. "Some people
+have bad streaks naturally, and some have been cowed and brutalized by
+ill-treatment, and some have been spoiled by indulgence."
+
+Jack felt more calm after a while. He went back to the bedside of
+Columbus, but he couldn't bring himself to make allowances.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+GREENBANK WAKES UP
+
+
+If the pigeons had not crossed the valley on Monday, nobody would have
+played truant, and if nobody had played truant on Monday, there would
+not have been occasion to whip three boys on Tuesday morning, and if Ben
+Berry and Riley had escaped a beating on Tuesday morning, they would not
+have thought of putting gunpowder into the stove on Wednesday at noon,
+and if they had omitted that bad joke, Columbus would not have got into
+trouble and run away from school, and if he had escaped the fright and
+the flight, he might not have had the fever, and the town would not have
+been waked up, and other things would not have happened.
+
+So then, you see, this world of ours is just like the House that Jack
+Built: one thing is tied to another and another to that, and that to
+this, and this to something, and something to something else, and so on
+to the very end of all things.
+
+So it was that the village was thrown into a great excitement as the
+result of a flock of innocent pigeons going over the heads of some lazy
+boys. In the first place, Susan Lanham talked about things. She talked
+to her aunts, and she talked to her uncles, and, above all, she talked
+to her father. Now Susan was the brightest girl in the town, and she had
+a tongue, as all the world knew, and when she set out to tell people
+what a brute the old master was, how he had beaten two innocent boys,
+how bravely Jack had carried himself, how frightened little Columbus
+was, and how sick it had made him, and how mean the boys were to put
+the powder there, and then to let the others take the whipping,--I say,
+when Susan set out to tell all these things, in her eloquent way, to
+everybody she knew, you might expect a waking up in the sleepy old town.
+Some of the people took Susan's side and removed their children from the
+school, lest they, too, should get a whipping and run home and have
+brain fever. But many stood up for the old master, mostly because they
+were people of the sort that never can bear to see anything changed.
+"The boys ought to have told who put the powder in the stove," they
+said. "It served them right."
+
+"How could the master know that Jack and Columbus did not do it
+themselves?" said others. "Maybe they did!"
+
+"Don't tell me!" cried old Mrs. Horne. "Don't tell me! Boys can't be
+managed without whipping, and plenty of it. 'Bring up a child and away
+he goes,' as the Bible says. When you hire a master, you want a
+_master_, says I."
+
+"What a tongue that Sue Lanham has got!" said Mr. Higbie, Mr. Ball's
+brother-in-law.
+
+The excitement spread over the whole village. Doctor Lanham talked about
+it, and the ministers, and the lawyers, and the loafers in the stores,
+and the people who came to the post-office for their letters. Of course,
+it broke out furiously in the "Maternal Association," a meeting of
+mothers held at the house of one of the ministers.
+
+"Mr. Ball can do every sum in the arithmetic," urged Mrs. Weathervane.
+
+"He's a master hand at figures, they do say," said Mother Brownson.
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Dudley, "I don't doubt it. Jack's back is covered with
+figures of Mr. Ball's making. For my part, I should rather have a
+master that did his figuring on a slate."
+
+Susan Lanham got hold of this retort, and took pains that it should be
+known all over the village.
+
+When Greenbank once gets waked up on any question, it never goes to
+sleep until that particular question is settled. But it doesn't wake up
+more than once or twice in twenty years. Most of the time it is only
+talking in its sleep. Now that Greenbank had its eyes open for a little
+time, it was surprised to see that while the cities along the river had
+all adopted graded schools,--_de_-graded schools, as they were called by
+the people opposed to them,--and while even the little villages in the
+hill country had younger and more enlightened teachers, the county-town
+of Greenbank had made no advance. It employed yet, under the rule of
+President Fillmore, the same hard old stick of a master that had beaten
+the boys in the log school-house in the days of John Quincy Adams and
+Andrew Jackson. But, now it was awake, Greenbank kept its eyes open on
+the school question. The boys wrote on the fences, in chalk:
+
+  DOWN WITH OLD BAWL!
+
+and thought the bad spelling of the name a good joke, while men and
+women began to talk about getting a new master.
+
+Will Riley and Ben Berry had the hardest time. For the most part they
+stayed at home during the excitement, only slinking out in the evening.
+The boys nicknamed them "Gunpowder cowards," and wrote the words on the
+fences. Even the loafers about the street asked them whether Old Ball
+had given them that whipping yet, and how they liked "powder and Ball."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+PROFESSOR SUSAN
+
+
+Mr. Ball did not let go easily. He had been engaged for the term, and he
+declared that he would go on to the end of the term, if there should be
+nothing but empty benches. In truth, he and his partisans hoped that the
+storm would blow over and the old man be allowed to go on teaching and
+thrashing as heretofore. He had a great advantage in that he had been
+trained in all the common branches better than most masters, and was
+regarded as a miracle of skill in arithmetical calculations. He even
+knew how to survey land.
+
+Jack was much disappointed to miss his winter's schooling, and there was
+no probability that he would be able to attend school again. He went on
+as best he could at home, but he stuck fast on some difficult problems
+in the middle of the arithmetic. Columbus had by this time begun to
+recover his slender health, and he was even able to walk over to Jack's
+house occasionally. Finding Jack in despair over some of his "sums," he
+said:
+
+"Why don't you ask Susan Lanham to show you? I believe she would; and
+she has been clean through the arithmetic, and she is 'most as good as
+the master himself."
+
+"I don't like to," said Jack. "She wouldn't want to take the trouble."
+
+But the next morning Christopher Columbus managed to creep over to the
+Lanhams:
+
+"Cousin Sukey," he said, coaxingly, "I wish you'd do something for me. I
+want to ask a favor of you."
+
+[Illustration: "COUSIN SUKEY," SAID LITTLE COLUMBUS, "I WANT TO ASK A
+FAVOR OF YOU."]
+
+"What is it, Columbus?" said Sue. "Anything you ask shall be given, to
+the half of my kingdom!" and she struck an attitude, as Isabella of
+Castile, addressing the great Columbus, with the dust-brush for a
+sceptre, and the towel, which she had pinned about her head, for a
+crown.
+
+"You are so funny," he said, with a faint smile. "But I wish you'd be
+sober a minute."
+
+"Haven't had but one cup of coffee this morning. But what do you want?"
+
+"Jack----"
+
+"Oh, yes, it's always Jack with you. But that's right--Jack deserves
+it."
+
+"Jack can't do his sums, and he won't ask you to help him."
+
+"And so he got you to ask?"
+
+"No, he didn't. He wouldn't let me, if he knew. He thinks a young lady
+like you wouldn't want to take the trouble to help him."
+
+"Do you tell that stupid Jack, that if he doesn't want to offend me so
+that I'll never, never forgive him, he is to bring his slate and pencil
+over here after supper this evening. And you'll come, too, with your
+geography. Yours truly, Susan Lanham, Professor of Mathematics and
+Natural Science in the Greenbank Independent and Miscellaneous Academy.
+Do you hear?"
+
+"All right." And Columbus, smiling faintly, went off to tell Jack the
+good news. That evening Susan had, besides her own brother and two
+sisters, two pupils who learned more arithmetic than they would have
+gotten in the same time from Mr. Ball, though she did keep them laughing
+at her drollery. The next evening, little Joanna Merwin joined the
+party, and Professor Susan felt quite proud of her "academy," as she
+called it.
+
+Bob Holliday caught the infection, and went to studying at home. As he
+was not so far advanced as Jack, he contented himself with asking Jack's
+help when he was in trouble. At length, he had a difficulty that Jack
+could not solve.
+
+"Why don't you take that to the professor?" asked Jack. "I'll ask her to
+show you."
+
+"I dursn't," said Bob, with a frightened look.
+
+"Nonsense!" said Jack.
+
+That evening, when the lessons were ended, Jack said:
+
+"Professor Susan, there was a story in the old First Reader we had in
+the first school that I went to, about a dog who had a lame foot. A
+doctor cured his foot, and some time after, the patient brought another
+lame dog to the doctor, and showed by signs that he wanted this other
+dog cured, too."
+
+"That's rather a good dog-story," said Susan. "But what made you think
+of it?"
+
+"Because I'm that first dog."
+
+"You are?"
+
+"Yes. You've helped me, but there's Bob Holliday. I've been helping him,
+but he's got to a place where I don't quite understand the thing myself.
+Now Bob wouldn't dare ask you to help him----"
+
+"Bring him along. How the Greenbank Academy grows!" laughed Susan,
+turning to her father.
+
+Bob was afraid of Susan at first--his large fingers trembled so much
+that he had trouble to use his slate-pencil. But by the third evening
+his shyness had worn off, so that he got on well.
+
+One evening, after a week of attendance, he was missing. The next
+morning he came to Jack's house with his face scratched and his eye
+bruised.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Jack.
+
+"Well, you see, yesterday I was at the school-house at noon, and Pewee,
+egged on by Riley, said something he oughtn't to, about Susan, and I
+couldn't stand there and hear that girl made fun of, and so I up and
+downed him, and made him take it back. I can't go till my face looks
+better, you know, for I wouldn't want her to know anything about it."
+
+But the professor heard all about it from Joanna, who had it from one of
+the school-boys. Susan sent Columbus to tell Bob that she knew all about
+it, and that he must come back to school.
+
+"So you've been fighting, have you?" she said, severely, when Bob
+appeared. The poor fellow was glad she took that tone--if she had
+thanked him he wouldn't have been able to reply.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, don't you do it any more. It's very wrong to fight. It
+makes boys brutal. A girl with ability enough to teach the Greenbank
+Academy can take care of herself, and she doesn't want her scholars to
+fight."
+
+"All right," said Bob. "But," he muttered, "I'll thrash him all the
+same, and more than ever, if he ever says anything like that again."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+CROWING AFTER VICTORY
+
+
+Greenbank was awake, and the old master had to go. Mr. Weathervane stood
+up for him as long as he thought that the excitement was temporary. But
+when he found that Greenbank really was awake, and not just talking in
+its sleep, as it did for the most part, he changed sides,--not all at
+once, but by degrees. At first he softened down a little, "hemmed and
+hawed," as folks say. He said he did not know but that Mr. Ball had been
+hasty, but he meant well. The next day he took another step, and said
+that the old master meant well, but he was _often_ too hasty in his
+temper. The next week he let himself down another peg in saying that
+"maybe" the old man meant well, but he was altogether too hot in his
+temper for a school-master. A little while later, he found out that Mr.
+Ball's way of teaching was quite out of date. Before a month had
+elapsed, he was sure that the old curmudgeon ought to be put out, and
+thus at last Mr. Weathervane found himself where he liked to be, in the
+popular party.
+
+And so the old master came to his last day in the brick school-house.
+Whatever feelings he may have had in leaving behind him the scenes of
+his twenty-five years of labor, he said nothing. He only compressed his
+lips a little more tightly, scowled as severely as ever, removed his
+books and pens from his desk, gave a last look at his long beech
+switches on the wall, turned the key in the door of the school-house,
+carried it to Mr. Weathervane, received his pay, and walked slowly home
+to the house of his brother-in-law, Mr. Higbie.
+
+The boys had resolved to have a demonstration. All their pent-up wrath
+against the master now found vent, since there was no longer any danger
+that the old man would have a chance to retaliate. They would serenade
+him. Bob Holliday was full of it. Harry Weathervane was very active. He
+was going to pound on his mother's bread-pan. Every sort of instrument
+for making a noise was brought into requisition. Dinner-bells,
+tin-pails, conch-shell dinner-horns, tin-horns, and even the village
+bass-drum, were to be used.
+
+Would Jack go? Bob came over to inquire. All the boys were going to
+celebrate the downfall of a harsh master. He deserved it for beating
+Columbus. So Jack resolved to go.
+
+But after the boys had departed, Jack began to doubt whether he ought
+to go or not. It did not seem quite right; yet his feelings had become
+so enlisted in the conflict for the old man's removal, that he had grown
+to be a bitter partisan, and the recollection of all he had suffered,
+and of all Columbus had endured during his sickness, reconciled Jack to
+the appearance of crowing over a fallen foe, which this burlesque
+serenade would have. Nevertheless, his conscience was not clear on the
+point, and he concluded to submit the matter to his mother, when she
+should come home to supper.
+
+Unfortunately for Jack, his mother stayed away to tea, sending Jack word
+that he would have to get his own supper, and that she would come home
+early in the evening. Jack ate his bowl of bread and milk in solitude,
+trying to make himself believe that his mother would approve of his
+taking part in the "shiveree" of the old master. But when he had
+finished his supper, he concluded that if his mother did not come home
+in time for him to consult her, he would remain at home. He drew up by
+the light and tried to study, but he longed to be out with the boys.
+After a while Bob Holliday and Harry Weathervane came to the door and
+importuned Jack to come with them. It was lonesome at home; it would be
+good fun to celebrate the downfall of the old master's cruel rule, so,
+taking down an old dinner-bell, Jack went off to join the rest. He was a
+little disgusted when he found Riley, Pewee, and Ben Berry in the
+company, but once in the crowd, there was little chance to back out with
+credit. The boys crept through the back alleys until they came in front
+of Mr. Higbie's house, at half past eight o'clock. There was but one
+light visible, and that was in Mr. Ball's room. Jack dropped behind, a
+little faint of heart about the expedition. He felt sure in himself that
+his mother would shake her head if she knew of it. At length, at a
+signal from Bob, the tin pans, big and little, the skillet-lids grinding
+together, the horns, both conch-shell and tin, and the big bass-drum,
+set up a hideous clattering, banging, booming, roaring, and racketing.
+Jack rang his dinner-bell rather faintly, and stood back behind all the
+rest
+
+"Jack's afraid," said Pewee. "Why don't you come up to the front, like a
+man?"
+
+Jack could not stand a taunt like this, but came forward into the
+cluster of half-frightened peace-breakers. Just then, the door of Mr.
+Higbie's house was opened, and some one came out.
+
+"It's Mr. Higbie," said Ben Berry. "He's going to shoot."
+
+"It's Bugbee, the watchman, going to arrest us," said Pewee.
+
+"It's Mr. Ball himself," said Riley, "and he'll whip us all." And he
+fled, followed pell-mell by the whole crowd, excepting Jack, who had a
+constitutional aversion to running away. He only slunk up close to the
+fence and so stood still.
+
+"Hello! Who are you?" The voice was not that of Mr. Higbie, nor that of
+the old master, nor of the watchman, Bugbee. With some difficulty, Jack
+recognized the figure of Doctor Lanham. "Oh, it's Jack Dudley, is it?"
+said the doctor, after examining him in the feeble moonlight.
+
+"Yes," said Jack, sheepishly.
+
+"You're the one that got that whipping from the old master. I don't
+wonder you came out to-night."
+
+"I do," said Jack, "and I would rather now that I had taken another such
+whipping than to find myself here."
+
+"Well, well," said the doctor, "boys will be boys."
+
+"And fools will be fools, I suppose," said Jack.
+
+"Mr. Ball is very ill," continued the doctor. "Find the others and tell
+them they mustn't come here again to-night, or they'll kill him. I
+wouldn't have had this happen for anything. The old man's just broken
+down by the strain he has been under. He has deserved it all, but I
+think you might let him have a little peace now."
+
+"So do I," said Jack, more ashamed of himself than ever.
+
+The doctor went back into the house, and Jack Dudley and his dinner-bell
+started off down the street in search of Harry Weathervane and his tin
+pan, and Bob Holliday and his skillet-lids, and Ben Berry and the
+bass-drum.
+
+"Hello, Jack!" called out Bob from an alley. "You stood your ground the
+best of all, didn't you?"
+
+"I wish I'd stood my ground in the first place against you and Harry,
+and stayed at home."
+
+"Why, what's the matter? Who was it?"
+
+By this time the other boys were creeping out of their hiding-places and
+gathering about Jack.
+
+"Well, it was the doctor," said Jack. "Mr. Ball's very sick and we've
+'most killed him; that's all. We're a pack of cowards to go tooting at a
+poor old man when he's already down, and we ought to be kicked, every
+one of us. That's the way I feel about it," and Jack set out for home,
+not waiting for any leave-taking with the rest, who, for their part,
+slunk away in various directions, anxious to get their instruments of
+noise and torment hidden away out of sight.
+
+Jack stuck the dinner-bell under the hay in the stable-loft, whence he
+could smuggle it into the house before his mother should get down-stairs
+in the morning. Then he went into the house.
+
+"Where have you been?" asked Mrs. Dudley. "I came home early so that you
+needn't be lonesome."
+
+"Bob Holliday and Harry Weathervane came for me, and I found it so
+lonesome here that I went out with them."
+
+"Have you got your lessons?"
+
+"No, ma'am," said Jack, sheepishly.
+
+He was evidently not at ease, but his mother said no more. He went off
+to bed early, and lay awake a good part of the night. The next morning
+he brought the old dinner-bell and set it down in the very middle of the
+breakfast-table. Then he told his mother all about it. And she agreed
+with him that he had done a very mean thing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT
+
+
+Three times a week the scholars of the "Greenbank Academy" met at the
+house of Dr. Lanham to receive instruction from Professor Susan, for the
+school trustees could not agree on a new teacher. Some of the people
+wanted one thing, and some another; a lady teacher was advocated and
+opposed; a young man, an old man, a new-fashioned man, an old-fashioned
+man, and no teacher at all for the rest of the present year, so as to
+save money, were projects that found advocates. The division of opinion
+was so great that the plan of no school at all was carried because no
+other could be. So Susan's class went on for a month, and grew to be
+quite a little society, and then it came to an end.
+
+One evening, when the lessons were finished, Professor Susan said: "I am
+sorry to tell you that this is the last lesson I can give."
+
+And then they all said "Aw-w-w-w-w!" in a melancholy way.
+
+"I am going away to school myself," Susan went on. "My father thinks I
+ought to go to Mr. Niles's school at Port William."
+
+"I shouldn't think you'd need to go any more," said Joanna Merwin. "I
+thought you knew everything."
+
+"Oh, bless me!" cried Susan.
+
+In former days the people of the interior--the Mississippi Valley--which
+used then to be called "the West," were very desirous of education for
+their children. But good teachers were scarce. Ignorant and pretentious
+men, incompetent wanderers from New England, who had grown tired of
+clock-peddling, or tin-peddling, and whose whole stock was assurance,
+besides impostors of other sorts, would get places as teachers because
+teachers were scarce and there were no tests of fitness. Now and then a
+retired Presbyterian minister from Scotland or Pennsylvania, or a
+college graduate from New England, would open a school in some country
+town. Then people who could afford it would send their children from
+long distances to board near the school, and learn English grammar,
+arithmetic, and, in some cases, a little Latin, or, perhaps, to fit
+themselves for entrance to some of the sturdy little country colleges
+already growing up in that region. At Port William, in Kentucky, there
+was at this time an old minister, Mr. Niles, who really knew what he
+professed to teach, and it was to his school that Dr. Lanham was now
+about to send Susan; Harvey Collins and Henry Weathervane had already
+entered the school. But for poor boys like Jack, and Bob Holliday, and
+Columbus, who had no money with which to pay board, there seemed no
+chance.
+
+The evening on which Susan's class broke up, there was a long and
+anxious discussion between Jack Dudley and his mother.
+
+"You see, Mother, if I could get even two months in Mr. Niles's school,
+I could learn some Latin, and if I once get my fingers into Latin, it is
+like picking bricks out of a pavement; if I once get a start, I can dig
+it out myself. I am going to try to find some way to attend that
+school."
+
+But the mother only shook her head.
+
+"Couldn't we move to Port William?" said Jack.
+
+"How could we? Here we have a house of our own, which couldn't easily be
+rented. There we should have to pay rent, and where is the money to come
+from?"
+
+"Can't we collect something from Gray?"
+
+Again Mrs. Dudley shook her head.
+
+But Jack resolved to try the hardhearted debtor, himself. It was now
+four years since Jack's father had been persuaded to release a mortgage
+in order to relieve Francis Gray from financial distress. Gray had
+promised to give other security, but his promise had proved worthless.
+Since that time he had made lucky speculations and was now a man rather
+well off, but he kept all his property in his wife's name, as scoundrels
+and fraudulent debtors usually do. All that Jack and his mother had to
+show for the one thousand dollars with four years' interest due them,
+was a judgment against Francis Gray, with the sheriff's return of "no
+effects" on the back of the writ of execution against the property "of
+the aforesaid Francis Gray." For how could you get money out of a man
+who was nothing in law but an agent for his wife?
+
+But Jack believed in his powers of persuasion, and in the softness of
+the human heart. He had never had to do with a man in whom the greed for
+money had turned the heart to granite.
+
+Two or three days later Jack heard that Francis Gray, who lived in
+Louisville, had come to Greenbank. Without consulting his mother, lest
+she should discourage him, Jack went in pursuit of the slippery debtor.
+He had left town, however, to see his fine farm, three miles away, a
+farm which belonged in law to Mrs. Gray, but which belonged of right to
+Francis Gray's creditors.
+
+Jack found Mr. Gray well-dressed and of plausible manners. It was hard
+to speak to so fine a gentleman on the subject of money. For a minute,
+Jack felt like backing out. But then he contrasted his mother's pinched
+circumstances with Francis Gray's abundance, and a little wholesome
+anger came to his assistance. He remembered, too, that his cherished
+projects for getting an education were involved, and he mustered courage
+to speak.
+
+"Mr. Gray, my name is John Dudley."
+
+Jack thought that there was a sign of annoyance on Gray's face at this
+announcement.
+
+"You borrowed a thousand dollars of my father once, I believe."
+
+"Yes, that is true. Your father was a good friend of mine."
+
+"He released a mortgage so that you could sell a piece of property when
+you were in trouble."
+
+"Yes, your father was a good friend to me. I acknowledge that. I wish I
+had money enough to pay that debt. It shall be the very first debt paid
+when I get on my feet again, and I expect to get on my feet, as sure as
+I live."
+
+"But, you see, Mr. Gray, while my mother is pinched for money, you have
+plenty."
+
+"It's all Mrs. Gray's money. She has plenty. I haven't anything."
+
+"But I want to go to school to Port William. My mother is too poor to
+help me. If you could let me have twenty-five dollars----"
+
+"But, you see, I can't. I haven't got twenty-five dollars to my name,
+that I can control. But by next New Year's I mean to pay your mother the
+whole thousand that I owe her."
+
+This speech impressed Jack a little, but remembering how often Gray had
+broken such promises, he said:
+
+"Don't you think it a little hard that you and Mrs. Gray are well off,
+while my mother is so poor, all because you won't keep your word given
+to my father?"
+
+"But, you see, I haven't any money, excepting what Mrs. Gray lets me
+have," said Mr. Gray.
+
+"She seems to let you have what you want. Don't you think, if you coaxed
+her, she would lend you twenty-five dollars till New Year's, to help me
+go to school one more term?"
+
+Francis Gray was a little stunned by this way of asking it. For a
+moment, looking at the entreating face of the boy, he began to feel a
+disposition to relent a little. This was new and strange for him. To pay
+twenty-five dollars that he was not obliged by any self-interest to pay,
+would have been an act contrary to all his habits and to all the
+business maxims in which he had schooled himself. Nevertheless, he
+fingered his papers a minute in an undecided way, and then he said that
+he couldn't do it. If he began to pay creditors in that way "it would
+derange his business."
+
+"But," urged Jack, "think how much my father deranged his business to
+oblige you, and now you rob me of my own money, and of my chance to get
+an education."
+
+Mr. Gray was a little ruffled, but he got up and went out of the room.
+When Jack looked out of the window a minute later, Gray was riding away
+down the road without so much as bidding the troublesome Jack
+good-morning.
+
+There was nothing for Jack to do but to return to town and make the best
+of it. But all the way back, the tired and discouraged boy felt that
+his last chance of becoming an educated man had vanished. He told his
+mother about his attempt on Mr. Gray's feelings and of his failure. They
+discussed the matter the whole evening, and could see no chance for Jack
+to get the education he wanted.
+
+"I mean to die a-trying," said Jack, doggedly, as he went off to bed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION
+
+
+The next day but one, there came a letter to Mrs. Dudley that increased
+her perplexity.
+
+"Your Aunt Hannah is sick," she said to Jack, "and I must go to take
+care of her. I don't know what to do with you."
+
+"I'll go to Port William to school," said Jack. "See if I don't."
+
+"How?" asked his mother. "We don't know a soul on that side of the
+river. You couldn't make any arrangement."
+
+"Maybe I can," said Jack. "Bob Holliday used to live on the Indiana
+side, opposite Port William. I mean to talk with him."
+
+Bob was setting onions in one of the onion-patches which abounded about
+Greenbank, and which were, from March to July, the principal sources of
+pocket-money to the boys. Jack thought best to wait until the day's work
+was finished. Then he sat, where Greenbank boys were fond of sitting, on
+the sloping top-board of a broad fence, and told his friend Bob of his
+eager desire to go to Port William.
+
+"I'd like to go, too," said Bob. "This is the last year's schooling I'm
+to have."
+
+"Don't you know any house, or any place, where we could keep 'bach'
+together?"
+
+"W'y, yes," said Bob; "if you didn't mind rowing across the river every
+day, I've got a skiff, and there's the old hewed-log house on the
+Indianny side where we used to live. A body might stay as long as he
+pleased in that house, I guess. Judge Kane owns it, and he's one of the
+best-hearted men in the country."
+
+"It's eight miles down there," said Jack.
+
+"Only seven if you go by water," said Bob. "Let's put out to-morry
+morning early. Let's go in the skiff; we can row and cordelle it up the
+river again, though it is a job."
+
+Bright and early, the boys started down the river, rowing easily with
+the strong, steady current of the Ohio, holding their way to Judge
+Kane's, whose house was over against Port William. This Judge Kane was
+an intelligent and wealthy farmer, liked by everybody. He was not a
+lawyer, but had once held the office of "associate judge," and hence the
+title, which suited his grave demeanor. He looked at the two boys out of
+his small, gray, kindly eyes, hardly ever speaking a word. He did not
+immediately answer when they asked permission to occupy the old, unused
+log-house, but got them to talk about their plans, and watched them
+closely. Then he took them out to see his bees. He showed them his
+ingenious hives and a bee-house which he had built to keep out the moths
+by drawing chalk-lines about it, for over these lines the wingless grub
+of the moth could not crawl. Then he showed them a glass hive, in which
+all the processes of the bees' housekeeping could be observed. After
+that, he took the boys to the old log-house, and pointed out some holes
+in the roof that would have to be fixed. And even then he did not give
+them any answer to their request, but told them to stay to dinner and he
+would see about it, all of which was rather hard on boyish impatience.
+They had a good dinner of fried chicken and biscuits and honey, served
+in the neatest manner by the motherly Mrs. Kane. Then the Judge
+suggested that they ought to see Mr. Niles about taking them into the
+school. So his skiff was launched, and he rowed with them across the
+river, which is here about a mile wide, to Port William. Here he
+introduced them to Mr. Niles, an elderly man, a little bent and a little
+positive in his tone, as is the habit of teachers, but with true
+kindness in his manner. The boys had much pleasure at recess time in
+greeting their old school-mates, Harvey Collins, Henry Weathervane, and,
+above all, Susan Lanham, whom they called Professor. These three took a
+sincere interest in the plans of Bob and Jack, and Susan spoke a good
+word for them to Mr. Niles, who, on his part, offered to give Jack Latin
+without charging him anything more than the rates for scholars in the
+English branches. Then they rowed back to Judge Kane's landing, where he
+told them they could have the house without rent, and that they could
+get slabs and other waste at his little sawmill to fix up the cracks.
+Then he made kindly suggestions as to the furniture they should
+bring--mentioning a lantern, an ax, and various other articles necessary
+for a camp life. They bade him good-bye at last, and started home, now
+rowing against the current and now cordelling along the river shore,
+when they grew tired of rowing. In cordelling, one sits in the skiff and
+steers, while the other walks on the shore, drawing the boat by a rope
+over the shoulders. The work of rowing and cordelling was hard, but they
+carried light and hopeful hearts. Jack was sure now that he should
+overcome all obstacles and get a good education. As for Bob, he had no
+hope higher than that of worrying through vulgar fractions before
+settling down to hard work.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+HOUSEKEEPING EXPERIENCES
+
+
+Mrs. Dudley having gone to Cincinnati the next day to attend her sister,
+who was ill, Jack was left to make his arrangements for housekeeping
+with Bob. Each of the boys took two cups, two saucers, two plates, and
+two knives and forks. Things were likely to get lost or broken, and
+therefore they provided duplicates. Besides, they might have company to
+dinner some day, and, moreover, they would need the extra dishes to
+"hold things," as Jack expressed it. They took no tumblers, but each was
+provided with a tin cup. Bob remembered the lantern, and Jack put in an
+ax. They did not take much food; they could buy that of farmers or in
+Port William. They got a "gang," or, as they called it, a "trot-line,"
+to lay down in the river for catfish, perch, and shovel-nose sturgeon,
+for there was no game-law then. Bob provided an iron pot to cook the
+fish in, and Jack a frying-pan and tea-kettle. Their bedding consisted
+of an empty tick, to be filled with straw in Judge Kane's barn, some
+equally empty pillow-ticks, and a pair of brown sheets and two blankets.
+But, with one thing and another, the skiff was well loaded.
+
+A good many boys stood on the bank as they embarked, and among them was
+Columbus, who had a feeling that his best friends were about to desert
+him, and who would gladly have been one of the party if he could have
+afforded the expense.
+
+In the little crowd which watched the embarkation was Hank Rathbone, an
+old hunter and pioneer, who made several good suggestions about their
+method of loading the boat.
+
+"But where's your stove?" he asked.
+
+"Stove?" said Bob. "We can't take a stove in this thing. There's a big
+old fire-place in the house that'll do to cook by."
+
+"But hot weather's comin' soon," said old Hank, "and then you'll want to
+cook out in the air, I reckon. Besides, it takes a power of wood for a
+fire-place. If one of you will come along with me to the tin-shop, I'll
+have a stove made for you, of the best paytent-right sort, that'll go
+into a skiff, and that won't weigh more'n three or four pounds and
+won't cost but about two bits."
+
+Jack readily agreed to buy as good a thing as a stove for twenty-five
+cents, and so he went with Hank Rathbone to the tin-shop, stopping to
+get some iron on the way. Two half-inch round rods of iron five feet
+long were cut and sharpened at each end. Then the ends were turned down
+so as to make on each rod two pointed legs of eighteen inches in length,
+and thus leave two feet of the rod for a horizontal piece.
+
+"Now," said the old hunter, "you drive about six inches of each leg into
+the ground, and stand them about a foot apart. Now for a top."
+
+[Illustration: OLD HANK'S PLAN FOR A STOVE]
+
+For this he had a piece of sheet-iron cut out two feet long and fourteen
+inches wide, with a round kettle-hole near one end. The edges of the
+long sides of the sheet-iron were bent down to fit over the rods.
+
+"Lay that over your rods," said Hank, "and you've got a stove two foot
+long, one foot high, and more than one foot wide, and you can build
+your fire of chips, instid of logs. You can put your tea-kittle, pot,
+pipkin, griddle, skillet, _or_ gridiron on to the hole"--the old man
+eyed it admiringly. "It's good for bilin', fryin', _or_ brilin', and all
+fer two bits. They ain't many young couples gits set up as cheap as
+that!"
+
+An hour and a half of rowing downstream brought the boys to the old
+cabin. The life there involved more hard work than they had expected.
+Notwithstanding Jack's experience in helping his mother, the baking of
+corn-bread, and the frying of bacon or fish were difficult tasks, and
+both the boys had red faces when supper was on the table. But, as time
+wore on, they became skilful, and though the work was hard, it was done
+patiently and pretty well. Between cooking, and cleaning, and fixing,
+and getting wood, and rowing to school and back, there was not a great
+deal of time left for study out of school, but Jack made a beginning in
+Latin, and Bob perspired quite as freely over the addition of fractions
+as over the frying-pan.
+
+They rarely had recreation, excepting that of taking the fish off their
+trot-line in the morning, when there were any on it. Once or twice they
+allowed themselves to visit an Indian mound or burial-place on the
+summit of a neighboring hill, where idle boys and other loungers had dug
+up many bones and thrown them down the declivity. Jack, who had thoughts
+of being a doctor, made an effort to gather a complete Indian skeleton,
+but the dry bones had become too much mixed up. He could not get any
+three bones to fit together, and his man, as he tried to put him
+together, was the most miscellaneous creature imaginable,--neither man,
+woman, nor child. Bob was a little afraid to have these human ruins
+stored under the house, lest he might some night see a ghost with
+war-paint and tomahawk; but Jack, as became a boy of scientific tastes,
+pooh-poohed all superstitions or sentimental considerations in the
+matter. He told Bob that, if he should ever see the ghost which that
+framework belonged to, it would be the ghost of the whole Shawnee tribe,
+for there were nearly as many individuals represented as there were
+bones in the skeleton.
+
+The one thing that troubled Jack was that he couldn't get rid of the
+image of Columbus as they had seen him when they left Greenbank,
+standing sorrowfully on the river bank. The boys often debated between
+themselves how they could manage to have him one of their party, but
+they were both too poor to pay the small tuition fees, though his board
+would not cost much. They could not see any way of getting over the
+difficulty, but they talked with Susan about it, and Susan took hold of
+the matter in her fashion by writing to her father on the subject.
+
+The result of her energetic effort was that one afternoon, as they came
+out of school, when the little packet-steamer was landing at the wharf,
+who should come ashore but Christopher Columbus, in his best but
+thread-bare clothes, tugging away at an old-fashioned carpet-bag, which
+was too much for him to carry. Bob seized the carpet-bag and almost
+lifted the dignified little lad himself off his feet in his joyful
+welcome, while Jack, finding nothing else to do, stood still and
+hurrahed. They soon had the dear little spindle-shanks and his great
+carpet-bag stowed away in the skiff. As they rowed to the north bank of
+the river, Columbus explained how Dr. Lanham had undertaken to pay his
+expenses, if the boys would take him into partnership, but he said he
+was 'most afraid to come, because he couldn't chop wood, and he wasn't
+good for much in doing the work.
+
+"Never mind, honey," said Bob. "Jack and I don't care whether you work
+or not. You are worth your keep, any time."
+
+"Yes," said Jack, "we even tried hard yesterday to catch a young owl to
+make a pet of, but we couldn't get it. You see, we're so lonesome."
+
+"I suppose I'll do for a pet owl, won't I?" said little Columbus, with a
+strange and quizzical smile on his meagre face. And as he sat there in
+the boat, with his big head and large eyes, the name seemed so
+appropriate that Bob and Jack both laughed outright.
+
+But the Pet Owl made himself useful in some ways. I am sorry to say that
+the housekeeping of Bob and Jack had not always been of the tidiest
+kind. They were boys, and they were in a hurry. But Columbus had the
+tastes of a girl about a house. He did not do any cooking or chopping to
+speak of, but he fixed up. He kept the house neat, cleaned the
+candlestick every morning, and washed the windows now and then, and as
+spring advanced he brought in handfuls of wild flowers. The boys
+declared that they had never felt at home in the old house until the Pet
+Owl came to be its mistress. He wouldn't let anything be left around out
+of place, but all the pots, pans, dishes, coats, hats, books, slates,
+the lantern, the boot-jack, and other slender furniture, were put in
+order before school time, so that when they got back in the afternoon
+the place was inviting and home-like. When Judge Kane and his wife
+stopped during their Sunday-afternoon stroll, to see how the lads got
+on, Mrs. Kane praised their housekeeping.
+
+"That is all the doings of the Pet Owl," said Bob.
+
+"Pet Owl? Have you one?" asked Mrs. Kane.
+
+The boys laughed, and Bob explained that Columbus was the pet.
+
+That evening, the boys had a box of white honey for supper, sent over by
+Mrs. Kane, and the next Saturday afternoon Jack and Bob helped Judge
+Kane finish planting his corn-field.
+
+One unlucky day, Columbus discovered Jack's box of Indian bones under
+the house, and he turned pale and had a fit of shivering for a long time
+afterward. It was necessary to move the box into an old stable to quiet
+his shuddering horror. The next Sunday afternoon, the Pet Owl came in
+with another fit of terror, shivering as before.
+
+"What's the matter now, Lummy?" said Jack. "Have you seen any more
+Indians?"
+
+"Pewee and his crowd have gone up to the Indian Mound," said Columbus.
+
+"Well, let 'em go," said Bob. "I suppose they know the way, don't they?
+I should like to see them. I've been so long away from Greenbank that
+even a yellow dog from there would be welcome."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+GHOSTS
+
+
+Jack and Bob had to amuse Columbus with stories, to divert his mind from
+the notion that Pewee and his party meant them some harm. The Indian
+burying-ground was not an uncommon place of resort on Sundays for
+loafers and idlers, and now and then parties came from as far as
+Greenbank, to have the pleasure of a ride and the amusement of digging
+up Indian relics from the cemetery on the hill. This hill-top commanded
+a view of the Ohio River for many miles in both directions, and of the
+Kentucky River, which emptied into the Ohio just opposite. I do not know
+whether the people who can find amusement in digging up bones and
+throwing them down-hill enjoy scenery or not, but I have heard it urged
+that even some dumb animals, as horses, enjoy a landscape; and I once
+knew a large dog, in Switzerland, who would sit enchanted for a long
+time on the brink of a mountain cliff, gazing off at the lake below. It
+is only fair to suppose, therefore, that even these idle diggers in
+Indian mounds had some pleasure in looking from a hill-top; at any rate,
+they were fond of frequenting this one. Pewee, and Riley, and Ben Berry,
+and two or three others of the same feather, had come down on this
+Sunday to see the Indian Mound and to find any other sport that might
+lie in their reach. When they had dug up and thrown away down the steep
+hill-side enough bones to satisfy their jackal proclivities, they began
+to cast about them for some more exciting diversion. As there were no
+water-melon patches nor orchards to be robbed at this season of the
+year, they decided to have an egg-supper, and then to wait for the moon
+to rise after midnight before starting to row and cordelle their two
+boats up the river again to Greenbank. The fun of an egg-supper to
+Pewee's party consisted not so much in the eggs as in the manner of
+getting them. Every nest in Judge Kane's chicken-house was rummaged that
+night, and Mrs. Kane found next day that all the nest-eggs were gone,
+and that one of her young hens was missing also.
+
+About dark, little Allen Mackay, a round-bodied, plump-faced, jolly
+fellow who lived near the place where the skiffs were landed, and who
+had spent the afternoon at the Indian Mound, came to the door of the old
+log-house.
+
+"I wanted to say that you fellows have always done the right thing by
+me. You've set me acrost oncet or twicet, and you've always been
+'clever' to me, and I don't want to see no harm done you. You'd better
+look out to-night. They's some chaps from Greenbank down here, and
+they're in for a frolic, and somebody's hen-roost'll suffer, I guess;
+and they don't like you boys, and they talked about routing you out
+to-night."
+
+"Thank you," said Jack.
+
+"Let 'em rout," said Bob.
+
+But the poor little Pet Owl was all in a cold shudder again.
+
+About eleven o'clock, King Pewee's party had picked the last bone of
+Mrs. Kane's chicken. It was yet an hour and a half before the moon would
+be up, and there was time for some fun. Two boys from the neighborhood,
+who had joined the party, agreed to furnish dough-faces for them all.
+Nothing more ghastly than masks of dough can well be imagined, and when
+the boys all put them on, and had turned their coats wrong-side out,
+they were almost afraid of one another.
+
+"Now," said Riley, "Pewee will knock at the door, and when they come
+with their lantern or candle, we'll all rush in and howl like Indians."
+
+"How do Indians howl?" asked Ben Berry.
+
+"Oh, any way--like a dog or a wolf, you know. And then they'll be scared
+to death, and we'll just pitch their beds, and dishes, and everything
+else out of the door, and show them how to clean house."
+
+Riley didn't know that Allen Mackay and Jack Dudley, hidden in the
+bushes, heard this speech, nor that Jack, as soon as he had heard the
+plan, crept away to tell Bob at the house what the enemy proposed to
+do.
+
+As the crowd neared the log-house, Riley prudently fell to the rear, and
+pushed Pewee to the front. There was just the faintest whitening of the
+sky from the coming moon, but the large apple-trees in front of the
+log-house made it very dark, and the dough-face crowd were obliged
+almost to feel their way as they came into the shadow of these trees.
+Just as Riley was exhorting Pewee to knock at the door, and the whole
+party was tittering at the prospect of turning Bob, Jack, and Columbus
+out of bed and out of doors, they all stopped short and held their
+breaths.
+
+"Good gracious! Julius Caesar! sakes alive!" whispered Riley.
+"What--wh--what is that?"
+
+Nobody ran. All stood as though frozen in their places. For out from
+behind the corner of the house came slowly a skeleton head. It was
+ablaze inside, and the light shone out of all the openings. The thing
+had no feet, no hands, and no body. It actually floated through the air,
+and now and then joggled and danced a little. It rose and fell, but
+still came nearer and nearer to the attacking party of dough-faces, who
+for their part could not guess that Bob Holliday had put a lighted
+candle into an Indian's skull, and then tied this ghost's lantern to a
+wire attached to the end of a fishing-rod, which he operated from behind
+the house.
+
+Pewee's party drew close together, and Riley whispered hoarsely:
+
+"The house is ha'nted."
+
+Just then the hideous and fiery death's-head made a circuit, and swung,
+grinning, into Riley's face, who could stand no more, but broke into a
+full run toward the river. At the same instant Jack tooted a
+dinner-horn, Judge Kane's big dog ran barking out of the log-house, and
+the enemy were routed like the Midianites before Gideon. Their
+consternation was greatly increased at finding their boats gone, for
+Allen Mackay had towed them into a little creek out of sight, and hidden
+the oars in an elder thicket. Riley and one of the others were so much
+afraid of the ghosts that "ha'nted" the old house, that they set out
+straightway for Greenbank, on foot. Pewee and the others searched
+everywhere for the boats, and at last sat down and waited for daylight.
+Just as day was breaking, Bob Holliday came down to the river with a
+towel, as though for a morning bath. Very accidentally, of course, he
+came upon Pewee and his party, all tired out, sitting on the bank in
+hope that day might throw some light on the fate of their boats.
+
+"Hello, Pewee! You here? What's the matter?" said Bob, with feigned
+surprise.
+
+"Some thief took our skiffs. We've been looking for them all night, and
+can't find them."
+
+"That's curious," said Bob, sitting down and leaning his head on his
+hand. "Where did you get supper last night?"
+
+"Oh! we brought some with us."
+
+"Look here, Pewee, I'll bet I can find your boats."
+
+"How?"
+
+"You give me money enough among you to pay for the eggs and the chicken
+you had for supper, and I'll find out who hid your boats and where the
+oars are, and it'll all be square."
+
+Pewee was now sure that the boat had been taken as indemnity for the
+chicken and the eggs. He made every one of the party contribute
+something until he had collected what Bob thought sufficient to pay for
+the stolen things, and Bob took it and went up and found Judge Kane,
+who had just risen, and left the money with him. Then he made a circuit
+to Allen Mackay's, waked him up, and got the oars, which they put into
+the boats; and pushing these out of their hiding-place, they rowed them
+into the river, delivering them to Pewee and company, who took them
+gratefully. Jack and Columbus had now made their appearance, and as
+Pewee got into his boat, he thought to repay Bob's kindness with a
+little advice.
+
+"I say, if I was you fellers, you know, I wouldn't stay in that old
+cabin a single night."
+
+"Why?" asked Jack.
+
+"Because," said Pewee, "I've heerd tell that it is ha'nted."
+
+"Ghosts aren't anything when you get used to them," said Jack. "We don't
+mind them at all."
+
+"Don't you?" said Pewee, who was now rowing against the current.
+
+"No," said Bob, "nor dough-faces, neither."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE RETURN HOME
+
+
+As Mr. Niles's school-term drew to a close, the two boys began to think
+of their future.
+
+"I expect to work with my hands, Jack," said Bob; "I haven't got a head
+for books, as you have. But I'd like to know a _leetle_ more before I
+settle down. I wish I could make enough at something to be able to go to
+school next winter."
+
+"If I only had your strength and size, Bob, I'd go to work for somebody
+as a farmer. But I have more than myself to look after. I must help
+mother after this term is out. I must get something to do, and then
+learning will be slow business. They talk about Ben Franklin studying
+at night and all that, but it's a little hard on a fellow who hasn't
+the constitution of a Franklin. Still, I'm going to have an education,
+by hook or crook."
+
+At this point in the conversation, Judge Kane came in. As usual, he said
+little, but he got the boys to talk about their own affairs.
+
+"When do you go home?" he asked.
+
+"Next Friday evening, when school is out," said Jack.
+
+"And what are you going to do?" he asked of Bob.
+
+"Get some work this summer, and then try to get another winter of
+schooling next year," was the answer.
+
+"What kind of work?"
+
+"Oh, I can farm better than I can do anything else," said Bob. "And I
+like it, too."
+
+And then Judge Kane drew from Jack a full account of his affairs, and
+particularly of the debt due from Gray, and of his interview with Gray.
+
+"If you could get a few hundred dollars, so as to make your mother feel
+easy for a while, living as she does in her own house, you could go to
+school next winter."
+
+"Yes, and then I could get on after that, somehow, by myself, I
+suppose," said Jack. "But the few hundred dollars is as much out of my
+reach as a million would be, and my father used to say that it was a bad
+thing to get into the way of figuring on things that we could never
+reach."
+
+The Judge sat still, and looked at Jack out of his half-closed gray eyes
+for a minute in silence.
+
+"Come up to the house with me," he said, rising.
+
+Jack followed him to the house, where the Judge opened his desk and took
+out a red-backed memorandum-book, and dictated while Jack copied in his
+own handwriting the description of a piece of land on a slip of paper.
+
+"If you go over to school, to-morrow, an hour earlier than usual," he
+said, "call at the county clerk's office, show him your memorandum, and
+find out in whose name that land stands. It is timber-land five miles
+back, and worth five hundred dollars. When you get the name of the
+owner, you will know what to do; if not, you can ask me, but you'd
+better not mention my name to anybody in this matter."
+
+Jack thanked Mr. Kane, but left him feeling puzzled. In fact, the
+farmer-judge seemed to like to puzzle people, or at least he never told
+anything more than was necessary.
+
+The next morning, the boys were off early to Port William. Jack wondered
+if the land might belong to his father, but then he was sure his father
+never had any land in Kentucky. Or, was it the property of some dead
+uncle or cousin, and was he to find a fortune, like the hero of a cheap
+story? But when the county clerk, whose office it is to register deeds
+in that county, took the little piece of paper, and after scanning it,
+took down some great deed-books and mortgage-books, and turned the pages
+awhile, and then wrote "Francis Gray, owner, no incumbrance," on the
+same slip with the description, Jack had the key to Mr. Kane's puzzle.
+
+It was now Thursday forenoon, and Jack was eager on all accounts to get
+home, especially to see the lawyer in charge of his father's claim
+against Mr. Gray. So the next day at noon, as there was nothing left but
+the closing exercises, the three boys were excused, and bade good-bye
+to their teacher and school-mates, and rowed back to their own side of
+the river. They soon had the skiff loaded, for all three were eager to
+see the folks at Greenbank. Jack's mother had been at home more than a
+week, and he was the most impatient of the three. But they could not
+leave without a good-bye to Judge Kane and his wife, to which good-bye
+they added a profusion of bashful boyish thanks for kindness received.
+The Judge walked to the boat-landing with them. Jack began to tell him
+about the land.
+
+"Don't say anything about it to me, nor to anybody else but your
+lawyer," said Mr. Kane; "and do not mention my name. You may say to your
+lawyer that the land has just changed hands, and the matter must be
+attended to soon. It won't stand exposed in that way long."
+
+When the boys were in the boat ready to start, Mr. Kane said to Bob:
+
+"You wouldn't mind working for me this summer at the regular price?"
+
+"I'd like to," said Bob.
+
+"How soon can you come?"
+
+"Next Wednesday evening."
+
+"I'll expect you," said the Judge, and he turned away up the bank, with
+a slight nod and a curt "Good-bye," while Bob said: "What a curious man
+he is!"
+
+"Yes, and as good as he's curious," added Jack.
+
+It was a warm day for rowing, but the boys were both a little homesick.
+Under the shelter of a point where the current was not too strong the
+two rowed and made fair headway, sometimes encountering an eddy which
+gave them a lift. But whenever the current set strongly toward their
+side of the river, and whenever they found it necessary to round a
+point, one of them would leap out on the pebbly beach and, throwing the
+boat-rope over his shoulder, set his strength against the stream. The
+rope, or _cordelle_,--a word that has come down from the first French
+travellers and traders in the great valley,--was tied to the row-locks.
+It was necessary for one to steer in the stern while the other played
+tow-horse, so that each had his turn at rest and at work. After three
+hours' toil the wharf-boat of the village was in sight, and all sorts of
+familiar objects gladdened their hearts. They reached the landing, and
+then, laden with things, they hurriedly cut across the commons to their
+homes.
+
+As soon as Jack's first greeting with his mother was over, she told him
+that she thought she might afford him one more quarter of school.
+
+"No," said Jack, "you've pinched yourself long enough for me; now it's
+time I should go to work. If you try to squeeze out another quarter of
+school for me you'll have to suffer for it. Besides, I don't see how
+you can do it, unless Gray comes down, and I think I have now in my
+pocket something that will make him come down." And Jack's face
+brightened at the thought of the slip of paper in the pocket of his
+roundabout.
+
+Without observing the last remark, nor the evident elation of Jack's
+feelings, Mrs. Dudley proceeded to tell him that she had been offered a
+hundred and twenty dollars for her claim against Gray.
+
+"Who offered it?" asked Jack.
+
+"Mr. Tinkham, Gray's agent. Maybe Gray is buying up his own debts,
+feeling tired of holding property in somebody else's name."
+
+"A hundred and twenty dollars for a thousand! The rascal! I wouldn't
+take it," broke out Jack, impetuously.
+
+"That's just the way I feel, Jack. I'd rather wait forever, if it
+wasn't for your education. I can't afford to have you lose that. I'm to
+give an answer this evening."
+
+"We won't do it," said Jack. "I've got a memorandum here," and he took
+the slip of paper from his pocket and unfolded it, "that'll bring more
+money out of him than that. I'm going to see Mr. Beal at once."
+
+Mrs. Dudley looked at the paper without understanding just what it was,
+and, without giving her any further explanation, but only a warning to
+secrecy, Jack made off to the lawyer's office.
+
+"Where did you get this?" asked Mr. Beal.
+
+"I promised not to mention his name--I mean the name of the one who gave
+me that. I went to the clerk's office with the description, and the
+clerk wrote the words: 'Francis Gray, owner, no incumbrance.'"
+
+"I wish I had had it sooner," said the lawyer. "It will be best to have
+our judgment recorded in that county to-morrow," he continued. "Could
+you go down to Port William?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Jack, a little reluctant to go back. "I could if I
+must."
+
+"I don't think the mail will do," added Mr. Beal. "This thing came just
+in time. We should have sold the claim to-night. This land ought to
+fetch five hundred dollars."
+
+Mr. Tinkham, agent for Francis Gray, was much disappointed that night
+when Mrs. Dudley refused to sell her claim against Gray.
+
+"You'll never get anything any other way," he said.
+
+"Perhaps not, but we've concluded to wait," said Mrs. Dudley. "We can't
+do much worse if we get nothing at all."
+
+After a moment's reflection, Mr. Tinkham said:
+
+"I'll do a little better by _you_, Mrs. Dudley. I'll give you a hundred
+and fifty. That's the very best I _can_ do."
+
+"I will not sell the claim at present," said Mrs. Dudley. "It is of no
+use to offer."
+
+It would have been better if Mrs. Dudley had not spoken so positively.
+Mr. Tinkham was set a-thinking. Why wouldn't the widow sell? Why had she
+changed her mind since yesterday? Why did Mr. Beal, the lawyer, not
+appear at the consultation? All these questions the shrewd little
+Tinkham asked himself, and all these questions he asked of Francis Gray
+that evening.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+A FOOT-RACE FOR MONEY
+
+
+"They've got wind of something," said Mr. Tinkham to Mr. Gray, "or else
+they are waiting for you to resume payment,--or else the widow's got
+money from somewhere for her present necessities."
+
+"I don't know what hope they can have of getting money out of me," said
+Gray, with a laugh. "I've tangled everything up, so that Beal can't find
+a thing to levy on. I have but one piece of property exposed, and that's
+not in this State."
+
+"Where is it?" asked Tinkham.
+
+"It's in Kentucky, five miles back of Port William. I took it last week
+in a trade, and I haven't yet made up my mind what to do with it."
+
+"That's the very thing," said Tinkham, with his little face drawn to a
+point,--"the very thing. Mrs. Dudley's son came home from Port William
+yesterday, where he has been at school. They've heard of that land, I'm
+afraid; for Mrs. Dudley is very positive that she will not sell the
+claim at any price."
+
+"I'll make a mortgage to my brother on that land, and send it off from
+the mail-boat as I go down to-morrow," said Gray.
+
+"That'll be too late," said Tinkham. "Beal will have his judgment
+recorded as soon as the packet gets there. You'd better go by the
+packet, get off, and see the mortgage recorded yourself, and then take
+the mail-boat."
+
+To this Gray agreed, and the next day, when Jack went on board the
+packet "Swiftsure," he found Mr. Francis Gray going aboard also. Mr.
+Beal had warned Jack that he must not let anybody from the packet get
+to the clerk's office ahead of him,--that the first paper deposited for
+record would take the land. Jack wondered why Mr. Francis Gray was
+aboard the packet, which went no farther than Madison, while Mr. Gray's
+home was in Louisville. He soon guessed, however, that Gray meant to
+land at Port William, and so to head him off. Jack looked at Mr. Gray's
+form, made plump by good feeding, and felt safe. He couldn't be very
+dangerous in a foot-race. Jack reflected with much hopefulness that no
+boy in school could catch him in a straight-away run when he was fox. He
+would certainly leave the somewhat puffy Mr. Francis Gray behind.
+
+But in the hour's run down the river, including two landings at Minuit's
+and Craig's, Jack had time to remember that Francis Gray was a cunning
+man and might head him off by some trick or other. A vague fear took
+possession of him, and he resolved to be first off the boat before any
+pretext could be invented to stop him.
+
+Meantime, Francis Gray had looked at Jack's lithe legs with
+apprehension. "I can never beat that boy," he had reflected. "My running
+days are over." Finding among the deck passengers a young fellow who
+looked as though he needed money, Gray approached him with this
+question:
+
+"Do you belong in Port William, young man?"
+
+"I don't belong nowhere else, I reckon," answered the seedy fellow, with
+shuffling impudence.
+
+"Do you know where the county clerk's office is?" asked Mr. Gray.
+
+"Yes, and the market-house. I can show you the way to the jail, too, if
+you want to know; but I s'pose you've been there many a time," laughed
+the "wharf rat."
+
+Gray was irritated at this rudeness, but he swallowed his anger.
+
+"Would you like to make five dollars?"
+
+"Now you're talkin' interestin'. Why didn't you begin at that eend of
+the subjick? I'd like to make five dollars as well as the next feller,
+provided it isn't to be made by too much awful hard work."
+
+"Can you run well?"
+
+"If they's money at t'other eend of the race I can run like sixty _fer a
+spell_. 'Tain't my common gait, howsumever."
+
+"If you'll take this paper," said Gray, "and get it to the county
+clerk's office before anybody else gets there from this boat, I'll give
+you five dollars."
+
+"Honor bright?" asked the chap, taking the paper, drawing a long breath,
+and looking as though he had discovered a gold mine.
+
+"Honor bright," answered Gray. "You must jump off first of all, for
+there's a boy aboard that will beat you if he can. No pay if you don't
+win."
+
+"Which is the one that'll run ag'in' me?" asked the long-legged fellow.
+
+Gray described Jack, and told the young man to go out forward and he
+would see him. Gray was not willing to be seen with the "wharf-rat,"
+lest suspicions should be awakened in Jack Dudley's mind. But after the
+shabby young man had gone forward and looked at Jack, he came back with
+a doubtful air.
+
+"That's Hoosier Jack, as we used to call him," said the shabby young
+man. "He an' two more used to row a boat acrost the river every day to
+go to ole Niles's school. He's a hard one to beat,--they say he used to
+lay the whole school out on prisoners' base, and that he could leave 'em
+all behind on fox."
+
+"You think you can't do it, then?" asked Gray.
+
+"Gimme a little start and I reckon I'll fetch it. It's up-hill part of
+the way and he may lose his wind, for it's a good half-mile. You must
+make a row with him at the gang-plank, er do somethin' to kinder hold
+him back. The wind's down stream to-day and the boat's shore to swing in
+a little aft. I'll jump for it and you keep him back."
+
+To this Gray assented.
+
+As the shabby young fellow had predicted, the boat did swing around in
+the wind, and have some trouble in bringing her bow to the wharf-boat.
+The captain stood on the hurricane-deck calling to the pilot to "back
+her," "stop her," "go ahead on her," "go ahead on yer labberd," and
+"back on yer stabberd." Now, just as the captain was backing the
+starboard wheel and going ahead on his larboard, so as to bring the boat
+around right, Mr. Gray turned on Jack.
+
+"What are you treading on my toes for, you impudent young rascal?" he
+broke out.
+
+Jack colored and was about to reply sharply, when he caught sight of the
+shabby young fellow, who just then leaped from the gunwale of the boat
+amidships and barely reached the wharf. Jack guessed why Gray had tried
+to irritate him,--he saw that the well-known "wharf-rat" was to be his
+competitor. But what could he do? The wind held the bow of the boat out,
+the gang-plank which had been pushed out ready to reach the wharf-boat
+was still firmly grasped by the deck-hands, and the farther end of it
+was six feet from the wharf, and much above it. It would be some
+minutes before any one could leave the boat in the regular way. There
+was only one chance to defeat the rascally Gray. Jack concluded to take
+it.
+
+He ran out upon the plank amidst the harsh cries of the deck-hands, who
+tried to stop him, and the oaths of the mate, who thundered at him, with
+the stern order of the captain from the upper deck, who called out to
+him to go back.
+
+But, luckily, the steady pulling ahead of the larboard engine, and the
+backing of the starboard, began just then to bring the boat around, the
+plank sank down a little under Jack's weight, and Jack made the leap to
+the wharf, hearing the confused cries, orders, oaths, and shouts from
+behind him, as he pushed through the crowd.
+
+"Stop that thief!" cried Francis Gray to the people on the wharf-boat,
+but in vain. Jack glided swiftly through the people, and got on shore
+before anybody could check him. He charged up the hill after the shabby
+young fellow, who had a decided lead, while some of the men on the
+wharf-boat pursued them both, uncertain which was the thief. Such
+another pell-mell race Port William had never seen. Windows flew up and
+heads went out. Small boys joined the pursuing crowd, and dogs barked
+indiscriminately and uncertainly at the heels of everybody. There were
+cries of "Hurrah for long Ben!" and "Hurrah for Hoosier Jack!" Some of
+Jack's old school-mates essayed to stop him to find out what it was all
+about, but he would not relax a muscle, and he had no time to answer any
+questions. He saw the faces of the people dimly; he heard the crowd
+crying after him, "Stop, thief!" he caught a glimpse of his old teacher,
+Mr. Niles, regarding him with curiosity as he darted by; he saw an
+anxious look in Judge Kane's face as he passed him on a street corner.
+But Jack held his eyes on Long Ben, whom he pursued as a dog does a fox.
+He had steadily gained on the fellow, but Ben had too much the start,
+and, unless he should give out, there would be little chance for Jack to
+overtake him. One thinks quickly in such moments. Jack remembered that
+there were two ways of reaching the county clerk's office. To keep the
+street around the block was the natural way,--to take an alley through
+the square was neither longer nor shorter. But by running down the alley
+he would deprive Long Ben of the spur of seeing his pursuer, and he
+might even make him think that Jack had given out. Jack had played this
+trick when playing hound and fox, and at any rate he would by this turn
+shake off the crowd. So into the alley he darted, and the bewildered
+pursuers kept on crying "Stop, thief!" after Long Ben, whose reputation
+was none of the best. Somebody ahead tried to catch the shabby young
+fellow, and this forced Ben to make a slight curve, which gave Jack the
+advantage, so that just as Ben neared the office, Jack rounded a corner
+out of an alley, and entered ahead of him, dashed up to the clerk's desk
+and deposited the judgment.
+
+"For record," he gasped.
+
+The next instant the shabby young fellow pushed forward the mortgage.
+
+"Mine first!" cried Long Ben.
+
+"I'll take yours when I get this entered," said the clerk quietly, as
+became a public officer.
+
+"I got here first," said Long Ben.
+
+But the clerk looked at the clock and entered the date on the back of
+Jack's paper, putting "one o'clock and eighteen minutes" after the
+date. Then he wrote "one o'clock and nineteen minutes" on the paper
+which Long Ben handed him. The office was soon crowded with people
+discussing the result of the race, and a part of them were even now in
+favor of seizing one or the other of the runners for a theft, which some
+said had been committed on the packet, and others declared was committed
+on the wharf-boat. Francis Gray came in, and could not conceal his
+chagrin.
+
+"I meant to do the fair thing by you," he said to Jack, severely, "but
+now you'll never get a cent out of me."
+
+"I'd rather have the law on men like you, than have a thousand of your
+sort of fair promises," said Jack.
+
+"I've a mind to strike you," said Gray.
+
+"The Kentucky law is hard on a man who strikes a minor," said Judge
+Kane, who had entered at that moment.
+
+Mr. Niles came in to learn what was the matter, and Judge Kane, after
+listening quietly to the talk of the people, until the excitement
+subsided, took Jack over to his house, whence the boy trudged home in
+the late afternoon full of hopefulness.
+
+Gray's land realized as much as Mr. Beal expected, and Jack studied hard
+all summer, so as to get as far ahead as possible by the time school
+should begin in the autumn.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE NEW TEACHER
+
+
+The new teacher who was employed to take the Greenbank school in the
+autumn was a young man from college. Standing behind the desk hitherto
+occupied by the grim-faced Mr. Ball, young Williams looked very mild by
+contrast. He was evidently a gentle-spirited man as compared with the
+old master, and King Pewee and his crowd were gratified in noting this
+fact. They could have their own way with such a master as that! When he
+called the school to order, there remained a bustle of curiosity and
+mutual recognition among the children. Riley and Pewee kept up a little
+noise by way of defiance. They had heard that the new master did not
+intend to whip. Now he stood quietly behind his desk, and waited a few
+moments in silence for the whispering group to be still. Then he slowly
+raised and levelled his finger at Riley and Pewee, but still said
+nothing. There was something so firm and quiet about his
+motion--something that said, "I will wait all day, but you must be
+still"--that the boys could not resist it.
+
+By the time they were quiet, two of the girls had got into a titter over
+something, and the forefinger was aimed at them. The silent man made the
+pupils understand that he was not to be trifled with.
+
+When at length there was quiet, he made every one lay down book or slate
+and face around toward him. Then with his pointing finger, or with a
+little slap of his hands together, or with a word or two at most, he got
+the school still again.
+
+"I hope we shall be friends," he said, in a voice full of kindliness.
+"All I want is to----"
+
+But at this point Riley picked up his slate and book, and turned away.
+The master snapped his fingers, but Riley affected not to hear him.
+
+"That young man will put down his slate." The master spoke in a low
+tone, as one who expected to be obeyed, and the slate was reluctantly
+put upon the desk.
+
+"When I am talking to you, I want you to hear," he went on, very
+quietly. "I am paid to teach you. One of the things I have to teach you
+is good manners. You," pointing to Riley, "are old enough to know better
+than to take your slate when your teacher is speaking, but perhaps you
+have never been taught what are good manners. I'll excuse you this time.
+Now, you all see those switches hanging here behind me. I did not put
+them there. I do not say that I shall not use them. Some boys have to
+be whipped, I suppose,--like mules,--and when I have tried, I may find
+that I cannot get on without the switches, but I hope not to have to use
+them."
+
+Here Riley, encouraged by the master's mildness and irritated by the
+rebuke he had received, began to make figures on his slate.
+
+"Bring me that slate," said the teacher.
+
+Riley was happy that he had succeeded in starting a row. He took his
+slate and his arithmetic, and shuffled up to the master in a
+half-indolent, half-insolent way.
+
+"Why do you take up your work when I tell you not to?" asked the new
+teacher.
+
+"Because I didn't want to waste all my morning. I wanted to do my sums."
+
+"You are a remarkably industrious youth, I take it." The young master
+looked Riley over, as he said this, from head to foot. The whole school
+smiled, for there was no lazier boy than this same Riley. "I suppose,"
+the teacher continued, "that you are the best scholar in school--the
+bright and shining light of Greenbank."
+
+Here there was a general titter at Riley.
+
+"I cannot have you sit away down at the other end of the school-room and
+hide your excellent example from the rest. Stand right up here by me and
+cipher, that all the school may see how industrious you are."
+
+Riley grew very red in the face and pretended to "cipher," holding his
+book in his hand.
+
+"Now," said the new teacher, "I have but just one rule for this school,
+and I will write it on the blackboard that all may see it."
+
+He took chalk and wrote:
+
+  DO RIGHT.
+
+"That is all. Let us go to our lessons."
+
+For the first two hours that Riley stood on the floor he pretended to
+enjoy it. But when recess came and went and Mr. Williams did not send
+him to his seat, he began to shift from one foot to the other and from
+his heels to his toes, and to change his slate from the right hand to
+the left. His class was called, and after recitation he was sent back to
+his place. He stood it as best he could until the noon recess, but when,
+at the beginning of the afternoon session, Mr. Williams again called his
+"excellent scholar" and set him up, Riley broke down and said:
+
+"I think you might let me go now."
+
+"Are you tired?" asked the cruel Mr. Williams.
+
+"Yes, I am," and Riley hung his head, while the rest smiled.
+
+"And are you ready to do what the good order of the school requires?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Very well; you can go."
+
+The chopfallen Riley went back to his seat, convinced that it would not
+do to rebel against the new teacher, even if he did not use the beech
+switches.
+
+But Mr. Williams was also quick to detect the willing scholar. He gave
+Jack extra help on his Latin after school was out, and Jack grew very
+proud of the teacher's affection for him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+CHASING THE FOX
+
+
+All the boys in the river towns thirty years ago--and therefore the boys
+in Greenbank, also--took a great interest in the steam-boats which plied
+up and down the Ohio. Each had his favorite boat, and boasted of her
+speed and excellence. Every one of them envied those happy fellows whose
+lot it was to "run on the river" as cabin-boys. Boats were a common
+topic of conversation--their build, their engines, their speed, their
+officers, their mishaps, and all the incidents of their history.
+
+So it was that from the love of steam-boats, which burned so brightly in
+the bosom of the boy who lived on the banks of that great and lovely
+river, there grew up the peculiar game of "boats' names." I think the
+game was started at Louisville or New Albany, where the falls interrupt
+navigation, and where many boats of the upper and lower rivers are
+assembled.
+
+One day, as the warm air of Indian summer in this mild climate made
+itself felt, the boys assembled, on the evergreen "bluegrass," after the
+snack at the noon recess, to play boats' names.
+
+Through Jack's influence, Columbus, who did not like to play with the A
+B C boys, was allowed to take the handkerchief and give out the first
+name. All the rest stood up in a row like a spelling-class, while little
+Columbus, standing in front of them, held a knotted handkerchief with
+which to scourge them when the name should be guessed. The arm which
+held the handkerchief was so puny that the boys laughed to see the
+feeble lad stand there in a threatening attitude.
+
+"I say, Lum, don't hit too hard, now; my back is tender," said Bob
+Holliday.
+
+"Give us an easy one to guess," said Riley, coaxingly.
+
+Columbus, having come from the back country, did not know the names of
+half a dozen boats, and what he knew about were those which touched
+daily at the wharf of Greenbank.
+
+"F----n," he said.
+
+"Fashion," cried all the boys at once, breaking into unrestrained mirth
+at the simplicity that gave them the name of Captain Glenn's little
+Cincinnati and Port William packet, which landed daily at the village
+wharf. Columbus now made a dash at the boys, who were obliged to run to
+the school-house and back whenever a name was guessed, suffering a
+beating all the way from the handkerchief of the one who had given out
+the name, though, indeed, the punishment Lum was able to give was very
+slight. It was doubtful who had guessed first, since the whole party had
+cried "Fashion" almost together, but it was settled at last in favor of
+Harry Weathervane, who was sure to give out hard names, since he had
+been to Cincinnati recently, and had gone along the levee reading the
+names of those boats that did business above that city, and so were
+quite unknown, unless by report, to the boys of Greenbank.
+
+"A---- A----s," were the three letters which Harry gave, and Ben Berry
+guessed "Archibald Ananias," and Tom Holcroft said it was "Amanda Amos,"
+and at last all gave it up; whereupon Harry told them it was "Alvin
+Adams," and proceeded to give out another.
+
+"C---- A---- P----x," he said next time.
+
+"Caps," said Riley, mistaking the x for an s; and then Bob Holliday
+suggested "Hats and Caps," and Jack wanted to have it "Boots and Shoes."
+But Johnny Meline remembered that he had read of such a name for a ship
+in his Sunday-school lesson of the previous Sunday, and he guessed that
+a steam-boat might bear that same.
+
+"I know," said Johnny, "it's Castor----"
+
+"Oil," suggested Jack.
+
+"No--Castor and P, x,--Pollux--Castor and Pollux--it's a Bible name."
+
+"You're not giving us the name of Noah's ark, are you?" asked Bob.
+
+"I say, boys, that isn't fair a bit," growled Pewee, in all earnestness.
+"I don't hardly believe that Bible ship's a-going now." Things were
+mixed in Pewee's mind, but he had a vague notion that Bible times were
+as much as fifty years ago. While he stood doubting, Harry began to whip
+him with the handkerchief, saying, "I saw her at Cincinnati, last week.
+She runs to Maysville and Parkersburg, you goose."
+
+After many names had been guessed, and each guesser had taken his turn,
+Ben Berry had to give out. He had just heard the name of a "lower
+country" boat, and was sure that it would not be guessed.
+
+"C----p----r," he said.
+
+"Oh, I know," said Jack, who had been studying the steam-boat column of
+an old Louisville paper that very morning, "it's the--the--" and he put
+his hands over his ears, closed his eyes, and danced around, trying to
+remember, while all the rest stood and laughed at his antics. "Now I've
+got it,--the 'Cornplanter'!"
+
+And Ben Berry whipped the boys across the road and back, after which
+Jack took the handkerchief.
+
+"Oh, say, boys, this is a poor game; let's play fox," Bob suggested.
+"Jack's got the handkerchief, let him be the first fox."
+
+So Jack took a hundred yards' start, and all the boys set out after him.
+The fox led the hounds across the commons, over the bars, past the
+"brick pond," as it was called, up the lane into Moro's pasture, along
+the hill-side to the west across Dater's fence into Betts's pasture;
+thence over into the large woods pasture of the Glade farm. In every
+successive field some of the hounds had run off to the flank, and by
+this means every attempt of Jack's to turn toward the river, and thus
+fetch a circuit for home, had been foiled. They had cut him off from
+turning through Moro's orchard or Betts's vineyard, and so there was
+nothing for the fleet-footed fox but to keep steadily to the west and
+give his pursuers no chance to make a cut-off on him. But every now and
+then he made a feint of turning, which threw the others out of a
+straight track. Once in the woods pasture, Jack found himself out of
+breath, having run steadily for a rough mile and a half, part of it
+up-hill. He was yet forty yards ahead of Bob Holliday and Riley, who led
+the hounds. Dashing into a narrow path through the underbrush, Jack ran
+into a little clump of bushes and hid behind a large black-walnut log.
+
+Riley and Holliday came within six feet of him, some of the others
+passed to the south of him and some to the north, but all failed to
+discover his lurking-place. Soon Jack could hear them beating about the
+bushes beyond him.
+
+This was his time. Having recovered his wind, he crept out southward
+until he came to the foot of the hill, and entered Glade's lane, heading
+straight for the river across the wide plain. Pewee, who had perched
+himself on a fence to rest, caught sight of Jack first, and soon the
+whole pack were in full cry after him, down the long, narrow,
+elder-bordered lane. Bob Holliday and Riley, the fleetest of foot,
+climbed over the high stake-and-rider fence into Betts's corn-field, and
+cut off a diagonal to prevent Jack's getting back toward the
+school-house. Seeing this movement, Jack, who already had made an
+extraordinary run, crossed the fence himself, and tried to make a
+cut-off in spite of them; but Riley already had got in ahead of him, and
+Jack, seeing the boys close behind and before him, turned north again
+toward the hill, got back into the lane, which was now deserted, and
+climbed into Glade's meadow on the west side of the lane. He now had a
+chance to fetch a sweep around toward the river again, though the whole
+troop of boys were between him and the school-house. Fairly headed off
+on the east, he made a straight run south for the river shore, striking
+into a deep gully, from which he came out panting upon the beach, where
+he had just time to hide himself in a hollow sycamore, hoping that the
+boys would get to the westward and give him a chance to run up the river
+shore for the school-house.
+
+But one cannot play the same trick twice. Some of the boys stationed
+themselves so as to intercept Jack's retreat toward the school-house,
+while the rest searched for him, beating up and down the gully, and up
+and down the beach, until they neared the hollow sycamore. Jack made a
+sharp dash to get through them, but was headed off and caught by Pewee.
+Just as Jack was caught, and Pewee was about to start homeward as fox,
+the boys caught sight of two steam-boats racing down the river. The
+whole party was soon perched on a fallen sycamore, watching first the
+"Swiftsure" and then the "Ben Franklin," while the black smoke poured
+from their chimneys. So fascinated were they with this exciting contest
+that they stayed half an hour waiting to see which should beat. At
+length, as the boats passed out of sight, with the "Swiftsure" leading
+her competitor, it suddenly occurred to Jack that it must be later than
+the school-hour. The boys looked aghast at one another a moment on
+hearing him mention this; then they glanced at the sun, already
+declining in the sky, and set out for school, trotting swiftly in spite
+of their fatigue.
+
+What would the master say? Pewee said he didn't care,--it wasn't Old
+Ball, and they wouldn't get a whipping, anyway. But Jack thought that it
+was too bad to lose the confidence of Mr. Williams.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+CALLED TO ACCOUNT
+
+
+Successful hounds, having caught their fox, ought to have come home in
+triumph; but, instead of that, they came home like dogs that had been
+killing sheep, their heads hanging down in a guilty and self-betraying
+way.
+
+Jack walked into the school-house first. It was an hour and a half past
+the time for the beginning of school. He tried to look unconcerned as he
+went to his seat. There stood the teacher, with his face very calm but
+very pale, and Jack felt his heart sink.
+
+One by one the laggards filed into the school-room, while the
+awe-stricken girls on the opposite benches, and the little A B C boys,
+watched the guilty sinners take their places, prepared to meet their
+fate.
+
+Riley came in with a half-insolent smile on his face, as if to say: "I
+don't care." Pewee was sullen and bull-doggish. Ben Berry looked the
+sneaking fellow he was, and Harry Weathervane tried to remember that his
+father was a school-trustee. Bob Holliday couldn't help laughing in a
+foolish way. Columbus had fallen out of the race before he got to the
+"brick-pond," and so had returned in time to be punctual when school
+resumed its session.
+
+During all the time that the boys, heated with their exercise and
+blushing with shame, were filing in, Mr. Williams stood with set face
+and regarded them. He was very much excited, and so I suppose did not
+dare to reprove them just then. He called the classes and heard them in
+rapid succession, until it was time for the spelling-class, which
+comprised all but the very youngest pupils. On this day, instead of
+calling the spelling-class, he said, evidently with great effort to
+control himself: "The girls will keep their seats. The boys will take
+their places in the spelling-class."
+
+Riley's lower jaw fell--he was sure that the master meant to flog them
+all. He was glad he was not at the head of the class. Ben Berry could
+hardly drag his feet to his place, and poor Jack was filled with
+confusion. When the boys were all in place, the master walked up and
+down the line and scrutinized them, while Riley cast furtive glances at
+the dusty old beech switches on the wall, wondering which one the master
+would use, and Pewee was trying to guess whether Mr. Williams's arm was
+strong, and whether he "would make a fellow take off his coat" or not.
+
+"Columbus," said the teacher, "you can take your seat."
+
+Riley shook in his shoes, thinking that this certainly meant a whipping.
+He began to frame excuses in his mind, by which to try to lighten his
+punishment.
+
+But the master did not take down his switches. He only talked. But such
+a talk! He told the boys how worthless a man was who could not be
+trusted, and how he had hoped for a school full of boys that could be
+relied on. He thought there were some boys, at least--and this remark
+struck Jack to the heart--that there were some boys in the school who
+would rather be treated as gentlemen than beaten with ox-goads. But he
+was now disappointed. All of them seemed equally willing to take
+advantage of his desire to avoid whipping them; and all of them had
+shown themselves _unfit to be trusted_.
+
+Here he paused long enough to let the full weight of his censure enter
+their minds. Then he began on a new tack. He had hoped that he might
+have their friendship. He had thought that they cared a little for his
+good opinion. But now they had betrayed him. All the town was looking to
+see whether he would succeed in conducting his school without whipping.
+A good many would be glad to see him fail. Today they would be saying
+all over Greenbank that the new teacher couldn't manage his school. Then
+he told the boys that while they were sitting on the trunk of the fallen
+sycamore looking at the steam-boat race, one of the trustees, Mr.
+Weathervane, had driven past and had seen them there. He had stopped to
+complain to the master. "Now," said the master, "I have found how little
+you care for me."
+
+This was very sharp talk, and it made the boys angry. Particularly did
+Jack resent any intimation that he was not to be trusted. But the new
+master was excited and naturally spoke severely. Nor did he give the
+boys a chance to explain at that time.
+
+"You have been out of school," he said, "one hour and thirty-one
+minutes. That is about equal to six fifteen-minute recesses--to the
+morning and afternoon recesses for three days. I shall have to keep you
+in at those six recesses to make up the time, and in addition, as a
+punishment, I shall keep you in school half an hour after the usual time
+of dismission, for three days."
+
+Here Jack made a motion to speak.
+
+"No," said the master, "I will not hear a word, now. Go home and think
+it over. To-morrow I mean to ask each one of you to explain his
+conduct."
+
+With this, he dismissed the school, and the boys went out as angry as a
+hive of bees that have been disturbed. Each one made his speech. Jack
+thought it "mean that the master should say they were not fit to be
+trusted. He wouldn't have stayed out if he'd known it was school-time."
+
+Bob Holliday said "the young master was a blisterer," and then he
+laughed good-naturedly.
+
+Harry Weathervane was angry, and so were all the rest. At length it was
+agreed that they didn't want to be cross-questioned about it, and that
+it was better that somebody should write something that should give Mr.
+Williams a piece of their mind, and show him how hard he was on boys
+that didn't mean any harm, but only forgot themselves. And Jack was
+selected to do the writing.
+
+Jack made up his mind that the paper he would write should be "a
+scorcher."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+AN APOLOGY
+
+
+Of course, there was a great deal of talk in the village. The
+I-told-you-so people were quite delighted. Old Mother Horn "always knew
+that boys couldn't be managed without switching. Didn't the Bible or
+somebody say: 'Just as the twig is bent the boy's inclined?' And if you
+don't bend your twig, what'll become of your boy?"
+
+The loafers and loungers and gad-abouts and gossips talked a great deal
+about the failure of the new plan. They were sure that Mr. Ball would be
+back in that school-house before the term was out, unless Williams
+should whip a good deal more than he promised to. The boys would just
+drive him out.
+
+Jack told his mother, with a grieved face, how harsh the new master had
+been, and how he had even said they were _not fit to be trusted_.
+
+"That's a very harsh word," said Mrs. Dudley, "but let us make some
+allowances. Mr. Williams is on trial before the town, and he finds
+himself nearly ruined by the thoughtlessness of the boys. He had to wait
+an hour and a half, with half of the school gone. Think how much he must
+have suffered in that time. And then, to have to take a rebuke from Mr.
+Weathervane besides, must have stung him to the quick."
+
+"Yes, that's so," said Jack, "but then he had no business to take it for
+granted that we did it on purpose."
+
+And Jack went about his chores, trying to think of some way of writing
+to the master an address which should be severe, but not too severe. He
+planned many things but gave them up. He lay awake in the night thinking
+about it, and, at last, when he had cooled off, he came to the
+conclusion that, as the boys had been the first offenders, they should
+take the first step toward a reconciliation. But whether he could
+persuade the angry boys to see it in that light, he did not know.
+
+When morning came, he wrote a very short paper, somewhat in this
+fashion:
+
+     Mr. Williams:
+
+     Dear Sir: We are very sorry for what we did yesterday, and for
+     the trouble we have given you. We are willing to take the
+     punishment, for we think we deserve it; but we hope you will not
+     think that we did it on purpose, for we did not, and we don't like
+     to have you think so.
+
+     Respectfully submitted.
+
+Jack carried this in the first place to his faithful friend, Bob
+Holliday, who read it.
+
+"Oh, you've come down, have you?" said Bob.
+
+"I thought we ought to," said Jack. "We _did_ give him a great deal of
+trouble, and if it had been Mr. Ball, he would have whipped us half to
+death."
+
+"We shouldn't have forgot and gone away at that time if Old Ball had
+been the master," said Bob.
+
+"That's just it," said Jack; "that's the very reason why we ought to
+apologize."
+
+"All right," said Bob, "I'll sign her," and he wrote "Robert M.
+Holliday" in big letters at the top of the column intended for the
+names. Jack put his name under Bob's.
+
+But when they got to the school-house it was not so easy to persuade the
+rest. At length, however, Johnny Meline signed it, and then Harry
+Weathervane, and then the rest, one after another, with some grumbling,
+wrote their names. All subscribed to it excepting Pewee and Ben Berry
+and Riley. They declared they never would sign it. They didn't want to
+be kept in at recess and after school like convicts. They didn't deserve
+it.
+
+"Jack is a soft-headed fool," Riley said, "to draw up such a thing as
+that. I'm not afraid of the master. I'm not going to knuckle down to
+him, either."
+
+Of course, Pewee, as a faithful echo, said just what Riley said, and Ben
+Berry said what Riley and Pewee said; so that the three were quite
+unanimous.
+
+"Well," said Jack, "then we'll have to hand in our petition without the
+signatures of the triplets."
+
+"Don't you call me a triplet," said Pewee; "I've got as much sense as
+any of you. You're a soft-headed triplet yourself!"
+
+Even Riley had to join in the laugh that followed this blundering sally
+of Pewee.
+
+When the master came in, he seemed very much troubled. He had heard what
+had been said about the affair in the town. The address which Jack had
+written was lying on his desk. He took it up and read it, and
+immediately a look of pleasure and relief took the place of the worried
+look he had brought to school with him.
+
+"Boys," he said, "I have received your petition, and I shall answer it
+by and by."
+
+The hour for recess came and passed. The girls and the very little boys
+were allowed their recess, but nothing was said to the larger boys about
+their going out. Pewee and Riley were defiant.
+
+At length, when the school was about to break up for noon, the master
+put his pen, ink, and other little articles in the desk, and the school
+grew hushed with expectancy.
+
+"This apology," said Mr. Williams, "which I see is in John Dudley's
+handwriting, and which bears the signature of all but three of those who
+were guilty of the offence yesterday, is a very manly apology, and quite
+increases my respect for those who have signed it. I have suffered much
+from your carelessness of yesterday, but this apology, showing, as it
+does, the manliness of my boys, has given me more pleasure than the
+offence gave me pain. I ought to make an apology to you. I blamed you
+too severely yesterday in accusing you of running away intentionally. I
+take all that back."
+
+Here he paused a moment, and looked over the petition carefully.
+
+"William Riley, I don't see your name here. Why is that?"
+
+"Because I didn't put it there."
+
+Pewee and Ben Berry both laughed at this wit.
+
+"Why didn't you put it there?"
+
+"Because I didn't want to."
+
+"Have you any explanation to give of your conduct yesterday?"
+
+"No, sir; only that I think it's mean to keep us in because we forgot
+ourselves."
+
+"Peter Rose, have you anything to say?"
+
+"Just the same as Will Riley said."
+
+"And you, Benjamin?"
+
+"Oh, I don't care much," said Ben Berry. "Jack was fox, and I ran after
+him, and if he hadn't run all over creation and part of Columbia, I
+shouldn't have been late. It isn't any fault of mine. I think Jack ought
+to do the staying in."
+
+"You are about as old a boy as Jack," said the master. "I suppose Jack
+might say that if you and the others hadn't chased him, he wouldn't
+have run 'all over creation,' as you put it. You and the rest were all
+guilty of a piece of gross thoughtlessness. All excepting you three have
+apologized in the most manly way. I therefore remove the punishment from
+all the others entirely hereafter, deeming that the loss of this
+morning's recess is punishment enough for boys who can be so manly in
+their acknowledgments. Peter Rose, William Riley, and Benjamin Berry
+will remain in school at both recesses and for a half-hour after school
+every day for three days--not only for having forgotten their duty, but
+for having refused to make acknowledgment or apology."
+
+Going home that evening, half an hour after all the others had been
+dismissed, the triplets put all their griefs together, and resolved to
+be avenged on Mr. Williams at the first convenient opportunity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+KING'S BASE AND A SPELLING-LESSON
+
+
+As the three who usually gave the most trouble on the playground, as
+well as in school, were now in detention at every recess, the boys
+enjoyed greatly their play during these three days.
+
+It was at this time that they began to play that favorite game of
+Greenbank, which seems to be unknown almost everywhere else. It is
+called "king's base," and is full of all manner of complex happenings,
+sudden surprises, and amusing results.
+
+Each of the boys selected a base or goal. A row of sidewalk trees were
+favorite bases. There were just as many bases as boys. Some boy would
+venture out from his base. Then another would pursue him; a third would
+chase the two, and so it would go, the one who left his base latest
+having the right to catch.
+
+Just as Johnny Meline was about to lay hold on Jack, Sam Crashaw, having
+just left _his_ base, gave chase to Johnny, and just as Sam thought he
+had a good chance to catch Johnny, up came Jack, fresh from having
+touched his base, and nabbed Sam. When one has caught another, he has a
+right to return to his base with his prisoner, unmolested. The prisoner
+now becomes an active champion of the new base, and so the game goes on
+until all the bases are broken up but one. Very often the last boy on a
+base succeeds in breaking up a strong one, and, indeed, there is no end
+to the curious results attained in the play.
+
+Jack had never got on in his studies as at this time. Mr. Williams took
+every opportunity to show his liking for his young friend, and Jack's
+quickened ambition soon put him at the head of his classes. It was a
+rule that the one who stood at the head of the great spelling-class on
+Friday evenings should go to the foot on Monday, and so work his way up
+again. There was a great strife between Sarah Weathervane and Jack to
+see which should go to the foot the oftenest during the term, and so win
+a little prize that Mr. Williams had offered to the best speller in the
+school. As neither of them ever missed a word in the lesson, they held
+the head each alternate Friday evening. In this way the contest bade
+fair to be a tie. But Sarah meant to win the prize by fair means or
+foul.
+
+One Friday morning before school-time, the boys and girls were talking
+about the relative merits of the two spellers, Joanna maintaining that
+Sarah was the better, and others that Jack could spell better than
+Sarah.
+
+"Oh!" said Sarah Weathervane, "Jack is the best speller in school. I
+study till my head aches to get my lesson, but it is all the same to
+Jack whether he studies or not. He has a natural gift for spelling, and
+he spends nearly all his time on arithmetic and Latin."
+
+This speech pleased Jack very much. He had stood at the head of the
+class all the week, and spelling did seem to him the easiest thing in
+the world. That afternoon he hardly looked at his lesson. It was so nice
+to think he could beat Sarah Weathervane with his left hand, so to
+speak.
+
+When the great spelling-class was called, he spelled the words given to
+him, as usual, and Sarah saw no chance to get the coveted opportunity
+to stand at the head, go down, and spell her way up again. But the very
+last word given to Jack was _sacrilege_, and, not having studied the
+lesson, he spelled it with _e_ in the second syllable and _i_ in the
+last. Sarah gave the letters correctly, and when Jack saw the smile of
+triumph on her face, he guessed why she had flattered him that morning.
+Hereafter he would not depend on his natural genius for spelling. A
+natural genius for working is the best gift.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+UNCLAIMED TOP-STRINGS
+
+
+With a sinking heart, Jack often called to mind that this was his last
+term at school. The little money that his father had left was not enough
+to warrant his continuing; he must now do something for his own support.
+He resolved, therefore, to make the most of his time under Mr. Williams.
+
+When Pewee, Riley, and Ben Berry got through with their punishment, they
+sought some way of revenging themselves on the master for punishing
+them, and on Jack for doing better than they had done, and thus escaping
+punishment. It was a sore thing with them that Jack had led all the
+school his way, so that, instead of the whole herd following King Pewee
+and Prime Minister Riley into rebellion, they now "knuckled down to the
+master," as Riley called it, under the lead of Jack, and they even dared
+to laugh slyly at the inseparable "triplets."
+
+The first aim of Pewee and company was to get the better of the master.
+They boasted to Jack and Bob that they would fix Mr. Williams some time,
+and gave out to the other boys that they knew where the master spent his
+evenings, and they knew how to fix him.
+
+When Jack heard of this, he understood it. The teacher had a habit of
+spending an evening, now and then, at Dr. Lanham's, and the boys no
+doubt intended to play a prank on him in going or coming. There being
+now no moonlight, the village streets were very dark, and there was
+every opportunity for a trick. Riley's father's house stood next on the
+street to Dr. Lanham's; the lots were divided by an alley. This gave the
+triplets a good chance to carry out their designs.
+
+But Bob Holliday and Jack, good friends to the teacher, thought that it
+would be fun to watch the conspirators and defeat them. So, when they
+saw Mr. Williams going to Dr. Lanham's, they stationed themselves in the
+dark alley on the side of the street opposite to Riley's and took
+observations. Mr. Williams had a habit of leaving Dr. Lanham's at
+exactly nine o'clock, and so, just before nine, the three came out of
+Riley's yard, and proceeded in the darkness to the fence of Lanham's
+dooryard.
+
+Getting the trunk of one of the large shade-trees between him and the
+plotters, Jack crept up close enough to guess what they were doing and
+to overhear their conversation. Then he came back to Bob.
+
+"They are tying a string across the sidewalk on Lanham's side of the
+alley, I believe," whispered Jack, "so as to throw Mr. Williams head
+foremost into that mud-hole at the mouth of the alley."
+
+By this time, the three boys had finished their arrangements and
+retreated through the gate into the porch of the Riley house, whence
+they might keep a lookout for the catastrophe.
+
+"I'm going to cut that string where it goes around the tree," said Bob,
+and he crouched low on the ground, got the trunk of the tree between him
+and the Riley house, and crept slowly across the street.
+
+"I'll capture the string," said Jack, walking off to the next
+cross-street, then running around the block until he came to the back
+gate of Lanham's yard, which he entered, running up the walk to the
+back door. His knock was answered by Mrs. Lanham.
+
+"Why, Jack, what's the matter?" she asked, seeing him at the kitchen
+door, breathless.
+
+"I want to see Susan, please," he said, "and tell Mr. Williams not to go
+yet a minute."
+
+"Here's a mystery," said Mrs. Lanham, returning to the sitting-room,
+where the teacher was just rising to say good-night. "Here's Jack
+Dudley, at the back door, out of breath, asking for Susan, and wishing
+Mr. Williams not to leave the house yet."
+
+Susan ran to the back door.
+
+"Susan," said Jack, "the triplets have tied a string from the corner of
+your fence to the locust-tree, and they're watching from Riley's porch
+to see Mr. Williams fall into the mud-hole. Bob is cutting the string
+at the tree, and I want you to go down along the fence and untie it and
+bring it in. They will not suspect you if they see you."
+
+"I don't care if they do," said Susan, and she glided out to the
+cross-fence which ran along the alley, followed it to the front and
+untied the string, fetching it back with her. When she got back to the
+kitchen door she heard Jack closing the alley gate. He had run off to
+join Bob, leaving the string in Susan's hands.
+
+Dr. Lanham and the master had a good laugh over the captured string,
+which was made of Pewee's and Riley's top-strings, tied together.
+
+The triplets did not see Susan go to the fence. They were too intent on
+what was to happen to Mr. Williams. When, at length, he came along
+safely through the darkness, they were bewildered.
+
+"You didn't tie that string well in the middle," growled Pewee at Riley.
+
+"Yes, I did," said Riley. "He must have stepped over."
+
+"Step over a string a foot high, when he didn't know it was there?" said
+Pewee.
+
+"Let's go and get the string," said Ben Berry.
+
+So out of the gate they sallied, and quickly reached the place where the
+string ought to have been.
+
+"I can't find this end," whispered Pewee by the fence.
+
+"The string's gone!" broke out Riley, after feeling up and down the tree
+for some half a minute.
+
+What could have become of it? They had been so near the sidewalk all the
+time that no one could have passed without their seeing him.
+
+The next day, at noon-time, when Susan Lanham brought out her lunch, it
+was tied with Pewee's new top-string,--the best one in the school.
+
+"That's a very nice string," said Susan.
+
+"It's just like Pewee's top-string," cried Harry Weathervane.
+
+"Is it yours, Pewee?" said Susan, in her sweetest tones.
+
+"No," said the king, with his head down; "mine's at home."
+
+"I found this one, last night," said Susan.
+
+And all the school knew that she was tormenting Pewee, although they
+could not guess how she had got his top-string. After a while, she made
+a dive into her pocket, and brought out another string.
+
+"Oh," cried Johnny Meline, "where did you get that?"
+
+"I found it."
+
+"That's Will Riley's top-string," said Johnny. "It was mine. He cheated
+me out of it by trading an old top that wouldn't spin."
+
+"That's the way you get your top-strings, is it, Will? Is this yours?"
+asked the tormenting Susan.
+
+"No, it isn't."
+
+"Of course it isn't yours. You don't tie top-strings across the sidewalk
+at night. You're a gentleman, you are! Come, Johnny, this string doesn't
+belong to anybody; I'll trade with you for that old top that Will gave
+you for a good string. I want something to remember honest Will Riley
+by."
+
+Johnny gladly pocketed the string, and Susan carried off the shabby top,
+to the great amusement of the school, who now began to understand how
+she had come by the two top-strings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL, AND THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE STORY
+
+
+It was the last day of the spring term of school. With Jack this meant
+the end of his opportunity for going to school. What he should learn
+hereafter he must learn by himself. The money was nearly out, and he
+must go to work.
+
+The last day of school meant also the expiration of the master's
+authority. Whatever evil was done after school-hours on the last day was
+none of his business. All who had grudges carried them forward to that
+day, for thus they could revenge themselves without being called to
+account by the master the next day. The last day of school had no
+to-morrow to be afraid of. Hence, Pewee and his friends proposed to
+square accounts on the last day of school with Jack Dudley, whom they
+hated for being the best scholar, and for having outwitted them more
+than once.
+
+It was on the first day of June that the school ended, and Mr. Williams
+bade his pupils good-bye. The warm sun had by this time brought the
+waters of the Ohio to a temperature that made bathing pleasant, and when
+the school closed, all the boys, delighted with liberty, rushed to the
+river for a good swim together. In that genial climate one can remain in
+the water for hours at a time, and boys become swimmers at an early age.
+
+Just below the village a raft was moored, and from this the youthful
+swimmers were soon diving into the deep water like frogs. Every boy who
+could perform any feat of agility displayed it. One would turn a
+somersault in the water, and then dive from one side of the raft to
+another, one could float, and another swim on his back, while a third
+was learning to tread water. Some were fond of diving toes downward,
+others took headers. "The little fellows" who could not swim kept on the
+inside of the great raft and paddled about with the aid of slabs used
+for floats. Jack, who had lived for years on the banks of the Wildcat,
+could swim and dive like a musquash.
+
+Mr. Williams, the teacher, felt lonesome at saying good-bye to his
+school; and to keep the boys company as long as possible, he strolled
+down to the bank and sat on the grass watching the bathers below him,
+plunging and paddling in all the spontaneous happiness of young life.
+
+Riley and Pewee--conspirators to the last--had their plans arranged.
+When Jack should get his clothes on, they intended to pitch him off the
+raft for a good wetting, and thus gratify their long-hoarded jealousy,
+and get an offset to the standing joke about dough-faces and ghosts which
+the town had at their expense. Ben Berry, who was their confidant,
+thought this a capital plan.
+
+When at length Jack had enjoyed the water enough, he came out and was
+about to begin dressing. Pewee and Riley were close at hand, already
+dressed, and prepared to give Jack a farewell ducking.
+
+But just at that moment there came from the other end of the raft, and
+from the spectators on the bank, a wild, confused cry, and all turned to
+hearken. Harry Weathervane's younger brother, whose name was Andrew
+Jackson, and who could not swim, in dressing, had stepped too far
+backward and gone off the raft. He uttered a despairing and terrified
+scream, struck out wildly and blindly, and went down.
+
+All up and down the raft and up and down the bank there went up a cry:
+"Andy is drowning!" while everybody looked for somebody else to save
+him.
+
+The school-master was sitting on the bank, and saw the accident. He
+quickly slipped off his boots, but then he stopped, for Jack had already
+started on a splendid run down that long raft. The confused and
+terrified boys made a path for him quickly, as he came on at more than
+the tremendous speed he had always shown in games. He did not stop to
+leap, but ran full tilt off the raft, falling upon the drowning boy and
+carrying him completely under water with him. Nobody breathed during the
+two seconds that Jack, under water, struggled to get a good hold on Andy
+and to keep Andy from disabling him by his blind grappling of Jack's
+limbs.
+
+When at length Jack's head came above water, there was an audible sigh
+of relief from all the on-lookers. But the danger was not over.
+
+"Let go of my arms, Andy!" cried Jack. "You'll drown us both if you hold
+on that way. If you don't let go I'll strike you."
+
+Jack knew that it was sometimes necessary to stun a drowning person
+before you could save him, where he persisted in clutching his
+deliverer. But poor frightened Andy let go of Jack's arms at last. Jack
+was already exhausted with swimming, and he had great difficulty in
+dragging the little fellow to the raft, where Will Riley and Pewee Rose
+pulled him out of the water.
+
+But now, while all were giving attention to the rescued Andy, there
+occurred with Jack one of those events which people call a cramp. I do
+not know what to call it, but it is not a cramp. It is a kind of
+collapse--a sudden exhaustion that may come to the best of swimmers. The
+heart insists on resting, the consciousness grows dim, the will-power
+flags, and the strong swimmer sinks.
+
+Nobody was regarding Jack, who first found himself unable to make even
+an effort to climb on the raft; then his hold on its edge relaxed, and
+he slowly sank out of sight. Pewee saw his sinking condition first, and
+cried out, as did Riley and all the rest, doing nothing to save Jack,
+but running up and down the raft in a vain search for a rope or a pole.
+
+The school-master, having seen that Andy was brought out little worse
+for his fright and the water he had swallowed, was about to put on his
+boots when this new alarm attracted his attention to Jack Dudley.
+Instantly he threw off his coat and was bounding down the steep bank,
+along the plank to the raft, and then along the raft to where Jack had
+sunk entirely out of sight. Mr. Williams leaped head first into the
+water and made what the boys afterward called a splendid dive. Once
+under water he opened his eyes and looked about for Jack.
+
+At last he came up, drawing after him the unconscious and apparently
+lifeless form of Jack, who was taken from the water by the boys. The
+teacher despatched two boys to bring Dr. Lanham, while he set himself to
+restore consciousness by producing artificial breathing. It was some
+time after Dr. Lanham's arrival that Jack fully regained his
+consciousness, when he was carried home by the strong arms of Bob
+Holliday, Will Riley, and Pewee, in turn.
+
+[Illustration: BOB HOLLIDAY CARRIES HOME HIS FRIEND.]
+
+And here I must do the last two boys the justice to say that they
+called to inquire after Jack every day during the illness that followed,
+and the old animosity to Jack was never afterward revived by Pewee and
+his friends.
+
+On the evening after this accident and these rescues, Dr. Lanham said to
+Mrs. Lanham and Susan and Mr. Williams, who happened to be there again,
+that a boy was wanted in the new drug-store in the village, to learn the
+business, and to sleep in the back room, so as to attend night-calls.
+Dr. Lanham did not know why this Jack Dudley wouldn't be just the boy.
+
+Susan, for her part, was very sure he would be; and Mr. Williams agreed
+with Susan, as, indeed, he generally did.
+
+Dr. Lanham thought that Jack might be allowed to attend school in the
+daytime in the winter season, and if the boy had as good stuff in him as
+he seemed to have, there was no reason why he shouldn't come to
+something some day.
+
+"Come to something!" said Susan. "Come to something! Why, he'll make one
+of the best doctors in the country yet."
+
+And again Mr. Williams entirely agreed with Susan, Jack Dudley was sure
+to go up to the head of the class.
+
+Jack got the place, and I doubt not fulfilled the hope of his friends. I
+know this, at least, that when a year or so later his good friend and
+teacher, Mr. Williams, was married to his good and stanch friend, Susan
+Lanham, Jack's was one of the happiest faces at the wedding.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Hoosier School-boy, by Edward Eggleston
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+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Hoosier School-Boy, by Edward Eggleston.
+    </title>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Hoosier School-boy, by Edward Eggleston
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Hoosier School-boy
+
+Author: Edward Eggleston
+
+Release Date: December 8, 2007 [EBook #23771]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOOSIER SCHOOL-BOY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
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+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:561px">
+<a name="illus-000" id="illus-000"></a>
+<img src="images/illus-fpc.jpg" alt="&#34;NOT THERE, NOT THERE, MY CHILD!&#34;" title="" width="561" /><br />
+<span class="caption">&#8220;NOT THERE, NOT THERE, MY CHILD!&#8221;</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="dashed" />
+
+<table style="margin: auto; border: #ddd 1px solid; border-spacing:1em;" summary=""><tr><td>
+<p style=" font-size:1.8em; margin-top:0.5em; margin-bottom:0em;">THE</p>
+<p style=" font-size:1.8em; margin-top:0em; margin-bottom:3em;">HOOSIER SCHOOL-BOY</p>
+<p style=" font-size:1.0em; margin-top:0em; margin-bottom:0em;">BY</p>
+<p style=" font-size:1.2em; margin-top:0em; margin-bottom:8em;">EDWARD EGGLESTON</p>
+<p style=" font-size:1.0em; margin-top:0em; margin-bottom:0em;">NEW YORK</p>
+<p style=" font-size:1.0em; margin-top:0em; margin-bottom:0em;">CHARLES SCRIBNER&#8217;S SONS</p>
+<p style=" font-size:1.0em; margin-top:0em; margin-bottom:1em;">1919</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<hr class="dashed" />
+
+<div style="font-size: small; font-variant: small-caps">
+<p class="center">Copyright, 1883, By<br />
+CHARLES SCRIBNER&#8217;S SONS</p>
+<hr style="width:3em;" />
+<p class="center">Copyright, 1910, By<br />
+FRANCES G. EGGLESTON</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="dashed" />
+
+<h2 class="toc"><a name="Contents" id="Contents"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+<table border="0" width="500" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents" style="font-variant: small-caps; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto">
+<col style="width:15%;" />
+<col style="width:5%;"  />
+<col style="width:70%;" />
+<col style="width:10%;" />
+<tr>
+    <td align="right"><span style="font-size:x-small">CHAPTER</span></td>
+    <td></td>
+    <td></td>
+    <td align="right"><span style="font-size:x-small">PAGE</span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">I</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The New Scholar</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_NEW_SCHOLAR_81">3</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">II</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">King Milkmaid</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#KING_MILKMAID_299">15</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">III</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Answering Back</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#ANSWERING_BACK_437">23</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">IV</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Little Christopher Columbus</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#LITTLE_CHRISTOPHER_COLUMBUS_628">34</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">V</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Whiling Away Time</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#WHILING_AWAY_TIME_771">43</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">VI</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">A Battle</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#A_BATTLE_869">48</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">VII</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Hat-Ball and Bull-Pen</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#HATBALL_AND_BULLPEN_1033">58</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">VIII</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Defender</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_DEFENDER_1207">70</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">IX</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Pigeon Pot-Pie</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#PIGEON_POTPIE_1378">80</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">X</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Jack and His Mother</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#JACK_AND_HIS_MOTHER_1648">97</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XI</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Columbus and His Friends</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#COLUMBUS_AND_HIS_FRIENDS_1741">102</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XII</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Greenbank Wakes Up</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#GREENBANK_WAKES_UP_1934">113</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XIII</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Professor Susan</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#PROFESSOR_SUSAN_2031">119</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XIV</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Crowing After Victory</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#CROWING_AFTER_VICTORY_2181">127</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XV</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">An Attempt to Collect</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#AN_ATTEMPT_TO_COLLECT_2349">137</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XVI</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">An Exploring Expedition</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#AN_EXPLORING_EXPEDITION_2528">148</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XVII</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Housekeeping Experiences</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#HOUSEKEEPING_EXPERIENCES_2623">154</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XVIII</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Ghosts</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#GHOSTS_2802">166</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XIX</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Return Home</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_RETURN_HOME_2972">177</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XX</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">A Foot-Race For Money</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#A_FOOTRACE_FOR_MONEY_3183">189</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXI</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The New Teacher</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_NEW_TEACHER_3413">203</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXII</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Chasing the Fox</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#CHASING_THE_FOX_3536">210</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXIII</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Called to Account</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#CALLED_TO_ACCOUNT_3711">222</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXIV</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">An Apology</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#AN_APOLOGY_3828">229</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXV</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">King&#8217;s Base and a Spelling-Lesson</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#KINGS_BASE_AND_A_SPELLINGLESSON_3999">238</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXVI</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">Unclaimed Top-Strings</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#UNCLAIMED_TOPSTRINGS_4073">243</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdright">XXVII</td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td class="tdleft">The Last Day of School, and the Last Chapter of the Story</td>
+  <td class="tdright"><a href="#THE_LAST_DAY_OF_SCHOOL_AND_THE_LAST_CHAPTER_OF_THE_STORY_4231">252</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="dashed" />
+
+<h2 class="loi"><a name="Illustrations" id="Illustrations"></a>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+<table border="0"  width="500" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto">
+<col style="width:80%;" />
+<col style="width:20%;" />
+<tr><td class="tdleft">&#8220;Not There, Not There, My Child!&#8221;</td><td class="tdright"><a href="#illus-000"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" colspan="2"><span style="font-size:x-small">FACING PAGE</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdleft">Jack Amusing the Small Boys with Stories of Hunting, Fishing, and Frontier Adventure.</td><td class="tdright"><a href="#illus-002">44</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdleft">&#8220;Cousin Sukey,&#8221; Said Little Columbus, &#8220;I Want to Ask a Favor of You.&#8221;</td><td class="tdright"><a href="#illus-003">120</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdleft">Bob Holliday Carries Home His Friend.</td><td class="tdright"><a href="#illus-005">258</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="dashed" />
+
+<h1>THE HOOSIER SCHOOL-BOY</h1>
+
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_3" id="pg_3">3</a></span>
+<a name="THE_NEW_SCHOLAR_81" id="THE_NEW_SCHOLAR_81"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+<h3>THE NEW SCHOLAR</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>While the larger boys in the village school of Greenbank were having a
+game of &#8220;three old cat&#8221; before school-time, there appeared on the
+playground a strange boy, carrying two books, a slate, and an atlas
+under his arm.</p>
+
+<p>He was evidently from the country, for he wore a suit of brown jeans, or
+woollen homespun, made up in the natural color of the &#8220;black&#8221; sheep, as
+we call it. He shyly sidled up to the school-house door, and looked
+doubtfully at the boys who were playing; watching the familiar game as
+though he had never seen it before.</p>
+
+<p>The boys who had the &#8220;paddles&#8221; were standing on three bases, while three
+others<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_4" id="pg_4">4</a></span> stood each behind a base and tossed the ball around the triangle
+from one hole or base to another. The new-comer soon perceived that, if
+one with a paddle, or bat, struck at the ball and missed it, and the
+ball was caught directly, or &#8220;at the first bounce,&#8221; he gave up his bat
+to the one who had &#8220;caught him out.&#8221; When the ball was struck, it was
+called a &#8220;tick,&#8221; and when there was a tick, all the batters were obliged
+to run one base to the left, and then the ball thrown between a batter
+and the base to which he was running &#8220;crossed him out,&#8221; and obliged him
+to give up his &#8220;paddle&#8221; to the one who threw the ball.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Four old cat,&#8221; &#8220;two old cat,&#8221; and &#8220;five old cat&#8221; are, as everybody
+knows, played in the same way, the number of bases or holes increasing
+with the addition of each pair of players.</p>
+
+<p>It is probable that the game was once&mdash;some<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_5" id="pg_5">5</a></span> hundreds of years ago,
+maybe&mdash;called &#8220;three hole catch,&#8221; and that the name was gradually
+corrupted into &#8220;three hole cat,&#8221; as it is still called in the interior
+States, and then became changed by mistake to &#8220;three old cat.&#8221; It is, no
+doubt, an early form of our present game of base-ball.</p>
+
+<p>It was this game which the new boy watched, trying to get an inkling of
+how it was played. He stood by the school-house door, and the girls who
+came in were obliged to pass near him. Each of them stopped to scrape
+her shoes, or rather the girls remembered the foot-scraper because they
+were curious to see the new-comer. They cast furtive glances at him,
+noting his new suit of brown clothes, his geography and atlas, his
+arithmetic, and, last of all, his face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a new scholar,&#8221; said Peter Rose, or, as he was called, &#8220;Pewee&#8221;
+Rose, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_6" id="pg_6">6</a></span> stout and stocky boy of fourteen, who had just been caught out
+by another.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I say, Greeny, how did you get so brown?&#8221; called out Will Riley, a
+rather large, loose-jointed fellow.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, all the boys laughed at this. Boys will sometimes laugh at
+any one suffering torture, whether the victim be a persecuted cat or a
+persecuted boy. The new boy made no answer, but Joanna Merwin, who, just
+at that moment, happened to be scraping her shoes, saw that he grew red
+in the face with a quick flush of anger.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t stand there, Greeny, or the cows&#8217;ll eat you up!&#8221; called Riley, as
+he came round again to the base nearest to the school-house.</p>
+
+<p>Why the boys should have been amused at this speech, the new scholar
+could not tell&mdash;the joke was neither new nor witty&mdash;only<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_7" id="pg_7">7</a></span> impudent and
+coarse. But the little boys about the door giggled.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a pity something wouldn&#8217;t eat you, Will Riley&mdash;you are good for
+nothing but to be mean.&#8221; This sharp speech came from a rather tall and
+graceful girl of sixteen, who came up at the time, and who saw the
+annoyance of the new boy at Riley&#8217;s insulting words. Of course the boys
+laughed again. It was rare sport to hear pretty Susan Lanham &#8220;take down&#8221;
+the impudent Riley.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The bees will never eat you for honey, Susan,&#8221; said Will.</p>
+
+<p>Susan met the titter of the playground with a quick flush of temper and
+a fine look of scorn.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nothing would eat you, Will, unless, maybe, a turkey-buzzard, and a
+very hungry one at that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This sharp retort was uttered with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_8" id="pg_8">8</a></span> merry laugh of ridicule, and a
+graceful toss of the head, as the mischievous girl passed into the
+school-house.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That settles you, Will,&#8221; said Pewee Rose. And Bob Holliday began
+singing, to a doleful tune:</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left:2em;">&#8220;Poor old Pidy,<br />
+She died last Friday.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Just then, the stern face of Mr. Ball, the master, appeared at the door;
+he rapped sharply with his ferule, and called: &#8220;Books, books, books!&#8221;
+The bats were dropped, and the boys and girls began streaming into the
+school, but some of the boys managed to nudge Riley, saying:</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left:2em;">&#8220;Poor old creetur,<br />
+The turkey-buzzards eat her,&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>and such like soft and sweet speeches. Riley was vexed and angry, but
+nobody was afraid of him, for a boy may be both big and mean and yet
+lack courage.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_9" id="pg_9">9</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The new boy did not go in at once, but stood silently and faced the
+inquiring looks of the procession of boys as they filed into the
+school-room with their faces flushed from the exercise and excitement of
+the games.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can thrash him easy,&#8221; thought Pewee Rose.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He isn&#8217;t a fellow to back down easily,&#8221; said Harvey Collins to his next
+neighbor.</p>
+
+<p>Only good-natured, rough Bob Holliday stopped and spoke to the new-comer
+a friendly word. All that he said was &#8220;Hello!&#8221; But how much a boy can
+put into that word &#8220;Hello!&#8221; Bob put his whole heart into it, and there
+was no boy in the school that had a bigger heart, a bigger hand, or half
+so big a foot as Bob Holliday.</p>
+
+<p>The village school-house was a long one built of red brick. It had taken
+the place of the old log institution in which one generation<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_10" id="pg_10">10</a></span> of
+Greenbank children had learned reading, writing, and Webster&#8217;s
+spelling-book. There were long, continuous writing-tables down the sides
+of the room, with backless benches, so arranged that when the pupil was
+writing his face was turned toward the wall&mdash;there was a door at each
+end, and a box stove stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by a
+rectangle of four backless benches. These benches were for the little
+fellows who did not write, and for others when the cold should drive
+them nearer the stove.</p>
+
+<p>The very worshipful master sat at the east end of the room, at one side
+of the door; there was a blackboard&mdash;a &#8220;newfangled notion&#8221; in 1850&mdash;at
+the other side of the door. Some of the older scholars, who could afford
+private desks with lids to them, suitable for concealing smuggled apples
+and maple-sugar, had places at the other end of the room from the
+master.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_11" id="pg_11">11</a></span> This arrangement was convenient for quiet study, for talking on
+the fingers by signs, for munching apples or gingerbread, and for
+passing little notes between the boys and girls.</p>
+
+<p>When the school had settled a little, the master struck a sharp blow on
+his desk for silence, and looked fiercely around the room, eager to find
+a culprit on whom to wreak his ill-humor. Mr. Ball was one of those
+old-fashioned teachers who gave the impression that he would rather beat
+a boy than not, and would even like to eat one, if he could find a good
+excuse. His eye lit upon the new scholar.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come here,&#8221; he said, severely, and then he took his seat.</p>
+
+<p>The new boy walked timidly up to a place in front of the master&#8217;s desk.
+He was not handsome, his face was thin, his eyebrows were prominent, his
+mouth was rather large and good-humored, and there<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_12" id="pg_12">12</a></span> was that shy twinkle
+about the corners of his eyes which always marks a fun-loving spirit.
+But his was a serious, fine-grained face, with marks of suffering in it,
+and he had the air of having been once a strong fellow; of late,
+evidently, shaken to pieces by the ague.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where do you live?&#8221; demanded Mr. Ball.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;On Ferry Street.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What do they call you?&#8221; This was said with a contemptuous, rasping
+inflection that irritated the new scholar. His eyes twinkled, partly
+with annoyance and partly with mischief.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They <i>call</i> me Jack, for the most part,&#8221;&mdash;then catching the titter that
+came from the girls&#8217; side of the room, and frightened by the rising
+hurricane on the master&#8217;s face, he added quickly: &#8220;My name is John
+Dudley, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you try to show your smartness<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_13" id="pg_13">13</a></span> on me, young man. You are a
+new-comer, and I let you off this time. Answer me that way again, and
+you will remember it as long as you live.&#8221; And the master glared at him
+like a savage bull about to toss somebody over a fence.</p>
+
+<p>The new boy turned pale, and dropped his head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How old are you?&#8221; &#8220;Thirteen.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have you ever been to school?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Three months.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Three months. Do you know how to read?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir,&#8221; with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Can you cipher?&#8221; &#8220;Yes, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In multiplication?&#8221; &#8220;Yes, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Long division?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir; I&#8217;ve been half through fractions.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You said you&#8217;d been to school but three months!&#8221; &#8220;My father taught
+me.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_14" id="pg_14">14</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There was just a touch of pride in his voice as he said this&mdash;a sense of
+something superior about his father. This bit of pride angered the
+master, who liked to be thought to have a monopoly of all the knowledge
+in the town.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where have you been living?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;In the Indian Reserve, of late; I was born in Cincinnati.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t ask you where you were born. When I ask you a question, answer
+that and no more.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir.&#8221; There was a touch of something in the tone of this reply
+that amused the school, and that made the master look up quickly and
+suspiciously at Jack Dudley, but the expression on Jack&#8217;s face was as
+innocent as that of a cat who has just lapped the cream off the milk.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_15" id="pg_15">15</a></span>
+<a name="KING_MILKMAID_299" id="KING_MILKMAID_299"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+<h3>KING MILKMAID</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Pewee Rose, whose proper name was Peter Rose, had also the nickname of
+King Pewee. He was about fourteen years old, square built and active, of
+great strength for his size, and very proud of the fact that no boy in
+town cared to attack him. He was not bad-tempered, but he loved to be
+master, and there were a set of flatterers who followed him, like
+jackals about a lion.</p>
+
+<p>As often happens, Nature had built for King Pewee a very fine body, but
+had forgotten to give him any mind to speak of. In any kind of chaff or
+banter, at any sort of talk or play where a good head was worth more
+than a strong arm and a broad back, King Pewee was sure to have the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_16" id="pg_16">16</a></span>
+worst of it. A very convenient partnership had therefore grown up
+between him and Will Riley. Riley had muscle enough, but Nature had made
+him mean-spirited. He had&mdash;not exactly wit&mdash;but a facility for using his
+tongue, which he found some difficulty in displaying, through fear of
+other boys&#8217; fists. By forming a friendship with Pewee Rose, the two
+managed to keep in fear the greater part of the school. Will&#8217;s rough
+tongue, together with Pewee&#8217;s rude fists, were enough to bully almost
+any boy. They let Harvey Collins alone, because he was older, and,
+keeping to himself, awed them by his dignity; good-natured Bob Holliday,
+also, was big enough to take care of himself. But the rest were all as
+much afraid of Pewee as they were of the master, and as Riley managed
+Pewee, it behooved them to be afraid of the prime minister, Riley, as
+well as of King Pewee.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_17" id="pg_17">17</a></span></p>
+
+<p>From the first day that Jack Dudley entered the school, dressed in brown
+jeans, Will Riley marked him for a victim. The air of refinement about
+his face showed him to be a suitable person for teasing.</p>
+
+<p>Riley called him &#8220;milksop,&#8221; and &#8220;sap-head&#8221;; words which seemed to the
+dull intellect of King Pewee exceedingly witty. And as Pewee was Riley&#8217;s
+defender, he felt as proud of these rude nicknames as he would had he
+invented them and taken out a patent.</p>
+
+<p>But Riley&#8217;s greatest stroke of wit came one morning when he caught Jack
+Dudley milking the cow. In the village of Greenbank, milking a cow was
+regarded as a woman&#8217;s work; and foolish men and boys are like
+savages,&mdash;very much ashamed to be found doing a woman&#8217;s work. Fools
+always think something else more disgraceful than idleness. So, having
+seen Jack milking,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_18" id="pg_18">18</a></span> Riley came to school happy. He had an arrow to shoot
+that would give great delight to the small boys.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good-morning, milkmaid!&#8221; he said to Jack Dudley, as he entered the
+school-house before school. &#8220;You milk the cow at your house, do you?
+Where&#8217;s your apron?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh-h! Milkmaid! milkmaid! That&#8217;s a good one,&#8221; chimed in Pewee Rose and
+all his set.</p>
+
+<p>Jack changed color.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, what if I do milk my mother&#8217;s cow? I don&#8217;t milk anybody&#8217;s cow but
+ours, do I? Do you think I&#8217;m ashamed of it? I&#8217;d be ashamed not to. I
+can&#8221;&mdash;but he stopped a minute and blushed&mdash;&#8220;I can wash dishes, and make
+good pancakes, too. Now if you want to make fun, why, make fun. I don&#8217;t
+care.&#8221; But he did care, else why should his voice choke in that way?</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, girl-boy; a pretty girl-boy you<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_19" id="pg_19">19</a></span> are&mdash;&#8221; but here Will Riley stopped
+and stammered. There right in front of him was the smiling face of Susan
+Lanham, with a look in it which made him suddenly remember something.
+Susan had heard all the conversation, and now she came around in front
+of Will, while all the other girls clustered about her with a vague
+expectation of sport.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come, Pewee, let&#8217;s play ball,&#8221; said Will.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ah, you&#8217;re running away, now; you&#8217;re afraid of a girl,&#8221; said Susan,
+with a cutting little laugh, and a toss of her black curls over her
+shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>Will had already started for the ball-ground, but at this taunt he
+turned back, thrust his hands into his pockets, put on a swagger, and
+stammered: &#8220;No, I&#8217;m not afraid of a girl, either.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s about all that he isn&#8217;t afraid of,&#8221; said Bob Holliday.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! you&#8217;re not afraid of a girl?&#8221; said<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_20" id="pg_20">20</a></span> Susan. &#8220;What did you run away
+for, when you saw me? You know that Pewee won&#8217;t fight a girl. You&#8217;re
+afraid of anybody that Pewee can&#8217;t whip.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve got an awful tongue, Susan. We&#8217;ll call you Sassy Susan,&#8221; said
+Will, laughing at his own joke.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, it isn&#8217;t my tongue you&#8217;re afraid of now. You know I can tell on
+you. I saw you drive your cow into the stable last week. You were
+ashamed to milk outside, but you looked all around&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t do it. How could you see? It was dark,&#8221; and Will giggled
+foolishly, seeing all at once that he had betrayed himself.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was nearly dark, but I happened to be where I could see. And as I
+was coming back, a few minutes after, I saw you come out with a pail of
+milk, and look around you like a sneak-thief. You saw me and hurried
+away. You are such a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_21" id="pg_21">21</a></span> coward that you are ashamed to do a little honest
+work. Milkmaid! Girl-boy! Coward! And Pewee Rose lets you lead him
+around by the nose!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;d better be careful what you say, Susan,&#8221; said Pewee,
+threateningly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You won&#8217;t touch me. You go about bullying little boys, and calling
+yourself King Pewee, but you can&#8217;t do a sum in long division, nor in
+short subtraction, for that matter, and you let fellows like Riley make
+a fool of you. Your father&#8217;s poor, and your mother can&#8217;t keep a girl,
+and you ought to be ashamed to let her milk the cows. Who milked your
+cow this morning, Pewee?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; said the king, looking like the king&#8217;s fool.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You did it,&#8221; said Susan. &#8220;Don&#8217;t deny it. Then you come here and call a
+strange boy a milkmaid!&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_22" id="pg_22">22</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, I didn&#8217;t milk in the street, anyway, and he did.&#8221; At this, all
+laughed aloud, and Susan&#8217;s victory was complete. She only said, with a
+pretty toss of her head, as she turned away: &#8220;King Milkmaid!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Pewee found the nickname likely to stick. He was obliged to declare on
+the playground the next day, that he would &#8220;thrash&#8221; any boy that said
+anything about milkmaids. After that, he heard no more of it. But one
+morning he found &#8220;King Milkmaid&#8221; written on the door of his father&#8217;s
+cow-stable. Some boy who dared not attack Pewee, had vented his
+irritation by writing the hateful words on the stable, and on the
+fence-corners near the school-house, and even on the blackboard.</p>
+
+<p>Pewee could not fight with Susan Lanham, but he made up his mind to
+punish the new scholar when he should have a chance. He must give
+somebody a beating.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_23" id="pg_23">23</a></span>
+<a name="ANSWERING_BACK_437" id="ANSWERING_BACK_437"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+<h3>ANSWERING BACK</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It is hard for one boy to make a fight. Even your bully does not like to
+&#8220;pitch on&#8221; an inoffensive school-mate. You remember &AElig;sop&#8217;s fable of the
+wolf and the lamb, and what pains the wolf took to pick a quarrel with
+the lamb. It was a little hard for Pewee to fight with a boy who walked
+quietly to and from the school, without giving anybody cause for
+offence.</p>
+
+<p>But the chief reason why Pewee did not attack him with his fists was
+that both he and Riley had found out that Jack Dudley could help them
+over a hard place in their lessons better than anybody else. And
+notwithstanding their continual persecution of Jack, they were mean
+enough to<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_24" id="pg_24">24</a></span> ask his assistance, and he, hoping to bring about peace by
+good-nature, helped them to get out their geography and arithmetic
+almost every day. Unable to appreciate this, they were both convinced
+that Jack only did it because he was afraid of them, and as they found
+it rare sport to abuse him, they kept it up. By their influence Jack was
+shut out of the plays. A greenhorn would spoil the game, they said. What
+did a boy that had lived on Wildcat Creek, in the Indian Reserve, know
+about playing bull-pen, or prisoner&#8217;s base, or shinny? If he was brought
+in, they would go out.</p>
+
+<p>But the girls, and the small boys, and good-hearted Bob Holliday liked
+Jack&#8217;s company very much. Yet, Jack was a boy, and he often longed to
+play games with the others. He felt very sure that he could dodge and
+run in &#8220;bull-pen&#8221; as well as<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_25" id="pg_25">25</a></span> any of them. He was very tired of Riley&#8217;s
+continual ridicule, which grew worse as Riley saw in him a rival in
+influence with the smaller boys.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Catch Will alone sometimes,&#8221; said Bob Holliday, &#8220;when Pewee isn&#8217;t with
+him, and then thrash him. He&#8217;ll back right down if you bristle up to
+him. If Pewee makes a fuss about it, I&#8217;ll look after Pewee. I&#8217;m bigger
+than he is, and he won&#8217;t fight with me. What do you say?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I shan&#8217;t fight unless I have to.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Afraid?&#8221; asked Bob, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t that. I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;m much afraid, although I don&#8217;t like to
+be pounded or to pound anybody. I think I&#8217;d rather be whipped than to be
+made fun of, though. But my father used to say that people who fight
+generally do so because they are afraid of somebody else, more than they
+are of the one they fight with.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_26" id="pg_26">26</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I believe that&#8217;s a fact,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;But Riley aches for a good
+thrashing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know that, and I feel like giving him one, or taking one myself, and
+I think I shall fight him before I&#8217;ve done. But father used to say that
+fists could never settle between right and wrong. They only show which
+is the stronger, and it is generally the mean one that gets the best of
+it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s as sure as shootin&#8217;,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;Pewee could use you up. Pewee
+thinks he&#8217;s the king, but laws! he&#8217;s only Riley&#8217;s bull-dog. Riley is
+afraid of him, but he manages to keep the dog on his side all the time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My father used to say,&#8221; said Jack, &#8220;that brutes could fight with force,
+but men ought to use their wits.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You seem to think a good deal of what your father says,&mdash;like it was
+your Bible, you know.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_27" id="pg_27">27</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My father&#8217;s dead,&#8221; replied Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that&#8217;s why. Boys don&#8217;t always pay attention to what their father
+says when he&#8217;s alive.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, but then my father was&mdash;&#8221; Here Jack checked himself, for fear of
+seeming to boast. &#8220;You see,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;my father knew a great deal.
+He was so busy with his books that he lost &#8217;most all his money, and then
+we moved to the Indian Reserve, and there he took the fever and died;
+and then we came down here, where we owned a house, so that I could go
+to school.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why don&#8217;t you give Will Riley as good as he sends?&#8221; said Bob, wishing
+to get away from melancholy subjects. &#8220;You have got as good a tongue as
+his.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t his stock of bad words, though.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve got a power of fun in you,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_28" id="pg_28">28</a></span> though,&mdash;you keep everybody laughing
+when you want to, and if you&#8217;d only turn the pumps on him once, he&#8217;d
+howl like a yellow dog that&#8217;s had a quart o&#8217; hot suds poured over him
+out of a neighbor&#8217;s window. Use your wits, like your father said. You&#8217;ve
+lived in the woods till you&#8217;re as shy as a flying-squirrel. All you&#8217;ve
+got to do is to talk up and take it rough and tumble, like the rest of
+the world. Riley can&#8217;t bear to be laughed at, and you can make him
+ridiculous as easy as not.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The next day, at the noon recess, about the time that Jack had finished
+helping Bob Holliday to find some places on the map, there came up a
+little shower, and the boys took refuge in the school-house. They must
+have some amusement, so Riley began his old abuse.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, greenhorn from the Wildcat, where&#8217;s the black sheep you stole
+that suit of clothes from?&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_29" id="pg_29">29</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hear him bleat now,&#8221; said Jack,&mdash;&#8220;about the blackest sheep I have
+ever seen.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve heard the truth for once, Riley,&#8221; said Bob Holliday.</p>
+
+<p>Riley, who was as vain as a peacock, was very much mortified by the
+shout of applause with which this little retort of Jack&#8217;s was greeted.
+It was not a case in which he could call in King Pewee. The king, for
+his part, shut up his fists and looked silly, while Jack took courage to
+keep up the battle.</p>
+
+<p>But Riley tried again.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I say, Wildcat, you think you&#8217;re smart, but you&#8217;re a double-distilled
+idiot, and haven&#8217;t got brains enough to be sensible of your misery.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This kind of outburst on Riley&#8217;s part always brought a laugh from the
+school. But before the laugh had died down, Jack<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_30" id="pg_30">30</a></span> Dudley took the word,
+saying, in a dry and quizzical way:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you try to claim kin with me that way, Riley. No use; I won&#8217;t
+stand it. I don&#8217;t belong to your family. I&#8217;m neither a fool nor a
+coward.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hurrah!&#8221; shouted Bob Holliday, bringing down first one and then the
+other of his big feet on the floor. &#8220;It&#8217;s your put-in now, Riley.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be backward in coming forward, Will, as the Irish priest said to
+his people,&#8221; came from grave Harvey Collins, who here looked up from his
+book, thoroughly enjoying the bully&#8217;s discomfiture.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s awfully good,&#8221; said Joanna Merwin, clasping her hands and
+giggling with delight.</p>
+
+<p>King Pewee doubled up his fists and looked at Riley to see if he ought
+to try his sort of wit on Jack. If a frog, being<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_31" id="pg_31">31</a></span> pelted to death by
+cruel boys, should turn and pelt them again, they could not be more
+surprised than were Riley and King Pewee at Jack&#8217;s repartees.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;d better be careful what you say to Will Riley,&#8221; said Pewee. &#8220;I
+stand by him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But Jack&#8217;s blood was up now, and he was not to be scared.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All the more shame to him,&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;Look at me, shaken all to
+pieces with the fever and ague on the Wildcat, and look at that great
+big, bony coward of a Riley. I&#8217;ve done him no harm, but he wants to
+abuse me, and he&#8217;s afraid of me. He daren&#8217;t touch me. He has to coax you
+to stand by him, to protect him from poor little me. He&#8217;s a great
+big&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Calf,&#8221; broke in Bob Holliday, with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;d better be careful,&#8221; said Pewee to<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_32" id="pg_32">32</a></span> Jack, rising to his feet. &#8220;I
+stand by Riley.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Will you defend him if I hit him?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, I won&#8217;t hit him. But you don&#8217;t mean that he is to abuse me,
+while I am not allowed to answer back a word?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well&mdash;&#8221; said Pewee hesitatingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Bob Holliday hotly, &#8220;I say that Jack has just as good a
+right to talk with his tongue as Riley. Stand by Riley if he&#8217;s hit,
+Pewee; he needs it. But don&#8217;t you try to shut up Jack.&#8221; And Bob got up
+and put his broad hand on Jack&#8217;s shoulder. Nobody had ever seen the big
+fellow angry before, and the excitement was very great. The girls
+clapped their hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good for you, Bob, I say,&#8221; came from Susan Lanham, and poor, ungainly
+Bob<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_33" id="pg_33">33</a></span> blushed to his hair to find himself the hero of the girls.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t mean to shut up Jack,&#8221; said Pewee, looking at Bob&#8217;s size, &#8220;but
+I stand by Riley.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, do your standing sitting down, then,&#8221; said Susan. &#8220;I&#8217;ll get a
+milking-stool for you, if that&#8217;ll keep you quiet.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was well that the master came in just then, or Pewee would have had
+to fight somebody or burst.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_34" id="pg_34">34</a></span>
+<a name="LITTLE_CHRISTOPHER_COLUMBUS_628" id="LITTLE_CHRISTOPHER_COLUMBUS_628"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+<h3>LITTLE CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Jack&#8217;s life in school was much more endurable now that he had a friend
+in Bob Holliday. Bob had spent his time in hard work and in rough
+surroundings, but he had a gentleman&#8217;s soul, although his manners and
+speech were rude. More and more Jack found himself drawn to him. Harvey
+Collins asked Jack to walk down to the river-bank with him at recess.
+Both Harvey and Bob soon liked Jack, who found himself no longer lonely.
+The girls also sought his advice about their lessons, and the younger
+boys were inclined to come over to his side.</p>
+
+<p>As winter came on, country boys, anxious to learn something about
+&#8220;reading, writing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_35" id="pg_35">35</a></span> and ciphering,&#8221; came into the school. Each of these
+new-comers had to go through a certain amount of teasing from Riley and
+of bullying from Pewee.</p>
+
+<p>One frosty morning in December there appeared among the new scholars a
+strange little fellow, with a large head, long straight hair, an
+emaciated body, and legs that looked like reeds, they were so slender.
+His clothes were worn and patched, and he had the look of having been
+frost-bitten. He could not have been more than ten years old, to judge
+by his size, but there was a look of premature oldness in his face.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come here!&#8221; said the master, when he caught sight of him. &#8220;What is your
+name?&#8221; And Mr. Ball took out his book to register the new-comer, with
+much the same relish that the Giant Despair showed when he had bagged a
+fresh pilgrim.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Columbus Risdale.&#8221; The new-comer<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_36" id="pg_36">36</a></span> spoke in a shrill, piping voice, as
+strange as his weird face and withered body.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is that your full name?&#8221; asked the master.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, sir,&#8221; piped the strange little creature.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Give your full name,&#8221; said Mr. Ball, sternly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My name is Christopher Columbus George Washington Marquis de Lafayette
+Risdale.&#8221; The poor lad was the victim of that mania which some people
+have for &#8220;naming after&#8221; great men. His little shrunken body and high,
+piping voice made his name seem so incongruous that all the school
+tittered, and many laughed outright. But the dignified and eccentric
+little fellow did not observe it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Can you read?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir,&#8221; squeaked the lad, more shrilly than ever.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_37" id="pg_37">37</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Umph,&#8221; said the master, with a look of doubt on his face. &#8220;In the first
+reader?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, sir; in the fourth reader.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Even the master could not conceal his look of astonishment at this
+claim. At that day, the fourth reader class was the highest in the
+school, and contained only the largest scholars. The school laughed at
+the bare notion of little Christopher Columbus reading in the fourth
+reader, and the little fellow looked around the room, puzzled to guess
+the cause of the merriment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll try you,&#8221; said the master, with suspicion. When the fourth-reader
+class was called, and Harvey Collins and Susie Lanham and some others of
+the nearly grown-up pupils came forward, with Jack Dudley as quite the
+youngest of the class, the great-eyed, emaciated little Columbus Risdale
+picked himself up on his pipe-stems<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_38" id="pg_38">38</a></span> and took his place at the end of
+this row.</p>
+
+<p>It was too funny for anything!</p>
+
+<p>Will Riley and Pewee and other large scholars, who were yet reading in
+that old McGuffey&#8217;s Third Reader, which had a solitary picture of
+Bonaparte crossing the Alps, looked with no kindly eyes on this
+preposterous infant in the class ahead of them.</p>
+
+<p>The piece to be read was the poem of Mrs. Hemans&#8217;s called &#8220;The Better
+Land.&#8221; Poems like this one are rather out of fashion nowadays, and
+people are inclined to laugh a little at Mrs. Hemans. But thirty years
+ago her religious and sentimental poetry was greatly esteemed. This one
+presented no difficulty to the readers. In that day, little or no
+attention was paid to inflection&mdash;the main endeavor being to pronounce
+the words without hesitation or slip, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_39" id="pg_39">39</a></span> to &#8220;mind the stops.&#8221; Each one
+of the class read a stanza ending with a line:</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left:2em;">&#8220;Not there, not there, my child!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The poem was exhausted before all had read, so that it was necessary to
+begin over again in order to give each one his turn. All waited to hear
+the little Columbus read. When it came his turn, the school was as still
+as death. The master, wishing to test him, told him, with something like
+a sneer, that he could read three stanzas, or &#8220;verses,&#8221; as Mr. Ball
+called them.</p>
+
+<p>The little chap squared his toes, threw his head back, and more fluently
+even than the rest, he read, in his shrill, eager voice, the remaining
+lines, winding up each stanza in a condescending tone, as he read:</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 2em;">&#8220;Not there, not there, my child!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_40" id="pg_40">40</a></span>The effect of this from the hundred-year-old baby was so striking and so
+ludicrous that everybody was amused, while all were surprised at the
+excellence of his reading. The master proceeded, however, to whip one or
+two of the boys for laughing.</p>
+
+<p>When recess-time arrived, Susan Lanham came to Jack with a request.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wish you&#8217;d look after little Lummy Risdale. He&#8217;s a sort of cousin of
+my mother&#8217;s. He is as innocent and helpless as the babes in the wood.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll take care of him,&#8221; said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>So he took the little fellow walking away from the school-house; Will
+Riley and some of the others calling after them: &#8220;Not there, not there,
+my child!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But Columbus did not lay their taunts to heart. He was soon busy talking
+to Jack about things in the country, and things in town. On their
+return, Riley,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_41" id="pg_41">41</a></span> crying out: &#8220;Not there, my child!&#8221; threw a snow-ball
+from a distance of ten feet and struck the poor little Christopher
+Columbus George Washington Lafayette so severe a blow as to throw him
+off his feet. Quick as a flash, Jack charged on Riley, and sent a
+snow-ball into his face. An instant later he tripped him with his foot
+and rolled the big, scared fellow into the snow and washed his face
+well, leaving half a snow-bank down his back.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What makes you so savage?&#8221; whined Riley. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t snow-ball you.&#8221; And
+Riley looked around for Pewee, who was on the other side of the
+school-house, and out of sight of the scuffle.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, you daren&#8217;t snow-ball me,&#8221; said Jack, squeezing another ball and
+throwing it into Riley&#8217;s shirt-front with a certainty of aim that showed
+that he knew how to play ball. &#8220;Take that one, too, and if<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_42" id="pg_42">42</a></span> you bother
+Lum Risdale again, I&#8217;ll make you pay for it. Take a boy of your size.&#8221;
+And with that he moulded yet another ball, but Riley retreated to the
+other side of the school-house.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_43" id="pg_43">43</a></span>
+<a name="WHILING_AWAY_TIME_771" id="WHILING_AWAY_TIME_771"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+<h3>WHILING AWAY TIME</h3>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width:123px">
+<a name="illus-001" id="illus-001"></a>
+<img src="images/illus-ttt.png" alt="DIAGRAM OF TEE-TAH-TOE BOARD." title="" width="123" /><br />
+<span class="caption">DIAGRAM OF TEE-TAH-TOE BOARD.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Excluded from the plays of the older fellows, Jack drew around him a
+circle of small boys, who were always glad to be amused with the stories
+of hunting, fishing, and frontier adventure that he had heard from old
+pioneers on Wildcat Creek. Sometimes he played &#8220;tee-tah-toe, three in a
+row,&#8221; with the girls, using a slate and pencil in a way well known to
+all school-children. And he also showed them a better kind of
+&#8220;tee-tah-toe,&#8221; learned on the Wildcat, and which may have been in the
+first place an Indian game, as it is played with grains of Indian<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_44" id="pg_44">44</a></span> corn.
+A piece of board is grooved with a jack-knife in the manner shown in the
+diagram.</p>
+
+<p>One player has three red or yellow grains of corn, and the other an
+equal number of white ones. The player who won the last game has the
+&#8220;go&#8221;&mdash;that is, he first puts down a grain of corn at any place where the
+lines intersect, but usually in the middle, as that is the best point.
+Then the other player puts down one, and so on until all are down. After
+this, the players move alternately along any of the lines, in any
+direction, to the next intersection, provided it is not already
+occupied. The one who first succeeds in getting his three grains in a
+row wins the point, and the board is cleared for a new start. As there
+are always three vacant points, and as the rows may be formed in any
+direction along any of the lines, the game gives a chance for more
+variety of combinations than one would expect from its appearance.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:562px">
+<a name="illus-002" id="illus-002"></a>
+<img src="images/illus-044.jpg" alt="JACK AMUSING THE SMALL BOYS WITH STORIES OF HUNTING, FISHING, AND FRONTIER ADVENTURE." title="" width="562" /><br />
+<span class="caption">JACK AMUSING THE SMALL BOYS WITH STORIES OF HUNTING, FISHING, AND FRONTIER ADVENTURE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_45" id="pg_45">45</a></span>
+Jack had also an arithmetical puzzle which he had learned from his
+father, and which many of the readers of this story will know, perhaps.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Set down any number, without letting me know what it is,&#8221; said he to
+Joanna Merwin.</p>
+
+<p>She set down a number.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now add twelve and multiply by two.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, that is done,&#8221; said Joanna.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Divide by four, subtract half of the number first set down, and your
+answer will be six.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, but how did you know that I put down sixty-four?&#8221; said Joanna.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t,&#8221; said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How could you tell the answer, then?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s for you to find out.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This puzzle excited a great deal of curiosity.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_46" id="pg_46">46</a></span> To add to the wonder of
+the scholars, Jack gave each time a different number to be added in, and
+sometimes he varied the multiplying and dividing. Harvey Collins, who
+was of a studious turn, puzzled over it a long time, and at last he
+found it out; but he did not tell the secret. He contented himself with
+giving out a number to Jack and telling his result. To the rest it was
+quite miraculous, and Riley turned green with jealousy when he found the
+girls and boys refusing to listen to his jokes, but gathering about Jack
+to test his ability to &#8220;guess the answer,&#8221; as they phrased it. Riley
+said he knew how it was done, and he was even foolish enough to try to
+do it, by watching the slate-pencil, or by sheer guessing, but this only
+brought him into ridicule.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Try me once,&#8221; said the little C. C. G. W. M. de L. Risdale, and Jack
+let Columbus<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_47" id="pg_47">47</a></span> set down a figure and carry it through the various
+processes until he told him the result. Lummy grew excited, pushed his
+thin hands up into his hair, looked at his slate a minute, and then
+squeaked out:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh&mdash;let me see&mdash;yes&mdash;no&mdash;yes&mdash;Oh, I see! Your answer is just half the
+amount added in, because you have&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But here Jack placed his hand over Columbus&#8217;s mouth.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can see through a pine door, Lummy, but you mustn&#8217;t let out my
+secret,&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>But Jack had a boy&#8217;s heart in him, and he longed for some more boy-like
+amusement.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_48" id="pg_48">48</a></span>
+<a name="A_BATTLE_869" id="A_BATTLE_869"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+<h3>A BATTLE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>One morning, when Jack proposed to play a game of ball with the boys,
+Riley and Pewee came up and entered the game, and objected.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t interesting to play with greenhorns,&#8221; said Will. &#8220;If Jack
+plays, little Christopher Columbus Andsoforth will want to play, too;
+and then there&#8217;ll be two babies to teach. I can&#8217;t be always helping
+babies. Let Jack play two-hole cat or Anthony-over with the little
+fellows.&#8221; To which answer Pewee assented, of course.</p>
+
+<p>That day at noon Riley came to Jack, with a most gentle tone and winning
+manner, and whiningly begged Jack to show him how to divide 770 by 14.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_49" id="pg_49">49</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t interesting to show greenhorns,&#8221; said Jack, mimicking Riley&#8217;s
+tone on the playground that morning. &#8220;If I show you, Pewee Rose will
+want me to show him; then there&#8217;ll be two babies to teach. I can&#8217;t be
+always helping babies. Go and play two-hole cat with the First-Reader
+boys.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>That afternoon, Mr. Ball had the satisfaction of using his new beech
+switches on both Riley and Pewee, though indeed Pewee did not deserve to
+be punished for not getting his lesson. It was Nature&#8217;s doing that his
+head, like a goat&#8217;s, was made for butting and not for thinking.</p>
+
+<p>But if he had to take whippings from the master and his father, he made
+it a rule to get satisfaction out of somebody else. If Jack had helped
+him he wouldn&#8217;t have missed. If he had not missed his lesson badly, Mr.
+Ball would not have whipped<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_50" id="pg_50">50</a></span> him. It would be inconvenient to whip Mr.
+Ball in return, but Jack would be easy to manage, and as somebody must
+be whipped, it fell to Jack&#8217;s lot to take it.</p>
+
+<p>King Pewee did not fall upon his victim at the school-house door; this
+would have insured him another beating from the master. Nor did he
+attack Jack while Bob Holliday was with him. Bob was big and strong&mdash;a
+great fellow of sixteen. But after Jack had passed the gate of Bob&#8217;s
+house, and was walking on toward home alone, Pewee came out from behind
+an alley fence, accompanied by Ben Berry and Will Riley.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to settle with you now,&#8221; said King Pewee, sidling up to Jack
+like an angry bull-dog.</p>
+
+<p>It was not a bright prospect for Jack, and he cast about him for a
+chance to escape a brutal encounter with such a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_51" id="pg_51">51</a></span> bully, and yet avoid
+actually running away.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Jack, &#8220;if I must fight, I must. But I suppose you won&#8217;t let
+Riley and Berry help you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, I&#8217;ll fight fair.&#8221; And Pewee threw off his coat, while Jack did the
+same.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll quit when I say &#8216;enough,&#8217; won&#8217;t you?&#8221; said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I&#8217;ll fight fair, and hold up when you&#8217;ve got enough.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, for that matter, I&#8217;ve got enough now. I&#8217;ll take the will
+for the deed and just say &#8216;enough&#8217; before you begin,&#8221; and he turned to
+pick up his coat.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, you don&#8217;t get off that way,&#8221; said Pewee. &#8220;You&#8217;ve got to stand up
+and see who is the best man, or I&#8217;ll kick you all the way home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Didn&#8217;t you ever hear about Davy Crockett&#8217;s &#8217;coon?&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;When the
+&#8217;coon saw him taking aim, it said: &#8216;Is that<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_52" id="pg_52">52</a></span> you, Crockett? Well, don&#8217;t
+fire&mdash;I&#8217;ll come down anyway. I know you&#8217;ll hit anything you shoot at.&#8217;
+Now, I&#8217;m that &#8217;coon. If it was anybody but you, I&#8217;d fight. But as it&#8217;s
+you, Pewee, I might just as well come down before you begin.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Pewee was flattered by this way of putting the question. Had he been
+alone, Jack would have escaped. But Will Riley, remembering all he had
+endured from Jack&#8217;s retorts, said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, give it to him, Pewee; he&#8217;s always making trouble.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At which Pewee squared himself off, doubled up his fists, and came at
+the slenderer Jack. The latter prepared to meet him, but, after all, it
+was hard for Pewee to beat so good-humored a fellow as Jack. The king&#8217;s
+heart failed him, and suddenly he backed off, saying:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you&#8217;ll agree to help Riley and me out<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_53" id="pg_53">53</a></span> with our lessons hereafter,
+I&#8217;ll let you off. If you don&#8217;t, I&#8217;ll thrash you within an inch of your
+life.&#8221; And Pewee stood ready to begin.</p>
+
+<p>Jack wanted to escape the merciless beating that Pewee had in store for
+him. But it was quite impossible for him to submit under a threat. So he
+answered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you and Riley will treat me as you ought to, I&#8217;ll help you when you
+ask me, as I always have. But even if you pound me into jelly I won&#8217;t
+agree to help you, unless you treat me right. I won&#8217;t be bullied into
+helping you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Give it to him, Pewee,&#8221; said Ben Berry; &#8220;he&#8217;s too sassy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Pewee was a rather good-natured dog&mdash;he had to be set on. He now began
+to strike at Jack. Whether he was to be killed or not, Jack did not
+know, but he was resolved not to submit to the bully.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_54" id="pg_54">54</a></span> Yet he could not
+do much at defence against Pewee&#8217;s hard fists. However, Jack was active
+and had long limbs; he soon saw that he must do something more than
+stand up to be beaten. So, when King Pewee, fighting in the irregular
+Western fashion, and hoping to get a decided advantage at once, rushed
+upon Jack and pulled his head forward, Jack stooped lower than his enemy
+expected, and, thrusting his head between Pewee&#8217;s knees, shoved his legs
+from under him, and by using all his strength threw Pewee over his own
+back, so that the king&#8217;s nose and eyes fell into the dust of the village
+street.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll pay you for that,&#8221; growled Pewee, as he recovered himself, now
+thoroughly infuriated; and with a single blow he sent Jack flat on his
+back, and then proceeded to pound him. Jack could do nothing now but
+shelter his eyes from Pewee&#8217;s blows.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_55" id="pg_55">55</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Joanna Merwin had seen the beginning of the battle from her father&#8217;s
+house, and feeling sure that Jack would be killed, she had run swiftly
+down the garden walk to the back gate, through which she slipped into
+the alley; and then she hurried on, as fast as her feet would carry her,
+to the blacksmith-shop of Pewee Rose&#8217;s father.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, please, Mr. Rose, come quick! Pewee&#8217;s just killing a boy in the
+street.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Vitin&#8217; ag&#8217;in,&#8221; said Mr. Rose, who was a Pennsylvanian from the
+limestone country, and spoke English with difficulty. &#8220;He ees a leetle
+ruffen, dat poy. I&#8217;ll see apout him right avay a&#8217;ready, may be.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And without waiting to put off his leathern apron, he walked briskly in
+the direction indicated by Joanna. Pewee was hammering Jack without
+pity, when suddenly he was caught by the collar and lifted sharply to
+his feet.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_56" id="pg_56">56</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wot you doin&#8217; down dare in de dirt wunst a&#8217;ready? Hey?&#8221; said Mr. Rose,
+as he shook his son with the full force of his right arm, and cuffed him
+with his left hand. &#8220;Didn&#8217;t I dells you I&#8217;d gill you some day if you
+didn&#8217;t gwit vitin&#8217; mit oder poys, a&#8217;ready?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He commenced it,&#8221; whimpered Pewee.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You dells a pig lie a&#8217;ready, I beleefs, Peter, and I&#8217;ll whip you fur
+lyin&#8217; besides wunst more. Fellers like <i>him</i>,&#8221; pointing to Jack, who was
+brushing the dust off his clothes,&mdash;&#8220;fellers like him don&#8217;t gommence on
+such a poy as you. You&#8217;re such anoder viter I never seed.&#8221; And he shook
+Pewee savagely.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t do it no more,&#8221; begged Pewee&mdash;&#8220;&#8217;pon my word and honor I won&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you don&#8217;t gits off dat away no more, a&#8217;ready. You know what I&#8217;ll
+giff<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_57" id="pg_57">57</a></span> you when I git you home, you leedle ruffen. I shows you how to
+vite, a&#8217;ready.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And the king disappeared down the street, begging like a spaniel, and
+vowing that he &#8220;wouldn&#8217;t do it no more.&#8221; But he got a severe whipping, I
+fear;&mdash;it is doubtful if such beatings ever do any good. The next
+morning Jack appeared at school with a black eye, and Pewee had some
+scratches, so the master whipped them both for fighting.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_58" id="pg_58">58</a></span>
+<a name="HATBALL_AND_BULLPEN_1033" id="HATBALL_AND_BULLPEN_1033"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+<h3>HAT-BALL AND BULL-PEN</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Pewee did not renew the quarrel with Jack&mdash;perhaps from fear of the
+rawhide that hung in the blacksmith&#8217;s shop, or of the master&#8217;s ox-goad,
+or of Bob Holliday&#8217;s fists, or perhaps from a hope of conciliating Jack
+and getting occasional help in his lessons. Jack was still excluded from
+the favorite game of &#8220;bull-pen.&#8221; I am not sure that he would have been
+rejected had he asked for admission, but he did not want to risk another
+refusal. He planned a less direct way of getting into the game. Asking
+his mother for a worn-out stocking, and procuring an old boot-top, he
+ravelled the stocking, winding the yarn into a ball of medium hardness.
+Then he cut from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_59" id="pg_59">59</a></span> boot-top a square of leather large enough for his
+purpose. This he laid on the kitchen-table, and proceeded to mark off
+and cut it into the shape of an orange-peel that has been quartered off
+the orange, leaving the four quarters joined together at the middle.
+This leather he put to soak over night. The next morning, bright and
+early, with a big needle and some strong thread he sewed it around his
+yarn-ball, stretching the wet leather to its utmost, so that when it
+should contract the ball should be firm and hard, and the leather well
+moulded to it. Such a ball is far better for all play in which the
+player is to be hit than those sold in the stores nowadays. I have
+described the manufacture of the old-fashioned home-made ball, because
+there are some boys, especially in the towns, who have lost the art of
+making yarn balls.</p>
+
+<p>When Jack had finished his ball, he let<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_60" id="pg_60">60</a></span> it dry, while he ate his
+breakfast and did his chores. Then he sallied out and found Bob
+Holliday, and showed him the result of his work. Bob squeezed it, felt
+its weight, bounced it against a wall, tossed it high in the air, caught
+it, and then bounced it on the ground. Having thus &#8220;put it through its
+paces,&#8221; he pronounced it an excellent ball,&mdash;&#8220;a good deal better than
+Ben Berry&#8217;s ball. But what are you going to do with it?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;Play
+Anthony-over? The little boys can play that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I suppose there are boys in these days who do not know what
+&#8220;Anthony-over&#8221; is. How, indeed, can anybody play Anthony-over in a
+crowded city?</p>
+
+<p>The old one-story village school-houses stood generally in an open
+green. The boys divided into two parties, the one going on one side, and
+the other on the opposite side of the school-house. The party that had<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_61" id="pg_61">61</a></span>
+the ball would shout &#8220;Anthony!&#8221; The others responded, &#8220;Over!&#8221; To this,
+answer was made from the first party, &#8220;Over she comes!&#8221; and the ball was
+immediately thrown over the school-house. If any of the second party
+caught it, they rushed, pell-mell, around both ends of the school-house
+to the other side, and that one of them who held the ball essayed to hit
+some one of the opposite party before they could exchange sides. If a
+boy was hit by the ball thus thrown he was counted as captured to the
+opposite party, and he gave all his efforts to beat his old allies. So
+the game went on, until all the players of one side were captured by the
+others. I don&#8217;t know what Anthony means in this game, but no doubt the
+game is hundreds of years old, and was played in English villages before
+the first colony came to Jamestown.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_62" id="pg_62">62</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not going to play Anthony-over,&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;I&#8217;m going to show King
+Pewee a new trick.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t get up a game of bull-pen on your own hook, and play the four
+corners and the ring all by yourself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, I don&#8217;t mean that. I&#8217;m going to show the boys how to play
+hat-ball&mdash;a game they used to play on the Wildcat.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I see your point. You are going to make Pewee ask you to let him in,&#8221;
+said Bob, and the two boys set out for school together, Jack explaining
+the game to Bob. They found one or two boys already there, and when Jack
+showed his new ball and proposed a new game, they fell in with it.</p>
+
+<p>The boys stood their hats in a row on the grass. The one with the ball
+stood over the row of hats, and swung his hand to and fro above them,
+while the boys stood by him, prepared to run as soon as<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_63" id="pg_63">63</a></span> the ball should
+drop into a hat. The boy who held the ball, after one or two false
+motions,&mdash;now toward this hat, and now toward that one,&mdash;would drop the
+ball into Somebody&#8217;s hat. Somebody would rush to his hat, seize the
+ball, and throw it at one of the other boys, who were fleeing in all
+directions. If he hit Somebody-Else, Somebody-Else might throw from
+where the ball lay, or from the hats, at the rest, and so on, until some
+one missed. The one who missed took up his hat and left the play, and
+the boy who picked up the ball proceeded to drop it into a hat, and the
+game went on until all but one were put out.</p>
+
+<p>Hat-ball is so simple that any number can play at it, and Jack&#8217;s friends
+found it so full of boisterous fun, that every new-comer wished to set
+down his hat. And thus, by the time Pewee and Riley arrived, half the
+larger boys in the school were in<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_64" id="pg_64">64</a></span> the game, and there were not enough
+left to make a good game of bull-pen.</p>
+
+<p>At noon, the new game drew the attention of the boys again, and Riley
+and Pewee tried in vain to coax them away.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I say, come on, fellows!&#8221; Riley would say. &#8220;Come&mdash;let&#8217;s play
+something worth playing.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But the boys stayed by the new game and the new ball. Neither Riley, nor
+Pewee, nor Ben Berry liked to ask to be let into the game, after what
+had passed. Not one of them had spoken to Jack since the battle between
+him and Pewee, and they didn&#8217;t care to play with Jack&#8217;s ball in a game
+of his starting.</p>
+
+<p>Once the other boys had broken away from Pewee&#8217;s domination, they were
+pleased to feel themselves free. As for Pewee and his friends, they
+climbed up on a fence, and sat like three crows, watching the play<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_65" id="pg_65">65</a></span> of
+the others. After a while they got down in disgust, and went off, not
+knowing just what to do. When once they were out of sight, Jack winked
+at Bob, who said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I say, boys, we can play hat-ball at recess when there isn&#8217;t time for
+bull-pen. Let&#8217;s have a game of bull-pen now, before school takes up.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was done in a minute. Bob Holliday and Tom Taylor &#8220;chose up sides,&#8221;
+the bases were all ready, and by the time Pewee and his aides-de-camp
+had walked disconsolately to the pond and back, the boys were engaged in
+a good game of bull-pen.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps I ought to say something about the principles of a game so
+little known over the country at large. I have never seen it played
+anywhere but in a narrow bit of country on the Ohio River, and yet there
+is no merrier game played with a ball.</p>
+
+<p>The ball must not be too hard. There<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_66" id="pg_66">66</a></span> should be four or more corners.
+The space inside is called the pen, and the party winning the last game
+always has the corners. The ball is tossed from one corner to another,
+and when it has gone around once, any boy on a corner may, immediately
+after catching the ball thrown to him from any of the four corners,
+throw it at any one in the pen. He must throw while &#8220;the ball is
+hot,&#8221;&mdash;that is, instantly on catching it. If he fails to hit anybody on
+the other side, he goes out. If he hits, his side leave the corners and
+run as they please, for the boy who has been hit may throw from where
+the ball fell, or from any corner, at any one of the side holding the
+corners. If one of them is hit, he has the same privilege; but now the
+men in the pen are allowed to scatter, also. Whoever misses is &#8220;out,&#8221;
+and the play is resumed from the corners until all of one side is out.
+When<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_67" id="pg_67">67</a></span> but two are left on the corners the ball is smuggled,&mdash;that is,
+one hides the ball in his bosom, and the other pretends that he has it
+also. The boys in the ring do not know which has it, and the two &#8220;run
+the corners,&#8221; throwing from any corner. If but one is left on the
+corners, he is allowed, also, to run from corner to corner.</p>
+
+<p>It happened that Jack&#8217;s side lost on the toss-up for corners, and he got
+into the ring, where his play showed better than it would have done on
+the corners. As Jack was the greenhorn and the last chosen on his side,
+the players on the corners expected to make light work of him; but he
+was an adroit dodger, and he put out three of the boys on the corners by
+his unexpected way of evading a ball. Everybody who has ever played this
+fine old game knows that expertness in dodging is worth quite as much as
+skill in throwing. Pewee<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_68" id="pg_68">68</a></span> was a famous hand with a ball, Riley could
+dodge well, Ben Berry had a happy knack of dropping flat upon the ground
+and letting a ball pass over him, Bob Holliday could run well in a
+counter charge; but nothing could be more effective than Jack Dudley&#8217;s
+quiet way of stepping forward or backward, bending his lithe body or
+spreading his legs to let the ball pass, according to the course which
+it took from the player&#8217;s hand.</p>
+
+<p>King Pewee and company came back in time to see Jack dodge three balls
+thrown point-blank at him from a distance of fifteen feet. It was like
+witchcraft&mdash;he seemed to be charmed. Every dodge was greeted with a
+shout, and when once he luckily caught the ball thrown at him, and thus
+put out the thrower, there was no end of admiration of his playing. It
+was now evident to all that Jack could no longer be<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_69" id="pg_69">69</a></span> excluded from the
+game, and that, next to Pewee himself, he was already the best player on
+the ground.</p>
+
+<p>At recess that afternoon Pewee set his hat down in the hat-ball row, and
+as Jack did not object, Riley and Ben Berry did the same. The next day
+Pewee chose Jack first in bull-pen, and the game was well played.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_70" id="pg_70">70</a></span>
+<a name="THE_DEFENDER_1207" id="THE_DEFENDER_1207"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+<h3>THE DEFENDER</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>If Jack had not about this time undertaken the defence of the little boy
+in the Fourth Reader, whose name was large enough to cover the principal
+points in the history of the New World, he might have had peace, for
+Jack was no longer one of the newest scholars, his courage was respected
+by Pewee, and he kept poor Riley in continual fear of his
+ridicule&mdash;making him smart every day. But, just when he might have had a
+little peace and happiness, he became the defender of Christopher
+Columbus George Washington Marquis de la Fayette Risdale&mdash;little
+&#8220;Andsoforth,&#8221; as Riley and the other boys had nicknamed him.</p>
+
+<p>The strange, pinched little body of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_71" id="pg_71">71</a></span> boy, his eccentric ways, his
+quickness in learning, and his infantile simplicity had all conspired to
+win the affection of Jack, so that he would have protected him even
+without the solicitation of Susan Lanham. But since Susan had been
+Jack&#8217;s own first and fast friend, he felt in honor bound to run all
+risks in the care of her strange little cousin.</p>
+
+<p>I think that Columbus&#8217;s child-like ways might have protected him even
+from Riley and his set, if it had not been that he was related to Susan
+Lanham, and under her protection. It was the only chance for Riley to
+revenge himself on Susan. She was more than a match for him in wit, and
+she was not a proper subject for Pewee&#8217;s fists. So with that
+heartlessness which belongs to the school-boy bully, he resolved to
+torment the helpless fellow in revenge for Susan&#8217;s sarcasms.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_72" id="pg_72">72</a></span></p>
+
+<p>One morning, smarting under some recent taunt of Susan&#8217;s, Riley caught
+little Columbus almost alone in the school-room. Here was a boy who
+certainly would not be likely to strike back again. His bamboo legs, his
+spindling arms, his pale face, his contracted chest, all gave the coward
+a perfect assurance of safety. So, with a rude pretence at play,
+laughing all the time, he caught the lad by the throat, and in spite of
+his weird dignity and pleading gentleness, shoved him back against the
+wall behind the master&#8217;s empty chair. Holding him here a minute in
+suspense, he began slapping him, first on this side of the face and then
+on that. The pale cheeks burned red with pain and fright, but Columbus
+did not cry out, though the constantly increasing sharpness of the
+blows, and the sense of weakness, degradation, and terror, stung him
+severely. Riley thought it funny. Like a cat playing with a condemned<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_73" id="pg_73">73</a></span>
+mouse, the cruel fellow actually enjoyed finding one person weak enough
+to be afraid of him.</p>
+
+<p>Columbus twisted about in a vain endeavor to escape from Riley&#8217;s
+clutches, getting only a sharper cuff for his pains. Ben Berry, arriving
+presently, enjoyed the sport, while some of the smaller boys and girls,
+coming in, looked on the scene of torture in helpless pity. And ever, as
+more and more of the scholars gathered, Columbus felt more and more
+mortified; the tears were in his great sad eyes, but he made no sound of
+crying or complaint.</p>
+
+<p>Jack Dudley came in at last, and marched straight up to Riley, who let
+go his hold and backed off. &#8220;You mean, cowardly, pitiful villain!&#8221; broke
+out Jack, advancing on him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t do anything to you,&#8221; whined Riley, backing into a corner.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, but I mean to do something to<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_74" id="pg_74">74</a></span> you. If there&#8217;s an inch of man in
+you, come right on and fight with me. You daren&#8217;t do it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want any quarrel with you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, you quarrel with babies.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Here all the boys and girls jeered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re too hard on a fellow, Jack,&#8221; whined the scared Riley, slipping
+out of the corner and continuing to back down the school-room, while
+Jack kept slowly following him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re a great deal bigger than I am,&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;Why don&#8217;t you try to
+corner me? Oh, I could just beat the breath out of you, you great, big,
+good-for-nothing&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Here Riley pulled the west door open, and Jack, at the same moment,
+struck him. Riley half dropped, half fell, through the door-way, scared
+so badly that he went sprawling on the ground.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_75" id="pg_75">75</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The boys shouted &#8220;coward&#8221; and &#8220;baby&#8221; after him as he sneaked off, but
+Jack went back to comfort Columbus and to get control of his temper. For
+it is not wise, as Jack soon reflected, even in a good cause to lose
+your self-control.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It was good of you to interfere,&#8221; said Susan, when she had come in and
+learned all about it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I should have been a brute if I hadn&#8217;t,&#8221; said Jack, pleased none the
+less with her praise. &#8220;But it doesn&#8217;t take any courage to back Riley out
+of a school-house. One could get more fight out of a yearling calf. I
+suppose I&#8217;ve got to take a beating from Pewee, though.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Go and see him about it, before Riley talks to him,&#8221; suggested Susan.
+And Jack saw the prudence of this course. As he left the school-house at
+a rapid pace, Ben Berry told Riley, who was skulking behind a fence,
+that Jack was afraid of Pewee.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_76" id="pg_76">76</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pewee,&#8221; said Jack, when he met him starting to school, after having
+done his &#8220;chores,&#8221; including the milking of his cow,&mdash;&#8220;Pewee, I want to
+say something to you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Jack&#8217;s tone and manner flattered Pewee. One thing that keeps a rowdy a
+rowdy is the thought that better people despise him. Pewee felt in his
+heart that Jack had a contempt for him, and this it was that made him
+hate Jack in turn. But now that the latter sought him in a friendly way,
+he felt himself lifted up into a dignity hitherto unknown to him. &#8220;What
+is it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are a kind of king among the boys,&#8221; said Jack. Pewee grew an inch
+taller.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They are all afraid of you. Now, why don&#8217;t you make us fellows behave?
+You ought to protect the little boys from fellows that impose on them.
+Then you&#8217;d be a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_77" id="pg_77">77</a></span> king worth the having. All the boys and girls would
+like you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I s&#8217;pose may be that&#8217;s so,&#8221; said the king.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s poor little Columbus Risdale&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t like him,&#8221; said Pewee.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You mean you don&#8217;t like Susan. She <i>is</i> a little sharp with her tongue.
+But you wouldn&#8217;t fight with a baby&mdash;it isn&#8217;t like you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, sir-ee,&#8221; said Pewee.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;d rather take a big boy than a little one. Now, you ought to make
+Riley let Lummy alone.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll do that,&#8221; said Pewee. &#8220;Riley&#8217;s about a million times bigger than
+Lum.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I went to the school-house this morning,&#8221; continued Jack, &#8220;and I found
+Riley choking and beating him. And I thought I&#8217;d just speak to you, and
+see if you can&#8217;t make him stop it.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_78" id="pg_78">78</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll do that,&#8221; said Pewee, walking along with great dignity.</p>
+
+<p>When Ben Berry and Riley saw Pewee coming in company with Jack, they
+were amazed and hung their heads, afraid to say anything even to each
+other. Jack and Pewee walked straight up to the fence-corner in which
+they stood.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I thought I&#8217;d see what King Pewee would say about your fighting with
+babies, Riley,&#8221; said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I want you fellows to understand,&#8221; said Pewee, &#8220;that I&#8217;m not going to
+have that little Lum Risdale hurt. If you want to fight, why don&#8217;t you
+fight somebody your own size? I don&#8217;t fight babies myself,&#8221; and here
+Pewee drew his head up, &#8220;and I don&#8217;t stand by any boy that does.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Poor Riley felt the last support drop from under him. Pewee had deserted
+him, and he was now an orphan, unprotected in an unfriendly world!<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_79" id="pg_79">79</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Jack knew that the truce with so vain a fellow as Pewee could not last
+long, but it served its purpose for the time. And when, after school,
+Susan Lanham took pains to go and thank Pewee for standing up for
+Columbus, Pewee felt himself every inch a king, and for the time he
+was&mdash;if not a &#8220;reformed prize-fighter,&#8221; such as one hears of sometimes,
+at least an improved boy. The trouble with vain people like Pewee is,
+that they have no stability. They bend the way the wind blows, and for
+the most part the wind blows from the wrong quarter.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_80" id="pg_80">80</a></span>
+<a name="PIGEON_POTPIE_1378" id="PIGEON_POTPIE_1378"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+<h3>PIGEON POT-PIE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Happy boys and girls that go to school nowadays! You have to study
+harder than the generations before you, it is true; you miss the jolly
+spelling-schools, and the good old games that were not half so
+scientific as base-ball, lawn tennis, or lacrosse, but that had ten
+times more fun and frolic in them; but all this is made up to you by the
+fact that you escape the tyrannical old master. Whatever the faults the
+teachers of this day may have, they do not generally lacerate the backs
+of their pupils, as did some of their fore-runners.</p>
+
+<p>At the time of which I write, thirty years ago, a better race of
+school-masters was crowding out the old, but many of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_81" id="pg_81">81</a></span> latter class,
+with their terrible switches and cruel beatings, kept their ground until
+they died off one by one, and relieved the world of their odious ways.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Ball wouldn&#8217;t die to please anybody. He was a bachelor, and had no
+liking for children, but taught school five or six months in winter to
+avoid having to work on a farm in the summer. He had taught in Greenbank
+every winter for a quarter of a century, and having never learned to win
+anybody&#8217;s affection, had been obliged to teach those who disliked him.
+This atmosphere of mutual dislike will sour the sweetest temper, and Mr.
+Ball&#8217;s temper had not been strained honey to begin with. Year by year he
+grew more and more severe&mdash;he whipped for poor lessons, he whipped for
+speaking in school, he took down his switch for not speaking loud enough
+in class, he whipped for coming<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_82" id="pg_82">82</a></span> late to school, he whipped because a
+scholar made a noise with his feet, and he whipped because he himself
+had eaten something unwholesome for his breakfast. The brutality of a
+master produces like qualities in scholars. The boys drew caricatures on
+the blackboard, put living cats or dead ones into Mr. Ball&#8217;s desk, and
+tried to drive him wild by their many devices.</p>
+
+<p>He would walk up and down the school-room seeking a victim, and he had as
+much pleasure in beating a girl or a little boy as in punishing an
+overgrown fellow.</p>
+
+<p>And yet I cannot say that Mr. Ball was impartial. There were some pupils
+that escaped. Susan Lanham was not punished, because her father, Dr.
+Lanham, was a very influential man in the town; and the faults of Henry
+Weathervane and his sister were always overlooked after their father
+became a school trustee.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_83" id="pg_83">83</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Many efforts had been made to put a new master into the school. But Mr.
+Ball&#8217;s brother-in-law was one of the principal merchants in the place,
+and the old man had had the school so long that it seemed like robbery
+to deprive him of it. It had come, in some sort, to belong to him.
+People hated to see him moved. He would die some day, they said, and
+nobody could deny that, though it often seemed to the boys and girls
+that he would never die; he was more likely to dry up and blow away. And
+it was a long time to wait for that.</p>
+
+<p>And yet I think Greenbank might have had to wait for something like that
+if there hadn&#8217;t come a great flight of pigeons just at this time. For
+whenever Susan Lanham suggested to her father that he should try to get
+Mr. Ball removed and a new teacher appointed, Dr. Lanham smiled and
+said<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_84" id="pg_84">84</a></span> &#8220;he hated to move against the old man; he&#8217;s been there so long,
+you know, and he probably wouldn&#8217;t live long, anyhow. Something ought to
+be done, perhaps, but he couldn&#8217;t meddle with him.&#8221; For older people
+forgot the beatings they had endured, and remembered the old man only as
+one of the venerable landmarks of their childhood.</p>
+
+<p>And so, by favor of Henry Weathervane&#8217;s father, whose children he did
+not punish, and by favor of other people&#8217;s neglect and forgetfulness,
+the Greenbank children might have had to face and fear the old ogre down
+to this day, or until he dried up and blew away, if it hadn&#8217;t been, as I
+said, that there came a great flight of pigeons.</p>
+
+<p>A flight of pigeons is not uncommon in the Ohio River country. Audubon,
+the great naturalist, saw them in his day, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_85" id="pg_85">85</a></span> in old colonial times
+such flights took place in the settlements on the sea-board, and
+sometimes the starving colonists were able to knock down pigeons with
+sticks. The mathematician is not yet born who can count the number of
+pigeons in one of these sky-darkening flocks, which are often many miles
+in length, and which follow one another for a whole day. The birds, for
+the most part, fly at a considerable height from the earth, but when
+they are crossing a wide valley, like that of the Ohio River, they drop
+down to a lower level, and so reach the hills quite close to the ground,
+and within easy gunshot.</p>
+
+<p>When the pigeon flight comes on Saturday, it is very convenient for
+those boys that have guns. If these pigeons had only come on Saturday
+instead of on Monday, Mr. Ball might have taught the Greenbank school
+until to-day,&mdash;that is to say,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_86" id="pg_86">86</a></span> if he hadn&#8217;t died or quite dried up and
+blown off meanwhile.</p>
+
+<p>For when Riley and Ben Berry saw this flight of pigeons begin on Monday
+morning, they remembered that the geography lesson was a hard one, and
+so they played &#8220;hooky,&#8221; and, taking their guns with them, hid in the
+bushes at the top of the hill. Then, as the birds struck the hill, and
+beat their way up over the brow of it, the boys, lying in ambush, had
+only to fire into the flock without taking aim, and the birds would drop
+all around them. The discharge of the guns made Bob Holliday so hungry
+for pigeon pot-pie, that he, too, ran away from school, at recess, and
+took his place among the pigeon-slayers in the paw-paw patch on the hill
+top.</p>
+
+<p>Tuesday morning, Mr. Ball came in with darkened brows, and three extra
+switches. Riley, Berry, and Holliday were called up<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_87" id="pg_87">87</a></span> as soon as school
+began. They had pigeon pot-pie for dinner, but they also had sore backs
+for three days, and Bob laughingly said that he knew just how a pigeon
+felt when it was basted.</p>
+
+<p>The day after the whipping and the pigeon pot-pie, when the sun shone
+warm at noon, the fire was allowed to go down in the stove. All were at
+play in the sunshine, excepting Columbus Risdale, who sat solitary, like
+a disconsolate screech-owl, in one corner of the room. Riley and Ben
+Berry, still smarting from yesterday, entered, and without observing
+Lummy&#8217;s presence, proceeded to put some gunpowder in the stove, taking
+pains to surround it with cool ashes, so that it should not explode
+until the stirring of the fire, as the chill of the afternoon should
+come on. When they had finished this dangerous transaction, they
+discovered the presence<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_88" id="pg_88">88</a></span> of Columbus in his corner, looking at them with
+large-eyed wonder and alarm.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you ever tell a living soul about that, we&#8217;ll kill you,&#8221; said Ben
+Berry.</p>
+
+<p>Riley also threatened the scared little rabbit, and both felt safe from
+detection.</p>
+
+<p>An hour after school had resumed its session. Columbus, who had sat
+shivering with terror all the time, wrote on his slate:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Will Riley and Ben B. put something in the stove. Said they would kill
+me if I told on them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This he passed to Jack, who sat next to him. Jack rubbed it out as soon
+as he had read it, and wrote:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t tell anybody.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Jack could not guess what they had put in. It might be coffee-nuts,
+which would explode harmlessly; it might be something that would give a
+bad smell in burning, such as chicken-feathers. If he had thought<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_89" id="pg_89">89</a></span> that
+it was gunpowder, he would have plucked up courage enough to give the
+master some warning, though he might have got only a whipping for his
+pains. While Jack was debating what he should do, the master called the
+Fourth-Reader class. At the close of the lesson he noticed that Columbus
+was shivering, though indeed it was more from terror than from cold.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Go to the stove and stir up the fire, and get warm,&#8221; he said, sternly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d&mdash;I&#8217;d rather not,&#8221; said Lum, shaking with fright at the idea.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Umph!&#8221; said Mr. Ball, looking hard at the lad, with half a mind to make
+him go. Then he changed his purpose and went to the stove himself, raked
+forward the coals, and made up the fire. Just as he was shutting the
+stove-door, the explosion came&mdash;the ashes flew out all over<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_90" id="pg_90">90</a></span> the master,
+the stove was thrown down from the bricks on which its four legs rested,
+the long pipe fell in many pieces on the floor, and the children set up
+a general howl in all parts of the room.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Mr. Ball had shaken off the ashes from his coat, he said: &#8220;Be
+quiet&mdash;there&#8217;s no more danger. Columbus Risdale, come here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He did not do it,&#8221; spoke up Susan Lanham.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Be quiet, Susan. You know all about this,&#8221; continued the master to poor
+little Columbus, who was so frightened as hardly to be able to stand.
+After looking at Columbus a moment, the master took down a great beech
+switch. &#8220;Now, I shall whip you until you tell me who did it. You were
+afraid to go to the stove. You knew there was powder there. Who put it
+there? That&#8217;s the question. Answer, quick, or I shall make you.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_91" id="pg_91">91</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The little skin-and-bones trembled between two terrors, and Jack, seeing
+his perplexity, got up and stood by him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He didn&#8217;t do it, Mr. Ball. I know who did it. If Columbus should tell
+you, he would be beaten for telling. The boy who did it is just mean
+enough to let Lummy get the whipping. Please let him off.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;<i>You</i> know, do you? I shall whip you both. You knew there was gunpowder
+in the fire, and you gave no warning. I shall whip you both&mdash;the
+severest whipping you ever had, too.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And the master put up the switch he had taken down, as not effective
+enough, and proceeded to take another.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If we had known it was gunpowder,&#8221; said Jack, beginning to tremble,
+&#8220;you would have been warned. But we didn&#8217;t. We only knew that something
+had been put in.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_92" id="pg_92">92</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you&#8217;ll tell all about it, I&#8217;ll let you off easier; if you don&#8217;t, I
+shall give you all the whipping I know how to give.&#8221; And by way of
+giving impressiveness to his threat he took a turn about the room, while
+there was an awful stillness among the terrified scholars.</p>
+
+<p>I do not know what was in Bob Holliday&#8217;s head, but about this time he
+managed to open the western door while the master&#8217;s back was turned.
+Bob&#8217;s desk was near the door.</p>
+
+<p>Poor little Columbus was ready to die, and Jack was afraid that, if the
+master should beat him as he threatened to do, the child would die
+outright. Luckily, at the second cruel blow, the master broke his switch
+and turned to get another. Seeing the door open, Jack whispered to
+Columbus:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Run home as fast as you can go.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The little fellow needed no second bidding.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_93" id="pg_93">93</a></span> He tottered on his
+trembling legs to the door, and was out before Mr. Ball had detected the
+motion. When the master saw his prey disappearing out of the door, he
+ran after him, but it happened curiously enough, in the excitement, that
+Bob Holliday, who sat behind the door, rose up, as if to look out, and
+stumbled against the door, thus pushing it shut, so that by the time Mr.
+Ball got his stiff legs outside the door, the frightened child was under
+such headway that, fearing to have the whole school in rebellion, the
+teacher gave over the pursuit, and came back prepared to wreak his
+vengeance on Jack.</p>
+
+<p>While Mr. Ball was outside the door, Bob Holliday called to Jack, in a
+loud whisper, that he had better run, too, or the old master would &#8220;skin
+him alive.&#8221; But Jack had been trained to submit to authority, and to run
+away now would lose him his winter&#8217;s schooling, on which<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_94" id="pg_94">94</a></span> he had set
+great store. He made up his mind to face the punishment as best he
+could, fleeing only as a last resort if the beating should be
+unendurable.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; said the master to Jack, &#8220;will you tell me who put that gunpowder
+in the stove? If you don&#8217;t, I&#8217;ll take it out of your skin.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Jack could not bear to tell, especially under a threat. I think that
+boys are not wholly right in their notion that it is dishonorable to
+inform on a school-mate, especially in the case of so bad an offence as
+that of which Will and Ben were guilty. But, on the other hand, the last
+thing a master ought to seek is to turn boys into habitual spies and
+informers on one another. In the present instance, Jack ought, perhaps,
+to have told, for the offence was criminal; but it is hard for a
+high-spirited lad to yield to a brutal threat.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_95" id="pg_95">95</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Jack caught sight of Susan Lanham telegraphing from behind the master,
+by spelling with her fingers:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Tell or run.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But he could not make up his mind to do either, though Bob Holliday had
+again mysteriously opened the western door.</p>
+
+<p>The master summoned all his strength and struck him half a dozen blows,
+that made poor Jack writhe. Then he walked up and down the room awhile,
+to give the victim time to consider whether he would tell or not.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Run,&#8221; spelled out Susan on her fingers.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The school-house is on fire!&#8221; called out Bob Holliday. Some of the
+coals that had spilled from the capsized stove were burning the
+floor&mdash;not dangerously, but Bob wished to make a diversion. He rushed
+for a pail of water in the corner, and all the rest, aching with
+suppressed<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_96" id="pg_96">96</a></span> excitement, crowded around the fallen stove, so that it was
+hard for the master to tell whether there was any fire or not. Bob
+whispered to Jack to &#8220;cut sticks,&#8221; but Jack only went to his seat.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lay hold, boys, and let&#8217;s put up the stove,&#8221; said Bob, taking the
+matter quite out of the master&#8217;s hands. Of course, the stove-pipe would
+not fit without a great deal of trouble. Did ever stove-pipe go together
+without trouble? Somehow, all the joints that Bob joined together flew
+asunder over and over again, though he seemed to work most zealously to
+get the stove set up. After half an hour of this confusion, the pipe was
+fixed, and the master, having had time, like the stove, to cool off, and
+seeing Jack bent over his book, concluded to let the matter drop. But
+there are some matters that, once taken up, are hard to drop.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_97" id="pg_97">97</a></span>
+<a name="JACK_AND_HIS_MOTHER_1648" id="JACK_AND_HIS_MOTHER_1648"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER X</h2>
+<h3>JACK AND HIS MOTHER</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Jack went home that night very sore on his back and in his feelings. He
+felt humiliated to be beaten like a dog, and even a dog feels degraded
+in being beaten. He told his mother about it&mdash;the tall, dignified,
+sweet-faced mother, patient in trouble and full of a goodness that did
+not talk much about goodness. She always took it for granted that <i>her</i>
+boy would not do anything mean, and thus made a healthy atmosphere for a
+brave boy to grow in. Jack told her of his whipping, with some heat,
+while he sat at supper. She did not say much then, but after Jack&#8217;s
+evening chores were all finished, she sat down by the candle<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_98" id="pg_98">98</a></span> where he
+was trying to get out some sums, and questioned him carefully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why didn&#8217;t you tell who did it?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because it makes a boy mean to tell, and all the boys would have
+thought me a sneak.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is a little hard to face a general opinion like that,&#8221; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; said Jack, &#8220;if I had told, the master would have whipped Columbus
+all the same, and the boys would probably have pounded him, too. I ought
+to have told beforehand,&#8221; said Jack, after a pause. &#8220;But I thought it
+was only some coffee-nuts that they had put in. The mean fellows, to let
+Columbus take a whipping for them! But the way Mr. Ball beats us is
+enough to make a boy mean and cowardly.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>After a long silence, the mother said: &#8220;I think we shall have to give it
+up, Jack.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_99" id="pg_99">99</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What, mother?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The schooling for this winter. I don&#8217;t want you to go where boys are
+beaten in that way. In the morning, go and get your books and see what
+you can do at home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then, after a long pause, in which neither liked to speak, Mrs. Dudley
+said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I want you to be an educated man. You learn quickly; you have a taste
+for books, and you will be happier if you get knowledge. If I could
+collect the money that Gray owes your father&#8217;s estate, or even a part of
+it, I should be able to keep you in school one winter after this. But
+there seems to be no hope for that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But Gray is a rich man, isn&#8217;t he?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, he has a good deal of property, but not in his own name. He
+persuaded your father, who was a kind-hearted and easy-natured man, to
+release a mortgage,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_100" id="pg_100">100</a></span> promising to give him some other security the next
+week. But, meantime, he put his property in such a shape as to cheat all
+his creditors. I don&#8217;t think we shall ever get anything.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am going to be an educated man, anyhow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you will have to go to work at something next fall,&#8221; said the
+mother.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That will make it harder, but I mean to study a little every day. I
+wish I could get a chance to spend next winter in school.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll see what can be done.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And long after Jack went to bed that night the mother sat still by the
+candle with her sewing, trying to think what she could do to help her
+boy to get on with his studies.</p>
+
+<p>Jack woke up after eleven o&#8217;clock, and saw her light still burning in
+the sitting-room.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_101" id="pg_101">101</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I say, mother,&#8221; he called out, &#8220;don&#8217;t you sit there worrying about me.
+We shall come through this all right.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Some of Jack&#8217;s hopefulness got into the mother&#8217;s heart, and she took her
+light and went to bed.</p>
+
+<p>Weary, and sore, and disappointed, Jack did not easily get to sleep
+himself after his cheerful speech to his mother. He lay awake long,
+making boy&#8217;s plans for his future. He would go and collect money by some
+hook or crook from the rascally Gray; he would make a great invention;
+he would discover a gold mine; he would find some rich cousin who would
+send him through college; he would&mdash;&mdash;, but just then he grew more
+wakeful and realized that all his plans had no foundation of
+probability.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_102" id="pg_102">102</a></span>
+<a name="COLUMBUS_AND_HIS_FRIENDS_1741" id="COLUMBUS_AND_HIS_FRIENDS_1741"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+<h3>COLUMBUS AND HIS FRIENDS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When he waked up in the morning, Jack remembered that he had not seen
+Columbus Risdale go past the door after his cow the evening before, and
+he was afraid that he might be ill. Why had he not thought to go down
+and drive up the cow himself? It was yet early, and he arose and went
+down to the little rusty, brown, unpainted house in which the Risdales,
+who were poor people, had their home. Just as he pushed open the gate,
+Bob Holliday came out of the door, looking tired and sleepy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hello, Bob!&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;How&#8217;s Columbus? Is he sick?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Awful sick,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;Clean out of his head all night.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_103" id="pg_103">103</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have you been here all night?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I heerd he was sick last night, and I come over and sot up with
+him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You good, big-hearted Bob!&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;You&#8217;re the best fellow in the
+world, I believe.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What a quare feller you air to talk, Jack,&#8221; said Bob, choking up. &#8220;Air
+you goin&#8217; to school to-day?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No. Mother&#8217;d rather have me not go any more.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not going any more. I hate old Ball. Neither&#8217;s Susan Lanham going.
+She&#8217;s in there,&#8221; and Bob made a motion toward the house with his thumb,
+and passed out of the gate, while Jack knocked at the door. He was
+admitted by Susan.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Jack! I&#8217;m so glad to see you,&#8221; she whispered. &#8220;Columbus has asked
+for you a good many times during the night. You&#8217;ve stood by him
+splendidly.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_104" id="pg_104">104</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Jack blushed, but asked how Lummy was now.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Out of his head most of the time. Bob Holliday stayed with him all
+night. What a good fellow Bob Holliday is!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I almost hugged him, just now,&#8221; said Jack, and Susan couldn&#8217;t help
+smiling at this frank confession.</p>
+
+<p>Jack passed into the next room as stealthily as possible, that he might
+not disturb his friend, and paused by the door. Mrs. Risdale sat by the
+bedside of Columbus, who was sleeping uneasily, his curious big head and
+long, thin hair making a strange picture against the pillow. His face
+looked more meagre and his eyes more sunken than ever before, but there
+was a feverish flush on his wan cheeks, and the slender hands moved
+uneasily on the outside of the blue coverlet, the puny arms were bare to
+the elbows.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_105" id="pg_105">105</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Risdale beckoned Jack to come forward, and he came and stood at the
+bed-foot. Then Columbus opened his large eyes and fixed them on Jack for
+a few seconds.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come, Jack, dear old fellow,&#8221; he whispered.</p>
+
+<p>Jack came and bent over him with tearful eyes, and the poor little
+reed-like arms were twined about his neck.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Jack,&#8221; he sobbed, &#8220;the master&#8217;s right over there in the corner all the
+time, straightening out his long switches. He says he&#8217;s going to whip me
+again. But you won&#8217;t let him, will you, Jack, you good old fellow?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, he shan&#8217;t touch you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s run away, Jack,&#8221; he said, presently. And so the poor little
+fellow went on, his great, disordered brain producing feverish images of
+terror from which he<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_106" id="pg_106">106</a></span> continually besought &#8220;dear good old Jack&#8221; to
+deliver him.</p>
+
+<p>When at last he dropped again into a troubled sleep, Jack slipped away
+and drove up the Risdale cow, and then went back to his breakfast. He
+was a boy whose anger kindled slowly; but the more he thought about it,
+the more angry he became at the master who had given Columbus such a
+fright as to throw him into a brain fever, and at the &#8220;mean, sneaking
+contemptible villains,&#8221; as he hotly called them, who wouldn&#8217;t come
+forward and confess their trick, rather than to have the poor little lad
+punished.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I suppose we ought to make some allowances,&#8221; his mother said, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what you always say, mother. You&#8217;re always making allowances.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast and chores, Jack thought to go again to see his little
+friend. On<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_107" id="pg_107">107</a></span> issuing from the gate, he saw Will Riley and Ben Berry
+waiting for him at the corner. Whether they meant to attack him or not
+he could not tell, but he felt too angry to care.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I say, Jack,&#8221; said Riley, &#8220;how did you know who put the powder in the
+stove? Did Columbus tell you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mind your own business,&#8221; said Jack, in a tone not so polite as it might
+be. &#8220;The less you say about gunpowder, hereafter, the better for you
+both. Why didn&#8217;t you walk up and tell, and save that little fellow a
+beating?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look here, Jack,&#8221; said Berry, &#8220;don&#8217;t you tell what you know about it.
+There&#8217;s going to be a row. They say that Doctor Lanham&#8217;s taken Susan,
+and all the other children, out of school, because the master thrashed
+Lummy, and they say Bob Holliday&#8217;s quit, and that you&#8217;re going to quit,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_108" id="pg_108">108</a></span>
+and Doctor Lanham&#8217;s gone to work this morning to get the master put out
+at the end of the term. Mr. Ball didn&#8217;t know that Columbus was kin to
+the Lanhams, or he&#8217;d have let him alone, like he does the Lanhams and
+the Weathervanes. There is going to be a big row, and everybody&#8217;ll want
+to know who put the powder in the stove. We want you to be quiet about
+it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You <i>do</i>?&#8221; said Jack, with a sneer. &#8220;<i>You</i> do?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, we do,&#8221; said Riley, coaxingly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You do? <i>You</i> come to <i>me</i> and ask me to keep it secret, after letting
+me and that poor little baby take your whipping! You want me to hide
+what you did, when that poor little Columbus lies over there sick abed
+and like to die, all because you sneaking scoundrels let him be whipped
+for what you did!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is he sick?&#8221; said Riley, in terror.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_109" id="pg_109">109</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Going to die, I expect,&#8221; said Jack, bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Ben Berry, &#8220;you be careful what you say about us, or we&#8217;ll
+get Pewee to get even with you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that&#8217;s your game! You think you can scare me, do you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Jack grew more and more angry. Seeing a group of school-boys on the
+other side of the street, he called them over.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look here, boys,&#8221; said Jack, &#8220;I took a whipping yesterday to keep from
+telling on these fellows, and now they have the face to ask me not to
+tell that they put the powder in the stove, and they promise me a
+beating from Pewee if I do. These are the two boys that let a poor
+sickly baby take the whipping they ought to have had. They have just as
+good as killed him, I suppose, and now they come sneaking around here
+and trying to scare me in<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_110" id="pg_110">110</a></span> keeping still about it. I didn&#8217;t back down
+from the master, and I won&#8217;t from Pewee. Oh, no! I won&#8217;t tell anybody.
+But if any of you boys should happen to guess that Will Riley and Ben
+Berry were the cowards who did that mean trick, I am not going to say
+they weren&#8217;t. It wouldn&#8217;t be of any use to deny it. There are only two
+boys in school mean enough to play such a contemptible trick as that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Riley and Berry stood sheepishly silent, but just here Pewee came in
+sight, and seeing the squad of boys gathered around Jack, strode over
+quickly and pushed his sturdy form into the midst.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pewee,&#8221; said Riley, &#8220;I think you ought to pound Jack. He says you can&#8217;t
+back him down.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t,&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;I said <i>you</i> couldn&#8217;t scare me out of telling
+who tried to blow up the school-house stove, and let<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_111" id="pg_111">111</a></span> other boys take
+the whipping, by promising me a drubbing from Pewee Rose. If Pewee wants
+to put himself in as mean a crowd as yours, and be your puppy-dog to
+fight for you, let him come on. He&#8217;s a fool if he does, that&#8217;s all I
+have to say. The whole town will want to ship you two fellows off before
+night, and Pewee isn&#8217;t going to fight your battles. What do you think,
+Pewee, of fellows that put powder in a stove where they might blow up a
+lot of little children? What do you think of two fellows that want me to
+keep quiet after they let little Lum Risdale take a whipping for them,
+and that talk about setting you on to me if I tell?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Thus brought face to face with both parties, King Pewee only looked
+foolish and said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Jack had worked himself into such a passion that he could not go to
+Risdale&#8217;s,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_112" id="pg_112">112</a></span> but returned to his own home, declaring that he was going to
+tell everybody in town. But when he entered the house and looked into
+the quiet, self-controlled face of his mother, he began to feel cooler.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let us remember that some allowances are to be made for such boys,&#8221; was
+all that she said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what you always say, Mother,&#8221; said Jack, impatiently. &#8220;I believe
+you&#8217;d make allowances for the Old Boy himself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That would depend on his bringing up,&#8221; smiled Mrs. Dudley. &#8220;Some people
+have bad streaks naturally, and some have been cowed and brutalized by
+ill-treatment, and some have been spoiled by indulgence.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Jack felt more calm after a while. He went back to the bedside of
+Columbus, but he couldn&#8217;t bring himself to make allowances.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_113" id="pg_113">113</a></span>
+<a name="GREENBANK_WAKES_UP_1934" id="GREENBANK_WAKES_UP_1934"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+<h3>GREENBANK WAKES UP</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>If the pigeons had not crossed the valley on Monday, nobody would have
+played truant, and if nobody had played truant on Monday, there would
+not have been occasion to whip three boys on Tuesday morning, and if Ben
+Berry and Riley had escaped a beating on Tuesday morning, they would not
+have thought of putting gunpowder into the stove on Wednesday at noon,
+and if they had omitted that bad joke, Columbus would not have got into
+trouble and run away from school, and if he had escaped the fright and
+the flight, he might not have had the fever, and the town would not have
+been waked up, and other things would not have happened.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_114" id="pg_114">114</a></span></p>
+
+<p>So then, you see, this world of ours is just like the House that Jack
+Built: one thing is tied to another and another to that, and that to
+this, and this to something, and something to something else, and so on
+to the very end of all things.</p>
+
+<p>So it was that the village was thrown into a great excitement as the
+result of a flock of innocent pigeons going over the heads of some lazy
+boys. In the first place, Susan Lanham talked about things. She talked
+to her aunts, and she talked to her uncles, and, above all, she talked
+to her father. Now Susan was the brightest girl in the town, and she had
+a tongue, as all the world knew, and when she set out to tell people
+what a brute the old master was, how he had beaten two innocent boys,
+how bravely Jack had carried himself, how frightened little Columbus
+was, and how sick it had made him, and how mean the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_115" id="pg_115">115</a></span> boys were to put
+the powder there, and then to let the others take the whipping,&mdash;I say,
+when Susan set out to tell all these things, in her eloquent way, to
+everybody she knew, you might expect a waking up in the sleepy old town.
+Some of the people took Susan&#8217;s side and removed their children from the
+school, lest they, too, should get a whipping and run home and have
+brain fever. But many stood up for the old master, mostly because they
+were people of the sort that never can bear to see anything changed.
+&#8220;The boys ought to have told who put the powder in the stove,&#8221; they
+said. &#8220;It served them right.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How could the master know that Jack and Columbus did not do it
+themselves?&#8221; said others. &#8220;Maybe they did!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t tell me!&#8221; cried old Mrs. Horne. &#8220;Don&#8217;t tell me! Boys can&#8217;t be
+managed without whipping, and plenty of it. &#8216;Bring<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_116" id="pg_116">116</a></span> up a child and away
+he goes,&#8217; as the Bible says. When you hire a master, you want a
+<i>master</i>, says I.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What a tongue that Sue Lanham has got!&#8221; said Mr. Higbie, Mr. Ball&#8217;s
+brother-in-law.</p>
+
+<p>The excitement spread over the whole village. Doctor Lanham talked about
+it, and the ministers, and the lawyers, and the loafers in the stores,
+and the people who came to the post-office for their letters. Of course,
+it broke out furiously in the &#8220;Maternal Association,&#8221; a meeting of
+mothers held at the house of one of the ministers.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Ball can do every sum in the arithmetic,&#8221; urged Mrs. Weathervane.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a master hand at figures, they do say,&#8221; said Mother Brownson.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Mrs. Dudley, &#8220;I don&#8217;t doubt it. Jack&#8217;s back is covered with
+figures of Mr. Ball&#8217;s making. For my part, I should<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_117" id="pg_117">117</a></span> rather have a
+master that did his figuring on a slate.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Susan Lanham got hold of this retort, and took pains that it should be
+known all over the village.</p>
+
+<p>When Greenbank once gets waked up on any question, it never goes to
+sleep until that particular question is settled. But it doesn&#8217;t wake up
+more than once or twice in twenty years. Most of the time it is only
+talking in its sleep. Now that Greenbank had its eyes open for a little
+time, it was surprised to see that while the cities along the river had
+all adopted graded schools,&mdash;<i>de</i>-graded schools, as they were called by
+the people opposed to them,&mdash;and while even the little villages in the
+hill country had younger and more enlightened teachers, the county-town
+of Greenbank had made no advance. It employed yet, under the rule of
+President Fillmore, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_118" id="pg_118">118</a></span> same hard old stick of a master that had beaten
+the boys in the log school-house in the days of John Quincy Adams and
+Andrew Jackson. But, now it was awake, Greenbank kept its eyes open on
+the school question. The boys wrote on the fences, in chalk:</p>
+
+<p class="center">DOWN WITH OLD BAWL!</p>
+
+<p>and thought the bad spelling of the name a good joke, while men and
+women began to talk about getting a new master.</p>
+
+<p>Will Riley and Ben Berry had the hardest time. For the most part they
+stayed at home during the excitement, only slinking out in the evening.
+The boys nicknamed them &#8220;Gunpowder cowards,&#8221; and wrote the words on the
+fences. Even the loafers about the street asked them whether Old Ball
+had given them that whipping yet, and how they liked &#8220;powder and Ball.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_119" id="pg_119">119</a></span>
+<a name="PROFESSOR_SUSAN_2031" id="PROFESSOR_SUSAN_2031"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+<h3>PROFESSOR SUSAN</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mr. Ball did not let go easily. He had been engaged for the term, and he
+declared that he would go on to the end of the term, if there should be
+nothing but empty benches. In truth, he and his partisans hoped that the
+storm would blow over and the old man be allowed to go on teaching and
+thrashing as heretofore. He had a great advantage in that he had been
+trained in all the common branches better than most masters, and was
+regarded as a miracle of skill in arithmetical calculations. He even
+knew how to survey land.</p>
+
+<p>Jack was much disappointed to miss his winter&#8217;s schooling, and there was
+no probability that he would be able to attend<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_120" id="pg_120">120</a></span> school again. He went on
+as best he could at home, but he stuck fast on some difficult problems
+in the middle of the arithmetic. Columbus had by this time begun to
+recover his slender health, and he was even able to walk over to Jack&#8217;s
+house occasionally. Finding Jack in despair over some of his &#8220;sums,&#8221; he
+said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why don&#8217;t you ask Susan Lanham to show you? I believe she would; and
+she has been clean through the arithmetic, and she is &#8217;most as good as
+the master himself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t like to,&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;She wouldn&#8217;t want to take the trouble.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But the next morning Christopher Columbus managed to creep over to the
+Lanhams:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Cousin Sukey,&#8221; he said, coaxingly, &#8220;I wish you&#8217;d do something for me. I
+want to ask a favor of you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:416px">
+<a name="illus-003" id="illus-003"></a>
+<img src="images/illus-120.jpg" alt="&#34;COUSIN SUKEY,&#34; SAID LITTLE COLUMBUS, &#34;I WANT TO ASK A FAVOR OF YOU.&#34;" title="" width="416" /><br />
+<span class="caption">&#8220;COUSIN SUKEY,&#8221; SAID LITTLE COLUMBUS, &#8220;I WANT TO ASK A FAVOR OF YOU.&#8221;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;What is it, Columbus?&#8221; said Sue.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_121" id="pg_121">121</a></span> &#8220;Anything you ask shall be given, to
+the half of my kingdom!&#8221; and she struck an attitude, as Isabella of
+Castile, addressing the great Columbus, with the dust-brush for a
+sceptre, and the towel, which she had pinned about her head, for a
+crown.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are so funny,&#8221; he said, with a faint smile. &#8220;But I wish you&#8217;d be
+sober a minute.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Haven&#8217;t had but one cup of coffee this morning. But what do you want?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Jack&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes, it&#8217;s always Jack with you. But that&#8217;s right&mdash;Jack deserves
+it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Jack can&#8217;t do his sums, and he won&#8217;t ask you to help him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And so he got you to ask?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, he didn&#8217;t. He wouldn&#8217;t let me, if he knew. He thinks a young lady
+like you wouldn&#8217;t want to take the trouble to help him.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_122" id="pg_122">122</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you tell that stupid Jack, that if he doesn&#8217;t want to offend me so
+that I&#8217;ll never, never forgive him, he is to bring his slate and pencil
+over here after supper this evening. And you&#8217;ll come, too, with your
+geography. Yours truly, Susan Lanham, Professor of Mathematics and
+Natural Science in the Greenbank Independent and Miscellaneous Academy.
+Do you hear?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right.&#8221; And Columbus, smiling faintly, went off to tell Jack the
+good news. That evening Susan had, besides her own brother and two
+sisters, two pupils who learned more arithmetic than they would have
+gotten in the same time from Mr. Ball, though she did keep them laughing
+at her drollery. The next evening, little Joanna Merwin joined the
+party, and Professor Susan felt quite proud of her &#8220;academy,&#8221; as she
+called it.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_123" id="pg_123">123</a></span>Bob
+Holliday caught the infection, and went to studying at home. As he
+was not so far advanced as Jack, he contented himself with asking Jack&#8217;s
+help when he was in trouble. At length, he had a difficulty that Jack
+could not solve.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why don&#8217;t you take that to the professor?&#8221; asked Jack. &#8220;I&#8217;ll ask her to
+show you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I dursn&#8217;t,&#8221; said Bob, with a frightened look.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nonsense!&#8221; said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>That evening, when the lessons were ended, Jack said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Professor Susan, there was a story in the old First Reader we had in
+the first school that I went to, about a dog who had a lame foot. A
+doctor cured his foot, and some time after, the patient brought another
+lame dog to the doctor, and showed by signs that he wanted this other
+dog cured, too.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s rather a good dog-story,&#8221; said<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_124" id="pg_124">124</a></span> Susan. &#8220;But what made you think
+of it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because I&#8217;m that first dog.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes. You&#8217;ve helped me, but there&#8217;s Bob Holliday. I&#8217;ve been helping him,
+but he&#8217;s got to a place where I don&#8217;t quite understand the thing myself.
+Now Bob wouldn&#8217;t dare ask you to help him&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bring him along. How the Greenbank Academy grows!&#8221; laughed Susan,
+turning to her father.</p>
+
+<p>Bob was afraid of Susan at first&mdash;his large fingers trembled so much
+that he had trouble to use his slate-pencil. But by the third evening
+his shyness had worn off, so that he got on well.</p>
+
+<p>One evening, after a week of attendance, he was missing. The next
+morning he came to Jack&#8217;s house with his face scratched and his eye
+bruised.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_125" id="pg_125">125</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s the matter?&#8221; asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, you see, yesterday I was at the school-house at noon, and Pewee,
+egged on by Riley, said something he oughtn&#8217;t to, about Susan, and I
+couldn&#8217;t stand there and hear that girl made fun of, and so I up and
+downed him, and made him take it back. I can&#8217;t go till my face looks
+better, you know, for I wouldn&#8217;t want her to know anything about it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But the professor heard all about it from Joanna, who had it from one of
+the school-boys. Susan sent Columbus to tell Bob that she knew all about
+it, and that he must come back to school.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So you&#8217;ve been fighting, have you?&#8221; she said, severely, when Bob
+appeared. The poor fellow was glad she took that tone&mdash;if she had
+thanked him he wouldn&#8217;t have been able to reply.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_126" id="pg_126">126</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, don&#8217;t you do it any more. It&#8217;s very wrong to fight. It makes boys
+brutal. A girl with ability enough to teach the Greenbank Academy can
+take care of herself, and she doesn&#8217;t want her scholars to fight.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;But,&#8221; he muttered, &#8220;I&#8217;ll thrash him all the
+same, and more than ever, if he ever says anything like that again.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_127" id="pg_127">127</a></span>
+<a name="CROWING_AFTER_VICTORY_2181" id="CROWING_AFTER_VICTORY_2181"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+<h3>CROWING AFTER VICTORY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Greenbank was awake, and the old master had to go. Mr. Weathervane stood
+up for him as long as he thought that the excitement was temporary. But
+when he found that Greenbank really was awake, and not just talking in
+its sleep, as it did for the most part, he changed sides,&mdash;not all at
+once, but by degrees. At first he softened down a little, &#8220;hemmed and
+hawed,&#8221; as folks say. He said he did not know but that Mr. Ball had been
+hasty, but he meant well. The next day he took another step, and said
+that the old master meant well, but he was <i>often</i> too hasty in his
+temper. The next week he let himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_128" id="pg_128">128</a></span> down another peg in saying that
+&#8220;maybe&#8221; the old man meant well, but he was altogether too hot in his
+temper for a schoolmaster. A little while later, he found out that Mr.
+Ball&#8217;s way of teaching was quite out of date. Before a month had
+elapsed, he was sure that the old curmudgeon ought to be put out, and
+thus at last Mr. Weathervane found himself where he liked to be, in the
+popular party.</p>
+
+<p>And so the old master came to his last day in the brick school-house.
+Whatever feelings he may have had in leaving behind him the scenes of
+his twenty-five years of labor, he said nothing. He only compressed his
+lips a little more tightly, scowled as severely as ever, removed his
+books and pens from his desk, gave a last look at his long beech
+switches on the wall, turned the key in the door of the school-house,
+carried it to Mr. Weathervane, received his<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_129" id="pg_129">129</a></span> pay, and walked slowly home
+to the house of his brother-in-law, Mr. Higbie.</p>
+
+<p>The boys had resolved to have a demonstration. All their pent-up wrath
+against the master now found vent, since there was no longer any danger
+that the old man would have a chance to retaliate. They would serenade
+him. Bob Holliday was full of it. Harry Weathervane was very active. He
+was going to pound on his mother&#8217;s bread-pan. Every sort of instrument
+for making a noise was brought into requisition. Dinner-bells,
+tin-pails, conch-shell dinner-horns, tin-horns, and even the village
+bass-drum, were to be used.</p>
+
+<p>Would Jack go? Bob came over to inquire. All the boys were going to
+celebrate the downfall of a harsh master. He deserved it for beating
+Columbus. So Jack resolved to go.</p>
+
+<p>But after the boys had departed, Jack<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_130" id="pg_130">130</a></span> began to doubt whether he ought
+to go or not. It did not seem quite right; yet his feelings had become
+so enlisted in the conflict for the old man&#8217;s removal, that he had grown
+to be a bitter partisan, and the recollection of all he had suffered,
+and of all Columbus had endured during his sickness, reconciled Jack to
+the appearance of crowing over a fallen foe, which this burlesque
+serenade would have. Nevertheless, his conscience was not clear on the
+point, and he concluded to submit the matter to his mother, when she
+should come home to supper.</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately for Jack, his mother stayed away to tea, sending Jack word
+that he would have to get his own supper, and that she would come home
+early in the evening. Jack ate his bowl of bread and milk in solitude,
+trying to make himself believe that his mother would approve of his
+taking<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_131" id="pg_131">131</a></span> part in the &#8220;shiveree&#8221; of the old master. But when he had
+finished his supper, he concluded that if his mother did not come home
+in time for him to consult her, he would remain at home. He drew up by
+the light and tried to study, but he longed to be out with the boys.
+After a while Bob Holliday and Harry Weathervane came to the door and
+importuned Jack to come with them. It was lonesome at home; it would be
+good fun to celebrate the downfall of the old master&#8217;s cruel rule, so,
+taking down an old dinner-bell, Jack went off to join the rest. He was a
+little disgusted when he found Riley, Pewee, and Ben Berry in the
+company, but once in the crowd, there was little chance to back out with
+credit. The boys crept through the back alleys until they came in front
+of Mr. Higbie&#8217;s house, at half past eight o&#8217;clock. There was but one
+light visible,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_132" id="pg_132">132</a></span> and that was in Mr. Ball&#8217;s room. Jack dropped behind, a
+little faint of heart about the expedition. He felt sure in himself that
+his mother would shake her head if she knew of it. At length, at a
+signal from Bob, the tin pans, big and little, the skillet-lids grinding
+together, the horns, both conch-shell and tin, and the big bass-drum,
+set up a hideous clattering, banging, booming, roaring, and racketing.
+Jack rang his dinner-bell rather faintly, and stood back behind all the
+rest</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Jack&#8217;s afraid,&#8221; said Pewee. &#8220;Why don&#8217;t you come up to the front, like a
+man?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Jack could not stand a taunt like this, but came forward into the
+cluster of half-frightened peace-breakers. Just then, the door of Mr.
+Higbie&#8217;s house was opened, and some one came out.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s Mr. Higbie,&#8221; said Ben Berry. &#8220;He&#8217;s going to shoot.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_133" id="pg_133">133</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s Bugbee, the watchman, going to arrest us,&#8221; said Pewee.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s Mr. Ball himself,&#8221; said Riley, &#8220;and he&#8217;ll whip us all.&#8221; And he
+fled, followed pell-mell by the whole crowd, excepting Jack, who had a
+constitutional aversion to running away. He only slunk up close to the
+fence and so stood still.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hello! Who are you?&#8221; The voice was not that of Mr. Higbie, nor that of
+the old master, nor of the watchman, Bugbee. With some difficulty, Jack
+recognized the figure of Doctor Lanham. &#8220;Oh, it&#8217;s Jack Dudley, is it?&#8221;
+said the doctor, after examining him in the feeble moonlight.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Jack, sheepishly.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re the one that got that whipping from the old master. I don&#8217;t
+wonder you came out to-night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I do,&#8221; said Jack, &#8220;and I would rather now that I had taken another such
+whipping than to find myself here.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_134" id="pg_134">134</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, well,&#8221; said the doctor, &#8220;boys will be boys.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And fools will be fools, I suppose,&#8221; said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Ball is very ill,&#8221; continued the doctor. &#8220;Find the others and tell
+them they mustn&#8217;t come here again to-night, or they&#8217;ll kill him. I
+wouldn&#8217;t have had this happen for anything. The old man&#8217;s just broken
+down by the strain he has been under. He has deserved it all, but I
+think you might let him have a little peace now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So do I,&#8221; said Jack, more ashamed of himself than ever.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor went back into the house, and Jack Dudley and his dinner-bell
+started off down the street in search of Harry Weathervane and his tin
+pan, and Bob Holliday and his skillet-lids, and Ben Berry and the
+bass-drum.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hello, Jack!&#8221; called out Bob from an<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_135" id="pg_135">135</a></span> alley. &#8220;You stood your ground the
+best of all, didn&#8217;t you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wish I&#8217;d stood my ground in the first place against you and Harry,
+and stayed at home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, what&#8217;s the matter? Who was it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>By this time the other boys were creeping out of their hiding-places and
+gathering about Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, it was the doctor,&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;Mr. Ball&#8217;s very sick and we&#8217;ve
+&#8217;most killed him; that&#8217;s all. We&#8217;re a pack of cowards to go tooting at a
+poor old man when he&#8217;s already down, and we ought to be kicked, every
+one of us. That&#8217;s the way I feel about it,&#8221; and Jack set out for home,
+not waiting for any leave-taking with the rest, who, for their part,
+slunk away in various directions, anxious to get their instruments of
+noise and torment hidden away out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>Jack stuck the dinner-bell under the hay<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_136" id="pg_136">136</a></span> in the stable-loft, whence he
+could smuggle it into the house before his mother should get down-stairs
+in the morning. Then he went into the house.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where have you been?&#8221; asked Mrs. Dudley. &#8220;I came home early so that you
+needn&#8217;t be lonesome.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bob Holliday and Harry Weathervane came for me, and I found it so
+lonesome here that I went out with them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have you got your lessons?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; said Jack, sheepishly.</p>
+
+<p>He was evidently not at ease, but his mother said no more. He went off
+to bed early, and lay awake a good part of the night. The next morning
+he brought the old dinner-bell and set it down in the very middle of the
+breakfast-table. Then he told his mother all about it. And she agreed
+with him that he had done a very mean thing.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_137" id="pg_137">137</a></span>
+<a name="AN_ATTEMPT_TO_COLLECT_2349" id="AN_ATTEMPT_TO_COLLECT_2349"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+<h3>AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Three times a week the scholars of the &#8220;Greenbank Academy&#8221; met at the
+house of Dr. Lanham to receive instruction from Professor Susan, for the
+school trustees could not agree on a new teacher. Some of the people
+wanted one thing, and some another; a lady teacher was advocated and
+opposed; a young man, an old man, a new-fashioned man, an old-fashioned
+man, and no teacher at all for the rest of the present year, so as to
+save money, were projects that found advocates. The division of opinion
+was so great that the plan of no school at all was carried because no
+other could be. So Susan&#8217;s class went on for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_138" id="pg_138">138</a></span> month, and grew to be
+quite a little society, and then it came to an end.</p>
+
+<p>One evening, when the lessons were finished, Professor Susan said: &#8220;I am
+sorry to tell you that this is the last lesson I can give.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And then they all said &#8220;Aw-w-w-w-w!&#8221; in a melancholy way.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am going away to school myself,&#8221; Susan went on. &#8220;My father thinks I
+ought to go to Mr. Niles&#8217;s school at Port William.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t think you&#8217;d need to go any more,&#8221; said Joanna Merwin. &#8220;I
+thought you knew everything.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, bless me!&#8221; cried Susan.</p>
+
+<p>In former days the people of the interior&mdash;the Mississippi Valley&mdash;which
+used then to be called &#8220;the West,&#8221; were very desirous of education for
+their children. But good teachers were scarce. Ignorant and pretentious<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_139" id="pg_139">139</a></span>
+men, incompetent wanderers from New England, who had grown tired of
+clock-peddling, or tin-peddling, and whose whole stock was assurance,
+besides impostors of other sorts, would get places as teachers because
+teachers were scarce and there were no tests of fitness. Now and then a
+retired Presbyterian minister from Scotland or Pennsylvania, or a
+college graduate from New England, would open a school in some country
+town. Then people who could afford it would send their children from
+long distances to board near the school, and learn English grammar,
+arithmetic, and, in some cases, a little Latin, or, perhaps, to fit
+themselves for entrance to some of the sturdy little country colleges
+already growing up in that region. At Port William, in Kentucky, there
+was at this time an old minister, Mr. Niles, who really knew what he
+professed to teach,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_140" id="pg_140">140</a></span> and it was to his school that Dr. Lanham was now
+about to send Susan; Harvey Collins and Henry Weathervane had already
+entered the school. But for poor boys like Jack, and Bob Holliday, and
+Columbus, who had no money with which to pay board, there seemed no
+chance.</p>
+
+<p>The evening on which Susan&#8217;s class broke up, there was a long and
+anxious discussion between Jack Dudley and his mother.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You see, Mother, if I could get even two months in Mr. Niles&#8217;s school,
+I could learn some Latin, and if I once get my fingers into Latin, it is
+like picking bricks out of a pavement; if I once get a start, I can dig
+it out myself. I am going to try to find some way to attend that
+school.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But the mother only shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Couldn&#8217;t we move to Port William?&#8221; said Jack.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_141" id="pg_141">141</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How could we? Here we have a house of our own, which couldn&#8217;t easily be
+rented. There we should have to pay rent, and where is the money to come
+from?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Can&#8217;t we collect something from Gray?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Again Mrs. Dudley shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>But Jack resolved to try the hardhearted debtor, himself. It was now
+four years since Jack&#8217;s father had been persuaded to release a mortgage
+in order to relieve Francis Gray from financial distress. Gray had
+promised to give other security, but his promise had proved worthless.
+Since that time he had made lucky speculations and was now a man rather
+well off, but he kept all his property in his wife&#8217;s name, as scoundrels
+and fraudulent debtors usually do. All that Jack and his mother had to
+show for the one thousand dollars with four years&#8217; interest due them,
+was a judgment against Francis Gray, with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_142" id="pg_142">142</a></span> sheriff&#8217;s return of &#8220;no
+effects&#8221; on the back of the writ of execution against the property &#8220;of
+the aforesaid Francis Gray.&#8221; For how could you get money out of a man
+who was nothing in law but an agent for his wife?</p>
+
+<p>But Jack believed in his powers of persuasion, and in the softness of
+the human heart. He had never had to do with a man in whom the greed for
+money had turned the heart to granite.</p>
+
+<p>Two or three days later Jack heard that Francis Gray, who lived in
+Louisville, had come to Greenbank. Without consulting his mother, lest
+she should discourage him, Jack went in pursuit of the slippery debtor.
+He had left town, however, to see his fine farm, three miles away, a
+farm which belonged in law to Mrs. Gray, but which belonged of right to
+Francis Gray&#8217;s creditors.</p>
+
+<p>Jack found Mr. Gray well-dressed and<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_143" id="pg_143">143</a></span> of plausible manners. It was hard
+to speak to so fine a gentleman on the subject of money. For a minute,
+Jack felt like backing out. But then he contrasted his mother&#8217;s pinched
+circumstances with Francis Gray&#8217;s abundance, and a little wholesome
+anger came to his assistance. He remembered, too, that his cherished
+projects for getting an education were involved, and he mustered courage
+to speak.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Gray, my name is John Dudley.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Jack thought that there was a sign of annoyance on Gray&#8217;s face at this
+announcement.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You borrowed a thousand dollars of my father once, I believe.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, that is true. Your father was a good friend of mine.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He released a mortgage so that you could sell a piece of property when
+you were in trouble.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_144" id="pg_144">144</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, your father was a good friend to me. I acknowledge that. I wish I
+had money enough to pay that debt. It shall be the very first debt paid
+when I get on my feet again, and I expect to get on my feet, as sure as
+I live.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, you see, Mr. Gray, while my mother is pinched for money, you have
+plenty.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all Mrs. Gray&#8217;s money. She has plenty. I haven&#8217;t anything.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But I want to go to school to Port William. My mother is too poor to
+help me. If you could let me have twenty-five dollars&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, you see, I can&#8217;t. I haven&#8217;t got twenty-five dollars to my name,
+that I can control. But by next New Year&#8217;s I mean to pay your mother the
+whole thousand that I owe her.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This speech impressed Jack a little, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_145" id="pg_145">145</a></span> remembering how often Gray had
+broken such promises, he said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you think it a little hard that you and Mrs. Gray are well off,
+while my mother is so poor, all because you won&#8217;t keep your word given
+to my father?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, you see, I haven&#8217;t any money, excepting what Mrs. Gray lets me
+have,&#8221; said Mr. Gray.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She seems to let you have what you want. Don&#8217;t you think, if you coaxed
+her, she would lend you twenty-five dollars till New Year&#8217;s, to help me
+go to school one more term?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Francis Gray was a little stunned by this way of asking it. For a
+moment, looking at the entreating face of the boy, he began to feel a
+disposition to relent a little. This was new and strange for him. To pay
+twenty-five dollars that he was not obliged by any self-interest to pay,
+would<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_146" id="pg_146">146</a></span> have been an act contrary to all his habits and to all the
+business maxims in which he had schooled himself. Nevertheless, he
+fingered his papers a minute in an undecided way, and then he said that
+he couldn&#8217;t do it. If he began to pay creditors in that way &#8220;it would
+derange his business.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; urged Jack, &#8220;think how much my father deranged his business to
+oblige you, and now you rob me of my own money, and of my chance to get
+an education.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Gray was a little ruffled, but he got up and went out of the room.
+When Jack looked out of the window a minute later, Gray was riding away
+down the road without so much as bidding the troublesome Jack
+good-morning.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing for Jack to do but to return to town and make the best
+of it. But all the way back, the tired and discouraged<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_147" id="pg_147">147</a></span> boy felt that
+his last chance of becoming an educated man had vanished. He told his
+mother about his attempt on Mr. Gray&#8217;s feelings and of his failure. They
+discussed the matter the whole evening, and could see no chance for Jack
+to get the education he wanted.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I mean to die a-trying,&#8221; said Jack, doggedly, as he went off to bed.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_148" id="pg_148">148</a></span>
+<a name="AN_EXPLORING_EXPEDITION_2528" id="AN_EXPLORING_EXPEDITION_2528"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+<h3>AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The next day but one, there came a letter to Mrs. Dudley that increased
+her perplexity.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Your Aunt Hannah is sick,&#8221; she said to Jack, &#8220;and I must go to take
+care of her. I don&#8217;t know what to do with you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll go to Port William to school,&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;See if I don&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How?&#8221; asked his mother. &#8220;We don&#8217;t know a soul on that side of the
+river. You couldn&#8217;t make any arrangement.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Maybe I can,&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;Bob Holliday used to live on the Indiana
+side, opposite Port William. I mean to talk with him.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_149" id="pg_149">149</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Bob was setting onions in one of the onion-patches which abounded about
+Greenbank, and which were, from March to July, the principal sources of
+pocket-money to the boys. Jack thought best to wait until the day&#8217;s work
+was finished. Then he sat, where Greenbank boys were fond of sitting, on
+the sloping top-board of a broad fence, and told his friend Bob of his
+eager desire to go to Port William.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d like to go, too,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;This is the last year&#8217;s schooling I&#8217;m
+to have.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you know any house, or any place, where we could keep &#8216;bach&#8217;
+together?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;W&#8217;y, yes,&#8221; said Bob; &#8220;if you didn&#8217;t mind rowing across the river every
+day, I&#8217;ve got a skiff, and there&#8217;s the old hewed-log house on the
+Indianny side where we used to live. A body might stay as long as he
+pleased in that house, I guess. Judge<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_150" id="pg_150">150</a></span> Kane owns it, and he&#8217;s one of the
+best-hearted men in the country.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s eight miles down there,&#8221; said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Only seven if you go by water,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;Let&#8217;s put out to-morry
+morning early. Let&#8217;s go in the skiff; we can row and cordelle it up the
+river again, though it is a job.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Bright and early, the boys started down the river, rowing easily with
+the strong, steady current of the Ohio, holding their way to Judge
+Kane&#8217;s, whose house was over against Port William. This Judge Kane was
+an intelligent and wealthy farmer, liked by everybody. He was not a
+lawyer, but had once held the office of &#8220;associate judge,&#8221; and hence the
+title, which suited his grave demeanor. He looked at the two boys out of
+his small, gray, kindly eyes, hardly ever speaking a word. He did not
+immediately answer when they asked permission to occupy the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_151" id="pg_151">151</a></span> old, unused
+log-house, but got them to talk about their plans, and watched them
+closely. Then he took them out to see his bees. He showed them his
+ingenious hives and a bee-house which he had built to keep out the moths
+by drawing chalk-lines about it, for over these lines the wingless grub
+of the moth could not crawl. Then he showed them a glass hive, in which
+all the processes of the bees&#8217; housekeeping could be observed. After
+that, he took the boys to the old log-house, and pointed out some holes
+in the roof that would have to be fixed. And even then he did not give
+them any answer to their request, but told them to stay to dinner and he
+would see about it, all of which was rather hard on boyish impatience.
+They had a good dinner of fried chicken and biscuits and honey, served
+in the neatest manner by the motherly Mrs. Kane. Then the Judge
+suggested that<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_152" id="pg_152">152</a></span> they ought to see Mr. Niles about taking them into the
+school. So his skiff was launched, and he rowed with them across the
+river, which is here about a mile wide, to Port William. Here he
+introduced them to Mr. Niles, an elderly man, a little bent and a little
+positive in his tone, as is the habit of teachers, but with true
+kindness in his manner. The boys had much pleasure at recess time in
+greeting their old school-mates, Harvey Collins, Henry Weathervane, and,
+above all, Susan Lanham, whom they called Professor. These three took a
+sincere interest in the plans of Bob and Jack, and Susan spoke a good
+word for them to Mr. Niles, who, on his part, offered to give Jack Latin
+without charging him anything more than the rates for scholars in the
+English branches. Then they rowed back to Judge Kane&#8217;s landing, where he
+told them they could have the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_153" id="pg_153">153</a></span> house without rent, and that they could
+get slabs and other waste at his little sawmill to fix up the cracks.
+Then he made kindly suggestions as to the furniture they should
+bring&mdash;mentioning a lantern, an ax, and various other articles necessary
+for a camp life. They bade him good-bye at last, and started home, now
+rowing against the current and now cordelling along the river shore,
+when they grew tired of rowing. In cordelling, one sits in the skiff and
+steers, while the other walks on the shore, drawing the boat by a rope
+over the shoulders. The work of rowing and cordelling was hard, but they
+carried light and hopeful hearts. Jack was sure now that he should
+overcome all obstacles and get a good education. As for Bob, he had no
+hope higher than that of worrying through vulgar fractions before
+settling down to hard work.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_154" id="pg_154">154</a></span>
+<a name="HOUSEKEEPING_EXPERIENCES_2623" id="HOUSEKEEPING_EXPERIENCES_2623"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2>
+<h3>HOUSEKEEPING EXPERIENCES</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mrs. Dudley having gone to Cincinnati the next day to attend her sister,
+who was ill, Jack was left to make his arrangements for housekeeping
+with Bob. Each of the boys took two cups, two saucers, two plates, and
+two knives and forks. Things were likely to get lost or broken, and
+therefore they provided duplicates. Besides, they might have company to
+dinner some day, and, moreover, they would need the extra dishes to
+&#8220;hold things,&#8221; as Jack expressed it. They took no tumblers, but each was
+provided with a tin cup. Bob remembered the lantern, and Jack put in an
+ax. They did not take much food; they could buy that of farmers or in
+Port<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_155" id="pg_155">155</a></span> William. They got a &#8220;gang,&#8221; or, as they called it, a &#8220;trot-line,&#8221;
+to lay down in the river for catfish, perch, and shovel-nose sturgeon,
+for there was no game-law then. Bob provided an iron pot to cook the
+fish in, and Jack a frying-pan and tea-kettle. Their bedding consisted
+of an empty tick, to be filled with straw in Judge Kane&#8217;s barn, some
+equally empty pillow-ticks, and a pair of brown sheets and two blankets.
+But, with one thing and another, the skiff was well loaded.</p>
+
+<p>A good many boys stood on the bank as they embarked, and among them was
+Columbus, who had a feeling that his best friends were about to desert
+him, and who would gladly have been one of the party if he could have
+afforded the expense.</p>
+
+<p>In the little crowd which watched the embarkation was Hank Rathbone, an
+old hunter and pioneer, who made several good<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_156" id="pg_156">156</a></span> suggestions about their
+method of loading the boat.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But where&#8217;s your stove?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Stove?&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;We can&#8217;t take a stove in this thing. There&#8217;s a big
+old fire-place in the house that&#8217;ll do to cook by.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But hot weather&#8217;s comin&#8217; soon,&#8221; said old Hank, &#8220;and then you&#8217;ll want to
+cook out in the air, I reckon. Besides, it takes a power of wood for a
+fire-place. If one of you will come along with me to the tin-shop, I&#8217;ll
+have a stove made for you, of the best paytent-right sort, that&#8217;ll go
+into a skiff, and that won&#8217;t weigh more&#8217;n three or four pounds and
+won&#8217;t cost but about two bits.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Jack readily agreed to buy as good a thing as a stove for twenty-five
+cents, and so he went with Hank Rathbone to the tin-shop, stopping to
+get some iron on the way. Two half-inch round rods of iron<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_157" id="pg_157">157</a></span> five feet
+long were cut and sharpened at each end. Then the ends were turned down
+so as to make on each rod two pointed legs of eighteen inches in length,
+and thus leave two feet of the rod for a horizontal piece.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; said the old hunter, &#8220;you drive about six inches of each leg into
+the ground, and stand them about a foot apart. Now for a top.&#8221;</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width:109px">
+<a name="illus-004" id="illus-004"></a>
+<img src="images/illus-stv.png" alt="OLD HANK&#39;S PLAN FOR A STOVE" title="" width="109" /><br />
+<span class="caption">OLD HANK&#8217;S PLAN FOR A STOVE</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>For this he had a piece of sheet-iron cut out two feet long and fourteen
+inches wide, with a round kettle-hole near one end. The edges of the
+long sides of the sheet-iron were bent down to fit over the rods.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lay that over your rods,&#8221; said Hank, &#8220;and you&#8217;ve got a stove two foot
+long, one foot high, and more than one foot wide,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_158" id="pg_158">158</a></span> and you can build
+your fire of chips, instid of logs. You can put your tea-kittle, pot,
+pipkin, griddle, skillet, <i>or</i> gridiron on to the hole&#8221;&mdash;the old man
+eyed it admiringly. &#8220;It&#8217;s good for bilin&#8217;, fryin&#8217;, <i>or</i> brilin&#8217;, and all
+fer two bits. They ain&#8217;t many young couples gits set up as cheap as
+that!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>An hour and a half of rowing downstream brought the boys to the old
+cabin. The life there involved more hard work than they had expected.
+Notwithstanding Jack&#8217;s experience in helping his mother, the baking of
+corn-bread, and the frying of bacon or fish were difficult tasks, and
+both the boys had red faces when supper was on the table. But, as time
+wore on, they became skilful, and though the work was hard, it was done
+patiently and pretty well. Between cooking, and cleaning, and fixing,
+and getting wood, and rowing to school and back, there was not a great
+deal of<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_159" id="pg_159">159</a></span> time left for study out of school, but Jack made a beginning in
+Latin, and Bob perspired quite as freely over the addition of fractions
+as over the frying-pan.</p>
+
+<p>They rarely had recreation, excepting that of taking the fish off their
+trot-line in the morning, when there were any on it. Once or twice they
+allowed themselves to visit an Indian mound or burial-place on the
+summit of a neighboring hill, where idle boys and other loungers had dug
+up many bones and thrown them down the declivity. Jack, who had thoughts
+of being a doctor, made an effort to gather a complete Indian skeleton,
+but the dry bones had become too much mixed up. He could not get any
+three bones to fit together, and his man, as he tried to put him
+together, was the most miscellaneous creature imaginable,&mdash;neither man,
+woman, nor child. Bob was a little afraid to have these human<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_160" id="pg_160">160</a></span> ruins
+stored under the house, lest he might some night see a ghost with
+war-paint and tomahawk; but Jack, as became a boy of scientific tastes,
+pooh-poohed all superstitions or sentimental considerations in the
+matter. He told Bob that, if he should ever see the ghost which that
+framework belonged to, it would be the ghost of the whole Shawnee tribe,
+for there were nearly as many individuals represented as there were
+bones in the skeleton.</p>
+
+<p>The one thing that troubled Jack was that he couldn&#8217;t get rid of the
+image of Columbus as they had seen him when they left Greenbank,
+standing sorrowfully on the river bank. The boys often debated between
+themselves how they could manage to have him one of their party, but
+they were both too poor to pay the small tuition fees, though his board
+would not cost much. They could not see any way of getting over<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_161" id="pg_161">161</a></span> the
+difficulty, but they talked with Susan about it, and Susan took hold of
+the matter in her fashion by writing to her father on the subject.</p>
+
+<p>The result of her energetic effort was that one afternoon, as they came
+out of school, when the little packet-steamer was landing at the wharf,
+who should come ashore but Christopher Columbus, in his best but
+thread-bare clothes, tugging away at an old-fashioned carpet-bag, which
+was too much for him to carry. Bob seized the carpet-bag and almost
+lifted the dignified little lad himself off his feet in his joyful
+welcome, while Jack, finding nothing else to do, stood still and
+hurrahed. They soon had the dear little spindle-shanks and his great
+carpet-bag stowed away in the skiff. As they rowed to the north bank of
+the river, Columbus explained how Dr. Lanham had undertaken to pay his
+expenses,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_162" id="pg_162">162</a></span> if the boys would take him into partnership, but he said he
+was &#8217;most afraid to come, because he couldn&#8217;t chop wood, and he wasn&#8217;t
+good for much in doing the work.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never mind, honey,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;Jack and I don&#8217;t care whether you work
+or not. You are worth your keep, any time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Jack, &#8220;we even tried hard yesterday to catch a young owl to
+make a pet of, but we couldn&#8217;t get it. You see, we&#8217;re so lonesome.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I suppose I&#8217;ll do for a pet owl, won&#8217;t I?&#8221; said little Columbus, with a
+strange and quizzical smile on his meagre face. And as he sat there in
+the boat, with his big head and large eyes, the name seemed so
+appropriate that Bob and Jack both laughed outright.</p>
+
+<p>But the Pet Owl made himself useful in some ways. I am sorry to say that
+the housekeeping of Bob and Jack had not<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_163" id="pg_163">163</a></span> always been of the tidiest
+kind. They were boys, and they were in a hurry. But Columbus had the
+tastes of a girl about a house. He did not do any cooking or chopping to
+speak of, but he fixed up. He kept the house neat, cleaned the
+candlestick every morning, and washed the windows now and then, and as
+spring advanced he brought in handfuls of wild flowers. The boys
+declared that they had never felt at home in the old house until the Pet
+Owl came to be its mistress. He wouldn&#8217;t let anything be left around out
+of place, but all the pots, pans, dishes, coats, hats, books, slates,
+the lantern, the boot-jack, and other slender furniture, were put in
+order before school time, so that when they got back in the afternoon
+the place was inviting and home-like. When Judge Kane and his wife
+stopped during their Sunday-afternoon stroll, to see how the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_164" id="pg_164">164</a></span> lads got
+on, Mrs. Kane praised their housekeeping.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That is all the doings of the Pet Owl,&#8221; said Bob.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pet Owl? Have you one?&#8221; asked Mrs. Kane.</p>
+
+<p>The boys laughed, and Bob explained that Columbus was the pet.</p>
+
+<p>That evening, the boys had a box of white honey for supper, sent over by
+Mrs. Kane, and the next Saturday afternoon Jack and Bob helped Judge
+Kane finish planting his cornfield.</p>
+
+<p>One unlucky day, Columbus discovered Jack&#8217;s box of Indian bones under
+the house, and he turned pale and had a fit of shivering for a long time
+afterward. It was necessary to move the box into an old stable to quiet
+his shuddering horror. The next Sunday afternoon, the Pet Owl came in
+with another fit of terror, shivering as before.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_165" id="pg_165">165</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s the matter now, Lummy?&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;Have you seen any more
+Indians?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pewee and his crowd have gone up to the Indian Mound,&#8221; said Columbus.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, let &#8217;em go,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;I suppose they know the way, don&#8217;t they?
+I should like to see them. I&#8217;ve been so long away from Greenbank that
+even a yellow dog from there would be welcome.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_166" id="pg_166">166</a></span>
+<a name="GHOSTS_2802" id="GHOSTS_2802"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+<h3>GHOSTS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Jack and Bob had to amuse Columbus with stories, to divert his mind from
+the notion that Pewee and his party meant them some harm. The Indian
+burying-ground was not an uncommon place of resort on Sundays for
+loafers and idlers, and now and then parties came from as far as
+Greenbank, to have the pleasure of a ride and the amusement of digging
+up Indian relics from the cemetery on the hill. This hill-top commanded
+a view of the Ohio River for many miles in both directions, and of the
+Kentucky River, which emptied into the Ohio just opposite. I do not know
+whether the people who can find amusement in digging up bones and
+throwing<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_167" id="pg_167">167</a></span> them down-hill enjoy scenery or not, but I have heard it urged
+that even some dumb animals, as horses, enjoy a landscape; and I once
+knew a large dog, in Switzerland, who would sit enchanted for a long
+time on the brink of a mountain cliff, gazing off at the lake below. It
+is only fair to suppose, therefore, that even these idle diggers in
+Indian mounds had some pleasure in looking from a hill-top; at any rate,
+they were fond of frequenting this one. Pewee, and Riley, and Ben Berry,
+and two or three others of the same feather, had come down on this
+Sunday to see the Indian Mound and to find any other sport that might
+lie in their reach. When they had dug up and thrown away down the steep
+hill-side enough bones to satisfy their jackal proclivities, they began
+to cast about them for some more exciting diversion. As there were no
+water-melon patches nor<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_168" id="pg_168">168</a></span> orchards to be robbed at this season of the
+year, they decided to have an egg-supper, and then to wait for the moon
+to rise after midnight before starting to row and cordelle their two
+boats up the river again to Greenbank. The fun of an egg-supper to
+Pewee&#8217;s party consisted not so much in the eggs as in the manner of
+getting them. Every nest in Judge Kane&#8217;s chicken-house was rummaged that
+night, and Mrs. Kane found next day that all the nest-eggs were gone,
+and that one of her young hens was missing also.</p>
+
+<p>About dark, little Allen Mackay, a round-bodied, plump-faced, jolly
+fellow who lived near the place where the skiffs were landed, and who
+had spent the afternoon at the Indian Mound, came to the door of the old
+log-house.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wanted to say that you fellows have always done the right thing by
+me. You&#8217;ve<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_169" id="pg_169">169</a></span> set me acrost oncet or twicet, and you&#8217;ve always been
+&#8216;clever&#8217; to me, and I don&#8217;t want to see no harm done you. You&#8217;d better
+look out to-night. They&#8217;s some chaps from Greenbank down here, and
+they&#8217;re in for a frolic, and somebody&#8217;s hen-roost&#8217;ll suffer, I guess;
+and they don&#8217;t like you boys, and they talked about routing you out
+to-night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let &#8217;em rout,&#8221; said Bob.</p>
+
+<p>But the poor little Pet Owl was all in a cold shudder again.</p>
+
+<p>About eleven o&#8217;clock, King Pewee&#8217;s party had picked the last bone of
+Mrs. Kane&#8217;s chicken. It was yet an hour and a half before the moon would
+be up, and there was time for some fun. Two boys from the neighborhood,
+who had joined the party, agreed to furnish dough-faces for them all.
+Nothing more ghastly than<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_170" id="pg_170">170</a></span> masks of dough can well be imagined, and when
+the boys all put them on, and had turned their coats wrong-side out,
+they were almost afraid of one another.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; said Riley, &#8220;Pewee will knock at the door, and when they come
+with their lantern or candle, we&#8217;ll all rush in and howl like Indians.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How do Indians howl?&#8221; asked Ben Berry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, any way&mdash;like a dog or a wolf, you know. And then they&#8217;ll be scared
+to death, and we&#8217;ll just pitch their beds, and dishes, and everything
+else out of the door, and show them how to clean house.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Riley didn&#8217;t know that Allen Mackay and Jack Dudley, hidden in the
+bushes, heard this speech, nor that Jack, as soon as he had heard the
+plan, crept away to tell Bob at the house what the enemy proposed to
+do.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_171" id="pg_171">171</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As the crowd neared the log-house, Riley prudently fell to the rear, and
+pushed Pewee to the front. There was just the faintest whitening of the
+sky from the coming moon, but the large apple-trees in front of the
+log-house made it very dark, and the dough-face crowd were obliged
+almost to feel their way as they came into the shadow of these trees.
+Just as Riley was exhorting Pewee to knock at the door, and the whole
+party was tittering at the prospect of turning Bob, Jack, and Columbus
+out of bed and out of doors, they all stopped short and held their
+breaths.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good gracious! Julius Caesar! sakes alive!&#8221; whispered Riley.
+&#8220;What&mdash;wh&mdash;what is that?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Nobody ran. All stood as though frozen in their places. For out from
+behind the corner of the house came slowly a skeleton head. It was
+ablaze inside, and the light<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_172" id="pg_172">172</a></span> shone out of all the openings. The thing
+had no feet, no hands, and no body. It actually floated through the air,
+and now and then joggled and danced a little. It rose and fell, but
+still came nearer and nearer to the attacking party of dough-faces, who
+for their part could not guess that Bob Holliday had put a lighted
+candle into an Indian&#8217;s skull, and then tied this ghost&#8217;s lantern to a
+wire attached to the end of a fishing-rod, which he operated from behind
+the house.</p>
+
+<p>Pewee&#8217;s party drew close together, and Riley whispered hoarsely:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The house is ha&#8217;nted.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Just then the hideous and fiery death&#8217;s-head made a circuit, and swung,
+grinning, into Riley&#8217;s face, who could stand no more, but broke into a
+full run toward the river. At the same instant Jack tooted a
+dinner-horn, Judge Kane&#8217;s big dog ran barking<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_173" id="pg_173">173</a></span> out of the log-house, and
+the enemy were routed like the Midianites before Gideon. Their
+consternation was greatly increased at finding their boats gone, for
+Allen Mackay had towed them into a little creek out of sight, and hidden
+the oars in an elder thicket. Riley and one of the others were so much
+afraid of the ghosts that &#8220;ha&#8217;nted&#8221; the old house, that they set out
+straightway for Greenbank, on foot. Pewee and the others searched
+everywhere for the boats, and at last sat down and waited for daylight.
+Just as day was breaking, Bob Holliday came down to the river with a
+towel, as though for a morning bath. Very accidentally, of course, he
+came upon Pewee and his party, all tired out, sitting on the bank in
+hope that day might throw some light on the fate of their boats.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hello, Pewee! You here? What&#8217;s the matter?&#8221; said Bob, with feigned
+surprise.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_174" id="pg_174">174</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Some thief took our skiffs. We&#8217;ve been looking for them all night, and
+can&#8217;t find them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s curious,&#8221; said Bob, sitting down and leaning his head on his
+hand. &#8220;Where did you get supper last night?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh! we brought some with us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Look here, Pewee, I&#8217;ll bet I can find your boats.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You give me money enough among you to pay for the eggs and the chicken
+you had for supper, and I&#8217;ll find out who hid your boats and where the
+oars are, and it&#8217;ll all be square.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Pewee was now sure that the boat had been taken as indemnity for the
+chicken and the eggs. He made every one of the party contribute
+something until he had collected what Bob thought sufficient to pay for
+the stolen things, and Bob took it<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_175" id="pg_175">175</a></span> and went up and found Judge Kane,
+who had just risen, and left the money with him. Then he made a circuit
+to Allen Mackay&#8217;s, waked him up, and got the oars, which they put into
+the boats; and pushing these out of their hiding-place, they rowed them
+into the river, delivering them to Pewee and company, who took them
+gratefully. Jack and Columbus had now made their appearance, and as
+Pewee got into his boat, he thought to repay Bob&#8217;s kindness with a
+little advice.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I say, if I was you fellers, you know, I wouldn&#8217;t stay in that old
+cabin a single night.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221; asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because,&#8221; said Pewee, &#8220;I&#8217;ve heerd tell that it is ha&#8217;nted.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ghosts aren&#8217;t anything when you get used to them,&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;We don&#8217;t
+mind them at all.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_176" id="pg_176">176</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you?&#8221; said Pewee, who was now rowing against the current.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Bob, &#8220;nor dough-faces, neither.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_177" id="pg_177">177</a></span>
+<a name="THE_RETURN_HOME_2972" id="THE_RETURN_HOME_2972"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+<h3>THE RETURN HOME</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>As Mr. Niles&#8217;s school-term drew to a close, the two boys began to think
+of their future.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I expect to work with my hands, Jack,&#8221; said Bob; &#8220;I haven&#8217;t got a head
+for books, as you have. But I&#8217;d like to know a <i>leetle</i> more before I
+settle down. I wish I could make enough at something to be able to go to
+school next winter.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If I only had your strength and size, Bob, I&#8217;d go to work for somebody
+as a farmer. But I have more than myself to look after. I must help
+mother after this term is out. I must get something to do, and then
+learning will be slow business. They talk about Ben Franklin studying
+at<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_178" id="pg_178">178</a></span> night and all that, but it&#8217;s a little hard on a fellow who hasn&#8217;t
+the constitution of a Franklin. Still, I&#8217;m going to have an education,
+by hook or crook.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>At this point in the conversation, Judge Kane came in. As usual, he said
+little, but he got the boys to talk about their own affairs.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When do you go home?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Next Friday evening, when school is out,&#8221; said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And what are you going to do?&#8221; he asked of Bob.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Get some work this summer, and then try to get another winter of
+schooling next year,&#8221; was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What kind of work?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I can farm better than I can do anything else,&#8221; said Bob. &#8220;And I
+like it, too.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And then Judge Kane drew from Jack a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_179" id="pg_179">179</a></span> full account of his affairs, and
+particularly of the debt due from Gray, and of his interview with Gray.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you could get a few hundred dollars, so as to make your mother feel
+easy for a while, living as she does in her own house, you could go to
+school next winter.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, and then I could get on after that, somehow, by myself, I
+suppose,&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;But the few hundred dollars is as much out of my
+reach as a million would be, and my father used to say that it was a bad
+thing to get into the way of figuring on things that we could never
+reach.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The Judge sat still, and looked at Jack out of his half-closed gray eyes
+for a minute in silence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come up to the house with me,&#8221; he said, rising.</p>
+
+<p>Jack followed him to the house, where the Judge opened his desk and took
+out a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_180" id="pg_180">180</a></span> red-backed memorandum-book, and dictated while Jack copied in his
+own handwriting the description of a piece of land on a slip of paper.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you go over to school, to-morrow, an hour earlier than usual,&#8221; he
+said, &#8220;call at the county clerk&#8217;s office, show him your memorandum, and
+find out in whose name that land stands. It is timber-land five miles
+back, and worth five hundred dollars. When you get the name of the
+owner, you will know what to do; if not, you can ask me, but you&#8217;d
+better not mention my name to anybody in this matter.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Jack thanked Mr. Kane, but left him feeling puzzled. In fact, the
+farmer-judge seemed to like to puzzle people, or at least he never told
+anything more than was necessary.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, the boys were off early to Port William. Jack wondered
+if<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_181" id="pg_181">181</a></span> the land might belong to his father, but then he was sure his father
+never had any land in Kentucky. Or, was it the property of some dead
+uncle or cousin, and was he to find a fortune, like the hero of a cheap
+story? But when the county clerk, whose office it is to register deeds
+in that county, took the little piece of paper, and after scanning it,
+took down some great deed-books and mortgage-books, and turned the pages
+awhile, and then wrote &#8220;Francis Gray, owner, no incumbrance,&#8221; on the
+same slip with the description, Jack had the key to Mr. Kane&#8217;s puzzle.</p>
+
+<p>It was now Thursday forenoon, and Jack was eager on all accounts to get
+home, especially to see the lawyer in charge of his father&#8217;s claim
+against Mr. Gray. So the next day at noon, as there was nothing left but
+the closing exercises, the three boys were excused, and bade good-bye
+to<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_182" id="pg_182">182</a></span> their teacher and school-mates, and rowed back to their own side of
+the river. They soon had the skiff loaded, for all three were eager to
+see the folks at Greenbank. Jack&#8217;s mother had been at home more than a
+week, and he was the most impatient of the three. But they could not
+leave without a good-bye to Judge Kane and his wife, to which good-bye
+they added a profusion of bashful boyish thanks for kindness received.
+The Judge walked to the boat-landing with them. Jack began to tell him
+about the land.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t say anything about it to me, nor to anybody else but your
+lawyer,&#8221; said Mr. Kane; &#8220;and do not mention my name. You may say to your
+lawyer that the land has just changed hands, and the matter must be
+attended to soon. It won&#8217;t stand exposed in that way long.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>When the boys were in the boat ready to start, Mr. Kane said to Bob:<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_183" id="pg_183">183</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You wouldn&#8217;t mind working for me this summer at the regular price?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d like to,&#8221; said Bob.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How soon can you come?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Next Wednesday evening.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll expect you,&#8221; said the Judge, and he turned away up the bank, with
+a slight nod and a curt &#8220;Good-bye,&#8221; while Bob said: &#8220;What a curious man
+he is!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, and as good as he&#8217;s curious,&#8221; added Jack.</p>
+
+<p>It was a warm day for rowing, but the boys were both a little homesick.
+Under the shelter of a point where the current was not too strong the
+two rowed and made fair headway, sometimes encountering an eddy which
+gave them a lift. But whenever the current set strongly toward their
+side of the river, and whenever they found it necessary to round a
+point, one of them would leap out on the pebbly beach and, throwing the
+boat-rope over his shoulder,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_184" id="pg_184">184</a></span> set his strength against the stream. The
+rope, or <i>cordelle</i>,&mdash;a word that has come down from the first French
+travellers and traders in the great valley,&mdash;was tied to the row-locks.
+It was necessary for one to steer in the stern while the other played
+tow-horse, so that each had his turn at rest and at work. After three
+hours&#8217; toil the wharf-boat of the village was in sight, and all sorts of
+familiar objects gladdened their hearts. They reached the landing, and
+then, laden with things, they hurriedly cut across the commons to their
+homes.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Jack&#8217;s first greeting with his mother was over, she told him
+that she thought she might afford him one more quarter of school.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Jack, &#8220;you&#8217;ve pinched yourself long enough for me; now it&#8217;s
+time I should go to work. If you try to squeeze out another quarter of
+school for me you&#8217;ll<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_185" id="pg_185">185</a></span> have to suffer for it. Besides, I don&#8217;t see how
+you can do it, unless Gray comes down, and I think I have now in my
+pocket something that will make him come down.&#8221; And Jack&#8217;s face
+brightened at the thought of the slip of paper in the pocket of his
+roundabout.</p>
+
+<p>Without observing the last remark, nor the evident elation of Jack&#8217;s
+feelings, Mrs. Dudley proceeded to tell him that she had been offered a
+hundred and twenty dollars for her claim against Gray.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who offered it?&#8221; asked Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Tinkham, Gray&#8217;s agent. Maybe Gray is buying up his own debts,
+feeling tired of holding property in somebody else&#8217;s name.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A hundred and twenty dollars for a thousand! The rascal! I wouldn&#8217;t
+take it,&#8221; broke out Jack, impetuously.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s just the way I feel, Jack. I&#8217;d<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_186" id="pg_186">186</a></span> rather wait forever, if it
+wasn&#8217;t for your education. I can&#8217;t afford to have you lose that. I&#8217;m to
+give an answer this evening.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We won&#8217;t do it,&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;I&#8217;ve got a memorandum here,&#8221; and he took
+the slip of paper from his pocket and unfolded it, &#8220;that&#8217;ll bring more
+money out of him than that. I&#8217;m going to see Mr. Beal at once.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Dudley looked at the paper without understanding just what it was,
+and, without giving her any further explanation, but only a warning to
+secrecy, Jack made off to the lawyer&#8217;s office.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where did you get this?&#8221; asked Mr. Beal.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I promised not to mention his name&mdash;I mean the name of the one who gave
+me that. I went to the clerk&#8217;s office with the description, and the
+clerk wrote the words: &#8216;Francis Gray, owner, no incumbrance.&#8217;&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_187" id="pg_187">187</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I wish I had had it sooner,&#8221; said the lawyer. &#8220;It will be best to have
+our judgment recorded in that county to-morrow,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Could
+you go down to Port William?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir,&#8221; said Jack, a little reluctant to go back. &#8220;I could if I
+must.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think the mail will do,&#8221; added Mr. Beal. &#8220;This thing came just
+in time. We should have sold the claim to-night. This land ought to
+fetch five hundred dollars.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tinkham, agent for Francis Gray, was much disappointed that night
+when Mrs. Dudley refused to sell her claim against Gray.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll never get anything any other way,&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps not, but we&#8217;ve concluded to wait,&#8221; said Mrs. Dudley. &#8220;We can&#8217;t
+do much worse if we get nothing at all.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_188" id="pg_188">188</a></span></p>
+
+<p>After a moment&#8217;s reflection, Mr. Tinkham said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll do a little better by <i>you</i>, Mrs. Dudley. I&#8217;ll give you a hundred
+and fifty. That&#8217;s the very best I <i>can</i> do.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I will not sell the claim at present,&#8221; said Mrs. Dudley. &#8220;It is of no
+use to offer.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It would have been better if Mrs. Dudley had not spoken so positively.
+Mr. Tinkham was set a-thinking. Why wouldn&#8217;t the widow sell? Why had she
+changed her mind since yesterday? Why did Mr. Beal, the lawyer, not
+appear at the consultation? All these questions the shrewd little
+Tinkham asked himself, and all these questions he asked of Francis Gray
+that evening.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_189" id="pg_189">189</a></span>
+<a name="A_FOOTRACE_FOR_MONEY_3183" id="A_FOOTRACE_FOR_MONEY_3183"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2>
+<h3>A FOOT-RACE FOR MONEY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ve got wind of something,&#8221; said Mr. Tinkham to Mr. Gray, &#8220;or else
+they are waiting for you to resume payment,&mdash;or else the widow&#8217;s got
+money from somewhere for her present necessities.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what hope they can have of getting money out of me,&#8221; said
+Gray, with a laugh. &#8220;I&#8217;ve tangled everything up, so that Beal can&#8217;t find
+a thing to levy on. I have but one piece of property exposed, and that&#8217;s
+not in this State.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where is it?&#8221; asked Tinkham.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s in Kentucky, five miles back of Port William. I took it last week
+in a trade, and I haven&#8217;t yet made up my mind what to do with it.&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_190" id="pg_190">190</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the very thing,&#8221; said Tinkham, with his little face drawn to a
+point,&mdash;&#8220;the very thing. Mrs. Dudley&#8217;s son came home from Port William
+yesterday, where he has been at school. They&#8217;ve heard of that land, I&#8217;m
+afraid; for Mrs. Dudley is very positive that she will not sell the
+claim at any price.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll make a mortgage to my brother on that land, and send it off from
+the mail-boat as I go down to-morrow,&#8221; said Gray.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;ll be too late,&#8221; said Tinkham. &#8220;Beal will have his judgment
+recorded as soon as the packet gets there. You&#8217;d better go by the
+packet, get off, and see the mortgage recorded yourself, and then take
+the mail-boat.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>To this Gray agreed, and the next day, when Jack went on board the
+packet &#8220;Swiftsure,&#8221; he found Mr. Francis Gray going aboard also. Mr.
+Beal had warned<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_191" id="pg_191">191</a></span> Jack that he must not let anybody from the packet get
+to the clerk&#8217;s office ahead of him,&mdash;that the first paper deposited for
+record would take the land. Jack wondered why Mr. Francis Gray was
+aboard the packet, which went no farther than Madison, while Mr. Gray&#8217;s
+home was in Louisville. He soon guessed, however, that Gray meant to
+land at Port William, and so to head him off. Jack looked at Mr. Gray&#8217;s
+form, made plump by good feeding, and felt safe. He couldn&#8217;t be very
+dangerous in a foot-race. Jack reflected with much hopefulness that no
+boy in school could catch him in a straight-away run when he was fox. He
+would certainly leave the somewhat puffy Mr. Francis Gray behind.</p>
+
+<p>But in the hour&#8217;s run down the river, including two landings at Minuit&#8217;s
+and Craig&#8217;s, Jack had time to remember that<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_192" id="pg_192">192</a></span> Francis Gray was a cunning
+man and might head him off by some trick or other. A vague fear took
+possession of him, and he resolved to be first off the boat before any
+pretext could be invented to stop him.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime, Francis Gray had looked at Jack&#8217;s lithe legs with
+apprehension. &#8220;I can never beat that boy,&#8221; he had reflected. &#8220;My running
+days are over.&#8221; Finding among the deck passengers a young fellow who
+looked as though he needed money, Gray approached him with this
+question:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you belong in Port William, young man?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t belong nowhere else, I reckon,&#8221; answered the seedy fellow, with
+shuffling impudence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Do you know where the county clerk&#8217;s office is?&#8221; asked Mr. Gray.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, and the market-house. I can show you the way to the jail, too, if
+you<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_193" id="pg_193">193</a></span> want to know; but I s&#8217;pose you&#8217;ve been there many a time,&#8221; laughed
+the &#8220;wharf rat.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Gray was irritated at this rudeness, but he swallowed his anger.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Would you like to make five dollars?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now you&#8217;re talkin&#8217; interestin&#8217;. Why didn&#8217;t you begin at that eend of
+the subjick? I&#8217;d like to make five dollars as well as the next feller,
+provided it isn&#8217;t to be made by too much awful hard work.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Can you run well?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If they&#8217;s money at t&#8217;other eend of the race I can run like sixty <i>fer a
+spell</i>. &#8217;Tain&#8217;t my common gait, howsumever.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;If you&#8217;ll take this paper,&#8221; said Gray, &#8220;and get it to the county
+clerk&#8217;s office before anybody else gets there from this boat, I&#8217;ll give
+you five dollars.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Honor bright?&#8221; asked the chap, taking the paper, drawing a long breath,
+and looking<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_194" id="pg_194">194</a></span> as though he had discovered a gold mine.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Honor bright,&#8221; answered Gray. &#8220;You must jump off first of all, for
+there&#8217;s a boy aboard that will beat you if he can. No pay if you don&#8217;t
+win.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Which is the one that&#8217;ll run ag&#8217;in&#8217; me?&#8221; asked the long-legged fellow.</p>
+
+<p>Gray described Jack, and told the young man to go out forward and he
+would see him. Gray was not willing to be seen with the &#8220;wharf-rat,&#8221;
+lest suspicions should be awakened in Jack Dudley&#8217;s mind. But after the
+shabby young man had gone forward and looked at Jack, he came back with
+a doubtful air.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s Hoosier Jack, as we used to call him,&#8221; said the shabby young
+man. &#8220;He an&#8217; two more used to row a boat acrost the river every day to
+go to ole Niles&#8217;s school. He&#8217;s a hard one to beat,&mdash;they say he used<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_195" id="pg_195">195</a></span> to
+lay the whole school out on prisoners&#8217; base, and that he could leave &#8217;em
+all behind on fox.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You think you can&#8217;t do it, then?&#8221; asked Gray.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Gimme a little start and I reckon I&#8217;ll fetch it. It&#8217;s up-hill part of
+the way and he may lose his wind, for it&#8217;s a good half-mile. You must
+make a row with him at the gang-plank, er do somethin&#8217; to kinder hold
+him back. The wind&#8217;s down stream to-day and the boat&#8217;s shore to swing in
+a little aft. I&#8217;ll jump for it and you keep him back.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>To this Gray assented.</p>
+
+<p>As the shabby young fellow had predicted, the boat did swing around in
+the wind, and have some trouble in bringing her bow to the wharf-boat.
+The captain stood on the hurricane-deck calling to the pilot to &#8220;back
+her,&#8221; &#8220;stop her,&#8221; &#8220;go ahead<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_196" id="pg_196">196</a></span> on her,&#8221; &#8220;go ahead on yer labberd,&#8221; and
+&#8220;back on yer stabberd.&#8221; Now, just as the captain was backing the
+starboard wheel and going ahead on his larboard, so as to bring the boat
+around right, Mr. Gray turned on Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What are you treading on my toes for, you impudent young rascal?&#8221; he
+broke out.</p>
+
+<p>Jack colored and was about to reply sharply, when he caught sight of the
+shabby young fellow, who just then leaped from the gunwale of the boat
+amidships and barely reached the wharf. Jack guessed why Gray had tried
+to irritate him,&mdash;he saw that the well-known &#8220;wharf-rat&#8221; was to be his
+competitor. But what could he do? The wind held the bow of the boat out,
+the gang-plank which had been pushed out ready to reach the wharf-boat
+was still firmly grasped by the deck-hands, and the farther end of it
+was six feet from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_197" id="pg_197">197</a></span> wharf, and much above it. It would be some
+minutes before any one could leave the boat in the regular way. There
+was only one chance to defeat the rascally Gray. Jack concluded to take
+it.</p>
+
+<p>He ran out upon the plank amidst the harsh cries of the deck-hands, who
+tried to stop him, and the oaths of the mate, who thundered at him, with
+the stern order of the captain from the upper deck, who called out to
+him to go back.</p>
+
+<p>But, luckily, the steady pulling ahead of the larboard engine, and the
+backing of the starboard, began just then to bring the boat around, the
+plank sank down a little under Jack&#8217;s weight, and Jack made the leap to
+the wharf, hearing the confused cries, orders, oaths, and shouts from
+behind him, as he pushed through the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Stop that thief!&#8221; cried Francis Gray to the people on the wharf-boat,
+but in<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_198" id="pg_198">198</a></span> vain. Jack glided swiftly through the people, and got on shore
+before anybody could check him. He charged up the hill after the shabby
+young fellow, who had a decided lead, while some of the men on the
+wharf-boat pursued them both, uncertain which was the thief. Such
+another pell-mell race Port William had never seen. Windows flew up and
+heads went out. Small boys joined the pursuing crowd, and dogs barked
+indiscriminately and uncertainly at the heels of everybody. There were
+cries of &#8220;Hurrah for long Ben!&#8221; and &#8220;Hurrah for Hoosier Jack!&#8221; Some of
+Jack&#8217;s old school-mates essayed to stop him to find out what it was all
+about, but he would not relax a muscle, and he had no time to answer any
+questions. He saw the faces of the people dimly; he heard the crowd
+crying after him, &#8220;Stop, thief!&#8221; he caught a glimpse of his old teacher,
+Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_199" id="pg_199">199</a></span> Niles, regarding him with curiosity as he darted by; he saw an
+anxious look in Judge Kane&#8217;s face as he passed him on a street corner.
+But Jack held his eyes on Long Ben, whom he pursued as a dog does a fox.
+He had steadily gained on the fellow, but Ben had too much the start,
+and, unless he should give out, there would be little chance for Jack to
+overtake him. One thinks quickly in such moments. Jack remembered that
+there were two ways of reaching the county clerk&#8217;s office. To keep the
+street around the block was the natural way,&mdash;to take an alley through
+the square was neither longer nor shorter. But by running down the alley
+he would deprive Long Ben of the spur of seeing his pursuer, and he
+might even make him think that Jack had given out. Jack had played this
+trick when playing hound and fox, and at any rate he would by this turn
+shake off<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_200" id="pg_200">200</a></span> the crowd. So into the alley he darted, and the bewildered
+pursuers kept on crying &#8220;Stop, thief!&#8221; after Long Ben, whose reputation
+was none of the best. Somebody ahead tried to catch the shabby young
+fellow, and this forced Ben to make a slight curve, which gave Jack the
+advantage, so that just as Ben neared the office, Jack rounded a corner
+out of an alley, and entered ahead of him, dashed up to the clerk&#8217;s desk
+and deposited the judgment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For record,&#8221; he gasped.</p>
+
+<p>The next instant the shabby young fellow pushed forward the mortgage.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mine first!&#8221; cried Long Ben.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll take yours when I get this entered,&#8221; said the clerk quietly, as
+became a public officer.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I got here first,&#8221; said Long Ben.</p>
+
+<p>But the clerk looked at the clock and entered the date on the back of
+Jack&#8217;s<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_201" id="pg_201">201</a></span> paper, putting &#8220;one o&#8217;clock and eighteen minutes&#8221; after the
+date. Then he wrote &#8220;one o&#8217;clock and nineteen minutes&#8221; on the paper
+which Long Ben handed him. The office was soon crowded with people
+discussing the result of the race, and a part of them were even now in
+favor of seizing one or the other of the runners for a theft, which some
+said had been committed on the packet, and others declared was committed
+on the wharf-boat. Francis Gray came in, and could not conceal his
+chagrin.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I meant to do the fair thing by you,&#8221; he said to Jack, severely, &#8220;but
+now you&#8217;ll never get a cent out of me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d rather have the law on men like you, than have a thousand of your
+sort of fair promises,&#8221; said Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve a mind to strike you,&#8221; said Gray.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Kentucky law is hard on a man<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_202" id="pg_202">202</a></span> who strikes a minor,&#8221; said Judge
+Kane, who had entered at that moment.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Niles came in to learn what was the matter, and Judge Kane, after
+listening quietly to the talk of the people, until the excitement
+subsided, took Jack over to his house, whence the boy trudged home in
+the late afternoon full of hopefulness.</p>
+
+<p>Gray&#8217;s land realized as much as Mr. Beal expected, and Jack studied hard
+all summer, so as to get as far ahead as possible by the time school
+should begin in the autumn.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_203" id="pg_203">203</a></span>
+<a name="THE_NEW_TEACHER_3413" id="THE_NEW_TEACHER_3413"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2>
+<h3>THE NEW TEACHER</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The new teacher who was employed to take the Greenbank school in the
+autumn was a young man from college. Standing behind the desk hitherto
+occupied by the grim-faced Mr. Ball, young Williams looked very mild by
+contrast. He was evidently a gentle-spirited man as compared with the
+old master, and King Pewee and his crowd were gratified in noting this
+fact. They could have their own way with such a master as that! When he
+called the school to order, there remained a bustle of curiosity and
+mutual recognition among the children. Riley and Pewee kept up a little
+noise by way of defiance. They had heard that the new master did not
+intend<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_204" id="pg_204">204</a></span> to whip. Now he stood quietly behind his desk, and waited a few
+moments in silence for the whispering group to be still. Then he slowly
+raised and levelled his finger at Riley and Pewee, but still said
+nothing. There was something so firm and quiet about his
+motion&mdash;something that said, &#8220;I will wait all day, but you must be
+still&#8221;&mdash;that the boys could not resist it.</p>
+
+<p>By the time they were quiet, two of the girls had got into a titter over
+something, and the forefinger was aimed at them. The silent man made the
+pupils understand that he was not to be trifled with.</p>
+
+<p>When at length there was quiet, he made every one lay down book or slate
+and face around toward him. Then with his pointing finger, or with a
+little slap of his hands together, or with a word or two at most, he got
+the school still again.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope we shall be friends,&#8221; he said, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_205" id="pg_205">205</a></span> a voice full of kindliness.
+&#8220;All I want is to&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But at this point Riley picked up his slate and book, and turned away.
+The master snapped his fingers, but Riley affected not to hear him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That young man will put down his slate.&#8221; The master spoke in a low
+tone, as one who expected to be obeyed, and the slate was reluctantly
+put upon the desk.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;When I am talking to you, I want you to hear,&#8221; he went on, very
+quietly. &#8220;I am paid to teach you. One of the things I have to teach you
+is good manners. You,&#8221; pointing to Riley, &#8220;are old enough to know better
+than to take your slate when your teacher is speaking, but perhaps you
+have never been taught what are good manners. I&#8217;ll excuse you this time.
+Now, you all see those switches hanging here behind me. I did not put
+them there. I do not say<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_206" id="pg_206">206</a></span> that I shall not use them. Some boys have to
+be whipped, I suppose,&mdash;like mules,&mdash;and when I have tried, I may find
+that I cannot get on without the switches, but I hope not to have to use
+them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Here Riley, encouraged by the master&#8217;s mildness and irritated by the
+rebuke he had received, began to make figures on his slate.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Bring me that slate,&#8221; said the teacher.</p>
+
+<p>Riley was happy that he had succeeded in starting a row. He took his
+slate and his arithmetic, and shuffled up to the master in a
+half-indolent, half-insolent way.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why do you take up your work when I tell you not to?&#8221; asked the new
+teacher.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because I didn&#8217;t want to waste all my morning. I wanted to do my sums.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are a remarkably industrious youth, I take it.&#8221; The young master
+looked Riley over, as he said this, from head to foot. The whole school
+smiled,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_207" id="pg_207">207</a></span> for there was no lazier boy than this same Riley. &#8220;I suppose,&#8221;
+the teacher continued, &#8220;that you are the best scholar in school&mdash;the
+bright and shining light of Greenbank.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Here there was a general titter at Riley.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I cannot have you sit away down at the other end of the school-room and
+hide your excellent example from the rest. Stand right up here by me and
+cipher, that all the school may see how industrious you are.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Riley grew very red in the face and pretended to &#8220;cipher,&#8221; holding his
+book in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; said the new teacher, &#8220;I have but just one rule for this school,
+and I will write it on the blackboard that all may see it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He took chalk and wrote:</p>
+
+<p class="center">DO RIGHT.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_208" id="pg_208">208</a></span>&#8220;That is all. Let us go to our lessons.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>For the first two hours that Riley stood on the floor he pretended to
+enjoy it. But when recess came and went and Mr. Williams did not send
+him to his seat, he began to shift from one foot to the other and from
+his heels to his toes, and to change his slate from the right hand to
+the left. His class was called, and after recitation he was sent back to
+his place. He stood it as best he could until the noon recess, but when,
+at the beginning of the afternoon session, Mr. Williams again called his
+&#8220;excellent scholar&#8221; and set him up, Riley broke down and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think you might let me go now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are you tired?&#8221; asked the cruel Mr. Williams.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I am,&#8221; and Riley hung his head, while the rest smiled.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_209" id="pg_209">209</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And are you ready to do what the good order of the school requires?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very well; you can go.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The chopfallen Riley went back to his seat, convinced that it would not
+do to rebel against the new teacher, even if he did not use the beech
+switches.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Williams was also quick to detect the willing scholar. He gave
+Jack extra help on his Latin after school was out, and Jack grew very
+proud of the teacher&#8217;s affection for him.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_210" id="pg_210">210</a></span>
+<a name="CHASING_THE_FOX_3536" id="CHASING_THE_FOX_3536"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2>
+<h3>CHASING THE FOX</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>All the boys in the river towns thirty years ago&mdash;and therefore the boys
+in Greenbank, also&mdash;took a great interest in the steamboats which plied
+up and down the Ohio. Each had his favorite boat, and boasted of her
+speed and excellence. Every one of them envied those happy fellows whose
+lot it was to &#8220;run on the river&#8221; as cabin-boys. Boats were a common
+topic of conversation&mdash;their build, their engines, their speed, their
+officers, their mishaps, and all the incidents of their history.</p>
+
+<p>So it was that from the love of steamboats, which burned so brightly in
+the bosom of the boy who lived on the banks<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_211" id="pg_211">211</a></span> of that great and lovely
+river, there grew up the peculiar game of &#8220;boats&#8217; names.&#8221; I think the
+game was started at Louisville or New Albany, where the falls interrupt
+navigation, and where many boats of the upper and lower rivers are
+assembled.</p>
+
+<p>One day, as the warm air of Indian summer in this mild climate made
+itself felt, the boys assembled, on the evergreen &#8220;bluegrass,&#8221; after the
+snack at the noon recess, to play boats&#8217; names.</p>
+
+<p>Through Jack&#8217;s influence, Columbus, who did not like to play with the A
+B C boys, was allowed to take the handkerchief and give out the first
+name. All the rest stood up in a row like a spelling-class, while little
+Columbus, standing in front of them, held a knotted handkerchief with
+which to scourge them when the name should be guessed. The arm which
+held the handkerchief was so puny that the boys laughed<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_212" id="pg_212">212</a></span> to see the
+feeble lad stand there in a threatening attitude.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I say, Lum, don&#8217;t hit too hard, now; my back is tender,&#8221; said Bob
+Holliday.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Give us an easy one to guess,&#8221; said Riley, coaxingly.</p>
+
+<p>Columbus, having come from the back country, did not know the names of
+half a dozen boats, and what he knew about were those which touched
+daily at the wharf of Greenbank.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;F&mdash;&mdash;n,&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Fashion,&#8221; cried all the boys at once, breaking into unrestrained mirth
+at the simplicity that gave them the name of Captain Glenn&#8217;s little
+Cincinnati and Port William packet, which landed daily at the village
+wharf. Columbus now made a dash at the boys, who were obliged to run to
+the school-house and back whenever a name was guessed, suffering a
+beating all<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_213" id="pg_213">213</a></span> the way from the handkerchief of the one who had given out
+the name, though, indeed, the punishment Lum was able to give was very
+slight. It was doubtful who had guessed first, since the whole party had
+cried &#8220;Fashion&#8221; almost together, but it was settled at last in favor of
+Harry Weathervane, who was sure to give out hard names, since he had
+been to Cincinnati recently, and had gone along the levee reading the
+names of those boats that did business above that city, and so were
+quite unknown, unless by report, to the boys of Greenbank.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;A&mdash;&mdash; A&mdash;&mdash;s,&#8221; were the three letters which Harry gave, and Ben Berry
+guessed &#8220;Archibald Ananias,&#8221; and Tom Holcroft said it was &#8220;Amanda Amos,&#8221;
+and at last all gave it up; whereupon Harry told them it was &#8220;Alvin
+Adams,&#8221; and proceeded to give out another.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_214" id="pg_214">214</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;C&mdash;&mdash; A&mdash;&mdash; P&mdash;&mdash;x,&#8221; he said next time.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Caps,&#8221; said Riley, mistaking the x for an s; and then Bob Holliday
+suggested &#8220;Hats and Caps,&#8221; and Jack wanted to have it &#8220;Boots and Shoes.&#8221;
+But Johnny Meline remembered that he had read of such a name for a ship
+in his Sunday-school lesson of the previous Sunday, and he guessed that
+a steamboat might bear that same.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know,&#8221; said Johnny, &#8220;it&#8217;s Castor&mdash;&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oil,&#8221; suggested Jack.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No&mdash;Castor and P, x,&mdash;Pollux&mdash;Castor and Pollux&mdash;it&#8217;s a Bible name.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re not giving us the name of Noah&#8217;s ark, are you?&#8221; asked Bob.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I say, boys, that isn&#8217;t fair a bit,&#8221; growled Pewee, in all earnestness.
+&#8220;I don&#8217;t hardly believe that Bible ship&#8217;s a-going now.&#8221; Things were
+mixed in Pewee&#8217;s<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_215" id="pg_215">215</a></span> mind, but he had a vague notion that Bible times were
+as much as fifty years ago. While he stood doubting, Harry began to whip
+him with the handkerchief, saying, &#8220;I saw her at Cincinnati, last week.
+She runs to Maysville and Parkersburg, you goose.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>After many names had been guessed, and each guesser had taken his turn,
+Ben Berry had to give out. He had just heard the name of a &#8220;lower
+country&#8221; boat, and was sure that it would not be guessed.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;C&mdash;&mdash;p&mdash;&mdash;r,&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I know,&#8221; said Jack, who had been studying the steamboat column of
+an old Louisville paper that very morning, &#8220;it&#8217;s the&mdash;the&mdash;&#8221; and he put
+his hands over his ears, closed his eyes, and danced around, trying to
+remember, while all the rest stood and laughed at his antics. &#8220;Now I&#8217;ve
+got it,&mdash;the &#8216;Cornplanter&#8217;!&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_216" id="pg_216">216</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And Ben Berry whipped the boys across the road and back, after which
+Jack took the handkerchief.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, say, boys, this is a poor game; let&#8217;s play fox,&#8221; Bob suggested.
+&#8220;Jack&#8217;s got the handkerchief, let him be the first fox.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>So Jack took a hundred yards&#8217; start, and all the boys set out after him.
+The fox led the hounds across the commons, over the bars, past the
+&#8220;brick pond,&#8221; as it was called, up the lane into Moro&#8217;s pasture, along
+the hill-side to the west across Dater&#8217;s fence into Betts&#8217;s pasture;
+thence over into the large woods pasture of the Glade farm. In every
+successive field some of the hounds had run off to the flank, and by
+this means every attempt of Jack&#8217;s to turn toward the river, and thus
+fetch a circuit for home, had been foiled. They had cut him off from
+turning through Moro&#8217;s orchard or Betts&#8217;s vineyard, and so<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_217" id="pg_217">217</a></span> there was
+nothing for the fleet-footed fox but to keep steadily to the west and
+give his pursuers no chance to make a cut-off on him. But every now and
+then he made a feint of turning, which threw the others out of a
+straight track. Once in the woods pasture, Jack found himself out of
+breath, having run steadily for a rough mile and a half, part of it
+up-hill. He was yet forty yards ahead of Bob Holliday and Riley, who led
+the hounds. Dashing into a narrow path through the underbrush, Jack ran
+into a little clump of bushes and hid behind a large black-walnut log.</p>
+
+<p>Riley and Holliday came within six feet of him, some of the others
+passed to the south of him and some to the north, but all failed to
+discover his lurking-place. Soon Jack could hear them beating about the
+bushes beyond him.</p>
+
+<p>This was his time. Having recovered his<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_218" id="pg_218">218</a></span> wind, he crept out southward
+until he came to the foot of the hill, and entered Glade&#8217;s lane, heading
+straight for the river across the wide plain. Pewee, who had perched
+himself on a fence to rest, caught sight of Jack first, and soon the
+whole pack were in full cry after him, down the long, narrow,
+elder-bordered lane. Bob Holliday and Riley, the fleetest of foot,
+climbed over the high stake-and-rider fence into Betts&#8217;s cornfield, and
+cut off a diagonal to prevent Jack&#8217;s getting back toward the
+school-house. Seeing this movement, Jack, who already had made an
+extraordinary run, crossed the fence himself, and tried to make a
+cut-off in spite of them; but Riley already had got in ahead of him, and
+Jack, seeing the boys close behind and before him, turned north again
+toward the hill, got back into the lane, which was now deserted, and
+climbed into Glade&#8217;s meadow<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_219" id="pg_219">219</a></span> on the west side of the lane. He now had a
+chance to fetch a sweep around toward the river again, though the whole
+troop of boys were between him and the school-house. Fairly headed off
+on the east, he made a straight run south for the river shore, striking
+into a deep gully, from which he came out panting upon the beach, where
+he had just time to hide himself in a hollow sycamore, hoping that the
+boys would get to the westward and give him a chance to run up the river
+shore for the school-house.</p>
+
+<p>But one cannot play the same trick twice. Some of the boys stationed
+themselves so as to intercept Jack&#8217;s retreat toward the school-house,
+while the rest searched for him, beating up and down the gully, and up
+and down the beach, until they neared the hollow sycamore. Jack made a
+sharp dash to get through them,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_220" id="pg_220">220</a></span> but was headed off and caught by Pewee.
+Just as Jack was caught, and Pewee was about to start homeward as fox,
+the boys caught sight of two steamboats racing down the river. The
+whole party was soon perched on a fallen sycamore, watching first the
+&#8220;Swiftsure&#8221; and then the &#8220;Ben Franklin,&#8221; while the black smoke poured
+from their chimneys. So fascinated were they with this exciting contest
+that they stayed half an hour waiting to see which should beat. At
+length, as the boats passed out of sight, with the &#8220;Swiftsure&#8221; leading
+her competitor, it suddenly occurred to Jack that it must be later than
+the school-hour. The boys looked aghast at one another a moment on
+hearing him mention this; then they glanced at the sun, already
+declining in the sky, and set out for school, trotting swiftly in spite
+of their fatigue.</p>
+
+<p>What would the master say? Pewee<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_221" id="pg_221">221</a></span> said he didn&#8217;t care,&mdash;it wasn&#8217;t Old
+Ball, and they wouldn&#8217;t get a whipping, anyway. But Jack thought that it
+was too bad to lose the confidence of Mr. Williams.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_222" id="pg_222">222</a></span>
+<a name="CALLED_TO_ACCOUNT_3711" id="CALLED_TO_ACCOUNT_3711"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2>
+<h3>CALLED TO ACCOUNT</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Successful hounds, having caught their fox, ought to have come home in
+triumph; but, instead of that, they came home like dogs that had been
+killing sheep, their heads hanging down in a guilty and self-betraying
+way.</p>
+
+<p>Jack walked into the school-house first. It was an hour and a half past
+the time for the beginning of school. He tried to look unconcerned as he
+went to his seat. There stood the teacher, with his face very calm but
+very pale, and Jack felt his heart sink.</p>
+
+<p>One by one the laggards filed into the school-room, while the
+awe-stricken girls on<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_223" id="pg_223">223</a></span> the opposite benches, and the little A B C boys,
+watched the guilty sinners take their places, prepared to meet their
+fate.</p>
+
+<p>Riley came in with a half-insolent smile on his face, as if to say: &#8220;I
+don&#8217;t care.&#8221; Pewee was sullen and bull-doggish. Ben Berry looked the
+sneaking fellow he was, and Harry Weathervane tried to remember that his
+father was a school-trustee. Bob Holliday couldn&#8217;t help laughing in a
+foolish way. Columbus had fallen out of the race before he got to the
+&#8220;brick-pond,&#8221; and so had returned in time to be punctual when school
+resumed its session.</p>
+
+<p>During all the time that the boys, heated with their exercise and
+blushing with shame, were filing in, Mr. Williams stood with set face
+and regarded them. He was very much excited, and so I suppose did not
+dare to reprove them just then. He called the classes and heard them in
+rapid succession,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_224" id="pg_224">224</a></span> until it was time for the spelling-class, which
+comprised all but the very youngest pupils. On this day, instead of
+calling the spelling-class, he said, evidently with great effort to
+control himself: &#8220;The girls will keep their seats. The boys will take
+their places in the spelling-class.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Riley&#8217;s lower jaw fell&mdash;he was sure that the master meant to flog them
+all. He was glad he was not at the head of the class. Ben Berry could
+hardly drag his feet to his place, and poor Jack was filled with
+confusion. When the boys were all in place, the master walked up and
+down the line and scrutinized them, while Riley cast furtive glances at
+the dusty old beech switches on the wall, wondering which one the master
+would use, and Pewee was trying to guess whether Mr. Williams&#8217;s arm was
+strong, and whether he &#8220;would make a fellow take off his coat&#8221; or not.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_225" id="pg_225">225</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Columbus,&#8221; said the teacher, &#8220;you can take your seat.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Riley shook in his shoes, thinking that this certainly meant a whipping.
+He began to frame excuses in his mind, by which to try to lighten his
+punishment.</p>
+
+<p>But the master did not take down his switches. He only talked. But such
+a talk! He told the boys how worthless a man was who could not be
+trusted, and how he had hoped for a school full of boys that could be
+relied on. He thought there were some boys, at least&mdash;and this remark
+struck Jack to the heart&mdash;that there were some boys in the school who
+would rather be treated as gentlemen than beaten with ox-goads. But he
+was now disappointed. All of them seemed equally willing to take
+advantage of his desire to avoid whipping them; and all of them had
+shown themselves <i>unfit to be trusted</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_226" id="pg_226">226</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Here he paused long enough to let the full weight of his censure enter
+their minds. Then he began on a new tack. He had hoped that he might
+have their friendship. He had thought that they cared a little for his
+good opinion. But now they had betrayed him. All the town was looking to
+see whether he would succeed in conducting his school without whipping.
+A good many would be glad to see him fail. Today they would be saying
+all over Greenbank that the new teacher couldn&#8217;t manage his school. Then
+he told the boys that while they were sitting on the trunk of the fallen
+sycamore looking at the steamboat race, one of the trustees, Mr.
+Weathervane, had driven past and had seen them there. He had stopped to
+complain to the master. &#8220;Now,&#8221; said the master, &#8220;I have found how little
+you care for me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This was very sharp talk, and it made the boys angry. Particularly did
+Jack resent<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_227" id="pg_227">227</a></span> any intimation that he was not to be trusted. But the new
+master was excited and naturally spoke severely. Nor did he give the
+boys a chance to explain at that time.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You have been out of school,&#8221; he said, &#8220;one hour and thirty-one
+minutes. That is about equal to six fifteen-minute recesses&mdash;to the
+morning and afternoon recesses for three days. I shall have to keep you
+in at those six recesses to make up the time, and in addition, as a
+punishment, I shall keep you in school half an hour after the usual time
+of dismission, for three days.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Here Jack made a motion to speak.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said the master, &#8220;I will not hear a word, now. Go home and think
+it over. To-morrow I mean to ask each one of you to explain his
+conduct.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>With this, he dismissed the school, and the boys went out as angry as a
+hive of<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_228" id="pg_228">228</a></span> bees that have been disturbed. Each one made his speech. Jack
+thought it &#8220;mean that the master should say they were not fit to be
+trusted. He wouldn&#8217;t have stayed out if he&#8217;d known it was school-time.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Bob Holliday said &#8220;the young master was a blisterer,&#8221; and then he
+laughed good-naturedly.</p>
+
+<p>Harry Weathervane was angry, and so were all the rest. At length it was
+agreed that they didn&#8217;t want to be cross-questioned about it, and that
+it was better that somebody should write something that should give Mr.
+Williams a piece of their mind, and show him how hard he was on boys
+that didn&#8217;t mean any harm, but only forgot themselves. And Jack was
+selected to do the writing.</p>
+
+<p>Jack made up his mind that the paper he would write should be &#8220;a
+scorcher.&#8221;</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_229" id="pg_229">229</a></span>
+<a name="AN_APOLOGY_3828" id="AN_APOLOGY_3828"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2>
+<h3>AN APOLOGY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Of course, there was a great deal of talk in the village. The
+I-told-you-so people were quite delighted. Old Mother Horn &#8220;always knew
+that boys couldn&#8217;t be managed without switching. Didn&#8217;t the Bible or
+somebody say: &#8216;Just as the twig is bent the boy&#8217;s inclined?&#8217; And if you
+don&#8217;t bend your twig, what&#8217;ll become of your boy?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The loafers and loungers and gad-abouts and gossips talked a great deal
+about the failure of the new plan. They were sure that Mr. Ball would be
+back in that school-house before the term was out, unless Williams
+should whip a good deal more than<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_230" id="pg_230">230</a></span> he promised to. The boys would just
+drive him out.</p>
+
+<p>Jack told his mother, with a grieved face, how harsh the new master had
+been, and how he had even said they were <i>not fit to be trusted</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a very harsh word,&#8221; said Mrs. Dudley, &#8220;but let us make some
+allowances. Mr. Williams is on trial before the town, and he finds
+himself nearly ruined by the thoughtlessness of the boys. He had to wait
+an hour and a half, with half of the school gone. Think how much he must
+have suffered in that time. And then, to have to take a rebuke from Mr.
+Weathervane besides, must have stung him to the quick.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, that&#8217;s so,&#8221; said Jack, &#8220;but then he had no business to take it for
+granted that we did it on purpose.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And Jack went about his chores, trying to think of some way of writing
+to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_231" id="pg_231">231</a></span> master an address which should be severe, but not too severe. He
+planned many things but gave them up. He lay awake in the night thinking
+about it, and, at last, when he had cooled off, he came to the
+conclusion that, as the boys had been the first offenders, they should
+take the first step toward a reconciliation. But whether he could
+persuade the angry boys to see it in that light, he did not know.</p>
+
+<p>When morning came, he wrote a very short paper, somewhat in this
+fashion:</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left:2em; margin-right:2em;"><span class="smcap">Mr. Williams</span>:<br />
+<i>Dear Sir</i>: We are very sorry for what we did yesterday, and for
+the trouble we have given you. We are willing to take the
+punishment, for we think we deserve it; but we hope you will not
+think that we did it on purpose, for we did not, and we don&#8217;t like
+to have you think so.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align:right; margin-right:4em; margin-left:2em; margin-top:-0.5em;">Respectfully submitted.</p>
+
+<p>Jack carried this in the first place to his faithful friend, Bob
+Holliday, who read it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_232" id="pg_232">232</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you&#8217;ve come down, have you?&#8221; said Bob.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I thought we ought to,&#8221; said Jack. &#8220;We <i>did</i> give him a great deal of
+trouble, and if it had been Mr. Ball, he would have whipped us half to
+death.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We shouldn&#8217;t have forgot and gone away at that time if Old Ball had
+been the master,&#8221; said Bob.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s just it,&#8221; said Jack; &#8220;that&#8217;s the very reason why we ought to
+apologize.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Bob, &#8220;I&#8217;ll sign her,&#8221; and he wrote &#8220;Robert M.
+Holliday&#8221; in big letters at the top of the column intended for the
+names. Jack put his name under Bob&#8217;s.</p>
+
+<p>But when they got to the school-house it was not so easy to persuade the
+rest. At length, however, Johnny Meline signed it, and then Harry
+Weathervane, and then the rest, one after another, with some<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_233" id="pg_233">233</a></span> grumbling,
+wrote their names. All subscribed to it excepting Pewee and Ben Berry
+and Riley. They declared they never would sign it. They didn&#8217;t want to
+be kept in at recess and after school like convicts. They didn&#8217;t deserve
+it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Jack is a soft-headed fool,&#8221; Riley said, &#8220;to draw up such a thing as
+that. I&#8217;m not afraid of the master. I&#8217;m not going to knuckle down to
+him, either.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Of course, Pewee, as a faithful echo, said just what Riley said, and Ben
+Berry said what Riley and Pewee said; so that the three were quite
+unanimous.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Jack, &#8220;then we&#8217;ll have to hand in our petition without the
+signatures of the triplets.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you call me a triplet,&#8221; said Pewee; &#8220;I&#8217;ve got as much sense as
+any of you. You&#8217;re a soft-headed triplet yourself!&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_234" id="pg_234">234</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Even Riley had to join in the laugh that followed this blundering sally
+of Pewee.</p>
+
+<p>When the master came in, he seemed very much troubled. He had heard what
+had been said about the affair in the town. The address which Jack had
+written was lying on his desk. He took it up and read it, and
+immediately a look of pleasure and relief took the place of the worried
+look he had brought to school with him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Boys,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I have received your petition, and I shall answer it
+by and by.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The hour for recess came and passed. The girls and the very little boys
+were allowed their recess, but nothing was said to the larger boys about
+their going out. Pewee and Riley were defiant.</p>
+
+<p>At length, when the school was about to break up for noon, the master
+put his pen, ink, and other little articles in the desk,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_235" id="pg_235">235</a></span> and the school
+grew hushed with expectancy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This apology,&#8221; said Mr. Williams, &#8220;which I see is in John Dudley&#8217;s
+handwriting, and which bears the signature of all but three of those who
+were guilty of the offence yesterday, is a very manly apology, and quite
+increases my respect for those who have signed it. I have suffered much
+from your carelessness of yesterday, but this apology, showing, as it
+does, the manliness of my boys, has given me more pleasure than the
+offence gave me pain. I ought to make an apology to you. I blamed you
+too severely yesterday in accusing you of running away intentionally. I
+take all that back.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Here he paused a moment, and looked over the petition carefully.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;William Riley, I don&#8217;t see your name here. Why is that?&#8221;<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_236" id="pg_236">236</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because I didn&#8217;t put it there.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Pewee and Ben Berry both laughed at this wit.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why didn&#8217;t you put it there?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because I didn&#8217;t want to.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have you any explanation to give of your conduct yesterday?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, sir; only that I think it&#8217;s mean to keep us in because we forgot
+ourselves.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Peter Rose, have you anything to say?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just the same as Will Riley said.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you, Benjamin?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I don&#8217;t care much,&#8221; said Ben Berry. &#8220;Jack was fox, and I ran after
+him, and if he hadn&#8217;t run all over creation and part of Columbia, I
+shouldn&#8217;t have been late. It isn&#8217;t any fault of mine. I think Jack ought
+to do the staying in.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are about as old a boy as Jack,&#8221; said the master. &#8220;I suppose Jack
+might say that if you and the others hadn&#8217;t<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_237" id="pg_237">237</a></span> chased him, he wouldn&#8217;t
+have run &#8216;all over creation,&#8217; as you put it. You and the rest were all
+guilty of a piece of gross thoughtlessness. All excepting you three have
+apologized in the most manly way. I therefore remove the punishment from
+all the others entirely hereafter, deeming that the loss of this
+morning&#8217;s recess is punishment enough for boys who can be so manly in
+their acknowledgments. Peter Rose, William Riley, and Benjamin Berry
+will remain in school at both recesses and for a half-hour after school
+every day for three days&mdash;not only for having forgotten their duty, but
+for having refused to make acknowledgment or apology.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Going home that evening, half an hour after all the others had been
+dismissed, the triplets put all their griefs together, and resolved to
+be avenged on Mr. Williams at the first convenient opportunity.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_238" id="pg_238">238</a></span>
+<a name="KINGS_BASE_AND_A_SPELLINGLESSON_3999" id="KINGS_BASE_AND_A_SPELLINGLESSON_3999"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2>
+<h3>KING&#8217;S BASE AND A SPELLING-LESSON</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>As the three who usually gave the most trouble on the playground, as
+well as in school, were now in detention at every recess, the boys
+enjoyed greatly their play during these three days.</p>
+
+<p>It was at this time that they began to play that favorite game of
+Greenbank, which seems to be unknown almost everywhere else. It is
+called &#8220;king&#8217;s base,&#8221; and is full of all manner of complex happenings,
+sudden surprises, and amusing results.</p>
+
+<p>Each of the boys selected a base or goal. A row of sidewalk trees were
+favorite bases. There were just as many bases as boys. Some boy would
+venture out from his base.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_239" id="pg_239">239</a></span> Then another would pursue him; a third would
+chase the two, and so it would go, the one who left his base latest
+having the right to catch.</p>
+
+<p>Just as Johnny Meline was about to lay hold on Jack, Sam Crashaw, having
+just left <i>his</i> base, gave chase to Johnny, and just as Sam thought he
+had a good chance to catch Johnny, up came Jack, fresh from having
+touched his base, and nabbed Sam. When one has caught another, he has a
+right to return to his base with his prisoner, unmolested. The prisoner
+now becomes an active champion of the new base, and so the game goes on
+until all the bases are broken up but one. Very often the last boy on a
+base succeeds in breaking up a strong one, and, indeed, there is no end
+to the curious results attained in the play.</p>
+
+<p>Jack had never got on in his studies as<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_240" id="pg_240">240</a></span> at this time. Mr. Williams took
+every opportunity to show his liking for his young friend, and Jack&#8217;s
+quickened ambition soon put him at the head of his classes. It was a
+rule that the one who stood at the head of the great spelling-class on
+Friday evenings should go to the foot on Monday, and so work his way up
+again. There was a great strife between Sarah Weathervane and Jack to
+see which should go to the foot the oftenest during the term, and so win
+a little prize that Mr. Williams had offered to the best speller in the
+school. As neither of them ever missed a word in the lesson, they held
+the head each alternate Friday evening. In this way the contest bade
+fair to be a tie. But Sarah meant to win the prize by fair means or
+foul.</p>
+
+<p>One Friday morning before school-time, the boys and girls were talking
+about the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_241" id="pg_241">241</a></span> relative merits of the two spellers, Joanna maintaining that
+Sarah was the better, and others that Jack could spell better than
+Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; said Sarah Weathervane, &#8220;Jack is the best speller in school. I
+study till my head aches to get my lesson, but it is all the same to
+Jack whether he studies or not. He has a natural gift for spelling, and
+he spends nearly all his time on arithmetic and Latin.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This speech pleased Jack very much. He had stood at the head of the
+class all the week, and spelling did seem to him the easiest thing in
+the world. That afternoon he hardly looked at his lesson. It was so nice
+to think he could beat Sarah Weathervane with his left hand, so to
+speak.</p>
+
+<p>When the great spelling-class was called, he spelled the words given to
+him, as usual, and Sarah saw no chance to get the coveted<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_242" id="pg_242">242</a></span> opportunity
+to stand at the head, go down, and spell her way up again. But the very
+last word given to Jack was <i>sacrilege</i>, and, not having studied the
+lesson, he spelled it with <i>e</i> in the second syllable and <i>i</i> in the
+last. Sarah gave the letters correctly, and when Jack saw the smile of
+triumph on her face, he guessed why she had flattered him that morning.
+Hereafter he would not depend on his natural genius for spelling. A
+natural genius for working is the best gift.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_243" id="pg_243">243</a></span>
+<a name="UNCLAIMED_TOPSTRINGS_4073" id="UNCLAIMED_TOPSTRINGS_4073"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVI</h2>
+<h3>UNCLAIMED TOP-STRINGS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>With a sinking heart, Jack often called to mind that this was his last
+term at school. The little money that his father had left was not enough
+to warrant his continuing; he must now do something for his own support.
+He resolved, therefore, to make the most of his time under Mr. Williams.</p>
+
+<p>When Pewee, Riley, and Ben Berry got through with their punishment, they
+sought some way of revenging themselves on the master for punishing
+them, and on Jack for doing better than they had done, and thus escaping
+punishment. It was a sore thing with them that Jack had led all the
+school his way, so that, instead of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_244" id="pg_244">244</a></span> whole herd following King Pewee
+and Prime Minister Riley into rebellion, they now &#8220;knuckled down to the
+master,&#8221; as Riley called it, under the lead of Jack, and they even dared
+to laugh slyly at the inseparable &#8220;triplets.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The first aim of Pewee and company was to get the better of the master.
+They boasted to Jack and Bob that they would fix Mr. Williams some time,
+and gave out to the other boys that they knew where the master spent his
+evenings, and they knew how to fix him.</p>
+
+<p>When Jack heard of this, he understood it. The teacher had a habit of
+spending an evening, now and then, at Dr. Lanham&#8217;s, and the boys no
+doubt intended to play a prank on him in going or coming. There being
+now no moonlight, the village streets were very dark, and there was
+every opportunity for a trick. Riley&#8217;s father&#8217;s house<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_245" id="pg_245">245</a></span> stood next on the
+street to Dr. Lanham&#8217;s; the lots were divided by an alley. This gave the
+triplets a good chance to carry out their designs.</p>
+
+<p>But Bob Holliday and Jack, good friends to the teacher, thought that it
+would be fun to watch the conspirators and defeat them. So, when they
+saw Mr. Williams going to Dr. Lanham&#8217;s, they stationed themselves in the
+dark alley on the side of the street opposite to Riley&#8217;s and took
+observations. Mr. Williams had a habit of leaving Dr. Lanham&#8217;s at
+exactly nine o&#8217;clock, and so, just before nine, the three came out of
+Riley&#8217;s yard, and proceeded in the darkness to the fence of Lanham&#8217;s
+dooryard.</p>
+
+<p>Getting the trunk of one of the large shade-trees between him and the
+plotters, Jack crept up close enough to guess what they were doing and
+to overhear their<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_246" id="pg_246">246</a></span> conversation. Then he came back to Bob.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They are tying a string across the sidewalk on Lanham&#8217;s side of the
+alley, I believe,&#8221; whispered Jack, &#8220;so as to throw Mr. Williams head
+foremost into that mud-hole at the mouth of the alley.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>By this time, the three boys had finished their arrangements and
+retreated through the gate into the porch of the Riley house, whence
+they might keep a lookout for the catastrophe.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to cut that string where it goes around the tree,&#8221; said Bob,
+and he crouched low on the ground, got the trunk of the tree between him
+and the Riley house, and crept slowly across the street.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll capture the string,&#8221; said Jack, walking off to the next
+cross-street, then running around the block until he came to the back
+gate of Lanham&#8217;s yard, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_247" id="pg_247">247</a></span> he entered, running up the walk to the
+back door. His knock was answered by Mrs. Lanham.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, Jack, what&#8217;s the matter?&#8221; she asked, seeing him at the kitchen
+door, breathless.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I want to see Susan, please,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and tell Mr. Williams not to go
+yet a minute.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here&#8217;s a mystery,&#8221; said Mrs. Lanham, returning to the sitting-room,
+where the teacher was just rising to say good-night. &#8220;Here&#8217;s Jack
+Dudley, at the back door, out of breath, asking for Susan, and wishing
+Mr. Williams not to leave the house yet.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Susan ran to the back door.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Susan,&#8221; said Jack, &#8220;the triplets have tied a string from the corner of
+your fence to the locust-tree, and they&#8217;re watching from Riley&#8217;s porch
+to see Mr. Williams fall<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_248" id="pg_248">248</a></span> into the mud-hole. Bob is cutting the string
+at the tree, and I want you to go down along the fence and untie it and
+bring it in. They will not suspect you if they see you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t care if they do,&#8221; said Susan, and she glided out to the
+cross-fence which ran along the alley, followed it to the front and
+untied the string, fetching it back with her. When she got back to the
+kitchen door she heard Jack closing the alley gate. He had run off to
+join Bob, leaving the string in Susan&#8217;s hands.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Lanham and the master had a good laugh over the captured string,
+which was made of Pewee&#8217;s and Riley&#8217;s top-strings, tied together.</p>
+
+<p>The triplets did not see Susan go to the fence. They were too intent on
+what was to happen to Mr. Williams. When, at length, he came along
+safely through the darkness, they were bewildered.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_249" id="pg_249">249</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You didn&#8217;t tie that string well in the middle,&#8221; growled Pewee at Riley.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I did,&#8221; said Riley. &#8220;He must have stepped over.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Step over a string a foot high, when he didn&#8217;t know it was there?&#8221; said
+Pewee.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s go and get the string,&#8221; said Ben Berry.</p>
+
+<p>So out of the gate they sallied, and quickly reached the place where the
+string ought to have been.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t find this end,&#8221; whispered Pewee by the fence.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The string&#8217;s gone!&#8221; broke out Riley, after feeling up and down the tree
+for some half a minute.</p>
+
+<p>What could have become of it? They had been so near the sidewalk all the
+time that no one could have passed without their seeing him.</p>
+
+<p>The next day, at noon-time, when Susan Lanham brought out her lunch, it
+was<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_250" id="pg_250">250</a></span> tied with Pewee&#8217;s new top-string,&mdash;the best one in the school.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a very nice string,&#8221; said Susan.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just like Pewee&#8217;s top-string,&#8221; cried Harry Weathervane.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is it yours, Pewee?&#8221; said Susan, in her sweetest tones.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said the king, with his head down; &#8220;mine&#8217;s at home.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I found this one, last night,&#8221; said Susan.</p>
+
+<p>And all the school knew that she was tormenting Pewee, although they
+could not guess how she had got his top-string. After a while, she made
+a dive into her pocket, and brought out another string.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; cried Johnny Meline, &#8220;where did you get that?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I found it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s Will Riley&#8217;s top-string,&#8221; said Johnny. &#8220;It was mine. He cheated
+me<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_251" id="pg_251">251</a></span> out of it by trading an old top that wouldn&#8217;t spin.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the way you get your top-strings, is it, Will? Is this yours?&#8221;
+asked the tormenting Susan.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, it isn&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course it isn&#8217;t yours. You don&#8217;t tie top-strings across the sidewalk
+at night. You&#8217;re a gentleman, you are! Come, Johnny, this string doesn&#8217;t
+belong to anybody; I&#8217;ll trade with you for that old top that Will gave
+you for a good string. I want something to remember honest Will Riley
+by.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Johnny gladly pocketed the string, and Susan carried off the shabby top,
+to the great amusement of the school, who now began to understand how
+she had come by the two top-strings.</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div style="margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_252" id="pg_252">252</a></span>
+<a name="THE_LAST_DAY_OF_SCHOOL_AND_THE_LAST_CHAPTER_OF_THE_STORY_4231" id="THE_LAST_DAY_OF_SCHOOL_AND_THE_LAST_CHAPTER_OF_THE_STORY_4231"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVII</h2>
+<h3>THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL, AND THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE STORY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was the last day of the spring term of school. With Jack this meant
+the end of his opportunity for going to school. What he should learn
+hereafter he must learn by himself. The money was nearly out, and he
+must go to work.</p>
+
+<p>The last day of school meant also the expiration of the master&#8217;s
+authority. Whatever evil was done after school-hours on the last day was
+none of his business. All who had grudges carried them forward to that
+day, for thus they could revenge themselves without being called to
+account by the master the next day. The last day of school had no
+to-morrow to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_253" id="pg_253">253</a></span> afraid of. Hence, Pewee and his friends proposed to
+square accounts on the last day of school with Jack Dudley, whom they
+hated for being the best scholar, and for having outwitted them more
+than once.</p>
+
+<p>It was on the first day of June that the school ended, and Mr. Williams
+bade his pupils good-bye. The warm sun had by this time brought the
+waters of the Ohio to a temperature that made bathing pleasant, and when
+the school closed, all the boys, delighted with liberty, rushed to the
+river for a good swim together. In that genial climate one can remain in
+the water for hours at a time, and boys become swimmers at an early age.</p>
+
+<p>Just below the village a raft was moored, and from this the youthful
+swimmers were soon diving into the deep water like frogs. Every boy who
+could perform any feat of agility displayed it. One would turn a<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_254" id="pg_254">254</a></span>
+somersault in the water, and then dive from one side of the raft to
+another, one could float, and another swim on his back, while a third
+was learning to tread water. Some were fond of diving toes downward,
+others took headers. &#8220;The little fellows&#8221; who could not swim kept on the
+inside of the great raft and paddled about with the aid of slabs used
+for floats. Jack, who had lived for years on the banks of the Wildcat,
+could swim and dive like a musquash.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Williams, the teacher, felt lonesome at saying good-bye to his
+school; and to keep the boys company as long as possible, he strolled
+down to the bank and sat on the grass watching the bathers below him,
+plunging and paddling in all the spontaneous happiness of young life.</p>
+
+<p>Riley and Pewee&mdash;conspirators to the last&mdash;had their plans arranged.
+When Jack should get his clothes on, they intended to<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_255" id="pg_255">255</a></span> pitch him off the
+raft for a good wetting, and thus gratify their long-hoarded jealousy,
+and get an offset to the standing joke about dough-faces and ghosts which
+the town had at their expense. Ben Berry, who was their confidant,
+thought this a capital plan.</p>
+
+<p>When at length Jack had enjoyed the water enough, he came out and was
+about to begin dressing. Pewee and Riley were close at hand, already
+dressed, and prepared to give Jack a farewell ducking.</p>
+
+<p>But just at that moment there came from the other end of the raft, and
+from the spectators on the bank, a wild, confused cry, and all turned to
+hearken. Harry Weathervane&#8217;s younger brother, whose name was Andrew
+Jackson, and who could not swim, in dressing, had stepped too far
+backward and gone off the raft. He uttered a despairing and terrified
+scream,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_256" id="pg_256">256</a></span> struck out wildly and blindly, and went down.</p>
+
+<p>All up and down the raft and up and down the bank there went up a cry:
+&#8220;Andy is drowning!&#8221; while everybody looked for somebody else to save
+him.</p>
+
+<p>The schoolmaster was sitting on the bank, and saw the accident. He
+quickly slipped off his boots, but then he stopped, for Jack had already
+started on a splendid run down that long raft. The confused and
+terrified boys made a path for him quickly, as he came on at more than
+the tremendous speed he had always shown in games. He did not stop to
+leap, but ran full tilt off the raft, falling upon the drowning boy and
+carrying him completely under water with him. Nobody breathed during the
+two seconds that Jack, under water, struggled to get a good hold on Andy
+and to keep Andy from disabling him by his blind grappling of Jack&#8217;s
+limbs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_257" id="pg_257">257</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When at length Jack&#8217;s head came above water, there was an audible sigh
+of relief from all the on-lookers. But the danger was not over.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Let go of my arms, Andy!&#8221; cried Jack. &#8220;You&#8217;ll drown us both if you hold
+on that way. If you don&#8217;t let go I&#8217;ll strike you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Jack knew that it was sometimes necessary to stun a drowning person
+before you could save him, where he persisted in clutching his
+deliverer. But poor frightened Andy let go of Jack&#8217;s arms at last. Jack
+was already exhausted with swimming, and he had great difficulty in
+dragging the little fellow to the raft, where Will Riley and Pewee Rose
+pulled him out of the water.</p>
+
+<p>But now, while all were giving attention to the rescued Andy, there
+occurred with Jack one of those events which people call a cramp. I do
+not know what to call it,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_258" id="pg_258">258</a></span> but it is not a cramp. It is a kind of
+collapse&mdash;a sudden exhaustion that may come to the best of swimmers. The
+heart insists on resting, the consciousness grows dim, the will-power
+flags, and the strong swimmer sinks.</p>
+
+<p>Nobody was regarding Jack, who first found himself unable to make even
+an effort to climb on the raft; then his hold on its edge relaxed, and
+he slowly sank out of sight. Pewee saw his sinking condition first, and
+cried out, as did Riley and all the rest, doing nothing to save Jack,
+but running up and down the raft in a vain search for a rope or a pole.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:489px">
+<a name="illus-005" id="illus-005"></a>
+<img src="images/illus-258.jpg" alt="BOB HOLLIDAY CARRIES HOME HIS FRIEND." title="" width="489" /><br />
+<span class="caption">BOB HOLLIDAY CARRIES HOME HIS FRIEND.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The schoolmaster, having seen that Andy was brought out little worse
+for his fright and the water he had swallowed, was about to put on his
+boots when this new alarm attracted his attention to Jack Dudley.
+Instantly he threw off his coat<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_259" id="pg_259">259</a></span> and was bounding down the steep bank,
+along the plank to the raft, and then along the raft to where Jack had
+sunk entirely out of sight. Mr. Williams leaped head first into the
+water and made what the boys afterward called a splendid dive. Once
+under water he opened his eyes and looked about for Jack.</p>
+
+<p>At last he came up, drawing after him the unconscious and apparently
+lifeless form of Jack, who was taken from the water by the boys. The
+teacher despatched two boys to bring Dr. Lanham, while he set himself to
+restore consciousness by producing artificial breathing. It was some
+time after Dr. Lanham&#8217;s arrival that Jack fully regained his
+consciousness, when he was carried home by the strong arms of Bob
+Holliday, Will Riley, and Pewee, in turn.</p>
+
+<p>And here I must do the last two boys<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_260" id="pg_260">260</a></span> the justice to say that they
+called to inquire after Jack every day during the illness that followed,
+and the old animosity to Jack was never afterward revived by Pewee and
+his friends.</p>
+
+<p>On the evening after this accident and these rescues, Dr. Lanham said to
+Mrs. Lanham and Susan and Mr. Williams, who happened to be there again,
+that a boy was wanted in the new drug-store in the village, to learn the
+business, and to sleep in the back room, so as to attend night-calls.
+Dr. Lanham did not know why this Jack Dudley wouldn&#8217;t be just the boy.</p>
+
+<p>Susan, for her part, was very sure he would be; and Mr. Williams agreed
+with Susan, as, indeed, he generally did.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Lanham thought that Jack might be allowed to attend school in the
+daytime in the winter season, and if the boy had as good stuff in him as
+he seemed to have,<span class="pagenum"><a name="pg_261" id="pg_261">261</a></span> there was no reason why he shouldn&#8217;t come to
+something some day.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Come to something!&#8221; said Susan. &#8220;Come to something! Why, he&#8217;ll make one
+of the best doctors in the country yet.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And again Mr. Williams entirely agreed with Susan, Jack Dudley was sure
+to go up to the head of the class.</p>
+
+<p>Jack got the place, and I doubt not fulfilled the hope of his friends. I
+know this, at least, that when a year or so later his good friend and
+teacher, Mr. Williams, was married to his good and stanch friend, Susan
+Lanham, Jack&#8217;s was one of the happiest faces at the wedding.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Hoosier School-boy, by Edward Eggleston
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+</body>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Hoosier School-boy, by Edward Eggleston
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Hoosier School-boy
+
+Author: Edward Eggleston
+
+Release Date: December 8, 2007 [EBook #23771]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOOSIER SCHOOL-BOY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "NOT THERE, NOT THERE, MY CHILD!"]
+
+THE HOOSIER SCHOOL-BOY
+
+By
+EDWARD EGGLESTON
+
+New York
+Charles Scribner's Sons
+1919
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Copyright, 1883, By
+CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
+
+Copyright, 1910, By
+FRANCES G. EGGLESTON
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+CONTENTS
+
+   CHAPTER                                                PAGE
+
+         I. The New Scholar                                  3
+        II. King Milkmaid                                   15
+       III. Answering Back                                  23
+        IV. Little Christopher Columbus                     34
+         V. Whiling Away Time                               43
+        VI. A Battle                                        48
+       VII. Hat-ball and Bull-pen                           58
+      VIII. The Defender                                    70
+        IX. Pigeon Pot-pie                                  80
+         X. Jack and His Mother                             97
+        XI. Columbus and His Friends                       102
+       XII. Greenbank Wakes Up                             113
+      XIII. Professor Susan                                119
+       XIV. Crowing After Victory                          127
+        XV. An Attempt To Collect                          137
+       XVI. An Exploring Expedition                        148
+      XVII. Housekeeping Experiences                       154
+     XVIII. Ghosts                                         166
+       XIX. The Return Home                                177
+        XX. A Foot-race for Money                          189
+       XXI. The New Teacher                                203
+      XXII. Chasing the Fox                                210
+     XXIII. Called To Account                              222
+      XXIV. An Apology                                     229
+       XXV. King's Base and a Spelling-lesson              238
+      XXVI. Unclaimed Top-strings                          243
+     XXVII. The Last Day of School, and The Last
+            Chapter of the Story                           252
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+"Not there, not there, my child!"                Frontispiece
+
+                                                  FACING PAGE
+Jack amusing the small boys with stories of
+hunting, fishing, and frontier adventure                   44
+
+"Cousin Sukey," said little Columbus, "I want to
+ask a favor of you"                                       120
+
+Bob Holliday carries home his friend                      258
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+THE HOOSIER SCHOOL-BOY
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE NEW SCHOLAR
+
+
+While the larger boys in the village school of Greenbank were having a
+game of "three old cat" before school-time, there appeared on the
+playground a strange boy, carrying two books, a slate, and an atlas
+under his arm.
+
+He was evidently from the country, for he wore a suit of brown jeans, or
+woollen homespun, made up in the natural color of the "black" sheep, as
+we call it. He shyly sidled up to the school-house door, and looked
+doubtfully at the boys who were playing, watching the familiar game as
+though he had never seen it before.
+
+The boys who had the "paddles" were standing on three bases, while three
+others stood each behind a base and tossed the ball around the triangle
+from one hole or base to another. The new-comer soon perceived that, if
+one with a paddle, or bat, struck at the ball and missed it, and the
+ball was caught directly, or "at the first bounce," he gave up his bat
+to the one who had "caught him out." When the ball was struck, it was
+called a "tick," and when there was a tick, all the batters were obliged
+to run one base to the left, and then the ball thrown between a batter
+and the base to which he was running "crossed him out," and obliged him
+to give up his "paddle" to the one who threw the ball.
+
+"Four old cat," "two old cat," and "five old cat" are, as everybody
+knows, played in the same way, the number of bases or holes increasing
+with the addition of each pair of players.
+
+It is probable that the game was once--some hundreds of years ago,
+maybe--called "three hole catch," and that the name was gradually
+corrupted into "three hole cat," as it is still called in the interior
+States, and then became changed by mistake to "three old cat." It is, no
+doubt, an early form of our present game of base-ball.
+
+It was this game which the new boy watched, trying to get an inkling of
+how it was played. He stood by the school-house door, and the girls who
+came in were obliged to pass near him. Each of them stopped to scrape
+her shoes, or rather the girls remembered the foot-scraper because they
+were curious to see the new-comer. They cast furtive glances at him,
+noting his new suit of brown clothes, his geography and atlas, his
+arithmetic, and, last of all, his face.
+
+"There's a new scholar," said Peter Rose, or, as he was called, "Pewee"
+Rose, a stout and stocky boy of fourteen, who had just been caught out
+by another.
+
+"I say, Greeny, how did you get so brown?" called out Will Riley, a
+rather large, loose-jointed fellow.
+
+Of course, all the boys laughed at this. Boys will sometimes laugh at
+any one suffering torture, whether the victim be a persecuted cat or a
+persecuted boy. The new boy made no answer, but Joanna Merwin, who, just
+at that moment, happened to be scraping her shoes, saw that he grew red
+in the face with a quick flush of anger.
+
+"Don't stand there, Greeny, or the cows'll eat you up!" called Riley, as
+he came round again to the base nearest to the school-house.
+
+Why the boys should have been amused at this speech, the new scholar
+could not tell--the joke was neither new nor witty--only impudent and
+coarse. But the little boys about the door giggled.
+
+"It's a pity something wouldn't eat you, Will Riley--you are good for
+nothing but to be mean." This sharp speech came from a rather tall and
+graceful girl of sixteen, who came up at the time, and who saw the
+annoyance of the new boy at Riley's insulting words. Of course the boys
+laughed again. It was rare sport to hear pretty Susan Lanham "take down"
+the impudent Riley.
+
+"The bees will never eat you for honey, Susan," said Will.
+
+Susan met the titter of the playground with a quick flush of temper and
+a fine look of scorn.
+
+"Nothing would eat you, Will, unless, maybe, a turkey-buzzard, and a
+very hungry one at that."
+
+This sharp retort was uttered with a merry laugh of ridicule, and a
+graceful toss of the head, as the mischievous girl passed into the
+school-house.
+
+"That settles you, Will," said Pewee Rose. And Bob Holliday began
+singing, to a doleful tune:
+
+  "Poor old Pidy,
+  She died last Friday."
+
+Just then, the stern face of Mr. Ball, the master, appeared at the door;
+he rapped sharply with his ferule, and called: "Books, books, books!"
+The bats were dropped, and the boys and girls began streaming into the
+school, but some of the boys managed to nudge Riley, saying:
+
+  "Poor old creetur,
+  The turkey-buzzards eat her,"
+
+and such like soft and sweet speeches. Riley was vexed and angry, but
+nobody was afraid of him, for a boy may be both big and mean and yet
+lack courage.
+
+The new boy did not go in at once, but stood silently and faced the
+inquiring looks of the procession of boys as they filed into the
+school-room with their faces flushed from the exercise and excitement of
+the games.
+
+"I can thrash him easy," thought Pewee Rose.
+
+"He isn't a fellow to back down easily," said Harvey Collins to his next
+neighbor.
+
+Only good-natured, rough Bob Holliday stopped and spoke to the new-comer
+a friendly word. All that he said was "Hello!" But how much a boy can
+put into that word "Hello!" Bob put his whole heart into it, and there
+was no boy in the school that had a bigger heart, a bigger hand, or half
+so big a foot as Bob Holliday.
+
+The village school-house was a long one built of red brick. It had taken
+the place of the old log institution in which one generation of
+Greenbank children had learned reading, writing, and Webster's
+spelling-book. There were long, continuous writing-tables down the sides
+of the room, with backless benches, so arranged that when the pupil was
+writing his face was turned toward the wall--there was a door at each
+end, and a box stove stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by a
+rectangle of four backless benches. These benches were for the little
+fellows who did not write, and for others when the cold should drive
+them nearer the stove.
+
+The very worshipful master sat at the east end of the room, at one side
+of the door; there was a blackboard--a "newfangled notion" in 1850--at
+the other side of the door. Some of the older scholars, who could afford
+private desks with lids to them, suitable for concealing smuggled apples
+and maple-sugar, had places at the other end of the room from the
+master. This arrangement was convenient for quiet study, for talking on
+the fingers by signs, for munching apples or gingerbread, and for
+passing little notes between the boys and girls.
+
+When the school had settled a little, the master struck a sharp blow on
+his desk for silence, and looked fiercely around the room, eager to find
+a culprit on whom to wreak his ill-humor. Mr. Ball was one of those
+old-fashioned teachers who gave the impression that he would rather beat
+a boy than not, and would even like to eat one, if he could find a good
+excuse. His eye lit upon the new scholar.
+
+"Come here," he said, severely, and then he took his seat.
+
+The new boy walked timidly up to a place in front of the master's desk.
+He was not handsome, his face was thin, his eyebrows were prominent, his
+mouth was rather large and good-humored, and there was that shy twinkle
+about the corners of his eyes which always marks a fun-loving spirit.
+But his was a serious, fine-grained face, with marks of suffering in it,
+and he had the air of having been once a strong fellow; of late,
+evidently, shaken to pieces by the ague.
+
+"Where do you live?" demanded Mr. Ball.
+
+"On Ferry Street."
+
+"What do they call you?" This was said with a contemptuous, rasping
+inflection that irritated the new scholar. His eyes twinkled, partly
+with annoyance and partly with mischief.
+
+"They _call_ me Jack, for the most part,"--then catching the titter that
+came from the girls' side of the room, and frightened by the rising
+hurricane on the master's face, he added quickly: "My name is John
+Dudley, sir."
+
+"Don't you try to show your smartness on me, young man. You are a
+new-comer, and I let you off this time. Answer me that way again, and
+you will remember it as long as you live." And the master glared at him
+like a savage bull about to toss somebody over a fence.
+
+The new boy turned pale, and dropped his head.
+
+"How old are you?" "Thirteen."
+
+"Have you ever been to school?"
+
+"Three months."
+
+"Three months. Do you know how to read?"
+
+"Yes, sir," with a smile.
+
+"Can you cipher?" "Yes, sir."
+
+"In multiplication?" "Yes, sir."
+
+"Long division?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I've been half through fractions."
+
+"You said you'd been to school but three months!" "My father taught
+me."
+
+There was just a touch of pride in his voice as he said this--a sense of
+something superior about his father. This bit of pride angered the
+master, who liked to be thought to have a monopoly of all the knowledge
+in the town.
+
+"Where have you been living?"
+
+"In the Indian Reserve, of late; I was born in Cincinnati."
+
+"I didn't ask you where you were born. When I ask you a question, answer
+that and no more."
+
+"Yes, sir." There was a touch of something in the tone of this reply
+that amused the school, and that made the master look up quickly and
+suspiciously at Jack Dudley, but the expression on Jack's face was as
+innocent as that of a cat who has just lapped the cream off the milk.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+KING MILKMAID
+
+
+Pewee Rose, whose proper name was Peter Rose, had also the nickname of
+King Pewee. He was about fourteen years old, square built and active, of
+great strength for his size, and very proud of the fact that no boy in
+town cared to attack him. He was not bad-tempered, but he loved to be
+master, and there were a set of flatterers who followed him, like
+jackals about a lion.
+
+As often happens, Nature had built for King Pewee a very fine body, but
+had forgotten to give him any mind to speak of. In any kind of chaff or
+banter, at any sort of talk or play where a good head was worth more
+than a strong arm and a broad back, King Pewee was sure to have the
+worst of it. A very convenient partnership had therefore grown up
+between him and Will Riley. Riley had muscle enough, but Nature had made
+him mean-spirited. He had--not exactly wit--but a facility for using his
+tongue, which he found some difficulty in displaying, through fear of
+other boys' fists. By forming a friendship with Pewee Rose, the two
+managed to keep in fear the greater part of the school. Will's rough
+tongue, together with Pewee's rude fists, were enough to bully almost
+any boy. They let Harvey Collins alone, because he was older, and,
+keeping to himself, awed them by his dignity; good-natured Bob Holliday,
+also, was big enough to take care of himself. But the rest were all as
+much afraid of Pewee as they were of the master, and as Riley managed
+Pewee, it behooved them to be afraid of the prime minister, Riley, as
+well as of King Pewee.
+
+From the first day that Jack Dudley entered the school, dressed in brown
+jeans, Will Riley marked him for a victim. The air of refinement about
+his face showed him to be a suitable person for teasing.
+
+Riley called him "milksop," and "sap-head"; words which seemed to the
+dull intellect of King Pewee exceedingly witty. And as Pewee was Riley's
+defender, he felt as proud of these rude nicknames as he would had he
+invented them and taken out a patent.
+
+But Riley's greatest stroke of wit came one morning when he caught Jack
+Dudley milking the cow. In the village of Greenbank, milking a cow was
+regarded as a woman's work; and foolish men and boys are like
+savages,--very much ashamed to be found doing a woman's work. Fools
+always think something else more disgraceful than idleness. So, having
+seen Jack milking, Riley came to school happy. He had an arrow to shoot
+that would give great delight to the small boys.
+
+"Good-morning, milkmaid!" he said to Jack Dudley, as he entered the
+school-house before school. "You milk the cow at your house, do you?
+Where's your apron?"
+
+"Oh-h! Milkmaid! milkmaid! That's a good one," chimed in Pewee Rose and
+all his set.
+
+Jack changed color.
+
+"Well, what if I do milk my mother's cow? I don't milk anybody's cow but
+ours, do I? Do you think I'm ashamed of it? I'd be ashamed not to. I
+can"--but he stopped a minute and blushed--"I can wash dishes, and make
+good pancakes, too. Now if you want to make fun, why, make fun. I don't
+care." But he did care, else why should his voice choke in that way?
+
+"Oh, girl-boy; a pretty girl-boy you are--" but here Will Riley stopped
+and stammered. There right in front of him was the smiling face of Susan
+Lanham, with a look in it which made him suddenly remember something.
+Susan had heard all the conversation, and now she came around in front
+of Will, while all the other girls clustered about her with a vague
+expectation of sport.
+
+"Come, Pewee, let's play ball," said Will.
+
+"Ah, you're running away, now; you're afraid of a girl," said Susan,
+with a cutting little laugh, and a toss of her black curls over her
+shoulder.
+
+Will had already started for the ball-ground, but at this taunt he
+turned back, thrust his hands into his pockets, put on a swagger, and
+stammered: "No, I'm not afraid of a girl, either."
+
+"That's about all that he isn't afraid of," said Bob Holliday.
+
+"Oh! you're not afraid of a girl?" said Susan. "What did you run away
+for, when you saw me? You know that Pewee won't fight a girl. You're
+afraid of anybody that Pewee can't whip."
+
+"You've got an awful tongue, Susan. We'll call you Sassy Susan," said
+Will, laughing at his own joke.
+
+"Oh, it isn't my tongue you're afraid of now. You know I can tell on
+you. I saw you drive your cow into the stable last week. You were
+ashamed to milk outside, but you looked all around----"
+
+"I didn't do it. How could you see? It was dark," and Will giggled
+foolishly, seeing all at once that he had betrayed himself.
+
+"It was nearly dark, but I happened to be where I could see. And as I
+was coming back, a few minutes after, I saw you come out with a pail of
+milk, and look around you like a sneak-thief. You saw me and hurried
+away. You are such a coward that you are ashamed to do a little honest
+work. Milkmaid! Girl-boy! Coward! And Pewee Rose lets you lead him
+around by the nose!"
+
+"You'd better be careful what you say, Susan," said Pewee,
+threateningly.
+
+"You won't touch me. You go about bullying little boys, and calling
+yourself King Pewee, but you can't do a sum in long division, nor in
+short subtraction, for that matter, and you let fellows like Riley make
+a fool of you. Your father's poor, and your mother can't keep a girl,
+and you ought to be ashamed to let her milk the cows. Who milked your
+cow this morning, Pewee?"
+
+"I don't know," said the king, looking like the king's fool.
+
+"You did it," said Susan. "Don't deny it. Then you come here and call a
+strange boy a milkmaid!"
+
+"Well, I didn't milk in the street, anyway, and he did." At this, all
+laughed aloud, and Susan's victory was complete. She only said, with a
+pretty toss of her head, as she turned away: "King Milkmaid!"
+
+Pewee found the nickname likely to stick. He was obliged to declare on
+the playground the next day, that he would "thrash" any boy that said
+anything about milkmaids. After that, he heard no more of it. But one
+morning he found "King Milkmaid" written on the door of his father's
+cow-stable. Some boy who dared not attack Pewee, had vented his
+irritation by writing the hateful words on the stable, and on the
+fence-corners near the school-house, and even on the blackboard.
+
+Pewee could not fight with Susan Lanham, but he made up his mind to
+punish the new scholar when he should have a chance. He must give
+somebody a beating.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+ANSWERING BACK
+
+
+It is hard for one boy to make a fight. Even your bully does not like to
+"pitch on" an inoffensive school-mate. You remember AEsop's fable of the
+wolf and the lamb, and what pains the wolf took to pick a quarrel with
+the lamb. It was a little hard for Pewee to fight with a boy who walked
+quietly to and from the school, without giving anybody cause for
+offence.
+
+But the chief reason why Pewee did not attack him with his fists was
+that both he and Riley had found out that Jack Dudley could help them
+over a hard place in their lessons better than anybody else. And
+notwithstanding their continual persecution of Jack, they were mean
+enough to ask his assistance, and he, hoping to bring about peace by
+good-nature, helped them to get out their geography and arithmetic
+almost every day. Unable to appreciate this, they were both convinced
+that Jack only did it because he was afraid of them, and as they found
+it rare sport to abuse him, they kept it up. By their influence Jack was
+shut out of the plays. A greenhorn would spoil the game, they said. What
+did a boy that had lived on Wildcat Creek, in the Indian Reserve, know
+about playing bull-pen, or prisoner's base, or shinny? If he was brought
+in, they would go out.
+
+But the girls, and the small boys, and good-hearted Bob Holliday liked
+Jack's company very much. Yet, Jack was a boy, and he often longed to
+play games with the others. He felt very sure that he could dodge and
+run in "bull-pen" as well as any of them. He was very tired of Riley's
+continual ridicule, which grew worse as Riley saw in him a rival in
+influence with the smaller boys.
+
+"Catch Will alone sometimes," said Bob Holliday, "when Pewee isn't with
+him, and then thrash him. He'll back right down if you bristle up to
+him. If Pewee makes a fuss about it, I'll look after Pewee. I'm bigger
+than he is, and he won't fight with me. What do you say?"
+
+"I shan't fight unless I have to."
+
+"Afraid?" asked Bob, laughing.
+
+"It isn't that. I don't think I'm much afraid, although I don't like to
+be pounded or to pound anybody. I think I'd rather be whipped than to be
+made fun of, though. But my father used to say that people who fight
+generally do so because they are afraid of somebody else, more than they
+are of the one they fight with."
+
+"I believe that's a fact," said Bob. "But Riley aches for a good
+thrashing."
+
+"I know that, and I feel like giving him one, or taking one myself, and
+I think I shall fight him before I've done. But father used to say that
+fists could never settle between right and wrong. They only show which
+is the stronger, and it is generally the mean one that gets the best of
+it."
+
+"That's as sure as shootin'," said Bob. "Pewee could use you up. Pewee
+thinks he's the king, but laws! he's only Riley's bull-dog. Riley is
+afraid of him, but he manages to keep the dog on his side all the time."
+
+"My father used to say," said Jack, "that brutes could fight with force,
+but men ought to use their wits."
+
+"You seem to think a good deal of what your father says,--like it was
+your Bible, you know."
+
+"My father's dead," replied Jack.
+
+"Oh, that's why. Boys don't always pay attention to what their father
+says when he's alive."
+
+"Oh, but then my father was--" Here Jack checked himself, for fear of
+seeming to boast. "You see," he went on, "my father knew a great deal.
+He was so busy with his books that he lost 'most all his money, and then
+we moved to the Indian Reserve, and there he took the fever and died;
+and then we came down here, where we owned a house, so that I could go
+to school."
+
+"Why don't you give Will Riley as good as he sends?" said Bob, wishing
+to get away from melancholy subjects. "You have got as good a tongue as
+his."
+
+"I haven't his stock of bad words, though."
+
+"You've got a power of fun in you, though,--you keep everybody laughing
+when you want to, and if you'd only turn the pumps on him once, he'd
+howl like a yellow dog that's had a quart o' hot suds poured over him
+out of a neighbor's window. Use your wits, like your father said. You've
+lived in the woods till you're as shy as a flying-squirrel. All you've
+got to do is to talk up and take it rough and tumble, like the rest of
+the world. Riley can't bear to be laughed at, and you can make him
+ridiculous as easy as not."
+
+The next day, at the noon recess, about the time that Jack had finished
+helping Bob Holliday to find some places on the map, there came up a
+little shower, and the boys took refuge in the school-house. They must
+have some amusement, so Riley began his old abuse.
+
+"Well, greenhorn from the Wildcat, where's the black sheep you stole
+that suit of clothes from?"
+
+"I hear him bleat now," said Jack,--"about the blackest sheep I have
+ever seen."
+
+"You've heard the truth for once, Riley," said Bob Holliday.
+
+Riley, who was as vain as a peacock, was very much mortified by the
+shout of applause with which this little retort of Jack's was greeted.
+It was not a case in which he could call in King Pewee. The king, for
+his part, shut up his fists and looked silly, while Jack took courage to
+keep up the battle.
+
+But Riley tried again.
+
+"I say, Wildcat, you think you're smart, but you're a double-distilled
+idiot, and haven't got brains enough to be sensible of your misery."
+
+This kind of outburst on Riley's part always brought a laugh from the
+school. But before the laugh had died down, Jack Dudley took the word,
+saying, in a dry and quizzical way:
+
+"Don't you try to claim kin with me that way, Riley. No use; I won't
+stand it. I don't belong to your family. I'm neither a fool nor a
+coward."
+
+"Hurrah!" shouted Bob Holliday, bringing down first one and then the
+other of his big feet on the floor. "It's your put-in now, Riley."
+
+"Don't be backward in coming forward, Will, as the Irish priest said to
+his people," came from grave Harvey Collins, who here looked up from his
+book, thoroughly enjoying the bully's discomfiture.
+
+"That's awfully good," said Joanna Merwin, clasping her hands and
+giggling with delight.
+
+King Pewee doubled up his fists and looked at Riley to see if he ought
+to try his sort of wit on Jack. If a frog, being pelted to death by
+cruel boys, should turn and pelt them again, they could not be more
+surprised than were Riley and King Pewee at Jack's repartees.
+
+"You'd better be careful what you say to Will Riley," said Pewee. "I
+stand by him."
+
+But Jack's blood was up now, and he was not to be scared.
+
+"All the more shame to him," said Jack. "Look at me, shaken all to
+pieces with the fever and ague on the Wildcat, and look at that great
+big, bony coward of a Riley. I've done him no harm, but he wants to
+abuse me, and he's afraid of me. He daren't touch me. He has to coax you
+to stand by him, to protect him from poor little me. He's a great
+big----"
+
+"Calf," broke in Bob Holliday, with a laugh.
+
+"You'd better be careful," said Pewee to Jack, rising to his feet. "I
+stand by Riley."
+
+"Will you defend him if I hit him?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, then, I won't hit him. But you don't mean that he is to abuse me,
+while I am not allowed to answer back a word?"
+
+"Well--" said Pewee hesitatingly.
+
+"Well," said Bob Holliday hotly, "I say that Jack has just as good a
+right to talk with his tongue as Riley. Stand by Riley if he's hit,
+Pewee; he needs it. But don't you try to shut up Jack." And Bob got up
+and put his broad hand on Jack's shoulder. Nobody had ever seen the big
+fellow angry before, and the excitement was very great. The girls
+clapped their hands.
+
+"Good for you, Bob, I say," came from Susan Lanham, and poor, ungainly
+Bob blushed to his hair to find himself the hero of the girls.
+
+"I don't mean to shut up Jack," said Pewee, looking at Bob's size, "but
+I stand by Riley."
+
+"Well, do your standing sitting down, then," said Susan. "I'll get a
+milking-stool for you, if that'll keep you quiet."
+
+It was well that the master came in just then, or Pewee would have had
+to fight somebody or burst.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+LITTLE CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
+
+
+Jack's life in school was much more endurable now that he had a friend
+in Bob Holliday. Bob had spent his time in hard work and in rough
+surroundings, but he had a gentleman's soul, although his manners and
+speech were rude. More and more Jack found himself drawn to him. Harvey
+Collins asked Jack to walk down to the river-bank with him at recess.
+Both Harvey and Bob soon liked Jack, who found himself no longer lonely.
+The girls also sought his advice about their lessons, and the younger
+boys were inclined to come over to his side.
+
+As winter came on, country boys, anxious to learn something about
+"reading, writing, and ciphering," came into the school. Each of
+these new-comers had to go through a certain amount of teasing from
+Riley and of bullying from Pewee.
+
+One frosty morning in December there appeared among the new scholars a
+strange little fellow, with a large head, long straight hair, an
+emaciated body, and legs that looked like reeds, they were so slender.
+His clothes were worn and patched, and he had the look of having been
+frost-bitten. He could not have been more than ten years old, to judge
+by his size, but there was a look of premature oldness in his face.
+
+"Come here!" said the master, when he caught sight of him. "What is your
+name?" And Mr. Ball took out his book to register the new-comer, with
+much the same relish that the Giant Despair showed when he had bagged a
+fresh pilgrim.
+
+"Columbus Risdale." The new-comer spoke in a shrill, piping voice, as
+strange as his weird face and withered body.
+
+"Is that your full name?" asked the master.
+
+"No, sir," piped the strange little creature.
+
+"Give your full name," said Mr. Ball, sternly.
+
+"My name is Christopher Columbus George Washington Marquis de Lafayette
+Risdale." The poor lad was the victim of that mania which some people
+have for "naming after" great men. His little shrunken body and high,
+piping voice made his name seem so incongruous that all the school
+tittered, and many laughed outright. But the dignified and eccentric
+little fellow did not observe it.
+
+"Can you read?"
+
+"Yes, sir," squeaked the lad, more shrilly than ever.
+
+"Umph," said the master, with a look of doubt on his face. "In the first
+reader?"
+
+"No, sir; in the fourth reader."
+
+Even the master could not conceal his look of astonishment at this
+claim. At that day, the fourth reader class was the highest in the
+school, and contained only the largest scholars. The school laughed at
+the bare notion of little Christopher Columbus reading in the fourth
+reader, and the little fellow looked around the room, puzzled to guess
+the cause of the merriment.
+
+"We'll try you," said the master, with suspicion. When the fourth-reader
+class was called, and Harvey Collins and Susie Lanham and some others of
+the nearly grown-up pupils came forward, with Jack Dudley as quite the
+youngest of the class, the great-eyed, emaciated little Columbus Risdale
+picked himself up on his pipe-stems and took his place at the end of
+this row.
+
+It was too funny for anything!
+
+Will Riley and Pewee and other large scholars, who were yet reading in
+that old McGuffey's Third Reader, which had a solitary picture of
+Bonaparte crossing the Alps, looked with no kindly eyes on this
+preposterous infant in the class ahead of them.
+
+The piece to be read was the poem of Mrs. Hemans's called "The Better
+Land." Poems like this one are rather out of fashion nowadays, and
+people are inclined to laugh a little at Mrs. Hemans. But thirty years
+ago her religious and sentimental poetry was greatly esteemed. This one
+presented no difficulty to the readers. In that day, little or no
+attention was paid to inflection--the main endeavor being to pronounce
+the words without hesitation or slip, and to "mind the stops." Each one
+of the class read a stanza ending with a line:
+
+  "Not there, not there, my child!"
+
+The poem was exhausted before all had read, so that it was necessary to
+begin over again in order to give each one his turn. All waited to hear
+the little Columbus read. When it came his turn, the school was as still
+as death. The master, wishing to test him, told him, with something like
+a sneer, that he could read three stanzas, or "verses," as Mr. Ball
+called them.
+
+The little chap squared his toes, threw his head back, and more fluently
+even than the rest, he read, in his shrill, eager voice, the remaining
+lines, winding up each stanza in a condescending tone, as he read:
+
+  "Not there, not there, my child!"
+
+The effect of this from the hundred-year-old baby was so striking and so
+ludicrous that everybody was amused, while all were surprised at the
+excellence of his reading. The master proceeded, however, to whip one or
+two of the boys for laughing.
+
+When recess-time arrived, Susan Lanham came to Jack with a request.
+
+"I wish you'd look after little Lummy Risdale. He's a sort of cousin of
+my mother's. He is as innocent and helpless as the babes in the wood."
+
+"I'll take care of him," said Jack.
+
+So he took the little fellow walking away from the school-house; Will
+Riley and some of the others calling after them: "Not there, not there,
+my child!"
+
+But Columbus did not lay their taunts to heart. He was soon busy talking
+to Jack about things in the country, and things in town. On their
+return, Riley, crying out: "Not there, my child!" threw a snow-ball
+from a distance of ten feet and struck the poor little Christopher
+Columbus George Washington Lafayette so severe a blow as to throw him
+off his feet. Quick as a flash, Jack charged on Riley, and sent a
+snow-ball into his face. An instant later he tripped him with his foot
+and rolled the big, scared fellow into the snow and washed his face
+well, leaving half a snow-bank down his back.
+
+"What makes you so savage?" whined Riley. "I didn't snow-ball you." And
+Riley looked around for Pewee, who was on the other side of the
+school-house, and out of sight of the scuffle.
+
+"No, you daren't snow-ball me," said Jack, squeezing another ball and
+throwing it into Riley's shirt-front with a certainty of aim that showed
+that he knew how to play ball. "Take that one, too, and if you bother
+Lum Risdale again, I'll make you pay for it. Take a boy of your size."
+And with that he moulded yet another ball, but Riley retreated to the
+other side of the school-house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+WHILING AWAY TIME
+
+
+Excluded from the plays of the older fellows, Jack drew around him a
+circle of small boys, who were always glad to be amused with the stories
+of hunting, fishing, and frontier adventure that he had heard from old
+pioneers on Wildcat Creek. Sometimes he played "tee-tah-toe, three in a
+row," with the girls, using a slate and pencil in a way well known to
+all school-children. And he also showed them a better kind of
+"tee-tah-toe," learned on the Wildcat, and which may have been in the
+first place an Indian game, as it is played with grains of Indian corn.
+A piece of board is grooved with a jack-knife in the manner shown in the
+diagram.
+
+[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF TEE-TAH-TOE BOARD.]
+
+One player has three red or yellow grains of corn, and the other an
+equal number of white ones. The player who won the last game has the
+"go"--that is, he first puts down a grain of corn at any place where the
+lines intersect, but usually in the middle, as that is the best point.
+Then the other player puts down one, and so on until all are down. After
+this, the players move alternately along any of the lines, in any
+direction, to the next intersection, provided it is not already
+occupied. The one who first succeeds in getting his three grains in a
+row wins the point, and the board is cleared for a new start. As there
+are always three vacant points, and as the rows may be formed in any
+direction along any of the lines, the game gives a chance for more
+variety of combinations than one would expect from its appearance.
+
+[Illustration: JACK AMUSING THE SMALL BOYS WITH STORIES OF HUNTING,
+FISHING, AND FRONTIER ADVENTURE.]
+
+Jack had also an arithmetical puzzle which he had learned from his
+father, and which many of the readers of this story will know, perhaps.
+
+"Set down any number, without letting me know what it is," said he to
+Joanna Merwin.
+
+She set down a number.
+
+"Now add twelve and multiply by two."
+
+"Well, that is done," said Joanna.
+
+"Divide by four, subtract half of the number first set down, and your
+answer will be six."
+
+"Oh, but how did you know that I put down sixty-four?" said Joanna.
+
+"I didn't," said Jack.
+
+"How could you tell the answer, then?"
+
+"That's for you to find out."
+
+This puzzle excited a great deal of curiosity. To add to the wonder of
+the scholars, Jack gave each time a different number to be added in, and
+sometimes he varied the multiplying and dividing. Harvey Collins, who
+was of a studious turn, puzzled over it a long time, and at last he
+found it out; but he did not tell the secret. He contented himself with
+giving out a number to Jack and telling his result. To the rest it was
+quite miraculous, and Riley turned green with jealousy when he found the
+girls and boys refusing to listen to his jokes, but gathering about Jack
+to test his ability to "guess the answer," as they phrased it. Riley
+said he knew how it was done, and he was even foolish enough to try to
+do it, by watching the slate-pencil, or by sheer guessing, but this only
+brought him into ridicule.
+
+"Try me once," said the little C. C. G. W. M. de L. Risdale, and Jack
+let Columbus set down a figure and carry it through the various
+processes until he told him the result. Lummy grew excited, pushed his
+thin hands up into his hair, looked at his slate a minute, and then
+squeaked out:
+
+"Oh--let me see--yes--no--yes--Oh, I see! Your answer is just half the
+amount added in, because you have----"
+
+But here Jack placed his hand over Columbus's mouth.
+
+"You can see through a pine door, Lummy, but you mustn't let out my
+secret," he said.
+
+But Jack had a boy's heart in him, and he longed for some more boy-like
+amusement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A BATTLE
+
+
+One morning, when Jack proposed to play a game of ball with the boys,
+Riley and Pewee came up and entered the game, and objected.
+
+"It isn't interesting to play with greenhorns," said Will. "If Jack
+plays, little Christopher Columbus Andsoforth will want to play, too;
+and then there'll be two babies to teach. I can't be always helping
+babies. Let Jack play two-hole cat or Anthony-over with the little
+fellows." To which answer Pewee assented, of course.
+
+That day at noon Riley came to Jack, with a most gentle tone and winning
+manner, and whiningly begged Jack to show him how to divide 770 by 14.
+
+"It isn't interesting to show greenhorns," said Jack, mimicking Riley's
+tone on the playground that morning. "If I show you, Pewee Rose will
+want me to show him; then there'll be two babies to teach. I can't be
+always helping babies. Go and play two-hole cat with the First-Reader
+boys."
+
+That afternoon, Mr. Ball had the satisfaction of using his new beech
+switches on both Riley and Pewee, though indeed Pewee did not deserve to
+be punished for not getting his lesson. It was Nature's doing that his
+head, like a goat's, was made for butting and not for thinking.
+
+But if he had to take whippings from the master and his father, he made
+it a rule to get satisfaction out of somebody else. If Jack had helped
+him he wouldn't have missed. If he had not missed his lesson badly, Mr.
+Ball would not have whipped him. It would be inconvenient to whip Mr.
+Ball in return, but Jack would be easy to manage, and as somebody must
+be whipped, it fell to Jack's lot to take it.
+
+King Pewee did not fall upon his victim at the school-house door; this
+would have insured him another beating from the master. Nor did he
+attack Jack while Bob Holliday was with him. Bob was big and strong--a
+great fellow of sixteen. But after Jack had passed the gate of Bob's
+house, and was walking on toward home alone, Pewee came out from behind
+an alley fence, accompanied by Ben Berry and Will Riley.
+
+"I'm going to settle with you now," said King Pewee, sidling up to Jack
+like an angry bull-dog.
+
+It was not a bright prospect for Jack, and he cast about him for a
+chance to escape a brutal encounter with such a bully, and yet avoid
+actually running away.
+
+"Well," said Jack, "if I must fight, I must. But I suppose you won't let
+Riley and Berry help you."
+
+"No, I'll fight fair." And Pewee threw off his coat, while Jack did the
+same.
+
+"You'll quit when I say 'enough,' won't you?" said Jack.
+
+"Yes, I'll fight fair, and hold up when you've got enough."
+
+"Well, then, for that matter, I've got enough now. I'll take the will
+for the deed and just say 'enough' before you begin," and he turned to
+pick up his coat.
+
+"No, you don't get off that way," said Pewee. "You've got to stand up
+and see who is the best man, or I'll kick you all the way home."
+
+"Didn't you ever hear about Davy Crockett's 'coon?" said Jack. "When the
+'coon saw him taking aim, it said: 'Is that you, Crockett? Well, don't
+fire--I'll come down anyway. I know you'll hit anything you shoot at.'
+Now, I'm that 'coon. If it was anybody but you, I'd fight. But as it's
+you, Pewee, I might just as well come down before you begin."
+
+Pewee was flattered by this way of putting the question. Had he been
+alone, Jack would have escaped. But Will Riley, remembering all he had
+endured from Jack's retorts, said:
+
+"Oh, give it to him, Pewee; he's always making trouble."
+
+At which Pewee squared himself off, doubled up his fists, and came at
+the slenderer Jack. The latter prepared to meet him, but, after all, it
+was hard for Pewee to beat so good-humored a fellow as Jack. The king's
+heart failed him, and suddenly he backed off, saying:
+
+"If you'll agree to help Riley and me out with our lessons hereafter,
+I'll let you off. If you don't, I'll thrash you within an inch of your
+life." And Pewee stood ready to begin.
+
+Jack wanted to escape the merciless beating that Pewee had in store for
+him. But it was quite impossible for him to submit under a threat. So he
+answered:
+
+"If you and Riley will treat me as you ought to, I'll help you when you
+ask me, as I always have. But even if you pound me into jelly I won't
+agree to help you, unless you treat me right. I won't be bullied into
+helping you."
+
+"Give it to him, Pewee," said Ben Berry; "he's too sassy."
+
+Pewee was a rather good-natured dog--he had to be set on. He now began
+to strike at Jack. Whether he was to be killed or not, Jack did not
+know, but he was resolved not to submit to the bully. Yet he could not
+do much at defence against Pewee's hard fists. However, Jack was active
+and had long limbs; he soon saw that he must do something more than
+stand up to be beaten. So, when King Pewee, fighting in the irregular
+Western fashion, and hoping to get a decided advantage at once, rushed
+upon Jack and pulled his head forward, Jack stooped lower than his enemy
+expected, and, thrusting his head between Pewee's knees, shoved his legs
+from under him, and by using all his strength threw Pewee over his own
+back, so that the king's nose and eyes fell into the dust of the village
+street.
+
+"I'll pay you for that," growled Pewee, as he recovered himself, now
+thoroughly infuriated; and with a single blow he sent Jack flat on his
+back, and then proceeded to pound him. Jack could do nothing now but
+shelter his eyes from Pewee's blows.
+
+Joanna Merwin had seen the beginning of the battle from her father's
+house, and feeling sure that Jack would be killed, she had run swiftly
+down the garden walk to the back gate, through which she slipped into
+the alley; and then she hurried on, as fast as her feet would carry her,
+to the blacksmith-shop of Pewee Rose's father.
+
+"Oh, please, Mr. Rose, come quick! Pewee's just killing a boy in the
+street."
+
+"Vitin' ag'in," said Mr. Rose, who was a Pennsylvanian from the
+limestone country, and spoke English with difficulty. "He ees a leetle
+ruffen, dat poy. I'll see apout him right avay a'ready, may be."
+
+And without waiting to put off his leathern apron, he walked briskly in
+the direction indicated by Joanna. Pewee was hammering Jack without
+pity, when suddenly he was caught by the collar and lifted sharply to
+his feet.
+
+"Wot you doin' down dare in de dirt wunst a'ready? Hey?" said Mr. Rose,
+as he shook his son with the full force of his right arm, and cuffed him
+with his left hand. "Didn't I dells you I'd gill you some day if you
+didn't gwit vitin' mit oder poys, a'ready?"
+
+"He commenced it," whimpered Pewee.
+
+"You dells a pig lie a'ready, I beleefs, Peter, and I'll whip you fur
+lyin' besides wunst more. Fellers like _him_," pointing to Jack, who was
+brushing the dust off his clothes,--"fellers like him don't gommence on
+such a poy as you. You're such anoder viter I never seed." And he shook
+Pewee savagely.
+
+"I won't do it no more," begged Pewee--"'pon my word and honor I won't."
+
+"Oh, you don't gits off dat away no more, a'ready. You know what I'll
+giff you when I git you home, you leedle ruffen. I shows you how to
+vite, a'ready."
+
+And the king disappeared down the street, begging like a spaniel, and
+vowing that he "wouldn't do it no more." But he got a severe whipping, I
+fear;--it is doubtful if such beatings ever do any good. The next
+morning Jack appeared at school with a black eye, and Pewee had some
+scratches, so the master whipped them both for fighting.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+HAT-BALL AND BULL-PEN
+
+
+Pewee did not renew the quarrel with Jack--perhaps from fear of the
+rawhide that hung in the blacksmith's shop, or of the master's ox-goad,
+or of Bob Holliday's fists, or perhaps from a hope of conciliating Jack
+and getting occasional help in his lessons. Jack was still excluded from
+the favorite game of "bull-pen." I am not sure that he would have been
+rejected had he asked for admission, but he did not want to risk another
+refusal. He planned a less direct way of getting into the game. Asking
+his mother for a worn-out stocking, and procuring an old boot-top, he
+ravelled the stocking, winding the yarn into a ball of medium hardness.
+Then he cut from the boot-top a square of leather large enough for his
+purpose. This he laid on the kitchen-table, and proceeded to mark off
+and cut it into the shape of an orange-peel that has been quartered off
+the orange, leaving the four quarters joined together at the middle.
+This leather he put to soak over night. The next morning, bright and
+early, with a big needle and some strong thread he sewed it around his
+yarn-ball, stretching the wet leather to its utmost, so that when it
+should contract the ball should be firm and hard, and the leather well
+moulded to it. Such a ball is far better for all play in which the
+player is to be hit than those sold in the stores nowadays. I have
+described the manufacture of the old-fashioned home-made ball, because
+there are some boys, especially in the towns, who have lost the art of
+making yarn balls.
+
+When Jack had finished his ball, he let it dry, while he ate his
+breakfast and did his chores. Then he sallied out and found Bob
+Holliday, and showed him the result of his work. Bob squeezed it, felt
+its weight, bounced it against a wall, tossed it high in the air, caught
+it, and then bounced it on the ground. Having thus "put it through its
+paces," he pronounced it an excellent ball,--"a good deal better than
+Ben Berry's ball. But what are you going to do with it?" he asked. "Play
+Anthony-over? The little boys can play that."
+
+I suppose there are boys in these days who do not know what
+"Anthony-over" is. How, indeed, can anybody play Anthony-over in a
+crowded city?
+
+The old one-story village school-houses stood generally in an open
+green. The boys divided into two parties, the one going on one side, and
+the other on the opposite side of the school-house. The party that had
+the ball would shout "Anthony!" The others responded, "Over!" To this,
+answer was made from the first party, "Over she comes!" and the ball was
+immediately thrown over the school-house. If any of the second party
+caught it, they rushed, pell-mell, around both ends of the school-house
+to the other side, and that one of them who held the ball essayed to hit
+some one of the opposite party before they could exchange sides. If a
+boy was hit by the ball thus thrown he was counted as captured to the
+opposite party, and he gave all his efforts to beat his old allies. So
+the game went on, until all the players of one side were captured by the
+others. I don't know what Anthony means in this game, but no doubt the
+game is hundreds of years old, and was played in English villages before
+the first colony came to Jamestown.
+
+"I'm not going to play Anthony-over," said Jack. "I'm going to show King
+Pewee a new trick."
+
+"You can't get up a game of bull-pen on your own hook, and play the four
+corners and the ring all by yourself."
+
+"No, I don't mean that. I'm going to show the boys how to play
+hat-ball--a game they used to play on the Wildcat."
+
+"I see your point. You are going to make Pewee ask you to let him in,"
+said Bob, and the two boys set out for school together, Jack explaining
+the game to Bob. They found one or two boys already there, and when Jack
+showed his new ball and proposed a new game, they fell in with it.
+
+The boys stood their hats in a row on the grass. The one with the ball
+stood over the row of hats, and swung his hand to and fro above them,
+while the boys stood by him, prepared to run as soon as the ball should
+drop into a hat. The boy who held the ball, after one or two false
+motions,--now toward this hat, and now toward that one,--would drop the
+ball into Somebody's hat. Somebody would rush to his hat, seize the
+ball, and throw it at one of the other boys, who were fleeing in all
+directions. If he hit Somebody-Else, Somebody-Else might throw from
+where the ball lay, or from the hats, at the rest, and so on, until some
+one missed. The one who missed took up his hat and left the play, and
+the boy who picked up the ball proceeded to drop it into a hat, and the
+game went on until all but one were put out.
+
+Hat-ball is so simple that any number can play at it, and Jack's friends
+found it so full of boisterous fun, that every new-comer wished to set
+down his hat. And thus, by the time Pewee and Riley arrived, half the
+larger boys in the school were in the game, and there were not enough
+left to make a good game of bull-pen.
+
+At noon, the new game drew the attention of the boys again, and Riley
+and Pewee tried in vain to coax them away.
+
+"Oh, I say, come on, fellows!" Riley would say. "Come--let's play
+something worth playing."
+
+But the boys stayed by the new game and the new ball. Neither Riley, nor
+Pewee, nor Ben Berry liked to ask to be let into the game, after what
+had passed. Not one of them had spoken to Jack since the battle between
+him and Pewee, and they didn't care to play with Jack's ball in a game
+of his starting.
+
+Once the other boys had broken away from Pewee's domination, they were
+pleased to feel themselves free. As for Pewee and his friends, they
+climbed up on a fence, and sat like three crows, watching the play of
+the others. After a while they got down in disgust, and went off, not
+knowing just what to do. When once they were out of sight, Jack winked
+at Bob, who said:
+
+"I say, boys, we can play hat-ball at recess when there isn't time for
+bull-pen. Let's have a game of bull-pen now, before school takes up."
+
+It was done in a minute. Bob Holliday and Tom Taylor "chose up sides,"
+the bases were all ready, and by the time Pewee and his aides-de-camp
+had walked disconsolately to the pond and back, the boys were engaged in
+a good game of bull-pen.
+
+Perhaps I ought to say something about the principles of a game so
+little known over the country at large. I have never seen it played
+anywhere but in a narrow bit of country on the Ohio River, and yet there
+is no merrier game played with a ball.
+
+The ball must not be too hard. There should be four or more corners.
+The space inside is called the pen, and the party winning the last game
+always has the corners. The ball is tossed from one corner to another,
+and when it has gone around once, any boy on a corner may, immediately
+after catching the ball thrown to him from any of the four corners,
+throw it at any one in the pen. He must throw while "the ball is
+hot,"--that is, instantly on catching it. If he fails to hit anybody on
+the other side, he goes out. If he hits, his side leave the corners and
+run as they please, for the boy who has been hit may throw from where
+the ball fell, or from any corner, at any one of the side holding the
+corners. If one of them is hit, he has the same privilege; but now the
+men in the pen are allowed to scatter, also. Whoever misses is "out,"
+and the play is resumed from the corners until all of one side is out.
+When but two are left on the corners the ball is smuggled,--that is,
+one hides the ball in his bosom, and the other pretends that he has it
+also. The boys in the ring do not know which has it, and the two "run
+the corners," throwing from any corner. If but one is left on the
+corners, he is allowed, also, to run from corner to corner.
+
+It happened that Jack's side lost on the toss-up for corners, and he got
+into the ring, where his play showed better than it would have done on
+the corners. As Jack was the greenhorn and the last chosen on his side,
+the players on the corners expected to make light work of him; but he
+was an adroit dodger, and he put out three of the boys on the corners by
+his unexpected way of evading a ball. Everybody who has ever played this
+fine old game knows that expertness in dodging is worth quite as much as
+skill in throwing. Pewee was a famous hand with a ball, Riley could
+dodge well, Ben Berry had a happy knack of dropping flat upon the ground
+and letting a ball pass over him, Bob Holliday could run well in a
+counter charge; but nothing could be more effective than Jack Dudley's
+quiet way of stepping forward or backward, bending his lithe body or
+spreading his legs to let the ball pass, according to the course which
+it took from the player's hand.
+
+King Pewee and company came back in time to see Jack dodge three balls
+thrown point-blank at him from a distance of fifteen feet. It was like
+witchcraft--he seemed to be charmed. Every dodge was greeted with a
+shout, and when once he luckily caught the ball thrown at him, and thus
+put out the thrower, there was no end of admiration of his playing. It
+was now evident to all that Jack could no longer be excluded from the
+game, and that, next to Pewee himself, he was already the best player on
+the ground.
+
+At recess that afternoon Pewee set his hat down in the hat-ball row, and
+as Jack did not object, Riley and Ben Berry did the same. The next day
+Pewee chose Jack first in bull-pen, and the game was well played.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE DEFENDER
+
+
+If Jack had not about this time undertaken the defence of the little boy
+in the Fourth Reader, whose name was large enough to cover the principal
+points in the history of the New World, he might have had peace, for
+Jack was no longer one of the newest scholars, his courage was respected
+by Pewee, and he kept poor Riley in continual fear of his
+ridicule--making him smart every day. But, just when he might have had a
+little peace and happiness, he became the defender of Christopher
+Columbus George Washington Marquis de la Fayette Risdale--little
+"Andsoforth," as Riley and the other boys had nicknamed him.
+
+The strange, pinched little body of the boy, his eccentric ways, his
+quickness in learning, and his infantile simplicity had all conspired to
+win the affection of Jack, so that he would have protected him even
+without the solicitation of Susan Lanham. But since Susan had been
+Jack's own first and fast friend, he felt in honor bound to run all
+risks in the care of her strange little cousin.
+
+I think that Columbus's child-like ways might have protected him even
+from Riley and his set, if it had not been that he was related to Susan
+Lanham, and under her protection. It was the only chance for Riley to
+revenge himself on Susan. She was more than a match for him in wit, and
+she was not a proper subject for Pewee's fists. So with that
+heartlessness which belongs to the school-boy bully, he resolved to
+torment the helpless fellow in revenge for Susan's sarcasms.
+
+One morning, smarting under some recent taunt of Susan's, Riley caught
+little Columbus almost alone in the school-room. Here was a boy who
+certainly would not be likely to strike back again. His bamboo legs, his
+spindling arms, his pale face, his contracted chest, all gave the coward
+a perfect assurance of safety. So, with a rude pretence at play,
+laughing all the time, he caught the lad by the throat, and in spite of
+his weird dignity and pleading gentleness, shoved him back against the
+wall behind the master's empty chair. Holding him here a minute in
+suspense, he began slapping him, first on this side of the face and then
+on that. The pale cheeks burned red with pain and fright, but Columbus
+did not cry out, though the constantly increasing sharpness of the
+blows, and the sense of weakness, degradation, and terror, stung him
+severely. Riley thought it funny. Like a cat playing with a condemned
+mouse, the cruel fellow actually enjoyed finding one person weak enough
+to be afraid of him.
+
+Columbus twisted about in a vain endeavor to escape from Riley's
+clutches, getting only a sharper cuff for his pains. Ben Berry, arriving
+presently, enjoyed the sport, while some of the smaller boys and girls,
+coming in, looked on the scene of torture in helpless pity. And ever, as
+more and more of the scholars gathered, Columbus felt more and more
+mortified; the tears were in his great sad eyes, but he made no sound of
+crying or complaint.
+
+Jack Dudley came in at last, and marched straight up to Riley, who let
+go his hold and backed off. "You mean, cowardly, pitiful villain!" broke
+out Jack, advancing on him.
+
+"I didn't do anything to you," whined Riley, backing into a corner.
+
+"No, but I mean to do something to you. If there's an inch of man in
+you, come right on and fight with me. You daren't do it."
+
+"I don't want any quarrel with you."
+
+"No, you quarrel with babies."
+
+Here all the boys and girls jeered.
+
+"You're too hard on a fellow, Jack," whined the scared Riley, slipping
+out of the corner and continuing to back down the school-room, while
+Jack kept slowly following him.
+
+"You're a great deal bigger than I am," said Jack. "Why don't you try to
+corner me? Oh, I could just beat the breath out of you, you great, big,
+good-for-nothing----"
+
+Here Riley pulled the west door open, and Jack, at the same moment,
+struck him. Riley half dropped, half fell, through the door-way, scared
+so badly that he went sprawling on the ground.
+
+The boys shouted "coward" and "baby" after him as he sneaked off, but
+Jack went back to comfort Columbus and to get control of his temper. For
+it is not wise, as Jack soon reflected, even in a good cause to lose
+your self-control.
+
+"It was good of you to interfere," said Susan, when she had come in and
+learned all about it.
+
+"I should have been a brute if I hadn't," said Jack, pleased none the
+less with her praise. "But it doesn't take any courage to back Riley out
+of a school-house. One could get more fight out of a yearling calf. I
+suppose I've got to take a beating from Pewee, though."
+
+"Go and see him about it, before Riley talks to him," suggested Susan.
+And Jack saw the prudence of this course. As he left the school-house at
+a rapid pace, Ben Berry told Riley, who was skulking behind a fence,
+that Jack was afraid of Pewee.
+
+"Pewee," said Jack, when he met him starting to school, after having
+done his "chores," including the milking of his cow,--"Pewee, I want to
+say something to you."
+
+Jack's tone and manner flattered Pewee. One thing that keeps a rowdy a
+rowdy is the thought that better people despise him. Pewee felt in his
+heart that Jack had a contempt for him, and this it was that made him
+hate Jack in turn. But now that the latter sought him in a friendly way,
+he felt himself lifted up into a dignity hitherto unknown to him. "What
+is it?"
+
+"You are a kind of king among the boys," said Jack. Pewee grew an inch
+taller.
+
+"They are all afraid of you. Now, why don't you make us fellows behave?
+You ought to protect the little boys from fellows that impose on them.
+Then you'd be a king worth the having. All the boys and girls would
+like you."
+
+"I s'pose may be that's so," said the king.
+
+"There's poor little Columbus Risdale----"
+
+"I don't like him," said Pewee.
+
+"You mean you don't like Susan. She _is_ a little sharp with her tongue.
+But you wouldn't fight with a baby--it isn't like you."
+
+"No, sir-ee," said Pewee.
+
+"You'd rather take a big boy than a little one. Now, you ought to make
+Riley let Lummy alone."
+
+"I'll do that," said Pewee. "Riley's about a million times bigger than
+Lum."
+
+"I went to the school-house this morning," continued Jack, "and I found
+Riley choking and beating him. And I thought I'd just speak to you, and
+see if you can't make him stop it."
+
+"I'll do that," said Pewee, walking along with great dignity.
+
+When Ben Berry and Riley saw Pewee coming in company with Jack, they
+were amazed and hung their heads, afraid to say anything even to each
+other. Jack and Pewee walked straight up to the fence-corner in which
+they stood.
+
+"I thought I'd see what King Pewee would say about your fighting with
+babies, Riley," said Jack.
+
+"I want you fellows to understand," said Pewee, "that I'm not going to
+have that little Lum Risdale hurt. If you want to fight, why don't you
+fight somebody your own size? I don't fight babies myself," and here
+Pewee drew his head up, "and I don't stand by any boy that does."
+
+Poor Riley felt the last support drop from under him. Pewee had deserted
+him, and he was now an orphan, unprotected in an unfriendly world!
+
+Jack knew that the truce with so vain a fellow as Pewee could not last
+long, but it served its purpose for the time. And when, after school,
+Susan Lanham took pains to go and thank Pewee for standing up for
+Columbus, Pewee felt himself every inch a king, and for the time he
+was--if not a "reformed prize-fighter," such as one hears of sometimes,
+at least an improved boy. The trouble with vain people like Pewee is,
+that they have no stability. They bend the way the wind blows, and for
+the most part the wind blows from the wrong quarter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+PIGEON POT-PIE
+
+
+Happy boys and girls that go to school nowadays! You have to study
+harder than the generations before you, it is true; you miss the jolly
+spelling-schools, and the good old games that were not half so
+scientific as base-ball, lawn tennis, or lacrosse, but that had ten
+times more fun and frolic in them; but all this is made up to you by the
+fact that you escape the tyrannical old master. Whatever the faults the
+teachers of this day may have, they do not generally lacerate the backs
+of their pupils, as did some of their fore-runners.
+
+At the time of which I write, thirty years ago, a better race of
+school-masters was crowding out the old, but many of the latter class,
+with their terrible switches and cruel beatings, kept their ground until
+they died off one by one, and relieved the world of their odious ways.
+
+Mr. Ball wouldn't die to please anybody. He was a bachelor, and had no
+liking for children, but taught school five or six months in winter to
+avoid having to work on a farm in the summer. He had taught in Greenbank
+every winter for a quarter of a century, and having never learned to win
+anybody's affection, had been obliged to teach those who disliked him.
+This atmosphere of mutual dislike will sour the sweetest temper, and Mr.
+Ball's temper had not been strained honey to begin with. Year by year he
+grew more and more severe--he whipped for poor lessons, he whipped for
+speaking in school, he took down his switch for not speaking loud enough
+in class, he whipped for coming late to school, he whipped because a
+scholar made a noise with his feet, and he whipped because he himself
+had eaten something unwholesome for his breakfast. The brutality of a
+master produces like qualities in scholars. The boys drew caricatures on
+the blackboard, put living cats or dead ones into Mr. Ball's desk, and
+tried to drive him wild by their many devices.
+
+He would walk up and down the school-room seeking a victim, and he had as
+much pleasure in beating a girl or a little boy as in punishing an
+overgrown fellow.
+
+And yet I cannot say that Mr. Ball was impartial. There were some pupils
+that escaped. Susan Lanham was not punished, because her father, Dr.
+Lanham, was a very influential man in the town; and the faults of Henry
+Weathervane and his sister were always overlooked after their father
+became a school trustee.
+
+Many efforts had been made to put a new master into the school. But Mr.
+Ball's brother-in-law was one of the principal merchants in the place,
+and the old man had had the school so long that it seemed like robbery
+to deprive him of it. It had come, in some sort, to belong to him.
+People hated to see him moved. He would die some day, they said, and
+nobody could deny that, though it often seemed to the boys and girls
+that he would never die; he was more likely to dry up and blow away. And
+it was a long time to wait for that.
+
+And yet I think Greenbank might have had to wait for something like that
+if there hadn't come a great flight of pigeons just at this time. For
+whenever Susan Lanham suggested to her father that he should try to get
+Mr. Ball removed and a new teacher appointed, Dr. Lanham smiled and
+said "he hated to move against the old man; he's been there so long,
+you know, and he probably wouldn't live long, anyhow. Something ought to
+be done, perhaps, but he couldn't meddle with him." For older people
+forgot the beatings they had endured, and remembered the old man only as
+one of the venerable landmarks of their childhood.
+
+And so, by favor of Henry Weathervane's father, whose children he did
+not punish, and by favor of other people's neglect and forgetfulness,
+the Greenbank children might have had to face and fear the old ogre down
+to this day, or until he dried up and blew away, if it hadn't been, as I
+said, that there came a great flight of pigeons.
+
+A flight of pigeons is not uncommon in the Ohio River country. Audubon,
+the great naturalist, saw them in his day, and in old colonial times
+such flights took place in the settlements on the sea-board, and
+sometimes the starving colonists were able to knock down pigeons with
+sticks. The mathematician is not yet born who can count the number of
+pigeons in one of these sky-darkening flocks, which are often many miles
+in length, and which follow one another for a whole day. The birds, for
+the most part, fly at a considerable height from the earth, but when
+they are crossing a wide valley, like that of the Ohio River, they drop
+down to a lower level, and so reach the hills quite close to the ground,
+and within easy gunshot.
+
+When the pigeon flight comes on Saturday, it is very convenient for
+those boys that have guns. If these pigeons had only come on Saturday
+instead of on Monday, Mr. Ball might have taught the Greenbank school
+until to-day,--that is to say, if he hadn't died or quite dried up and
+blown off meanwhile.
+
+For when Riley and Ben Berry saw this flight of pigeons begin on Monday
+morning, they remembered that the geography lesson was a hard one, and
+so they played "hooky," and, taking their guns with them, hid in the
+bushes at the top of the hill. Then, as the birds struck the hill, and
+beat their way up over the brow of it, the boys, lying in ambush, had
+only to fire into the flock without taking aim, and the birds would drop
+all around them. The discharge of the guns made Bob Holliday so hungry
+for pigeon pot-pie, that he, too, ran away from school, at recess, and
+took his place among the pigeon-slayers in the paw-paw patch on the hill
+top.
+
+Tuesday morning, Mr. Ball came in with darkened brows, and three extra
+switches. Riley, Berry, and Holliday were called up as soon as school
+began. They had pigeon pot-pie for dinner, but they also had sore backs
+for three days, and Bob laughingly said that he knew just how a pigeon
+felt when it was basted.
+
+The day after the whipping and the pigeon pot-pie, when the sun shone
+warm at noon, the fire was allowed to go down in the stove. All were at
+play in the sunshine, excepting Columbus Risdale, who sat solitary, like
+a disconsolate screech-owl, in one corner of the room. Riley and Ben
+Berry, still smarting from yesterday, entered, and without observing
+Lummy's presence, proceeded to put some gunpowder in the stove, taking
+pains to surround it with cool ashes, so that it should not explode
+until the stirring of the fire, as the chill of the afternoon should
+come on. When they had finished this dangerous transaction, they
+discovered the presence of Columbus in his corner, looking at them with
+large-eyed wonder and alarm.
+
+"If you ever tell a living soul about that, we'll kill you," said Ben
+Berry.
+
+Riley also threatened the scared little rabbit, and both felt safe from
+detection.
+
+An hour after school had resumed its session. Columbus, who had sat
+shivering with terror all the time, wrote on his slate:
+
+"Will Riley and Ben B. put something in the stove. Said they would kill
+me if I told on them."
+
+This he passed to Jack, who sat next to him. Jack rubbed it out as soon
+as he had read it, and wrote:
+
+"Don't tell anybody."
+
+Jack could not guess what they had put in. It might be coffee-nuts,
+which would explode harmlessly; it might be something that would give a
+bad smell in burning, such as chicken-feathers. If he had thought that
+it was gunpowder, he would have plucked up courage enough to give the
+master some warning, though he might have got only a whipping for his
+pains. While Jack was debating what he should do, the master called the
+Fourth-Reader class. At the close of the lesson he noticed that Columbus
+was shivering, though indeed it was more from terror than from cold.
+
+"Go to the stove and stir up the fire, and get warm," he said, sternly.
+
+"I'd--I'd rather not," said Lum, shaking with fright at the idea.
+
+"Umph!" said Mr. Ball, looking hard at the lad, with half a mind to make
+him go. Then he changed his purpose and went to the stove himself, raked
+forward the coals, and made up the fire. Just as he was shutting the
+stove-door, the explosion came--the ashes flew out all over the master,
+the stove was thrown down from the bricks on which its four legs rested,
+the long pipe fell in many pieces on the floor, and the children set up
+a general howl in all parts of the room.
+
+As soon as Mr. Ball had shaken off the ashes from his coat, he said: "Be
+quiet--there's no more danger. Columbus Risdale, come here."
+
+"He did not do it," spoke up Susan Lanham.
+
+"Be quiet, Susan. You know all about this," continued the master to poor
+little Columbus, who was so frightened as hardly to be able to stand.
+After looking at Columbus a moment, the master took down a great beech
+switch. "Now, I shall whip you until you tell me who did it. You were
+afraid to go to the stove. You knew there was powder there. Who put it
+there? That's the question. Answer, quick, or I shall make you."
+
+The little skin-and-bones trembled between two terrors, and Jack, seeing
+his perplexity, got up and stood by him.
+
+"He didn't do it, Mr. Ball. I know who did it. If Columbus should tell
+you, he would be beaten for telling. The boy who did it is just mean
+enough to let Lummy get the whipping. Please let him off."
+
+"_You_ know, do you? I shall whip you both. You knew there was gunpowder
+in the fire, and you gave no warning. I shall whip you both--the
+severest whipping you ever had, too."
+
+And the master put up the switch he had taken down, as not effective
+enough, and proceeded to take another.
+
+"If we had known it was gunpowder," said Jack, beginning to tremble,
+"you would have been warned. But we didn't. We only knew that something
+had been put in."
+
+"If you'll tell all about it, I'll let you off easier; if you don't, I
+shall give you all the whipping I know how to give." And by way of
+giving impressiveness to his threat he took a turn about the room, while
+there was an awful stillness among the terrified scholars.
+
+I do not know what was in Bob Holliday's head, but about this time he
+managed to open the western door while the master's back was turned.
+Bob's desk was near the door.
+
+Poor little Columbus was ready to die, and Jack was afraid that, if the
+master should beat him as he threatened to do, the child would die
+outright. Luckily, at the second cruel blow, the master broke his switch
+and turned to get another. Seeing the door open, Jack whispered to
+Columbus:
+
+"Run home as fast as you can go."
+
+The little fellow needed no second bidding. He tottered on his
+trembling legs to the door, and was out before Mr. Ball had detected the
+motion. When the master saw his prey disappearing out of the door, he
+ran after him, but it happened curiously enough, in the excitement, that
+Bob Holliday, who sat behind the door, rose up, as if to look out, and
+stumbled against the door, thus pushing it shut, so that by the time Mr.
+Ball got his stiff legs outside the door, the frightened child was under
+such headway that, fearing to have the whole school in rebellion, the
+teacher gave over the pursuit, and came back prepared to wreak his
+vengeance on Jack.
+
+While Mr. Ball was outside the door, Bob Holliday called to Jack, in a
+loud whisper, that he had better run, too, or the old master would "skin
+him alive." But Jack had been trained to submit to authority, and to run
+away now would lose him his winter's schooling, on which he had set
+great store. He made up his mind to face the punishment as best he
+could, fleeing only as a last resort if the beating should be
+unendurable.
+
+"Now," said the master to Jack, "will you tell me who put that gunpowder
+in the stove? If you don't, I'll take it out of your skin."
+
+Jack could not bear to tell, especially under a threat. I think that
+boys are not wholly right in their notion that it is dishonorable to
+inform on a school-mate, especially in the case of so bad an offence as
+that of which Will and Ben were guilty. But, on the other hand, the last
+thing a master ought to seek is to turn boys into habitual spies and
+informers on one another. In the present instance, Jack ought, perhaps,
+to have told, for the offence was criminal; but it is hard for a
+high-spirited lad to yield to a brutal threat.
+
+Jack caught sight of Susan Lanham telegraphing from behind the master,
+by spelling with her fingers:
+
+"Tell or run."
+
+But he could not make up his mind to do either, though Bob Holliday had
+again mysteriously opened the western door.
+
+The master summoned all his strength and struck him half a dozen blows,
+that made poor Jack writhe. Then he walked up and down the room awhile,
+to give the victim time to consider whether he would tell or not.
+
+"Run," spelled out Susan on her fingers.
+
+"The school-house is on fire!" called out Bob Holliday. Some of the
+coals that had spilled from the capsized stove were burning the
+floor--not dangerously, but Bob wished to make a diversion. He rushed
+for a pail of water in the corner, and all the rest, aching with
+suppressed excitement, crowded around the fallen stove, so that it was
+hard for the master to tell whether there was any fire or not. Bob
+whispered to Jack to "cut sticks," but Jack only went to his seat.
+
+"Lay hold, boys, and let's put up the stove," said Bob, taking the
+matter quite out of the master's hands. Of course, the stove-pipe would
+not fit without a great deal of trouble. Did ever stove-pipe go together
+without trouble? Somehow, all the joints that Bob joined together flew
+asunder over and over again, though he seemed to work most zealously to
+get the stove set up. After half an hour of this confusion, the pipe was
+fixed, and the master, having had time, like the stove, to cool off, and
+seeing Jack bent over his book, concluded to let the matter drop. But
+there are some matters that, once taken up, are hard to drop.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+JACK AND HIS MOTHER
+
+
+Jack went home that night very sore on his back and in his feelings. He
+felt humiliated to be beaten like a dog, and even a dog feels degraded
+in being beaten. He told his mother about it--the tall, dignified,
+sweet-faced mother, patient in trouble and full of a goodness that did
+not talk much about goodness. She always took it for granted that _her_
+boy would not do anything mean, and thus made a healthy atmosphere for a
+brave boy to grow in. Jack told her of his whipping, with some heat,
+while he sat at supper. She did not say much then, but after Jack's
+evening chores were all finished, she sat down by the candle where he
+was trying to get out some sums, and questioned him carefully.
+
+"Why didn't you tell who did it?" she asked.
+
+"Because it makes a boy mean to tell, and all the boys would have
+thought me a sneak."
+
+"It is a little hard to face a general opinion like that," she said.
+
+"But," said Jack, "if I had told, the master would have whipped Columbus
+all the same, and the boys would probably have pounded him, too. I ought
+to have told beforehand," said Jack, after a pause. "But I thought it
+was only some coffee-nuts that they had put in. The mean fellows, to let
+Columbus take a whipping for them! But the way Mr. Ball beats us is
+enough to make a boy mean and cowardly."
+
+After a long silence, the mother said: "I think we shall have to give it
+up, Jack."
+
+"What, mother?"
+
+"The schooling for this winter. I don't want you to go where boys are
+beaten in that way. In the morning, go and get your books and see what
+you can do at home."
+
+Then, after a long pause, in which neither liked to speak, Mrs. Dudley
+said:
+
+"I want you to be an educated man. You learn quickly; you have a taste
+for books, and you will be happier if you get knowledge. If I could
+collect the money that Gray owes your father's estate, or even a part of
+it, I should be able to keep you in school one winter after this. But
+there seems to be no hope for that."
+
+"But Gray is a rich man, isn't he?"
+
+"Yes, he has a good deal of property, but not in his own name. He
+persuaded your father, who was a kind-hearted and easy-natured man, to
+release a mortgage, promising to give him some other security the next
+week. But, meantime, he put his property in such a shape as to cheat all
+his creditors. I don't think we shall ever get anything."
+
+"I am going to be an educated man, anyhow."
+
+"But you will have to go to work at something next fall," said the
+mother.
+
+"That will make it harder, but I mean to study a little every day. I
+wish I could get a chance to spend next winter in school."
+
+"We'll see what can be done."
+
+And long after Jack went to bed that night the mother sat still by the
+candle with her sewing, trying to think what she could do to help her
+boy to get on with his studies.
+
+Jack woke up after eleven o'clock, and saw her light still burning in
+the sitting-room.
+
+"I say, mother," he called out, "don't you sit there worrying about me.
+We shall come through this all right."
+
+Some of Jack's hopefulness got into the mother's heart, and she took her
+light and went to bed.
+
+Weary, and sore, and disappointed, Jack did not easily get to sleep
+himself after his cheerful speech to his mother. He lay awake long,
+making boy's plans for his future. He would go and collect money by some
+hook or crook from the rascally Gray; he would make a great invention;
+he would discover a gold mine; he would find some rich cousin who would
+send him through college; he would----, but just then he grew more
+wakeful and realized that all his plans had no foundation of
+probability.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+COLUMBUS AND HIS FRIENDS
+
+
+When he waked up in the morning, Jack remembered that he had not seen
+Columbus Risdale go past the door after his cow the evening before, and
+he was afraid that he might be ill. Why had he not thought to go down
+and drive up the cow himself? It was yet early, and he arose and went
+down to the little rusty, brown, unpainted house in which the Risdales,
+who were poor people, had their home. Just as he pushed open the gate,
+Bob Holliday came out of the door, looking tired and sleepy.
+
+"Hello, Bob!" said Jack. "How's Columbus? Is he sick?"
+
+"Awful sick," said Bob. "Clean out of his head all night."
+
+"Have you been here all night?"
+
+"Yes, I heerd he was sick last night, and I come over and sot up with
+him."
+
+"You good, big-hearted Bob!" said Jack. "You're the best fellow in the
+world, I believe."
+
+"What a quare feller you air to talk, Jack," said Bob, choking up. "Air
+you goin' to school to-day?"
+
+"No. Mother'd rather have me not go any more."
+
+"I'm not going any more. I hate old Ball. Neither's Susan Lanham going.
+She's in there," and Bob made a motion toward the house with his thumb,
+and passed out of the gate, while Jack knocked at the door. He was
+admitted by Susan.
+
+"Oh, Jack! I'm so glad to see you," she whispered. "Columbus has asked
+for you a good many times during the night. You've stood by him
+splendidly."
+
+Jack blushed, but asked how Lummy was now.
+
+"Out of his head most of the time. Bob Holliday stayed with him all
+night. What a good fellow Bob Holliday is!"
+
+"I almost hugged him, just now," said Jack, and Susan couldn't help
+smiling at this frank confession.
+
+Jack passed into the next room as stealthily as possible, that he might
+not disturb his friend, and paused by the door. Mrs. Risdale sat by the
+bedside of Columbus, who was sleeping uneasily, his curious big head and
+long, thin hair making a strange picture against the pillow. His face
+looked more meagre and his eyes more sunken than ever before, but there
+was a feverish flush on his wan cheeks, and the slender hands moved
+uneasily on the outside of the blue coverlet, the puny arms were bare to
+the elbows.
+
+Mrs. Risdale beckoned Jack to come forward, and he came and stood at the
+bed-foot. Then Columbus opened his large eyes and fixed them on Jack for
+a few seconds.
+
+"Come, Jack, dear old fellow," he whispered.
+
+Jack came and bent over him with tearful eyes, and the poor little
+reed-like arms were twined about his neck.
+
+"Jack," he sobbed, "the master's right over there in the corner all the
+time, straightening out his long switches. He says he's going to whip me
+again. But you won't let him, will you, Jack, you good old fellow?"
+
+"No, he shan't touch you."
+
+"Let's run away, Jack," he said, presently. And so the poor little
+fellow went on, his great, disordered brain producing feverish images of
+terror from which he continually besought "dear good old Jack" to
+deliver him.
+
+When at last he dropped again into a troubled sleep, Jack slipped away
+and drove up the Risdale cow, and then went back to his breakfast. He
+was a boy whose anger kindled slowly; but the more he thought about it,
+the more angry he became at the master who had given Columbus such a
+fright as to throw him into a brain fever, and at the "mean, sneaking
+contemptible villains," as he hotly called them, who wouldn't come
+forward and confess their trick, rather than to have the poor little lad
+punished.
+
+"I suppose we ought to make some allowances," his mother said, quietly.
+
+"That's what you always say, mother. You're always making allowances."
+
+After breakfast and chores, Jack thought to go again to see his little
+friend. On issuing from the gate, he saw Will Riley and Ben Berry
+waiting for him at the corner. Whether they meant to attack him or not
+he could not tell, but he felt too angry to care.
+
+"I say, Jack," said Riley, "how did you know who put the powder in the
+stove? Did Columbus tell you?"
+
+"Mind your own business," said Jack, in a tone not so polite as it might
+be. "The less you say about gunpowder, hereafter, the better for you
+both. Why didn't you walk up and tell, and save that little fellow a
+beating?"
+
+"Look here, Jack," said Berry, "don't you tell what you know about it.
+There's going to be a row. They say that Doctor Lanham's taken Susan,
+and all the other children, out of school, because the master thrashed
+Lummy, and they say Bob Holliday's quit, and that you're going to quit,
+and Doctor Lanham's gone to work this morning to get the master put out
+at the end of the term. Mr. Ball didn't know that Columbus was kin to
+the Lanhams, or he'd have let him alone, like he does the Lanhams and
+the Weathervanes. There is going to be a big row, and everybody'll want
+to know who put the powder in the stove. We want you to be quiet about
+it."
+
+"You _do_?" said Jack, with a sneer. "_You_ do?"
+
+"Yes, we do," said Riley, coaxingly.
+
+"You do? _You_ come to _me_ and ask me to keep it secret, after letting
+me and that poor little baby take your whipping! You want me to hide
+what you did, when that poor little Columbus lies over there sick abed
+and like to die, all because you sneaking scoundrels let him be whipped
+for what you did!"
+
+"Is he sick?" said Riley, in terror.
+
+"Going to die, I expect," said Jack, bitterly.
+
+"Well," said Ben Berry, "you be careful what you say about us, or we'll
+get Pewee to get even with you."
+
+"Oh, that's your game! You think you can scare me, do you?"
+
+Jack grew more and more angry. Seeing a group of school-boys on the
+other side of the street, he called them over.
+
+"Look here, boys," said Jack, "I took a whipping yesterday to keep from
+telling on these fellows, and now they have the face to ask me not to
+tell that they put the powder in the stove, and they promise me a
+beating from Pewee if I do. These are the two boys that let a poor
+sickly baby take the whipping they ought to have had. They have just as
+good as killed him, I suppose, and now they come sneaking around here
+and trying to scare me in keeping still about it. I didn't back down
+from the master, and I won't from Pewee. Oh, no! I won't tell anybody.
+But if any of you boys should happen to guess that Will Riley and Ben
+Berry were the cowards who did that mean trick, I am not going to say
+they weren't. It wouldn't be of any use to deny it. There are only two
+boys in school mean enough to play such a contemptible trick as that."
+
+Riley and Berry stood sheepishly silent, but just here Pewee came in
+sight, and seeing the squad of boys gathered around Jack, strode over
+quickly and pushed his sturdy form into the midst.
+
+"Pewee," said Riley, "I think you ought to pound Jack. He says you can't
+back him down."
+
+"I didn't," said Jack. "I said _you_ couldn't scare me out of telling
+who tried to blow up the school-house stove, and let other boys take
+the whipping, by promising me a drubbing from Pewee Rose. If Pewee wants
+to put himself in as mean a crowd as yours, and be your puppy-dog to
+fight for you, let him come on. He's a fool if he does, that's all I
+have to say. The whole town will want to ship you two fellows off before
+night, and Pewee isn't going to fight your battles. What do you think,
+Pewee, of fellows that put powder in a stove where they might blow up a
+lot of little children? What do you think of two fellows that want me to
+keep quiet after they let little Lum Risdale take a whipping for them,
+and that talk about setting you on to me if I tell?"
+
+Thus brought face to face with both parties, King Pewee only looked
+foolish and said nothing.
+
+Jack had worked himself into such a passion that he could not go to
+Risdale's, but returned to his own home, declaring that he was going to
+tell everybody in town. But when he entered the house and looked into
+the quiet, self-controlled face of his mother, he began to feel cooler.
+
+"Let us remember that some allowances are to be made for such boys," was
+all that she said.
+
+"That's what you always say, Mother," said Jack, impatiently. "I believe
+you'd make allowances for the Old Boy himself."
+
+"That would depend on his bringing up," smiled Mrs. Dudley. "Some people
+have bad streaks naturally, and some have been cowed and brutalized by
+ill-treatment, and some have been spoiled by indulgence."
+
+Jack felt more calm after a while. He went back to the bedside of
+Columbus, but he couldn't bring himself to make allowances.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+GREENBANK WAKES UP
+
+
+If the pigeons had not crossed the valley on Monday, nobody would have
+played truant, and if nobody had played truant on Monday, there would
+not have been occasion to whip three boys on Tuesday morning, and if Ben
+Berry and Riley had escaped a beating on Tuesday morning, they would not
+have thought of putting gunpowder into the stove on Wednesday at noon,
+and if they had omitted that bad joke, Columbus would not have got into
+trouble and run away from school, and if he had escaped the fright and
+the flight, he might not have had the fever, and the town would not have
+been waked up, and other things would not have happened.
+
+So then, you see, this world of ours is just like the House that Jack
+Built: one thing is tied to another and another to that, and that to
+this, and this to something, and something to something else, and so on
+to the very end of all things.
+
+So it was that the village was thrown into a great excitement as the
+result of a flock of innocent pigeons going over the heads of some lazy
+boys. In the first place, Susan Lanham talked about things. She talked
+to her aunts, and she talked to her uncles, and, above all, she talked
+to her father. Now Susan was the brightest girl in the town, and she had
+a tongue, as all the world knew, and when she set out to tell people
+what a brute the old master was, how he had beaten two innocent boys,
+how bravely Jack had carried himself, how frightened little Columbus
+was, and how sick it had made him, and how mean the boys were to put
+the powder there, and then to let the others take the whipping,--I say,
+when Susan set out to tell all these things, in her eloquent way, to
+everybody she knew, you might expect a waking up in the sleepy old town.
+Some of the people took Susan's side and removed their children from the
+school, lest they, too, should get a whipping and run home and have
+brain fever. But many stood up for the old master, mostly because they
+were people of the sort that never can bear to see anything changed.
+"The boys ought to have told who put the powder in the stove," they
+said. "It served them right."
+
+"How could the master know that Jack and Columbus did not do it
+themselves?" said others. "Maybe they did!"
+
+"Don't tell me!" cried old Mrs. Horne. "Don't tell me! Boys can't be
+managed without whipping, and plenty of it. 'Bring up a child and away
+he goes,' as the Bible says. When you hire a master, you want a
+_master_, says I."
+
+"What a tongue that Sue Lanham has got!" said Mr. Higbie, Mr. Ball's
+brother-in-law.
+
+The excitement spread over the whole village. Doctor Lanham talked about
+it, and the ministers, and the lawyers, and the loafers in the stores,
+and the people who came to the post-office for their letters. Of course,
+it broke out furiously in the "Maternal Association," a meeting of
+mothers held at the house of one of the ministers.
+
+"Mr. Ball can do every sum in the arithmetic," urged Mrs. Weathervane.
+
+"He's a master hand at figures, they do say," said Mother Brownson.
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Dudley, "I don't doubt it. Jack's back is covered with
+figures of Mr. Ball's making. For my part, I should rather have a
+master that did his figuring on a slate."
+
+Susan Lanham got hold of this retort, and took pains that it should be
+known all over the village.
+
+When Greenbank once gets waked up on any question, it never goes to
+sleep until that particular question is settled. But it doesn't wake up
+more than once or twice in twenty years. Most of the time it is only
+talking in its sleep. Now that Greenbank had its eyes open for a little
+time, it was surprised to see that while the cities along the river had
+all adopted graded schools,--_de_-graded schools, as they were called by
+the people opposed to them,--and while even the little villages in the
+hill country had younger and more enlightened teachers, the county-town
+of Greenbank had made no advance. It employed yet, under the rule of
+President Fillmore, the same hard old stick of a master that had beaten
+the boys in the log school-house in the days of John Quincy Adams and
+Andrew Jackson. But, now it was awake, Greenbank kept its eyes open on
+the school question. The boys wrote on the fences, in chalk:
+
+  DOWN WITH OLD BAWL!
+
+and thought the bad spelling of the name a good joke, while men and
+women began to talk about getting a new master.
+
+Will Riley and Ben Berry had the hardest time. For the most part they
+stayed at home during the excitement, only slinking out in the evening.
+The boys nicknamed them "Gunpowder cowards," and wrote the words on the
+fences. Even the loafers about the street asked them whether Old Ball
+had given them that whipping yet, and how they liked "powder and Ball."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+PROFESSOR SUSAN
+
+
+Mr. Ball did not let go easily. He had been engaged for the term, and he
+declared that he would go on to the end of the term, if there should be
+nothing but empty benches. In truth, he and his partisans hoped that the
+storm would blow over and the old man be allowed to go on teaching and
+thrashing as heretofore. He had a great advantage in that he had been
+trained in all the common branches better than most masters, and was
+regarded as a miracle of skill in arithmetical calculations. He even
+knew how to survey land.
+
+Jack was much disappointed to miss his winter's schooling, and there was
+no probability that he would be able to attend school again. He went on
+as best he could at home, but he stuck fast on some difficult problems
+in the middle of the arithmetic. Columbus had by this time begun to
+recover his slender health, and he was even able to walk over to Jack's
+house occasionally. Finding Jack in despair over some of his "sums," he
+said:
+
+"Why don't you ask Susan Lanham to show you? I believe she would; and
+she has been clean through the arithmetic, and she is 'most as good as
+the master himself."
+
+"I don't like to," said Jack. "She wouldn't want to take the trouble."
+
+But the next morning Christopher Columbus managed to creep over to the
+Lanhams:
+
+"Cousin Sukey," he said, coaxingly, "I wish you'd do something for me. I
+want to ask a favor of you."
+
+[Illustration: "COUSIN SUKEY," SAID LITTLE COLUMBUS, "I WANT TO ASK A
+FAVOR OF YOU."]
+
+"What is it, Columbus?" said Sue. "Anything you ask shall be given, to
+the half of my kingdom!" and she struck an attitude, as Isabella of
+Castile, addressing the great Columbus, with the dust-brush for a
+sceptre, and the towel, which she had pinned about her head, for a
+crown.
+
+"You are so funny," he said, with a faint smile. "But I wish you'd be
+sober a minute."
+
+"Haven't had but one cup of coffee this morning. But what do you want?"
+
+"Jack----"
+
+"Oh, yes, it's always Jack with you. But that's right--Jack deserves
+it."
+
+"Jack can't do his sums, and he won't ask you to help him."
+
+"And so he got you to ask?"
+
+"No, he didn't. He wouldn't let me, if he knew. He thinks a young lady
+like you wouldn't want to take the trouble to help him."
+
+"Do you tell that stupid Jack, that if he doesn't want to offend me so
+that I'll never, never forgive him, he is to bring his slate and pencil
+over here after supper this evening. And you'll come, too, with your
+geography. Yours truly, Susan Lanham, Professor of Mathematics and
+Natural Science in the Greenbank Independent and Miscellaneous Academy.
+Do you hear?"
+
+"All right." And Columbus, smiling faintly, went off to tell Jack the
+good news. That evening Susan had, besides her own brother and two
+sisters, two pupils who learned more arithmetic than they would have
+gotten in the same time from Mr. Ball, though she did keep them laughing
+at her drollery. The next evening, little Joanna Merwin joined the
+party, and Professor Susan felt quite proud of her "academy," as she
+called it.
+
+Bob Holliday caught the infection, and went to studying at home. As he
+was not so far advanced as Jack, he contented himself with asking Jack's
+help when he was in trouble. At length, he had a difficulty that Jack
+could not solve.
+
+"Why don't you take that to the professor?" asked Jack. "I'll ask her to
+show you."
+
+"I dursn't," said Bob, with a frightened look.
+
+"Nonsense!" said Jack.
+
+That evening, when the lessons were ended, Jack said:
+
+"Professor Susan, there was a story in the old First Reader we had in
+the first school that I went to, about a dog who had a lame foot. A
+doctor cured his foot, and some time after, the patient brought another
+lame dog to the doctor, and showed by signs that he wanted this other
+dog cured, too."
+
+"That's rather a good dog-story," said Susan. "But what made you think
+of it?"
+
+"Because I'm that first dog."
+
+"You are?"
+
+"Yes. You've helped me, but there's Bob Holliday. I've been helping him,
+but he's got to a place where I don't quite understand the thing myself.
+Now Bob wouldn't dare ask you to help him----"
+
+"Bring him along. How the Greenbank Academy grows!" laughed Susan,
+turning to her father.
+
+Bob was afraid of Susan at first--his large fingers trembled so much
+that he had trouble to use his slate-pencil. But by the third evening
+his shyness had worn off, so that he got on well.
+
+One evening, after a week of attendance, he was missing. The next
+morning he came to Jack's house with his face scratched and his eye
+bruised.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Jack.
+
+"Well, you see, yesterday I was at the school-house at noon, and Pewee,
+egged on by Riley, said something he oughtn't to, about Susan, and I
+couldn't stand there and hear that girl made fun of, and so I up and
+downed him, and made him take it back. I can't go till my face looks
+better, you know, for I wouldn't want her to know anything about it."
+
+But the professor heard all about it from Joanna, who had it from one of
+the school-boys. Susan sent Columbus to tell Bob that she knew all about
+it, and that he must come back to school.
+
+"So you've been fighting, have you?" she said, severely, when Bob
+appeared. The poor fellow was glad she took that tone--if she had
+thanked him he wouldn't have been able to reply.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, don't you do it any more. It's very wrong to fight. It
+makes boys brutal. A girl with ability enough to teach the Greenbank
+Academy can take care of herself, and she doesn't want her scholars to
+fight."
+
+"All right," said Bob. "But," he muttered, "I'll thrash him all the
+same, and more than ever, if he ever says anything like that again."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+CROWING AFTER VICTORY
+
+
+Greenbank was awake, and the old master had to go. Mr. Weathervane stood
+up for him as long as he thought that the excitement was temporary. But
+when he found that Greenbank really was awake, and not just talking in
+its sleep, as it did for the most part, he changed sides,--not all at
+once, but by degrees. At first he softened down a little, "hemmed and
+hawed," as folks say. He said he did not know but that Mr. Ball had been
+hasty, but he meant well. The next day he took another step, and said
+that the old master meant well, but he was _often_ too hasty in his
+temper. The next week he let himself down another peg in saying that
+"maybe" the old man meant well, but he was altogether too hot in his
+temper for a school-master. A little while later, he found out that Mr.
+Ball's way of teaching was quite out of date. Before a month had
+elapsed, he was sure that the old curmudgeon ought to be put out, and
+thus at last Mr. Weathervane found himself where he liked to be, in the
+popular party.
+
+And so the old master came to his last day in the brick school-house.
+Whatever feelings he may have had in leaving behind him the scenes of
+his twenty-five years of labor, he said nothing. He only compressed his
+lips a little more tightly, scowled as severely as ever, removed his
+books and pens from his desk, gave a last look at his long beech
+switches on the wall, turned the key in the door of the school-house,
+carried it to Mr. Weathervane, received his pay, and walked slowly home
+to the house of his brother-in-law, Mr. Higbie.
+
+The boys had resolved to have a demonstration. All their pent-up wrath
+against the master now found vent, since there was no longer any danger
+that the old man would have a chance to retaliate. They would serenade
+him. Bob Holliday was full of it. Harry Weathervane was very active. He
+was going to pound on his mother's bread-pan. Every sort of instrument
+for making a noise was brought into requisition. Dinner-bells,
+tin-pails, conch-shell dinner-horns, tin-horns, and even the village
+bass-drum, were to be used.
+
+Would Jack go? Bob came over to inquire. All the boys were going to
+celebrate the downfall of a harsh master. He deserved it for beating
+Columbus. So Jack resolved to go.
+
+But after the boys had departed, Jack began to doubt whether he ought
+to go or not. It did not seem quite right; yet his feelings had become
+so enlisted in the conflict for the old man's removal, that he had grown
+to be a bitter partisan, and the recollection of all he had suffered,
+and of all Columbus had endured during his sickness, reconciled Jack to
+the appearance of crowing over a fallen foe, which this burlesque
+serenade would have. Nevertheless, his conscience was not clear on the
+point, and he concluded to submit the matter to his mother, when she
+should come home to supper.
+
+Unfortunately for Jack, his mother stayed away to tea, sending Jack word
+that he would have to get his own supper, and that she would come home
+early in the evening. Jack ate his bowl of bread and milk in solitude,
+trying to make himself believe that his mother would approve of his
+taking part in the "shiveree" of the old master. But when he had
+finished his supper, he concluded that if his mother did not come home
+in time for him to consult her, he would remain at home. He drew up by
+the light and tried to study, but he longed to be out with the boys.
+After a while Bob Holliday and Harry Weathervane came to the door and
+importuned Jack to come with them. It was lonesome at home; it would be
+good fun to celebrate the downfall of the old master's cruel rule, so,
+taking down an old dinner-bell, Jack went off to join the rest. He was a
+little disgusted when he found Riley, Pewee, and Ben Berry in the
+company, but once in the crowd, there was little chance to back out with
+credit. The boys crept through the back alleys until they came in front
+of Mr. Higbie's house, at half past eight o'clock. There was but one
+light visible, and that was in Mr. Ball's room. Jack dropped behind, a
+little faint of heart about the expedition. He felt sure in himself that
+his mother would shake her head if she knew of it. At length, at a
+signal from Bob, the tin pans, big and little, the skillet-lids grinding
+together, the horns, both conch-shell and tin, and the big bass-drum,
+set up a hideous clattering, banging, booming, roaring, and racketing.
+Jack rang his dinner-bell rather faintly, and stood back behind all the
+rest
+
+"Jack's afraid," said Pewee. "Why don't you come up to the front, like a
+man?"
+
+Jack could not stand a taunt like this, but came forward into the
+cluster of half-frightened peace-breakers. Just then, the door of Mr.
+Higbie's house was opened, and some one came out.
+
+"It's Mr. Higbie," said Ben Berry. "He's going to shoot."
+
+"It's Bugbee, the watchman, going to arrest us," said Pewee.
+
+"It's Mr. Ball himself," said Riley, "and he'll whip us all." And he
+fled, followed pell-mell by the whole crowd, excepting Jack, who had a
+constitutional aversion to running away. He only slunk up close to the
+fence and so stood still.
+
+"Hello! Who are you?" The voice was not that of Mr. Higbie, nor that of
+the old master, nor of the watchman, Bugbee. With some difficulty, Jack
+recognized the figure of Doctor Lanham. "Oh, it's Jack Dudley, is it?"
+said the doctor, after examining him in the feeble moonlight.
+
+"Yes," said Jack, sheepishly.
+
+"You're the one that got that whipping from the old master. I don't
+wonder you came out to-night."
+
+"I do," said Jack, "and I would rather now that I had taken another such
+whipping than to find myself here."
+
+"Well, well," said the doctor, "boys will be boys."
+
+"And fools will be fools, I suppose," said Jack.
+
+"Mr. Ball is very ill," continued the doctor. "Find the others and tell
+them they mustn't come here again to-night, or they'll kill him. I
+wouldn't have had this happen for anything. The old man's just broken
+down by the strain he has been under. He has deserved it all, but I
+think you might let him have a little peace now."
+
+"So do I," said Jack, more ashamed of himself than ever.
+
+The doctor went back into the house, and Jack Dudley and his dinner-bell
+started off down the street in search of Harry Weathervane and his tin
+pan, and Bob Holliday and his skillet-lids, and Ben Berry and the
+bass-drum.
+
+"Hello, Jack!" called out Bob from an alley. "You stood your ground the
+best of all, didn't you?"
+
+"I wish I'd stood my ground in the first place against you and Harry,
+and stayed at home."
+
+"Why, what's the matter? Who was it?"
+
+By this time the other boys were creeping out of their hiding-places and
+gathering about Jack.
+
+"Well, it was the doctor," said Jack. "Mr. Ball's very sick and we've
+'most killed him; that's all. We're a pack of cowards to go tooting at a
+poor old man when he's already down, and we ought to be kicked, every
+one of us. That's the way I feel about it," and Jack set out for home,
+not waiting for any leave-taking with the rest, who, for their part,
+slunk away in various directions, anxious to get their instruments of
+noise and torment hidden away out of sight.
+
+Jack stuck the dinner-bell under the hay in the stable-loft, whence he
+could smuggle it into the house before his mother should get down-stairs
+in the morning. Then he went into the house.
+
+"Where have you been?" asked Mrs. Dudley. "I came home early so that you
+needn't be lonesome."
+
+"Bob Holliday and Harry Weathervane came for me, and I found it so
+lonesome here that I went out with them."
+
+"Have you got your lessons?"
+
+"No, ma'am," said Jack, sheepishly.
+
+He was evidently not at ease, but his mother said no more. He went off
+to bed early, and lay awake a good part of the night. The next morning
+he brought the old dinner-bell and set it down in the very middle of the
+breakfast-table. Then he told his mother all about it. And she agreed
+with him that he had done a very mean thing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT
+
+
+Three times a week the scholars of the "Greenbank Academy" met at the
+house of Dr. Lanham to receive instruction from Professor Susan, for the
+school trustees could not agree on a new teacher. Some of the people
+wanted one thing, and some another; a lady teacher was advocated and
+opposed; a young man, an old man, a new-fashioned man, an old-fashioned
+man, and no teacher at all for the rest of the present year, so as to
+save money, were projects that found advocates. The division of opinion
+was so great that the plan of no school at all was carried because no
+other could be. So Susan's class went on for a month, and grew to be
+quite a little society, and then it came to an end.
+
+One evening, when the lessons were finished, Professor Susan said: "I am
+sorry to tell you that this is the last lesson I can give."
+
+And then they all said "Aw-w-w-w-w!" in a melancholy way.
+
+"I am going away to school myself," Susan went on. "My father thinks I
+ought to go to Mr. Niles's school at Port William."
+
+"I shouldn't think you'd need to go any more," said Joanna Merwin. "I
+thought you knew everything."
+
+"Oh, bless me!" cried Susan.
+
+In former days the people of the interior--the Mississippi Valley--which
+used then to be called "the West," were very desirous of education for
+their children. But good teachers were scarce. Ignorant and pretentious
+men, incompetent wanderers from New England, who had grown tired of
+clock-peddling, or tin-peddling, and whose whole stock was assurance,
+besides impostors of other sorts, would get places as teachers because
+teachers were scarce and there were no tests of fitness. Now and then a
+retired Presbyterian minister from Scotland or Pennsylvania, or a
+college graduate from New England, would open a school in some country
+town. Then people who could afford it would send their children from
+long distances to board near the school, and learn English grammar,
+arithmetic, and, in some cases, a little Latin, or, perhaps, to fit
+themselves for entrance to some of the sturdy little country colleges
+already growing up in that region. At Port William, in Kentucky, there
+was at this time an old minister, Mr. Niles, who really knew what he
+professed to teach, and it was to his school that Dr. Lanham was now
+about to send Susan; Harvey Collins and Henry Weathervane had already
+entered the school. But for poor boys like Jack, and Bob Holliday, and
+Columbus, who had no money with which to pay board, there seemed no
+chance.
+
+The evening on which Susan's class broke up, there was a long and
+anxious discussion between Jack Dudley and his mother.
+
+"You see, Mother, if I could get even two months in Mr. Niles's school,
+I could learn some Latin, and if I once get my fingers into Latin, it is
+like picking bricks out of a pavement; if I once get a start, I can dig
+it out myself. I am going to try to find some way to attend that
+school."
+
+But the mother only shook her head.
+
+"Couldn't we move to Port William?" said Jack.
+
+"How could we? Here we have a house of our own, which couldn't easily be
+rented. There we should have to pay rent, and where is the money to come
+from?"
+
+"Can't we collect something from Gray?"
+
+Again Mrs. Dudley shook her head.
+
+But Jack resolved to try the hardhearted debtor, himself. It was now
+four years since Jack's father had been persuaded to release a mortgage
+in order to relieve Francis Gray from financial distress. Gray had
+promised to give other security, but his promise had proved worthless.
+Since that time he had made lucky speculations and was now a man rather
+well off, but he kept all his property in his wife's name, as scoundrels
+and fraudulent debtors usually do. All that Jack and his mother had to
+show for the one thousand dollars with four years' interest due them,
+was a judgment against Francis Gray, with the sheriff's return of "no
+effects" on the back of the writ of execution against the property "of
+the aforesaid Francis Gray." For how could you get money out of a man
+who was nothing in law but an agent for his wife?
+
+But Jack believed in his powers of persuasion, and in the softness of
+the human heart. He had never had to do with a man in whom the greed for
+money had turned the heart to granite.
+
+Two or three days later Jack heard that Francis Gray, who lived in
+Louisville, had come to Greenbank. Without consulting his mother, lest
+she should discourage him, Jack went in pursuit of the slippery debtor.
+He had left town, however, to see his fine farm, three miles away, a
+farm which belonged in law to Mrs. Gray, but which belonged of right to
+Francis Gray's creditors.
+
+Jack found Mr. Gray well-dressed and of plausible manners. It was hard
+to speak to so fine a gentleman on the subject of money. For a minute,
+Jack felt like backing out. But then he contrasted his mother's pinched
+circumstances with Francis Gray's abundance, and a little wholesome
+anger came to his assistance. He remembered, too, that his cherished
+projects for getting an education were involved, and he mustered courage
+to speak.
+
+"Mr. Gray, my name is John Dudley."
+
+Jack thought that there was a sign of annoyance on Gray's face at this
+announcement.
+
+"You borrowed a thousand dollars of my father once, I believe."
+
+"Yes, that is true. Your father was a good friend of mine."
+
+"He released a mortgage so that you could sell a piece of property when
+you were in trouble."
+
+"Yes, your father was a good friend to me. I acknowledge that. I wish I
+had money enough to pay that debt. It shall be the very first debt paid
+when I get on my feet again, and I expect to get on my feet, as sure as
+I live."
+
+"But, you see, Mr. Gray, while my mother is pinched for money, you have
+plenty."
+
+"It's all Mrs. Gray's money. She has plenty. I haven't anything."
+
+"But I want to go to school to Port William. My mother is too poor to
+help me. If you could let me have twenty-five dollars----"
+
+"But, you see, I can't. I haven't got twenty-five dollars to my name,
+that I can control. But by next New Year's I mean to pay your mother the
+whole thousand that I owe her."
+
+This speech impressed Jack a little, but remembering how often Gray had
+broken such promises, he said:
+
+"Don't you think it a little hard that you and Mrs. Gray are well off,
+while my mother is so poor, all because you won't keep your word given
+to my father?"
+
+"But, you see, I haven't any money, excepting what Mrs. Gray lets me
+have," said Mr. Gray.
+
+"She seems to let you have what you want. Don't you think, if you coaxed
+her, she would lend you twenty-five dollars till New Year's, to help me
+go to school one more term?"
+
+Francis Gray was a little stunned by this way of asking it. For a
+moment, looking at the entreating face of the boy, he began to feel a
+disposition to relent a little. This was new and strange for him. To pay
+twenty-five dollars that he was not obliged by any self-interest to pay,
+would have been an act contrary to all his habits and to all the
+business maxims in which he had schooled himself. Nevertheless, he
+fingered his papers a minute in an undecided way, and then he said that
+he couldn't do it. If he began to pay creditors in that way "it would
+derange his business."
+
+"But," urged Jack, "think how much my father deranged his business to
+oblige you, and now you rob me of my own money, and of my chance to get
+an education."
+
+Mr. Gray was a little ruffled, but he got up and went out of the room.
+When Jack looked out of the window a minute later, Gray was riding away
+down the road without so much as bidding the troublesome Jack
+good-morning.
+
+There was nothing for Jack to do but to return to town and make the best
+of it. But all the way back, the tired and discouraged boy felt that
+his last chance of becoming an educated man had vanished. He told his
+mother about his attempt on Mr. Gray's feelings and of his failure. They
+discussed the matter the whole evening, and could see no chance for Jack
+to get the education he wanted.
+
+"I mean to die a-trying," said Jack, doggedly, as he went off to bed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION
+
+
+The next day but one, there came a letter to Mrs. Dudley that increased
+her perplexity.
+
+"Your Aunt Hannah is sick," she said to Jack, "and I must go to take
+care of her. I don't know what to do with you."
+
+"I'll go to Port William to school," said Jack. "See if I don't."
+
+"How?" asked his mother. "We don't know a soul on that side of the
+river. You couldn't make any arrangement."
+
+"Maybe I can," said Jack. "Bob Holliday used to live on the Indiana
+side, opposite Port William. I mean to talk with him."
+
+Bob was setting onions in one of the onion-patches which abounded about
+Greenbank, and which were, from March to July, the principal sources of
+pocket-money to the boys. Jack thought best to wait until the day's work
+was finished. Then he sat, where Greenbank boys were fond of sitting, on
+the sloping top-board of a broad fence, and told his friend Bob of his
+eager desire to go to Port William.
+
+"I'd like to go, too," said Bob. "This is the last year's schooling I'm
+to have."
+
+"Don't you know any house, or any place, where we could keep 'bach'
+together?"
+
+"W'y, yes," said Bob; "if you didn't mind rowing across the river every
+day, I've got a skiff, and there's the old hewed-log house on the
+Indianny side where we used to live. A body might stay as long as he
+pleased in that house, I guess. Judge Kane owns it, and he's one of the
+best-hearted men in the country."
+
+"It's eight miles down there," said Jack.
+
+"Only seven if you go by water," said Bob. "Let's put out to-morry
+morning early. Let's go in the skiff; we can row and cordelle it up the
+river again, though it is a job."
+
+Bright and early, the boys started down the river, rowing easily with
+the strong, steady current of the Ohio, holding their way to Judge
+Kane's, whose house was over against Port William. This Judge Kane was
+an intelligent and wealthy farmer, liked by everybody. He was not a
+lawyer, but had once held the office of "associate judge," and hence the
+title, which suited his grave demeanor. He looked at the two boys out of
+his small, gray, kindly eyes, hardly ever speaking a word. He did not
+immediately answer when they asked permission to occupy the old, unused
+log-house, but got them to talk about their plans, and watched them
+closely. Then he took them out to see his bees. He showed them his
+ingenious hives and a bee-house which he had built to keep out the moths
+by drawing chalk-lines about it, for over these lines the wingless grub
+of the moth could not crawl. Then he showed them a glass hive, in which
+all the processes of the bees' housekeeping could be observed. After
+that, he took the boys to the old log-house, and pointed out some holes
+in the roof that would have to be fixed. And even then he did not give
+them any answer to their request, but told them to stay to dinner and he
+would see about it, all of which was rather hard on boyish impatience.
+They had a good dinner of fried chicken and biscuits and honey, served
+in the neatest manner by the motherly Mrs. Kane. Then the Judge
+suggested that they ought to see Mr. Niles about taking them into the
+school. So his skiff was launched, and he rowed with them across the
+river, which is here about a mile wide, to Port William. Here he
+introduced them to Mr. Niles, an elderly man, a little bent and a little
+positive in his tone, as is the habit of teachers, but with true
+kindness in his manner. The boys had much pleasure at recess time in
+greeting their old school-mates, Harvey Collins, Henry Weathervane, and,
+above all, Susan Lanham, whom they called Professor. These three took a
+sincere interest in the plans of Bob and Jack, and Susan spoke a good
+word for them to Mr. Niles, who, on his part, offered to give Jack Latin
+without charging him anything more than the rates for scholars in the
+English branches. Then they rowed back to Judge Kane's landing, where he
+told them they could have the house without rent, and that they could
+get slabs and other waste at his little sawmill to fix up the cracks.
+Then he made kindly suggestions as to the furniture they should
+bring--mentioning a lantern, an ax, and various other articles necessary
+for a camp life. They bade him good-bye at last, and started home, now
+rowing against the current and now cordelling along the river shore,
+when they grew tired of rowing. In cordelling, one sits in the skiff and
+steers, while the other walks on the shore, drawing the boat by a rope
+over the shoulders. The work of rowing and cordelling was hard, but they
+carried light and hopeful hearts. Jack was sure now that he should
+overcome all obstacles and get a good education. As for Bob, he had no
+hope higher than that of worrying through vulgar fractions before
+settling down to hard work.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+HOUSEKEEPING EXPERIENCES
+
+
+Mrs. Dudley having gone to Cincinnati the next day to attend her sister,
+who was ill, Jack was left to make his arrangements for housekeeping
+with Bob. Each of the boys took two cups, two saucers, two plates, and
+two knives and forks. Things were likely to get lost or broken, and
+therefore they provided duplicates. Besides, they might have company to
+dinner some day, and, moreover, they would need the extra dishes to
+"hold things," as Jack expressed it. They took no tumblers, but each was
+provided with a tin cup. Bob remembered the lantern, and Jack put in an
+ax. They did not take much food; they could buy that of farmers or in
+Port William. They got a "gang," or, as they called it, a "trot-line,"
+to lay down in the river for catfish, perch, and shovel-nose sturgeon,
+for there was no game-law then. Bob provided an iron pot to cook the
+fish in, and Jack a frying-pan and tea-kettle. Their bedding consisted
+of an empty tick, to be filled with straw in Judge Kane's barn, some
+equally empty pillow-ticks, and a pair of brown sheets and two blankets.
+But, with one thing and another, the skiff was well loaded.
+
+A good many boys stood on the bank as they embarked, and among them was
+Columbus, who had a feeling that his best friends were about to desert
+him, and who would gladly have been one of the party if he could have
+afforded the expense.
+
+In the little crowd which watched the embarkation was Hank Rathbone, an
+old hunter and pioneer, who made several good suggestions about their
+method of loading the boat.
+
+"But where's your stove?" he asked.
+
+"Stove?" said Bob. "We can't take a stove in this thing. There's a big
+old fire-place in the house that'll do to cook by."
+
+"But hot weather's comin' soon," said old Hank, "and then you'll want to
+cook out in the air, I reckon. Besides, it takes a power of wood for a
+fire-place. If one of you will come along with me to the tin-shop, I'll
+have a stove made for you, of the best paytent-right sort, that'll go
+into a skiff, and that won't weigh more'n three or four pounds and
+won't cost but about two bits."
+
+Jack readily agreed to buy as good a thing as a stove for twenty-five
+cents, and so he went with Hank Rathbone to the tin-shop, stopping to
+get some iron on the way. Two half-inch round rods of iron five feet
+long were cut and sharpened at each end. Then the ends were turned down
+so as to make on each rod two pointed legs of eighteen inches in length,
+and thus leave two feet of the rod for a horizontal piece.
+
+"Now," said the old hunter, "you drive about six inches of each leg into
+the ground, and stand them about a foot apart. Now for a top."
+
+[Illustration: OLD HANK'S PLAN FOR A STOVE]
+
+For this he had a piece of sheet-iron cut out two feet long and fourteen
+inches wide, with a round kettle-hole near one end. The edges of the
+long sides of the sheet-iron were bent down to fit over the rods.
+
+"Lay that over your rods," said Hank, "and you've got a stove two foot
+long, one foot high, and more than one foot wide, and you can build
+your fire of chips, instid of logs. You can put your tea-kittle, pot,
+pipkin, griddle, skillet, _or_ gridiron on to the hole"--the old man
+eyed it admiringly. "It's good for bilin', fryin', _or_ brilin', and all
+fer two bits. They ain't many young couples gits set up as cheap as
+that!"
+
+An hour and a half of rowing downstream brought the boys to the old
+cabin. The life there involved more hard work than they had expected.
+Notwithstanding Jack's experience in helping his mother, the baking of
+corn-bread, and the frying of bacon or fish were difficult tasks, and
+both the boys had red faces when supper was on the table. But, as time
+wore on, they became skilful, and though the work was hard, it was done
+patiently and pretty well. Between cooking, and cleaning, and fixing,
+and getting wood, and rowing to school and back, there was not a great
+deal of time left for study out of school, but Jack made a beginning in
+Latin, and Bob perspired quite as freely over the addition of fractions
+as over the frying-pan.
+
+They rarely had recreation, excepting that of taking the fish off their
+trot-line in the morning, when there were any on it. Once or twice they
+allowed themselves to visit an Indian mound or burial-place on the
+summit of a neighboring hill, where idle boys and other loungers had dug
+up many bones and thrown them down the declivity. Jack, who had thoughts
+of being a doctor, made an effort to gather a complete Indian skeleton,
+but the dry bones had become too much mixed up. He could not get any
+three bones to fit together, and his man, as he tried to put him
+together, was the most miscellaneous creature imaginable,--neither man,
+woman, nor child. Bob was a little afraid to have these human ruins
+stored under the house, lest he might some night see a ghost with
+war-paint and tomahawk; but Jack, as became a boy of scientific tastes,
+pooh-poohed all superstitions or sentimental considerations in the
+matter. He told Bob that, if he should ever see the ghost which that
+framework belonged to, it would be the ghost of the whole Shawnee tribe,
+for there were nearly as many individuals represented as there were
+bones in the skeleton.
+
+The one thing that troubled Jack was that he couldn't get rid of the
+image of Columbus as they had seen him when they left Greenbank,
+standing sorrowfully on the river bank. The boys often debated between
+themselves how they could manage to have him one of their party, but
+they were both too poor to pay the small tuition fees, though his board
+would not cost much. They could not see any way of getting over the
+difficulty, but they talked with Susan about it, and Susan took hold of
+the matter in her fashion by writing to her father on the subject.
+
+The result of her energetic effort was that one afternoon, as they came
+out of school, when the little packet-steamer was landing at the wharf,
+who should come ashore but Christopher Columbus, in his best but
+thread-bare clothes, tugging away at an old-fashioned carpet-bag, which
+was too much for him to carry. Bob seized the carpet-bag and almost
+lifted the dignified little lad himself off his feet in his joyful
+welcome, while Jack, finding nothing else to do, stood still and
+hurrahed. They soon had the dear little spindle-shanks and his great
+carpet-bag stowed away in the skiff. As they rowed to the north bank of
+the river, Columbus explained how Dr. Lanham had undertaken to pay his
+expenses, if the boys would take him into partnership, but he said he
+was 'most afraid to come, because he couldn't chop wood, and he wasn't
+good for much in doing the work.
+
+"Never mind, honey," said Bob. "Jack and I don't care whether you work
+or not. You are worth your keep, any time."
+
+"Yes," said Jack, "we even tried hard yesterday to catch a young owl to
+make a pet of, but we couldn't get it. You see, we're so lonesome."
+
+"I suppose I'll do for a pet owl, won't I?" said little Columbus, with a
+strange and quizzical smile on his meagre face. And as he sat there in
+the boat, with his big head and large eyes, the name seemed so
+appropriate that Bob and Jack both laughed outright.
+
+But the Pet Owl made himself useful in some ways. I am sorry to say that
+the housekeeping of Bob and Jack had not always been of the tidiest
+kind. They were boys, and they were in a hurry. But Columbus had the
+tastes of a girl about a house. He did not do any cooking or chopping to
+speak of, but he fixed up. He kept the house neat, cleaned the
+candlestick every morning, and washed the windows now and then, and as
+spring advanced he brought in handfuls of wild flowers. The boys
+declared that they had never felt at home in the old house until the Pet
+Owl came to be its mistress. He wouldn't let anything be left around out
+of place, but all the pots, pans, dishes, coats, hats, books, slates,
+the lantern, the boot-jack, and other slender furniture, were put in
+order before school time, so that when they got back in the afternoon
+the place was inviting and home-like. When Judge Kane and his wife
+stopped during their Sunday-afternoon stroll, to see how the lads got
+on, Mrs. Kane praised their housekeeping.
+
+"That is all the doings of the Pet Owl," said Bob.
+
+"Pet Owl? Have you one?" asked Mrs. Kane.
+
+The boys laughed, and Bob explained that Columbus was the pet.
+
+That evening, the boys had a box of white honey for supper, sent over by
+Mrs. Kane, and the next Saturday afternoon Jack and Bob helped Judge
+Kane finish planting his corn-field.
+
+One unlucky day, Columbus discovered Jack's box of Indian bones under
+the house, and he turned pale and had a fit of shivering for a long time
+afterward. It was necessary to move the box into an old stable to quiet
+his shuddering horror. The next Sunday afternoon, the Pet Owl came in
+with another fit of terror, shivering as before.
+
+"What's the matter now, Lummy?" said Jack. "Have you seen any more
+Indians?"
+
+"Pewee and his crowd have gone up to the Indian Mound," said Columbus.
+
+"Well, let 'em go," said Bob. "I suppose they know the way, don't they?
+I should like to see them. I've been so long away from Greenbank that
+even a yellow dog from there would be welcome."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+GHOSTS
+
+
+Jack and Bob had to amuse Columbus with stories, to divert his mind from
+the notion that Pewee and his party meant them some harm. The Indian
+burying-ground was not an uncommon place of resort on Sundays for
+loafers and idlers, and now and then parties came from as far as
+Greenbank, to have the pleasure of a ride and the amusement of digging
+up Indian relics from the cemetery on the hill. This hill-top commanded
+a view of the Ohio River for many miles in both directions, and of the
+Kentucky River, which emptied into the Ohio just opposite. I do not know
+whether the people who can find amusement in digging up bones and
+throwing them down-hill enjoy scenery or not, but I have heard it urged
+that even some dumb animals, as horses, enjoy a landscape; and I once
+knew a large dog, in Switzerland, who would sit enchanted for a long
+time on the brink of a mountain cliff, gazing off at the lake below. It
+is only fair to suppose, therefore, that even these idle diggers in
+Indian mounds had some pleasure in looking from a hill-top; at any rate,
+they were fond of frequenting this one. Pewee, and Riley, and Ben Berry,
+and two or three others of the same feather, had come down on this
+Sunday to see the Indian Mound and to find any other sport that might
+lie in their reach. When they had dug up and thrown away down the steep
+hill-side enough bones to satisfy their jackal proclivities, they began
+to cast about them for some more exciting diversion. As there were no
+water-melon patches nor orchards to be robbed at this season of the
+year, they decided to have an egg-supper, and then to wait for the moon
+to rise after midnight before starting to row and cordelle their two
+boats up the river again to Greenbank. The fun of an egg-supper to
+Pewee's party consisted not so much in the eggs as in the manner of
+getting them. Every nest in Judge Kane's chicken-house was rummaged that
+night, and Mrs. Kane found next day that all the nest-eggs were gone,
+and that one of her young hens was missing also.
+
+About dark, little Allen Mackay, a round-bodied, plump-faced, jolly
+fellow who lived near the place where the skiffs were landed, and who
+had spent the afternoon at the Indian Mound, came to the door of the old
+log-house.
+
+"I wanted to say that you fellows have always done the right thing by
+me. You've set me acrost oncet or twicet, and you've always been
+'clever' to me, and I don't want to see no harm done you. You'd better
+look out to-night. They's some chaps from Greenbank down here, and
+they're in for a frolic, and somebody's hen-roost'll suffer, I guess;
+and they don't like you boys, and they talked about routing you out
+to-night."
+
+"Thank you," said Jack.
+
+"Let 'em rout," said Bob.
+
+But the poor little Pet Owl was all in a cold shudder again.
+
+About eleven o'clock, King Pewee's party had picked the last bone of
+Mrs. Kane's chicken. It was yet an hour and a half before the moon would
+be up, and there was time for some fun. Two boys from the neighborhood,
+who had joined the party, agreed to furnish dough-faces for them all.
+Nothing more ghastly than masks of dough can well be imagined, and when
+the boys all put them on, and had turned their coats wrong-side out,
+they were almost afraid of one another.
+
+"Now," said Riley, "Pewee will knock at the door, and when they come
+with their lantern or candle, we'll all rush in and howl like Indians."
+
+"How do Indians howl?" asked Ben Berry.
+
+"Oh, any way--like a dog or a wolf, you know. And then they'll be scared
+to death, and we'll just pitch their beds, and dishes, and everything
+else out of the door, and show them how to clean house."
+
+Riley didn't know that Allen Mackay and Jack Dudley, hidden in the
+bushes, heard this speech, nor that Jack, as soon as he had heard the
+plan, crept away to tell Bob at the house what the enemy proposed to
+do.
+
+As the crowd neared the log-house, Riley prudently fell to the rear, and
+pushed Pewee to the front. There was just the faintest whitening of the
+sky from the coming moon, but the large apple-trees in front of the
+log-house made it very dark, and the dough-face crowd were obliged
+almost to feel their way as they came into the shadow of these trees.
+Just as Riley was exhorting Pewee to knock at the door, and the whole
+party was tittering at the prospect of turning Bob, Jack, and Columbus
+out of bed and out of doors, they all stopped short and held their
+breaths.
+
+"Good gracious! Julius Caesar! sakes alive!" whispered Riley.
+"What--wh--what is that?"
+
+Nobody ran. All stood as though frozen in their places. For out from
+behind the corner of the house came slowly a skeleton head. It was
+ablaze inside, and the light shone out of all the openings. The thing
+had no feet, no hands, and no body. It actually floated through the air,
+and now and then joggled and danced a little. It rose and fell, but
+still came nearer and nearer to the attacking party of dough-faces, who
+for their part could not guess that Bob Holliday had put a lighted
+candle into an Indian's skull, and then tied this ghost's lantern to a
+wire attached to the end of a fishing-rod, which he operated from behind
+the house.
+
+Pewee's party drew close together, and Riley whispered hoarsely:
+
+"The house is ha'nted."
+
+Just then the hideous and fiery death's-head made a circuit, and swung,
+grinning, into Riley's face, who could stand no more, but broke into a
+full run toward the river. At the same instant Jack tooted a
+dinner-horn, Judge Kane's big dog ran barking out of the log-house, and
+the enemy were routed like the Midianites before Gideon. Their
+consternation was greatly increased at finding their boats gone, for
+Allen Mackay had towed them into a little creek out of sight, and hidden
+the oars in an elder thicket. Riley and one of the others were so much
+afraid of the ghosts that "ha'nted" the old house, that they set out
+straightway for Greenbank, on foot. Pewee and the others searched
+everywhere for the boats, and at last sat down and waited for daylight.
+Just as day was breaking, Bob Holliday came down to the river with a
+towel, as though for a morning bath. Very accidentally, of course, he
+came upon Pewee and his party, all tired out, sitting on the bank in
+hope that day might throw some light on the fate of their boats.
+
+"Hello, Pewee! You here? What's the matter?" said Bob, with feigned
+surprise.
+
+"Some thief took our skiffs. We've been looking for them all night, and
+can't find them."
+
+"That's curious," said Bob, sitting down and leaning his head on his
+hand. "Where did you get supper last night?"
+
+"Oh! we brought some with us."
+
+"Look here, Pewee, I'll bet I can find your boats."
+
+"How?"
+
+"You give me money enough among you to pay for the eggs and the chicken
+you had for supper, and I'll find out who hid your boats and where the
+oars are, and it'll all be square."
+
+Pewee was now sure that the boat had been taken as indemnity for the
+chicken and the eggs. He made every one of the party contribute
+something until he had collected what Bob thought sufficient to pay for
+the stolen things, and Bob took it and went up and found Judge Kane,
+who had just risen, and left the money with him. Then he made a circuit
+to Allen Mackay's, waked him up, and got the oars, which they put into
+the boats; and pushing these out of their hiding-place, they rowed them
+into the river, delivering them to Pewee and company, who took them
+gratefully. Jack and Columbus had now made their appearance, and as
+Pewee got into his boat, he thought to repay Bob's kindness with a
+little advice.
+
+"I say, if I was you fellers, you know, I wouldn't stay in that old
+cabin a single night."
+
+"Why?" asked Jack.
+
+"Because," said Pewee, "I've heerd tell that it is ha'nted."
+
+"Ghosts aren't anything when you get used to them," said Jack. "We don't
+mind them at all."
+
+"Don't you?" said Pewee, who was now rowing against the current.
+
+"No," said Bob, "nor dough-faces, neither."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE RETURN HOME
+
+
+As Mr. Niles's school-term drew to a close, the two boys began to think
+of their future.
+
+"I expect to work with my hands, Jack," said Bob; "I haven't got a head
+for books, as you have. But I'd like to know a _leetle_ more before I
+settle down. I wish I could make enough at something to be able to go to
+school next winter."
+
+"If I only had your strength and size, Bob, I'd go to work for somebody
+as a farmer. But I have more than myself to look after. I must help
+mother after this term is out. I must get something to do, and then
+learning will be slow business. They talk about Ben Franklin studying
+at night and all that, but it's a little hard on a fellow who hasn't
+the constitution of a Franklin. Still, I'm going to have an education,
+by hook or crook."
+
+At this point in the conversation, Judge Kane came in. As usual, he said
+little, but he got the boys to talk about their own affairs.
+
+"When do you go home?" he asked.
+
+"Next Friday evening, when school is out," said Jack.
+
+"And what are you going to do?" he asked of Bob.
+
+"Get some work this summer, and then try to get another winter of
+schooling next year," was the answer.
+
+"What kind of work?"
+
+"Oh, I can farm better than I can do anything else," said Bob. "And I
+like it, too."
+
+And then Judge Kane drew from Jack a full account of his affairs, and
+particularly of the debt due from Gray, and of his interview with Gray.
+
+"If you could get a few hundred dollars, so as to make your mother feel
+easy for a while, living as she does in her own house, you could go to
+school next winter."
+
+"Yes, and then I could get on after that, somehow, by myself, I
+suppose," said Jack. "But the few hundred dollars is as much out of my
+reach as a million would be, and my father used to say that it was a bad
+thing to get into the way of figuring on things that we could never
+reach."
+
+The Judge sat still, and looked at Jack out of his half-closed gray eyes
+for a minute in silence.
+
+"Come up to the house with me," he said, rising.
+
+Jack followed him to the house, where the Judge opened his desk and took
+out a red-backed memorandum-book, and dictated while Jack copied in his
+own handwriting the description of a piece of land on a slip of paper.
+
+"If you go over to school, to-morrow, an hour earlier than usual," he
+said, "call at the county clerk's office, show him your memorandum, and
+find out in whose name that land stands. It is timber-land five miles
+back, and worth five hundred dollars. When you get the name of the
+owner, you will know what to do; if not, you can ask me, but you'd
+better not mention my name to anybody in this matter."
+
+Jack thanked Mr. Kane, but left him feeling puzzled. In fact, the
+farmer-judge seemed to like to puzzle people, or at least he never told
+anything more than was necessary.
+
+The next morning, the boys were off early to Port William. Jack wondered
+if the land might belong to his father, but then he was sure his father
+never had any land in Kentucky. Or, was it the property of some dead
+uncle or cousin, and was he to find a fortune, like the hero of a cheap
+story? But when the county clerk, whose office it is to register deeds
+in that county, took the little piece of paper, and after scanning it,
+took down some great deed-books and mortgage-books, and turned the pages
+awhile, and then wrote "Francis Gray, owner, no incumbrance," on the
+same slip with the description, Jack had the key to Mr. Kane's puzzle.
+
+It was now Thursday forenoon, and Jack was eager on all accounts to get
+home, especially to see the lawyer in charge of his father's claim
+against Mr. Gray. So the next day at noon, as there was nothing left but
+the closing exercises, the three boys were excused, and bade good-bye
+to their teacher and school-mates, and rowed back to their own side of
+the river. They soon had the skiff loaded, for all three were eager to
+see the folks at Greenbank. Jack's mother had been at home more than a
+week, and he was the most impatient of the three. But they could not
+leave without a good-bye to Judge Kane and his wife, to which good-bye
+they added a profusion of bashful boyish thanks for kindness received.
+The Judge walked to the boat-landing with them. Jack began to tell him
+about the land.
+
+"Don't say anything about it to me, nor to anybody else but your
+lawyer," said Mr. Kane; "and do not mention my name. You may say to your
+lawyer that the land has just changed hands, and the matter must be
+attended to soon. It won't stand exposed in that way long."
+
+When the boys were in the boat ready to start, Mr. Kane said to Bob:
+
+"You wouldn't mind working for me this summer at the regular price?"
+
+"I'd like to," said Bob.
+
+"How soon can you come?"
+
+"Next Wednesday evening."
+
+"I'll expect you," said the Judge, and he turned away up the bank, with
+a slight nod and a curt "Good-bye," while Bob said: "What a curious man
+he is!"
+
+"Yes, and as good as he's curious," added Jack.
+
+It was a warm day for rowing, but the boys were both a little homesick.
+Under the shelter of a point where the current was not too strong the
+two rowed and made fair headway, sometimes encountering an eddy which
+gave them a lift. But whenever the current set strongly toward their
+side of the river, and whenever they found it necessary to round a
+point, one of them would leap out on the pebbly beach and, throwing the
+boat-rope over his shoulder, set his strength against the stream. The
+rope, or _cordelle_,--a word that has come down from the first French
+travellers and traders in the great valley,--was tied to the row-locks.
+It was necessary for one to steer in the stern while the other played
+tow-horse, so that each had his turn at rest and at work. After three
+hours' toil the wharf-boat of the village was in sight, and all sorts of
+familiar objects gladdened their hearts. They reached the landing, and
+then, laden with things, they hurriedly cut across the commons to their
+homes.
+
+As soon as Jack's first greeting with his mother was over, she told him
+that she thought she might afford him one more quarter of school.
+
+"No," said Jack, "you've pinched yourself long enough for me; now it's
+time I should go to work. If you try to squeeze out another quarter of
+school for me you'll have to suffer for it. Besides, I don't see how
+you can do it, unless Gray comes down, and I think I have now in my
+pocket something that will make him come down." And Jack's face
+brightened at the thought of the slip of paper in the pocket of his
+roundabout.
+
+Without observing the last remark, nor the evident elation of Jack's
+feelings, Mrs. Dudley proceeded to tell him that she had been offered a
+hundred and twenty dollars for her claim against Gray.
+
+"Who offered it?" asked Jack.
+
+"Mr. Tinkham, Gray's agent. Maybe Gray is buying up his own debts,
+feeling tired of holding property in somebody else's name."
+
+"A hundred and twenty dollars for a thousand! The rascal! I wouldn't
+take it," broke out Jack, impetuously.
+
+"That's just the way I feel, Jack. I'd rather wait forever, if it
+wasn't for your education. I can't afford to have you lose that. I'm to
+give an answer this evening."
+
+"We won't do it," said Jack. "I've got a memorandum here," and he took
+the slip of paper from his pocket and unfolded it, "that'll bring more
+money out of him than that. I'm going to see Mr. Beal at once."
+
+Mrs. Dudley looked at the paper without understanding just what it was,
+and, without giving her any further explanation, but only a warning to
+secrecy, Jack made off to the lawyer's office.
+
+"Where did you get this?" asked Mr. Beal.
+
+"I promised not to mention his name--I mean the name of the one who gave
+me that. I went to the clerk's office with the description, and the
+clerk wrote the words: 'Francis Gray, owner, no incumbrance.'"
+
+"I wish I had had it sooner," said the lawyer. "It will be best to have
+our judgment recorded in that county to-morrow," he continued. "Could
+you go down to Port William?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Jack, a little reluctant to go back. "I could if I
+must."
+
+"I don't think the mail will do," added Mr. Beal. "This thing came just
+in time. We should have sold the claim to-night. This land ought to
+fetch five hundred dollars."
+
+Mr. Tinkham, agent for Francis Gray, was much disappointed that night
+when Mrs. Dudley refused to sell her claim against Gray.
+
+"You'll never get anything any other way," he said.
+
+"Perhaps not, but we've concluded to wait," said Mrs. Dudley. "We can't
+do much worse if we get nothing at all."
+
+After a moment's reflection, Mr. Tinkham said:
+
+"I'll do a little better by _you_, Mrs. Dudley. I'll give you a hundred
+and fifty. That's the very best I _can_ do."
+
+"I will not sell the claim at present," said Mrs. Dudley. "It is of no
+use to offer."
+
+It would have been better if Mrs. Dudley had not spoken so positively.
+Mr. Tinkham was set a-thinking. Why wouldn't the widow sell? Why had she
+changed her mind since yesterday? Why did Mr. Beal, the lawyer, not
+appear at the consultation? All these questions the shrewd little
+Tinkham asked himself, and all these questions he asked of Francis Gray
+that evening.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+A FOOT-RACE FOR MONEY
+
+
+"They've got wind of something," said Mr. Tinkham to Mr. Gray, "or else
+they are waiting for you to resume payment,--or else the widow's got
+money from somewhere for her present necessities."
+
+"I don't know what hope they can have of getting money out of me," said
+Gray, with a laugh. "I've tangled everything up, so that Beal can't find
+a thing to levy on. I have but one piece of property exposed, and that's
+not in this State."
+
+"Where is it?" asked Tinkham.
+
+"It's in Kentucky, five miles back of Port William. I took it last week
+in a trade, and I haven't yet made up my mind what to do with it."
+
+"That's the very thing," said Tinkham, with his little face drawn to a
+point,--"the very thing. Mrs. Dudley's son came home from Port William
+yesterday, where he has been at school. They've heard of that land, I'm
+afraid; for Mrs. Dudley is very positive that she will not sell the
+claim at any price."
+
+"I'll make a mortgage to my brother on that land, and send it off from
+the mail-boat as I go down to-morrow," said Gray.
+
+"That'll be too late," said Tinkham. "Beal will have his judgment
+recorded as soon as the packet gets there. You'd better go by the
+packet, get off, and see the mortgage recorded yourself, and then take
+the mail-boat."
+
+To this Gray agreed, and the next day, when Jack went on board the
+packet "Swiftsure," he found Mr. Francis Gray going aboard also. Mr.
+Beal had warned Jack that he must not let anybody from the packet get
+to the clerk's office ahead of him,--that the first paper deposited for
+record would take the land. Jack wondered why Mr. Francis Gray was
+aboard the packet, which went no farther than Madison, while Mr. Gray's
+home was in Louisville. He soon guessed, however, that Gray meant to
+land at Port William, and so to head him off. Jack looked at Mr. Gray's
+form, made plump by good feeding, and felt safe. He couldn't be very
+dangerous in a foot-race. Jack reflected with much hopefulness that no
+boy in school could catch him in a straight-away run when he was fox. He
+would certainly leave the somewhat puffy Mr. Francis Gray behind.
+
+But in the hour's run down the river, including two landings at Minuit's
+and Craig's, Jack had time to remember that Francis Gray was a cunning
+man and might head him off by some trick or other. A vague fear took
+possession of him, and he resolved to be first off the boat before any
+pretext could be invented to stop him.
+
+Meantime, Francis Gray had looked at Jack's lithe legs with
+apprehension. "I can never beat that boy," he had reflected. "My running
+days are over." Finding among the deck passengers a young fellow who
+looked as though he needed money, Gray approached him with this
+question:
+
+"Do you belong in Port William, young man?"
+
+"I don't belong nowhere else, I reckon," answered the seedy fellow, with
+shuffling impudence.
+
+"Do you know where the county clerk's office is?" asked Mr. Gray.
+
+"Yes, and the market-house. I can show you the way to the jail, too, if
+you want to know; but I s'pose you've been there many a time," laughed
+the "wharf rat."
+
+Gray was irritated at this rudeness, but he swallowed his anger.
+
+"Would you like to make five dollars?"
+
+"Now you're talkin' interestin'. Why didn't you begin at that eend of
+the subjick? I'd like to make five dollars as well as the next feller,
+provided it isn't to be made by too much awful hard work."
+
+"Can you run well?"
+
+"If they's money at t'other eend of the race I can run like sixty _fer a
+spell_. 'Tain't my common gait, howsumever."
+
+"If you'll take this paper," said Gray, "and get it to the county
+clerk's office before anybody else gets there from this boat, I'll give
+you five dollars."
+
+"Honor bright?" asked the chap, taking the paper, drawing a long breath,
+and looking as though he had discovered a gold mine.
+
+"Honor bright," answered Gray. "You must jump off first of all, for
+there's a boy aboard that will beat you if he can. No pay if you don't
+win."
+
+"Which is the one that'll run ag'in' me?" asked the long-legged fellow.
+
+Gray described Jack, and told the young man to go out forward and he
+would see him. Gray was not willing to be seen with the "wharf-rat,"
+lest suspicions should be awakened in Jack Dudley's mind. But after the
+shabby young man had gone forward and looked at Jack, he came back with
+a doubtful air.
+
+"That's Hoosier Jack, as we used to call him," said the shabby young
+man. "He an' two more used to row a boat acrost the river every day to
+go to ole Niles's school. He's a hard one to beat,--they say he used to
+lay the whole school out on prisoners' base, and that he could leave 'em
+all behind on fox."
+
+"You think you can't do it, then?" asked Gray.
+
+"Gimme a little start and I reckon I'll fetch it. It's up-hill part of
+the way and he may lose his wind, for it's a good half-mile. You must
+make a row with him at the gang-plank, er do somethin' to kinder hold
+him back. The wind's down stream to-day and the boat's shore to swing in
+a little aft. I'll jump for it and you keep him back."
+
+To this Gray assented.
+
+As the shabby young fellow had predicted, the boat did swing around in
+the wind, and have some trouble in bringing her bow to the wharf-boat.
+The captain stood on the hurricane-deck calling to the pilot to "back
+her," "stop her," "go ahead on her," "go ahead on yer labberd," and
+"back on yer stabberd." Now, just as the captain was backing the
+starboard wheel and going ahead on his larboard, so as to bring the boat
+around right, Mr. Gray turned on Jack.
+
+"What are you treading on my toes for, you impudent young rascal?" he
+broke out.
+
+Jack colored and was about to reply sharply, when he caught sight of the
+shabby young fellow, who just then leaped from the gunwale of the boat
+amidships and barely reached the wharf. Jack guessed why Gray had tried
+to irritate him,--he saw that the well-known "wharf-rat" was to be his
+competitor. But what could he do? The wind held the bow of the boat out,
+the gang-plank which had been pushed out ready to reach the wharf-boat
+was still firmly grasped by the deck-hands, and the farther end of it
+was six feet from the wharf, and much above it. It would be some
+minutes before any one could leave the boat in the regular way. There
+was only one chance to defeat the rascally Gray. Jack concluded to take
+it.
+
+He ran out upon the plank amidst the harsh cries of the deck-hands, who
+tried to stop him, and the oaths of the mate, who thundered at him, with
+the stern order of the captain from the upper deck, who called out to
+him to go back.
+
+But, luckily, the steady pulling ahead of the larboard engine, and the
+backing of the starboard, began just then to bring the boat around, the
+plank sank down a little under Jack's weight, and Jack made the leap to
+the wharf, hearing the confused cries, orders, oaths, and shouts from
+behind him, as he pushed through the crowd.
+
+"Stop that thief!" cried Francis Gray to the people on the wharf-boat,
+but in vain. Jack glided swiftly through the people, and got on shore
+before anybody could check him. He charged up the hill after the shabby
+young fellow, who had a decided lead, while some of the men on the
+wharf-boat pursued them both, uncertain which was the thief. Such
+another pell-mell race Port William had never seen. Windows flew up and
+heads went out. Small boys joined the pursuing crowd, and dogs barked
+indiscriminately and uncertainly at the heels of everybody. There were
+cries of "Hurrah for long Ben!" and "Hurrah for Hoosier Jack!" Some of
+Jack's old school-mates essayed to stop him to find out what it was all
+about, but he would not relax a muscle, and he had no time to answer any
+questions. He saw the faces of the people dimly; he heard the crowd
+crying after him, "Stop, thief!" he caught a glimpse of his old teacher,
+Mr. Niles, regarding him with curiosity as he darted by; he saw an
+anxious look in Judge Kane's face as he passed him on a street corner.
+But Jack held his eyes on Long Ben, whom he pursued as a dog does a fox.
+He had steadily gained on the fellow, but Ben had too much the start,
+and, unless he should give out, there would be little chance for Jack to
+overtake him. One thinks quickly in such moments. Jack remembered that
+there were two ways of reaching the county clerk's office. To keep the
+street around the block was the natural way,--to take an alley through
+the square was neither longer nor shorter. But by running down the alley
+he would deprive Long Ben of the spur of seeing his pursuer, and he
+might even make him think that Jack had given out. Jack had played this
+trick when playing hound and fox, and at any rate he would by this turn
+shake off the crowd. So into the alley he darted, and the bewildered
+pursuers kept on crying "Stop, thief!" after Long Ben, whose reputation
+was none of the best. Somebody ahead tried to catch the shabby young
+fellow, and this forced Ben to make a slight curve, which gave Jack the
+advantage, so that just as Ben neared the office, Jack rounded a corner
+out of an alley, and entered ahead of him, dashed up to the clerk's desk
+and deposited the judgment.
+
+"For record," he gasped.
+
+The next instant the shabby young fellow pushed forward the mortgage.
+
+"Mine first!" cried Long Ben.
+
+"I'll take yours when I get this entered," said the clerk quietly, as
+became a public officer.
+
+"I got here first," said Long Ben.
+
+But the clerk looked at the clock and entered the date on the back of
+Jack's paper, putting "one o'clock and eighteen minutes" after the
+date. Then he wrote "one o'clock and nineteen minutes" on the paper
+which Long Ben handed him. The office was soon crowded with people
+discussing the result of the race, and a part of them were even now in
+favor of seizing one or the other of the runners for a theft, which some
+said had been committed on the packet, and others declared was committed
+on the wharf-boat. Francis Gray came in, and could not conceal his
+chagrin.
+
+"I meant to do the fair thing by you," he said to Jack, severely, "but
+now you'll never get a cent out of me."
+
+"I'd rather have the law on men like you, than have a thousand of your
+sort of fair promises," said Jack.
+
+"I've a mind to strike you," said Gray.
+
+"The Kentucky law is hard on a man who strikes a minor," said Judge
+Kane, who had entered at that moment.
+
+Mr. Niles came in to learn what was the matter, and Judge Kane, after
+listening quietly to the talk of the people, until the excitement
+subsided, took Jack over to his house, whence the boy trudged home in
+the late afternoon full of hopefulness.
+
+Gray's land realized as much as Mr. Beal expected, and Jack studied hard
+all summer, so as to get as far ahead as possible by the time school
+should begin in the autumn.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE NEW TEACHER
+
+
+The new teacher who was employed to take the Greenbank school in the
+autumn was a young man from college. Standing behind the desk hitherto
+occupied by the grim-faced Mr. Ball, young Williams looked very mild by
+contrast. He was evidently a gentle-spirited man as compared with the
+old master, and King Pewee and his crowd were gratified in noting this
+fact. They could have their own way with such a master as that! When he
+called the school to order, there remained a bustle of curiosity and
+mutual recognition among the children. Riley and Pewee kept up a little
+noise by way of defiance. They had heard that the new master did not
+intend to whip. Now he stood quietly behind his desk, and waited a few
+moments in silence for the whispering group to be still. Then he slowly
+raised and levelled his finger at Riley and Pewee, but still said
+nothing. There was something so firm and quiet about his
+motion--something that said, "I will wait all day, but you must be
+still"--that the boys could not resist it.
+
+By the time they were quiet, two of the girls had got into a titter over
+something, and the forefinger was aimed at them. The silent man made the
+pupils understand that he was not to be trifled with.
+
+When at length there was quiet, he made every one lay down book or slate
+and face around toward him. Then with his pointing finger, or with a
+little slap of his hands together, or with a word or two at most, he got
+the school still again.
+
+"I hope we shall be friends," he said, in a voice full of kindliness.
+"All I want is to----"
+
+But at this point Riley picked up his slate and book, and turned away.
+The master snapped his fingers, but Riley affected not to hear him.
+
+"That young man will put down his slate." The master spoke in a low
+tone, as one who expected to be obeyed, and the slate was reluctantly
+put upon the desk.
+
+"When I am talking to you, I want you to hear," he went on, very
+quietly. "I am paid to teach you. One of the things I have to teach you
+is good manners. You," pointing to Riley, "are old enough to know better
+than to take your slate when your teacher is speaking, but perhaps you
+have never been taught what are good manners. I'll excuse you this time.
+Now, you all see those switches hanging here behind me. I did not put
+them there. I do not say that I shall not use them. Some boys have to
+be whipped, I suppose,--like mules,--and when I have tried, I may find
+that I cannot get on without the switches, but I hope not to have to use
+them."
+
+Here Riley, encouraged by the master's mildness and irritated by the
+rebuke he had received, began to make figures on his slate.
+
+"Bring me that slate," said the teacher.
+
+Riley was happy that he had succeeded in starting a row. He took his
+slate and his arithmetic, and shuffled up to the master in a
+half-indolent, half-insolent way.
+
+"Why do you take up your work when I tell you not to?" asked the new
+teacher.
+
+"Because I didn't want to waste all my morning. I wanted to do my sums."
+
+"You are a remarkably industrious youth, I take it." The young master
+looked Riley over, as he said this, from head to foot. The whole school
+smiled, for there was no lazier boy than this same Riley. "I suppose,"
+the teacher continued, "that you are the best scholar in school--the
+bright and shining light of Greenbank."
+
+Here there was a general titter at Riley.
+
+"I cannot have you sit away down at the other end of the school-room and
+hide your excellent example from the rest. Stand right up here by me and
+cipher, that all the school may see how industrious you are."
+
+Riley grew very red in the face and pretended to "cipher," holding his
+book in his hand.
+
+"Now," said the new teacher, "I have but just one rule for this school,
+and I will write it on the blackboard that all may see it."
+
+He took chalk and wrote:
+
+  DO RIGHT.
+
+"That is all. Let us go to our lessons."
+
+For the first two hours that Riley stood on the floor he pretended to
+enjoy it. But when recess came and went and Mr. Williams did not send
+him to his seat, he began to shift from one foot to the other and from
+his heels to his toes, and to change his slate from the right hand to
+the left. His class was called, and after recitation he was sent back to
+his place. He stood it as best he could until the noon recess, but when,
+at the beginning of the afternoon session, Mr. Williams again called his
+"excellent scholar" and set him up, Riley broke down and said:
+
+"I think you might let me go now."
+
+"Are you tired?" asked the cruel Mr. Williams.
+
+"Yes, I am," and Riley hung his head, while the rest smiled.
+
+"And are you ready to do what the good order of the school requires?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Very well; you can go."
+
+The chopfallen Riley went back to his seat, convinced that it would not
+do to rebel against the new teacher, even if he did not use the beech
+switches.
+
+But Mr. Williams was also quick to detect the willing scholar. He gave
+Jack extra help on his Latin after school was out, and Jack grew very
+proud of the teacher's affection for him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+CHASING THE FOX
+
+
+All the boys in the river towns thirty years ago--and therefore the boys
+in Greenbank, also--took a great interest in the steam-boats which plied
+up and down the Ohio. Each had his favorite boat, and boasted of her
+speed and excellence. Every one of them envied those happy fellows whose
+lot it was to "run on the river" as cabin-boys. Boats were a common
+topic of conversation--their build, their engines, their speed, their
+officers, their mishaps, and all the incidents of their history.
+
+So it was that from the love of steam-boats, which burned so brightly in
+the bosom of the boy who lived on the banks of that great and lovely
+river, there grew up the peculiar game of "boats' names." I think the
+game was started at Louisville or New Albany, where the falls interrupt
+navigation, and where many boats of the upper and lower rivers are
+assembled.
+
+One day, as the warm air of Indian summer in this mild climate made
+itself felt, the boys assembled, on the evergreen "bluegrass," after the
+snack at the noon recess, to play boats' names.
+
+Through Jack's influence, Columbus, who did not like to play with the A
+B C boys, was allowed to take the handkerchief and give out the first
+name. All the rest stood up in a row like a spelling-class, while little
+Columbus, standing in front of them, held a knotted handkerchief with
+which to scourge them when the name should be guessed. The arm which
+held the handkerchief was so puny that the boys laughed to see the
+feeble lad stand there in a threatening attitude.
+
+"I say, Lum, don't hit too hard, now; my back is tender," said Bob
+Holliday.
+
+"Give us an easy one to guess," said Riley, coaxingly.
+
+Columbus, having come from the back country, did not know the names of
+half a dozen boats, and what he knew about were those which touched
+daily at the wharf of Greenbank.
+
+"F----n," he said.
+
+"Fashion," cried all the boys at once, breaking into unrestrained mirth
+at the simplicity that gave them the name of Captain Glenn's little
+Cincinnati and Port William packet, which landed daily at the village
+wharf. Columbus now made a dash at the boys, who were obliged to run to
+the school-house and back whenever a name was guessed, suffering a
+beating all the way from the handkerchief of the one who had given out
+the name, though, indeed, the punishment Lum was able to give was very
+slight. It was doubtful who had guessed first, since the whole party had
+cried "Fashion" almost together, but it was settled at last in favor of
+Harry Weathervane, who was sure to give out hard names, since he had
+been to Cincinnati recently, and had gone along the levee reading the
+names of those boats that did business above that city, and so were
+quite unknown, unless by report, to the boys of Greenbank.
+
+"A---- A----s," were the three letters which Harry gave, and Ben Berry
+guessed "Archibald Ananias," and Tom Holcroft said it was "Amanda Amos,"
+and at last all gave it up; whereupon Harry told them it was "Alvin
+Adams," and proceeded to give out another.
+
+"C---- A---- P----x," he said next time.
+
+"Caps," said Riley, mistaking the x for an s; and then Bob Holliday
+suggested "Hats and Caps," and Jack wanted to have it "Boots and Shoes."
+But Johnny Meline remembered that he had read of such a name for a ship
+in his Sunday-school lesson of the previous Sunday, and he guessed that
+a steam-boat might bear that same.
+
+"I know," said Johnny, "it's Castor----"
+
+"Oil," suggested Jack.
+
+"No--Castor and P, x,--Pollux--Castor and Pollux--it's a Bible name."
+
+"You're not giving us the name of Noah's ark, are you?" asked Bob.
+
+"I say, boys, that isn't fair a bit," growled Pewee, in all earnestness.
+"I don't hardly believe that Bible ship's a-going now." Things were
+mixed in Pewee's mind, but he had a vague notion that Bible times were
+as much as fifty years ago. While he stood doubting, Harry began to whip
+him with the handkerchief, saying, "I saw her at Cincinnati, last week.
+She runs to Maysville and Parkersburg, you goose."
+
+After many names had been guessed, and each guesser had taken his turn,
+Ben Berry had to give out. He had just heard the name of a "lower
+country" boat, and was sure that it would not be guessed.
+
+"C----p----r," he said.
+
+"Oh, I know," said Jack, who had been studying the steam-boat column of
+an old Louisville paper that very morning, "it's the--the--" and he put
+his hands over his ears, closed his eyes, and danced around, trying to
+remember, while all the rest stood and laughed at his antics. "Now I've
+got it,--the 'Cornplanter'!"
+
+And Ben Berry whipped the boys across the road and back, after which
+Jack took the handkerchief.
+
+"Oh, say, boys, this is a poor game; let's play fox," Bob suggested.
+"Jack's got the handkerchief, let him be the first fox."
+
+So Jack took a hundred yards' start, and all the boys set out after him.
+The fox led the hounds across the commons, over the bars, past the
+"brick pond," as it was called, up the lane into Moro's pasture, along
+the hill-side to the west across Dater's fence into Betts's pasture;
+thence over into the large woods pasture of the Glade farm. In every
+successive field some of the hounds had run off to the flank, and by
+this means every attempt of Jack's to turn toward the river, and thus
+fetch a circuit for home, had been foiled. They had cut him off from
+turning through Moro's orchard or Betts's vineyard, and so there was
+nothing for the fleet-footed fox but to keep steadily to the west and
+give his pursuers no chance to make a cut-off on him. But every now and
+then he made a feint of turning, which threw the others out of a
+straight track. Once in the woods pasture, Jack found himself out of
+breath, having run steadily for a rough mile and a half, part of it
+up-hill. He was yet forty yards ahead of Bob Holliday and Riley, who led
+the hounds. Dashing into a narrow path through the underbrush, Jack ran
+into a little clump of bushes and hid behind a large black-walnut log.
+
+Riley and Holliday came within six feet of him, some of the others
+passed to the south of him and some to the north, but all failed to
+discover his lurking-place. Soon Jack could hear them beating about the
+bushes beyond him.
+
+This was his time. Having recovered his wind, he crept out southward
+until he came to the foot of the hill, and entered Glade's lane, heading
+straight for the river across the wide plain. Pewee, who had perched
+himself on a fence to rest, caught sight of Jack first, and soon the
+whole pack were in full cry after him, down the long, narrow,
+elder-bordered lane. Bob Holliday and Riley, the fleetest of foot,
+climbed over the high stake-and-rider fence into Betts's corn-field, and
+cut off a diagonal to prevent Jack's getting back toward the
+school-house. Seeing this movement, Jack, who already had made an
+extraordinary run, crossed the fence himself, and tried to make a
+cut-off in spite of them; but Riley already had got in ahead of him, and
+Jack, seeing the boys close behind and before him, turned north again
+toward the hill, got back into the lane, which was now deserted, and
+climbed into Glade's meadow on the west side of the lane. He now had a
+chance to fetch a sweep around toward the river again, though the whole
+troop of boys were between him and the school-house. Fairly headed off
+on the east, he made a straight run south for the river shore, striking
+into a deep gully, from which he came out panting upon the beach, where
+he had just time to hide himself in a hollow sycamore, hoping that the
+boys would get to the westward and give him a chance to run up the river
+shore for the school-house.
+
+But one cannot play the same trick twice. Some of the boys stationed
+themselves so as to intercept Jack's retreat toward the school-house,
+while the rest searched for him, beating up and down the gully, and up
+and down the beach, until they neared the hollow sycamore. Jack made a
+sharp dash to get through them, but was headed off and caught by Pewee.
+Just as Jack was caught, and Pewee was about to start homeward as fox,
+the boys caught sight of two steam-boats racing down the river. The
+whole party was soon perched on a fallen sycamore, watching first the
+"Swiftsure" and then the "Ben Franklin," while the black smoke poured
+from their chimneys. So fascinated were they with this exciting contest
+that they stayed half an hour waiting to see which should beat. At
+length, as the boats passed out of sight, with the "Swiftsure" leading
+her competitor, it suddenly occurred to Jack that it must be later than
+the school-hour. The boys looked aghast at one another a moment on
+hearing him mention this; then they glanced at the sun, already
+declining in the sky, and set out for school, trotting swiftly in spite
+of their fatigue.
+
+What would the master say? Pewee said he didn't care,--it wasn't Old
+Ball, and they wouldn't get a whipping, anyway. But Jack thought that it
+was too bad to lose the confidence of Mr. Williams.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+CALLED TO ACCOUNT
+
+
+Successful hounds, having caught their fox, ought to have come home in
+triumph; but, instead of that, they came home like dogs that had been
+killing sheep, their heads hanging down in a guilty and self-betraying
+way.
+
+Jack walked into the school-house first. It was an hour and a half past
+the time for the beginning of school. He tried to look unconcerned as he
+went to his seat. There stood the teacher, with his face very calm but
+very pale, and Jack felt his heart sink.
+
+One by one the laggards filed into the school-room, while the
+awe-stricken girls on the opposite benches, and the little A B C boys,
+watched the guilty sinners take their places, prepared to meet their
+fate.
+
+Riley came in with a half-insolent smile on his face, as if to say: "I
+don't care." Pewee was sullen and bull-doggish. Ben Berry looked the
+sneaking fellow he was, and Harry Weathervane tried to remember that his
+father was a school-trustee. Bob Holliday couldn't help laughing in a
+foolish way. Columbus had fallen out of the race before he got to the
+"brick-pond," and so had returned in time to be punctual when school
+resumed its session.
+
+During all the time that the boys, heated with their exercise and
+blushing with shame, were filing in, Mr. Williams stood with set face
+and regarded them. He was very much excited, and so I suppose did not
+dare to reprove them just then. He called the classes and heard them in
+rapid succession, until it was time for the spelling-class, which
+comprised all but the very youngest pupils. On this day, instead of
+calling the spelling-class, he said, evidently with great effort to
+control himself: "The girls will keep their seats. The boys will take
+their places in the spelling-class."
+
+Riley's lower jaw fell--he was sure that the master meant to flog them
+all. He was glad he was not at the head of the class. Ben Berry could
+hardly drag his feet to his place, and poor Jack was filled with
+confusion. When the boys were all in place, the master walked up and
+down the line and scrutinized them, while Riley cast furtive glances at
+the dusty old beech switches on the wall, wondering which one the master
+would use, and Pewee was trying to guess whether Mr. Williams's arm was
+strong, and whether he "would make a fellow take off his coat" or not.
+
+"Columbus," said the teacher, "you can take your seat."
+
+Riley shook in his shoes, thinking that this certainly meant a whipping.
+He began to frame excuses in his mind, by which to try to lighten his
+punishment.
+
+But the master did not take down his switches. He only talked. But such
+a talk! He told the boys how worthless a man was who could not be
+trusted, and how he had hoped for a school full of boys that could be
+relied on. He thought there were some boys, at least--and this remark
+struck Jack to the heart--that there were some boys in the school who
+would rather be treated as gentlemen than beaten with ox-goads. But he
+was now disappointed. All of them seemed equally willing to take
+advantage of his desire to avoid whipping them; and all of them had
+shown themselves _unfit to be trusted_.
+
+Here he paused long enough to let the full weight of his censure enter
+their minds. Then he began on a new tack. He had hoped that he might
+have their friendship. He had thought that they cared a little for his
+good opinion. But now they had betrayed him. All the town was looking to
+see whether he would succeed in conducting his school without whipping.
+A good many would be glad to see him fail. Today they would be saying
+all over Greenbank that the new teacher couldn't manage his school. Then
+he told the boys that while they were sitting on the trunk of the fallen
+sycamore looking at the steam-boat race, one of the trustees, Mr.
+Weathervane, had driven past and had seen them there. He had stopped to
+complain to the master. "Now," said the master, "I have found how little
+you care for me."
+
+This was very sharp talk, and it made the boys angry. Particularly did
+Jack resent any intimation that he was not to be trusted. But the new
+master was excited and naturally spoke severely. Nor did he give the
+boys a chance to explain at that time.
+
+"You have been out of school," he said, "one hour and thirty-one
+minutes. That is about equal to six fifteen-minute recesses--to the
+morning and afternoon recesses for three days. I shall have to keep you
+in at those six recesses to make up the time, and in addition, as a
+punishment, I shall keep you in school half an hour after the usual time
+of dismission, for three days."
+
+Here Jack made a motion to speak.
+
+"No," said the master, "I will not hear a word, now. Go home and think
+it over. To-morrow I mean to ask each one of you to explain his
+conduct."
+
+With this, he dismissed the school, and the boys went out as angry as a
+hive of bees that have been disturbed. Each one made his speech. Jack
+thought it "mean that the master should say they were not fit to be
+trusted. He wouldn't have stayed out if he'd known it was school-time."
+
+Bob Holliday said "the young master was a blisterer," and then he
+laughed good-naturedly.
+
+Harry Weathervane was angry, and so were all the rest. At length it was
+agreed that they didn't want to be cross-questioned about it, and that
+it was better that somebody should write something that should give Mr.
+Williams a piece of their mind, and show him how hard he was on boys
+that didn't mean any harm, but only forgot themselves. And Jack was
+selected to do the writing.
+
+Jack made up his mind that the paper he would write should be "a
+scorcher."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+AN APOLOGY
+
+
+Of course, there was a great deal of talk in the village. The
+I-told-you-so people were quite delighted. Old Mother Horn "always knew
+that boys couldn't be managed without switching. Didn't the Bible or
+somebody say: 'Just as the twig is bent the boy's inclined?' And if you
+don't bend your twig, what'll become of your boy?"
+
+The loafers and loungers and gad-abouts and gossips talked a great deal
+about the failure of the new plan. They were sure that Mr. Ball would be
+back in that school-house before the term was out, unless Williams
+should whip a good deal more than he promised to. The boys would just
+drive him out.
+
+Jack told his mother, with a grieved face, how harsh the new master had
+been, and how he had even said they were _not fit to be trusted_.
+
+"That's a very harsh word," said Mrs. Dudley, "but let us make some
+allowances. Mr. Williams is on trial before the town, and he finds
+himself nearly ruined by the thoughtlessness of the boys. He had to wait
+an hour and a half, with half of the school gone. Think how much he must
+have suffered in that time. And then, to have to take a rebuke from Mr.
+Weathervane besides, must have stung him to the quick."
+
+"Yes, that's so," said Jack, "but then he had no business to take it for
+granted that we did it on purpose."
+
+And Jack went about his chores, trying to think of some way of writing
+to the master an address which should be severe, but not too severe. He
+planned many things but gave them up. He lay awake in the night thinking
+about it, and, at last, when he had cooled off, he came to the
+conclusion that, as the boys had been the first offenders, they should
+take the first step toward a reconciliation. But whether he could
+persuade the angry boys to see it in that light, he did not know.
+
+When morning came, he wrote a very short paper, somewhat in this
+fashion:
+
+     Mr. Williams:
+
+     Dear Sir: We are very sorry for what we did yesterday, and for
+     the trouble we have given you. We are willing to take the
+     punishment, for we think we deserve it; but we hope you will not
+     think that we did it on purpose, for we did not, and we don't like
+     to have you think so.
+
+     Respectfully submitted.
+
+Jack carried this in the first place to his faithful friend, Bob
+Holliday, who read it.
+
+"Oh, you've come down, have you?" said Bob.
+
+"I thought we ought to," said Jack. "We _did_ give him a great deal of
+trouble, and if it had been Mr. Ball, he would have whipped us half to
+death."
+
+"We shouldn't have forgot and gone away at that time if Old Ball had
+been the master," said Bob.
+
+"That's just it," said Jack; "that's the very reason why we ought to
+apologize."
+
+"All right," said Bob, "I'll sign her," and he wrote "Robert M.
+Holliday" in big letters at the top of the column intended for the
+names. Jack put his name under Bob's.
+
+But when they got to the school-house it was not so easy to persuade the
+rest. At length, however, Johnny Meline signed it, and then Harry
+Weathervane, and then the rest, one after another, with some grumbling,
+wrote their names. All subscribed to it excepting Pewee and Ben Berry
+and Riley. They declared they never would sign it. They didn't want to
+be kept in at recess and after school like convicts. They didn't deserve
+it.
+
+"Jack is a soft-headed fool," Riley said, "to draw up such a thing as
+that. I'm not afraid of the master. I'm not going to knuckle down to
+him, either."
+
+Of course, Pewee, as a faithful echo, said just what Riley said, and Ben
+Berry said what Riley and Pewee said; so that the three were quite
+unanimous.
+
+"Well," said Jack, "then we'll have to hand in our petition without the
+signatures of the triplets."
+
+"Don't you call me a triplet," said Pewee; "I've got as much sense as
+any of you. You're a soft-headed triplet yourself!"
+
+Even Riley had to join in the laugh that followed this blundering sally
+of Pewee.
+
+When the master came in, he seemed very much troubled. He had heard what
+had been said about the affair in the town. The address which Jack had
+written was lying on his desk. He took it up and read it, and
+immediately a look of pleasure and relief took the place of the worried
+look he had brought to school with him.
+
+"Boys," he said, "I have received your petition, and I shall answer it
+by and by."
+
+The hour for recess came and passed. The girls and the very little boys
+were allowed their recess, but nothing was said to the larger boys about
+their going out. Pewee and Riley were defiant.
+
+At length, when the school was about to break up for noon, the master
+put his pen, ink, and other little articles in the desk, and the school
+grew hushed with expectancy.
+
+"This apology," said Mr. Williams, "which I see is in John Dudley's
+handwriting, and which bears the signature of all but three of those who
+were guilty of the offence yesterday, is a very manly apology, and quite
+increases my respect for those who have signed it. I have suffered much
+from your carelessness of yesterday, but this apology, showing, as it
+does, the manliness of my boys, has given me more pleasure than the
+offence gave me pain. I ought to make an apology to you. I blamed you
+too severely yesterday in accusing you of running away intentionally. I
+take all that back."
+
+Here he paused a moment, and looked over the petition carefully.
+
+"William Riley, I don't see your name here. Why is that?"
+
+"Because I didn't put it there."
+
+Pewee and Ben Berry both laughed at this wit.
+
+"Why didn't you put it there?"
+
+"Because I didn't want to."
+
+"Have you any explanation to give of your conduct yesterday?"
+
+"No, sir; only that I think it's mean to keep us in because we forgot
+ourselves."
+
+"Peter Rose, have you anything to say?"
+
+"Just the same as Will Riley said."
+
+"And you, Benjamin?"
+
+"Oh, I don't care much," said Ben Berry. "Jack was fox, and I ran after
+him, and if he hadn't run all over creation and part of Columbia, I
+shouldn't have been late. It isn't any fault of mine. I think Jack ought
+to do the staying in."
+
+"You are about as old a boy as Jack," said the master. "I suppose Jack
+might say that if you and the others hadn't chased him, he wouldn't
+have run 'all over creation,' as you put it. You and the rest were all
+guilty of a piece of gross thoughtlessness. All excepting you three have
+apologized in the most manly way. I therefore remove the punishment from
+all the others entirely hereafter, deeming that the loss of this
+morning's recess is punishment enough for boys who can be so manly in
+their acknowledgments. Peter Rose, William Riley, and Benjamin Berry
+will remain in school at both recesses and for a half-hour after school
+every day for three days--not only for having forgotten their duty, but
+for having refused to make acknowledgment or apology."
+
+Going home that evening, half an hour after all the others had been
+dismissed, the triplets put all their griefs together, and resolved to
+be avenged on Mr. Williams at the first convenient opportunity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+KING'S BASE AND A SPELLING-LESSON
+
+
+As the three who usually gave the most trouble on the playground, as
+well as in school, were now in detention at every recess, the boys
+enjoyed greatly their play during these three days.
+
+It was at this time that they began to play that favorite game of
+Greenbank, which seems to be unknown almost everywhere else. It is
+called "king's base," and is full of all manner of complex happenings,
+sudden surprises, and amusing results.
+
+Each of the boys selected a base or goal. A row of sidewalk trees were
+favorite bases. There were just as many bases as boys. Some boy would
+venture out from his base. Then another would pursue him; a third would
+chase the two, and so it would go, the one who left his base latest
+having the right to catch.
+
+Just as Johnny Meline was about to lay hold on Jack, Sam Crashaw, having
+just left _his_ base, gave chase to Johnny, and just as Sam thought he
+had a good chance to catch Johnny, up came Jack, fresh from having
+touched his base, and nabbed Sam. When one has caught another, he has a
+right to return to his base with his prisoner, unmolested. The prisoner
+now becomes an active champion of the new base, and so the game goes on
+until all the bases are broken up but one. Very often the last boy on a
+base succeeds in breaking up a strong one, and, indeed, there is no end
+to the curious results attained in the play.
+
+Jack had never got on in his studies as at this time. Mr. Williams took
+every opportunity to show his liking for his young friend, and Jack's
+quickened ambition soon put him at the head of his classes. It was a
+rule that the one who stood at the head of the great spelling-class on
+Friday evenings should go to the foot on Monday, and so work his way up
+again. There was a great strife between Sarah Weathervane and Jack to
+see which should go to the foot the oftenest during the term, and so win
+a little prize that Mr. Williams had offered to the best speller in the
+school. As neither of them ever missed a word in the lesson, they held
+the head each alternate Friday evening. In this way the contest bade
+fair to be a tie. But Sarah meant to win the prize by fair means or
+foul.
+
+One Friday morning before school-time, the boys and girls were talking
+about the relative merits of the two spellers, Joanna maintaining that
+Sarah was the better, and others that Jack could spell better than
+Sarah.
+
+"Oh!" said Sarah Weathervane, "Jack is the best speller in school. I
+study till my head aches to get my lesson, but it is all the same to
+Jack whether he studies or not. He has a natural gift for spelling, and
+he spends nearly all his time on arithmetic and Latin."
+
+This speech pleased Jack very much. He had stood at the head of the
+class all the week, and spelling did seem to him the easiest thing in
+the world. That afternoon he hardly looked at his lesson. It was so nice
+to think he could beat Sarah Weathervane with his left hand, so to
+speak.
+
+When the great spelling-class was called, he spelled the words given to
+him, as usual, and Sarah saw no chance to get the coveted opportunity
+to stand at the head, go down, and spell her way up again. But the very
+last word given to Jack was _sacrilege_, and, not having studied the
+lesson, he spelled it with _e_ in the second syllable and _i_ in the
+last. Sarah gave the letters correctly, and when Jack saw the smile of
+triumph on her face, he guessed why she had flattered him that morning.
+Hereafter he would not depend on his natural genius for spelling. A
+natural genius for working is the best gift.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+UNCLAIMED TOP-STRINGS
+
+
+With a sinking heart, Jack often called to mind that this was his last
+term at school. The little money that his father had left was not enough
+to warrant his continuing; he must now do something for his own support.
+He resolved, therefore, to make the most of his time under Mr. Williams.
+
+When Pewee, Riley, and Ben Berry got through with their punishment, they
+sought some way of revenging themselves on the master for punishing
+them, and on Jack for doing better than they had done, and thus escaping
+punishment. It was a sore thing with them that Jack had led all the
+school his way, so that, instead of the whole herd following King Pewee
+and Prime Minister Riley into rebellion, they now "knuckled down to the
+master," as Riley called it, under the lead of Jack, and they even dared
+to laugh slyly at the inseparable "triplets."
+
+The first aim of Pewee and company was to get the better of the master.
+They boasted to Jack and Bob that they would fix Mr. Williams some time,
+and gave out to the other boys that they knew where the master spent his
+evenings, and they knew how to fix him.
+
+When Jack heard of this, he understood it. The teacher had a habit of
+spending an evening, now and then, at Dr. Lanham's, and the boys no
+doubt intended to play a prank on him in going or coming. There being
+now no moonlight, the village streets were very dark, and there was
+every opportunity for a trick. Riley's father's house stood next on the
+street to Dr. Lanham's; the lots were divided by an alley. This gave the
+triplets a good chance to carry out their designs.
+
+But Bob Holliday and Jack, good friends to the teacher, thought that it
+would be fun to watch the conspirators and defeat them. So, when they
+saw Mr. Williams going to Dr. Lanham's, they stationed themselves in the
+dark alley on the side of the street opposite to Riley's and took
+observations. Mr. Williams had a habit of leaving Dr. Lanham's at
+exactly nine o'clock, and so, just before nine, the three came out of
+Riley's yard, and proceeded in the darkness to the fence of Lanham's
+dooryard.
+
+Getting the trunk of one of the large shade-trees between him and the
+plotters, Jack crept up close enough to guess what they were doing and
+to overhear their conversation. Then he came back to Bob.
+
+"They are tying a string across the sidewalk on Lanham's side of the
+alley, I believe," whispered Jack, "so as to throw Mr. Williams head
+foremost into that mud-hole at the mouth of the alley."
+
+By this time, the three boys had finished their arrangements and
+retreated through the gate into the porch of the Riley house, whence
+they might keep a lookout for the catastrophe.
+
+"I'm going to cut that string where it goes around the tree," said Bob,
+and he crouched low on the ground, got the trunk of the tree between him
+and the Riley house, and crept slowly across the street.
+
+"I'll capture the string," said Jack, walking off to the next
+cross-street, then running around the block until he came to the back
+gate of Lanham's yard, which he entered, running up the walk to the
+back door. His knock was answered by Mrs. Lanham.
+
+"Why, Jack, what's the matter?" she asked, seeing him at the kitchen
+door, breathless.
+
+"I want to see Susan, please," he said, "and tell Mr. Williams not to go
+yet a minute."
+
+"Here's a mystery," said Mrs. Lanham, returning to the sitting-room,
+where the teacher was just rising to say good-night. "Here's Jack
+Dudley, at the back door, out of breath, asking for Susan, and wishing
+Mr. Williams not to leave the house yet."
+
+Susan ran to the back door.
+
+"Susan," said Jack, "the triplets have tied a string from the corner of
+your fence to the locust-tree, and they're watching from Riley's porch
+to see Mr. Williams fall into the mud-hole. Bob is cutting the string
+at the tree, and I want you to go down along the fence and untie it and
+bring it in. They will not suspect you if they see you."
+
+"I don't care if they do," said Susan, and she glided out to the
+cross-fence which ran along the alley, followed it to the front and
+untied the string, fetching it back with her. When she got back to the
+kitchen door she heard Jack closing the alley gate. He had run off to
+join Bob, leaving the string in Susan's hands.
+
+Dr. Lanham and the master had a good laugh over the captured string,
+which was made of Pewee's and Riley's top-strings, tied together.
+
+The triplets did not see Susan go to the fence. They were too intent on
+what was to happen to Mr. Williams. When, at length, he came along
+safely through the darkness, they were bewildered.
+
+"You didn't tie that string well in the middle," growled Pewee at Riley.
+
+"Yes, I did," said Riley. "He must have stepped over."
+
+"Step over a string a foot high, when he didn't know it was there?" said
+Pewee.
+
+"Let's go and get the string," said Ben Berry.
+
+So out of the gate they sallied, and quickly reached the place where the
+string ought to have been.
+
+"I can't find this end," whispered Pewee by the fence.
+
+"The string's gone!" broke out Riley, after feeling up and down the tree
+for some half a minute.
+
+What could have become of it? They had been so near the sidewalk all the
+time that no one could have passed without their seeing him.
+
+The next day, at noon-time, when Susan Lanham brought out her lunch, it
+was tied with Pewee's new top-string,--the best one in the school.
+
+"That's a very nice string," said Susan.
+
+"It's just like Pewee's top-string," cried Harry Weathervane.
+
+"Is it yours, Pewee?" said Susan, in her sweetest tones.
+
+"No," said the king, with his head down; "mine's at home."
+
+"I found this one, last night," said Susan.
+
+And all the school knew that she was tormenting Pewee, although they
+could not guess how she had got his top-string. After a while, she made
+a dive into her pocket, and brought out another string.
+
+"Oh," cried Johnny Meline, "where did you get that?"
+
+"I found it."
+
+"That's Will Riley's top-string," said Johnny. "It was mine. He cheated
+me out of it by trading an old top that wouldn't spin."
+
+"That's the way you get your top-strings, is it, Will? Is this yours?"
+asked the tormenting Susan.
+
+"No, it isn't."
+
+"Of course it isn't yours. You don't tie top-strings across the sidewalk
+at night. You're a gentleman, you are! Come, Johnny, this string doesn't
+belong to anybody; I'll trade with you for that old top that Will gave
+you for a good string. I want something to remember honest Will Riley
+by."
+
+Johnny gladly pocketed the string, and Susan carried off the shabby top,
+to the great amusement of the school, who now began to understand how
+she had come by the two top-strings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL, AND THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE STORY
+
+
+It was the last day of the spring term of school. With Jack this meant
+the end of his opportunity for going to school. What he should learn
+hereafter he must learn by himself. The money was nearly out, and he
+must go to work.
+
+The last day of school meant also the expiration of the master's
+authority. Whatever evil was done after school-hours on the last day was
+none of his business. All who had grudges carried them forward to that
+day, for thus they could revenge themselves without being called to
+account by the master the next day. The last day of school had no
+to-morrow to be afraid of. Hence, Pewee and his friends proposed to
+square accounts on the last day of school with Jack Dudley, whom they
+hated for being the best scholar, and for having outwitted them more
+than once.
+
+It was on the first day of June that the school ended, and Mr. Williams
+bade his pupils good-bye. The warm sun had by this time brought the
+waters of the Ohio to a temperature that made bathing pleasant, and when
+the school closed, all the boys, delighted with liberty, rushed to the
+river for a good swim together. In that genial climate one can remain in
+the water for hours at a time, and boys become swimmers at an early age.
+
+Just below the village a raft was moored, and from this the youthful
+swimmers were soon diving into the deep water like frogs. Every boy who
+could perform any feat of agility displayed it. One would turn a
+somersault in the water, and then dive from one side of the raft to
+another, one could float, and another swim on his back, while a third
+was learning to tread water. Some were fond of diving toes downward,
+others took headers. "The little fellows" who could not swim kept on the
+inside of the great raft and paddled about with the aid of slabs used
+for floats. Jack, who had lived for years on the banks of the Wildcat,
+could swim and dive like a musquash.
+
+Mr. Williams, the teacher, felt lonesome at saying good-bye to his
+school; and to keep the boys company as long as possible, he strolled
+down to the bank and sat on the grass watching the bathers below him,
+plunging and paddling in all the spontaneous happiness of young life.
+
+Riley and Pewee--conspirators to the last--had their plans arranged.
+When Jack should get his clothes on, they intended to pitch him off the
+raft for a good wetting, and thus gratify their long-hoarded jealousy,
+and get an offset to the standing joke about dough-faces and ghosts which
+the town had at their expense. Ben Berry, who was their confidant,
+thought this a capital plan.
+
+When at length Jack had enjoyed the water enough, he came out and was
+about to begin dressing. Pewee and Riley were close at hand, already
+dressed, and prepared to give Jack a farewell ducking.
+
+But just at that moment there came from the other end of the raft, and
+from the spectators on the bank, a wild, confused cry, and all turned to
+hearken. Harry Weathervane's younger brother, whose name was Andrew
+Jackson, and who could not swim, in dressing, had stepped too far
+backward and gone off the raft. He uttered a despairing and terrified
+scream, struck out wildly and blindly, and went down.
+
+All up and down the raft and up and down the bank there went up a cry:
+"Andy is drowning!" while everybody looked for somebody else to save
+him.
+
+The school-master was sitting on the bank, and saw the accident. He
+quickly slipped off his boots, but then he stopped, for Jack had already
+started on a splendid run down that long raft. The confused and
+terrified boys made a path for him quickly, as he came on at more than
+the tremendous speed he had always shown in games. He did not stop to
+leap, but ran full tilt off the raft, falling upon the drowning boy and
+carrying him completely under water with him. Nobody breathed during the
+two seconds that Jack, under water, struggled to get a good hold on Andy
+and to keep Andy from disabling him by his blind grappling of Jack's
+limbs.
+
+When at length Jack's head came above water, there was an audible sigh
+of relief from all the on-lookers. But the danger was not over.
+
+"Let go of my arms, Andy!" cried Jack. "You'll drown us both if you hold
+on that way. If you don't let go I'll strike you."
+
+Jack knew that it was sometimes necessary to stun a drowning person
+before you could save him, where he persisted in clutching his
+deliverer. But poor frightened Andy let go of Jack's arms at last. Jack
+was already exhausted with swimming, and he had great difficulty in
+dragging the little fellow to the raft, where Will Riley and Pewee Rose
+pulled him out of the water.
+
+But now, while all were giving attention to the rescued Andy, there
+occurred with Jack one of those events which people call a cramp. I do
+not know what to call it, but it is not a cramp. It is a kind of
+collapse--a sudden exhaustion that may come to the best of swimmers. The
+heart insists on resting, the consciousness grows dim, the will-power
+flags, and the strong swimmer sinks.
+
+Nobody was regarding Jack, who first found himself unable to make even
+an effort to climb on the raft; then his hold on its edge relaxed, and
+he slowly sank out of sight. Pewee saw his sinking condition first, and
+cried out, as did Riley and all the rest, doing nothing to save Jack,
+but running up and down the raft in a vain search for a rope or a pole.
+
+The school-master, having seen that Andy was brought out little worse
+for his fright and the water he had swallowed, was about to put on his
+boots when this new alarm attracted his attention to Jack Dudley.
+Instantly he threw off his coat and was bounding down the steep bank,
+along the plank to the raft, and then along the raft to where Jack had
+sunk entirely out of sight. Mr. Williams leaped head first into the
+water and made what the boys afterward called a splendid dive. Once
+under water he opened his eyes and looked about for Jack.
+
+At last he came up, drawing after him the unconscious and apparently
+lifeless form of Jack, who was taken from the water by the boys. The
+teacher despatched two boys to bring Dr. Lanham, while he set himself to
+restore consciousness by producing artificial breathing. It was some
+time after Dr. Lanham's arrival that Jack fully regained his
+consciousness, when he was carried home by the strong arms of Bob
+Holliday, Will Riley, and Pewee, in turn.
+
+[Illustration: BOB HOLLIDAY CARRIES HOME HIS FRIEND.]
+
+And here I must do the last two boys the justice to say that they
+called to inquire after Jack every day during the illness that followed,
+and the old animosity to Jack was never afterward revived by Pewee and
+his friends.
+
+On the evening after this accident and these rescues, Dr. Lanham said to
+Mrs. Lanham and Susan and Mr. Williams, who happened to be there again,
+that a boy was wanted in the new drug-store in the village, to learn the
+business, and to sleep in the back room, so as to attend night-calls.
+Dr. Lanham did not know why this Jack Dudley wouldn't be just the boy.
+
+Susan, for her part, was very sure he would be; and Mr. Williams agreed
+with Susan, as, indeed, he generally did.
+
+Dr. Lanham thought that Jack might be allowed to attend school in the
+daytime in the winter season, and if the boy had as good stuff in him as
+he seemed to have, there was no reason why he shouldn't come to
+something some day.
+
+"Come to something!" said Susan. "Come to something! Why, he'll make one
+of the best doctors in the country yet."
+
+And again Mr. Williams entirely agreed with Susan, Jack Dudley was sure
+to go up to the head of the class.
+
+Jack got the place, and I doubt not fulfilled the hope of his friends. I
+know this, at least, that when a year or so later his good friend and
+teacher, Mr. Williams, was married to his good and stanch friend, Susan
+Lanham, Jack's was one of the happiest faces at the wedding.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Hoosier School-boy, by Edward Eggleston
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