diff options
| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-05 23:54:51 -0800 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-05 23:54:51 -0800 |
| commit | ebcacb9ce8f0c470d433e415cf9cdda446ecf7c4 (patch) | |
| tree | 49dbb798e2f8fc6fa118d55e4e58b25a789058e4 | |
| parent | 662345377e2196af07d60ca03e817a0d5b141c71 (diff) | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-0.txt | 9211 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-0.zip | bin | 161541 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h.zip | bin | 2899173 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/52298-h.htm | 13390 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 89272 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/dedication.jpg | bin | 88901 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/frontis.jpg | bin | 54072 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p004.jpg | bin | 38613 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p009.jpg | bin | 48156 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p017.jpg | bin | 51600 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p023.jpg | bin | 33747 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p030.jpg | bin | 52733 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p037.jpg | bin | 61057 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p043.jpg | bin | 35780 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p047.jpg | bin | 31687 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p053.jpg | bin | 34335 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p059.jpg | bin | 44518 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p066.jpg | bin | 55439 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p075.jpg | bin | 15955 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p079.jpg | bin | 41382 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p092.jpg | bin | 66939 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p099.jpg | bin | 40095 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p101.jpg | bin | 30190 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p107.jpg | bin | 51971 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p113.jpg | bin | 73490 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p119.jpg | bin | 71267 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p125.jpg | bin | 37786 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p130.jpg | bin | 82206 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p137.jpg | bin | 45375 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p146.jpg | bin | 59950 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p155.jpg | bin | 34879 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p160.jpg | bin | 73375 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p167.jpg | bin | 26656 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p173.jpg | bin | 29034 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p175.jpg | bin | 19302 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p181.jpg | bin | 29942 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p187.jpg | bin | 41795 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p193.jpg | bin | 35197 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p199.jpg | bin | 50247 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p204.jpg | bin | 70073 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p211.jpg | bin | 25607 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p215.jpg | bin | 50507 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p222.jpg | bin | 59624 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p227.jpg | bin | 38105 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p232.jpg | bin | 67565 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p239.jpg | bin | 46691 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p243.jpg | bin | 50991 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p246.jpg | bin | 63279 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p253.jpg | bin | 14807 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p256.jpg | bin | 66270 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p265.jpg | bin | 36754 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p271.jpg | bin | 17091 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p275.jpg | bin | 28633 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p288.jpg | bin | 70459 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p295.jpg | bin | 27331 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p301.jpg | bin | 40905 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p303.jpg | bin | 36796 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p313.jpg | bin | 47049 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p322.jpg | bin | 50355 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p333.jpg | bin | 15557 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p340.jpg | bin | 49497 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p351.jpg | bin | 21093 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/p357.jpg | bin | 44781 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/52298-h/images/title.jpg | bin | 88416 -> 0 bytes |
67 files changed, 17 insertions, 22601 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d48dea7 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #52298 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52298) diff --git a/old/52298-0.txt b/old/52298-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6e2cdb9..0000000 --- a/old/52298-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9211 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Budge & Toddie, by John Habberton - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Budge & Toddie - Helen's Babies at Play - -Author: John Habberton - -Illustrator: Tod Dwiggins - -Release Date: June 10, 2016 [EBook #52298] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUDGE & TODDIE *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Les Galloway and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - BUDGE AND TODDIE - OR - HELEN’S BABIES AT PLAY - -[Illustration: THE MAID’S GENERAL CARE OF THE BOYS] - - -[Illustration: Cartoon representation of Title Page] - - BUDGE & TODDIE - - OR - - HELEN’S BABIES - AT PLAY - - Being an account - of the further doings of these - marvelously precocious children. - - By JOHN HABBERTON - - AUTHOR OF HELEN’S BABIES, etc., etc.. - - With fifty illustrations by TOD DWIGGINS - - GROSSET AND DUNLAP - NEW YORK - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY - - GROSSET & DUNLAP - - _BUDGE & TODDIE_ - - - - -[Illustration: DEDICATION] - -The Author of “Helen’s Babies” dedicated that book “To the Parents -of the Best Children in the World”; and his commercial hint appended -thereunto was so generally taken, that he is impelled by selfishness to -seek even a larger class to which to inscribe the present volume. He -therefore dedicates it to - -=Those Who Know How to Manage Other People’s Children=. - - - - -Introduction - - -The many indulgent men and women who liked “Helen’s Babies” so well -that they wished they had written it themselves would have changed -their minds could they have been compelled to read criticisms of a -certain kind that were inflicted upon the author as soon as his name -and mail address became known. Some people were in such haste to -relieve their minds that they rushed into print with their charges and -specifications, all of which were of service to the book, as so much -free advertising; at least, the publisher said it was, and his opinion -on such a matter was entitled to special respect. - -Some of the critics were parents of the earnest, forceful, but -matter-of-fact kind that does not doubt its own infallibility in family -government and regards all children as scions of one unchanging stock -and needing to be treated exactly alike, no matter in what direction -their tendencies may be. A larger number were unmarried persons with -theories of their own which had not been marred in whole or in part by -anything so utterly commonplace and exasperating as experience. These -good people, whether uncles or aunts of children over whom they were -not allowed to exercise any authority, or mere bachelors and maids -unattached to anybody’ babies of any kind, joined in abusing Budge and -Toddie as the worst trained children that ever were tossed into print -and in declaring the boys’s Uncle Harry incomparably incapable as a -disciplinarian, unless, indeed, the parents of Budge and Toddie were -still less competent to bring up children in the way they should go. - -Still another class was composed of professional teachers who had -taken long, serious courses of instruction in juvenile humanity, its -nature, possibilities, limitations, duties and mental conditions at -specified ages. Apparently these regarded a child as something created -for the special purpose of being subjected to personal, exact and -continuous domination by adults, and to be let alone only when the -adults themselves wearied of the strain. To prove the unfitness of the -boys’s uncle and their parents to have the care of children they quoted -fluently from standard authorities on education, all the way from -Aristotle, concerning whose children history is silent, to Froebel, the -founder of the kindergarten system, who was childless. - -Others who joined in the effort to analyze this literary butterfly with -a mallet were of the class that could not understand why the misdeeds -and shortcomings of Budge and Toddie were not treated with reproofs and -warnings deduced from certain catechisms, of which infant depravity is -a popular feature. And there were the people that never read a book but -on compulsion. Anyone errs greatly who believes that this class lacks -intelligence, for the world has contained many wondrously clever people -who could not read or write; nevertheless, men and women who seldom -read anything do take any book seriously, no matter if it deserves -as little attention as last year’s almanac. Some of them sought out -the author, after reading “Helen’s Babies,” to tell him in good faith -what they would have done to Budge and Toddie to correct some alleged -deficiencies. - -It was useless to assure any of these unexpected critics that the -author was not himself the hero of his story, or that he had never been -manager of other people’s children when he was a bachelor, unless -unwillingly and for a few moments at a time, or that his book was not -in any sense a disclosure of the methods he would have followed had -such a responsibility been thrust upon him, or that it was no longer -fashionable for a man to write an amusing sketch for the purpose -of covertly inculcating a lot of moral principles, like so many -sugar-coated pills, or that for some years he had been joint owner of -some children to whose mental and moral well-being he had given more -thought and care than to his business interests and almost everything -else that men live for, and consequently he might be regarded as beyond -the need of volunteer counsel and admonition. - -The criticisms continued until the author repented of having written -the story that was the cause of them. But one day a publisher asked -for some more--much more--about Budge and Toddie, to be published -serially, and the inducements he offered were so timely and convincing -that regrets and critics alike were laughed at. The stock of available -material was unlimited, for had not many mothers reproached the author -for not having put into print the tales they had told him of their -own boys’s doings--tales which they knew were far funnier than any -recorded in “Helen’s Babies”--and had not many other mothers given -him capital stories with positive orders to put them in shape for -publication and do so quickly? Besides, he had a store of similar -material in his own mind. How to use the aggregate mass of incident did -not readily appear to his mind’s eye, for he had been too long engaged, -professionally, in picking other men’s books to pieces to have found -time to learn how best to put together a book of his own. He had not -a novelist’s privilege of choosing from many meritorious models, for -tales about children, yet written principally to be read by adults, -were very few and of doubtful quality. - -Suddenly out of nowhere, apparently, came the suggestion that the -possible experiences of some one, any one, of the critics who knew -exactly how other people’s children should be managed would be a good -framework for the desired story. Naturally the person most confident of -such ability would be the best character for the purpose, so it should -be a young, whole-hearted woman of positive nature, who loved children -dearly but had none of her own to disarrange her theories. Facts -have always been the most pestilent enemies of theories, and children -are facts, sometimes stubborn facts, always startling ones when they -encounter any theory not founded on the rock of experience. - -So the tale was begun in haste, as well as in glee over its probable -effect on some of the men and women who had been burdening the author’s -ears and mail-box with criticism and counsel. Whether any of them ever -read a line of it when it appeared serially, or afterward in book -form, remains unknown; probably it is better so, for the author was -thereby spared the meanness of exultation over men and women quite as -well-meaning as himself, or spared the humiliation of discovering that -he had done his work so badly that they were unconscious of what he had -attempted to do. And, really, none of them was any wiser in his own -conceit than was the author himself before he had any children of his -own yet was sure he knew how other people’ children should be trained, -admonished, controlled, restrained, disciplined and otherwise tormented -by their parents. - -The new book was spared a depressing experience of its predecessor, -for, instead of being declined by almost every reputable publisher -in the United States, it was demanded by several before the second -instalment appeared and the number of requests for it increased week by -week as the serial issue continued. - -But, like almost everything else from the same pen, “Other People’s -Children” was written so hastily and put to press so carelessly that it -abounded in repetitions and other errors that made cultivated readers -grieve, so an opportunity to allow the book to drop out of print was -welcomed by the author. - -Nevertheless he was compelled to believe his friends and enemies when -they insisted that “Other People’s Children” was an abler and more -amusing story than “Helen’s Babies,” for their opinion agreed with -his own. So he has responded gladly to the request of the present -publishers that he should give the copy a careful revision. It is -extremely unlikely that any reader of the old edition will detect any -alterations in the new, for nothing has been added nor has anything of -consequence been taken out; yet the author and publishers know that -more than a thousand corrections and emendations have been made and -that almost all of them were needed. - - - - -CONTENTS - - Page - CHAPTER I 1 - CHAPTER II 32 - CHAPTER III 71 - CHAPTER IV 103 - CHAPTER V 135 - CHAPTER VI 165 - CHAPTER VII 195 - CHAPTER VIII 224 - CHAPTER IX 251 - CHAPTER X 277 - CHAPTER XI 302 - CHAPTER XII 332 - FAMOUS COPYRIGHT BOOKS IN POPULAR PRICED EDITIONS - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - The Maid’s General Care of the Boys _Frontispiece._ - - Mrs. Burton Brushed a Tiny Crumb from Her _Page_ - Robe _Facing_ 4 - - “It’s Only Jus’ About So Long” 9 - - “We’s Makin’ Pickles for You” 17 - - “I Got Into a Hen’s Nesht Where There Was Some - Eggs” 23 - - “Isn’t It Lovaly?” _Facing_ 30 - - “Ragged, Dirty Men Talk to My Papa Sometimes” 37 - - “Yes, an’ We Put a Little Stone at the Head of the - Grave” 43 - - “Don’t Either of You Move Out of a Chair?” 47 - - “--But I Didn’t Know Ashes Made ’Em” 53 - - “Splashin’ In the Bathtub” 59 - - “Jump!” Shouted Mr. Burton _Facing_ 66 - - “Cats,” Uttered Mr. Burton 75 - - Both Started In Chase of It 79 - - “Tell Me What You Think About It” _Facing_ 92 - - “We Got Three or Four Nice Bunches” 99 - - “So I Putted Crosses on the Door” 101 - - “Then You Can Only Have One Bite,” Said Budge 107 - - “Where Did the Cards Come From?” 113 - - He Kicked, Pushed, Screamed and Roared 119 - - The Jardiniére Came Down With a Crash 125 - - “Threw a Mean Old Dirty Carpet On Top of It” _Facing_ 130 - - Toddie Playing Bear 137 - - Budge Taking Up the Collection _Facing_ 146 - - Terry 155 - - The General Fell Into the Water _Facing_ 160 - - “Dreamin’ I was In a Candy-Store” 167 - - “Wonder How Big Moons Got to be Little Again” 173 - - “A Cow Readin’ An Atlas” 175 - - “How Do They Get Things to Eat for the Angels?” 181 - - The Squeak of the Violin and the Wail of a Badly - Played Wind Instrument 187 - - Uncle Harry’s Frantic Examination of His Beloved - Violin 193 - - Both Boys Tumbled Into the Room 199 - - Toddie Drank About Two Swallows of Water _Facing_ 204 - - Suddenly Heard a Splash and a Howl 211 - - Budge Enlivened the Dust of the Roadway 215 - - Further Progress Was Arrested _Facing_ 222 - - “Well,” Said Budge “’Cause You’re Different” 227 - - Pretending to be Horses _Facing_ 232 - - Budge Lost His Balance 239 - - Two Inquiring Faces Hanging Over the Bread-Pan 243 - - A Loud Report Startled the Party _Facing_ 246 - - “Too Much Tea Isn’t Good for People, Is It?” 253 - - “When We Cooked ’Em, What Do You Think?” _Facing_ 256 - - Budge and Toddie Playing Doctor 265 - - Down the Stairs, Dashed Terry 271 - - “Why Aunt Alice! How Did You Upset That - Table?” 275 - - A Red Pepper Experience _Facing_ 288 - - Candy Making 295 - - The Dandelion 301 - - “We’re Goin’ Home” 303 - - “Some Nashty Medshin” 313 - - “Izhe a Shotted Soldier” _Facing_ 322 - - Both Boys Sleeping Soundly 333 - - The Obedient Member of the Family _Facing_ 340 - - Making Them What I Would Like Them To Be 351 - - A Little Visitor at the Burtons’s 357 - - - - -BUDGE AND TODDIE - -OR - -HELEN’S BABIES AT PLAY - - -The writer of a certain much-abused book sat at breakfast one morning -with his wife, and their conversation turned, as it had many times -before, upon a brace of boys who had made a little fun for the lovers -of trifling stories and a great deal of trouble for their uncle. Mrs. -Burton, thanks to that womanly generosity which, like a garment, covers -the faults of men who are happily married, was so proud of her husband -that she admired even his book; she had made magnificent attempts to -defend it at points where it was utterly indefensible; but her critical -sense had been frequently offended by her husband’s ignorance regarding -the management of children. On the particular morning referred to, this -critical sense was extremely active. - -“To know, Harry,” said Mrs. Burton, “that you gave so little true -personal attention to Budge and Toddie, while you professed to love -them with the tenderness peculiar to blood-relationship, is to wonder -whether some people do not really expect children to grow as the forest -trees grow, utterly without care or training.” - -“I spent most of my time,” Mr. Burton replied, attacking his steak with -more energy than was called for at the breakfast-table of a man whose -business hours were easy, “I spent most of my time in saving their -parents’ property and their own lives from destruction. When had I an -opportunity to do anything else?” - -A smile of conscious superiority, the honesty of which made it none the -less tantalizing, passed lightly over Mrs. Burton’s features as she -replied: - -“All the while. You should have explained to them the necessity for -order, cleanliness and self-restraint. Do you imagine that their pure -little hearts would not have received it and acted upon it?” - -Mr. Burton offered a Yankee reply. - -“Do you suppose, my dear,” said he “that the necessity for all these -virtues was never brought to their attention? Did you never hear the -homely but significant saying, that you may lead a horse to water, but -you can’t make him drink?” - -With the promptness born of true intuition, Mrs. Burton went around -this verbal obstacle instead of attempting to reduce it. - -“You might at least have attempted to teach them something of the -inner significance of things,” said Mrs. Burton. “Then they would have -brought a truer sense to the contemplation of everything about them.” - -Mr. Burton gazed almost worshipfully at this noble creature whose -impulses led her irresistibly to the discernment of the motives of -action, and with becoming humility he asked: - -“Will you tell me how you would have explained the inner significance -of dirt, so that those boys could have been trusted to cross a dry road -without creating for themselves a halo which should be more visible -than luminous?” - -“Don’t trifle about serious matters, Harry,” said Mrs. Burton, after -a hasty but evident search for a reply. “You know that conscience and -æsthetic sense lead to correct lives all persons who subject themselves -to their influence, and you know that the purest natures are the most -susceptible. If men and women, warped and mistrained though their -earlier lives may have been, grow into sweetness and light under right -incentives, what may not be done with those of whom it was said, ‘Of -such is the kingdom of heaven’?” - -Mr. Burton instinctively bowed his head at his wife’s last words, but -raised it speedily as the lady uttered an opinion which was probably -suggested by the holy sentiment she had just expressed. - -“Then you allowed them to be dreadfully irreverent in their -conversations about sacred things,” said she. - -“Really, my dear,” expostulated the victim, “you must charge up some of -these faults to the children’s parents. I had nothing to do with the -formation of the children’s habits, and their peculiar habit of talking -about what you call sacred things is inherited directly from their -parents. Their father says he doesn’t believe it was ever intended that -mere mention of a man in the Bible should be a patent of sacredness, -and Helen agrees with him.” - -[Illustration: MRS. BURTON BRUSHED A TINY CRUMB FROM HER ROBE] - -Mrs. Burton coughed. It is surprising what a multitude of suggestions -can be conveyed by a gentle cough. - -“I suppose,” she said slowly, as if musing aloud, “that inheritance -_is_ the method by which children obtain many objectionable qualities -for which they themselves are blamed, poor little things. I don’t know -how to sympathize in the least degree with this idea of Tom’s and -Helen’s, for the Maytons, and my mother’s family, too, have always been -extremely reverent toward sacred things. You are right in laying the -fault to them instead of the boys, but I cannot see how they can bear -to inflict such a habit upon innocent children and I must say that I -can’t see how they can tolerate it in each other.” - -Mrs. Burton raised her napkin, and with fastidious solicitude brushed -a tiny crumb or two from her robe as she finished this remark. Dear -creature! She needed to display a human weakness to convince her -husband that she was not altogether too good for earth, and this -implication of a superiority of origin, the darling idea of every woman -but Eve, answered the purpose. Her spouse endured the infliction as -good husbands always do in similar cases, though he somewhat hastily -passed his coffee-cup for more sugar, and asked, in a tone in which -self-restraint was distinctly perceptible: - -“What else, my dear?” - -Mrs. Burton suddenly comprehended the situation; she left her chair, -made the one atonement which is always sufficient between husband and -wife, and said: - -“Only one thing, you dear old boy, and even that is a repetition, I -suppose. It’ only this: parents are quite as remiss as loving uncles in -training their children, instead of merely watching them. The impress -of the older and wiser mind should be placed upon the child from the -earliest dawn of its intelligence, so that the little one’s shall be -determined, instead of being left to chance.” - -“And the impress is readily made, of course, even by a love-struck -uncle on a short vacation?” - -“Certainly. Even wild animals are often tamed at sight by master-minds.” - -“But suppose these impressible little beings should have opinions and -wishes and intentions of their own?” - -“They should be overcome by the adult mind.” - -“And if they object?” - -“That should make no difference,” said Mrs. Burton, gaining suddenly an -inch or two in stature and queenly beauty. - -“Do you mean that you would really make them obey you?” asked Mr. -Burton, with a gaze as reverent as if the answer would be by absolute -authority. - -“Certainly!” replied the lady, adding a grace or two to her fully -aroused sense of command. - -“By Jove!” exclaimed her husband, “what a remarkable coincidence! That -is just what I determined upon when I first took charge of those boys. -And yet----” - -“And yet you failed,” said Mrs. Burton. “How I wish I had been in your -place!” - -“So do I, my dear,” said Mr. Burton; “or, at least, I would wish so if -I didn’t realize that if you had had charge of those children instead -of I, there wouldn’t have occurred any of the blessed accidents that -helped to make you Mrs. Burton.” - -The lady smiled lovingly, but answered: - -“I may have the opportunity yet; in fact--oh, it’s too bad that I -haven’t yet learned how to keep anything secret from you--I have -arranged for just such an experiment. And I’m sure that Helen and Tom, -as well as you, will learn that I am right.” - -“I suppose you will try it while I’m away on my spring trip among the -dealers?” queried Mr. Burton hastily. “Or,” he continued, “if not, I -know you love me well enough to give me timely notice, so I can make a -timely excuse to get away from home. When is it to be?” - -Mrs. Burton replied by a look which her husband was failing to -comprehend when there came help to him from an unexpected source. -There were successive and violent rings of the door-bell, and as many -tremendous pounds, apparently with a brick, at the back door. Then -there ensued a violent slamming of doors, a trampling in the hall as of -many war-horses, and a loud, high-pitched shout of, “I got in fyst,” -and a louder, deeper one of “So did I!” And then, as Mr. and Mrs. -Burton sprang from their chairs with faces full of apprehension and -inquiry the dining-room door opened and Budge and Toddie shot in as if -propelled from a catapult. - -“Hello!” exclaimed Budge, by way of greeting, as Toddie wriggled from -his aunt’ embrace, and seized the tail of the family terrier. “What do -you think? We’ve got a new baby, and Tod and I have come down here to -stay for a few days; papa told us to. Don’t seem to me you had a very -nice breakbux,” concluded Budge, after a critical survey of the table. - -“And it’s only jus’ about so long,” said Toddie, from whose custody -the dog Terry had hurriedly removed his tail by the conclusive -proceeding of conveying his whole body out of doors--“only jus’ so -long!” repeated Toddie, placing his pudgy hands a few inches apart, and -contracting every feature of his countenance, as if to indicate the -extreme diminutiveness of the new heir. - -[Illustration: “IT’S ONLY JUS’ ABOUT SO LONG”.] - -Mrs. Burton kissed her nephews and her husband with more than usual -fervor and inquired as to the sex of the new inhabitant. - -“Oh, that’s the nicest thing about it,” said Budge. “It’s a girl. I’m -tired of such lots of boys--Tod is as bad as a whole lot, you know, -when I have to take care of him. Only, now we’re bothered, ’cause we -don’t know what to name her. Mamma told us to think of the loveliest -thing in all the world, so I thought about squash-pie right away; but -Tod thought of molasses candy, and then papa said neither of ’em would -do for the name of a little girl. I don’t see that they’re not as good -as roses and violets, and all the other things that they name little -girls after.” - -During the delivery by Budge of this information, Toddie had -been steadily exclaiming, “I--I--I--I--I--I----!” like a prudent -parliamentarian who wants to make sure of recognition by the chair. In -his excitement, he failed to realize for some seconds that his brother -had concluded, but he finally exclaimed: “An’ I--I--I--I--I’m goin’ -to give her my turtle, an’ show her how to make mud pies wif currants -in ’em.” - -“Huh!” said Budge, with inexpressible contempt in his tones. “Girls -don’t like such things. I’m going to give her my blue necktie, and -take her riding in the goat-carriage.” - -“Well, anyhow,” said Toddie, with the air of a man who was wresting -victory from the jaws of defeat, “I’ll give her caterpillars. I know -she’ll be sure to like them, ’cause they’e got lovely fur jackets all -heavenly-green an’ red an’ brown, like ladies’s djesses.” - -“And you don’t know what lots of prayin’ Tod and me had to do to get -that baby,” said Budge. “My! It just makes me ache to think about it! -Whole days and weeks and months!” - -“Yesh,” said Toddie. “An’ Budgie sometimes was goin’ to stop, ’caush -he fought the Lord was too busy to listen to us. But I just told him -that the Lord was our biggesht papa, an’ just what papas ought to -be, an’ papa at home was just like papas ought to be. An’ the baby -comeded. Oh! Yesh, an’ we had to be awful good too. Why don’t you be -real good an’ pray lots? Then maybe you’ll get a dear, sweet, little -baby!” - -The temporary reappearance of the dog, Terry, put an end to the -dispute, for both boys moved toward him, which movement soon developed -into a lively chase. Being not unacquainted with the boys, and knowing -their tender mercies to be much like those of the wicked, Terry sought -and found a forest retreat and the boys came panting back and sat -dejectedly upon the well-curb. Mrs. Burton, who stood near the window, -leaning upon her husband’s shoulder, looked tenderly upon them, and -murmured: - -“The poor little darlings are homesick already. Now is the time for my -reign to begin. Boys!” - -Both boys looked up at the window. Mrs. Burton gracefully framed a -well-posed picture of herself as she leaned upon the sill, and her -husband hung admiringly upon her words. “Boys, come into the house, and -let’s have a lovely talk about mamma.” - -“Don’t want to talk about mamma,” said Toddie, a suspicion of a snarl -modifying his natural tones. “Wantsh the dog.” - -“But mammas and babies are so much nicer than dogs,” pleaded Mrs. -Burton, after a withering glance at her husband, who had received -Toddie’s remark with a titter. - -“Well, I don’t think so,” said Budge, reflectively. “We can always see -mamma and the baby, but Terry we can only see once in a while, and he -never wants to see us, somehow.” - -“My dear,” said Mr. Burton humbly, “if you care for the experience -of another, my advice is that you let those boys come out of their -disappointment themselves. They’ll do it in their own way in spite of -you.” - -“There are experiences,” remarked Mrs. Burton, with chilling dignity, -“which are useful only through the realization of their worthlessness. -Anyone can let children alone. Darlings, did you ever hear the story of -little Patty Pout?” - -“No,” growled Budge, in a manner that would have discouraged any one -not conscious of having been born to rule. - -“Well, Patty Pout was a nice little girl,” said Mrs. Burton, “except -that she would sulk whenever things did not happen just as she wanted -them to. One day she had a stick of candy, and was playing ‘lose and -find’ with it; but she happened to put it away so carefully that she -forgot where it was, so she sat down to sulk, and suddenly there came -up a shower and melted that stick of candy, which had been just around -the corner all the while.” - -“Is Terry just around the corner?” asked Toddie, jumping up, while -Budge suddenly scraped the dirt with the toes of his shoes and said: - -“If Patty’d et up her candy while she had it, she wouldn’t have had any -trouble.” - -Mr. Burton hurried into the back parlor to laugh comfortably, and -without visible disrespect, while Mrs. Burton remembered that it was -time to ring the cook and chambermaid to breakfast. A moment or two -later she returned to the window, but the boys were gone; so was a -large stone jar, which was one of those family heirlooms which are -abhorred by men but loved as dearly by women as ancestral robes or -jewels. Mrs. Burton had that mania for making preserves which posterity -has inflicted upon even some of the brightest and best members of the -race, and the jar referred to had been carefully scalded that morning -and set in the sun, preparatory to being filled with raspberry jam. - -“Harry,” said Mrs. Burton, “won’t you step out and get that jar for me? -It must be dry by this time.” - -Mr. Burton consulted his watch, and replied: - -“I’ve barely time to catch the fast train to town, my dear, but the -boys won’t fail to get back by dinner-time. Then you may be able to -ascertain the jar’s whereabouts.” - -Mr. Burton hurried from the front door, and his wife made no less haste -in the opposite direction. The boys were invisible, and a careful -glance at the adjacent country showed no traces of them. Mrs. Burton -called the cook and chambermaid, and the three women took, each one, a -roadway through the lightly wooded ground near the house. Mrs. Burton -soon recognized familiar voices, and following them to their source, -she emerged from the wood near the rear of the boys’s own home. Going -closer, she traced the voices to the Lawrence barn, and she appeared -before the door of that structure to see her beloved jar in the -middle of the floor, and full of green tomatoes, over which the boys -were pouring the contents of bottles labeled “Mustang Liniment” and -“Superior Carriage Varnish.” The boys became conscious of the presence -of their aunt, and Toddie, with a smile in which confidence blended -with the assurance of success attained, said: - -“We’s makin’ pickles for you, ’cause you told us a nysh little story. -This is just the way mamma makes ’em, only we couldn’t make the stuff -in the bottles hot.” - -Mrs. Burton’s readiness of expression seemed to fail her, and as she -abruptly quitted the spot, with a hand of each nephew in her own, Budge -indicated the nature of her feelings by exclaiming: - -“Ow! Aunt Alice! don’t squeeze my hand so hard!” - -“Boys,” said Mrs. Burton, “why did you take my jar without permission?” - -“What did you say?” asked Budge. “Do you mean what did we take it for?” - -“Certainly.” - -“Why, we wanted to give you a s’prise.” - -“You certainly succeeded,” said Mrs. Burton, without a moment’s -hesitation. - -“You must give us s’prises, too,” said Toddie. “S’prises is lovaly; -papa gives us lots of ’em. Sometimes they’s candy, but they’s nicest -when they’s buttonanoes” (bananas). - -“How would you like to be shut up in a dark room all morning, to think -about the naughty thing you’ve done?” asked Mrs. Burton. - -“Huh!” replied Budge. “That wouldn’t be no s’prise at all. We can do -that any time that we do anything bad, and papa and mamma finds out. -Why, you forgot to bring your pickles home! I don’t think you act very -nice about presents and s’prises.” - -[Illustration: “WE’S MAKIN’s PICKLES FOR YOU”] - -Mrs. Burton did not explain nor did she spend much time in -conversation. When she reached her own door, however, she turned and -said: - -“Now, boys, you may play anywhere in the yard that you like, but you -must not go away or come into the house until I call you, at twelve -o’clock. I shall be very busy this morning, and must not be disturbed. -You will try to be good boys, won’t you?” - -“I will,” exclaimed Toddie, turning up an honest little face for a -kiss, and dragging his aunt down until he could put his arms about her -and give her an affectionate hug. Budge seemed lost in meditation, but -the sound of the closing of the door brought him back to earth; he -threw the door open, and exclaimed: - -“Aunt Alice!” - -“What?” - -“Come here--I want to ask you something.” - -“It’s your business to come to me, Budge, if you have a favor to ask,” -said Mrs. Burton, from the parlor. - -“Oh! Well, what I want to know is, how did the Lord make the first -hornet--the very first one that ever was?” - -“Just the way he made everything else,” replied Mrs. Burton. “Just by -wanting it done.” - -“Then did Noah save hornets in the ark?” continued Budge. “’Cause I -don’t see how he kept ’em from stingin’ his boys and girls, and then -gettin’ killed ’emselves.” - -“You ask me about it after lunch, Budge,” said Mrs. Burton, “and I -will tell you all I can. Now run and play.” - -The door closed again, and Mrs. Burton, somewhat confused, but still -resolute, seated herself at the piano for practice. She had been -playing perhaps ten minutes, when a long-drawn sigh from some one -not herself caused her to turn hastily and behold the boy Budge. A -stern reproof was ready, but somehow it never reached the young man. -Mrs. Burton afterward explained her silence by saying that Budge’s -countenance was so utterly doleful that she was sure his active -conscience had realized the impropriety of his affair with the jar, and -he had come to confess. - -“Aunt Alice,” said Budge, “do you know I don’t think much of your -garden? There ain’t a turtle to be found in it from one end to the -other, and no nice grassy place to slide down like there is at our -house.” - -“Can’t you understand, little boy,” replied Mrs. Burton, “that we -arranged the house and grounds to suit ourselves, and not little boys -who come to see us?” - -“Well, I don’t think that was a very nice thing to do,” said Budge. “My -papa says we ought to care as much about pleasing other folks as we do -for ourselves. I didn’t want to make you that jar of pickles, but Tod -said ’twould be nice for you, so I went and did it, instead of askin’ -a man that drove past to give me a ride. That’s the way you ought to do -about gardens.” - -“Suppose you run out now,” said Mrs. Burton, “I told you not to come in -until I called you.” - -“But you see I came in for my top--I laid it down in the dining-room -when I came in, and now it ain’t there at all. I’d like to know what -you’ve done with it, and why folks can’t let little boys’s things -alone.” - -“Budge,” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, turning suddenly on the piano-stool, “I -think there’ a very cross little boy around here somewhere. Suppose I -were to lose something?” - -“’Twas a three-cent top,” said Budge. “’Twasn’t only a something.” - -“Suppose, then, that I were to lose a top,” said Mrs. Burton, “what do -you suppose I would do if I wanted it very much?” - -“You’d call the servant to find it--that’ what I want you to do now,” -said Budge. - -“I shouldn’t do anything of the kind. Try to think, now, of what a -sensible person ought to do in such a case.” - -Budge dejectedly traced with his toe one of the figures in the carpet, -and seemed buried in thought; suddenly, however, his face brightened, -and he looked up shyly and said, with an infinite scale of inflection:-- - -“I know.” - -“I thought you would find out,” said Mrs. Burton, with an encouraging -kiss and embrace, which Budge terminated quite abruptly. - -“One victory to report to my superior officer, the dear old humbug,” -murmured Mrs. Burton, as she turned again to the keyboard. But before -the lady could again put herself _en rapport_ with the composer Budge -came flying into the room with a radiant face, and the missing top. - -“I told you I knew what you’d do,” said he, “an’ I just went and done -it. I prayed about it. I went up-stairs into a chamber and shut the -door, and knelt down an’ said, ‘Dear Lord, bless everybody, an’ don’t -let me be bad, an’ help me to find that top again, an’ don’t let me -have to pray for it as long as I had to pray for that baby.’s And then -when I came down-stairs there was that top on the register, just where -I left it. Say, Aunt Alice, I think brekbux was an awful long while -ago. Don’t you have cakes and oranges to give to little boys?” - -“Children should never eat between meals,” Mrs. Burton replied. “It -spoils their digestion and makes them cross.” - -“Then I guess my digestion’s spoilt already,” said Budge, “for I’m -awful cross sometimes, an’ you can’t spoil a bad egg;--that’ what -Mike says. So I guess I’d better have some cake; I like the kind with -raisins an’ citron best.” - -“Only this once,” murmured Mrs. Burton to herself, as she led the way -to the dining-room closet, partly for the purpose of hiding her own -face. “And I won’t tell Harry about it,” she continued, with greater -energy. “Here’s a little piece for Toddie, too,” said Mrs. Burton, “and -I want you both to remember that I don’t want you to come indoors until -you’re called.” - -Budge disappeared, and his aunt had an hour so peaceful that she began -to react against it and started to call her nephews into the house. -Budge came in hot haste in answer to her call, and volunteered the -information that the Burton chicken-coop was much nicer than the one at -his own house, for the latter was without means of ingress for small -boys. Toddy, however, came with evident reluctance, and stopped _en -route_ to sit on the grass and gyrate thereon in a very constrained -manner. - -“What’s the matter, Toddie?” asked Mrs. Burton, who speedily discerned -that the young man was ill at ease. - -[Illustration: “I GOT INTO A HEN’S NESHT WHERE THERE WAS SOME EGGS”] - -“Why,” said Toddie, “I got into a hen’ nesht where there was some eggs, -an’ made believe I was a henny-penny that was goin’ to hatch little -tsickens, an’ some of ’em was goin’ to be brown, an’ some white an’ -some black, an’ dey was all goin’ to be such dear little fuzzy balls, -an’ dey was goin’ to sleep in the bed wif me every night, an’ I was -goin’ to give one of de white ones to dat dear little baby sister, -an’ one of ’em to you, ’cause you was sweet, too, an’ dey was all -goin’ to have tsickens of deir own some day, an’ I sitted down in de -nesht ever so soffaly ’cause I hasn’t got fevvers, you know, an’ when -I got up dere wasn’t nuffin dere but a nasty muss. An’ I don’t feel -comfitable.” - -Mrs. Burton grasped the situation at once, and shouted: “Toddie, sit -down on the grass. Budge, run home and ask Maggie for a clean suit for -Toddie. Jane, fill the bathtub.” - -“Don’t want to sit on the gwass,” whined Toddie. “I feels bad, an’ I -wantsh to be loved.” - -“Aunty loves you very much, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, tenderly. -“Doesn’t that make you happy?” - -“No,” exclaimed the youth with great emphasis. “Dat kind of lovin’ -don’t do no good to little boys with eggy dresses. Wantsh you to come -out an’ sit down by me an’ love me.” - -Toddie’s eyes said more than his lips, so Mrs. Burton hurried out to -him, prudently throwing a light shawl about her waist. Toddie greeted -her with an effusiveness which was touching in more senses than one, -as Mrs. Burton’s morning robe testified by the time Budge returned. -Carefully enveloped in a hearth-rug, Toddie was then conveyed to the -bathroom, and when he emerged he was so satisfied with the treatment he -had received that he remarked: - -“Aunt Alice, will you give me a forough baff every day, if I try to -hatch out little tsickens for you?” - -The events of the morning resulted in luncheon being an hour late, -so Mrs. Burton was compelled to make considerable haste in preparing -herself for a round of calls. She was too self-possessed, however, to -forget the possible risks to which her home would be subjected during -her absence, so she called her nephews to her and proceeded to instruct -them in the duties and privileges of the afternoon. - -“Darlings,” she said, putting an arm around each boy, “Aunt Alice must -be away this afternoon for an hour or two. I wonder who will take care -of the house for her?” - -“I want to go wif you,” said Toddie, with a kiss. - -“I can’t take you, dear,” said the lady, after returning Toddie’s -salute. “The walk will be too long; but auntie will come back to her -dear little Toddie as soon as she can.” - -“Oh, you’re goin’ to walk to where you’ goin’, are you?” said Toddie, -wriggling from his aunt’s arm. “Den I wouldn’t go wif you for noffin’ -in the wyld.” - -The pressure of Mrs. Burton’s arm relaxed, but she did not forget her -duty. - -“Listen, boys,” said she. “Don’t you like to see houses neatly and -properly arranged, like your mamma’s and mine?” - -“I do!” said Budge. “I always think heaven must be that way, with -parlors an’ pictures an’ books an’ a piano. Only they don’t ever have -to sweep in heaven, do they, ’cause there ain’t no dirt there. But I -wonder what the Lord does to make the little angels happy when they -want to make dirt-pies, and can’t?” - -“Aunt Alice will have to explain that to you when she comes back, -Budge. But little angels never want to make mud-pies.” - -“Why, papa says people’s spirits don’t change when they die,” said -Budge. “So how can little boy angels help it?” - -Mrs. Burton silently vowed that at a more convenient season she would -deliver a course of systematic theology which should correct her -brother-in-law’s loose teachings. At present, however, the sun was -hurrying toward Asia, and she had made but little progress in securing -insurance against accident to household goods. - -“You both like nicely arranged rooms,” pursued Mrs. Burton, but Toddie -demurred. - -“I don’t like ’em,” said he. “They’re the kind of places where folks -always says ‘Don’t!’s to little boysh that wantsh to have nysh times.” - -“But, Toddie,” reasoned Mrs. Burton, “the way to have nice times is to -learn to enjoy what is nicest. People have been studying how to make -homes pretty ever since the world began.” - -“Adam an’ Eve didn’t,” said Toddie. “Lord done it for ’em; an’ he let -’em do just what dey wanted to. I bet little Cain an’ Abel had more fun -than any uvver little boys dat ever was.” - -“Oh, no, they didn’t,” said Mrs. Burton, “because they never were in -that lovely garden. Their parents had to think and plan a long time to -make their home beautiful. Just think, now, how many people have had -to plan and contrive before the world got to be as pleasant a place as -it is now! When you look at your mamma’ parlor and mine, you see what -thousands and millions of people have had to work to bring about.” - -“Gwacious!” exclaimed Toddie, his eyes opening wider and wider. “Dat’s -wonnerful!” - -“Yes, and every nice person alive is doing the same now,” continued -Mrs. Burton, greatly encouraged by the impression she had made, “and -little boys should try to do the same. Every one should, instead of -disturbing what is beautiful, try to enjoy it, and want to make it -better instead of worse. Even little boys should feel that way.” - -“I’e goin’ to ’member that,” said Toddie, with a far-away look. “I -fink it awful nysh for little boys to fink the same finks dat big folks -do.” - -“Dear little boy,” said Mrs. Burton, arising. “Then you won’t let -anybody disturb anything in Aunt Alice’s house, will you? You’ll take -care of everything for her just as if you were a big man, won’t you?” - -“Yesh, indeedy,” said Toddie. - -“An’ me, too,” said Budge. - -“You’re two manly little fellows, and I shall have to bring you -something real nice,” said Mrs. Burton, kissing her nephews -good-by. “There!” she whispered to herself, as she passed out of the -garden-gate, “I wonder what my lord and master will say of that victory -over imperfect natures, of the sense of the fitness of things? He would -have left the boys under the care of the servants; I am proud of having -been able to leave them to themselves.” - -On her return, two hours later, Mrs. Burton was met at her front door -by two very dirty little boys, with faces full of importance and -expectancy. - -“We done just what you told us, Aunt Alice,” said Toddie. “We didn’t -touch a thing, an’ we thought of everything we could do to make the -world prettier. D’just come see.” - -With a quickened step Mrs. Burton followed her nephews into the back -parlor. Furniture, pictures, books, and bric-a-brac were exactly as she -left them, but some improvements had been designed and partly executed. -A bit of wall several feet long, and bare from floor to ceiling, except -for a single picture, had long troubled Mrs. Burton’s artistic eye, and -she now found that tasteful minds, like great ones, think alike. - -“I think no room is perfect without flowers,” said Budge; “so does papa -an’ mamma, so we thought we’d s’prise you with some.” - -On the floor, in a heap which was not without tasteful arrangement, -was almost a cartload of stones disposed as a rockery, and on the top -thereof, and working through the crevices, was a large quantity of -street dust. From several of the crevices protruded ferns, somewhat -wilted, and bearing evidence of having been several times disarranged -and dropped upon the dry soil which partly covered their roots. Around -the base was twined several yards of Virginia creeper while from the -top sprang a well-branched specimen of the “Datura stramonium” (the -common “stink-weed”). The three conservators of the beautiful gazed in -silence for a moment, and then Toddie looked up with angelic expression -and said: - -“Isn’t it lovaly?” - -[Illustration: “ISN’T IT LOVALY?”] - -“I hope what you brought us is real nice,” remarked Budge, “for ’twas -awful hard work to make that rockery. I guess I never was so tired in -all my life. Mamma’s is on a big box, but we couldn’t find any boxes -anywhere, an’ we couldn’t find the servants to ask ’em. That ain’t -the kind of datura that has flowers just like pretty vases, but -papa says it’s more healthy than the tame kind. The ferns look kind -o’s thirsty, but I couldn’t see how to water ’em without wettin’ the -carpet, so I thought I’d wait till you came home, and ask you about it.” - -There was a sudden rustle of silken robes and two little boys found -themselves alone. When, half an hour later, Mr. Burton returned from -the city, he found his wife more reticent than he had ever known her -to be, while two workmen with market baskets were sifting dust upon -his hall-carpets and making a stone-heap in the gutter in front of the -house. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - -On the morning of the second day of Mrs. Burton’s experiment, the -aunt of Budge and Toddie awoke with more than her usual sense of the -responsibility and burden of life. Her husband’s description of a -charming lot of bric-à-brac and pottery soon to be sold at auction did -not stimulate as much inquiry as such announcements usually did, and -Mrs. Burton’s cook did not have her usual early morning visit from her -watchful mistress. Mrs. Burton was wondering which of her many duties -to her nephews should be first attended to; but, as she wondered long -without reaching any conclusion an ever-sympathizing Providence came -to her assistance, for the children awoke and created such a hubbub -directly over her head that she speedily determined that reproof was -the first thing in order. Dressing hastily, she went up to the chamber -of the innocents, and learned that the noise was occasioned by a heavy -antique center-table, which was flying back and forth across the room, -the motive power consisting of two pairs of sturdy little arms. - -“Hullo, Aunt Alice!” said Budge. “I awful glad you came in. The -table’s a choo-choo, you know, an’ my corner’s New York an’ Tod’s is -Hillcrest, an’ he’s ticket-agent at one place an’ I at the other. But -the choo-choo hasn’t got any engineer, an’ we have to push it, an’ it -isn’t fair for ticket-agents to do so much work besides their own. Now -you can be engineer. Jump on!” - -The extempore locomotive was accommodatingly pushed up to Mrs. Burton -with such force as to disturb her equilibrium, but she managed to say: - -“Do you do this way with your mamma’ guest-chamber furniture?” - -“No,” said Toddie, “’cause why, ’pare-chamber’h always lockted. B’ides -dat, papa once tookted all de wheels off our tables--said tables wash -too restless.” - -“Little boys,” said Mrs. Burton, returning the table to its place, -“should never use things which belong to other people without asking -permission. Nor should they ever use anything, no matter who it belongs -to, in any way but that in which it was made to be used. Did either of -you ever see a table on a railroad?” - -“’Coursh we did,” said Toddie, promptly; “dere’s a tyne-table at -Hillcrest, an’annuvver at Dzersey City. How could choo-choos turn -around if dere wasn’t?” - -“It’s time to dress for breakfast now,” said Mrs. Burton in some -confusion, as she departed. - -The children appeared promptly at the table on the ringing of the bell -and brought ravenous appetites with them. Mrs. Burton composed a solemn -face, rapped on the table with the handle of the carving-knife, and all -heads were bowed while the host and hostess silently returned thanks. -When the adults raised their heads they saw that two juvenile faces -were still closely hidden in two pairs of small hands. Mrs. Burton -reverently nodded at each one to attract her husband’ attention, and -mentally determined that souls so absorbed in thanksgiving were good -ground for better spiritual seed than their parents had ever scattered. -Slowly, however, twice ten little fingers separated, and very large -eyes peeped inquiringly between them; then Budge suddenly dropped his -hands, straightened himself in his chair, and said: - -“Why, Uncle Harry! Have you been forgettin’ again how to ask a -blessin’?” - -And Toddie, looking somewhat complainingly at his uncle, and very -hungrily at the steak, remarked: - -“Said my blessin’ ’bout fifty timesh.” - -“Once would have been sufficient, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“Why didn’t you say yoursh once, den?” asked Toddie. - -“I did. We don’t need to talk aloud to have the Lord hear us,” -explained Mrs. Burton. - -“’Posin’ you don’t,” said Toddie, “I don’t fink it’s a very nysh way -to do, to whisper fings to de Lord. When I whisper anyfing mamma says, -‘Toddie, what’s you whisperin’ for? You ’shamed of somefing?’s Guesh -you an’ Uncle Harry’s bofe ’shamed at de same time.” - -Mr. Burton desired to give his wife a pertinent hint yet dared not -while two such vigilant pairs of ears were present. A happy thought -struck him and he said in very bad German: - -“Is it not time for the reformation to begin?” - -And Mrs. Burton answered:-- - -“It soon will be.” - -“That’s awful funny talk,” said Budge. “I wish I could talk that way. -That’s just the way ragged, dirty men talk to my papa sometimes, and -then he gives ’em lots of pennies. When was you an’ Aunt Alice ragged -an’ dirty, so as to learn to talk that way?” - -“Budge, Budge!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. “Thousands of very rich and -handsome people talk that way--all German people do.” - -“Do they talk to the Lord so?” asked Budge. - -“Certainly,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“Gracious!” exclaimed the young man. “He must be awful smart to -understand them.” - -Mr. Burton repeated his question in German, but Mrs. Burton kept silent -and looked extremely serious, with a ghost of a frown. - -“What are you boys and your auntie going to do with yourselves to-day?” -asked Mr. Burton, anxious to clear away the cloud of reticence which, -since the night before, had been marring his matrimonial sky. - -“I guess,” said Budge, looking out through the window, “it’s going to -rain; so the best thing will be for Aunt Alice to tell us stories all -day long. We never do get enough stories.” - -“Just the thing!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, her face coming from behind -the clouds, and with more than its usual radiance. - -“Hazh you got plenty of stories in your ’tomach?” asked Toddie, poising -his fork in air, regardless of the gravy which trickled down upon his -hand from the fragment of meat at the end. - -[Illustration: “RAGGED, DIRTY MEN TALK TO MY PAPA SOMETIMES”] - -“Dozens of them,” said Mrs. Burton. “I listened to stories in -Sunday-school for about ten years, and I’ve never had anybody to tell -them to.” - -“I don’t think much of Sunday-school stories,” said Budge, with the -air of a man indulging in an unsatisfactory retrospect. “There’s -always somethin’ at the end of ’em that spoils all the good taste of -’em--somethin’ about bein’ good little boys.” - -“Aunt Alice’s stories haven’t any such endings,” said Mr. Burton, with -a sneaking desire to commit his wife to a policy of simple amusement. -“She knows that little boys want to be good, and she wants to see them -happy, too.” - -“Aunt Alice will tell you only what you will enjoy, Budge--she promises -you that,” said Mrs. Burton. “We will send Uncle Harry away right after -breakfast and then you shall have all the stories you want.” - -“And cake, too?” asked Toddie. “Mamma always gives us cakesh when she’s -tellin’ us stories, so we’ll sit still an’ not wriggle about.” - -“No cakes,” said Mrs. Burton, kindly but firmly. “Eating between meals -spoils the digestion of little boys, and makes them very cross.” - -“I guess that’s what was the matter with Terry yesterday, then,” -said Budge. “He was eatin’ a bone between meals, out in the garden -yesterday afternoon, and when I took hold of his back legs and tried to -play that he was a wheelbarrow, he bit me.” - -Mr. Burton gave the dog Terry a sympathetic pat and a bit of meat, -making him stand on his hind legs and beg for the latter, to the great -diversion of the children. Then, with an affectionate kiss and a look -of tender solicitude he wished his wife a happy day and hurried off to -the city. Mrs. Burton took the children into the library and picked up -a Bible. - -“What sort of story would you like first?” she asked, as she slowly -turned the leaves. - -“One ’bout Abraham, ’cause he ’most killed somebody,” said Toddie, -eagerly. - -“Oh, no,” said Budge; “one about Jesus, because He was always good to -everybody.” - -“Dear child,” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. “Goodness always makes people -nice, doesn’t it?” - -“Yes,” said Budge; “’cept when they talk about it to little boys. Say, -Aunt Alice, what makes good folks always die?” - -“Because the Lord needs them, I suppose, Budge.” - -“Then don’t he need me?” asked Budge, with a pathetic look of inquiry. - -“Certainly, dear,” said Mrs. Burton; “but he wants you to make other -people happy first. A great many good people are left in the world for -the same reason.” - -“Then why couldn’t Jesus be left?” said Budge. “He could make people -happier than every one else put together.” - -“You’ll understand why, when you grow older,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“I wish I’d hurry up about it and grow, then,” said Budge. “Why can’t -little boys grow just like little flowers do?--just be put in the -ground an’ watered and hoed? Our ’paragus grows half-a-foot in a day -almost.” - -“You’s a dyty boy to want to be put in de dyte, Budgie,” said Toddie, -“an’ I isn’t goin’ to play wif you any more. Mamma says I mustn’t -play wif dyty little boys.” - -“Dirty boy yourself!” retorted Budge. “You like to play in the dirt, -only you cry whenever anybody comes with water to put on you. Say, Aunt -Alice, how long does people have to stay in the ground when they die -before they go to heaven?” - -“Three days, I suppose, Budge,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“An’ does everybody that the Lord loves go up to heaven?” - -“Yes, dear.” - -“Well, papa says some folks believe that dead people never go to -heaven.” - -“Never mind what they believe, Budge. You should believe what you are -taught,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“But I’d like to know for sure.” - -“So you will, some day.” - -“I wish ’twould be pretty quick about it, then,” said Budge. “Now tell -us a story.” - -Mrs. Burton drew the children nearer her as she reopened the Bible, -when she discovered, to her surprise, that Toddie was crying. - -“I hazhn’t talked a bit for ever so long!” he exclaimed, in a high, -pathetic tremolo. - -“What do you want to say, Toddie?” asked Mrs. Burton. - -“I know all ’bout burying folks--that’ what,” said Toddie. “Mamma -tolded me all ’bout it one time, she did. An’ yeshterday me and Budgie -had a funelal all by ourselves. We found a dear little dead byde. An’ -we w’apped it up in a piesh of paper, ’cause a baking-powder box wazn’t -bid enough for a coffin, an’ we dugged a little grave, an’ we knelted -down an’ said a little prayer, an’ ashked de Lord to take it up to -hebben, an’ den we put dyte in the grave an’ planted little flowers -all over it. Dat’s what.” - -“Yes, an’ we put a little stone at the head of the grave, too, just -like big dead folks,” said Budge. “We couldn’t find one with any -writin’ on it, but I went home and got a picture-book an’ cut out a -little picture of a bird, an’ stuck it on the stone with some tar that -I picked out of the groceryman’ wagon-wheel, so that when the angel -that takes spirits to heaven comes along, it can see there’s a dead -little birdie there waitin’ for him.” - -“Yesh,” added Toddie, “an’ little bydie ishn’t like us. ’Twon’t have -to wunner how it’ll feel to hazh wings when it gets to be a angel, -’cause ’twas all used to wings ’fore it died.” - -“Birds don’t go----” began Mrs. Burton, intending to correct the -children’s views as to the future state of the animal kingdom, when -there flashed through her mind some of the wonderings of her own -girlish days, and the inability of her riper experience to answer them, -so she again postponed, and with a renewed sense of its vastness, the -duty of reforming the opinions of her nephews on things celestial. At -about the same time her cook sought an interview, and complained of -the absence of two of the silver tablespoons. Mrs. Burton went into -the mingled despondency, suspicion and anger which is the frequent -condition of all American women who are unfortunate enough to have -servants. - -[Illustration: “YES, AN’ WE PUT A LITTLE STONE AT THE HEAD OF THE -GRAVE”] - -“Where is the chambermaid?” she asked. - -“An’ ye’s needn’t be a-suspectin’ av her,” said the cook. “It’s them -av yer own family that I’m thinkin’ hez tuk ’em.” And the cook glared -suggestively upon the boys. Mrs. Burton accepted the hint. - -“Boys, have either of you taken any of auntie’s spoons for anything?” - -“No,” answered Toddie, promptly; and Budge looked very saintly and shy, -as if he knew something that, through delicacy of feeling and not fear, -he shrank from telling. - -“What is it, Budge?” asked Mrs. Burton. - -“Why, you see,” said Budge, in the sweetest of tones, “we wanted -somethin’ yesterday to dig the grave of the birdie with, an’ we -couldn’t think of anything else so nice as spoons. There was plenty of -ugly old iron ones lyin’ around, but birdies are so sweet an’ nice -that I wouldn’t have none of ’em. An’ the dinner-dishes was all lyin’ -there with the big silver spoons on top of ’em, so I just got two of -’em--they wasn’t washed yet, but we washed ’em real clean so’s to be -real nice about everythin’, so that if the little birdie’ spirit was -lookin’ at us it wouldn’t be disgusted.” - -“And where are the spoons now?” demanded Mrs. Burton, oblivious to all -the witchery of the child’s spirit and appearance. - -“I dunno,” said Budge, becoming an ordinary boy in an instant. - -“I doeszh,” said Toddie--“I put ’em somewherezh, so when we wanted to -play housh nexsht time we wouldn’t have to make b’lieve little sticks -was spoons.” - -“Show me immediately where they are,” commanded Mrs. Burton, rising -from her chair. - -“Den will you lend ’em to us nexsht time we playzh housh?” asked Toddie. - -“No,” said Mrs. Burton, with cruel emphasis. - -Toddie pouted, rubbed his knuckles into his eyes, and led the way -to the rear of the garden where, in a hollow at the base of an old -apple-tree, were the missing spoons. Wondering whether other valuable -property might not be there, Mrs. Burton cautiously and with a stick -examined the remaining contents of the hole, and soon discovered one of -her damask napkins. - -“Datsh goin’ to be our table-cloff,” explained Toddie, “an’ -dat”--this, as an unopened pot of French mustard was unearthed “is -pizzyves” (preserves). - -Mrs. Burton placed her property in the pocket of her apron, led her two -nephews into the house, seated them with violence upon a sofa, closed -the doors noisily, drew a chair close to the prisoners, and said: - -“Now, boys, you are to be punished for taking auntie’s things out of -the house without permission.” - -“Don’t want to be shpynkted!” screamed Toddie, in a tone which -seemed an attempt at a musical duet by a saw-filer and an ungreased -wagon-wheel. - -“You’re not to be whipped,” continued Mrs. Burton, “but you must learn -not to touch things without permission. I think that to go without your -dinners would help you to remember that what you have done is naughty.” - -“Izhe ’most ’tarved to deff,” exclaimed Toddie, bursting out crying. -(N.B. Breakfast has been finished but a scant hour.) - -“Then I will put you into an empty room, and keep you there until you -are sure you can remember.” - -Toddie shrieked as if enduring the thousand tortures of the Chinese -executioner, and Budge looked as unhappy as if he were a young man in -love and in the throes of reluctant poesy, but Mrs. Burton led them -both to the attic, and into an empty room, placed chairs in two corners -and a boy in each chair, and said: - -“Don’t either of you move out of a chair. Just sit still and think how -naughty you’ve been. In an hour or two I’ll come back, and see if you -think you can be good boys here-after.” - -[Illustration: “DON’T EITHER OF YOU MOVE OUT OF A CHAIR”.] - -As Mrs. Burton left the room, she was followed by a shriek that seemed -to pierce the walls and be heard over half the earth. Turning hastily, -she saw that Toddie, from whom it had proceeded, had neither fallen out -of his chair, nor been seized by an epileptic fit, nor stung by some -venomous insect; so she closed the door, locked it, softly placed a -chair against it, sat down softly and listened. There was silence after -the several minutes required by Toddie to weary of his crying, and -then Mrs. Burton heard the following conversation: - -“Tod?” - -“What?” - -“We ought to do something!” - -“Chop Aunt Alish into little shnipsh of bitsh--datsh what I fink would -be nysh.” - -“That would be dreadful naughty,” said Budge, “after we’ve bothered her -so! We ought to do something good, just like big folks when they’ve -been bad.” - -“What doezh big folks do?” - -“Well, they read the Bible an’ go to church. But you an’ me can’t go -to church, ’cause ’tain’t Sunday, an’ we ain’t got no Bible, an’ we -wouldn’t know how to read it if we had.” - -“Den don’t letsh do noffin’ but be awful mad,” said the unrepentant -Toddie. “I’ll tell you what we can do. Let’s do like dat Maggydalen dat -mamma’s got a picture of, and dat was bad an’ got sorry; letsh look -awful doleful and cwosh. See me.” - -Toddie apparently gave an illustration of what he thought the proper -penitential countenance and attitude, for Budge exclaimed: - -“I don’t think that would look nice at all. It makes you look like a -dead puppy-dog with his head turned to one side. I’ll tell you what; -we can’t read Bibles like big folks, but we can tell stories out of the -Bible, an’ that’ bein’ just as good as if we read ’em.” - -“Oh, yes,” said Toddie, repenting at once. “Letsh! I wantsh to be good -just awful.” - -“Well, what shall we tell about?” asked Budge. - -“’Bout when Jesus was a little boy,” said Toddie, “for he was awful -good.” - -“No,” said Budge; “we’ve been naughty, an’ we must tell about somebody -that was awful naughty. I think old Pharaoh’s about the thing.” - -“Aw right,” said Toddie. “Tell us ’bout him.” - -“Well, once there was a bad old king down in Egypt, that had all the -Izzyrelites there an’ made ’em work, an’ when they didn’t work he -had ’em banged. But that dear little bit of a Moses, that lived in a -basket in the river, grew up to be a man, an’ he just killed one of -Pharaoh’s bad bangers, an’ then he skooted an’ hid. An’ the Lord saw -that he was the kind of man that was good for somethin’, so he told him -he wanted him to make Pharaoh let the poor Izzyrelites go where they -wanted to. So Moses went and told Pharaoh. An’ Pharaoh said, ’No, you -don’t!’s Then Moses went an’ told the Lord, an’ the Lord got angry, -and turned all the water in the river into blood.” - -“My!” said Toddie. “Then if anybody wanted to look all bluggy, all he -had to do was to go in bavin’, wasn’t it?” - -“But he wouldn’t let ’em go then,” continued Budge. “So the Lord made -frogs hop out of all the rivers an’ mud-puddles everywhere, and they -went into all the houses an’ folks couldn’t keep ’em out.” - -“I just wis mamma an’ me’d been in Egypt, den,” said Toddie. “Den she -couldn’t make me leave my hop-toads out of doors, if de Lord wanted ’em -to stay in de house. I loves hop-toads. I fwallowed one de uvver day, -an’ it went way down my ’tomach.” - -“Didn’t it kick inside of you?” asked Budge, with natural interest. - -“No-o!” said Toddie. “I bited him in two fyst. But he growed togvver -ag’in, an’dzust hopped right out froo de top of my head.” - -“Let’s see the hole he came out of?” said Budge, starting across the -floor. - -“It all growded up again right away,” said Toddie, in haste, “an’ -you’s a bad boy to get out of your chair when Aunt Alice told you not -to, and you’s got to tell annuvver story ’bout naughty folks to pay for -it. Gwon!” - -Budge returned to his chair, and continued: - -“An’ old Pharaoh went down to Moses’s house an’ said, ‘Ask the Lord -to make the frogs hop away, an’ you can have your old Izzyrelites--I -don’t want ’em.’ So the Lord done it, an’ all the glad old Pharaoh -was, was only ’cause he got rid of ’em; an’ he kept the Izzyrelites -some more. Then the Lord thought he’d fix ’em sure, so he turned all -the dirt into nasty bugs.” - -“What did little boys do den, dat wanted dyte to make mud-pies of?” -asked Toddie. - -“Well, the bugs was only made out of dry dirt,” exclaimed Budge; “just -dust like we kick up in the street, you know.” - -“Oh,” said Toddie. “I wonder if any of dem bugs was ’tato-bugs?” - -“I dunno, but some of ’em was the kind that mammas catch with fine -combs after their little boys have been playin’ with dirty children. -An’ Pharaoh’s smart men, that thought they could do everythin’, found -they couldn’t make them bugs.” - -“Why-y-y,” drawled Toddie, “did Pharaoh want some more of ’em?” - -“No, I s’pose not, but he stayed bad, so he had to catch it again. -The Lord sent whole swarms of flies to Egypt, an’ there wasn’t any -mosquito-nets in that country either. An’ then Pharaoh got good again, -an’ the Lord took the flies away, an Pharaoh got bad again, so the -Lord made all the horses an’ cows awful sick, an’ they all died.” - -“Then couldn’t Pharaoh go out ridin’ at all?” - -“No. He had to walk, even if he wanted to get to the depot in an awful -hurry. An’ it made him so mad that he said the Izzyrelites shouldn’t -go anyhow. So Moses took a handful of ashes an’ threw it up in the air -before Pharaoh, an’ everybody in all Egypt got sore with boils right -away.” - -“Ow!” said Toddie, “I had some nashty boils oncesh, but I didn’t know -ashes made ’em. I’ll ’member that.” - -“An’ Pharaoh said ‘no!’again, so he got some more bothers. The Lord -made great big lumps of ice tumble down out of heaven, an’ he made -the thunder go bang, an’ the lightnin’ ran around the ground like -our fizzers did last Fourth of July, an’ it spoiled all the growing -things.” - -“Strawberries?” queried Toddie. - -“Yes.” - -“An’ dear little panzhies?” - -“Yes.” - -“Poo’s old Pharo’! Gwon.” - -[Illustration: “--BUT I DIDN’T KNOW ASHES MADE ’EM”] - -“Then Pharaoh’s friends began to tell him he was bein’ a goose, -thinkin’ he could be stronger than the Lord, an’ Pharaoh kind -o’ thought so himself. So he told Moses that the men-folks of the -Izzyrelites might go away if they wanted to, but nobody else.” - -“Mean old fing! Who did he fink was goin’ to cook fings--an’ go to -school?” - -“I dunno, but I guess he had a chance to think about it, for the Lord -made whole crowds of locusts come. Them’s grasshoppers, you know, an’ -they ate up everythin’ in all the gardens, an’ the folks got half -crazy about it.” - -“Den I guesh dey didn’t tell their little boysh that they mushn’t kill -gwasshoppers, like mamma doesh. Wish I’d been dere! What did he do den?” - -“Oh, he was a selfish old pig, just like he was before, so the Lord -said, ‘Moses, just hold your hand up to the sky a minute.’ An’ Moses -did it, and then it got darker in Egypt than it is in our coal-bin. -Folks couldn’t see anythin’ anywhere, an’ wherever they was when it -growed dark, they had to stay for three whole days an’ nights.” - -“Gwacious!” Toddie exclaimed. “Wouldn’t it be drefful if Moses was to -go an’ hold his hand up in the sky while we’s a-sittin’ in dezhe -chairzh? Mebbe he will! Let’s holler for Aunt Alish!” - -“Oh, he can’t do it now, ’cause he’s dead. Besides that, we ain’t -keepin’ any Izzyrelites from doin’ what they want to. Old Pharaoh -got awful frightened then, an’ told Moses he might take all the people -away, but they mustn’t take their things with ’em--the selfish old -fellow! But Moses knew how hard the poor Izzyrelites had to work for -the few things they had, so he said they wouldn’t go unless they could -carry everythin’ they owned. An’ that made Pharaoh mad, an’ he said, -‘Get out! If I catch you here again I’ll kill you!’s An’ Moses said, -‘Don’t trouble yourself; you won’t see me again unless you want me.’” - -“Shouldn’t fink he would,” said Toddie. “Nobody’s goin’ to vizhit -kings dzust to have deir heads cutted off. Even our shickens knows -enough not to come to Mike when he wants to cut deir heads off. Gwon!” - -“Well, then the Lord told Moses somethin’ that must have made him feel -awful. He told him that next night every biggest boy in every family -was goin’ to be killed by an angel. Ain’t I glad I didn’t live there -then! I’d like to see an angel, but not if that’s what he wants to do -with me. What would you do if an angel was to kill me, Tod?” - -“I’d have all your marbles,” Toddie answered, promptly, “and the -goat-cawwiage would be all mine. Gwon!” - -“Well, the Lord told Moses about it, an’ Moses told the folks; an’ -he told ’em all to kill a little lamb, an’ dip their fingers in the -blood, an’ make a cross on their door-posts, so when the angel came -along an’ saw it he wouldn’t kill the biggest boy in their houses. -An’ that night down came the angel, an’ everybody woke up an’ cried -awful--worse than you did when you fell down-stairs the other day, -because all the biggest died. You couldn’t go anywhere without hearin’ -papas an’ mammas cryin’.” - -“Did dey all have funerals den?” - -“Of course.” - -“Gwacious! Den the little ’Gyptian boys dat didn’t get killed could -look at deaders all day long! What did Pharo’s do ’bout it den?” - -“He sent right after Moses an’ his brother, in a hurry, an’ he -told ’em that he’d been a bad king--just as if they didn’t know that -already! An’ he told ’em to take all the Izzyrelites, an’ all their -things, an’ go right straight away--he was in such a hurry that he -didn’t even invite Moses to the funeral, though he had a dead biggest -boy himself. An’ all the Egyptian people came too, and begged the -Izzyrelites to hurry an’ go--they didn’t see what they was waitin’ -for. They was so glad to get rid of ’em that they lent ’em anything -they wanted.” - -“Pies an’ cakes?” - -“No!” said Budge, contemptuously. “You don’t s’pose folks that’s -goin’ off travelin’ for forty years is goin’ to think ’bout eatin’ -first thing, do you? They borrowed clothes, an’ money, an’ everything -else they could get, an’ left the Egyptians awful poor. An’ off they -started.” - -“Did they have a ’cursion train?” - -“No! All the excursion trains in the world couldn’t have held such lots -of people. They rode on camels and donkeys, but lots of ’em walked.” - -“I don’t think that was a bit of fun.” - -“You would have,” said Budge, “if you’d always had to work like -everything. Don’t you ’member how once when mamma made you work, an’ -carry away all the blocks you brought up on the piazza from the new -buildin’? You walked ’way off to the village to get rid of it.” - -“Ye--es,” drawled Toddie, “but I knew I’d be rided back when dey came -to look for me. Den what did they do?” - -“They started to travel to a nice country that the Lord had told Moses -about, an’ they got along till they came to a pretty big ocean where -there wasn’t any ferry-boats. I don’t see what Moses took ’em to -such a place as that for, unless the Lord wanted to show ’em that no -ferry-boats could get the best of Him, when all of a sudden they saw an -awful lot of dust bein’ kicked up behind ’em, an’ somebody said that -Pharaoh was a-comin’.” - -“Should fink he’d seen ’nough of ’em,” said Toddie. “Did he come down -to the boat to wave his hanafitch good-by at ’em?” - -“No, he knew there wasn’t any boats there, an’ so he came to take ’em -back again an’ make ’em work some more.” - -“Should fink he’d be afraid de Lord would kill him next.” - -“P’r’aps he did; but then, you see, he was awful lazy, an’ didn’t like -to work for himself; papa says there’s lots of folks that would rather -be killed than do any work.” - -“Den what d’s de lazy folks do? They can’t catch any Izzyrelites, can -they?” - -“No,” said Budge, “but they can do what the Izzyrelites done -themselves--they borrow other people’s money. Well, when the folks saw -that ’twas Pharaoh a-comin’, they began to grunt, an pitch into poor -Moses, an’ told him he ought to be ashamed of hisself to bring ’em -away off there to be killed, when they might have died in Egypt without -havin’ to walk so far. But Moses said: ‘Shut your mouth, will you? -The Lord’s doin’ this job.’ Then the Lord said: ‘Moses, lift up your -cane an’ point across the water with it!’s An’ the minute Moses done -that, the water of that ocean went way up on one side, and way up on -the other side--just like it does in the bathtub sometimes when we’re -splashin’, you know--and there was a path right through the bottom of -that ocean. An’ the people just skooted right along it!” - -[Illustration: “SPLASHIN’ IN THE BATHTUB”] - -“Did they put on their rubbers fyst? ’Cause if they didn’t there must -have been lots of little boys spanked when they got across for gettin’ -their shoes muddy.” - -“I don’t know about that,” said Budge, after a slight pause for -reflection. “I must ’member to ask papa about that. But when they all -got over they began to grumble some more, for along came Pharaoh’s army -right after ’em.” - -“I fink they was a lot of good-for-nothing cry-babies,” Toddie -exclaimed. - -“Huh!” grunted Budge. “I guess you’d have yowled if you’d have been -trudgin’ along through the mud ever so long, an’ then seen some -soldiers an’ chariots an’ spears an’ bows an’ arrows comin’ to kill -you. But the Lord knew just how to manage. He always did. Papa says He -always comes in when you think He can’t. He said to Moses, ‘Lift up -your cane an’ point it across the ocean again.’s An’ Moses done it, -an’ down came that big fence of water on both sides kerswosh! An’ it -drownded old Pharaoh an’ the whole good-for-nothin’ lot.” - -“Then did the Izzyrelites go to cryin’ some more?” - -“Not much! They all got together an’ had a big sing.” - -“I know what they sung,” said Toddie. “They all sung -‘TurnbackPharo’army-hallelujah.’” - -“No, they didn’t,” said Budge. “They sung that splendid thing mamma -sings sometimes, ‘Sound the--loud tim--brel o’er--Egypt’--Egypt’ -dark----’” - -Budge had with great difficulty repeated the line of the glorious old -anthem, then he broke down and burst out crying. - -“What’s you cryin’ about?” asked Toddie. “Is you playin’ you’s an -Izzyrelite?” - -“No,” said Budge; “but whenever I think about that song, somethin’ -comes up in my throat and makes me cry.” - -The door of the room flew open, there was a rustle and a hurried tread, -and Mrs. Burton, her face full of tears, snatched Budge to her breast, -and kissed him repeatedly, while Toddie remarked: - -“When fings come up in my froat I just fwallows ’em.” - -Mrs. Burton conducted her nephews to the parlor floor, and said: - -“Now, little boys, it’s nearly lunch time, and I am going to have you -nicely washed and dressed, so that if any one comes in you will look -like little gentlemen.” - -“Ain’t we to be punished any more for bein’ bad?” asked Budge. - -“No,” said Mrs. Burton, kindly; “I’m going to trust you to remember and -be good.” - -“That isn’t what bothers me,” said Budge; “I told a great, long Bible -story to Tod up-stairs, so’s to be like big folks when they get bad, as -much as I could. But Tod didn’t tell any; I don’t think he’s got his -punish.” - -“He may tell his to-night, after Uncle Harry gets home,” said Mrs. -Burton. - -“An’ sit in a chair in the corner of the up-stairs room?” asked Budge. - -“I hardly think that will be necessary this time,” answered the lady. - -“Then I don’t think you punish fair a bit,” said Budge, with an -aggrieved pout. - -“I’ll be dzust as sad as I can ’bout it, Budgie,” said Toddie, with a -brotherly kiss. - -The boys were led off by the chambermaid to be dressed and Mrs. -Burton seated herself and devoted herself to earnest thought. Time -was flying, her husband had been between dark and breakfast-time most -exasperatingly solicitous as to the success of his wife’s theories of -government, and not even her genius of self-defense had prevailed -against him. She felt that so far she had been steadily vanquished. Her -husband had told her in other days that it was always so with the best -generals in their first engagements, so she determined that if men had -snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, she should be able to do so -as well. Her desperation at the thought of a long lifetime of “I told -you so’” from her husband made her determine that no discomfort should -prevent the most earnest endeavor for success. - -The luncheon bell aroused her from what had become a reverie in the -valley of humiliation, and she found awaiting her at the table her -nephews--Budge in a jaunty sailor-suit and Toddie in a clean dress and -an immaculate white apron. An old experience caused her to promptly end -some researches of Toddie’, instituted to discover whether his aunt’ -dishes were really “turtle-pyates,” and an attempt by Budge to drop -oysters in the mouth of the dog Terry, as he had seen his uncle do with -bread-crusts in the morning, was forcibly brought to a close. Beyond -the efforts alluded to, the children did nothing worse than people in -good society often do at table. After luncheon, Mrs. Burton said: - -“Now, boys, this is Aunt Alice’s receptionday. I will probably -have several calls, and every one will want to know about that dear -little new baby, and you must be there to tell them. So you must keep -yourselves very neat and clean. I know you wouldn’t like to see any -dirty people in my parlor!” - -“Hatesh to shtay in parlors,” said Toddie. “Wantsh to go and get some -jacks” (“Jack-in-the-pulpit”--a swamp plant). - -“Not to-day,” said Mrs. Burton, kindly, but firmly. “No one with nice -white aprons ever goes for jacks. What would you think if you saw me in -a swampy, muddy place, with a nice white apron on, hunting for jacks!” - -“Why, I’d fink you could bring home more’n me, ’cause your apron would -hold the mosht,” Toddie replied. - -“I’ll tell you what,” said Budge, calling Toddie into a corner and -whispering earnestly to him. The purity of Budge’s expression of -countenance and the tender shyness with which he avoided her gaze when -he noticed that it was upon him, caused Mrs. Burton to instinctively -turn her head away, out of respect for what she believed to be a -childish secret of some very tender order. Glancing at the couple -again for only a second, she saw that Toddie, too, seemed rather -less matter-of-fact than usual. Finally both boys started out of the -doorway, Budge turning and remarking with inflections simply angelic: - -“Will be back pretty soon, Aunt Alice.” - -Mrs. Burton proceeded to dress; she idly touched her piano, until one -lady after another called, and occupied her time. Suddenly, while -trying to form a good impression on a very dignified lady of the -old school, both boys marched into the parlor from the dining-room. -Mrs. Burton motioned them violently away, for Budge’s trousers and -Toddie’ apron were as dirty as they well could be. Neither boy saw the -visitor, however, for she was hidden by one of the wings which held the -folding-doors, so both tramped up to their aunt, while Budge exclaimed: - -“Folks don’t go to heaven the second day, anyhow, for we just dug up -the bird to see, an’ he was there just the same.” - -“And dere wazh lots of little ants dere wiv him,” said Toddie. “Is dat -’cause dey want to got to hebben, too, an’ wantsh somebody wif wings -to help ’em up?” - -“Budge!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, in chilling tones; “how did all this -dirt come on your clothes?” - -“Why, you see,” said the boy, edging up confidentially to his aunt, -and resting his elbows on her knee as he looked up into her face, “I -couldn’t bear to put the dear little birdie in the ground again without -sayin’ another little prayer. And I forgot to brush my knees off.” - -“Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, “you couldn’t have knelt down with your -stomach and breast. How did you get your nice white apron so dirty?” - -Toddie looked at the apron and then at his aunt--looked at a picture -or two, and then at the piano--followed the cornice-line with his eye, -seemed suddenly to find what he was looking for, and replied: - -“Do you fink dat apron’s dyty? Well, I don’t. Tell you watsh de matter -wif it--I fink de white’s gropped off.” - -“Go into the kitchen!” Mrs. Burton commanded, and both boys departed -with heavy pouts where pretty lips should have been. Half an hour -later their uncle, who had come home early with the laudable desire of -meeting some of his wife’s acquaintances, found his nephew Toddy upon -the scaffolding of an unfinished residence half-way between his own -residence and the railway station. Remembering the story, dear to -all makers of school reading-books, of the boy whose sailor father saw -him perched upon the mainyard, Mr. Burton stood beneath the scaffolding -and shouted to Toddie: - -[Illustration: “JUMP!” SHOUTED MR. BURTON] - -“Jump!” - -“I can’t,” screamed Toddie. - -“Jump!” shouted Mr. Burton, with increased energy. - -“Tell you I can’t,” repeated Toddie. “Wezh playin’ Tower of Babel, -an’ hazh had our talks made different like de folks did den, an’ when -I tells Budge to bring buicksh, he only buingzh mortar, an’ when I -wantsh mortar he buings buicksh. An’ den we talksh like you an’ Aunt -Alice did yestuday at de table.” - -“Yes,” said Budge, appearing from the inside of the building with -an armful of blocks. “Just listen.” And the young man chattered for -a moment or two in a dialect never even dimly hinted at except by a -convention of monkeys. - -Mr. Burton cautiously climbed the ladder, brought down one boy at a -time, kissed them both and shook them soundly, after which the three -wended homeward, the boys having sawdust on every portion of their -clothes not already soiled by dirt, and most of Mrs. Burton’s callers -meeting the party _en route_. - -Mr. Burton found his wife brilliantly conversational, yet averse to -talking about her nephews. The exercise which they had been compelled -to take in their emulation of the architects of the incomplete building -on the plain of Shinar gave them excellent appetites and silenced -tongues; but after his capacity had been tested to the uttermost Budge -said: - -“It’s time for Tod to do his punishment now, Aunt Alice. Don’t you -know?” - -Mrs. Burton winked at her husband, and nodded approvingly to Budge. - -“Come, Tod,” said Budge, “you must tell your awful sad story now, an’ -feel bad.” - -“Guesh I’ll tell ’bout Peter Gray,” said Toddie; “thatsh awful sad.” - -“Who was Peter Gray?” asked Mrs. Burton. - -“He’s a dzentleman dat a dyty little boy in the nexsht street to us -sings ’bout,” said Toddie, “only I don’t sing ’bout him--I only tellsh -it. It’s dzust as sad that-a-way.” - -“Go on,” said Budge. - -“Once was a man,” said Toddie, with great solemnity, “an’ his name was -Peter Gray. An’ he loved a lady. An’ he says to her papa, ‘I wantsh -to marry your little gyle.’ An’ what you fink dat papa said? He said, -‘No!’” (this with great emphasis). “That izhn’t as hard as he said it, -eiver, but it’s azh hard as I can say it. It’s puffikly dzedful when -Jimmy sings it. An’ Peter Gray felt awful bad den, an’ he went out -Wesht, to buy de shkinzh dat comes off of animals an’ fings, dough -how dat made him feel nicer Jimmy don’t sing ’bout. An’ bad Injuns -caught him an’ pulled his hair off, djust like ladies pull deirsh off -sometimezh. An’ when dat lady heard ’bout it, it made her feel so bad -dat she went to bed an’ died. Datsh all. Uncle Harry, ain’t you got to -be punished for somefin’, so you can tell ush a story?” - -“It’s time little boys were in bed now,” said Mrs. Burton, arising and -taking Toddie in her arms. - -“Oh, dear!” said Budge. “I wish I was a little boy in China, an’ just -gettin’ up.” - -“So does I,” said Toddie; “’cause den you would have a tay-al on your -head an’ I could pull it!” - -The boys retired, and Mrs. Burton broke her reticence so far as to tell -her husband the story she had heard in the morning, and to insist that -he was to arise early enough in the morning to unearth the buried bird -and throw it away. - -“It’s perfectly dreadful,” said she, “that those children should be -encouraged in making trifling applications of great truths, and I am -determined, as far as possible, to prevent the effects by removing the -causes.” - -And her husband put on an exasperating smile and shook his head -profoundly. - - - - -CHAPTER III - - -The sun of the next morning arose at the outrageously unfashionable -hour that he affects in June, but Mrs. Burton was up before him. -Her husband had attended a town meeting the night before, and the -forefathers of the hamlet had been so voluble that Mr. Burton had not -returned home until nearly midnight. He needed rest, and his wife -determined that he should sleep as long as possible; but there were -things dearer to her than even the comfort of her husband, and among -these were the traditions she had received concerning things mystical. -She had an intuition that her nephews would examine the grave of the -bird they had interred two days before, and she dreaded to listen to -the literal conversation and comments that would surely follow. Had -the bird been a human being, the remarks of its tender-hearted little -friends would have seemed anything but materialistic to Mrs. Burton; -but it was only a bird, and the lady realized that to answer questions -as to the soullessness of an innocent being and the comparative value -of characterless men and women was going to be no easy task. - -She therefore perfected a plan which should be fair to all concerned; -she would arouse her husband only when she heard her nephews moving; -then she would engage the young men in conversation while her husband -desecrated the grave. She would have saved considerable trouble by -locking the young men in their chamber and allowing her husband to -slumber content, but having failed to remove the key on the advent of -the boys they had found use for it themselves, and no questioning had -been able to discover its whereabouts. Meanwhile the boys were quiet, -and Mrs. Burton devoted the peaceful moments to laying out the day in -such a manner as to have the least possible trouble from her nephews. - -A violent kicking at the front door and some vigorous rings of the bell -aroused the lady from her meditation and her husband from his dreams, -while the dog Terry, who usually slept on the inner mat at the front -door, began to howl piteously. - -“Goodness!” growled Mr. Burton, rubbing his eyes, as his wife pulled -the bell-cord leading to the servants’s room. “To whom do we owe -money?” - -“Oh, I’m afraid Helen is worse, or the baby is poorly!” exclaimed Mrs. -Burton, opening the chamber-window, and shouting, “Who is there?” - -“Me,” answered a voice easily recognizable as that of Budge. - -“Me, too!” screamed a thinner but equally familiar voice. - -“We’ve got somethin’ awful lovely to tell you, Aunt Alice,” shouted -Budge. “Let us in, quick!” - -“Lovelier dan cake or pie or candy!” screamed Toddie. - -One of the servants hurried down the stairs, the door opened, light -footsteps hurried up the steps, and the dog Terry, pausing for no -morning caress from his master, hurried under the bed for refuge, from -which locality he expressed his apprehension in a dismal falsetto. -Then, with a tramp which only children can execute, and which horses -cannot approach in noisiness, came Budge and Toddie. Arrived at their -aunt’s chamber-door, each boy tried to push the other away, that he -might himself tell the story of which both were full. At last, from the -outer side of the door: - -“Dear little bydie’s gone to hebben.” - -“Yes,” said Budge, “the angels took him away.” - -“An’ de little ants all went to hebben wif him,” said Toddie. - -“Only the angels didn’t take the gravestone, too,” said Budge. “Say, -Aunt Alice, what’s the use of gravestones after folks is gone to -heaven?” - -“I know,” said Toddie. “I fought everybody knowed dat; it’s so’s folks -know where to plant lovely flowers for deir angel what was in the grave -to look down at.” - -“Now,” said Budge, with the air of a champion of a newly discovered -doctrine, “I’m just goin’ to ask papa who the folks are that don’t -believe deaders go to heaven. I’ll jist tell ’em what geese they are.” - -“Angels is dzust like birdies, isn’t they, Aunt Alice?” Toddie asked. -“’Cause dey’ got winghs an’ clawshes, too.” - -“How do you know they have claws?” asked Mr. Burton. - -“’Cause I saw deir scratch-holes in the dyte at the grave,” said -Toddie. “Dey was dzust little bits of scratchy cracks like little -bydies make. I guesh dey was little baby-angels.” - -Mr. Burton winked at his wife, who was looking greatly mystified, and -he uttered the single monosyllable: - -“Cats.” - -“How did you get out of the house, children?” Mr. Burton asked. - -“Jumped out of one of the kitchen windows,” said Budge. “But it was -so high from the ground that we couldn’t get in again that way. And I -think it’s breakfast-time; we’ve been up ’bout two hours.” - -“Now’s the time for orthodox teaching, my dear,” suggested Mr. Burton. -“Physiologists say that the mind is more active when the stomach’s -empty.” - -[Illustration: “CATS,” UTTERED MR. BURTON] - -“Thank you,” said Mrs. Burton, starting for the kitchen, “but the minds -of those boys are too active, even on full stomachs.” - -Breakfast was on the table in due time, and the boys showed -appreciation of it. After they were partly satisfied, however, Budge -asked: - -“Aunt Alice, how much longer do you suppose we can live without seeing -that dear little sister?” - -“Dear little girl sister,” said Toddie, by way of correction. - -“Oh, quite a while,” Mrs. Burton replied. “I know you love it and your -mamma too much to make either of them any trouble, and both of them are -quite feeble yet. You love them better than you love yourself, don’t -you?” - -“Certainly,” said Budge. “That’s why I want to see ’em so awful much.” - -“I fink it’s awful mean for little sishterzh not to have deir budders -to play wif,” said Toddie. - -“Well, I will think about it, and if you will both be very good, we -will go there to-day.” - -“Oh!” said Budge. “We’ll be our very goodest. I’ll tell you what, Tod; -we’ll have a Sunday-school right after breakbux; that’ll be good.” - -“I know something gooder dan that,” said Toddie. “We’ll play Daniel in -de lions’s den, and you be de king an’ take me out. Dat’ a good deal -gooder dan dzust playin’ Sunday-school; ’caush takin’ folks away from -awful bitey lions is a gooder fing dan dzust singin’ an’ prayin’, like -they do in Sunday-school.” - -“Another frightful fit of heterodoxy to be overcome, my dear,” observed -Mr. Burton. “That dreadful child is committed to the doctrine of the -superior efficacy of works over faith.” - -“I shall tell him the story of Daniel correctly,” said Mrs. Burton, -“and error will be sure to fly from the appearance of truth.” - -Mr. Burton took his departure for the day, and while his wife busied -herself in household management, the children discussed the etiquette -of the promised visit. - -“Tell you what, Tod,” said Budge, “we ought to take her presents, -anyhow. That was one of the lovaly things about Jesus being a little -baby once. You know those shepherds came an’ brought him lots of -presents.” - -“What letsh take her?” asked Toddie. - -“Well,” said Budge, “the shepherds carried money and things that -smelled sweet, so I guess that’s what we ought to do.” - -“Aw wight,” said Toddie. “’Cept, houzh we goin’ to get ’em?” - -“We can go into the house very softly when we get home, you know,” said -Budge, “an’ shake some pennies out of our savings-bank; them’ll do for -the money. Then for things that smell sweet we can get flowers out of -the garden.” - -“Dat’ll be dzust a-givin’ her fings that’s at home already. I fink -’twould be nicer to carry her somefin’ from here, just as if we was -comin’ from where we took care of de sheep.” - -“Tell you what,” said Budge. “Let’ tease Aunt Alice for pennies. We -ought to have thought about it before Uncle Harry went away.” - -“Oh, yes!” said Toddie. “An’ dere’s a bottle of smelly stuff in Aunt -Alice’s room; we’ll get some of dat. Shall we ask her for it, or dzust -make b’lieve it’s ours?” - -“Let’s be honest ’bout it,” said Budge. “It’s wicked to hook things.” - -“’Twouldn’t be hookin’ if we took it for dat lovaly little sister -baby, would it?” asked Toddie. “’Sides, I want to s’prise Aunt Alice -an’ everybody wif de lots of presentsh I makesh to de dear little -fing.” - -“Oh! I’ll tell you what,” said Budge, forgetting the presents entirely -in his rapture over a new idea. “You know how bright the point of the -new lightning-rod on our house is? Well, we’ll make b’lieve that’s -the star in the East, an’ it’s showin’ us where to come to find the -baby.” - -“Oh, yes!” exclaimed Toddie. “An’ maybe Aunt Alice’ll carry us on -her back, and then we’ll make b’lieve we’re ridin’ camels, like -the shepherds in the picture we had Christmas, an’ tore up to make -menageries of.” - -The appearance of a large grasshopper directly in front of the boys -ended the conversation temporarily, for both started in chase of it. - -[Illustration: BOTH STARTED IN CHASE OF IT] - -Half an hour later both boys straggled into the house, panting and -dusty, and flung themselves upon the floor, when their aunt, with that -weakness peculiar to the woman who is not also a mother, asked them -where they had been, why they were out of breath, how they came by so -much dust on their clothes, and why they were so cross. Budge replied, -with a heavy sigh: - -“Big folks don’t know much about little folks’s troubles.” - -“Bad old hoppergrass, just kept a-goin’ wherever he wanted to, an’ -never comed under my hat,” complained Toddie. - -“Perhaps he knew it would not be best for you to have him, Toddie,” -said Mrs. Burton. “What would you have done with him if you had -succeeded in catching him?” - -“Tookted his hind hoppers off,” said Toddie, promptly. - -“How dreadful!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. “What would you have done that -for?” - -“So’s he’d fly,” said Toddie. “The idea of anybody wif wings goin’ -awound on their hoppersh! How’d you like it if I had wings, an’ only -trotted and jumped instead of flied?” - -“My dear little boy,” said Mrs. Burton, taking her nephew on her lap, -“you must know that it’s very wrong to hurt animals in that way. They -are just as the Lord made them, and just as he wants them to be.” - -“All animals?” asked Toddie. - -“Certainly,” answered Mrs. Burton. - -“Then what for doesh you catch pitty little mices in traps an’ kill -’em?” - -Mrs. Burton hastened to give the conversation a new direction. - -“Because they’re very troublesome,” she said. “And even troublesome -people have to be punished when they meddle with other people’s things.” - -“We know that, I guess,” interposed Budge, with a sigh. - -“But,” said Mrs. Burton, hurrying forward to her point, “the animals -have nerves and flesh and blood and bones, just like little boys do, -and are just the way the Lord made them.” - -“I’ll look for the hoppergrass’s blood next time I pull one’s legsh -off,” said Toddie. - -“Don’t,” said Mrs. Burton. “You must believe what aunty tells you, and -you mustn’t trouble the poor things at all. Why, Toddie, there are real -smart men, real good men that everybody respects, that have spent their -whole lives in study of insects, like grasshoppers, and flies, and -bees----” - -“An’ never got stung?” asked Toddie. “How did dey do it?” - -“They don’t care if they are stung,” said Mrs. Burton. “They are deeply -interested in learning how animals are made. They study all kinds -of animals, and try to find out why they are different from people; -and they find out that some wee things, like grasshoppers, are more -wonderful than any person that ever lived!” - -“I should think so,” said Budge. “If I could hop like a grasshopper, -I could jump faster than any boy in the kindergarten, an’ if I could -sting like a hornet, I could wallop any boy in town.” - -“Does they adzamine big animals, too?” asked Toddie. - -“Yes,” said Mrs. Burton. “One of them has been away out West among the -dreadful Indians, just to find out what horses were like a good many -years ago.” - -“If I find out all ’bout horsesh,” said Toddie, “will everybody like -me?” - -“Very likely,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“Then I’m goin’ to,” said Toddie, sliding out of his aunt’s lap. - -“Never mind about it now, dear,” said Mrs. Burton. “We are going to see -mamma and baby now. Go and dress yourselves neatly, boys.” - -Both children started, and Mrs. Burton, who was already prepared for -her trip, opened a novel, first giving herself credit for having turned -at least one perverted faculty of Toddie’s into its heaven-ordained -channel. - -“Another triumph to report to my husband,” said she, with a fine air -of exultation, as she opened her novel. “And yet,” she continued, -absent-mindedly, laying the book down again, “I believe I have found no -occasion on which to report yesterday’s victories!” - -The boys were slow to appear; but when they came down-stairs they -presented so creditable an appearance as to call for a special -compliment from their aunt. On their way to their mamma’s house they -seemed preoccupied, and they sought frequent occasions to whisper to -each other. - -Arrived at home, their impatience knew no restraint; and when the nurse -appeared with a wee bundle, topped with a little face, and lying on a -big pillow, both boys pounced upon it at once, Budge trying to crowd -several pennies into the baby’s rose-leaves of hands, while Toddie held -to its nose a bottle labeled “Liquid Bluing.” At the same time the -baby sneezed alarmingly and a strong odor of camphor pervaded the room. - -“Where can that camphor be?” asked the nurse. “There is nothing that -Mrs. Lawrence hates so intensely!” - -The baby stopped sneezing and began a pitiful wail, while Toddie -hastened to pick up the bluing-bottle; then the nurse saw that upon -the baby’s hitherto immaculate wraps there was a large stain of a -light-blue tint and emitting a strong odor of camphor. Meanwhile, -Toddie had dragged upon his aunt’s sack, held his precious bottle up to -his aunt’s nose, and exclaimed: - -“Izhn’t dat too baddy! Baby gropped it, and spilled mosht every bit of -it on her c’ozhes an’ on de floor!” - -“Where did you get that camphor, Toddie?” asked Mrs. Burton, “and why -did you bring it here?” - -“Tizhn’t campiffer,” said Toddie. “It’ pyfume; I got it out of a big -bottle on your bureau, where you makes your hankafusses smell sweet -at. Budgie an’ me done dzust what dem sheepmen did when dey came to -Beflehem to see de dear little Jesus-baby: we brought our baby money -an’ fings dat smelled sweet.” - -Mrs. Burton kissed Toddie; then the nurse fell on the floor and -displayed the baby’s face, and then the face was shadowed from the -light, and baby opened two little eyes and regarded her brothers with -a stare of queenly gravity and gentleness, and the adoration expressed -by the faces of the two boys was such as no old master ever put into -the faces in an “Adoration of the Magi,” and above them bent a face -more mature but none the less suffused with tender awe. The silence -seemed too holy and delightful to be broken, but Toddie soon looked up -inquiringly into his aunt’s face and asked: - -“Aunt Alice, why don’t dere be a lovely sun around her head like dere -is in pictures of dear little Jesus-babies?” - -The quartet became human again, and the nurse offered each of the party -a five-minute interview with the mother. Mrs. Burton emerged from the -sick-chamber with a face which her nephews could not help scrutinizing -curiously; Budge came out with the remark that he would never worry his -sweet mamma again while he lived, but Toddie exclaimed: - -“If I had a little new baby I wouldn’t stay in bed in dark roomsh all -day long. I dzust get up an’ dansh awound.” - -“Aunt Alice,” asked Budge, on the way back to his uncle’s residence, -“now there’ somebody else at our house to have a birthday, isn’t there? -When will baby sister’ birthday come--how many days?” - -“About three hundred and sixty,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“Goodness!” exclaimed Budge. “And how long ’fore Christmas’ll come -again?” - -“Nearly two hundred days.” - -“Well, I think I will die if somebody don’t have a birthday pretty -soon, so I can give ’em presents.” - -“Why, you dear, generous little fellow,” said Mrs. Burton, stooping to -kiss him, “my own birthday will come to-morrow.” - -“Oh--h--h--h!” exclaimed Budge. “Say Toddie----” The remainder of -the conversation was conducted in whispers and with countenances of -extreme importance. The boys even took a different road for home, Budge -explaining to his aunt that they had a big secret to talk about. - -Mrs. Burton stopped _en route_ to ask a neighborly question or two, -and arrived at home somewhat later than her nephews. She saw a horse -and wagon at the door, and rightly imagined that they belonged to the -grocer. But what a certain white mass on the ground under the horse -could consist of Mrs. Burton was at a loss to conjecture, and she -quickened her pace only to find the white substance aforesaid resolve -itself into the neatly clothed body of her nephew, Toddie, who was -lying on his back in the dirt, and contemplating the noble animal’s -chest with serene curiosity. - -There are moments in life when dignity unbends in spite of itself, and -grace of deportment becomes a thing to be loathed. Such a moment Mrs. -Burton endured, as, dropping her parasol, she cautiously but firmly -seized Toddie and snatched him from his dangerous position. - -“Go into the house, this instant, you dirty boy!” said she, with an -imperious stamp of her foot. - -The fear in Toddie’s countenance gave place to expostulation, as he -exclaimed: - -“I was only dzust----” - -“Go into the house this instant!” repeated Mrs. Burton. - -“Ah--h--h--h!” said Toddie, beginning to cry, and rolling out his under -lip as freely as if there were yards of it yet to come. “I was only -studyin’ how the horsie was made togevver, so’s everybody’d espec’s -an’ love me. Can’t go to where dem Injuns is, so I fought a gushaway’s -[grocery] man’ horsie would be dzust as good. Ah--h--h!” - -“There was no necessity for your lying on the ground, in your clean -piqué dress, to do it,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“Ah--h--h!” said Toddie again. “I studied all de west of him fyst, an’ -I couldn’t hold him up so as to look under him. I tried to, an’ he -looked at me dweadful cwosh, an’ so I didn’t.” - -“Go into the house and have another dress put on,” said Mrs. Burton. -“You know very well that nothing excuses little boys for dirtying their -clothes when they can help it. When your Uncle Harry comes home we -shall have to devise some way of punishing you so that you may remember -to take better care of your clothing in the future.” - -“Ah--h--h--h--! I hope de Lord won’t make any more horsesh, den, nor -any little boys to be told to find out about ’em, an’ be punnissed -dzust for gettin’ deir c’oshes a little dyty!” screamed Toddie, -disappearing through the doorway and filling the house with angry -screams. - -Mrs. Burton lingered for a moment upon the piazza steps, and bravely -endured a spasm of sense. There forced itself upon her mind the idea -that it might be possible that the soiling of garments was not the -sin of all sins, and that Toddie had really been affected by her -information about the noble origin and nature of the animal physique. -Certainly nothing but a sincere passion for investigation could have -led Toddie between the feet of a horse, and a person so absorbed in -scientific pursuits might possibly be excused for being regardless of -personal appearance. But clean clothing ranked next to clean hearts in -the Mayton family, and such acquirements as Mrs. Burton possessed she -determined to lovingly transmit to her nephews, so far as was in her -power. Toddie seemed in earnest in his indignation, and she respected -mistaken impressions which were honestly made, so she determined to try -to console the weeping child. Going into his room, she found her nephew -lying on his back, kicking, screaming, and otherwise giving vent to his -rage. - -“Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, “it is too bad that you should have so much -trouble just after you have been to see your mamma and little sister.” - -“I know it!” screamed Toddie, “an’ you can dzust go down-stairs again -if dat’s all you came to tell me.” - -“But, Toddie, dear,” said Mrs. Burton, kneeling and smoothing the hot -forehead of her nephew, “aunty wants to see you feeling comfortable -again.” - -“Den put me back under the horsie again, so folksh’ll ’espec’s me,” -sobbed Toddie. - -“You’ve learned enough about the horse for to-day,” said Mrs. Burton. -“I’ll ask your papa to teach you more when you go back home. Poor -little boy, how hot your cheeks are! Aunt Alice wishes she could see -you looking happy again.” - -Toddie stopped crying for a moment, looked at his aunt intently, sat -up, put on an air of importance, and said: - -“Did de Lord send you up-stairsh to tell me you was sorry for what you -done to me?” asked Toddie. “Den I forgives you, only don’t do dat baddy -way any more. If you want to put a clean dwess on me, you can.” - -“Aunt Alice,” said Budge, who had sauntered into the room, “you told -Uncle Harry at the breakbux table that you was goin’ to tell us about -Daniel to-day. Don’t you think it’s about time to do it?” - -“Oh, yes,” said Toddie, hurrying his head into his clean dress, “an’ -how de lions et up de bad men dat made de king frow Daniel in de deep -dark hole. Gwon.” - -“There was a very good young man whose name was Daniel,” said Mrs. -Burton, “and although the king made a law that nobody should pray -except to the gods that his people worshiped, Daniel prayed every day -to the same Lord that we love.” - -“He was up in heaven then, like he is now, wasn’t he?” said Budge. - -“Yes.” - -“Then where was the other people’s god?” - -“Oh, on shelves and in closets, and all sorts of places,” said Mrs. -Burton. “They were only bits of wood and stone; idols, in fact.” - -“And wasn’t they good?” - -“Not at all.” - -“Well, I don’t think that’s very nice, for papa sometimes says that I -am mamma’ idol. Am I sticky or stony?” - -“Certainly not, dear. He means that your mother cares a great deal for -you; that is all. And Daniel prayed just as he chose and when he chose, -and the people that didn’t like him hurried up the king and said, ‘Just -see, that young man for whom you care so much is praying to the Lord -that the Jews believe in.’s The king was sorry to hear this, but Daniel -wouldn’t tell a lie; he admitted that he prayed just as he wanted to, -so the king had to order some men to throw Daniel into the den of -lions. He felt very badly about it, for Daniel had been always very -good and honest, and very good people are hard to find anywhere.” - -“Musht tell mamma dat, nexsht time she saysh I must be very good,” said -Toddie. “Gwon.” - -“They threw poor Daniel in among the lions, and he must have felt -dreadful on the way to the den, for he knew that lions are very savage -and hungry. Why, one single lion will often eat up a whole man, yet -there were a great many lions in the den Daniel was taken to.” - -“He wouldn’t make much of a supper for all of them, poor fellow, would -he?” Budge asked. - -[Illustration: “TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT IT”] - -“No,” said Mrs. Burton, “so he did what sensible people always do -when they find themselves in trouble. He prayed. As for the king, I -imagine he didn’t sleep much that night. People who take the advice of -others and against their own better judgment, generally have to feel -uncomfortable about it. At any rate, the king was awake very early next -morning, and hurried off to the den alone, and looked in, and shouted, -‘Daniel! the Lord that you believe in, was he strong enough to keep the -lions from eating you?’ And then Daniel answered the king--think of how -happy it must have made the king to hear his voice, and know he was -not dead! The unkindness of the king had not made Daniel forget to be -respectful, so he said, ‘Oh, king, I hope you may live for ever.’s Then -he told the king that he had not been hurt at all, and the king was -very glad, and he had Daniel taken out, and then the bad men who had -been the cause of Daniel being given to the lions were all thrown into -the den themselves, and the lions ate every one of them.” - -“I know why they let Daniel alone an’ ate up all the other fellows,” -said Budge, with an air of comprehension. - -“I felt sure you would, dear little boy,” said Mrs. Burton; “but you -may tell me what you think about it.” - -“Why, you see,” said Budge, “Daniel was only one man, and he would be -only a speck apiece for all those lions--just like one single bite of -cake to a little boy. When there were plenty of men, so that each -lion could have one for himself, they made up their minds it was -dinner-time, an’ so they went to work.” - -Somehow this reply caused Mrs. Burton to forget to enforce the great -moral application of the story of Daniel, and she found it convenient -to make a sudden tour of inspection in the kitchen. She was growing -desperately conscious that, instead of instructing and controlling the -children, she had thus far done little but supply material for their -active minds and bodies to employ in manners extremely distasteful to -her. More than once she found her mind wavering between two extremes of -the theories of government--it seemed to her that she must either be -very severe, or must allow the children to naturally develop their own -faculties, within reasonable bounds. At the first she rebelled, partly -because she was not cruel by nature, as severe rulers of children -often are, and partly because the children were not her own. The other -extreme was equally distasteful, however. Were not children always made -to mind in well-regulated families? To be sure, they seldom in such -cases fulfilled, in adult years, the promise of their youth, but that, -of course, was their own fault--whose else could it be? Should adults, -should she, whose will had never been brooked by parent or husband, -set aside her own inclinations for the sake of a couple of unformed, -unreasoning minds? - -Like most other people in doubt, Mrs. Burton did nothing for a few -hours and succeeded thereby in entirely losing sight of her nephews -until nearly sunset, when, drawn by that instinct which is strongest -in the most immature natures, the boys returned for something to eat. -Though quiet, there could be no doubt about their contentment; their -clothes were very dirty, and so were their faces, but out of the latter -shone that indefinable something that is the easily read indication of -the consciousness of rectitude and satisfaction with the results of -right-doing. They were not communicative, even under much questioning, -and Mr. Burton finally said, as one in a soliloquy: - -“I wonder what it was?” - -“What are you talking about, Harry?” asked Mrs. Burton. - -“I am merely wondering what original and expensive experiment they’ve -been up to now,” replied the head of the household. - -“None whatever,” said Mrs. Burton, with an energy almost startling. “I -often wonder how men can be so blind. Look at their dear, pure little -faces, dirty though they are; there’s no more consciousness of wrong -there than there could be in an angel’s face.” - -“Just so, my dear,” said Mr. Burton. “If they were oftener conscious of -misdeeds they would be worse boys, but a great deal less troublesome. -Come see uncle, boys--don’t you want a trot on my knees?” - -Both children scrambled into their uncle’ arms, and Budge began to -whisper very earnestly. - -“Yes, I suppose so,” Mr. Burton answered. - -“Goody, goody, goody!” exclaimed Budge, clapping his hands. “I’m going -to give you a birthday present to-morrow, Aunt Alice.” - -“So am I,” said Toddie. - -“It’s something to eat,” said Budge. - -“Mine, too,” said Toddie. - -“Be careful, Budge,” said Mr. Burton. “You’ll let the secret out if -you’re not careful.” - -“Oh, no, I won’t. I only said ’twas something to eat. But say, Aunt -Alice, how do bananas grow?” [said] Toddie, with brightening eyes and a -confident shake of his curly head. - -“And I know,” said Mr. Burton, lifting Toddie suddenly from his knee, -“that either a certain little boy is breaking to pieces and spilling -badly, or something else is. What’ this?” he continued, noticing a very -wet spot on Toddie’s apron, just under which his pocket was. “And” -(here he opened Toddie’ pocket and looked into it) “what is that vile -muss in your pocket?” - -Toddie’s eyes opened in wonder, and then his countenance fell. - -“’Twash only a little bunch,” said he, “an’ I was goin’ to eat it on -de way home, but I forgotted it!” - -“They’re white grapes, my dear,” said Mr. Burton. “The boys have been -robbing somebody’s hothouse; Tom has no grapes in his. Where did you -get these, boys?” - -“Sh--h--h!” whispered Toddie, impressively. “Nobody musht never tell -secretsh.” - -“Where did you get those grapes?” demanded Mrs. Burton, hastening to -the examination of the dripping dress. - -Toddie burst into tears. - -“I should think you would cry!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton; “after stealing -people’ fruit.” - -“Isn’t cryin’ ’bout dat,” sobbed Toddie. “I’ze cryin’ ’caush youze -a-spoilin’ my s’prise for your bifeday ev’ry minute you’ a-talkin’!” - -“Alice, Alice!” said Mr. Burton, softly. “Remember that the poor child -is not old enough to have learned what stealing means.” - -“Then he shall learn now!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, all of her righteous -sense upon the alert. “What do you suppose would become of you if you -were to die to-night?” - -“Won’t die!” sobbed Toddie. “If angel comes to kill me like he did the -’Gyptians, I’ll hide.” - -“No one could hide from the angel of the Lord,” said Mrs. Burton, -determined that fear should do what reason could not. - -“Why, he doesn’t carry no lanternzh wif him in de night-time, does he?” -said Toddie. - -Mr. Burton laughed but his wife silenced him with a glance and answered: - -“He can see well enough to find bad little boys when he wants them.” - -“Ain’t bad,” screamed Toddie, “an’ I won’t give you de uvver grapes -now, dat we brought home in a flower-pot.” - -“Come to uncle, old boy,” said Mr. Burton, taking the doleful child -upon his knee again, and caressing him tenderly. “Tell uncle all about -it, and he’ll see if you can’t be set all right.” - -“An’ not let de killey angel come catch me?” asked Toddie. - -[Illustration: “WE GOT THREE OR FOUR NICE BUNCHES”] - -“I’ll tell you, Uncle Harry,” said Budge. “We was goin’ to give Aunt -Alice fruit for her birthday--me bananas an’ Tod white grapes. We -didn’t know where any bananas growed, but Mr. Bushman, way off along -the mountain, has got lots of lovely grapes in his greenhouse, ’cause -we went there once with papa, and they talked ’bout grapes an’ things -’most all afternoon, an’ he told him to come help himself whenever -he wanted any. So we made up a great secret, an’ we went up there -this afternoon to ask him to give us some for our aunt, ’cause ’twas -goin’ to be her birthday. But he wasn’t home, and the greenhouse man -wasn’t there either; but the door was open, an’ we went in an’ saw -the grapes, an’ we made up our minds that he wouldn’t care if we took -some, ’cause he told papa to. So we got three or four nice bunches, and -put ’em in a flower-pot with leaves in it, and each of us got a little -bunch to eat ourselves; but we found lots of wild strawberries on the -way back, so Tod forgot his grapes, I guess, but mine’s safe in my -stomach. An’ ’twas awful hot an’ dusty, an’ I never got so tired in -my life. But we wanted to make Aunt Alice happy, so we didn’t care.” - -“An’ then she said we was fiefs!” sobbed Toddie. “Bad old fing!” - -“Never mind, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, all her moral purpose taking -flight as she kissed the tear-stained, dirty little cheeks, and carried -her nephew to the dinner-table. - -[Illustration: “SO I PUTTED CROSSES ON THE DOOR”] - -Toddie’s meal was quickly dispatched. He seemed preoccupied, and -hurried away from the table, though he was quite ready to go to bed -when summoned by his aunt. Half an hour later Mr. Burton, sauntering -out to the piazza to smoke, saw a large, rude cross, in red ink, -on either side of the door-frame. Even men have weaknesses, and a -fastidiousness about the appearance of his house was one of Mr. -Burton’. He dashed up the stairs, three steps at a time, and burst into -his nephew’s room, exclaiming: - -“Who daubed the door with ink?” - -“Me,” said Toddie, boldly. “I was afraid you’d forget to tell dat -killey angel I wasn’t any fief, so I putted crosses on de door, like de -Izzyrelites did, so he would go a-past. He wouldn’t know de ink wasn’t -blood, I guess, in de night-time.” - -Toddie suddenly found himself alone again. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - -Mrs. Burton’s birthday dawned brightly, and it is not surprising that -as it was her first natal anniversary since her marriage to a man who -had no intention or ability to cease being a lover, her ante-breakfast -moments were too fully and happily occupied to allow her to even -think of two little boys who had already impressed upon her their -willingness and general ability to think for themselves. As for the -boys themselves, they woke with the lark, and with a heavy sense of -responsibility also. The room of Mrs. Burton’s chambermaid joined their -own, and the occupant of that room having been charged by her mistress -with the general care of the boys between dark and daylight, she had -grown accustomed to wake at the first sound in the boys’s room. On the -morning of her mistress’s birthday the first sound she heard was: - -“Tod?” - -No response could be heard; but a moment later the chambermaid heard: - -“T--o--o--od!” - -“Ah--h--h--ow!” drawled a voice, not so sleepily but it could sound -aggrieved. - -“Wake up, dear old Toddie budder. It’ Aunt Alice’s birthday now.” - -“Needn’t bweak my earzh open, if ’tis,” whined Toddie. - -“I only holloed in one ear, Tod,” remonstrated Budge, “an’ you ought -to love dear Aunt Alice enough to have that hurt a little rather than -not wake up.” - -A series of groans, snarls, whines, grunts, snorts, and remonstrances -semi-articulate were heard, and at length some complicated wriggles and -convulsive kicks were made manifest to the listening ear, and Budge -said: - -“That’s right! Now let’s get up an’ get ready. Say; do you know -that we didn’t think anything about having some music? Don’t you -remember how papa played the piano last mamma’s birthday when she came -down-stairs, an’ how happy it made her, an’ we danced around?” - -“Aw wight,” said Toddie. “Let’.” - -“Tell you what,” said Budge. “Let’ both bang the piano, like mamma an’ -Aunt Alice does together sometimes.” - -“Oh, yesh!” Toddie exclaimed. “We can make some awful big bangsh -before she can get down to tell us to don’t.” - -Then there was heard a scurrying of light feet as the boys picked -up their various articles of clothing from the corners, chairs, -bureau, table, etc., where they had been tossed the night before. -The chambermaid hurried to their assistance, and both boys were soon -dressed. A plate containing bananas, and another with the hard-earned -grapes, were on the bureau, and the boys took them and tiptoed down the -stair and into the dining-room. - -“Gwacious!” said Toddie, as he placed his plate on the sideboard; -“maybe the gwapes an’ buttonanoes has got sour. I guesh we’d better -try ’em, like mamma does de milk on hot morningsh when the baddy -milkman don’t come time enough.” Toddie suited the action to the word -by plucking from a cluster the handsomest grape in sight. “I fink,” -said he, smacking his lips with the suspicious air of a professional -taster; “I fink dey is gettin’ sour.” - -“Let’s see,” said Budge. - -“No,” said Toddie, plucking another grape with one hand while with the -other he endeavored to cover his gift. “Ize bid enough to do it all -myself. Unless,” he added, as a happy inspiration struck him, “you’ll -let me help see if your buttonanoes is sour.” - -“Then you can only have one bite,” said Budge. “You must let me taste -about six grapes, ’cause ’twould take that many to make one of your -bites on a banana.” - -“Aw wight,” said Toddie; and the boys proceeded to exchange duties, -Budge taking the precaution to hold the banana himself, so that his -brother should not abstractedly sample a second time, and Toddie doling -out the grapes with careful count. - -“They are a little sour,” said Budge, with a wry face. “Perhaps some -other bunch is better. I think we’d better try each one, don’t you?” - -“An’ each one of the buttonanoes, too,” suggested Toddie. “Dat one -wazh pretty good, but maybe some of the others isn’t.” - -The proposition was accepted, and soon each banana had its length -reduced by a fourth, and the grape-clusters displayed a fine -development of wood. Then Budge seemed to realize that his present was -not as sightly as it might be, for he carefully closed the skins at the -ends, and turned the unbroken ends to the front as deftly as if he -were a born retailer of fruit. - -[Illustration: “THEN YOU CAN ONLY HAVE ONE BITE,” SAID BUDGE] - -This done, he exclaimed: “Oh! we want our cards on ’em, else how will -she know who they came from?” - -“We’ll be here to tell her,” said Toddie. - -“Huh!” said Budge; “that wouldn’t make her half so happy. Don’t you -know how when cousin Florence gets presents of flowers, she’s always -happiest when she’ lookin’ at the card that comes with ’em?” - -“Aw wight,” said Toddie, hurrying into the parlor, and returning with -the cards of a lady and gentleman, taken haphazard from his aunt’s -card-receiver. - -“Now, we must write ‘Happy Birthday’ on the backs of ’em,” said Budge, -exploring his pockets, and extracting a stump of a lead pencil. “Now,” -continued Budge, leaning over the card, and displaying all the facial -contortions of the unpractised writer, as he laboriously printed, in -large letters, speaking, as he worked, a letter at a time: - -“H--A--P--P--E B--U--R--F--D--A--Happy Birthday. Now, you must hold the -pencil for yours, or else it won’t be so sweet; that’s what mamma says.” - -Toddie took the pencil in his pudgy hand, Budge guided it, and two -juvenile heads touched each other and swayed and twisted and bobbed in -unison until the work was completed. - -“Now, I think she ought to come,” said Budge. (Breakfast-time was still -more than an hour distant.) “Why, the rising-bell hasn’t rung yet! -Let’s ring it!” - -The boys fought for possession of the bell, but superior might -conquered and Budge marched up and down the hall, ringing with the -enthusiasm and duration peculiar to the amateur. - -“Bless me!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, hastening to complete her toilet. -“How time does fly--sometimes!” - -Mr. Burton saw something in his wife’ face that called for lover-like -treatment, but it was not without a sense of injury that he exclaimed, -immediately after, as he drew forth his watch: - -“I declare! I would make an affidavit that we hadn’t been awake half an -hour. Ah! I forgot to wind my watch last night.” - -The boys hurried into the parlor. - -“I hear ’em trampin’ around!” exclaimed Budge, in great excitement. -“There!--the piano’s shut! Isn’t that too mean? Oh, I’ll tell you; -here’s Uncle Harry’s violin.” - -“But whatsh I goin’ to play on?” asked Toddie, dancing frantically -about. - -“Wait a minute,” said Budge, dropping the violin, and hurrying to the -floor above, from which he speedily returned with a comb. A bound -volume of the _Portfolio_ lay upon the table, and opening this, Budge -tore the tissue paper from one of the etchings and wrapped the comb in -it. - -“There!” said he, “you fiddle an’ I’ll blow the comb. Goodness! why -don’t they come down? Oh, we forgot to put pennies under the plate, and -we don’t know how many years old to put ’em for.” - -“An’ we ain’t got no pennies,” said Toddie. - -“I know,” said Budge, hurrying to a cabinet in a drawer of which his -uncle kept the nucleus of a collection of American coinage. “This kind -of pennies,” Budge continued, “isn’t as pretty as our kind, but they’re -bigger, an’ they’ll look better on a table-cloth. Now, how old do you -think she is?” - -“I dunno,” said Toddie, going into a reverie of hopeless conjecture. -“She’s about as big as you an’ me put togevver.” - -“Well,” said Budge, “you’re four an’ I’m six, an’ four an’ six is -ten--I guess ten’ll be about the thing.” - -Mrs. Burton’s plate was removed, and the pennies were deposited in -a circle. There was some painful counting and recounting, and many -disagreements, additions and subtractions. Finally, the pennies were -arranged in four rows, two of three each and two of two each, and Budge -counted the threes and Toddie verified the twos, and Budge was adding -the four sums together, when footsteps were heard descending the stairs. - -Budge hastily dropped the surplus coppers upon the four rows, replaced -the plate, and seized the comb as Toddie placed the violin against -his knee as he had seen small, itinerant Italians do. A second or two -later, as the host and hostess entered the dining-room, there arose a -sound which caused Mrs. Burton to clap her fingers to her ears, while -her husband exclaimed: - -“’Scat!” - -Then both boys dropped their instruments, Toddie finding the ways of -his own feet seriously compromised by the strings of the violin, while -both children turned happy faces toward their aunt, and shouted: - -“Happy Burfday!” - -Mr. Burton hurried to the rescue of his darling instrument, while his -wife gave each boy an appreciative kiss, and showed them a couple of -grateful tears. Her eye was caught by the fruit on the sideboard, and -she read the cards aloud: - -“Mrs. Frank Rommery--this is just like her effusiveness. I’ve never met -her but once, but I suppose her bananas must atone for her lack of -manners. Why, Charley Crewne! Dear me! What memories some men have!” - -A cloud came upon Mr. Burton’s brow. Charley Crewne had been one of his -rivals for Miss Mayton’s hand, and Mrs. Burton was looking a trifle -thoughtful, and her husband was as unreasonable as newly made husbands -often are, when Mrs. Burton exclaimed: - -“Some one has been picking the grapes off in the most shameful manner. -Boys!” - -“Ain’t from no Rommerys an’ Crewnes!” said Toddie. “Devsh from me an’ -Budgie, an’ we dzust tasted ’em to see if dey’d got sour in the night.” - -“Where did the cards come from?” asked Mrs Burton. - -“Out of the basket in the parlor,” said Budge. “But the back is the -nice part of ’em.” - -Mrs. Burton’s thoughtful expression and her husband’s frown disappeared -together as they seated themselves at the table. Both boys wriggled -vigorously until their aunt raised her plate, and then Budge exclaimed: - -“A penny for each year, you know.” - -“Thirty-one!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, after counting the heap. “How -complimentary!” - -“What doesh you do for little boys on your bifeday?” asked Toddie, -after breakfast was served. “Mamma does lots of fings.” - -[Illustration: “WHERE DID THE CARDS COME FROM?”] - -“Yes,” said Budge, “she says she thinks people ought to get their own -happy by makin’ other people happy. An’ mamma knows better than you, -you know, ’cause she’s been married longest.” - -Although Mrs. Burton admitted the facts, the inference seemed scarcely -natural, and she said so. - -“Well--a--a--a--a--anyhow,” said Toddie, “mamma always has parties on -her bifeday, an’ we hazh all de cake we want.” - -“You shall be happy to-day,” said Mrs. Burton; “for a few friends will -be in to see me this afternoon, and I am going to have a nice little -luncheon for them, and you shall lunch with us, if you will be very -good until then, and keep yourselves clean and neat.” - -“Aw wight,” said Toddie. “Izhn’t it most time now?” - -“Tod’s all stomach,” said Budge. “Say, Aunt Alice, I hope you won’t -forget to have some fruit-cake. That’s the kind we like best.” - -“You’ll come home very early, Harry?” asked Mrs. Burton, ignoring her -nephew’ question. - -“By noon, at furthest,” said the gentleman. “I only want to see my -morning letters, and fill any orders that may be in them.” - -“What are you coming so early for, Uncle Harry?” asked Budge. - -“To take Aunt Alice riding, old boy,” said Mr. Burton. - -“Oh! just listen, Tod! Won’t that be jolly? Uncle Harry’s going to take -us riding!” - -“I said I was going to take your Aunt Alice, Budge,” said Mr. Burton. - -“I heard you,” said Budge, “but that won’t trouble us any. She always -likes to talk to you better than she does to us. Where are we going?” - -Mr. Burton asked his wife, in German, whether the Lawrence-Burton -assurance was not charmingly natural, and Mrs. Burton answered in the -same tongue that it was, but was none the less deserving of rebuke, -and that she felt it her duty to tone it down in her nephews. Mr. -Burton wished her joy of the attempt, and asked a number of searching -questions about success already attained, until Mrs. Burton was glad to -see Toddie come out of a brown study and hear him say: - -“I fink dat placesh where de river is bwoke off izh de nicest placesh.” - -“What does the child mean?” asked his aunt. - -“Don’t you know where we went last year, an’ you stopped us from -seein’ how far we could hang over, Uncle Harry?” said Budge. - -“Oh! Passaic Falls!” exclaimed Mr. Burton. - -“Yes, that’s it,” said Budge. - -“Old riverzh bwoke wight in two dere,” said Toddie, “an’ a piece of -it’s way up in de air, an’ anuvver piece izh way down in big hole in -de stones. Datsh where I want to go widin’.” - -“Listen, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton. “We like to take you riding with -us at most times, but to-day we prefer to go alone. You and Budge will -stay at home. We sha’n’t be gone more than two hours.” - -“Wantsh to go a-widin’,” exclaimed Toddie. - -“I know you do, dear, but you must wait until some other day.” - -“But I wantsh to go,” Toddie explained. - -“And I don’t want you to, so you can’t,” said Mrs. Burton in a tone -which would reduce any reasonable person to hopelessness. But Toddie, -in spite of manifest astonishment, remarked: - -“Wantsh to go a-widin’.” - -“Now the fight is on,” murmured Mr. Burton to himself. Then he arose -hastily from the table and said: - -“I think I’ll try to catch the earlier train, my dear, as I am coming -back so soon.” - -Mrs. Burton arose to bid her husband good-by, and was kissed with -more than usual tenderness, and then held at arm’ length, while -manly eyes looked into her own with an expression which she found -untranslatable--for two hours, at least. Mrs. Burton saw her husband -fairly on his way, and then she returned to the dining-room, led Toddie -into the parlor, took him on her lap, wound her arms tenderly about -him, and said: - -“Toddie, dear, listen carefully to what Aunt Alice tells you. There -are some reasons why you boys should not go with us to-day, and Aunt -Alice means what she says when she tells you you can’t go with us. If -you were to ask a hundred times it would not make the slightest bit of -difference. You cannot go, and you must stop thinking about it.” - -Toddie listened intelligently from beginning to end, and replied: - -“But I wantsh to go.” - -“And you can’t. That ends the matter.” - -“No, it don’t,” said Toddie; “not a single bittie. I wantsh to go -badder dan ever.” - -“But you are not going.” - -“I wantsh to go so baddy,” said Toddie, beginning to cry. - -“I suppose you do, and auntie is very sorry for you, but that does not -alter the case. When grown people say ‘No!’ little boys must understand -that they mean it.” - -“But what I wantsh izh to go a-widin’ wif you.” - -“And what I want is, that you shall stay at home; so you must. Let -us have no more talk about it now. Shouldn’t you like to go into the -garden and pick some strawberries all for yourself?” - -“No, I’d like to go widin’.” - -“Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, “don’t let me hear one more word about -riding.” - -“Well, I want to go.” - -“Toddie, I will have to punish you if you say any more on this subject, -and that will make me very unhappy. You don’t want to make auntie -unhappy on her birthday, do you?” - -“No; but I do want to go a-widin’.” - -“Listen, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, with an imperious stamp of her -foot, and a sudden loss of her entire stock of patience. “If you say -one more word about that trip, I shall lock you in the attic chamber, -where you were the day before yesterday, and Budge shall not be with -you.” - -Toddie gave vent to a torrent of tears, and screamed: - -“A--h--h--h! I don’t want to be locked up, an’ I do want to go -a-widin’!” - -[Illustration: HE KICKED, PUSHED, SCREAMED AND ROARED] - -Toddie suddenly found himself clasped tightly in his aunt’ arms, in -which position he kicked, pushed, screamed and roared during the -passage of two flights of stairs. The moment of his final incarceration -was marked by a piercing shriek which escaped from the attic-window, -causing the dog Terry to retire precipitately from a pleasing lounging -place on the well-curb, and making a passing farmer to rein up his -horses and maintain a listening position for the space of five minutes. -Meanwhile Mrs. Burton descended to the parlor, more flushed, untidy and -angry than any one had ever seen her. She soon encountered the gaze of -her nephew Budge, and it was full of solemnity, inquiry and reproach. - -“How would you like to be carried up-stairs screamin’ an’ put in a -lonely room, just ’cause you wanted to go ridin’?” Budge asked. - -Mrs. Burton was unable to imagine herself in any such position, but -replied: - -“I should never be so foolish as to keep on wanting what I knew I could -not have.” - -“Why!” exclaimed Budge. “Are grown folks as smart as all that?” - -Mrs. Burton’s conscience smote her not overlightly, and she hastened -to change the subject, and to devote herself assiduously to Budge, as -if to atone for some injury which she might have done his brother. An -occasional howl which fell from the attic-window increased her zeal for -Budge’s comfort; under each one, however, her resolution grew weaker, -and, finally, with a hypocritical excuse to Budge, she hurried up to -the door of Toddie’s prison and said through the keyhole: - -“Toddie?” - -“What?” - -“Will you be a good boy, now?” - -“Yesh, if you’ll take me a-widin’.” - -Mrs. Burton turned abruptly away, and simply flew down the stairs. -Budge, who awaited her at the foot, instinctively stood aside, and -exclaimed: - -“I thought you was goin’ to tumble! Why didn’t you bring him down?” - -“Bring who?” - -“Oh, I know what you went up-stairs for,” said Budge. “Your eyes told -me all about it.” - -“You’re certainly a rather inconvenient companion,” said Mrs. Burton, -averting her face, “and I want you to run home and ask how your mamma -and baby-sister are. Don’t stay long: remember that luncheon will be -earlier than usual to-day.” - -Away went Budge, and Mrs. Burton devoted herself to thought. -Unquestioning obedience had been her own duty since she could -remember, yet she was certain that her will was as strong as Toddie’. -If she had been always able to obey, certainly the unhappy little boy -in the attic was equally capable; why should he not do it? Perhaps, she -admitted to herself, she had inherited a faculty in this direction, and -perhaps--yes, certainly, Toddie had done nothing of the sort. How was -she to overcome the defect in his disposition; or was she to do it at -all? Was it not something with which no one temporarily having a child -in charge should interfere? - -An occasional scream from Toddie helped to unbend the severity of her -principles, but suddenly her eye rested upon a picture of her husband, -and she seemed to see in one of the eyes a quizzical expression. All -her determination came back in an instant with heavy re-enforcements, -and Budge came back a few moments later. His bulletins from home, and -his stores of experiences _en route_ consumed but a few moments, and -then Mrs. Burton proceeded to dress for her ride. To exclude Toddie’s -screams she closed her door tightly, but Toddie’s voice was one with -which all timber seemed in sympathy, and it pierced door and window -apparently without effort. Gradually, however, it seemed to cease, and -with the growing infrequency of his howls and the increasing feebleness -of their utterance, Mrs. Burton’s spirits revived. Dressing leisurely, -she ascended to Toddie’s prison to receive his declaration of penitence -and to accord a gracious pardon. She knocked softly at the door and -said: - -“Toddie?” - -There was no response, so Mrs. Burton knocked and called with more -energy than before, but without reply. A terrible fear occurred to -her; she had heard of children who screamed themselves to death when -angry. Hastily she opened the door, and saw Toddie, tear-stained and -dirty, lying on the floor, fast asleep. She stooped over him to be sure -that he still breathed, and then the expression on his sweetly parted -lips was such that she could not help kissing it. Then she raised the -pathetic, desolate little figure softly in her arms, and the little -head dropped upon her shoulder and nestled close to her, and one little -arm was clasped tightly around her neck, and a soft voice murmured: - -“I wantsh to go a-widin’.” - -Just then Mr. Burton entered, and, with an exasperating affectation of -ingenuousness and uncertainty asked: - -“Did you conquer his will, my dear?” - -His wife annihilated him with a look, and led the way to the -dining-room; meanwhile, Toddie awoke, straightened himself, rubbed his -eyes, recognized his uncle, and exclaimed: - -“Uncle Harry, does you know where we’ goin’ dis afternoon? We’s goin’ -a-widin’.” - -Mr. Burton hid in his napkin the half of his face that was below his -eyes, and his wife wished that his eyes might have been hidden too, for -never in her life had she been so averse to having her own eyes looked -into. - -The saintliness of both boys during the afternoon’s ride took the -sting out of Mrs. Burton’s defeat. They gabbled to each other about -flowers and leaves and birds, and they assumed ownership of the few -summer clouds that were visible, and made sundry exchanges of them with -each other. When the dog Terry, who had surreptitiously followed the -carriage and grown weary, was taken in by his master they even allowed -him to lie at their feet without kicking, pinching his ears or pulling -his tail. - -[Illustration: THE JARDINIÈRE CAME DOWN WITH A CRASH] - -As for Mrs. Burton, no right-minded husband could wilfully torment his -wife upon her birthday, so she soon forgot the humiliation of the -morning, and came home with superb spirits and matchless complexion -for the little party. Her guests soon began to arrive, and after the -company had assembled Mrs. Burton’s chambermaid ushered in Budge and -Toddie, each in spotless attire, and the dog Terry ushered himself in, -and Toddie saw him and made haste to interview him, and the two got -inextricably mixed about the legs of a light jardinière, and it came -down with a crash, and then the two were sent into disgrace, which -suited them exactly, although there was a difference between them as to -whether the dog Terry should seek and enjoy the seclusion upon which -his heart was evidently intent. - -Then Budge retired with a face full of brotherly solicitude, and Mrs. -Burton was enabled to devote herself to the friends to whom she had not -previously been able to address two consecutive sentences. - -Mrs. Burton occasionally suggested to her husband that it might be -well to see where the boys were and what they were doing, but that -gentleman had seldom before found himself the only man among a dozen -comely and intelligent ladies, and he was too conscious of the rarity -of such experiences to trouble himself about a couple of people who had -unlimited ability to keep themselves out of sight, so the boys were -undisturbed for the space of two hours. A sudden summer shower came up -in the meantime, and a sentimental young lady requested the song “The -Rain upon the Roof,” and Mrs. Burton and her husband began to render it -as a duet; but in the middle of the second stanza Mrs. Burton began to -cough, and Mr. Burton sniffed the air apprehensively, while several of -the ladies started to their feet, while others turned pale. The air of -the room was evidently filling with smoke. - -“There can’t be any danger, ladies,” said Mrs. Burton. “You all know -what the American domestic servant is. I suppose our cook, with her -delicate sense of the appropriate, is relighting her fire, and has the -kitchen door wide open, so that all the smoke may escape through the -house instead of the chimney. I’ll go and stop it.” - -The mere mention of servants had its usual effect; the ladies began at -once that animated conversation which this subject has always inspired, -and which it will probably continue to inspire until all housekeepers -gather in that happy land, one of whose charms it is that the American -kitchen is undiscernible within its borders, and the purified domestic -may stand before her mistress without needing a scolding. But one -nervous young lady, whose agitation was being manifested by her feet -alone, happened to touch with the toe of her boot the turn-screw of -a hot-air register. Instantly she sprang back and uttered a piercing -scream, while from the register there arose a thick column of smoke. - -“Fire!” screamed one lady. - -“Water!” shrieked another. - -“Oh!” shouted several in chorus. - -Some ran up-stairs, others into the rainy street, the nervous young -lady fainted, a business-like young matron, who had for years been -maturing plans of operation in case of fire, hastily swept into a -table-cover a dozen books in special morocco bindings, and hurried -through the rain with them to a house several hundred feet away, while -the faithful dog Terry, scenting the trouble afar off, hurried home -and did his duty to the best of his ability by barking and snapping -furiously at every one, and galloping frantically through the house, -leaving his mark upon almost every square yard of carpet. Meanwhile -Mr. Burton hurried up-stairs coatless, with disarranged hair, dirty -hands, smirched face, and assured the ladies that there was no danger, -while Budge and Toddie, the former deadly pale, and the latter almost -apoplectic in color, sneaked up to their own chamber. - -The company dispersed; ladies who had expected carriages did not wait -for them, but struggled to the extreme verge of politeness for the -use of such umbrellas and waterproof cloaks as Mrs. Burton could -supply. Fifteen minutes later the only occupant of the parlor was the -dog Terry, who lay, with alert head, in the centre of a large Turkish -chair. Mrs. Burton, tenderly supported by her husband, descended the -stair, and contemplated with tightly compressed lips and blazing eyes -the disorder of her desolated parlor. When, however, she reached the -dining-room and beheld the exquisitely set table, to the arrangement of -which she had devoted hours of thought in preceding days and weeks, she -burst into a flood of tears. - -“I’ll tell you how it was,” said Budge, who appeared suddenly and -without invitation, and whose consciousness of good intention made him -as adamant before the indignant frowns of his uncle and aunt, “I always -think bonfires is the nicest things about celebrations, an’ Tod an’ -me have been carryin’ sticks for two days to make a big bonfire in the -back yard to-day. But it rained, an’ rainy sticks won’t burn. So we -thought we’d make one in the cellar, ’cause the top is all tin, an’ -the bottom’s all dirt, an’ it can’t rain in there at all. An’ we got -lots of newspapers and kindlin’-wood, an’ put some kerosene on it, -an’ it blazed up beautiful, an’ we was just comin’ up to ask you -all down to look at it, when in came Uncle Harry, an’ banged me against -the wall an’ Tod into the coal heap, an’ threw a mean old dirty -carpet on top of it, an’ wetted it all over.” - -“Little boysh never can do anyfing nysh wivout bein’ made to don’t,” -said Toddie. “Dzust see what an awful big splinter I got in my hand -when I was froin’ wood on de fire! I didn’t cry a bit about it den, -’cause I fought I was makin’ uvver folks happy, like de Lord wants -little boysh to. But dey didn’t get happy, so now I’m goin’ to cry -’bout de splinter!” - -And Toddie raised a howl which was as much superior to his usual cry as -things made to order generally are to the ordinary supply. - -“We had a torchlight procession too,” said Budge. “We had to have it in -the attic, but it wasn’t very nice. There wasn’t any trees up there for -the light to dance around on, like it does on ’lection-day nights. So -we just stopped, an’ would have felt real doleful if we hadn’t thought -of the bonfire.” - -“Where did you leave the torches?” asked Mr. Burton, springing from his -chair, and lifting his wife to her feet at the same time. - -[Illustration: “THREW A MEAN OLD DIRTY CARPET ON TOP OF IT”] - -“I--I dunno,” said Budge, after a moment of thought. - -“Froed ’em in a closet so’s not to dyty de nice floor wif ’em,” said -Toddie. - -Mr. Burton hurried up-stairs and extinguished a smoldering heap of -rags, while his wife, truer to herself than she imagined she was, drew -Budge to her, and said, kindly: - -“Wanting to make people happy, and doing it, are two very different -things, Budge.” - -“Yes, I should think they was,” said Budge, with an emphasis which -explained much that was left unsaid. - -“Little boysh is goosies for tryin’ to make big folksh happy at all,” -said Toddie, beginning again to cry. - -“Oh, no, they’re not, dear,” said Mrs. Burton, taking the sorrowful -child on her lap. “But they don’t always understand how best to do it, -so they ought to ask big folks before they begin.” - -“Den dere wouldn’t be no s’prises,” complained Toddie. “Say, izh we -goin’ to eat all dis supper?” - -“I suppose so, if we can,” sighed Mrs. Burton. - -“I guesh we can--Budgie an’ me,” said Toddie. “An’ won’t we be glad -all them wimmens wented away!” - -That evening, after the boys had retired, Mrs. Burton seemed a little -uneasy of mind, and at length she said to her husband: - -“I feel guilty at never having directed the boys’s devotions since they -have been here, and I know no better time than the present in which to -begin.” - -Mr. Burton’s eyes followed his wife reverently as she left the room. -The service she proposed to render the children she had sometimes -performed for himself, with results for which he could not be grateful -enough, and yet it was not with unalloyed anticipation that he softly -followed her up the stair. Mrs. Burton went into the chamber and found -the boys playing battering-ram, each with a pillow in front of him. - -“Children,” said she, “have you said your prayers?” - -“No,” said Budge; “somebody’s got to be knocked down first. Then we -will.” - -A sudden tumble by Toddie was the signal for devotional exercises, and -both boys knelt beside the bed. - -“Now, darlings,” said Mrs. Burton, “you have made some sad mistakes -to-day, and they should teach you that, even when you want most to do -right, you need to be helped by somebody better. Don’t you think so?” - -“I do,” said Budge. “Lots.” - -“I don’t,” said Toddie. “More help I getsh, de worse fings is. Guesh -I’ll do fings all alone affer dish.” - -“I know what to say to the Lord to-night, Aunt Alice,” said Budge. - -“Dear little boy,” said Mrs. Burton. “Go on.” - -“Dear Lord,” said Budge, “we do have the awfullest times when we try to -make other folks happy. Do, please, Lord, please teach big folks how -hard little folks have to think before they do things for ’em. An’ make -’em understand little folks every way better than they do, so that they -don’t make little folks unhappy when they try to make big folks feel -jolly. Make big folks have to think as hard as little folks do. Amen! -Oh yes, an’ bless dear mamma an’ the sweet little sister baby. How’s -that, Aunt Alice?” - -Mrs. Burton did not reply, and Budge, on turning, saw only her -departing figure, while Toddie remarked: - -“Now it’s my tyne. Dear Lord, when I getsh to be a little boy anzel up -in hebben, don’t let growed-up anzels come along whenever I’m doin’ -anyfing nysh for ’em, an’ say ’don’t’s or tumble me down in heaps of -nashty old black coal. Dere! Amen!” - - - - -CHAPTER V - - -It was with a sneaking sense of relief that Mrs. Burton awoke on the -following morning, and realized that the day was Sunday. - -“Even school-teachers have two days of rest in every seven,” she said -to herself, “and no one doubts that they deserve them. How much more -deserving of rest and relief must be the volunteer teacher who, not for -a few hours only, but from dawn to twilight, has charge of two children -whose capacity for both learning and mischief surely equals any school -full of boys.” - -The feeling that she was attempting for a few days only that which -mothers everywhere were doing without hope of rest excepting in heaven, -made her feel humble and worthless, but it did not banish her wish to -turn the children over to the care of their uncle for the day. Thoughts -of a Sunday excursion, from participation in which she should in some -way excuse herself; of volunteering to relieve her sister-in-law’s -nurse during the day, and thus leaving her husband, in charge of the -house and the children; of making that visit to her mother which is -always in order with the young wife--all these, and other devices not -so practicable, came before her mind’s eye for comparison, but they all -and together took sudden wing when her husband awoke and complained of -a raging toothache. Truly pitiful and sympathetic as Mrs. Burton was, -she exhibited remarkable resignation in the face of the thought that -her husband would probably need to remain in his room all day, and -that it would be absolutely necessary to keep the children out of his -sight and hearing. Then he could find nothing to criticise; she might -fail frequently, as she probably would, but he would know only of her -successes. - -A light knock was heard at Mrs. Burton’s door, and then, without waiting -for invitation there came in two fresh, rosy faces, two heads of -disarranged hair, and two long white night-gowns, and the occupant of -the longer gown exclaimed: - -“Say, Uncle Harry, do you know it’s Sunday? What are you going to do -about it? We always have lots done for us Sundays, ’cause it’s the only -day papa’s home.” - -“Yes, I--think I’ve heard--something of the kind--before,” mumbled Mr. -Burton, with difficulty, between the fingers that covered his aching -tooth. - -[Illustration: TODDIE PLAYING BEAR] - -“Oh--h,” exclaimed Toddie, “I b’lieve he’s goin’ to play bear! Come -on, Budgie, we’s got to be dogs.” And Toddie buried his face in the -bed-covering and succeeded in fastening his teeth in his uncle’s calf. -A howl from the sufferer did not frighten off the amateur dog, and -he was finally dislodged only by being clutched by the throat by his -victim. - -“Dat izhn’t de way to play bear,” complained Toddie. “You ought to -keep on a-howlin’, an’ let me keep on a-bitin’, an’ den you give me -pennies to stop. Dat’s de way papa does.” - -“Can you see how Tom Lawrence can be so idiotic?” asked Mrs. Burton. - -“I suppose I could,” replied the sufferer, “if I hadn’t such a -toothache.” - -“You poor old fellow!” said Mrs. Burton, tenderly. Then she turned to -her nephews, and exclaimed: “Now, boys, listen to me! Uncle Harry is -very sick to-day--he has a dreadful toothache, and every particle of -bother and noise will make it worse. You must both keep away from his -room, and be as quiet as possible wherever you may be in the house. -Even the sound of people talking is very annoying to a person with the -toothache.” - -“Den you’s a baddy woman to stay in here an’ keep a-talkin’ all de -whole time,” said Toddie, “when it makes poor old Uncle Harry hurt so. -G’way.” - -Mrs. Burton’s lord and master was not in too much pain to shake with -silent laughter at this rebuke, and the lady herself was too startled -to devise an appropriate retort, so the boys amused themselves by a -general exploration of the chamber, not omitting the pockets of their -uncle’s clothing. This work completed to the full extent of their -ability, they demanded breakfast. - -“Breakfast won’t be ready until eight o’clock,” said Mrs. Burton, “and -it is now only six. If you little boys don’t wish to feel dreadfully -hungry you had better go back to bed and lie as quiet as possible.” - -“Is dat de way not to be hungry?” asked Toddie, with the wide-open -eyes, which always accompany the receptive mind. - -“Certainly,” said Mrs. Burton. “If you run about, you agitate your -stomachs, and that makes them restless, so you feel hungry.” - -“Gwacious!” said Toddie. “What lots of fings little boys has got to -lyne, hazn’t dey? Come on, Budgie; let’s go put our tummuks to bed, -an’keep ’em from gettin’ ajjerytated.” - -“All right,” said Budge. “But say, Aunt Alice, don’t you s’pose our -stomachs would be sleepier an’ not so restless if there was some -crackers or bread an’ butter in ’em?” - -“There’s no one down-stairs to get you any,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“Oh,” said Budge, “we can find ’em. We know where everything is in the -pantries and storeroom.” - -“I wish I were so clever,” sighed Mrs. Burton. “Go along; get what you -like, but don’t come back to this room again. And don’t let me find -anything in disorder down-stairs, or I shall never trust you in my -kitchen again.” - -Away flew the children, but their disappearance only made room for a -new torment, for Mr. Burton stopped in the middle of the operation of -shaving himself, and remarked: - -“I’ve been longing for Sunday to come, for your sake, my dear. The -boys, as you have frequently observed, have very strange notions about -good things; but they are also, by nature, quite spiritually minded. -You are not only this latter, but you are free from strange doctrines -and the traditions of men. The mystical influences of the day will make -themselves felt upon those innocent little hearts, and you will have an -opportunity to correct wrong teachings and instill new sentiments and -truths.” - -Mr. Burton’s voice had grown a bit shaky as he reached the close -of this neat little speech, so that his wife scrutinized his face -closely to see if there might not be a laugh somewhere about it. A -friendly coating of lather protected one cheek, however, and the -troublesome tooth had distorted the shape of the other, so Mrs. -Burton was compelled to accept the mingled ascription of praise and -responsibility, which she did with a sinking heart. - -“I’ll take care of them while you’re at church, my dear,” said Mr. -Burton. “They’re always saintly with sick people.” - -Mrs. Burton breathed a sigh of relief. She determined that she would -extemporize a special “Children’s Service” immediately after breakfast, -and impress her nephews as fully as possible with the spirit of the -day; then if her husband would but continue the good work thus begun, -it would be impossible for the boys to fall from grace in the few hours -which remained between dinner time and darkness. Full of her project, -and forgetting that she had allowed her chambermaid to go to early -service, and promised herself to see that the children were dressed -for breakfast, Mrs. Burton, at the breakfast-table, noticed that her -nephews did not respond with their usual alacrity to the call of the -bell. Recalling her forgotten duty, she hurried to the boys’s chamber, -and found them already enjoying a repast which was remarkable for -variety. On a small table, drawn to the side of the bed, was a pie, a -bowl of pickles, a dish of honey in the comb, and a small package of -cinnamon bark; with spoons, knives and forks and fingers the boys were -helping themselves to these delicacies. Seeing his aunt, Toddie looked -rather guilty, but Budge displayed the smile of the fully justified, -and remarked: - -“Now, you know what kind of meals little boys like, Aunt Alice. I hope -you won’t forget it while we’re here.” - -“What do you mean!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, sternly, “by bringing such -things up-stairs?” - -“Why,” said Budge, “you told us to get what we wanted, an’ we supposed -you told the troof.” - -“An’ I ain’t azh hungry azh I wazh,” said Toddie, “but my tummuk feels -as if it growed big and got little again, every minute or two, an’ it -hurts. I wishes we could put tummuks away when we get done usin’ ’em, -like we do hats an’ over-shoes.” - -To sweep the remains of the unique morning lunch into a heap and away -from her nephews, was a work which occupied but a second or two of Mrs. -Burton’s time; this done, two little boys found themselves robed more -rapidly than they had ever before been. Arrived at the breakfast-table, -they eyed with withering contempt an irreproachable cutlet, some crisp -brown potatoes of waferlike thinness, and a heap of rolls almost as -light as snowflakes. - -“We don’t want none of this kind of breakfast,” said Budge. - -“Of coursh we don’t,” said Toddie, “when we’s so awful full of uvver -fings. I don’t know where I’zhe goin’ to put my dinner when it comes -time to eat it.” - -“Don’t fret about that, Tod,” said Budge. “Don’t you know papa says -that the Bible says somethin’ that means ‘don’t worry till you have -to’?” - -Mrs. Burton raised her eyebrows with horror not unmixed with inquiry, -and her husband hastened to give Budge’s sentiment its proper biblical -wording, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Mrs. Burton’ -wonder was allayed by the explanation, although her horror was not, and -she made haste to say: - -“Boys, we will have a little Sunday-school, all by ourselves, in the -parlor immediately after breakfast.” - -“Hooray!” shouted Budge. “An’ will you give us a ticket an’ pass -around a box for pennies, just like they do in big Sunday-schools?” - -“I--suppose so,” said Mrs. Burton, who had not previously thought of -these special attractions of the successful Sunday-school. - -“Let’s go right in, Tod,” said Budge, “’cause the dog’s in there. I saw -him as I came down, and I shut all the doors so he couldn’t get out. We -can have some fun with him ’fore Sunday-school begins.” - -Both boys started for the parlor-door, and, guided by that marvellous -instinct with which Providence arms the few against the many, and the -weak against the strong, the dog Terry, also approached the door from -the inside. As the door opened there was heard a convulsive howl, and -a general tumbling of small boys, while at almost the same instant -Terry flew into the dining-room and hid himself in the folds of his -mistress’s morning robe. Two or three minutes later Budge entered the -dining-room with a very rueful countenance, and remarked: - -“I guess we need that Sunday-school pretty quick, Aunt Alice. The dog -don’t want to play with us, and we ought to be comforted some way.” - -“They’re grown people, all over again,” remarked Mr. Burton, with a -laugh. - -“What do you mean?” demanded Mrs. Burton. - -“Only this; when their own devices fail, they’re in a hurry for the -consolations of religion. May I visit the Sunday-school?” - -“I suppose I can’t keep you away,” sighed Mrs. Burton, leading the way -to the parlor. “Boys,” said she, greeting her nephews, “first we’ll -sing a little hymn. What shall it be?” - -“Ole Uncle Ned,” said Toddie. - -“Oh, that’s not a Sunday song.” - -“I fink tizh,” said Toddie, “’cause it sayzh, free or four timezh, -‘He’s gone where de good niggers go,’s an’ dat’s hebben, you know. So -it’s a Sunday song.” - -“I think ‘Glory, glory, hallelujah!’s is nicer,” said Budge, “an’ I -know it’s a Sunday song, ’cause I’ve heard it in church.” - -“Aw wight,” said Toddie; and he started the old air himself, with the -words, “There liezh de whiskey-bottle, empty on de sheff,” but was -suddenly brought to order by a shake from his aunt, while his uncle -danced about the front parlor in an ecstasy not directly traceable to -toothache. - -“That’s not a Sunday song, either, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton. “The -words are real rowdyish. Where did you learn them?” - -“Round the corner from our housh,” said Toddie; “an’ you can shing you -ole shongs yourseff, if you don’t like mine.” - -Mrs. Burton went to the piano, rambled among chords for a few seconds, -and finally recalled a Sunday-school air in which Toddie joined as -angelically as if his own musical taste had never been impugned. - -“Now, I guess we’d better take up the collection before any little -boys lose their pennies,” said Budge, hurrying to the dining-room, and -returning with a strawberry-box which seemed to have been specially -provided for the occasion; this he passed gravely before Toddie, and -Toddie held his hand over it as carefully as if he were depositing -hundreds, and then Toddie took the box and passed it before Budge, who -made the same dumb show, after which Budge retook the box, shook it, -listened, remarked, “It don’t rattle--I guess it’s all paper-money -to-day,” placed it upon the mantel, reseated himself, and remarked: - -“Now bring on your lesson.” - -[Illustration: BUDGE TAKING UP THE COLLECTION] - -Mrs. Burton opened her Bible with a sense of helplessness. With the -instinct of a person given to thoroughness, she opened at the beginning -of the book, but she speedily closed it again. Turning the leaves -rapidly; passing, for conscience’s sake, the record of many a battle, -the details of which would have delighted the boys, and hurrying past -the prophecies as records not for the minds of children, she at last -reached the New Testament and the ever-new story of the only boy who -ever was all that his parents and relatives could wish him. - -“The lesson will be about Jesus,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“Little-boy Jesus or big-man Jesus?” asked Toddie. - -“A--a--both,” replied the teacher, in confusion. - -“Aw wight,” said Toddie. “G’won.” - -“There was once a time when all the world was in trouble, without -knowing exactly why,” said Mrs. Burton; “but the Lord understood it, -for He understands everything.” - -“Does He know how it feels to be a little boy,” asked Toddie, “an’ be -sent to bed when He don’t want to go?” - -“And He determined to comfort the world, as He always does when the -world finds out it can’t comfort itself,” continued Mrs. Burton, -ignoring her nephew’s questions. - -“But wasn’t dere lotsh of little boyzh den?” asked Toddie, “an’ -didn’t they need to be comforted as well as big folks?” - -“I suppose so. But He knew that if He comforted grown people, they -would make the children happy.” - -“I wiss He’d comfort you an’ Uncle Harry ev’ry mornin’, den,” said -Toddie. “G’won.” - -“So He sent His own Son--His only Son--down to the world to be a dear -little baby. And while smart people everywhere were wondering what -would or could happen to quiet the restless heart of people----” - -“Izh restless hearts like restless tummuks?” interrupted Toddie. “Kind -o’ pumpy an’ wabbley?” - -“I suppose so.” - -“Poor folks!” said Toddie, clasping his hands over his waistband. -“I’zhe sorry for ’em.” - -“While smart folks were trying to think out what should be done,” -continued Mrs. Burton, “some shepherds, who used to sit around at night -under the moon and stars, and wonder about things which they could not -understand, saw a wonderfully bright star in the sky.” - -“Was it one of the twinkle-twinkle kind, or one of the stand-still -kind?” asked Toddie. - -“I don’t know,” said Mrs. Burton, after a moment’s reflection. “Why do -you ask?” - -“’Cauzh,” said Toddie, “I know what ’twazh dere for, an’ it ought to -have twinkled, ’cauzh twinkley stars bob open an’ shut dat way ’cauzh -dey’re laughin’ an’ can’t keep still, an’ I know I’d have laughed -if I’d been a star an’ was goin’ to make a lot of folks awful happy. -G’won.” - -“Then,” said Mrs. Burton, looking alternately and frequently at the two -accounts of the Advent, “they suddenly saw an angel, and the shepherds -were afraid.” - -“Should fink dey would be!” said Toddie. “Everybody gets afraid when -dey see good people around. I ’pec dey thought de angel would say -‘Don’t!’ in about a minute.” - -“But the angel told them not to be afraid,” said Mrs. Burton, “for he -had come to bring good news. There was to be a baby born at Bethlehem, -and He would make everybody happy.” - -“Wouldn’t it be nice if that angel would come an’ do it all over -again?” Budge asked. “Only he ought to pick out little boys instead of -sheep fellows. I wouldn’t be afraid of an angel.” - -“Neiver would I,” said Toddie. “I’d dzust go round behind him an’ see -how his wings was fastened on.” - -“Then a great many other angels came,” said Mrs. Burton, “and they -all sang together. The shepherds didn’t know what to make of it, but -after the singing was over they all started for Bethlehem to see that -wonderful baby.” - -“Just like the other day we went to see the sister-baby!” - -“Yes,” said Mrs. Burton; “but instead of finding him in a pleasant home -and a nice room, with careful friends and nurses around him, he was in -a manger out in a stable.” - -“That was ’cause he was so smart that he could do just what he wanted -to, an’ be just where he liked,” said Budge, “an’ he was a little -boy, an’ little boys always like stables better than houses. I wish I -could live in a stable always an’ for ever!” - -“So do I,” said Toddie, “an’ sleep in mangers, ’cauzh den de horses -would kick anybody dat made me put on clean clozhezh when I didn’t want -to. Dey gaveded him presentsh, didn’t they?” - -“Yes,” said Mrs. Burton; “gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” - -“Why didn’t they give him rattles and squealey-balls, like folks did -budder Phillie when he was a baby,” asked Toddie. - -“Because, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, glad of an opportunity to get the -sentiment of the story into her own hands, from which it had departed -very early in the course of the lesson--“because he was no common baby, -like other children.” - -“Did he play around, like uvver little boysh?” continued Toddie. - -“I--I--suppose so,” said Mrs. Burton, fearing lest in trying to instill -reverence into her nephews, she herself might prove irreverent. - -“Did somebody say ‘Don’t’ at him every time he did anyfing?” continued -Toddie. - -“N--n--n--o! I imagine not,” said Mrs. Burton, “because he was always -good.” - -“That don’t make no diffwelence,” said Toddie. “De better a little boy -triesh to be, de more folks says ‘Don’t’ to him. So I guesh nobody had -any time to say anyfing elsh at all to Jesus.” - -“What did he do next?” asked Budge, as deeply interested as if he had -not heard the same story many times before. - -“He grew strong in body and spirit,” said Mrs. Burton, “and everybody -loved him; but before he had time to do all that, an angel came and -frightened his papa in a dream, and told him that the king of that -country would kill little Jesus if he could find him. So Joseph and -Mary, the mamma of the baby, got up in the middle of the night and -started off to Egypt.” - -“What did they do when they got there?” Budge asked. - -“I don’t know,” said Mrs. Burton. “I suppose the papa worked hard for -money to buy good food and comfortable resting-places for his wife and -the baby; and I suppose the mamma walked about the fields, and picked -pretty flowers for her baby to play with; and I suppose the baby cooed -when his mamma gave them to him, and laughed and danced and played, and -then got tired, and came and hid his little face in his mamma’s lap, -and was taken into her arms and held ever so tight, and fell asleep, -and that his mother looked into his face as if she would look through -it, while she tried to find out what her baby would be and do when he -grew up, and whether he would be taken away from her, while it seemed -as if she couldn’t live at all without having him very closely pressed -to her breast and----” - -Mrs. Burton’s voice grew a little shaky and soon failed her entirely. -Budge came in front of her, scrutinized her intently but with great -sympathy also, rested his elbows on her knees, dropped his face into -his own hands, looked up into her face, and said: - -“Why, Aunt Alice, she was just like my mamma, wasn’t she? An’ I think -you are just like both of ’em!” - -Mrs. Burton took Budge into her arms, covered his face with kisses, and -totally destroyed another chance of explaining the difference between -the earthly and the heavenly to her pupils, while Toddie eyed the -couple with evident disfavor, and said: - -“I fink ’twould be nicer if you’d see if dinner was bein’ got ready, -instead of stoppin’ tellin’ stories an’ huggin’ Budgie. My tummuk’ -all gotted little again.” - -Mrs. Burton came back to the world of to-day from that of history, -though not without a sigh, while the dog Terry, who had divined -the peaceful nature of the occasion so far as to feel justified in -reclining beneath his mistress’ chair, now contracted himself into the -smallest possible space, slunk out of the doorway, and took a lively -quickstep in the direction of the shrubbery. Toddie had seen him, -however, and told Budge, and both boys were soon in pursuit, noticing -which, Terry speedily betook himself to that distant retirement which -the dog who has experience in small boys knows well how to discover and -maintain. - -As the morning wore on the boys grew restless, fought, drummed on the -piano, snarled when that instrument was closed, meddled with everything -that was within reach, and finally grew so troublesome that their aunt -soon felt that to lose was cheaper than to save, so she left the house -to the children, and sought the side of the lounge upon which her -afflicted husband reclined. The divining sense of childhood soon found -her out, however, and Budge remarked: - -“Aunt Alice, if you’re going to church, seems to me it’s time you was -getting ready.” - -“I can’t go to church, Budge,” sighed Mrs. Burton. “If I do, you boys -will only turn the whole house upside down, and drive your poor uncle -nearly crazy.” - -“No, we won’t,” said Budge. “You don’t know what nice nurses we can be -to sick people. Papa says nobody can even imagine how well we can take -care of anybody until they see us do it. If you don’t believe it, just -leave us with Uncle Harry, an’ stay home from church an’ peek through -the keyhole.” - -“Go on, dear,” said Mr. Burton. “If you want to go to church, don’t -be afraid to leave me. I think you should go, after your experience -of this morning. I shouldn’t think your mind could be at peace until -you had joined your voice with that of the great congregation, and -acknowledged yourself to be a miserable sinner.” - -[Illustration: TERRY] - -Mrs. Burton winced, but nevertheless retired, and soon appeared dressed -for church, kissed her husband and her nephews, gave many last -instructions, and departed. Budge followed her with his eye until she -had stepped from the piazza, and then remarked, with a sigh of relief: - -“Now I guess we’ll have what papa calls a good, old-fashioned time, for -we’ve got rid of her.” - -“Budge!” exclaimed Mr. Burton, sternly, and springing to his feet, “do -you know who you are talking about? Don’t you know that your Aunt Alice -has saved you from many a scolding, done you many a favor, and been -your best friend?” - -“Oh, yes,” said Budge, with at least a dozen inflections on each word, -“but ev’ry day friends an’ Sunday friends are kind o’ different; don’t -you think so? She can’t make whistles, or catch bullfrogs, or carry -both of us up the mountain on her shoulders, or sing ‘Roll, Jordan.’” - -“And do you expect me to do all these things to-day?” - -“N--n--no, unless you should get well, an’ feel just like it; but we’d -like to be with somebody who could do ’em if he wanted to. We like -ladies that’s all ladies, but then we like men that’s all men, too. -Aunt Alice is a good deal like an angel, I think, and you--well, you -ain’t. An’ we don’t want to be with angels all the time until we’re -angels ourselves.” - -Mr. Burton turned over suddenly and contemplated the back of the -lounge, while Budge continued: - -“We don’t want you to get to be an angel, so what I want to know is, -how to make you well. Don’t you think if I borrowed papa’ horse and -carriage an’ took you ridin’ you’d feel better? I know he’d lend ’em -to me if I told him you were goin’ to drive.” - -“And if you said you would go with me to take care of me?” suggested -Mr. Burton. - -“Y--e--es,” said Budge, as hesitatingly as if such an idea had never -occurred to him. “An’ don’t you think that up to the top of Hawksnest -Rock an’ out to Passaic Falls would be the nicest places for a sick -man to go? When you got tired of ridin’ you could stop the carriage -an’ cut us a cane, or make us whistles, or even send us in swimming in -a brook somewhere if you got tired of us.” - -“H’m!” grunted Mr. Burton. - -“An’ you might take fings to eat wif you,” suggested Toddie, “an’ -when you got real tired and felt bad you might stop an’ have a little -picnic. I fink dat would be dzust de fing for a man wif de toofache. -And we could help you, lotsh.” - -“I’ll see how I feel after dinner,” said Mr. Burton. “But what are you -going to do for me between now and then, to make me feel better?” - -“We’ll tell you storiezh,” said Toddie. “Dem’s what sick folks alwayzh -likesh.” - -“Very well,” said Mr. Burton. “Begin right away.” - -“Aw wight,” said Toddie. “Do you wantsh a sad story or a d’zolly one?” - -“Anything. Men with the toothache can stand nearly anything. Don’t draw -on your imagination too hard.” - -“Don’t never draw on no madzinasuns,” said Toddie; “I only draws on -slatesh.” - -“Never mind. Give us the story.” - -“Well,” said Toddie, seating himself in a little rocking-chair, and -fixing his eyes on the ceiling, “guesh I’ll tell about AbrahammynIsaac. -Onesh de Lord told a man named Abraham to go up the mountain an’ chop -his little boy’s froat open an’ burn him up on a naltar. So Abraham -started to go do it. An’ he made his little boy Isaac, dat he was -going to chop and burn up, carry de kindlin’ wood he was goin’ to set -him a-fire wif. An’ I want to know if you fink dat wazh very nysh of -him?” - -“Well, no.” - -“Tell you what,” said Budge, “you don’t ever catch me carryin’ sticks -up the mountain, even if my papa wants me to.” - -“When they got up dere,” said Toddie, “Abraham made a naltar an’ put -little Ikey on it, an’ took a knife an’ was goin’ to chop his froat -open, when a andzel came out of hebben, an’ said: ‘Stop a-doin’ -dat!’s So Abraham stopped, an’ Ikey skooted. An’ Abraham saw a sheep -caught in de bushes, an’ he caught him an’ killed him. He wasn’ -goin’ to climb way up a mountain to kill somebody an’ not have his -knife bluggy a bit. An’ he burned de sheep up. An’ den he went home -again.” - -“I’ll bet you Isaac’s mamma never knew what his papa wanted to do with -him,” said Budge, “or she’d never let her little boy go away in the -mornin’. Do you want to bet?” - -“N--no, not on Sunday,” said Mr. Burton. “Now, suppose you little boys -go out of doors and play for a while, while uncle tries to get a nap.” - -The boys accepted the suggestion and disappeared. Half an hour later, -as Mrs. Burton was walking home from church under escort of old -General Porcupine, and enduring with saintly fortitude the general’s -compliments upon her management of the children, there came screams of -fear and anguish from the general’s own grounds, which the couple were -passing. - -“Who can that be?” exclaimed the general, his short hairs bristling -like the quills of his titular godfather. “We have no children.” - -“I think I know the voices,” gasped Mrs. Burton, turning pale. - -“Bless my soul!” exclaimed the general, with an accent which showed -that he was wishing the reverse of blessings upon souls less needy than -his own. “You don’t mean----” - -“Oh, I do!” said Mrs. Burton, wringing her hands. “Please hurry!” - -The general puffed and snorted up his gravel walk and toward the -shrubbery, behind which was a fishpond from which direction the sound -came. Mrs. Burton followed in time to see her nephew Budge help his -brother out of the pond while the general tugged at a large crawfish -which had fastened its claw upon Toddies finger. The fish was game, -but, with a mighty pull from the general, and a fiendish shriek from -Toddie, the fish’s claw and body parted company, and the general, still -holding the latter tightly, staggered backward and himself fell into -the pond. - -[Illustration: THE GENERAL FELL INTO THE POND] - -“Ow--ow--ow!” howled Toddie, clasping the skirt of his aunt’s mauve -silk in a ruinous embrace, while the general floundered and snorted -like a whale in dying agonies and Budge laughed as merrily as if the -whole scene had been provided especially for his entertainment. Mrs. -Burton hurried her nephews away, forgetting, in her mortification, to -thank the general for his service, and placing a hand over Toddie’s -mouth. - -“It hurts!” mumbled Toddie. - -“What did you touch the fish at all for?” asked Mrs. Burton. - -“It was a little baby-lobster,” sobbed Toddie, “an’ I loves little -babies--all kinds of ’em--an’ I wanted to pet him. An’ den I wanted -to grop him.” - -“Why didn’t you do it?” demanded the lady. - -“’Cauzh he wouldn’t grop,” said Toddie. “He isn’t all gropped yet.” - -True enough, the claw of the fish still hung at Toddies finger, and -Mrs. Burton spoiled a pair of four-button kids in detaching it, while -Budge continued to laugh. At length, however, mirth gave place to -brotherly love, and Budge tenderly remarked: - -“Toddie dear, don’t you love Bother Budgie?” - -“Yesh,” sobbed Toddie. - -“Then you ought to be happy,” said Budge, “for you’ve made him awful -happy. If the fish hadn’t caught you, the general couldn’t have pulled -him off, an’ then he wouldn’t have tumbled into the pond, an’ oh, -my--didn’t he splash bully!” - -“Then you’s got to be bited wif a fiss yourself,” said Toddie, “an’ -make him tumble in again, for me to laugh ’bout.” - -“You’re two naughty boys,” said Mrs. Burton. “Is this the way you take -care of your sick uncle?” - -“We did take care of him!” exclaimed Toddie. “Told him a lovaly Bible -story, an’ you didn’t, an’ he wouldn’t have had not no Sunday at all -if I hadn’t done it. An’ we’ goin’ to take him widin’ dis afternoon.” - -Mrs. Burton hurried home, but it seemed to her that she had never met -so many inquiring acquaintances during so short a walk. Arrived at -last, she ordered her nephews to their room, and flung herself in tears -beside her husband, murmuring: - -“Harry!” - -And Mr. Burton, having viewed the ruined dress with the eye of -experience, uttered the single word: - -“Boys!” - -“What am I to do with them?” asked the unhappy woman. - -Mr. Burton was an affectionate husband. He adored womankind, and -sincerely bemoaned its special grievances; but he did not resist the -temptation to recall his wife’s announcement of five days before, so he -whispered: - -“Train them.” - -“I----” - -Mrs. Burton’s humiliation by her own lips was postponed by a heavy -footfall, which, by turning her face, she discovered was that of her -brother-in-law, Tom Lawrence, who remarked: - -“Tender confidences, eh? There’s nothing like them, if you want to be -happy. But Helen’s pretty well to-day, and dying to have her boys with -her, and I’m even worse with a similar longing. You can’t spare them, -I suppose?” - -The peculiar way in which Tom Lawrence’ eyes danced as he awaited a -reply would, at any other time, have aroused all the defiance in Alice -Burton’s nature; but now, looking at the front of her beautiful dress, -she only said: - -“Why--I suppose--we might spare them for an hour or two.” - -“You poor, dear Spartan,” said Tom, with genuine sympathy, “You shall -be at peace until their bedtime.” - -And Mrs. Burton found occasion to rearrange the bandage on her -husband’s face so as to whisper in his ear: - -“Thank heaven!” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - -The boys returned to the Burtons fast asleep, Budge in his father’s -arms, and Toddie’s head pillowed on the shoulder of faithful Mike. -No sound was heard from either of them until the next morning, when -finding that they slept later than usual, their aunt went to their -chamber to arouse them. She found Budge sitting up in bed rubbing his -eyes with one hand, while with the other he shook his brother, and -elicited some ugly grunts of remonstrance. - -“Tod!” exclaimed Budge; “Tod! Wake up! We ain’t where we was!” - -“Don’t care if we ain’t,” drawled Toddie. “I’zhe in--a--nicer playsh. -I’zhe in--big candy-shop.” - -“No, you ain’t,” said Budge, trying to pick his brother’s eyes open. -“You’re at Aunt Alice’, and when you went to sleep you was at mamma’s -house.” - -“Pw--w--w--!” cried Toddie, arising slowly; “you’s a hateful bad boy, -Budgie. I was a-dreamin’ I was in a candystore, an’ gotted all my -pockets full an’ bof hands full, too, an’ now you’s woketed me up -an’ my hands is all empty, an’ I hazn’t got any pocket-clozhezh on me -at all.” - -“Well, next time you have a dream I won’t wake you at all, even if you -have nightmares an’ dream awful things. Say, Aunt Alice, how do folks -dream, I wonder? What makes everythin’ go away an’ be somethin’ -else?” - -“It is the result of indistinct impressions upon a semi-dormant brain,” -said Mrs. Burton. - -“Oh!” - -Mrs. Burton thought she detected a note of sarcasm in her nephew’s -exclamation, but he was so young and he seemed so meek of countenance -that she abandoned the idea. Besides, her younger nephew had been -saying “Aunt Alish--Aunt Alish--Aunt Alish--Aunt Alish--” as rapidly as -he could with an increasing volume of voice. Mrs. Burton found time in -which to say: - -“What?” - -“Did you say pwessin’ on bwains made us dweam fings, Aunt Alish?” - -“Ye--es,” Mrs. Burton replied. “That is the----” - -“Well, then,” interrupted Toddie. “Jzust you sit down on my head an’ -make dat candy-shop come back again, won’t you?” - -“Say, Aunt Alice,” said Budge, “do you know that lots of times I don’t -know any more than I knew before.” - -“I don’t understand you, Budge.” - -“Why, when folks tell me things--I mean, I ask them how things are, -an’ they tell me, an’ then I don’t know any better than I did before. -Is that the way it is with grown folks?” - -[Illustration: “DREAMIN’ I WAS IN A CANDY-STORE”] - -Mrs. Burton reflected for a moment and recalled many experiences very -much like that of Budge--experiences, too, in which she had forced the -same impassive face that Budge wore, as she pretended to comprehend -that which had been imperfectly explained. She remembered, too, how -depressing had been the lack of understanding, and how strong was the -sense of injury at being required to act as if her comprehension had -been perfectly reached. Whether the topics had been the simple affairs -of childhood, or the social, æsthetic and religious instructions of -adult age, Mrs. Burton, like every one else, had been told more than -she understood, and misunderstood many things she had been told, and -blamed her friends and the world for her blunders and for lack of -appreciation of the intentions to which proper and fostering training -had never been applied. Was it possible that she was repeating with her -nephews the blunders which others had committed while attempting to -shape her own mind? - -The thought threw Mrs. Burton into the profoundest depths of reverie, -from which she was aroused by Budge, who asked: - -“Aunt Alice, do you see the Lord?” - -“No, Budge!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, with a start. “Why do you ask?” - -“Why,” said Budge, “you was lookin’ so hard through the window, an’ -right toward where you couldn’t see anythin’ but sky; an’ your eyes -had such an ever-so-far look in them that I thought you must be lookin’ -straight at the Lord.” - -“If you sees Him,” said Toddie, “I wiss you’d ask him to send that -dream back again to-night; to push on my bwains an’ make it come -back, and then let me stay asleep until I eat up all de candy I gotted -into my pockets an’ hands.” - -The appearance of the chambermaid, who came to dress the boys for -breakfast, put an end to the conversation, but Mrs. Burton determined -that it should be renewed at the earliest opportunity, or, rather, that -her discoveries of her own shortcomings as a teacher of children should -lead to an early and practical reformation. - -The fit of mental abstraction into which this resolution threw her was -the cause of a silence which puzzled her husband considerably, for -he could plainly see by her face that no affair merely matured was -at the bottom of her reticence, and that what in men would be called -temper was equally absent from her heart. In fact, the result upon Mrs. -Burton’s face and actions was so beneficial that the lady’s husband -determined to plead toothache as an excuse to remain at home for a day -and look at her. - -The mere suggestion, however, elicited from Mrs. Burton the mention of -so many absolute necessities which could be procured only in the city -and by her husband, that he departed by a train even earlier than the -one upon which he usually travelled, and with sensations very like -those of a man who has been forcibly ejected from a residence. - -Then Mrs. Burton led her nephews into the sitting-room, seated herself, -placed an arm tightly about each little boy, and said: “Children, is -there anything that you would very much like to know?” - -“Yesh,” answered Toddie, promptly. “I’d like to know what we’s going to -have for dinner to-day?” - -“And I,” said Budge, “would like to know when we’re all goin’ for a -ride again.” - -“I don’t mean silly things of that sort,” said Mrs. Burton, “but----” - -“Ain’t silly fings!” said Toddie. “Deysh what makesh ush happy.” - -Mrs. Burton made a mental note of the justice of the rebuke, and of its -connection with the subject of which her heart was already full; but -she was still Alice Mayton Burton, a lady whose perceptions could not -easily prevent her from following the paths which she had already laid -out for herself, so she replied: - -“I know they are; but I want to teach you whatever you want to learn -about matters of more importance.” - -“Do you mean that you want to play school?” asked Budge. “Papa don’t -think school is healthy for children in warm weather, an’ neither do -we.” - -“No, I don’t want to play school, but I want to explain to you some of -the things which you say you don’t understand, though people tell you -all about them. It makes Aunt Alice very unhappy to think that her dear -little nephews are troubled about understanding things when they want -so much to do so. Aunt Alice was once a little bit of a girl, and had -just the same sort of trouble, and she remembers how uncomfortable it -made her.” - -“Oh!” said Budge, changing his position until he could look into his -aunt’s eyes. “Did you ever have to wonder how big moons got to be -little again, an’ then have big folks tell you they chopped up the old -moons an’ made stars of them, when you knew the story must be an awful -whopper?” - -“Yes,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“An’ didn’t you ever wunner what dinner was goin’ to be made of, an’ -den have big folks just say ‘never mind’?” asked Toddie. - -“Yes,” said Mrs. Burton, giving Toddie a light squeeze. “I’ve been -through that, too.” - -“Why!” said Budge, “you was awful little once, wasn’t you? Well, did -you ever have to wonder where God stood when he made the world out of -nothing?” - -“An’ did you ever have to fink how the sweet outsides got made onto -date-stones an’ peach-pits?” asked Toddie. - -“Oh, yes.” - -“Then tell us all about ’em.” - -“You asked me about dreams this morning, dear,” said Mrs. Burton, -addressing Budge, “and----” - -“I know I did,” said Budge; “but I’d rather know about dates an’ -peaches now. I can’t dream any more till I go to bed; but I can buy -dates inside of a quarter of an hour, if you’ll give me pennies. Oh, -say--I’ll tell you what--you send me to buy some, and then you can -explain about ’em easier. It’ so much nicer to see how things are than -to have to think about ’em.” - -“I can’t spare you now, dear, to go after dates. I may not have time to -talk to you when you get back.” - -“Oh, we’d manage not to bother you. I think we could find out all -about ’em ourselves, if we had enough of ’em to do it with.” - -“Very well,” said Mrs. Burton, compromising reluctantly. “I’ll tell you -about something else at present; then I will give you some money to -purchase dates, and you may study them for yourselves.” - -[Illustration: “WONDER HOW BIG MOONS GOT TO BE LITTLE AGAIN”] - -“All right. Now tell us what makes your dog Terry always run away -whenever we want him?” - -“Because you tease him so much, whenever you catch him that you -have made him hate you,” said Mrs. Burton, delighted at the double -opportunity to speak distinctly and impart a lesson in humanity. - -“Now, you’s gettin’ ready to say ‘Don’t,’” Toddie complained. “Can’t -little boysh lyne noffin’ dat hazn’t got any mean old ‘Don’t’ in it?” - -“I hope so, poor little fellow,” said Mrs. Burton, repenting at once of -her success. - -“What would you like to know?” - -Toddie opened his mouth and eyes, hung his head to one side, meditated -for two or three minutes, and said: - -“I--I--I--I--I wantsh to know whatsh de reason dat when a little boy -hazh been eatin’ lotsh of buttananoes he can’t eat any more, when he’s -been findin’ out all the whole time how awful good dey is?” - -“Because his little stomach is full, and when one’s stomach is full it -knows enough to stop wanting anything.” - -“Then tummuks is gooses. I wiss I was my tummuk dzust once; I’d show it -how never to get tired of buttananoes.” - -“What I want to know,” said Budge, “is how we have dreams, ’cause I -don’t know any more about it than I did before, after what you told me -this morning.” - -“It’s a hard thing to explain, dear,” said Mrs. Burton, as she -endeavored to frame a simple explanation. “We think with our brain, -and when we sleep our brain sleeps too, though sometimes it isn’t as -sleepy as the rest of our body; and when it is a little wakeful it -thinks the least bit, but it can’t think straight, so each thought gets -mixed up with part of some other thought.” - -“That’s the reason I dreamed last night that a cow was sittin’ in your -rockin’-chair readin’ an atlas,” said Budge. “But what made me think -about cows an rockin-chairs an’ atlases at all?” - -[Illustration: “A COW READIN’s AN ATLAS”] - -“That’s one of the things which we can’t explain about dreams,” said -Mrs. Burton. “We seem to remember something that we have seen at some -other time, and our memories jumble against each other, when two or -three come at a time.” - -“Then,” said Toddie, “some night when I’ze asleep I’m goin’ to fink -about buttananoes an’ red-herrin’ an’ ice-cream an’ourgrass an’ -hard-boiled eggs an’ candy an’ fried hominy, an’ won’t I hazh a -lovaly little tea-party in bed, if all my finks djumbles togevver? An’ -I won’t djeam about any uvver little boy wif me at all.” - -“When I dream about dear little dead brother Phillie,” said Budge, -“don’t I do anythin’ but just remember him? Don’t he come down from -heaven and see me in my bed?” - -“I imagine not, dear,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“Then what makes him look so white and sunny, an’ smile so sweet, an’ -flap his dear little white wings close to my face so I can touch ’em?” - -“I suppose it is because--because you have thought of him looking that -way,” said Mrs. Burton, drawing Budge closer to her side to hide the -wistfulness of his face from her eyes. “You’ve seen pictures of angels -all in white, with graceful wings, and you’ve thought of little brother -Phil looking that way.” - -“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Budge, burying his face in his aunt’s robe and -bursting into tears. “I wish I hadn’t tried to find out about dreamin’! -I don’t ever want to learn about anything else. If dear little angel -Phillie is only a piece of a think in my brain when I’m asleep, then -there isn’t nothin’ that’s anythin’. I always thought it was funny -that he began to go away as soon as I began to wake up.” - -“Cows don’t go ’way when I wakes up from dreamin’ about ’em,” said -Toddie. “I ’members ’em all day, an’ sees ’em whenever I don’t want -to.” - -Mrs. Burton could not repress a smile, while Budge raised his head, and -said: - -“Well, I suppose it’s no good to be unhappy. We’d better have fun than -think about things that’s awful sad. Can’t you think of some new kind -of a play for us?” - -“I’m afraid I can’t, at this minute,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“Suppose you play store,” said Budge, “an’ keep lots of nice things, -like cakes an’ candies, an’ let us buy ’em of you for pins. Oh, yes! -an’ you give us the pins to buy ’em with. - -“An’ do it ’fore it getsh dinner-time,” said Toddie, “so de fings you -sell us can get out of the way in time, so we can get empty to get -fullded up at dinner.” - -“I can’t do that,” said Mrs. Burton, “because it would give you an -excuse to eat between meals.” - -“Then tell us stories,” Budge suggested; “no, make a menagerie for us. -Oh, no!--I’ll tell you what, make believe it was our house, an’ you -was comin’ to visit us, an’ we’ll bring you up cake an’ coffee to -rest yourself with.” - -“I’m afraid I smell some little mice!” said Mrs. Burton. - -“In the mouse-twap?” inquired Toddie. “Oh! get ’em for ush to play wif!” - -“Tell you what,” said Budge. “You can tell us that funny story about -the man that had dogs for doctors.” - -“Dogs for doctors?” echoed Mrs. Burton. - -“Yes,” said Budge; “don’t you know? He’s in the Bible book.” - -“He may be,” said Mrs. Burton, rapidly passing in review such biblical -dogs as she could remember, “but I don’t know where.” - -“Why, don’t you know?” continued Budge. “He was that man that was so -poor that he had to eat crumbs, an’ papa don’t think he had any syrup -with ’em, either, like we do when the cook gives us the crumbs out of -the bread-box.” - -“Is it possible you mean Lazarus?” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. - -“Yesh,” said Toddie, “dat was him. ’Twasn’t de Lazharus that began to -live again after he was buried, though. He didn’t have no dogs.” - -“The poor man you mean,” said Mrs. Burton, “was very sick and very -poor, so that he had to be fed with the scraps that a rich man named -Dives left at his own table. But the Lord saw him and knew what -troubles he was having, and determined that the poor man should be -happy after he died, to make up for the trouble he had when he was -alive. So when poor Lazarus died the Lord took him right into heaven.” - -“Nobody has to eat table-scraps there, do they?” said Budge. “But say, -Aunt Alice, what do they do in heaven with things that’ left at the -table? Isn’t it wicked to throw them away up there?” - -“Should fink they’d cut a hole in the floor of hebben an’ grop de -scraps down froo, for poor people,” said Toddie. “When I gets to be an -andzel, an’ gets done my dinners, I’m goin’ to get up on the wall -an’ froe the rest over down into the world. Only I must be careful not -to grop off myself an’ tumble into the wylde again.” - -“What I want to know is,” said Budge, “how do they get things to eat -for the angels? Do they have grocery stores, an’ butcher shops, an’ -milk wagons up there?” - -“Gracious, no!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, her fingers instinctively moving -toward her ears. “The Lord provides food in some way that we don’t -understand. But this poor Lazarus, after he became an angel, looked -out of heaven, and saw, away off in the bad place, the rich man whose -leavings he used to eat, for the rich man had died too. And the rich -man begged Abraham----” - -“I fought his name was Lazharus?” said Toddie. - -“The poor man was named Lazarus,” said Mrs. Burton; “but when he -reached heaven he found good old Abraham there, and Abraham took care -of him. And the rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus just to dip -his finger in water and rub it on the rich man’ lips, for he was so -thirsty.” - -“Why didn’t he get a drink for himself?” asked Budge. “Can’t rich -people wait on themselves even when they die?” - -“There is no water in the bad place,” said Mrs. Burton. “That was why -he was so thirsty.” - -“Goodnesh!” said Toddie. “How does little boysh make mud-pies there?” - -“I hope no little boys ever go there,” said Mrs. Burton. “But Abraham -said: ‘Not so, my friend. You had your good things while you were -alive; now you must get along without anything. But poor Lazarus must -be made happy, for he had very bad times when he was alive!’” - -[Illustration: “HOW DO THEY GET THINGS TO EAT FOR THE ANGELS?”] - -“Is that the way it is?” Budge asked. “Then I guess Abraham will -have to do lots for me when I die, for I have a good many bad times -nowadays. Then what did the bothered old rich man do about it?” - -“He told Abraham that he had some brothers that were alive yet, and -he wished that an angel might be sent to tell them to be good, so as -never to have to come to that dreadful place. But Abraham told him -it wouldn’t be of any use to send an angel. They had good books and -preachers that would tell them what to do.” - -“An’ did he have to go on bein’ thirsty forever?” asked Budge. - -“I suppose so,” said Mrs. Burton, with a shudder, and realizing why it -was that the doctrine of eternal torment was not more industriously -preached from the pulpit. - -“G’won!” remarked Toddie. - -“That is all there is of it,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“Why you didn’t tell us a fing about the doctor-dogs,” complained -Toddie. - -“Oh, those are not nice to tell about,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“I fink deysh dzust de nicest fing about de story. Whenever I getsh a -sore finger, I goes an’ sits down by the back door an’ calls Terry. -But I don’t fink Terry’s a very good doctor, ’cauzh he don’t come -when I wants him. One of dese days when I getsh lotsh of soresh, like -Jimmy McNally when he had the smallpox, an’ Terry will want to see me -awful, I won’t let him see me a bit. Tell us ’nother story.” - -The sound of harp and fiddle came to Mrs. Burton’s rescue, and the boys -hurried to the front of the house to behold two very small Italians, -who were doing their utmost to teach adults the value of peace and -quietness. - -Budge and Toddie listened to the whole repertoire of the couple, -encored every selection, bestowed in payment the pennies their aunt -gave them for the purpose, and proposed to follow the musicians on -their route through the town, but their aunt stopped them. - -“What do those little fellows do with all the pennies they get?” asked -Budge. “Do they buy candy with them?” - -“What lotsh of candy they must have!” exclaimed Toddie. - -“I suppose they take their money home to their papas and mammas,” said -Mrs. Burton, “for they are very poor people. Perhaps the parents of -those two little boys are sick at this very moment, and are looking -anxiously for the return of their little boys who are so far away.” -(Mem. The first report of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to -Children had not been published at that time.) - -“An’ do the little boys make all that music dzust ’cauzh dey love -somebody?” asked Toddie. - -“Yes, dear.” - -“But folks always gets paid by the Lord for doin’ things for other -folks, don’t they, Aunt Alice?” asked Budge. - -“Yes, dear old fellow,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“One fing nysh about dem little boysh,” said Toddie, “ish dat, when -their papas an’ mammas is sick, dere isn’t anybody to tell ’em not to -get deir shoes dusty. Dzust see how dey walksh along in the middle of -the street, kickin’ up de dust, an’ nobody to say ‘Don’t!’s to ’em, -an’ nobody skrong enough to spynk ’em for it when dey gets home. I -wiss I was a musicker.” - -“Well, they’re gone now,” sighed Budge, “’an we want something else -to make us happy. Say, Aunt Alice, why don’t you have a horse an’ -carriage like mamma, so that you could take us out ridin’?” - -“Uncle Harry isn’t rich enough to keep good horses and carriages,” said -Mrs. Burton, “and he doesn’t like poor ones.” - -“Why, how much does good horses cost? I think Mr. Blanner’s horses are -pretty good, but papa says they’d be dear at ten cents apiece.” - -“I suppose a good horse costs three or four hundred dollars,” said Mrs. -Burton. - -“My--y--y!” exclaimed Budge. “That’ more money than it costs our -Sunday-school to pay for a missionary! Which is goodest--horses or -missionaries?” - -“Missionaries, of course,” said Mrs. Burton, leaving the piazza, with a -dim impression that she had, during the morning, answered a great many -questions with very slight benefit to any one. - -The boys cared for themselves until luncheon, and then returned -with rather less appetite than was peculiar to them. The new siege -of questioning which their aunt had anticipated was postponed; each -boy’s mind seemed to be in the reflective, rather than the receptive, -attitude. - -After luncheon they hastily disappeared, without any attempt on the -part of their aunt to prevent them, for Mrs. Burton had arranged -to make, that afternoon, one of the most important of calls. Mrs. -Congressman Weathervane had been visiting a friend at Hillcrest, and -Mrs. Weathervane’s mother and Mrs. Burton’s grandmother had been -schoolday acquaintances, and Mrs. Mayton would have come from the -city to pay her respects to the descendant of the old friend of -the family, but some of the infirmities of age prevented. And Mrs. -Mayton instructed her daughter to call upon Mrs. Weathervane as a -representative of the family, and Mrs. Burton would have lost her right -hand or her new spring hat rather than disregard such a command. So she -had hired a carriage and devised an irreproachable toilet, and recalled -and tabulated everything she had ever heard about the family of the -lady who had become Mrs. Weathervane. - -The carriage arrived, and no brace of boys dashed from unexpected -lurking-places to claim a portion of its seats. The carriage rolled -off in safety, and Mrs. Burton fell into an impromptu service of -praise to the kind power which often blesses us when we least expect -to be blessed. The carriage reached the house and the terrible Mrs. -Weathervane turned out to be one of the most charming of young women, -before whose sunny temperament Mrs. Burton’s assumed dignity melted -like the snow of May, and her store of venerable family anecdotes -disappeared at once from the memory which had guarded them jealously. - -[Illustration: THE SQUEAK OF THE VIOLIN AND THE WAIL OF A BADLY PLAYED -WIND INSTRUMENT] - -But joy is never unalloyed in this wicked world. While the couple were -chatting merrily, and Mrs. Weathervane was insisting that Mrs. Burton -should visit her at Washington during the session, and Mrs. Burton was -trying to persuade Mrs. Weathervane to accept the Burton hospitality -for at least a day or two, there arose under the window the squeak of -violin and the wail of some badly played wind instrument. - -“Those wretched little Italians!” exclaimed Mrs. Weathervane. “For -which of our sins, I wonder, are we condemned to listen to them?” - -“If they come as punishment for sins,” said Mrs. Burton, “how wicked I -must be, for this is my second experience with them to-day. They were -at my house for half an hour this morning.” - -“And you are sweet of disposition this afternoon?” said Mrs. -Weathervane. “Oh! I must spend a day or two with you, and take some -lessons in saintly patience.” - -Mrs. Burton inclined her head in acknowledgment, and Mrs. Weathervane -approached some other topic, when the violin under the window gave vent -to a series of terrible groans of anguish, while the wind-instrument, -apparently a flute, shrieked discordantly in three notes an octave -apart from each other. - -“An attempt to execute something upon one string, I suppose,” said -Mrs. Weathervane, “and the execution is successful only as criminal -executions are. What should be done to the little wretches? And yet -one can’t help giving them money; did you see the story of their -terrible life in the newspapers this week? It seems they are hired in -Italy by dreadful men, who bring them here, torture them into learning -their wretched tunes and then send them out to play and beg. They are -terribly whipped if they do not bring home a certain sum of money every -day.” - -“The poor little things!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. “I’m glad that I gave -them a good many pennies this morning. I must have had an intuition of -their fate, for I’m certain I had no musical enjoyment to be paid for. -They can hardly be as old as some children in nurseries, either.” - -“No, indeed,” said Mrs. Weathervane, going to the window. “The elder -of these two boys cannot be more than six, while the younger may be -four; and the older looks so sad, so introspective! The younger--poor -little fellow--has only expectancy in his countenance. He is looking -up to all the windows for the pennies that he expects to be thrown to -him. He has probably not had so hard an experience as his companion, -for his instrument is only a common whistle. Think of the frauds which -their masters practise upon the tender-hearted! The idea of sending out -a child with a common whistle on the pretense of making music.” - -“It’s perfectly dreadful!” said Mrs. Burton. - -“Then to think what the parents of some of these children may have -been,” continued Mrs. Weathervane. “The older of this couple has -really many noble lines in his face, did not the long-drawn agony of -separation and abuse inscribe deeper ones there. The smaller one, -vilely dirty as he is, has a very picturesque head and figure. He is -smiling now. Oh! what wouldn’t I give if some artist could catch his -expression for me!” - -“Really,” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, approaching the window; “I hadn’t -noticed so many charms about them, but I shall be glad to have them -pointed out to me. Mercy!” - -“What can be the matter?” murmured Mrs. Weathervane, as her visitor -fell back from the window and dropped into a chair. - -“They’re my nephews!” gasped Mrs. Burton. “Oh, what shall I do with -those dreadful children?” - -“Stolen from home?” inquired Mrs. Weathervane, discerning a romance -within reaching distance. - -“No--oh, no!” said Mrs. Burton. “I left them at home an hour or two -ago. I can’t imagine why they should have taken this freak, unless -because boys will be dreadful, no matter what is done for them. I -suppose,” she continued, hurrying to the window, “that Budge has his -uncle’s violin, which I think is fully as dear to its owner as his -wife. Yes, he has it! Boys!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, appearing at the -piazza-door, “go directly home.” - -At the sound of their aunt’s voice the boys looked up with glad smiles -of recognition, while Budge exclaimed, “Oh, Aunt Alice! we’ve played at -lots of houses, an’ we’ve got nearly a dollar. We told everybody we -was playin’ to help Uncle Harry buy a horse an’ carriage!” - -“Go home!” repeated Mrs. Burton. “Go by the back road, too. I am going -myself right away. Be sure that I find you there when I return.” - -Slowly and sadly the amateurs submitted to the fateful decree and moved -toward home, while Mrs Weathervane bestowed a sympathetic kiss upon -her troubled visitor. A great many people came to doors and windows -to see the couple pass by, but what was public interest to a couple -whose motive had been rudely destroyed? So dejected was their mien as -they approached the Burton mansion, and so listless was their step, -that the dog Terry, who was on guard at the front door, gave only an -inquiring wag of his tail, and did not change his position as the boys -passed over the door-mat upon which he lay. A moment or two later a -carriage dashed up to the door, and Mrs. Burton descended, hurried into -the house, and exclaimed: - -“How dared you to do such a vulgar, disgraceful thing?” - -“Well,” said Budge, “that’s another of the things we don’t understand -much about, even after we’re told. We thought we could be just as good -to you an’ Uncle Harry as dirty little Italian boys is to their papas -an’ mammas, an’ when we tried it, you made us go straight home.” - -“Dzust the same fing as saying ‘Don’t’s at us,” Toddie complained. - -“An’ after we got a whole lot of money, too!” said Budge. “Papa says -some big men don’t get more than a dollar in a day, an’ we got most a -dollar in a little bit of a while. It’s partly because we was honest, -though, I guess, an’ told the troof everywhere--we told everybody that -we wanted the money to help Uncle Harry to buy a horse an’ carriage.” - -[Illustration: UNCLE HARRY’S FRANTIC EXAMINATION OF HIS BELOVED VIOLIN] - -Uncle Harry himself, moved by his aching tooth, had returned from -New York in time to hear, unperceived, the last portion of Budge’s -explanation, after which he heard the remainder of the story from -his wife. His expression as he listened, his glance at his nephews, -and his frantic examination of his beloved violin, gave the boys to -understand how utter is sometimes the failure of good intentions to -make happy those persons for whose benefit they are exerted. The somber -reflections of the musicians were unchanged by anything which occurred -during the remainder of the afternoon, and when they retired, it was -with a full but sorrowful heart that Budge prayed: “Dear Lord, I’ve -been scolded again for tryin’ to do somethin’ real nice for other -people. I guess it makes me know something about how the good prophets -felt. Please don’t let me have to be killed for doin’ good. Amen.” - -And Toddie prayed: “Dee Lord, dere’ some more ‘Don’t’s been said to me, -an’ I fink Aunt Alice ought to be ’hamed of herself. Won’t you please -make her so? Amen.” - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - -“That,” murmured Mrs. Burton on Tuesday morning, as she prepared to -descend to the breakfast table, “promises a pleasant day.” Then, in a -louder tone, she said to her husband: “Harry, just listen to those dear -children singing! Aren’t their voices sweet?” - -“’Sing before breakfast, cry before dark,’” quoted Mr. Burton, quoting -a popular saying. - -“For shame!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. “And when they’re singing sweet -little child-hymns too! There! they’re starting another.” - -Mrs. Burton took the graceful listening attitude peculiar to ladies, -her husband stood in the military position of “attention,” and both -heard the following morceau: - - “I want--to be--an an--gel - An’ with--the an--gels stand; - A crown--upon--my fore--head - A hop--per in--my hand.” - -“Hopper--h’m!” said Mr. Burton. “They refer to the hind-leg of a -grasshopper, my dear. The angelic life would be indeed dreary to those -youngsters without some such original plaything.” - -“You ought to be ashamed of yourself!” said the lady. “I hope you won’t -suggest any such notion to them. I don’t believe they would have had -so many peculiar views about the next world if some one hadn’t exerted -an improper influence--you and your brother-in-law Tom Lawrence, their -father, for instance.” - -“Well,” said Mr. Burton, “if they are so susceptible to the influence -of others, I suppose you have them about reformed in most respects? You -have had entire charge of them for seven days.” - -“Six--only six,” corrected Mrs. Burton, hastily. “I wish----” - -“That there really was one day less for them to remain?” said Mr. -Burton, looking his wife full in the face. - -Mrs. Burton dropped her eyes quickly, trying first to turn in search of -something she did not want, but her husband knew his wife’s nature too -much to be misled by this ruse. Putting as much tenderness in his voice -as he knew how to do, he said: - -“Little girl, tell the truth. Haven’t you learned more than they?” - -Mrs. Burton still kept her eyes out of range of those of her husband, -but replied with composure: - -“I have learned a great deal, as one must when brought in contact with -a new subject, but the acquired knowledge of an adult is the source of -new power, and of much and more knowledge to be imparted.” - -Mr. Burton contemplated his wife with curiosity which soon made place -for undisguised admiration, but when he turned his face again to the -mirror he could see in its expression nothing but pity. Meanwhile the -cessation of the children’s songs, the confused patter of little feet -on the stair, and an agonized yelp from the dog Terry, indicated that -the boys had left their chamber. Then the Burtons heard their own -door-knob turned, an indignant kick which followed the discovery that -the door was bolted, and then a shout of: - -“Say!” - -“What’s wanted?” asked Mr. Burton. - -“I want to come in,” answered Budge. - -“Me, too,” piped Toddie. - -“What for?” - -A moment of silence ensued, and then Budge answered: - -“Why, because we do. I should think anybody would understand that -without asking.” - -“Well, we bolted the door because we didn’t want any one to come in. I -should think anybody could understand that without asking.” - -“Oh! Well, I’ll tell you what we want to come in for; we want to tell -you something perfectly lovely.” - -“Do you wish to listen to an original romance, my dear?” asked Mr. -Burton. - -“Certainly,” replied the lady. - -“And break your resolution to teach them that our chamber is not a -general ante-breakfast gathering-place?” - -“Oh, they won’t infer anything of the kind if we admit them just once,” -said Mrs. Burton. - -“H’m--we won’t count this time,” quoted Mr. Burton from “Rip Van -Winkle,” with a suggestive smile, which was instantly banished by a -frown from his wife. Mr. Burton dutifully drew the bolt and both boys -tumbled into the room. - -“We were both leaning against the door,” explained Budge; “that’s why -we dropped over each other. We knew you’d let us in.” - -Mr. Burton gave his wife another peculiar look which the lady affected -not to notice as she asked: - -“What is the lovely thing you were going to tell us?” - -“Why----” - -“I--I--I--I--I----” interrupted Toddie. - -[Illustration: BOTH BOYS TUMBLED INTO THE ROOM] - -“Tod, be still!” commanded Budge. “I began it first.” - -“But I finked it fyst,” expostulated Toddie. - -[Ilustration: BOTH BOYS TUMBLED INTO THE ROOM] - -“I’ll tell you what, then, Tod--I’ll tell ’em about it an’ you worry -’em to do it. That’ fair, isn’t it?” and then, without awaiting the -result of Toddie’s deliberations Budge continued: - -“What we want is a picnic. Papa’ll lend you the carriage, and we’ll get -in it and go up to the Falls, and have a lovely day of it. That’s just -the nicest place I ever saw. You can swing us in the big swing there, -an’ take us in swimmin’, an’ row us in a boat, an’ buy us lemonade -at the hotel, an’ we can throw stones in the water, an’ paddle, an’ -catch fish, an’ run races. All these other things--not the first ones -I told you about--we can do for ourselves, an’ you an’ Aunt Alice can -lie on the grass under the trees, an’ smoke cigars, an’ be happy, -’cause you’ve made us happy. That’s the way papa does. An’ you must -take lots of lunch along, ’cause little boys gets pretty empty-feeling -when they go to such places. Oh, yes--an’ you can throw Terry in the -water an’ make him swim after sticks--I’ll bet he can’t get away there -without our catching him.” - -“But de lunch has got to be lots,” said Toddie, “else dere won’t be -any fun--not one bittie. An’ you’ll take us, won’t you? We’ze been -dreadful good all mornin’. I’ze singed Sunday songs until my froat’s -all sandy.” - -“All what?” asked Mrs. Burton. - -“Sandy,” replied Toddie. “Don’t you know how funny it feels to rub sand -between your hands when you hazhn’t got djuvs on? If you don’t, I’ll go -bring you in some.” - -“Your aunt will take your word for it,” said Mr. Burton, as his wife -did not respond. - -“An’ we’ll be awful tired after the picnic’ done,” said Budge, “an’ -you can hold us in your arms in the carriage all the way back. That’s -the way papa an’ mamma does.” - -“Thank you,” said Mr. Burton. “That will be an inducement. And it -explains why your papa can make a new coat look old quicker than any -other man of my acquaintance.” - -“And why your mother always has a skirt to clean or mend,” said Mrs. -Burton. - -“It’s all told now, Tod,” said Budge. “Why don’t you worry ’em?” - -Toddie clasped his aunt’s skirts affectionately, and said, in most -appealing tones: - -“You’e a-goin’ to, izhn’t you?” - -“Papa says it was always easier for you to say ‘yes’s than ‘no,’” -remarked Budge; “an’----” - -“A fine reputation your brother-in-law gives you,” remarked Mrs. -Burton. - -“An’ I once heard a lady say she thought you said ‘yes’s pretty easy,” -continued Budge, addressing his aunt. “I thought she meant something -that you said to Uncle Harry, by the way she talked.” Mrs. Burton -flushed angrily, but Budge continued: “An’ you ought to be as good -to us as you are to him, ’cause he’s a big man, an’ don’t have to be -helped every time he wants any fun. Besides, you’ve got him all the -time, but you can only have us four days longer--three days besides -to-day.” - -“Another paraphrase of Scripture--application perfect,” remarked Mr. -Burton to his wife. “Shall we go?” - -“Can you?” asked the lady, suddenly grown radiant. - -“I suppose--oh, I know I can,” replied Mr. Burton, assuming that the -anticipation of a day in his society was the sole cause of his wife’s -joy. - -Mrs. Burton knew his thoughts but failed to correct them, guilty -though she felt at her neglect. That she would be practically relieved -of responsibility during the day was the cause of her happiness. The -children had always preferred the companionship of their uncle to that -of his wife; she had at times been secretly mortified and offended at -this preference, but in the week just ending she had entirely lost this -feeling. - -The announcement that their host and hostess thought favorably of the -proposition was received by the boys with lively manifestations of -delight, and for two hours no other two persons in the state were more -busy than Budge and Toddie. Even their appetites gave way under the -excitement and their stay at the breakfast table was of short duration. - -Budge visited his father and arranged for the use of the carriage -while Toddie superintended the packing of the eatables until the cook -banished him from the kitchen, and protected herself from subsequent -invasion by locking the door. Then both boys suggested enough extra -luggage to fill a wagon and volunteered instructions at a rate which -was not retarded by the neglect with which their commands were received. - -When the last package was taken into the carriage the dog Terry was -helped to a seat and the party started. They had been _en route_ about -five minutes, when Budge remarked: - -“Uncle Harry, I want a drink.” - -“Uncle Harry,” said Toddie, “I’m ’most starved to deff. I didn’t have -hardly any brekspup.” - -“Why not?” asked Mrs. Burton. “Wasn’t there plenty on the table?” - -“I doe know,” Toddie replied, looking inquiringly into his aunt’s face -as if to refresh his memory. - -“Weren’t you hungry at breakfast-time?” continued Mrs. Burton. - -“I--I--I--I--why, yesh--I mean my tummuk wazh hungry, but my toofs -wasn’t--dat’ de way it wazh. An’ I guesh what I’d better have now is -sardines an’ pie.” - -“Ethereal creature!” exclaimed Mr. Burton, giving Toddie a cracker. - -“I didn’t remember that I was hungry,” said Budge, “but Tod’s talking -about it reminds me. An’ I’d like that drink, too.” - -Budge also received some crackers and the carriage was stopped near a -well. The descent of Mr. Burton from the carriage compelled the dog -Terry to change his base, which operation was so impeded by skillful -efforts on the part of the boys that Terry suddenly leaped to the -ground and started for home, followed by a remonstrance from Toddie, -while Budge remarked: - -[Illustration: TODDIE DRANK ABOUT TWO SWALLOWS OF WATER] - -“He won’t ever go to heaven, Terry won’t. He don’t like to make people -happy.” - -Away went the carriage again and it had reached the extreme outskirts -of the town when Toddie said: - -“I’m awful fursty.” - -“Why didn’t you drink when Budge did?” demanded Mr. Burton. - -“’Cauzh I didn’t want to,” replied Toddie. “I izhn’t like old -choo-choos dat getsh filled up dzust ’cause dey comes to a watering -playzh. I only likesh to dwink when I’zhe fursty; an’ I’zhe fursty -now.” - -Another well was approached; Toddie drank about two swallows of water, -and replied to his aunt’s declaration that he couldn’t have been -thirsty at all by the explanation: - -“I doezn’t hold very much. I izhn’t like de horsesh, dat can dwink -whole pails full of water, an’ den hazh room for gwash. But I guesh -I’zhe got room for some cake.” - -“Then I’ll give you another cracker,” said Mr. Burton. - -“Don’t want one,” said Toddie. “Cwacker couldn’t push itself down as -easy as cake.” - -“I do believe,” said Mrs. Burton, “that the child’s animal nature -has taken complete possession of him. Eating and mischief has been -the whole of his life during the week, yet he used to be so sweetly -fanciful and sensitive.” - -“Children’s wits are like the wind, my dear,” said Mr. Burton. “’Thou -canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth’; you set your -sails for it, and behold it isn’t there, but when you’re not expecting -it, down comes the gale.” - -“A gale!” echoed Budge. “That’s what we’re goin’ to have to-day.” - -“Izn’t neiver,” said Toddie. “Goin’ to hazh a picnic.” - -“Well, gales and picnics is the same thing,” said Budge. - -“No, dey izhn’t. Galesh is kind o’s rough, but picnics is nysh. Galesh -is like rough little boysh, like you, but picnics is nysh, like dear -little sister-babies.” - -“Oh, dear,” sighed Budge, “we haven’t seen that baby for two days. -Let’s go right back an’ look at her.” - -“Budge, Budge!” remonstrated Mrs. Burton; “try to be content with what -you have, and don’t always be longing for something else. You can go to -see her when we return.” - -“I can see her wivout goin’ back,” said Toddie. “I can see anybody I -wantsh to, dzust whenever I pleash.” - -“Don’t be silly, Toddie,” remonstrated Mrs. Burton, in spite of a -warning nudge from her husband. - -“How do you see them, Toddie?” asked Mr. Burton. - -“Why, I duzst finks a fink about ’em, an’ den dey comezh wight inshide -of my eyezh, an’ I sees ’em. I see lotsh of peoples dat-a-way. I -sees AbrahammynIsaac, an’ Bliaff, an’ little Dave, an’ de Hebrew -children, an’ Georgie Washitton hatchetin’ down his papa’s tree, -whenever I finks about ’em. Oh, dere goezh a wabbit! Letsh stop an’ -catch him.” - -“Oh, no, let him go,” said Mr. Burton. “Perhaps he’s going home to -dinner, and his family are all waiting at the table for him.” - -“Gwacious!” said Toddie, opening his eyes very wide and keeping silence -for at least two minutes. Then he said, “I saw a wabbit family eatin’ -dinner once. Dey had a little bittie of a table, an’ little bitsh of -chairzh, an’ de papa wabbit ashkted a blessin’ an’----” - -“Toddie, Toddie, don’t tell fibs!” said Mrs. Burton, as she again felt -herself touched by her husband’s elbow. - -“Izn’t tellin’ fibs! An’ a little boy wabbit said, ‘Papa, I wantsh a -dwink.’s So his papa took a little tumbler, dzust about as big as a -fimble, an’ held a big leaf up sideways so de dew would run off into -de tumbler, an’ he gived it to the little boy wabbit. An’ when dey -got done dinner, de mamma wabbit gave each of de little boy wabbits -a strawberry to suck. An’ none of ’em had to be told to put on de -napkins, ’cause dey only had one dwess, and dat was a color dat didn’t -show dyte, like mamma says I ought to have.” - -“Were all the little rabbits boys--no girls at all?” asked Mr. Burton. - -“Yesh, dere was a little sister baby, but she wazh too little to come -to de table, so de mamma wabbit held her in her lap and played ‘Little -Pig Went to Market’s on her little bits of toes. Den de sister-baby got -tired, an’ de mamma wabbit wocked it in a wockin’-tsair, an’ sung to -it ’bout---- - - “Papa gone a-huntin’, - To get a little wabbit-skin - To wap a baby buntin--baby wabbit--in.” - -Den de baby-wabbit got tired of its mamma, an’ got down an’ cwept -around on itsh handsh an’ kneezh, an’ didn’t dyty its djess at all -or make its kneezh sore a bit, ’cauzh dere wazh only nice leaves an’ -pitty fynes for it to cweep on, instead of ugly old carpets. Say, do -you know I was a wabbit once?” - -“Why, no,” said Mr. Burton. “Do tell us about it.” - -“Harry!” remonstrated Mrs. Burton. - -“He believes it, my dear,” explained her husband. “He has his ’weetly -fanciful’ mood on now, that you were moaning for a few moments ago. Go -on, Toddie.” - -“Why, I was a wabbit, and lived all by myself in a hole froo de bottom -of a tree. An’ sometimes uvver wabbits came to see me, an’ we all sat -down on our foots an’ bowled our ears to each uvver. Dogsh came to -see me sometimes, but I dzust let dem wing de bell an’ didn’t ask ’em -to come in. An’ den a dzentleman came an’ asked me to help him make -little boysh laugh in a circus. So I runned around de ring, and picked -up men an’ fings wif my tchunk----” - -“Rabbits don’t have trunks, Toddie.” - -“I know it, but I tyned into a ephalant. An’ I got lotsh of hay an’ -fings wif my tchunk, an’ folks gave me lotsh of cakes an’ candies to -see me eat ’em wif my tchunk, an’ I was so big I could hold ’em all, -an’ I didn’t have any mamma ephalant to say, ‘Too muts cake an’ candy -will make you sick, Toddie.’” - -“Anything more?” asked Mr. Burton. “We can stand almost anything.” - -“Well, I gotted to be a lion den, and had to roar so much dat my froat -gotted all sandy, so I got turned into a little boy again, an’ I was -awful hungry. I guesh ’twas djust now.” - -“Can you resist that hint, my dear?” Mr. Burton asked. His wife, with a -sigh, opened a basket and gave a piece of cake to Toddie, who remarked: - -“Dish izh to pay me for tellin’ de troof about all dem fings, izhn’t -it?” - -About this time the party reached Little Falls, and Budge said: - -“I suppose lunch’ll be the first thing?” - -“No,” said Mrs. Burton; “we won’t lunch until our usual hour.” - -“But you can have all the drinks you want,” said Mr. Burton. “There’s a -whole river full of water.” - -“Oh, I don’t feel as if I’d ever be thirsty again,” said Budge. “But I -wish Terry was here to swim in after sticks. You do it, won’t you? You -play dog an’ I’ll play Uncle Harry an’ throw things to you.” - -By this time Toddie had sought the water’ edge, and, taking a stooping -position, looked for fish. The shelving stone upon which he stood was -somewhat moist and Toddie was so intent on his search that he stooped -forward considerably. Suddenly there was heard a splash and a howl, and -Toddie was seen in the river, in water knee-deep. To rescue him was the -work of only a moment, but to stop his tears was no such easy matter. - -[Illustration: SUDDENLY HEARD A SPLASH AND A HOWL] - -“What is to be done?” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. - -“Take off his shoes and stockings and let him run barefooted,” said Mr. -Burton. “The day is warm, so he can’t catch cold.” - -“Oh!” exclaimed Toddie, “Izh I goin’ to be barefoot all day? I wishes -dish river wazh wight by our housh; I’d tumble in every day. Budgie, -Budgie, if you wantsh fun dzust go tumble splash into de river.” - -But Budge had strolled away, and was tugging at some moss in a crevice -of rock. Here his aunt found him, and he explained, toiling as he -talked: - -“I thought--this--would make such--a--lovely cushion for--for you to -sit on.” - -The last word and the final tug were concurrent and the moss gave way; -so did Budge, and with a terrific scream, for a little snake had made -his home under the moss, and was expressing indignation, in his own -way, at being disturbed. - -“I won’t never do nothin’ for nobody again,” screamed Budge. “I’ll see -that snake every time I shut my eyes, now.” - -“You poor, dear little fellow,” said Mrs. Burton, caressing him -tenderly. “I wish Aunt Alice could do something to make you forget it.” - -“Well, you can’t, unless--unless, maybe, a piece of pie would do it. It -wouldn’t do any harm to try, I s’pose?” - -Mrs. Burton hurried to unpack a pie, as her husband remarked that -Budge was born to be a diplomatist. Looking suspiciously about, for -fear that Toddie might espy Budge’s prescription, and devise some -ailment which it would exactly suit, she discovered that Toddie was out -of sight. - -“Oh, he’s gone, Harry! Hurry and find him. Perhaps he’s gone above the -Falls. I do wish we had gone further down the river!” - -Mr. Burton took a lively double-quick up and along the bank of the -river, but could see nothing of his nephew. - -After two or three minutes, however, above the roar of the falling -water, he heard a shrill voice singing over and over again a single -line of an old Methodist hymn, - - “Roar--ing riv--ers, migh--ty fountains!” - -Following the sound, he peered over the bank, and saw Toddie in a sunny -nook of rocks just below the Falls, and in a very ecstasy of delight. -He would hold out his hands as if to take the fall itself; then he -would throw back his head and render his line with more force; then -he would dance frantically about, as if his little body was unable to -comfortably contain the great soul within it. - -Suddenly coming up the sands below the cliff appeared Mrs. Burton, -whose apprehensions had compelled her to join in the search. - -“Oh, Aunt Alish!” exclaimed Toddie, discovering his aunt, and hurrying -to grasp her hand in both of his own; “dzust see de water dance! Do you -see all de lovely lights dat de Lord’s lit in it? Don’t you wiss you -could get in it, an’ fly froo it, an’ have it shake itself all over -you, an’ shake yourself in it, an’ shake it all off of you, an’ den -fly into it aden? Deresh placesh like dis up in hebben. I know, ’cauzh -I saw ’em--one time I did. An’ all the andzels staid around ’em, an’ -flew in an’ out, an’ froo an’ froo’s an’ laughed like everyfing!” - -Mr. Burton concealed all of himself but his eyes and hat to observe the -impending conflict of ideas; but no conflict ensued, for Mrs. Burton -snatched her nephew and kissed him soundly. But Toddie wriggled away, -exclaiming: - -“Don’t do dat, or I’ll get some uvver eyes when I don’t want ’em.” - -How long Toddie’s ecstasy might have endured the Burtons never knew, -for a clatter of horse-hoofs on the road attracted Mr. Burton, and, -looking hastily back, he beheld one of his brother’s horses galloping -wildly back towards Hillcrest, while, just letting go of a reinstrap, -and enlivening the dust of the roadway, was the form of the boy Budge, -whose voice rose shrilly above the thunder of the falling waters. - -[Illustration: BUDGE ENLIVENED THE DUST OF THE ROADWAY] - -Mr. Burton attempted first to catch the horse, but the animal shied -successfully and had so clear a stretch of roadway before him that -humanity soon had Mr. Burton’s heart for its own and he hurried to the -assistance of Budge. - -“I--boo-hoo--was just goin’ to lead the--boo-hoo-hoo--horse down to -water like--boo-hoo-hoo--ah--like papa does, when he--oh! how my elbow -hurts!--just pulled away an’ went off. An’ I caught the strap to stop -him, an’--oh! he just pulled me along on my mouth in the dirt about -ten miles. I swallowed all the dirt I could, but I guess I’ve got a -mouthful left.” - -Mr. Burton hurriedly unharnessed the other horse, and started, riding -bareback, in search of the runaway, while his wife, who had intuitively -scented trouble in the air, hurried up the cliff with Toddie, and -led both boys to the shadow of the carriage, with instructions to be -perfectly quiet until their uncle returned. - -“Can’t we talk?” asked Toddie. - -“Oh, not unless you need to for some particular purpose,” said Mrs. -Burton, who, like most other people in trouble, fought most earnestly -against any form of diversion which should keep her from the extremity -of worry. “Can’t little boys’s mouths ever be quiet?” - -“Why, yes,” said Budge, “when there’ something in ’em to keep ’em -still.” - -In utter desperation Mrs. Burton unpacked all the baskets and told the -children to help themselves. As for her, she sought the roadside and -gazed earnestly for her husband. Wearied at last by hope deferred she -returned to the carriage to find that the boys had eaten all the pie -and cake, drank the milk and ate the sugar which were to have formed -part of some delicious coffee which Mr. Burton was to have made _à la -militaire_, and had battered into shapelessness a box of sardines by -attempting to open it with a stone. - -“You bad boys!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. “Now what will your poor uncle -have to eat when he comes back all tired, hungry, and thirsty and all -because of your mischief, Budge.” - -“Why, we haven’t touched the crackers, Aunt Alice,” said Budge.” -They’re what he gave us when we said we was awful hungry, an’ there’s -a whole river full of water to drink, like he told us about when he -thought we was thirsty.” - -The information did not seem to console Mrs. Burton, who ventured to -the roadside with the feeling that she could endure it to know that -her husband was starving if she could only see him safe back again. The -moments dragged wearily on, the boys grew restive and then cross, and -at about three in the afternoon, Mr. Burton reappeared. The runaway -had nearly reached home, breaking a shoe _en route_, and his captor -had found it necessary to seek a blacksmith. The horse he rode had -evidently never been broken to the saddle, and many had been the jeers -of the village boys at his rider’s apparent mismanagement. All he knew -now was that he was ravenously hungry. - -“And the boys have eaten everything but the bread and crackers,” gasped -Mrs. Burton. “I’ve not eaten a mouthful.” - -“Goodness!” exclaimed Mr. Burton, feeling the boys’s waist-belts; -“didn’t they throw anything away?” - -“Only down our froats.” said Toddie. - -“Then I’ll go to the nearest hotel,” said the disappointed man,” and -get a nice dinner.” - -“We’ll go too,” said Budge. “Pie an’ cake an’ all such things don’t -fill people a bit on picnics.” - -“Then a little emptiness will be best for you,” said Mr. Burton. “You -remain here with your aunt.” - -“Well, hurry up, then,” said Budge. “Here’s the afternoon half gone, -Aunt Alice says, and you haven’t made us a whistle, or taken us in -swimmin’, or let us catch fishes, or throwed big stones in the water -for us, or anythin’.” - -Mr. Burton departed with becoming meekness, his nephew’s admonition -ringing in his ears, while the boys hovered solemnly about their aunt -until she exclaimed: - -“Why are you acting so strangely, boys?” - -“Oh, we feel kind o’s forlorn, an’ we want to be comforted,” said -Budge. - -“Will you comfort poor Uncle Harry when he comes back?” asked Mrs. -Burton. - -“Why, I heard him once tell you that you were his comfort,” said Budge; -“and comforts oughtn’t to be mixed up if folks is goin’ to get all the -good out of ’em; that’s what papa says.” - -Mrs. Burton kissed both nephews effusively and asked them what she -could do for them. - -“I doe know,” said Toddie. - -Inspiration came to Mrs. Burton’s assistance and she said, - -“You may both do exactly as you please.” - -“Hooray!” shouted Budge. - -“An’ you izhn’t goin’ to say ‘Don’t!’s a single bit?” Toddie asked. - -“No.” - -“Oh!” exclaimed both brothers, in unison. - -Then they clasped hands and walked slowly and silently away. They even -stopped to kiss each other, while Mrs. Burton looked on in silent -amazement. - -Was this really the result of not keeping a watchful eye upon children? - -The boys rambled quietly along, sat down on a large rock, put their -arms around each other and gazed silently at the scenery. They sat -there until their uncle returned and their aunt pointed out the couple -to him. Then the adults insensibly followed the example set by the -juveniles, and on the banks of the river sweet peace ruled for an hour, -until old Sol, who once stood still to look at a fight but never paused -to contemplate humanity conquered by the tender influences of nature, -warned the party that it was time to return. - -“It’s time to go, boys,” said Mr. Burton, with a sigh. - -The words snapped the invisible thread that had held the children in -exquisite captivity, and they were boys again in an instant, though -not without a wistful glance at the Eden they were leaving. - -“Now, Uncle Harry,” said Budge, “there’ always one thing that’s got to -be done before a picnic an’ a ride is just right, an’ that is for me -to drive the horses.” - -“An’ me to hold de whip,” said Toddie. - -“Oh, I think you’ve done your whole duty to-day--both of you,” said Mr. -Burton, instinctively grasping his lines more tightly. - -“But we don’t,” said Budge, “an’ we know. Goin’ up the mountain papa -always lets us do it an’ he says the horses always know the minute we -take ’em in hand.” - -“I shouldn’t wonder. Well, here’s a hill; take hold!” - -Budge seized the reins, and Toddie took the whip from its socket. The -noble animals at once sustained their master’s statement, for they -began to prance in a manner utterly unbecoming quiet family horses. -Mrs. Burton clutched her husband’s arm, and Mr. Burton prudently laid -his own hand upon the loop of the reins. - -The crest of the hill was reached, Mr. Burton took the reins from the -hand of his nephew, but Toddie made one final clutch at departing -authority by giving the off horse a spirited cut. Tom Lawrence would -never own a horse that needed a touch of the whip, though that emblem -of authority always adorned his carriage. When, therefore, this -unfamiliar attention greeted them the horse who was struck became -gloriously indignant, and his companion sympathized with him and the -heels of both animals shot high in the air and then, at a pace which -nothing could arrest, the horses dashed down the rocky, rugged road. -The top of a boulder, whose side had been cleanly washed, lay in the -path of the carriage, and Mr. Burton gave the opposite rein a hasty -twist about his hand as he tried to draw to the side of the road. But -what was a boulder, that equine indignation should regard it? The stone -was directly in front and in line of the wheels. Mrs. Burton prepared -for final dissolution by clasping her husband tightly with one arm, -while with the other she clutched at the reins. The boys started the -negro hymn, “Oh, De Rocky Road to Zion,” the wheels struck the boulder, -four people described curves in air and ceased only when their further -progress was arrested by some bushes at the roadside. The carriage -righted itself and was hurried home by the horses, while a party -of pedestrians, two of whom were very merry and two utterly reticent, -completed their journey on foot, pausing only to bathe scratched -faces at a brookside. And when, an hour later, two little boys had -been prepared for bed, and their temporary guardians were alternately -laughing and complaining over the incidents of the day, a voice was -heard at the head of the stairs, saying: - -[Illustration: FURTHER PROGRESS WAS ARRESTED] - -“Uncle Harry, are we going to finish the picnic to-morrow? ’Cause we -didn’t get half through to-day. There’s lots of picnicky things that we -didn’t get a chance to think about.” - -And another voice shouted: - -“An’ letsh take more lunch wif us. I’zhe been awful hungwy all day -long!” - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - -“Only three more days,” soliloquized Mrs. Burton, when the departure -of her husband for New York and the disappearance of the boys gave -her a quiet moment to herself. “Three more days, and then peace--and -a life-long sense of defeat! And by whom? By two mere infants--in -years. I erred in not taking them singly. When they are together it’s -impossible to take their minds from their own childish affairs long -enough to impress them with larger sense and better ways. But I didn’t -take them singly, and I have talked, and oh--stupidest of women!--I’ve -blundered upon my husband for my principal listener. He does get along -with them better than I do, and the exasperating thing about it is -that he seems to do it without the slightest effort. How is it? They -cling to him, obey him, sit by the roadside for an hour before train -time just to catch the first glimpse of him, while I--am I growing -uninteresting? Many women do after they marry, but I didn’t think -that I”--here Mrs. Burton extracted a tiny mirror from a vase on the -mantel--“that I could be made stupid by marrying a loving old merry -heart like Harry!” - -Mrs. Burton scrutinized her lineaments intently. A wistful earnestness -stole into her face as she studied it, and it softened every line. -Suddenly but softly a little arm stole about her neck, and a little -voice exclaimed: - -“Aunt Alice, why don’t you always look that way? There! Now you’re -stoppin’ it. Big folks is just like little boys, ain’t they? Mamma -says it’s never safe to tell us we’re good, ’cause we go an’ stop it -right away.” - -“When did you come in, Budge? How did you come so softly? Have you been -listening? Don’t you know it is very impolite to listen to people when -they’re not talking to you? Why, where are your shoes and stockings?” - -“Why,” said Budge,” I took ’em off so’--so’ to get some cake for a -little tea-party without makin’ a noise about it! You say our little -boots make an awful racket. But say, why don’t you?” - -“Why don’t I what?” asked Mrs. Burton, her whole train of thought -whisking out of sight at lightning speed. - -“Why don’t you always look like you did a minute ago? If you did, I -wouldn’t ever play or make trouble a bit. I’d just sit still all the -time, and do nothin’ but look at you.” - -“How did I look, Budge?” asked Mrs. Burton, taking the child into her -arms. - -“Why, you looked as if--as if--well, I don’t ’zactly know. You looked -like papa’ picture of Jesus’s mamma does, after you look at it a long -time an’ nobody is there to bother you. I never saw anybody else look -that way ’xcept my mamma, an’ when she does it I don’t ever say a -word, else mebbe she’ll stop.” - -“You can have the cake you came for,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“I don’t want any cake,” said Budge, with an impatient movement. “I -don’t want any tea-party. I want to stay with you, an’ I want you to -talk to me, ’cause you’re beginnin’ to look that way again.” Here Budge -nearly strangled his aunt in a tight embrace, and kissed her repeatedly. - -“You darling little fellow,” asked Mrs. Burton, while returning his -caresses, “do you know why I looked as I did? I was wondering why you -and Toddie love your Uncle Harry so much better than you love me, and -why you always mind him and disobey me.” - -Budge was silent for a moment or two, then he sighed and answered: - -“’Cause.” - -“Because of what?” asked Mrs. Burton. “You would make me very happy if -you were to explain it to me.” - -[Illustration: “WELL,” SAID BUDGE, “CAUSE YOU’RE DIFFERENT.”] - -“Well,” said Budge, “’cause you’re different.” - -“But, Budge, I know a great many people who are not like each other, -but I love them equally well.” - -“They ain’t uncles and aunts, are they?” - -“No, but what has that to do with it?” - -“And they’re not folks you have to mind, are they?” continued Budge. - -“N----no,” said Mrs. Burton, descrying a dim light afar off. - -“Do they want you to do things their way?” - -“Some of them do.” - -“An’ do you do it?” - -“Sometimes I do.” - -“You don’t unless you want to, do you?” - -“No!” - -“Well, neither do I,” said Budge. “But when Uncle Harry wants me to do -somethin’, why somehow or other I want to do it myself after a while. -I don’t know why, but I do. An’ I don’t always, when you tell me to. -I love you ever so much when you ain’t tellin’ me things, but when you -are, then they ain’t ever what I want to do. That’s all I know ’bout -it. ’Xcept, he don’t want me to do such lots of things as you do. He -likes to see us enjoy ourselves; but sometimes I think you don’t. -We can’t be happy only our way, an’ our way seems to be like Uncle -Harry’, an’ yours ain’t.” - -Mrs. Burton mused, and gradually her lips twitched back into their -natural lines. - -“There--you ’re stoppin’ lookin’ that way,” said Budge, sighing and -straightening himself. “I guess I do want the cake an’ the tea-party.” - -“Don’t go, Budgie, dear,” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, clasping the boy -tightly. “When any one teaches you anything that you want very much to -know doesn’t it make you happy?” - -“Oh, yes--lots,” said Budge. - -“Well, then, if you try, perhaps you can teach Aunt Alice something -that she wants very much to know.” - -“What!” exclaimed Budge. “A little boy teach a grown folks lady? I -guess I’ll stay.” - -“I want to understand all about this difference between your Uncle -Harry and me,” continued Mrs. Burton. “Do you think you minded him very -well last summer?” - -“That’s too long ago for me to remember,” said Budge “But I didn’t ever -mind him unless I wanted to, or else had to, an’ when I had to an’ -didn’t want to I didn’t love him a bit. I talked to papa about it when -we got back home again, an’ he said ’twas ’cause Uncle Harry didn’t -know us well enough an’ didn’t always have time to find out all about -us. Then they had a talk about it--papa and Uncle Harry did, in the -library one day. I know they did, ’cause I was playin’ blocks in a -corner, an’ I just stopped a-playin’ an’ listened to ’em. An’ all -at once papa said, ‘Little pitchers!’s an’ said I’d oblige him very -much if I’d go to the store and buy him a box of matches. But I just -listened a minute after I went out of the room, until I heard Uncle -Harry say he’d been a donkey. I knew he was mistaken about that, so I -went back an’ told him he hadn’t ever been any animals but what’s in -a menagerie, an’ then they both laughed an’ went out walkin’, an’ -I don’t know what they said after that. Only Uncle Harry’s been awful -good to me ever since, though sometimes I bother him when I don’t mean -to.” - -Mrs. Burton released one arm from her nephew and rested her head -thoughtfully upon her hand. Budge looked up and exclaimed: - -“There! You’re looking that way again. Say, Aunt Alice, don’t Uncle -Harry love you lots an’ lots when you look so?” - -Mrs. Burton recalled evidence of such experiences, but before she could -say so a small curly head came cautiously around the edge of the door, -and then it was followed by the whole of Toddie, who exclaimed: - -“I fink you’s a real mean bruvver, Budgie! De tea-party’s been all -ready for you an’ de cake till I had to eat up all de strawberries to -keep de nasty little ants from eatin’ ’em. I yet up de cabbage-leaf -plate dey was in, too, to keep me from gettin’ hungrier.” - -“There!” exclaimed Budge, springing from his aunt’s lap.” That’s just -the way, whenever I’m lovin’ to anybody, somethin’ always goes and -happens.” - -“Is that all you care for your aunt, Budge?” asked Mrs. Burton. “Is a -tea-party worth more than me?” - -Budge reflected for a moment. “Well,” said he, “didn’t you cry when -your tea-party was spoiled last week on your burfday? To be sure, your -tea-party was bigger than ours, but then you’re a good deal bigger than -we, too, an’ I haven’t cried a bit.” - -Mrs. Burton saw the point and was mentally unable to avoid it. The view -was not a pleasant one, and grew more humiliating the longer it was -presented. It was, perhaps, to banish it that she rose from her chair, -brought from a closet in the dining-room some of the coveted cake and -gave a piece to each boy, saying: - -“It isn’t that Aunt Alice cares so much for her cake, dears, that she -doesn’t like you to have it between meals, but because it is bad for -little boys to eat such heavy food excepting at their regular meals. -There are grown people who were once happy little children, but now -they are very cross all the while because their stomachs are disordered -by having eaten when they should not, and eating things which are -richer and heavier than their bodies can use.” - -“Well,” said Budge, crowding the contents of his mouth into his cheeks, -“we can eat somethin’ plainer an’ lighter to mix up with ’em inside -of us. I should think charlotte-russe or whipped cream would be about -the thing. Shall I ask the cook to fix some?” - -“No! Exercise would be better than anything else. I think you had -better take a walk.” - -“Up to Hawkshnesht Rock?” Toddie suggested. - -“Oh, yes!” exclaimed Budge. “An’ you come with us, Aunt Alice; perhaps -you’ll look that way again; that way, you know, an’ I wouldn’t like to -lose any of it.” - -[Illustration: PRETENDING TO BE HORSES] - -Mrs. Burton could not decline so delicate an invitation, and soon the -trio were on the road, Mrs. Burton walking leisurely on the turf by -the side, while the boys ploughed their way through the dust of the -middle of the road, pretending to be horses and succeeding so far as to -create a dust-cloud which no team of horses could have excelled. - -“Boys, boys!” shouted Mrs. Burton. “Is no one going to be company for -me?” - -“Oh, I’ll be your gentleman,” said Budge. - -“I’ll help,” said Toddie, and both boys hurried to their aunt’s side. - -“Little boys,” said Mrs. Burton, gently, “do you know that your mamma -and papa have to pay a high price for the fun you have in kicking up -dust? Look at your clothes! They must be sent to the cleaner’s before -they will ever again be fit to wear where respectable people can see -you.” - -“Then,” said Budge, “they’re just right to give to poor little boys, -and just think how glad they’ll be! I guess they’ll thank the Lord -’cause we run in the dust.” - -“The poor little boys would have been just as glad to have them while -they were clean,” said Mrs. Burton, “and the kindness would have cost -your papa and mamma no more.” - -“Well, then--then--then I guess we’d better talk about something -else,” said Budge, “an’ go ’long froo the woods instead of in the -road. Oh--h--h!” he continued, kicking through some grass under the -chestnut-trees by the roadside, “here’s a chestnut! Is it chestnut-time -again already?” - -“Oh, no, that’s one of last year’s nuts.” - -“H’m!” exclaimed Budge; “I ought to have known that. It’s dreadfully -old-fashioned.” - -“Old-fashioned?” - -“Yes; it’s full of wrinkles, don’t you see; like the face of Mrs. -Paynter, an’ you say she’s old-fashioned.” - -“Aunt Alice,” said Toddie, “birch-trees izh de only kind dat wearzsh -Sunday clothes, ain’t dey? Deyzh always all in white, like me and -Budgie, when we goes to Sunday-school. Gwacious!” he exclaimed, as he -leaned against one of the birches and examined its outer garments. -“Deyzh Sunday trees awful; dish one is singin’ a song! Dzust -come--hark!” - -Though somewhat startled at the range of Toddie’s imagination, and -wondering what incentive it had on the present occasion, Mrs. Burton -approached the tree, and solved the mystery by hearing the breeze -sighing softly through the branches. She told Toddie what caused the -sound, and the child replied: - -“Den it’s de Lord come down to sing in it, ’cauzh it’s got Sunday -clothes on. Datsh it, izhn’t it?” - -“Oh, no, Toddie; the wind is only the wind.” - -“Why I always fought it wazh the Lord a-talkin’, when the wind blowed. -I guesh somebody tolded me so, ’cauzh I fought dat before I had many -uvver finks.” - -Up the mountain-road leisurely sauntered Mrs. Burton, while her nephews -examined every large stone, boulder tree and hole in the ground _en -route_. - -The top of the hill was gained at last and with a long-drawn “Oh!” both -boys sat down and gazed in delight at the extended scene before them. -Budge broke the silence by asking: - -“Aunt Alice, don’t you s’pose dear brother Phillie, up in heaven, is -lookin’ at all these towns, an’ hills, an’ rivers, an’ things, just -like we are?” - -“Very likely, dear.” - -“Well, then he can see a good deal further than we can. Do our spirits -have new eyes put in ’em when they get up to heaven?” - -“I don’t know. Perhaps they merely have their sight made better.” - -“Why, does spirits take deir old eyes wif ’em to hebben, an’ leave all -de rest part of ’em in de deader?” asked Toddie. - -Mrs. Burton realized that she had been too hasty in assuming knowledge -of spiritual physiognomy, and she endeavored to retract by saying: - -“Spiritual eyes and bodily eyes are different.” - -“Does dust and choo-choo cinders ever get into spirit eyes, an’ make -little boy andzels cry, and growed-up andzels say swear wordsh?” asked -Toddie. - -“Certainly not. There’s no crying or swearing in heaven.” - -“Then what does angels do with the water in their eyes, when they hear -music that makes ’em feel as if wind was blowin’ fro ’em?” asked Budge. - -Mrs. Burton endeavored to change the subject of conversation to one -with which she was more familiar, by asking Budge if he knew that there -were hills a hundred times as high as Hawksnest Rock. - -“Goodness, no! Why, I should think you could look right into heaven -from the tops of them. Can’t you?” - -“No,” said Mrs. Burton, with some impatience at the result of her -attempt.” Besides, their tops are covered with snow all the time, and -nobody can get up to them.” - -“Then the little boy andzels can play snowballs on ’em wifout no cross -mans comin’ up an’ sayin’, ‘Don’t!’” said Toddie. - -Mrs. Burton tried again: - -“See how high that bird is flying,” she said, pointing to a hawk who -was soaring far above the hill. - -“Yes,” said Budge. “He can go up into heaven whenever he wants to, -’cause he’s got wings. I don’t know why birds have got wings and little -boys haven’t.” - -“Little boys are already hard enough to find when they’re wanted,” said -Mrs. Burton. “If they had wings they’d always be out of sight. But what -makes you little boys talk so much about heaven to-day?” - -“Oh, ’cause we’re up so much closer to it, I suppose,” said Budge, -“when were on a high hill like this.” - -“Don’t you think it must be nearly lunching time?” asked Mrs. Burton, -using, in despair, the argument which has seldom failed with healthy -children. - -“Certainly,” said Budge. “I always do. Come on, Tod. Let’s go the -quickest way.” - -The shortest way was by numerous short cuts, with which the boys seemed -perfectly acquainted. One of these, however, was by a steep incline, -and Budge, perhaps snuffing the lunch-basket afar off, descended so -rapidly that he lost his balance, fell forward, tried to recover -himself, failed, and slipped rapidly through a narrow path which -finally ended in a gutter traversing it. - -“Ow!” he exclaimed as he picked himself up, and relieved himself of a -mouthful of mud. “Did you see my back come up an’ me walk down the -mountain on my mouth? I think a snake would be ashamed of himself to -see how easy it was. I didn’t try a bit, I just went slip, slop, bunk! -to the bottom.” - -“An’ you didn’t get scolded for dytyin’ your clothes, either.” said -Toddie. “Let’ sing ‘Gloly, Gloly, Hallehelyah.” - -The subject of dirt upon juvenile raiment began to trouble the mind -of Mrs. Burton. Could it be possible that children had a natural -right to dirtier clothing than adults, and without incurring special -blame? Was dirtiness sinful? Well, yes--that is, it was disgusting, -and whatever was disgusting was worse in the eyes of Mrs. Burton than -what was sinful. Could children be as neat as adults? Had they either -the requisite sense, perception or the acquired habit of carefulness? -Again Mrs. Burton went into a study of the brownest description, while -the children improved her moments of preoccupation to do all sorts -of things which would have seemed dreadful to their aunt but were -delightful to themselves. At length, however, they reached the Burton -dining-table, and managed a series of rapid disappearances for whatever -was upon it. - -[Illustration: BUDGE LOST HIS BALANCE] - -“Aunt Alice,” said Budge, after finishing his meal, “what are you -going to do to make us happy this afternoon?” - -“I think,” said Mrs. Burton,” I shall allow you to amuse yourselves. -I shall be quite busy superintending the baking. Our cook has only -recently come to us, you know, and she may need some help from me.” - -“I fought bakin’ wazh alwaysh in mornin’?” said Toddie. “My mamma says -dat only lazy peoplesh bakesh in affernoonzh.” - -“The cook was too busily engaged otherwise this morning, Toddie,” said -Mrs. Burton. “Besides, people bake mornings because they are compelled -to; for, when they put bread to rise overnight, they must bake in the -morning. But there is a new kind of yeast now that lets us make our -bread whenever we want to, within a couple of hours from the time of -beginning.” - -“Do you know, Aunt Alice,” said Budge, “that we can bake? We can--real -nice. We’ve helped mamma make pies an’ cakes lots of times, only hers -are big ones an’ ours are baby ones.” - -“I suppose I am to construe that remark as a hint that you would like -to help me?” said Mrs. Burton. “If you will do only what you are told, -you may go to the kitchen with me; but listen--the moment you give the -cook or me the least bit of trouble, out you shall go.” - -“Oh, goody, goody!” shouted Toddie. “An’ can we have tea-parties on de -kitchen-table as fast as we bake fings?” - -“I suppose so.” - -“Come on. My hands won’t be still a bittie, I wantsh to work so much. -How many kindsh of pies is you goin’ to make?” - -“None at all.” - -“Gwacious! I shouldn’t fink you’d call it bakin’-day den. Izhn’t you -goin’ to make noffin’ but ole nashty bwead?” - -“Perhaps I can find a way for you to make a little cake or some buns,” -said Mrs. Burton, relenting. - -“Well, that would be kind o’s bakin’-day like; but my hands is gettin’ -still again awful fasht.” - -Mrs. Burton led the way to the kitchen, and the preparation of the -staff of life was begun by the new cook, with such assistance as a -small boy wedged closely under each elbow, and two inquiring faces -hanging over the very edge of the bread-pan. - -“That don’t look very cakey,” remarked Budge. “She ain’t put any powder -into it.” - -“This kind of bread needs no powder. Baking-powders are used only in -tea-biscuit.” - -“When tea-biscuits goes in de oven deysh little bits of flat fings,” -said Toddie--“deysh little bits of flat fings, but when dey comes out -dey’s awful big an’ fat. What makes ’em bake big?” - -“That’s what the powder is put in for,” said Mrs. Burton. “They’d be -little, tasteless things if it weren’t for the powder. Bridget, work -some sweetening with a little of the dough, so the boys can have some -buns.” - -Both boys escorted the cook to the pantry for sugar, and back again to -the table, and got their noses as nearly as possible under the roller -with which the sugar was crushed, and they superintended the operation -of working it into the dough, and then Mrs. Burton found some very -small pans in the center of which the boys put single buns which they -were themselves allowed to shape. A happy inspiration came to Mrs. -Burton; she brought a few raisins from the pantry and placed one upon -the center of each tiny bun as it was made, and she was rewarded by a -dual shriek of delight. - -“Stop, Toddie!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, suddenly noticing that Toddie -was shaping his dough by rolling it vigorously between his hands, as -little boys treat clay while attempting to make marbles. “If you press -your dough hard it will never bake light in the world.” - -[Illustration: TWO INQUIRING FACES HANGING OVER THE BREAD-PAN] - -“You mean de hot won’t make it grow big?” - -“Yes.” - -“Datzh too baddy. It’h awful too baddy,” said Toddie “Dere won’t be as -much of ’em to eat. Tell you what--put some powder in it to help the -uvvr swelly stuff.” - -“I’m afraid that won’t do any good.” - -“Might twy it,” Toddie suggested. “Ah--h--h--Budgie’ makin’ some of my -buns baldheaded.” - -“What do you mean?” Mrs. Burton asked. - -“He’s takin’ de raisins off de tops of ’em, an’ dat makes ’em -baldheaded.” - -“I was only keepin’ ’em from lookin’ all alike,” explained Budge, -hastily putting the raisins where they could not be affected by any -future proceedings. “Don’t you see, Toddie, you’ll have two kinds of -buns now?” - -“Don’t want two kindsh,” cried Toddie. “I’ze a good mind to cut you -open an’ take dem heads back again.” - -Budge was reproved by his aunt, and Toddie was pacified by the removal -of raisins from his brother’s buns to his own. Then some of the little -pans were placed in the vacant space in the oven, and during the next -fifteen minutes Mrs. Burton was implored at least twenty times to see -if they weren’t almost done. When, finally baked, Toddie’s were as -small as bullets and about as hard. - -“Put some powder in de rest of dem,” pleaded Toddie. - -“It wouldn’t do the slightest bit of good,” said Mrs. Burton. - -Further entreaties led to a conflict between will and authority, after -which Toddie sulked and disappeared, carrying one of his precious pans -with him. When he returned the baking was over, and the oven-door was -open. - -“Izhe a-goin’ to bake dis uvver one any how,” said Toddie, putting -the single remaining pan into the oven and closing the door. “Say, -Aunt Alice,” he continued, his good, nature returning, “now fix dat -tea-party we was goin’ to have wif our own fings. You can come to the -table wif us if you want to.” - -“Only, don’t you think she ought to bring somethin’ with her?” asked -Budge. “That’ the way little boys’s tea-parties out of doors always -are.” - -Mrs. Burton herself rendered a satisfactory decision upon this question -by making a small pitcher of lemonade: the table was drawn as near the -door as possible, to avoid the heat of the room; Budge escorted his -aunt to the seat of honor, and, when all were seated, he asked: - -“Do you think these is enough things to ask a blessin’ over? Sometimes -we do it, an’ sometimes we don’t, ’cordin’ to how much we’ve got.” - -Mrs. Burton rapidly framed a small explanatory lecture on the principle -under-lying the custom of grace at meals; but whatever may have been -its merits the boys never had an opportunity of judging, for suddenly -a loud report startled the party, a piece of the stove flew violently -across the room and broke against the wall, the stove-lids shivered -violently and the doors fell open; the poker, which had lain on the -stove, danced frantically, and a small pan of some sort of fat, such -as some cooks have a fancy to be always doing something with but never -do it, was shaken over and its burning contents began to diffuse a -sickening odor. The cook dropped upon her knees, the party arose--Budge -roaring, Toddie screaming, and Mrs. Burton very pale, while the cook -gasped: - -“The wather-back’s busted!” - -Mrs. Burton disengaged herself from her clinging nephews and approached -the range cautiously. There was no sign of water and the back of the -range was undisturbed; even the fire was not disarranged. - -[Illustration: A LOUD REPORT STARTLED THE PARTY] - -“It isn’t the water-back,” said Mrs. Burton, “nor the fire. What could -it have been?” - -“An’ I belave, mum,” said the cook, “that ’twas the dhivil, savin’ -yer prisince; an’, saints presarve us! I ’ve heerd at home as how he -hated dese new ways of cookin’, because dheres no foine place for him -to sit in the corner of, bad luck to him! It was the dhivil, sure, mum. -Did iver ye schmell the loike av that?” - -Mrs. Burton snuffed the air, and in spite of the loathsome odor of -burning grease she detected a strong sulphurous odor. - -“An’ he went and tookted my last bun wif him too,” complained Toddie, -who had been cautiously approaching the oven in which he had placed -his pan. “Bad ole debbil! I fought he didn’t have noffin but roasted -peoples at hizh tea-parties!” - -The whole party was too much agitated and mystified to pursue their -investigations further. The fire was allowed to die out and Mrs. Burton -hurried up-stairs and to the front of the house with the children. - -Mr. Burton on his way home was met by his wife and nephews, and heard a -tale which had reached blood-curdling proportions. His descent to the -scene of the disaster was reluctantly consented to by his wife; but he -was unable to discover the cause of the accident, and he succeeded in -getting his hands shockingly dirty. He hurried to his bed-chamber to -wash them, and in a moment he roared from the head of the stairs: - -“Boys, which of you has been up here to-day?” - -There was no response for a moment; then Budge shouted: - -“Not me.” - -Mrs. Burton looked inquiringly at Toddie, and the young gentleman -averted his eyes. Then Mr. Burton hurried down-stairs, looked at both -boys and asked: “Why did you meddle with my powder-flask, Toddie?” - -“Why--why--why, Aunt Alice wouldn’t put no powder in my buns to make -’em light after I rolled ’em heavy--said ’twouldn’t do ’em no good. -But my papa says ’tain’t never no harm to try, so I dzust wented and -gotted some powder out of your brass bottle dat’s hanging on your gun, -an’ I didn’t say nuffin’ to nobody, ’cauzh I wanted to s’prise ’em. -An’ while I was waitin’ for it to get done, bad ole debbil came an’ -hookted it. Guesh it must have been real good else he wouldn’t have -done it, ’cauzh he’s such a smart fief he can steal de nicest fings he -wantsh--whole cakeshop windows full.” - -“How did you mix it with the dough?--how much did you take?” Mrs. -Burton demanded. - -“Didn’t mix it at all,” said Toddie; “dzush pourded it on de pan azh -full azh I could. You’d fink I’d have to, if you tried to eat one of -my buns dat didn’t have no powder in. Gwacious! wasn’t dey hard? I -couldn’t bite ’em a bit--I dzust had to swallow ’em whole.” - -“Umph!” growled Mr. Burton. “And do you know who the devil--the little -devil was that--” - -“Harry!” - -“Well, my dear, the truth appears to be this; your nephew----” - -“Your nephew, Mr. Burton.” - -“Well, my--our nephew, put into the oven this afternoon about enough -of gunpowder to charge a six-pounder shell, and the heat of the oven -gradually became too much for it.” - -Toddie had listened to this conversation with an air of anxious -inquiry, and at last timidly asked: - -“Wazhn’t it de right kind of powder? I fought it wazh, ’cauzh it makes -everyfing else light when it goezh off.” - -“Do you suppose your method of training will ever prevail against that -boy’s logic, my dear?” asked Mrs. Burton. “And if it won’t, what will?” - -“I won’t put so much in nexsht time,” said Toddie, “’cauzh ’tain’t no -good to twy a fing an’ den have de tryin’ stuff go an’ take de fing -all away from you an’ get so mad as to bweak stoves to bits an’ scare -little boysh an’ Aunt Alishes ’most to deff.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - -“Ow, Ow, OW!” was the réveillé of the Burton family on the next -morning, and it was sounded from the room of the juvenile guests. - -“Another fight, I suppose,” grunted Mr. Burton in his room, “and as -I’m dressed I might as well go and see which one was whipped and which -ought to be.” - -Arrived at his nephew’s room, Mr. Burton found Toddie curled up in the -middle of the bed sound asleep, and his brother with his eyes shut, but -wriggling restlessly. - -“What’s the matter, Budge?” asked Mr. Burton. - -“My side hurts, where I bunked it, stoppin’ in the gutter, when I slid -down the mountain,” drawled Budge. “An’ the hard part of the bed comes -up to it and hurts it. As soon as I find a soft part of the bed, the -hard part begins to come up through it and hurt me.” - -“Suppose you were to turn and lie on the other side?” - -“I--why--I--then--I--” stammered Budge, arising slowly and rubbing -his eyes, “then I wouldn’t have any soft parts to look for, an’ I -wouldn’t have anythin’ to do.” - -“Oh, no,” Mr. Burton muttered, turning abruptly and quitting the room; -“the faculty for hugging misery isn’t born in people; not at all! I’ll -have to tell this to our parson. A lot of good people that need it -might get a sound thrashing over somebody else’s shoulders.” - -At the breakfast table Budge ate quietly, but with characteristic -American industry, before he said: - -“Aunt Alice, too much tea isn’t good for people, is it?” - -“Oh, no! It’s very bad.” - -“And one cup is enough for pretty much every one, isn’t it?” - -“I think so.” - -“Sometimes my papa drinks three or four.” - -“That must be when he has a headache.” - -“Oh, yes, ’tis. People need more then, don’t they?” - -“Yes, indeed!” - -“Well, don’t you think a sideache is as bad as a headache?” - -Mrs. Burton guessed the sequel, but refrained from replying. - -“An awful sideache,” Budge continued, “when a little boy’s side has -been bumped real hard by a great big mountain side.” - -Mrs. Burton bit her upper lip and reached for Budge’s mug, which the -young man accommodatingly pushed toward her, saying: - -“And I think when it’s a little boy that’ got to drink it ’cause he’s -sick, there ought to be lots an’ lots of sugar in it, to keep it from -being too strong.” - -[Illustration: “TOO MUCH TEA ISN’T GOOD FOR PEOPLE, IS IT?”] - -Budge’ mug was filled according to his liking, Mr. Burton’s eyes -dancing over it so busily that they could not stop when Mrs. Burton -accidentally detected them. A few moments of adult silence was the -natural result, and the boys improved the opportunity to disappear -without being questioned; after which Mr. Burton, starting for the -city, gave shortly the monosyllable “No!” in reply to the question -whether he should bring anything home. - -Mrs. Burton found herself soon in the depth of another inspection of -her career as a manager of children, and began to realize that she -was as faulty in being too indulgent as she was in being too severe. -Recalling the many tricks of the children to overcome her rules, she -could not remember a single one at which they had not succeeded, and -the realization of this was as mortifying to her sense of duty as it -was to her pride. To be firm when her sense of humor was touched was -a phase of ability of which she found herself to be as destitute as -people usually are; but the existence of such a failing she had never -even imagined before, and it doubled her sense of responsibility -and--humility. - -But the latter quality soon was lost in one which comes more naturally, -and is always fully developed--pride. What wouldn’t she have given to -have that breakfast-scene to manage again? To think that she, who had -in every other department of life, discerned sly attempts afar off, -and successfully circumvented them, should have been outwitted by two -very small boys! Oh, for just one more attempt by either of them! Mrs. -Burton instinctively bit her lip until pain caused her to stop. Upon -this, at any rate, she was determined--she would not only prevent -her nephews accomplishing their artfully laid purposes, but she would -explain to them how dishonest such attempts were, and endeavor to shame -them into ingenuousness. - -At this instant the sound of a wordy altercation, momentarily growing -livelier, floated up from the kitchen windows, and Mrs. Burton started -to act as arbitrator. - -“We want it. That’s why,” was heard from Budge, as Mrs. Burton entered -the kitchen. - -“Want what?” asked the mistress of the house. - -“Why,” said Budge, his face lighting with the anticipation of -assistance close at hand, “we’ve found a big nest full of eggs in the -grass, a good way off, an’ we want to boil ’em and eat ’em, and I’ve -asked Bridget over an’ over again for a pail to boil ’em in, and all -she says is, ’Niver a bit.’” - -“Which she is perfectly right in saying,” said Mrs. Burton,” when, as -I assume from what I overheard as I came in, you did not tell her what -you wanted of the pail.” - -“Well, I couldn’t help remembering what you said to Uncle Harry the -other evening--that you had the most utter contempt for people that -always wanted to know about other people’s business. I don’t know what -’utter contempt’s means, but I thought, from the way you said it, you -meant folks who was always askin’ questions about what other folks was -doin’.” - -Mrs. Burton hastily took a small pail from a shelf and gave it -to Budge, who walked off while his aunt, recollecting her good -resolutions, retired and wept despairingly. The idea of letting two -small children eat a lot of eggs between meals! No one knew where they -were or how many eggs they had; probably they had built a fire where -no fire should be, and what damage they were threatening to property -and life only Heaven knew. She wished herself within the councils of -Heaven; she committed a dozen frightful heresies while she wondered, -but came back by necessity to the virtue of resignation, for how to -find her nephews would have puzzled a head more experienced than her -own in the ways of small boys. - -[Illustration: “WHEN WE COOKED ’EM, WHAT DO YOU THINK?”] - -Her morning was spent in vague attempts to do something, and it was -with satisfaction that she beheld her two nephews approaching by a -road which led through woods and fields. The borrowed pail was not -visible, but Mrs. Burton did not notice its absence. Toddie dropped -dejectedly upon a large stone in the back yard, and Budge sauntered -into the sitting-room with the air of a man of the world who had -squeezed life’s orange and found it juiceless. - -“You’re safely back, are you?” asked Mrs. Burton, anxious to know what -had happened, but fearing to ask. - -“Oh, yes, we’re back, but that don’t do us any good.” - -“Why, what can be the matter with my dear little Budge?” - -“A good deal,” sighed Budge. “There’ some awful funny things in this -world, Aunt Alice, an’ they ain’t nice either.” - -“Tell me all about them, dear.” - -“Well, I was awful disappointed to-day. We found sixteen eggs in a -nest, an’ I came all the way home to get somethin’ to cook ’em in, -an’ I carried some salt an’ pepper with me to help ’em to taste nice, -an’ when we cooked ’em, what do you think? There was a little chicken -inside of each of ’em!” - -“Dis--gusting!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. - -“I know it is,” said Budge; “an’ I guess you’d have thought so more -yet if you’d been there when we opened ’em. You know how nice eggs -smell when you open ’em? Well, those eggs didn’t even smell good a bit.” - -“Let’s talk of something else, Budge,” said Mrs. Burton, instinctively -raising her handkerchief to her nose. - -“But I ain’t through yet,” said Budge. “I want to know why the little -chickens didn’t come out of their shell to their mamma, instead of -waiting to bother us?” - -“Because you scared their mamma away from them, I suppose, when you -found the nest.” - -“Why, no, we didn’t. She just went away. We said ‘Chick, chick, -chick!’s to her, an’ she just ran around an’ cackled, so we s’posed -she’d got through with the nest, and we took what was in it to keep ’em -from bein’ spoiled. Papa says eggs always spoil when they lie out in -the sunshine. What do you s’pose that poor hen mamma’ll think when she -comes walkin’ along that way some day an’ sees all her dear little -children lyin’ around mussed up in the grass?” - -“She will probably think that some meddlesome little boys have -been along that way, and haven’t cared for anything or anybody but -themselves.” - -Budge looked up quickly into his aunt’ face, but finding neither humor -nor sympathy there he sighed deeply and started to rejoin his brother. - -“Budge!” said Mrs. Burton. - -The child arrested his steps, and looked back inquiringly. - -“When you want anything, as, for instance, that pail to boil eggs in, -the proper way to do is to ask for it honestly and if some grown person -refuses to give it to you, you should be satisfied with the reasons -they give and make no trouble about it. You ought to love what is right -so much that you will be ashamed to get around it in some underhand -way.” - -“Why, ’tain’t any underhand way to say just what I think, is it?” Budge -asked. “Papa says folks ought always to be honest, and say just exactly -what they mean, an’ I’m sure I always do it, but I like to say things -the way that I think folks listen to ’em best. Ain’t that the way that -you do?” - -Mrs. Burton could not say “No,” and would not say “Yes,” so she walked -off and left her nephew master of the field, from which he himself soon -retired in response to repeated shouts of “Budgie!” from his brother. - -“Oh, Budgie,” exclaimed Toddie, as the former rejoined him,” izhe got -him! Oh, izhe got him! Ain’t you glad?” - -“Who you got?” - -“Got Terry!” exclaimed Toddie. “Got doggie Terry!” - -“Ow!” shouted Budge, clapping his hands and dancing about. “That’s the -nicest thing I ever heard of! Just won’t we have fun? How did you catch -him?” - -“Why, he wazh asleep, an’ I dzust tied a skring to his collar, an’ -tied de uvver end to a little tree, an’ dere he is. See him?” - -The brothers moved towards the dog; the doomed animal, after one -frantic tug at his bonds, recognized the inevitable and shrank -whimperingly against the tree. - -“Poor doggie’s sick, Tod,” said Budge. “We’ll have to play doctor to -him an’ make him well. I think he ought to go to bed, don’t you?” - -“Yesh,” said Toddie, “an’ have a night-gown on, like we do when we’s -sick.” - -“That’s so. You run an’ get yours for him. He needs a little one, you -know. I guess you’d better take off your shoes, so’ not to disturb Aunt -Alice.” - -Toddie cast his shoes and vanished, returning speedily with a robe in -which the dog Terry, not without much remonstrance, was soon enveloped; -after which Budge lifted him tenderly in his arms, saying,-- - -“His night-gown hangs down an awful lot, I think. We’d better pin up -the bottom part, like nurse did for the sister-baby the other day.” - -“Hazhn’t got no pins,” said Toddie. - -“Then we’ll tie it up with a string. Besides, when it’s tied up he -can’t get his foots out, an’ forget what a poor little sick doggie he -is.” - -In another moment the superabundant skirts were folded up and tied -tightly around the poor animal’s body, while Toddie, who was having -great trouble to hold the stout little beast, exclaimed: - -“Gwacious! the fwont end of him is awful well! See how it keeps not -keepin’ still. I don’t fink his night-gown collar looksh very nysh, -does you?” - -“No,” said Budge,” and he’ll go right out of it if we don’t make it -look nicer. I’ll put string around that too--there! I want to know if -anybody ever saw a lovelier-lookin’ sick dog than that? Where’ll we put -him to bed now?” - -“Let’s wock him,” Toddie suggested. “Datsh what we likes when we’s -sick.” - -“Then we got to take him in the house,” said Budge, “’cause there ain’t -any way of makin’ believe rockin’-chair. Come on!” - -Quietly the couple sneaked into the house and up to their room. Then -Budgie resigned his precious burden a moment to Toddie’ care while he -went in search of a rocking-chair, with which he shortly returned. - -“There!” said he, taking the invalid and seating himself, “this is -something like playin’ doctor. But I wonder what kind of medicine he -ought to have?--pills or powders?” - -“Or running stuff out of a bottle?” suggested Toddie. - -“That’s so,” said Budge. “I guess it ’pends on what kind of medicine -we’ve got. We might make him some nice pills out of soap.” - -“I know,” said Toddie, going into the closet, bringing from a corner an -old winter cloak trimmed with beads, and picking some of the beads from -it; “these is splendid for pills. I took some of ’em de uvver day when -I wazsh playin’ doctor an’ sick boy too, an’ dey didn’t taste bad a -bit.” - -“All right,” said Budge, “pick some off.” His order was obeyed, and -soon the beads were being carefully dropped, one by one, down the dog’s -throat, Budge opening the animal’s mouth with finger and thumb as he -had seen his father do. Soon, however, the dog’s jaws closed tightly. - -“I want to make him well,” said Toddie. “I ain’t doctored him a bit -yet.” - -“Well, I hardly know what you can do for him,” said Budge, “for he -won’t take any more pills. Perhaps there’s a sore place on his head -somewhere that you might put a stickin’-plaster on; but you haven’t got -any plaster. Oh, I’ll tell you what; you can get a postage-stamp out of -Uncle Harry’s desk--that’ll do for a stickin’-plaster first-rate.” - -“I wantsh to wock him,” said Toddie, “’ides doct’rin’ him.” - -“I’m afraid ’twon’t be best to move him just now,” said Budge, scanning -the face of the patient with solicitude. - -“I tell you what,” said Toddie, with the air of a man to whom had come -a direct inspiration “letsh stop makin’ b’lieve for a minute, till I -get hold of him; den he can be made into a sick boy again.” - -“All right,” said Budge, though evidently against his will. “I s’pose -I’ve got to, so that all the doctors get a chance at him. But say, -papa says, mixin’ doctors kills sick folks. Don’t you think we’d -better talk it all over again? ’Twould be dreadful if Uncle Harry’s -dear little dog was made dead, you know.” - -“All right,” said Toddie, “an’ I’ll hold him while we talk about it. -I won’t give him a single bittie of medshin ’til we know dzust what he -ought to have.” - -“Mebbe different people’s arms make a difference to sick folks,” -suggested Budge, holding the patient still more tenderly, and oblivious -to Toddie’s outstretched arms. - -“Dzust see how sad he looks at you!” said Toddie. “I fink his eyes is -a-sayin’, ‘Oh, I’ll die if dat dear Doctor Toddie don’t nurse me.’ I -shouldn’t fink you could be so dreadful cruel, Budgie.” - -Budge reluctantly relinquished the patient, on whom Toddie bestowed a -squeeze so affectionate that the dog howled piteously, and struggled to -free himself. - -“There!” said Budge,” what did I tell you. You’re the kind of doctor -that don’t agree with him, you see.” - -“’Tain’t me,” said Toddie. “I guesh it’ de medshin takin’ effec’. Dem -beads--pills, I mean--can’t get into his bonesh an’ mushels wifout -skwatchin’ him.” - -“I ’pect that’s ’cause we forgot to give ’em to him in somethin’ nice, -like papa gives us our medicine.” - -[Illustration: BUDGE AND TODDIE PLAYING DOCTOR] - -“Letsh give him somefin’ nysh now!” said Toddie, “Mebbe it can find -de medshin, an’ dey’ll go along nysh togevver, dzust like two little -budders.” - -“All right. What’ll it be?” - -“Cake.” - -“Who’ll ask Aunt Alice for it?” Budge asked. “I guess you’d better; I -did, last time we wanted cake. Anyhow, I was getting it without askin’, -an’ I promised her I’d always ask after that.” - -“Den you ought to begin, right stwaight away,” said Toddie, “elsh mebbe -you’d forget. I know what you wantsh! You wants me to ask so’s you can -get poor sick baby again while I go.” - -“Well,” said Budge, somewhat abashed, “I suppose I’ll have to do it.” - -He departed, and returned within two or three minutes with a large -piece of fruit cake and a radiant countenance. - -“I tell you, Tod, just don’t folks get paid for bein’ good? I was -going down to ask Aunt Alice, just as good as could be, and then I -couldn’t find her anywhere in the house, so there wasn’t anythin’ to -do but go get the cake myself. I don’t believe we’d have got such a big -piece, either, if she’d been there; now I know what that big thing on -the Sunday-school wall means, ‘Wirtue is its own reward.’” - -“Gwacious Peter!” exclaimed Toddie, extending his hand for the cake; -“we dassent give him all dat! ’Twould make him dweam dweadful fings.” -Here Toddie put the cake to the dog’s mouth, and the animal eagerly -bit at it. “Goodnish! I forgot dat dogs could open moufs bigger dan -babies. I fink he’s got more now dan’ going to agree wif him. G’way!” -continued Toddie, as the dog again snapped at the cake. “We’s got to -put dis where he can’t see it, ’less he’ll be cryin’ for it all de -time.” And Toddie hastily crowded a large portion of the remainder into -his own mouth. - -“Oh--h--h!” exclaimed Budge, moving to the rescue of the remainder of -the cake. “You ain’t took no medicine, an’ you’ll dream of more cows -than you ever saw. Give me it!” - -“Um--m--m--ugh--mow--moo-um--guh!” mumbled Toddie with difficulty, as -he tightened his grasp on the remainder of the cake. - -“Oh, give it to me, Tod!” pleaded Budge. “I’ll eat it, and then I’ll -dream ’bout the same cows that you do. Don’t you know how often you -wish I’d dream the same things you do, and get mad ’cause I don’t?” - -Toddie indulged in some spasmodic final gulps, coughed violently, and -said: - -“It’s dwefful to dweam about cows, an’ I loves you, ’cauzh you’s my -dee budder Budgie, an’ I don’t want you to dweam dwefful fings.” -Here Toddie hastily crammed most of the remainder of the cake into his -mouth, and handed the rest to his brother, saying: - -“That’ll make--you--dweam ’bout two or--or free cows, an’ so it’ll let -you get into de dweam wifout such drefful times as Izh got to have.” - -Budge might, perhaps, have recognized in fitting terms this evidence -of brotherly forethought, but his mouth found other occupation for a -moment. Meanwhile, the patient was wriggling; by a desperate effort he -freed himself from Toddie’s embrace, and fell upon the floor, where he -rolled frantically about with many contortions and howls. - -“Oh, he’s got a convulsion! I guess he must be havin’ a stomach tooth -come,” said Budge. “What can we do?” - -“Pallygollic,” Toddie suggested. - -“We ain’t got none,” said Budge. “Tell you what. Let’s make b’lieve -he’s a dog a minute, an’ throw water on him. That’ what they do to -dogs in fits.” - -“Den we’d get Aunt Alice’s new carpet all wet,” said Toddie. “Let’s put -him in de bafftub.” - -“Just the thing!” said Budge, picking up the animal while Toddie ran -before and turned on the water. The dog was dropped into the tub, where -he naturally redoubled his efforts to free himself; noting which, Budge -remarked: - -“Say, Tod, it’s hot water they set babies in when the tooths bother -’em. We’ll make b’lieve he’s a baby again, and turn on t’other faucet.” - -Toddie quickly opened the hot-water faucet. - -“There--he’s gettin’ better,” said Budge, observing the animal with -professional closeness. “I guess he can come out now. OW!--that water’s -awful hot! How are we goin’ to get him out?” - -Toddie leaned over the edge of the tub and seized the dog by the head. -The animal struggled violently. Toddie redoubled his exertions, lost -his balance, and tumbled headlong into the tub himself, from which he -speedily scrambled, howling violently, while Budge snatched the animal -and landed him on the bathroom floor. - -“Oh, de--oh!” cried Toddie. - -“Does it hurt you awful, dear little brother?” asked Budge tenderly. - -“No! De hurtzh gone off of me, but I gotted a lot of water in my -mouf, and it washed out all de taste of de cake. I fink it’ too -good-for-nuffin mean for anyfing.” - -“Well, I guess you’d better go sit out in the sun and dry yourself,” -said Budge, “and change the poor doggie’s clothes for him.” - -“Wantsh my clozhezh tschanged,” sobbed Toddie. - -“Come on, then,” said Budge, leading the way back to his own room, and -dragging the bundle of wet dog behind him. “There!” said he, closing -the door, “you dress yourself and I’ll fix the dog.” - -Carefully untying the strings that confined the animal, but taking the -precaution to tie one end to Terry’s collar and the other to a chair, -he removed the night-gown, brought a brush, comb, and bottle of cologne -from his aunt’s room, and began to brush the dog’ coat, pouring on -cologne without stint. The animal was too grateful to be on his feet -again to offer any serious remonstrance, until suddenly Budge poured -considerable cologne upon his head; the liquid found its way into -Terry’s eyes, and the spirits put the brute in such pain that he began -to dash frantically about the room, dragging the light chair after -him. Budge had left the door open, and through this dashed Terry, and -down the stairs. The top of the chair struck the stair-rail, and at -once resolved itself into its original parts; the remainder flew down -the steps after the dog, and executed a rapid semicircle in air in the -lower hall as the dog flew around the newel post and encountered a -handsome cabinet hat-rack on the way, to the great damage of the polish. - -[Illustration: DOWN THE STAIRS, DASHED TERRY] - -Then, still obeying the inexorable demands of the string, whose other -end was attached to the collar of the dog, it meandered through the -parlor, leaving a leg with the piano pedal as a memento of a trifling -difference, attempted to ascend the chimney through the fireplace but -succeeded only so far as to seriously compromise the positions of the -andirons, lodged between the legs of an antique table to the complete -prostration of the table itself, and leaving the seat of the chair -among the table’s varied contents, struck a jardinière, which came down -with a ceramic crash, flew to the dining-room, into a chair, upon and -across the table, taking with it a cover with which for a moment or two -it was seriously mixed, and went down the kitchen stairs, where it met -Mrs. Burton returning from a conference with the greengrocer. As the -chair was one of special lightness and exceeding cost, Mrs. Burton was -naturally desirous of interviewing Terry; but the animal had evidently -formed plans which he did not intend should be thwarted, so with a -vicious snap he eluded her, dashed through the kitchen and sought the -shady solitude of the forest. - -Intuition and experience combined to suggest to Mrs. Burton the -original causes of Terry’s excitement; so, waiting only a few moments, -that she might be perfectly calm and righteously judicial, she started -in search of the culprits. They were not in their room, though a heap -of wet clothes and a general displacement of everything proved that -they had been there since the chambermaid had put the room in order. A -further search disclosed Toddie upon Mrs. Burton’s own bed, so soundly -asleep that she had not the heart to wake him. Promptly assuming that -Budge was the only culprit, she continued her search, and found him -leaning out of a window in a little observatory on the top of the -house. The rustle of his aunt’s dress aroused him, and, bending upon -her a look of exquisite yet melancholy sensitiveness, he said: - -“Aunt Alice, everybody must die, mustn’t they?” - -“Yes,” replied Mrs. Burton, “and if you had paid the debt of nature -before destroying my pretty chair your earthly influence might have -been less injurious than it has been this morning.” - -“But, Aunt Alice,” said Budge, absorbed in his own thoughts, “do you -see that graveyard way off yonder? It’s awful full of dead folks, ain’t -it?” - -“Very,” said Mrs. Burton; “but what they have to do with a ruined chair -I am unable to see.” - -“Well, what I want to know,” said Budge, still oblivious to everything -but the matter that was occupying his mind--“what I want to know is, -who’s goin’ to throw flowers into the last man’ grave, an’ who’s -goin’ to make the hole that he’s put into? What if he should be me? -I’d feel awful bothered to know how I’d have any funeral at all. I -know what I’d do--I’d just pray the Lord to take me straight up to -heaven, like he did with the good Elijah. Say, Aunt Alice, what drawed -the chariot that Elijah went up in? Did them ravens do it that used to -bring him his lunch?” - -“I don’t know,” said Mrs. Burton, “but no chariot would ever have come -for him if he had been in the habit of breaking up chairs and tying -pieces of them to dogs.” - -“Why,” said Budge, beginning to comprehend the drift of his aunt’s -remarks, “I didn’t tie any piece of any chair to any dog. I tied all -of Terry to a chair, and was bein’ as nice to him as you ever was to -me, an’ all of a sudden he ran away with the whole of the chair. You -remember that story in the Bible about some bad devils goin’ into a -lot of pigs an’ makin’ ’em jump over the side of a mountain an’ into -the ocean? Well, I think some of them same chaps must have got into -Terry.” - -[Illustration: “WHY AUNT ALICE! HOW DID YOU UPSET THAT TABLE?”] - -Mrs. Burton’s faith in this demonological theory was not strong, -but she felt that her wrath had deserted her, so to escape further -humiliation she descended to the parlor. The scene which presented -itself to her gaze was one to which womanly language could not do -justice, and her hurried attempts to repair the damage were not -sufficient to prevent the reawakening of her anger. While still in the -depths of her indignant despair, her nephew Budge entered the room and -exclaimed honestly: - -“Aunt Alice, how did you upset that table and break that handsome great -big vase of make-believe flowers?” - -Mrs. Burton instinctively rose to her feet, assumed a conventional -attitude of Lady Macbeth, and shook a forefinger at Budge in a menacing -manner that caused the child to shudder, as she uttered the single -word-- - -“Tomorrow!” - - - - -CHAPTER X - - -“The beginning of the end!” was the remark with which Mr. Burton broke -a short silence at his breakfast-table, on the last day of the time for -which his little visitors had been invited. - -Mrs. Burton looked meek and made no reply. - -“Budders,” said Mr. Burton, addressing his nephews, “do you feel -reconstructed?” - -“Huh?” asked Budge. - -“Do you feel mentally and morally reconstructed?” repeated the uncle. - -“Reconwhichted?” asked Budge. - -“That’s an awful big wyde,” remarked Toddie, through a mouthful of -oatmeal porridge. “It’s like what the minister says in chych sometimes, -an’ makes me want to play around in the seat.” - -“Reconstructed; made over again,” explained Mr. Burton. - -“Why, no,” said Budge, after looking at his hands and feeling for his -stomach, as if to see if any radical physical change had taken place -without his knowledge. “Maybe we’re a little bigger, but we can’t see -ourselves where we grow.” - -“Don’t you feel as if you wanted to see that baby sister again?” asked -Mrs. Burton, endeavoring to change the subject. “Don’t you want to go -back to her and stay all the time?” - -“I don’t,” said Toddie, “’cauzh dere ain’t no dog at our house, an’ -tryin’ to catch dogs is fun, ’cept when dey never want to be catched -at all, like Terry is lotsh of de time.” - -“I mean, haven’t you learned, since you’ve been here, to be a great -deal better than you ever were before?” asked Mr. Burton. - -“I guesh so,” Toddie replied. “I’zhe said more prayersh an’ sung more -little hymns dan I ever did in all my life before. An’ I ain’t pulled -off any more hind hoppers from gwasshoppers sinsh Aunt Alice told me it -wazh bad. I only pulls off front hoppers now. Dey’zh real little, you -know--dere’ only a little bittie of ’em to feel hurted.” - -“How is it with you, Budge?” asked Mr. Burton. “Do you feel as if you -had learned to act from different motives.” - -“What’s a motive?” asked Budge; “anythin’ like a loco-motive? I never -feel like them, ’xcept when I run pretty hard; then I puff like -everythin’, only steam don’t come out of me, but I always think there’s -an engine inside of me, goin’ punk! punk! like everything. Papa says -it’s only a heart--a little bit of a boy’s heart, but if that’s all, I -should think a big man’ heart could pull a whole train of cars.” - -“You haven’t learned to bear in mind the subject of conversation. But -have you become able to comprehend the inner significance of things?” - -“Things inside of us, do you mean?” - -“Like oatmeal powwidge?” Toddie suggested. - -“Have you realized that a master mind has been exerting a reformatory -influence upon you?” - -“Izh master mind an’ ’must mind’s de same fing?” asked Toddie. “We -wasn’t doin’ noffin’ ’cept eatin’ our brekspups. Don’t see what we’s -got to mind about.” - -“Have you always unhesitatingly obeyed your aunt’s commands, moved -thereunto by a sense of her superiority by divine right?” - -“Now, Harry!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, who during this conversation had -been making mute appeals which her husband could not have resisted had -he seen them, and knowing of the existence of which he had carefully -kept his eyes averted from her face. - -“If you don’t stop tormenting those poor children with stupid sections -of dictionary you yourself shall realize my superiority by divine -right, for I’ll take them up-stairs and away from you.” - -“Only one more question, my dear,” said Mr. Burton, “and I’ll have -done. I want only to ask the boys if they’ve noticed any conflicts of -heredity, and, if so, which side has triumphed?” - -“I guess you are tryin’ to play preacher, like Tod said,” remarked -Budge. - -“Oh!” said Mr. Burton, blushing a little under a merry laugh from his -wife. “Well, how does it affect you?” - -“It makes me feel like I do in church when I wish Sunday-school time -would hurry up,” said Budge. - -“Me too,” assented Toddie. - -“You can run away and play now,” said Mrs. Burton, seeing that the -children’s plates were empty. - -The boys departed, the dog Terry apparently leading the way, yet being -invisible when the children reached the open air. - -“You needn’t have humiliated me before the children,” said Mrs. Burton. - -Mr. Burton hastened to make the “amende honorable” peculiar to the -conjugal relation and said: - -“Don’t fear, my dear. They didn’t understand.” - -“Oh, didn’t they?” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. “I wish all my adult friends -had as quick perceptions as those boys. They may not understand big -words, but tones and looks are enough for them.” - -“Why?” said Mr. Burton, “they scarcely looked up from their plates.” - -“Never mind,” replied the lady, delighted at an opportunity to reassert -her superiority in at least one particular. “Children--boys, are more -like women than like men. Their unblunted sensibilities are quick; -their intuition is simply angelic. Would that their other qualities -were also so perfect.” - -“I’m very sorry, my dear,” said Mr. Burton, temporarily subjugated, -“that I said a word to them, and when you are ready to kneel upon the -stool of repentance I’ll depart and leave you alone.” - -“You’ll have no occasion to go,” said Mrs. Burton. “I’ve confessed -already--to them, and a single confession is enough. I rather like the -operation, when, for my reward, I receive sympathy instead of sarcasm.” - -“Again, I ask forgiveness,” said Mr. Burton; “and having made a -fellow-penitent of myself, can’t I have good in return for my evil, and -know what a fellow-sufferer has learned from experience?” - -“Just this,” said Mrs. Burton; “that nobody is fit to take the care of -children excepting the children’s own parents.” - -Mr. Burton dropped his fork and exclaimed: - -“My dear, that’s better than an experience. It’s a revelation.” - -Mrs. Burton regained her pleasantness of countenance and said: - -“I think that only one of kindred blood can comprehend an adult----” - -“Unless modest enough to go out of self for a little while,” suggested -Mr. Burton. - -Mrs. Burton opened her eyes very wide and dropped her lip a little, but -recovered herself to finish her sentence by “And I think it is ever so -much harder to comprehend children, with their imperfect natures that -never develop harmoniously, and that can but seldom express themselves -intelligently.” - -“I never noticed that the boys were at a loss to express themselves, -when they wanted anything,” said Mr. Burton. - -“That sounds just like a man,” said Mrs. Burton, fully herself again. -“As if children had no desires and yearnings excepting for material -things! What do you suppose it means when Budge sits down in a corner, -goes into a brown study, and, when asked what the matter is, drawls -‘Nothin’!’s in a tone that indicates that a very considerable something -is puzzling his young head? What does it mean when Toddie asks his -half-funny, half-pathetic questions about matters too great for his -comprehension, and looks as wistful as ever after he is answered? Do -you suppose they care for nothing but food and play?” - -Mr. Burton felt humbled, and his looks evinced the nature of his -feeling. - -“You are right, little woman. I wish I might have consulted you before -I took the boys in hand last summer.” - -“And I’m very glad you didn’t,” said Mrs. Burton; “for you did a -great deal better with them than you could have done if I had been -your adviser. There is some of the same blood in both of you, and you -succeeded in many points where I have blundered. Oh, if I had but -known it all before they came! How much I might have spared them--and -myself!” - -Mr. Burton hastened to extend to his wife some mute sympathy. - -“They’re going to-day,” said Mrs. Burton, finding something in her eyes -that required the attention of her kerchief--“just as I’ve learned what -I should be to them! They’re angels, in spite of their pranks, and it’s -always so with angels’s visits; one never discovers what they are until -they spread their wings to depart.” - -“This particular pair of angels can be borrowed for an extra day, I -suppose, if you desire it!” suggested Mr. Burton. - -“I declare,” said Mrs. Burton, “that’s a brilliant idea! I’ll go tell -Helen that I don’t think she’s yet fit to have them back again.” - -“And I,” said Mr. Burton, preparing to go to the city, “will try to -persuade Tom into the same belief, though I know he’ll look like a man -being led to execution.” - -The Burtons left the house together a few minutes later, and the boys -returned soon after. Being unable to find their aunt, they descended -to the kitchen, and made a formal demand upon the cook for saucers, -spoons, sugar and cream. - -“An’ fhot are yees up to now?” asked Bridget. - -“You’ll see, after you give us the things,” said Budge. - -“Deysh the reddesht, biggesht ones I ever saw anywheresh,” Toddie -exclaimed. - -“I don’t want ye to be takin’ the things way off to nobody but the -dhivil knows where,” said Bridget. “Fhot if yees should lose one of the -shpoons an’ the misthress ’ud think I sthole it?” - -“Oh, we won’t go anywheres but ’cept under the trees in the back yard,” -pleaded Budge. “An’ there’s all the nice berries spoilin’ now while -you’re botherin’ about it. My papa says berries ought always to be -eaten just when they’re picked.” - -“Av it’s only berries, I s’pose yees can have the things,” muttered -Bridget, bringing from a closet a small tray, and covering it with the -desired articles. - -“Give us another saucer, an’ we’ll bring you some,” said Budge, -“’cause you’re nice to us. We’ll need more sugar, though, if we’re -goin’ to do that.” - -In the presence of flattery Bridget showed herself only a woman. She -replaced the teacup of sugar with a well-filled bowl; she even put a -few lumps on top of the powdered article which filled the bowl, and as -the boys departed she remarked to the chambermaid that “that bye Budge -is a rale gintleman. I’ve heard as how his father’s folks came from the -ould counthry, an’ mark me words, Jane, they’re from the nobility.” - -A few minutes later Mrs. Burton emerged from the sick-room of her -sister-in-law. She had meant to stay but a moment, but Mrs. Lawrence’s -miniature had, as a special favor, been placed in Mrs. Burton’s arms, -and it was so wee and helpless, and made such funny little noises, -and blinked so inquiringly, and stretched forth such a diminutive -rose petal of a hand, that time had flown in apprehension, and sent -the nurse to recapture the baby and banish the visitor. And Mrs. -Burton was sauntering leisurely homeward, looking at nothing in -particular, touching tenderly with the tip of her parasol the daisies -and buttercups that looked up to her from the roadside, stopping even -to look inquiringly upon a solitary ewe, who seemed solicitous for the -welfare of a lamb which playfully evaded her. Suddenly Mrs. Burton -heard a howl, a roar, and a scream inextricably mixed. She immediately -dropped all thought of smaller beings, for she recognized the tones of -her nephews. A moment later, the noise increasing in volume all the -while, both boys emerged from behind a point of woods, running rapidly, -and alternately howling and clapping their hands to their mouths. Mrs. -Burton ran to meet them, and exclaimed: - -“Boys, do stop that dreadful noise. What is the matter?” - -“Ow--um--oh!” screamed Budge. - -“Wezh been--ow!--eatin’ some--some--ow!--some pieces of de bad -playsh,” said Toddie, “wif, oh, oh!--cream an’ sugar on ’em. But dey -wazh dzust as hot as if noffin’ was on ’em.” - -“Come back and let aunty see about it,” said the mystified woman, but -Budge howled and twitched away, while Toddie said: - -“Wantzh papa an’ manma! Deyzh had all little boy bovvers an’ knowsh -what to do. Wantsh to get in our ice-housh an’ never go--ow!--out of -it.” - -The screaming of the children had been heard farther than Mrs. Burton -imagined it could be, for a sound of heavy and rapid footsteps -increased behind her and, turning, she beheld the faithful Mike, Mr. -Lawrence’ gardener-coachman. - -“Fhot is it, dharlin’?” asked Mike, looking sharply at each boy, and -picking a red speck from the front of Toddie’s dress. “Murther alive! -red peppers!” - -Mike dashed across the street, vaulted a fence, and into an inclosed -bit of woodland, ran frantically about among the trees, stopped in -front of one and attacked it with his knife, to the astonishment of -Mrs. Burton, who imagined the man had lost his senses. A few seconds -later he returned with a strip of bark, which he cut into small pieces -as he ran. - -“Here, ye dharlin’ little divils,” said he, cramming a piece of the -bark into each boy’ mouth, “chew that. It’s slippery elm; it’ll sthop -the burnin’. Don’t the byes play that trick on the other byes at school -often an’ often, an’ hasn’t me sister’s childher been nearly murthered -by it? An’ fhot ought your father do to yees for throyin’ to shwally -such thrash? Oh, but wouldn’t I loike to foind the dhivils that put -yees up to it! Who was they? Tell me, so I can sind them afther their -father, where it’s hotter than pepper.” - -[Illustration: A RED PEPPER EXPERIENCE] - -“How did you come to eat red peppers?” asked Mrs. Burton, as the -children escaped slowly from their pain. - -“Why, a boy once told us they was strawberries,” cried Budge, “an’ -to-day we saw a lot where men was spoilin’ a garden to build a house, -an’ we asked ’em if we could have ’em, an’ they said yes, an’ we -brought ’em all back in a piece of paper, an’ didn’t bite one of ’em, -’cause we wanted to eat ’em all in a littel tea-party like gentlemen, -and the first one I chewed--ow! That poor rich man in the fire--I know -just how he felt when he begged Abraham to have his tongue cooled with -a drop of water.” - -“Poor old rich man didn’t have all de fire in hizh mouf, ’pectin’ dat -’twazh goin’ to be strawbewwies,” sobbed Toddie. - -“There wasn’t no dear old Mike to go an’ get him slippery elm, either,” -said Budge. “Soon’s we come back home to stay, Mike, I’m goin’ to put -dirt in the stable-pump, just to be real good about stoppin’ when you -tell me to.” - -“An’ I,” said Toddie, “’zh goin’ to make you a present all alone by -myseff. I don’t know yet what it’ll be. I guess it’ll have to be a -’prise. What would you like best?--a gold watch or a piece of peanut -candy?” - -Between two presents of such nearly equal value Michael, the -benefactor, found some difficulty in deciding, and he walked away with -that application of fingers to head which is peculiar to many persons -when in a quandary. Meanwhile Mrs. Burton led the children toward her -own house, saying: - -“What can we do to-day that can be extremely nice, little boys? Mamma -expects you home to-morrow, and Aunt Alice wants to make your last day -a very happy one.” - -“To-morrow!” exclaimed Budge, apparently oblivious to all else his aunt -had said. “I thought we were going home to-day!” - -“So you were, dear,” said Mrs. Burton; “but you didn’t seem to be in -any hurry, and I couldn’t bear to let you go so soon. Did you really -want to go to-day?” - -“Why, I’ve been thinkin’ about it an’ countin’ days till to-day ever -since we’ve come,” said Budge. “Sometimes it seemed as if I’d burst if -I couldn’t be back home again, but I tried to be real good about it, -’cause papa said ’twould be better for the sister-baby and mamma if we -stayed away. Sometimes in the night-time, I’ve cried because I wasn’t -in my own little bed.” - -“You poor dear boy,” said Mrs. Burton, stopping to kiss Budge, “why -didn’t you tell Aunt Alice when you were so unhappy?” - -“You couldn’t do me any good,” said Budge. “Nobody could but my -papa or mamma. An’ then I don’t like to tell what’ hurtin’ my -heart--somethin’ in my throat makes me hate to tell such things.” - -“Haven’t you had a pleasant time at our house? When you’ve not been -doing whatever you liked, haven’t Uncle Harry and I been trying to make -you happy?” - -“Oh, yes. But some folks know just what we like, and some other folks -know what they want us to like; and the first some folks are my papa -and mamma, an’ the other some folks are you an’ Uncle Harry. You’ve -done some real nice things for us, though, an’ I’m goin’ to ask mamma -to let us invite you to our house, an’ then I’ll show you how to take -care of little boys an’ make ’em happy!” - -“You come to vizhit at our housh,” said Toddie,” an you can have cake -between mealsh, an’ make mud-pies whenever you want to, no matter if -youzh got your very besht clozhezh on. An’ I won’t ever say ‘Don’t!’s -to you one single time!” - -“An’ you shall have your own mamma come every day to frolic an’ cut -up with you,” said Budge. “I wish you had a papa; we’d have him too!” - -“Aunt Alice,” said Budge, “how do big folks get along without papas and -mammas?” - -“I don’t know, I’m sure, dear,” said Mrs. Burton, remembering how -helpless she found herself when her husband first took her from beneath -her mother’s wing. - -“Don’t they ever have somethin’ to tell ’em, an’ then feel like -somebody else when they find they ain’t there to tell ’em to?” - -“I suppose some do,” said Mrs. Burton, recalling some periods of her -own life when she longed for a confidant who should be neither lover -nor friend. - -“Don’t you think maybe they look all around then, an’ think the nicer -things are the lonelier they are?” continued Budge. - -“Yes, dear,” replied Mrs. Burton, with a kiss. - -“Musht be awful not to have anybody to ask for pennies when youzh -lonesome an’ don’t know what else to do,” said Toddie. - -“An’ not to have anybody hold you to keep from kind o’s tumblin’ -to pieces when you’ve seen enough of everythin’, an’ done enough of -everythin’, an’ don’t know what’ goin’ to happen next, an’ wish it -wouldn’t happen at all,” said Budge. “Say, Aunt Alice, folks don’t -ever have to feel that way when they get to be angels, do they?” - -“No, indeed!” - -“Well, do you think it makes folks in heaven happy to have a -father--the Lord, you know, when there ain’t anythin’ to ask Him for? -If they’re happy the whole time, I don’t see when they can think about -how nice it is to have a heavenly papa. Do little angels ever have to -go away from home an’ stay a few days, an’ not see their father at -all?” - -“Mercy--no!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, with a shudder. “Where do you get -such ideas, Budge?” - -“Nowhere. I don’t get ’em at all--they get me, an’ don’t let go of me -until I think myself most to pieces, or else get somethin’ new to do -that makes me forget ’em.” - -Mrs. Burton mentally resolved to immediately find something new for -Budge to do, if only to keep him from leading her mind upon ground -which, being unknown to her, she assumed must be dangerous. Her anxiety -was not lessened when Toddie strayed into more active conversation. - -“Aunt Alish,” said he, “what does little boy angels do wif deir -pennies when dey get ’em? Ish dere candy stores up in hebben, and do de -folks dat keeps ’em give more for a penny dan dey do here?” - -“Pennies are of no use in heaven, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, almost -frantic to find a way of escape from the pair of literalists, yet -remembering her longings of the early morning, to have the boys with -her that she might find her way to their hearts and lead them into her -own. - -“What? Not good for anyfin’?” asked Toddie. “Wouldn’t it be dweadful -den if I was to get to be an angel right now?--dere’h sixty-four -pennies in my savings bank.” - -“You can’t carry pennies to heaven, you silly boy!” exclaimed Budge. -“In a place where the streets are made of gold, you don’t s’pose -anybody cares for pennies, do you? I don’t b’lieve you could buy a -single stick of candy there for less than a dollar bill!” - -“If you little boys are so fond of candy,” said Mrs. Burton, in -desperation, “we will make a lot ourselves, after lunch.” - -“Oh, oh!” Budge exclaimed. “Can common folks like us make candy?” - -“But we are not common folks, Budge.” - -“I think we are,” said the boy, “when I think what lovely people -candy-makers must be.” - -“How much will we make?” asked Toddie. “Two pennies’s worth?” - -“Oh, yes. More than two little boys can eat in a day.” - -“Gwacious Peter!” Toddie exclaimed, “dat would be more dan a whole -candystore full! Come on! Don’t letsh eat any lunch at all, so’s to -have our tummuks all empty for de candy.” - -[Illustration: Making Candy] - -“I’ll bet I can walk faster than you can, Aunt Alice,” said Budge, -tugging at his aunt with one hand and pushing her with the other. - -“I can run faster dan bofe of you,” shouted Toddie. “Come on!” - -Mrs. Burton declined both challenges, so the boys went rapidly over the -course without her and ran frantically up and down the piazza until -their aunt joined them. - -“What are you goin’ to make it in, Aunt Alice?” shouted Budge, while -Mrs. Burton was yet a hundred yards away. - -“A saucepan.” - -“A washboiler would be better--two washboilersh!” suggested Toddie. - -“Now, do you want to go home to-day, Budge?” asked Mrs. Burton -mischievously. - -“I--well--I guess you’d better not remind me very much about it,” -replied Budge, “else maybe I will. What kind of candy is it goin’ to -be?” - -“Molasses.” - -“De stick kind, or de sticky?” asked Toddie. - -“Both,” replied the lady, ascending the steps. - -“Oh, goody, goody!” exclaimed Toddie, clutching at his aunt’s dress. “I -wants to kish you.” - -“An’ I want to give you an awful big hug,” said Budge. - -Mrs. Burton accepted these proffered tokens of esteem and afterward -spent two miserable hours in trying to pacify the boys until -lunch-time. They ate scarcely anything, and remonstrated so -persistently against their aunt’s appetite that the meal remained -almost untouched. Then the lady was escorted to the kitchen by her -nephews and there was an animated discussion as to the size of the -saucepan to be used, and the boys watched the pouring of the molasses -so closely that not a fly dared to assist. Then they quarreled for the -right to stir the odorous mass until Mrs. Burton was obliged to allot -them three-minute reliefs by the kitchen clock, and Budge declared that -his turns didn’t last more than a second, while Toddie complained that -they occupied two hours, and each boy had to assist at the critical -operation of “trying,” and they consumed what seemed to them long, -weary years in watching the paste cool itself. When, at last, Mrs. -Burton pronounced one panfull ready to “pull,” a deep sigh of relief -burst from each little chest. - -“This is the way to pull candy,” said Mrs. Burton, touching her fingers -lightly with butter, and then taking a portion of the paste from a pan -and drawing it into a string in the usual manner. “And here,” she said, -separating the smaller portions, “is a piece for each of you.” - -Budge carefully oiled his fingers as he had seen his aunt do, and -proceeded cautiously to draw his candy, but Toddie seized his portion -with both hands, raised it to his mouth, and fastened his teeth in it. -Mrs. Burton sprang at him in an instant. - -“Stop, Toddie--quick! It may fasten your teeth together so you can’t -easily open them.” - -Many were the inarticulate noises, all in a tone of remonstrance, that -Toddie made as his aunt forcibly removed the mass from his face. When -at last he could open his mouth he exclaimed: - -“Don’t want mine pulled! itsh too awful good the way it izh--you’ll -pull de good out, I’zh ’fwaid.” - -“You boys should have aprons,” said Mrs. Burton. “Budge, put down -your candy, run up-stairs and tell Jane to bring down two of Toddie’s -aprons.” - -Budge hurried up-stairs, forgetting the first half of his aunt’s -injunction. Returning, he had just reached the foot of the main stair, -when the door-bell rang. Hastily putting his candy down, he opened the -door and admitted two ladies, who asked for Mrs. Burton. - -“I guess she’s too busy makin’ candy to be bothered by any lady,” said -Budge, “but I’ll ask her. Sit down.” - -Ten minutes later, Mrs. Burton, by a concentration of effort peculiar -to woman, but which must ever remain a mystery to man, entered the -parlor in afternoon dress, and greeted her visitors. Both rose to meet -her, and with one of them rose also a rocking-chair with a cane seat. -This remained in mid-air only an instant, however, for the lady’s dress -had not been designed for the purpose of moving furniture; with a -sharp, ripping sound, like that of musketry file-firing afar off, her -skirt soon took the appearance of a train dress, heavily puffed at the -waist with fabric of another color. - -Both ladies endeavored to disengage her; Mrs. Burton turned pale and -then red as she discovered the cause of the accident, while Budge’s -voice was heard from the doorway saying: - -“Aunt Alice, have you seen my candy? I laid it down somewhere so’s to -let the ladies in, an’ now I can’t find it!” - -An indignant gesture by Mrs. Burton sent Budge away pouting and -grumbling and the chambermaid was summoned, the visitor’ dress was -repaired temporarily and the accident was being laughed away, when -from the kitchen there arose an appalling sound. It was compounded of -shrieks, yelps, and a peculiar noise as of something being thrown upon -the floor. - -The noise increased; there were irregular footfalls upon the -kitchen-stairs, and at last Toddie appeared, dragging by the collar the -dog Terry, from whose fore feet hung, by a slowly lengthening rope of -candy, one of the pans of the unpulled paste. - -“I fought if I gived him candy he would be nicer to me,” Toddie -explained,” so I chased him into a closet, an’ put the pan up to his -nose, an’ told him to help hisself. And he stuck his foot in, an’----” - -Further explanation was given by deeds, not words, for as Toddie spoke -the dog kicked violently with his hind feet, disengaged himself from -Toddie and started for the door, dragging and lengthening his sweet -bonds behind him upon the floor. Toddie shrieked and attempted to -catch him, stepped upon the candy-rope, found himself fastened to the -carpet, and burst into tears, while the visitors departed and told -stories which by the next afternoon had developed into the statement -that Mrs. Burton had been foolish enough to indulge her nephews in a -candy-pulling in her parlor and upon her new carpet. - -As for the boys, Budge ate some of his candy, and Toddie ate much of -everybodies, and had difficulty in saving a fragment for his uncle. And -when at night he knelt in spotless white to pray he informed Heaven -that now he understood what ladies meant when they said they had had a -real sweet time. - -[Illustration: Budge and Tody with Sunflower] - - - - -CHAPTER XI - - “We’re goin’ home - We’re goin’ home - We’re goin’ home - To die no more.” - - -Sang Budge through the hall next morning, and he repeated the lines -over and over so many times that they at last impressed themselves upon -the mind of Toddie, who asked: - -“Budgie, izh you a-tellin’ de troof?” - -“What ’bout?” - -“Why, ’bout not dyin’. Don’t little boys hazh to die after goin’ to -live wif their uncles an’ aunts for a little while?” - -“Oh, of course they do, but I’m so happy I’ve got to sing somethin’; -the front part of it is troof, and that’s three times as big as the -other part, and I can’t think of any other song ’bout goin’ home.” - -“Datsh too baddy,” complained Toddie. “I fought you wazh tellin’ the -troof, an’ I wouldn’t never hazh to hazh a lot of dirt on my eyes, so -I couldn’t look up into de sky.” - -“Oh, you won’t have to be bothered that way,” said Budge. “When you -die your spirit goes up to heaven, an’ you can look straight down froo -the sky with your new eyes, an’ laugh at the old dirt that thinks it’ -keepin’ your old eyes shut up.” - -“Don’t want no new eyes! Eyes I’zh got izh good enough to see fings -wif.” - -“But just you think, Toddie,” reasoned Budge, “heaven-eyes can’t get -dust in ’em, or have to be washed, or be bothered with choo-choo smoke.” - -“Can’t smoke get in the windows of steam-cars up in hebben?” - -“Of course not! Not if everythin’ goin’ to be all right up there. -There ain’t no choo-choos in heaven anyhow. What does angels want of -choo-choos, I’d like to know, when they’ve got wings to fly with?” - -[Illustration: “WE’RE GOIN’s HOME”] - -“I’d never want all the choo-choos to go away, even if I had a fousand -wingsh,” said Toddie. “’Twould be such fun to fan myself wif my wings -when I was goin’ froo hot old tunnels.” - -“Tunnels can’t be hot in heaven,” explained Budge; “’cause they’re -uncomfortable, an’ nothin’ can be uncomfortable in heaven. I guess -there ain’t any tunnels there at all. Oh, yes! I guess there’s little -bits of ones, just long enough to give little boys the fun of ridin’ -in and ridin’ out of ’em.” - -“Well, how’s you goin’ to ride in an’ out if dere ain’t no choo-choos -to pull de cars?” - -“Well, I’ll tell you, Tod, I guess that’s one of the things that the -Bible don’t tell folks about heaven. You know papa says that there’s -lots of things the Lord don’t let people know ’bout heaven; ’cause it’ -none of their business, an’ I guess that’s one of ’em.” - -“Wish dere’d be some more Bibles, den! I wantsh to know lotsh more -fingsh.” - -“Well, anyhow,” said Budge, “we’re goin’ home to-day, an’ that fills -me so full I ain’t got room for the littlest speck of heaven. Wonder -who’s goin’ to take us, an’ when we’re a-goin’, an’ ev’rything? -Let’s go ask Uncle Harry.” - -“Come on!” exclaimed Toddie, “Izh been finkin’ awful hard ’bout how to -get into his bedroom wifout bein’ scolded, an’ now I know. Hurry up -’fore we forgets.” - -Both boys hurried to the family chamber, and assaulted the door with -fists and feet. - -“’The overture of the angels,’” quoted Mr. Burton, “’and positively -their last appearance.’” - -“Don’t speak of it,” said Mrs. Burton. “I’ve been crying about it in my -dreams, I believe, and I’m in a condition to begin again.” - -“I’ve a great mind to make them cry,” said the man of the house -savagely. “No scrubbing will take the mark of small shoe-toes out of -painted wood.” - -“Let them kick to their dear little hearts’ content! Not a mark of that -kind shall ever be insulted by a scrubbing brush. I feel as if I’d like -to go about the house and kiss everything they’ve touched.” - -“You might kiss the sounding board of my violin, then,” said Mr. -Burton, “where there’s an ineffaceable scratch from a nail in Toddie’s -shoe, placed there on the morning of your birthday anniversary. There’s -a nice generous blot on the wood of the writing-desk, too, where Toddie -upset a bottle of violet ink. Would that your kisses could efface -the stain that the cabinet-maker says is indelible. Then there are -some dingy streaks on the wall beside their bed, where they’ve lain -crosswise and rubbed their heads against the wall.” - -“It shall remain forever,” said the lady. - -“What! in your darling spare chamber?” - -A violent mental struggle showed its indications in Mrs. Burton’s face, -but she replied: - -“The furniture can be changed. We can put a screen in front of the -place; we’ll change the room in any way, excepting their blessed tokens -of occupation.” - -But none of this devotion found its way through the keyhole to shame -the boys into silence, for the noise increased until Mrs. Burton -herself hastened to draw the bolt. - -“It’s us,” was the unnecessary information, volunteered by Budge as -the door opened; “an’ we want to know when we’re goin’ home, an’ -who’s goin’ to take us, an’ how, an’ what you’re goin’ to give us to -remember you by, an’ we don’t care to have it flowers, ’cause we’ve -got plenty of ’em at home.” - -“Fruit-cake would be nicesht,” suggested Toddie. “Folks ’members that -an awful long time, ’cause when mamma once asked papa if he ’membered -de fruit-cake at Mrs. Birch’s party he looked drefful sad, an’ said -he couldn’t ever forget it. Say, Aunt Alish, don’t you get extra nice -dinners for folks dat’s goin’ away? Mamma always doesh; says dey need -it, cauzh folks need to be well-feeded when they’e goin’ to travel.” -[The distance from the Burton residence to that of the Lawrences was -about a quarter of a mile.] - -“You shall have a good-by dinner, Toddie, dear,” said Mrs. Burton; “and -the very nicest one that I can prepare.” - -“Better make it a brekspup,” suggested Toddie. “Mebbe we’ll be come for -’fore dinner-time.” - -“You sha’n’t be taken until you get it, dear.” - -“I ’pects I’ll have an awful good dinner waitin’ for us, too, when we -get home,” said Budge; “’cause that’s the way the papa in the Bible -did, an’ yet he had only one boy come home instead of two, an’ he’d -been bad.” - -“What portion of the Scriptural narrative is that child running into -now?” asked Mrs. Burton. - -“Aunt Alice don’t know who you’re talking about, Budge,” said Mr. -Burton. “Explain it to her.” - -“Why, that boy that his papa made a dinner out of fat veal for,” said -Budge; “though I never could see how that was a very nice dinner.” - -“Worse and worse,” sighed Mrs. Burton. - -“Tell us all about it, old fellow,” said Mr. Burton. “We don’t know -what you’re driving at.” - -“Why,” exclaimed Budge, “are you bad folks that don’t read your -Bible-books? I thought everybody knew about him. Why, he was a boy -that went to his papa one day and told him that whatever he was goin’ -to give him as long as he lived, he wished he’d give it to him all at -once. An’ his papa did. Wasn’t he a lovely papa, though? So the boy -took the money, an’ went travelin’, an’ had larks. There’s a picture -about it all in Tommy Bryan’ mamma’s parlor, but I don’t think it’s -very larkey; he’s just a-sittin’ down with a whole lot of women -actin’ like geese all around him. But he had to pay money to have -larks, an’ he had such lots of ’em that pretty soon he didn’t have -no money. Say, Uncle Harry, why don’t people have all the money they -want?” - -“That’s the world’s prize conundrum,” said Mr. Burton. “Ask me -something easier.” - -“I’m goin’ to have all the money I wantsh when I gets growed,” said -Toddie. - -“How are you going to get it?” asked his uncle, with natural interest. - -“Goin’ to be real good, an’ then ashk de Lord for it,” said Toddie. -“Wonder where de Lord keepsh de lotsh of nysh fings he’ goin’ to give -good people when dey ashk Him for ’em?--money and fings?” - -“Why, in heaven, of course,” said Budge. - -“Hazh He got a savin’ bank an’ a toy-store?” asked Toddie. - -“Sh--h--h!” whispered Mrs. Burton. - -“He’s only talking of what grown people expect, my dear,” said Mr. -Burton. “Go on, Budge.” - -“Well, he didn’t have any more money, an’ he couldn’t write to his -papa for some, ’cause there wasn’t any post offices in that country, so -he went to work for a man, an’ the man made him feed pigs, and he had -to eat the same things that the pigs ate. I don’t know whether he ate -them out of a troff or not.” - -“It’s a great pity that you are in doubt on that point,” said Mr. -Burton. - -“He could play in de mud like de pigs, couldn’t he?” said Toddie. “His -papa was too far away to know about it, an’ to say ‘Don’t!’s at him.” - -“I s’pose so,” said Budge, “but I don’t think a boy could feel much -like playin’ with mud when he had to eat with the pigs. Well, he went -along bein’ a pig-feeder, when all at once he ’membered that there was -always enough to eat at his papa’s house. Say, Uncle Harry, boys is -alike everywhere, ain’t they?” - -“I suppose so, present company excepted. But what reminded you of it?” - -“Why, he wanted to go home when he couldn’t hook enough from the pigs -to fill his stomach, an’ my papa says little boys that can’t be found -when their mamma wants ’em always start for home when they get hungry. -That’s what this boy off in another country did--papa says the Bible -don’t tell whether he told the man to get another pig-feeder, or -whether he just skooted in a hurry. But, anyhow, he got pretty near -home, an’ I guess he felt awful ashamed of himself an’ went along the -back road; for, in the picture of our big Bible-book, his clothes are -awful ragged an’ mussy, an’ he must have been sure he was goin’ to -get scolded an’ wish he could get in the back door an’ go up to his -room without anybody seein’ him.” - -“Oh, Harry!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. “This is growing perfectly -dreadful. It’ positively sacrilegious.” - -“The application is the only sacred part of the original, my dear,” -said Mr. Burton, “and you may trust that boy to discover the point of -anything. I wish doctors of divinity were like him. Go ahead, Budge.” - -“Well, he was sneakin’ along, an’ gettin’ behind trees an’ fences -whenever he saw anybody comin’ that he knew, when all at once his papa -saw him. Papas always can see farther than anybody else, I believe, -an’ they always kind o’s know when their boys are comin’, an’ they -just look as if they’d always been standin’ right there waitin’ for -’em. An’ that pig-feeder’s papa ran right out of the house without his -hat on--that’s the way he is in the picture in the big Bible-book, an’ -grabbed him, an’ kissed him, an’ hugged him so hard that he had to -grunt, an’----” - -“An’ he didn’t say ‘Why, how did you get your clozhezh so dyty,’s -eiver?” said Toddie. - -“No, indeed! An’ the pig-feeder said he’d been a bad boy, an’ he -guessed he’d better eat his dinner in the kitchen after that, but his -papa wouldn’t let him. He put clean clothes on him, an’ gave him a new -pair of shoes, an’ put a ring on his finger.” - -“Ringsh ain’t good to eat,” said Toddie. “I fwallowed one once, I did, -an’ it didn’t taste nohow at all. And den I had to take some nashty -medshin, an’ de ring came unfwallowed again.” - -“He didn’t give him the ring to eat, you silly boy,” said Budge. “Rings -squeeze fingers all the time, an’ let folks know how the folks that -give ’em the rings want to squeeze ’em all the time. Then they killed -a whole calf--’cause the pig-feeder was awful empty, you know, an’ -they had a jolly old time. An’ the pig-feeder’s big brother heard ’em -all cuttin’ up, an’ he was real cross about it, ’cause he’d always -been good, an’ there hadn’t ever been any tea-parties made for him. -But his papa said, ‘Oh, don’t say a word--we’ve got your brother back -again--just think of that, my boy.’s I’m awful sorry for that big -brother, though; I know how he felt, for when Tod’s bad, an’ I’m good -papa just takes Tod in his lap an’ talks to him, an’ hugs him, an’ -I feel awful lonesome an’ wish I wasn’t good a bit.” - -“And what do you suppose the bad boy’ mamma did when she saw him?” -asked Mr. Burton. - -[Illustration: “SOME NASHTY MEDSHIN”] - -“Oh,” said Budge, “I guess she didn’t say anythin’, but just looked so -sad at him that he made up his mind he wouldn’t ever do a naughty thing -again as long as he lived, an’ after that he’d stand behind her chair -whole half-hours at a time just to look at her where she wouldn’t catch -him at it.” - -“And what do you think that whole story means, Budge?” asked Mrs. -Burton, determined to impress at least one prominent theological -deduction upon her nephew. - -“Why, it means that good papas can always see when bad boys is real -ashamed of themselves,” said Budge, “an’ know it’s best to be real -sweet to ’em then, an’ that papas that can’t see and don’t know better -than to scold ’em they needn’t ever expect to see their bad little boys -come home again.” - -Mrs. Burton started, and her husband laughed inwardly at this unusual -application, but the lady recovered herself and returned in haste to -her point. - -“Don’t you think it’s intended to teach us anything about the Lord?” -she asked. - -“Why, yes,” said Budge, “of course. He is the best of all papas, so -he’ll be better to his bad children than any other good papas know how -to be.” - -“That’s what the story is meant to teach,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“I thought everybody knew that about the Lord.” Budge replied. - -“If they did, Jesus would never have told the story,” said Mrs. Burton. - -“Oh, I s’pose those old Jews had to be told it,” said Budge, “’cause -folks used to be awful bad to their children, an’ believe the Lord -would be awful bad to them.” - -“People need to be told the same story now, Budge,” continued Mrs. -Burton. “They love to hear it, and know how good the Lord is willing to -be to them.” - -“Do they love it better than to learn how good they ought to be to -their children?” Budge asked. “Then I think they’re piggish. I wouldn’t -like my papa an’ mamma to be that way. They say that it’s gooder to -care for what you can give than what you can get. An’ Uncle Harry -hasn’t told us yet when we’re goin’ home, and who’s goin’ to take us.” - -“Your papa is going to come for you as he returns from the city,” said -Mr. Burton. “I think he wants to tell you something before you go home; -you little boys don’t know yet how to act in a house where there’s sick -mammas and little babies.” - -“Oh, yes, we do,” said Budge. “All we’ve got to do is to sit still an’ -look at ’em with all our mights.” - -“Only dzust dzump up ev’ry two or free minutes to kiss ’em,” suggested -Toddie. - -“Yes,” said Budge, “an’ to pat their cheeks an’ to put nice things to -eat in their mouths, like papa an’ mamma does to us, when we’re sick.” - -“An’ make music for ’em,” said Toddie. - -“An’ give ’em pennies,” said Budge. - -“An’ shake their savings banks for ’em to make de pennies rattle, like -Budgie did for me once when I was too sick to rattle my own bank,” said -Toddie, bestowing a frantic hug upon his brother. - -“An’ put the room to rights for ’em,” said Budge. - -“An’ bring ’em in nice mud-pies all ready baked, like I did once for -Budgie, to play wif on de bed when he was sick,” said Toddie. - -“An’ dance for ’em,” suggested Budge. “That’s the way I used to do for -Baby Phillie, an’ it always made him happy.” - -“An’ put up pictures on de wall for ’em,” said Toddie; “we’s got whole -newspapers full that we’s cutted out up in your garret; and dere’s a -whole bottle of mucilage----” - -“My war file of illustrated papers!” explained Mr. Burton. “How did -they find that? Oh, this cross of love!” - -“Whole bottle of mucilage in papa’s room to stick ’em on wif,” -continued Toddie; “an’ mamma’s room is nice pink, like de leaves of my -scrap-book dat pictures look so pretty on.” - -“And these are the child-ideas of being good and useful!” exclaimed -Mrs. Burton, as the boys forgot everything else in the discovery of -their uncle’s razor-strop with an extension at one end. - -“Yes,” sighed Mr. Burton, “and they’re not much nearer the proper -thing, in spite of their good intentions, than the plans of grown -people for the management of children, the reformation of the world, -and a great many other things.” - -“Harry!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. - -“No personal allusion, my dear,” said her husband, quickly. “I’d no -thought of anything of the kind. Adults and children alike mean well -enough; the difference is that the former wonder why their ideas are -not appreciated while with the children the energies of parents and -teachers are devoted to treating mistaken opinions as great sins. How -many children could do the kindnesses which Budge and Toddie have -devised out of the tenderness of their dear little hearts and not be -scolded and whipped for their pains? Hosts of children have had all the -good blood and kind heart and honest head scolded and beaten out of -them, and only the baser qualities of their natures allowed to grow, -and these only because in youth many of them are dormant and don’t make -trouble.” - -“Harry, what a preacher you are!--what a terrible preacher!” exclaimed -Mrs. Burton. - -“Where does the terror come in?” asked Mr. Burton, with signs of that -indignation which every man with an idea in advance of his generation -must frequently be afflicted by. - -“Why, to imply that there’s so much injustice being done to children.” - -“Of course the saying of it is worse than the fact of its existence,” -said Mr. Burton, with a curl of the lip. - -“Please don’t speak in that cruel way, Harry. It isn’t anything of the -sort--excepting for a moment or two.” - -Mr. Burton apologized, and restored confidence without saying a word, -and then the couple turned instinctively to look at the first causes of -their conversation, but the boys were gone. - -“The tocsin of their souls, the dinner-bell--breakfast-bell, I mean, -has probably sounded,” said Mr. Burton; “and I’m as hungry as a bear -myself. Let’s descend and see what they’ve succeeded in doing within -five brief minutes.” - -The Burtons found the dining-room, but not the boys and the chambermaid -was sent in search of them. The meal was slowly consumed but the boys -did not appear. - -“You’d better have the cook prepare something additional,” suggested -Mr. Burton, as he arose and started for his train. “The appetite of the -small boy is a principal that accumulates frightful usury in a very -small while after maturity.” - -Mrs. Burton acted upon her husband’ suggestion, and busied herself -about household affairs for an hour or more, until, learning that -the boys had not yet arrived, she strolled out to search for them. -Supposing that they might have been overpowered by their impatience -so far as to have gone home at once, she visited the residence of her -sister-in-law, and inquired of Mike. - -“Dhivil a bit have they been here,” replied Michael. “Ain’t me ould -eyes sore for the soight av ’em all the whoile ag’in? They’re nowhere -about here, rest ye aisy.” - -“I’m afraid they may be lost,” said Mrs. Burton. - -Mike burst into a prolonged horse laugh, and then, recovering himself -by sundry contortions and swallowings, he replied: - -“Beggin’ yez pardon, ma’am, but I couldn’t help it--as the blessed -Virgin is smoilin’ in heaven, I cuddent--but thim byes can niver be -lost. Lost, is it? Cud ye lose a ghost or a bird? They’ll foind their -way anywhere they’ve been once, an’ if they haven’t been there before -they’ll belave they have, an’ foind their way out all roight. Lave yer -boddher till dinner-time, an’ mark me wurruds ye’ll foind ye’ve no -nade av it. Losht!” and Mike burst into another laugh that he hurried -into the stable to hide while Mrs. Burton returned to her home with a -mind almost quiet. - -The morning ended, however, and no small boys appeared at the table. -Mrs. Burton’s fears came back with increased strength and she hurried -off again to Mike and implored him to go in search of the children. The -sight of an ugly looking tramp or two by the way suggested kidnapping -to Mrs. Burton and brought tears to her eyes. Even the doubting Mike, -when he learned that the children had eaten nothing that day, grew -visibly alarmed and mounted one of his master’s horses in hot haste. - -“Where are you going first, Mike?” asked Mrs. Burton. - -“Dhivil a bit do I know!” exclaimed Mike; “but I’m goin’ to foind ’em, -an’ may the blessed saints go with me!” - -Away galloped Mike, and Mrs. Burton, fearing that the alarm might -reach the boys’ mother, hurried home, started the cook on one road, -the chambermaid on another, and herself on a third, while Mike sought -the candystore, the schoolhouse, sundry bridges over brooks, and the -various other places that boys delight in. Mrs. Burton’s own course -was along a road leading up the rugged, heavily wooded hill called by -courtesy a mountain, but she paused so many times, to call, to listen, -to step considerably out of her way to see if dimly descried figures -were not those of her nephews, and to discover that what seemed in the -forest to be boyish figures were only stumps or bushes, that she spent -at least two hours upon the road, which doubled many times upon itself. -Suddenly she saw in the road beyond her a familiar figure dragging a -large green bough. - -“Budge!” she screamed and ran toward him. The little figure turned -its head, and Mrs. Burton was shocked to see a haggard face, whose -whiteness intensified the starting eyes, pink, distended nostrils, and -thin, drawn lips of her nephew. And upon the bough, holding to one -of the upper sprigs tightly with one hand, while with the other he -clutched something green and crumpled, lay Toddie, dust-encrusted from -head to foot. - -“Oh! what has happened?” Mrs. Burton exclaimed. - -Toddie raised his head and explained. - -“Izhe a shotted soldier bein’ tookted to where de shooters can’t catch -me, like sometimes dey used to be in de war.” - -Budge dropped in the road and cried. - -“Oh, what is it?” cried Mrs. Burton, kneeling beside Toddie, and taking -him in her arms. And Toddie replied: - -“Ow!” - -“Budge, dear,” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, releasing Toddie, and hurrying to -his brother, “what has happened? Do tell me!” - -Budge opened his eyes and mouth reluctantly, and replied with a thin -voice: - -“Wait till I get alive again, an’ I’ll tell you. I haven’t got many -words inside of me now; they’re all dropped out, I’m so tired, and, -oh----” - -[Illustration: “I’ZHE A SHOTTED SOLDIER”] - -Budge closed his eyes again. Mrs. Burton picked him up tenderly, sat -upon a large stone, rocked back and forth, kissed him repeatedly, cried -over him, while Toddie turned upon his stomach, surveyed the scene with -apparent satisfaction, and said: - -“Say, Aunt Alish, it’s djolly to be a shotted soldier.” - -Budge slowly recovered, put his arm around his aunt tightly, and said: - -“Oh, Aunt Alice, ’twas awful!” - -“Tell me all about it, dear, when you feel well enough. Where have you -been all day? Aunty’s heart has been almost broken about you.” - -“Why, you see, we wanted to do something nice for you, ’fore we went -home to stay, ’cause you’ve been so nice to us. Why, when we talked -about it, we couldn’t think of a single unpleasant thing you’d done to -us--though I’m sure you done a lot. Anyhow, we couldn’t ’member any.” - -“’Cept sayin’ ‘Don’t!’s lotzh of timesh,” said Toddie. - -“Well,” said Budge, “Tod thought ’bout that, but we made up our minds -perhaps we needed that said to us. An’ we couldn’t think of anything -nicer than to get you some wild flowers. Ev’rybody’s got tame flowers, -you know, so we thought wild ones would be nicer. An’ we thought we -could get ’em ’fore breakbux if we’d hurry, so off we came right up to -the foot of the mountains, but there wasn’t any. I guess they wasn’t -awake yet, or else they’d gone to sleep. Then we didn’t know what to -do.” - -“’Cept get you some bych [birch] bark,” said Toddie. - -“Yes,” said Budge; “but birch bark is to eat, an’ not to look at; an’ -we wanted to give you somethin’ you could see, an’ remember us a few -days by.” - -“An’ all of a sudden I said ’fynes!’ [ferns],” said Toddie. - -“Yes,” said Budge, “Tod said it first, but I thought it the same -second. An’ there’ lovely ferns up in the rocks. Don’t you see?” - -Mrs. Burton looked, and shuddered. The cliff above her head was a -hundred feet high, jagged all over its front, yet from every crevice -exquisite ferns posed their peaceful fronds before the cold gray of the -rock. - -“’Twasn’t here,” Budge continued. “’Twas ’way up around the corner, -where the rocks ain’t so high, but they’re harder to climb. We climbed -up here first.” - -“You dreadful, darling children!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, giving Budge -a squeeze of extra severity. “To think of two little children going up -such a dreadful place! Why, it makes me dizzy to see your Uncle Harry -do it.” - -“Ain’t childrens, when we climb mountainsh!” asserted Toddie; “we’zh -mans den.” - -“Well,” Budge continued, “we got lots, and throwed each one away ’cause -we kept seein’ nicer ones higher up. Say, Aunt Alice, what’s the -reason things higher up always look extra nice?” - -“I know,” said Toddie. - -“Why is it, Toddie?” Mrs. Burton asked. - -“’Cauzh deysh closer to hebben,” said Toddie. “G’won, Budgie. I likes -to hear ’bout it, too.” - -“Well, at last we got to a place where the rocks all stopped and some -more began. An’ up on them was the loveliest ferns of all.” - -“An’ I went up dat mountain fyst, I did,” said Toddie. - -“Yes, Tod did, the blessed little sassy rascal,” said Budge, blowing -a kiss to his brother. “I told him I didn’t believe that any ferns was -nicer than any others, but he said, ‘Lord’ll make ’em so den, for Aunt -Alish.’s An’ up he went, just like a spider.” - -“Went up fyst,” said Toddie. - -“’Course you did,” said Budge. “’Cause I didn’t go up at all. And Tod -was pullin’ at a big fern with his back to me, an’ the first thing I -knew there he was in the air layin’ down sideways on nothin’. Then he -hollered.” - -“’Cauzh I camed down bunk on whole lotch of little rocks,” explained -Toddie. “But I didn’t lose the fyne--here tizh!” and Toddie held up a -badly crushed and wilted ball of something that had once been a fern, -seeing which Mrs. Burton placed Budge on the stone, hurried to Toddie, -thrust the bruised fern into her bosom, and kissed its captor soundly. - -“Hold me some more,” said Budge, “I don’t feel very good yet.” - -“Then what did you do?” asked Mrs. Burton, resuming her position as -nurse. - -“Why, Tod went on hollerin’, an’ he couldn’t walk, so I helped him -down to the road, an’ he couldn’t walk yet----” - -Mrs. Burton had turned again to Toddie, and carefully examined his legs -without finding any broken bones. - -“The hurt is in de bottom part of my leg an’ de top part of my foot,” -said Toddie, who had turned his ankle. - -“An’ he just hollered ‘mam-_ma_’s and ‘pa-_pa_,’ so sad,” continued -Budge. “An’ ’twas awful. An’ I looked up the road an’ there wasn’t -anybody, an’ down the front of the mountain and there wasn’t anybody, -an’ I didn’t know what to do, ’cause ’twouldn’t do to go ’way off home -to tell, when a poor little brother was feelin’ so dreadful bad. Then -I ’membered how papa said he’d sometimes seen shot soldiers carried -away when there wasn’t any wagons. So I pulled at the limb of a tree to -get the thing to drag him on.” - -“Why, Budge!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, “you don’t mean to say you got -that bough all alone by yourself, do you?” - -“Well, no, I guess not,” said Budge, hesitatingly. “I pulled at one -after another, but not one of them would split, and then I thought of -somethin’ an’ kneeled right down by the tree, an’ told the Lord -all about it, an’ told Him I knew He didn’t want poor little hurt Tod -to lie there all day, an’ wouldn’t He please help me break a limb -to draw him on? An’ when I got up off of my knees I was as strong -as forty thousand horses. I don’t think I needed the Lord to help me -a bit then. An’ I just gave one pull at the limb, an’ down it came -kersplit, an’ I put Tod on it, an’ dragged him. But I tell you it was -hard work!” - -“’Twash fun, too,” said Toddie, “’cept when it went where dere was -little rocks in de road, an’ dey came up an’ hitted de hurt playsh.” - -“I dragged it in the soft parts of the road,” said Budge, “whenever I -could, but sometimes there wasn’t any soft place all across the road. -An’ things jumped inside of me--that little heart-engine, you know, -awfully. I could only go about a dozen steps without stoppin’ to -rest. An’ then Tod stopped cryin’ an’ said he was hungry, an’ that -reminded me that I was hungry, too.” - -“But we didn’t lose the fyne,” said Toddie. - -Mrs. Burton took the memento from her breast and kissed it. - -“Why,” said Budge, “you like it, don’t you? All right, then. Tod an’ -me don’t care for bothers an’ hurts now, do we, Tod?” - -“No, indeedy,” said Toddie. “Not when we can ride like shotted -soldiers, an’ get home to get breakbux an’ lunch togevver.” - -“Neither of you shall have any more trouble about getting home,” said -Mrs. Burton. “Just sit here quietly while I go and send a carriage for -you.” - -“Oh!” said Budge. “That’ll be lovely; won’t it, Tod? Ain’t you glad you -got hurt? But say? Aunt Alice, haven’t you got any crackers in your -pocket?” - -“Why, no--certainly not!” exclaimed the lady, temporarily losing her -tenderness. - -“Oh! I thought you might have. Papa always does, when he goes out to -look for us when we stay away from home a good while.” - -Suddenly a horse’s hoofs were heard on the road below. - -“I shouldn’t wonder if that was Mike,” said Mrs. Burton. “He has been -out on horseback, looking for you.” - -“I shouldn’t wonder if ’twas papa,” said Budge. “He’s the funniest man -for always comin’ anywhere first when we need him most.” - -“An’ wif crackers,” Toddie added. - -The clattering hoofs came nearer, though slower, and, true to the -children’s intuitions, around the bend of the road came Tom Lawrence -on horseback, an old army haversack and canteen slung over his shoulder. - -“Papa!” shouted both boys. “Hooray!” Tom Lawrence waved his hat, and -Toddie shouted, “He’s got de crackers! I see de bag!” The father reined -up suddenly and dismounted, Budge rushed to his arms, and Toddie -exclaimed, - -“Papa, guesh it’s a long time since you’ seen a shotted soldier, ain’t -it?” - -Then Toddie was placed in the saddle, and Budge behind him, and the -precious haversack was opened and found to contain sandwiches, and -both boys tried to drink out of the canteen, and poured a great deal -of water into their bosoms, and Tom led the horse carefully, and Mrs. -Burton walked upon one side, with a hand under Toddie’s lame leg to -keep the bruised ankle from touching the saddle, and she did not -swerve from the middle of the dusty road, even when carriages full of -stylish acquaintances were met, and both little heroes, like men of -larger growth, forgot at once that they had ever been heroic, and they -prattled as inconsequently as any couple of silly children could, and -the horse was led by a roundabout road so that no one might see the -party and apprise Mrs. Lawrence that anything unusual had happened, and -the boys were heavily bribed to tell their mother nothing until their -father had explained, and they were carried in, each in his father’ -arms, to kiss their mamma; and when they undressed and went to bed, -the sister-baby was, by special dispensation of the nurse, allowed to -lie between them for a few moments, and the evening ceremonies were -prolonged by the combined arts of boys and parent, and then Budge knelt -and prayed: - -“Dear Lord, we’re awful glad to get back again, ’cause nobody can be -like papa and mamma to us, an’ I’m so thankful I don’t know what to do -for bein’ made so strong when I wanted to break that limb off of the -tree, and bless dear Aunt Alice for findin’ us, and bless poor uncle -more, ’cause he tried to find us, and was disappointed, and make every -little boy’s papa just like ours, to come to ’em just when they need -him, just like you. Amen.” - -And Toddie shut his eyes in bed, and said, - -“Dee Lord, I went up de mountain fyst. Don’t forget dat. Amen.” - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - -There was a little family conclave at the Lawrence house a fortnight -later. No deliberative meeting had been intended; quite the contrary; -for Mrs. Lawrence was on that day to make her first appearance at the -dinner-table in a month, and Mrs. Burton and her husband were invited -to step in informally on the occasion, and they had been glad enough to -do so although the boys, who had been allowed to dine that night with -the family in honor of the occasion, conversed so volubly that no other -person at the table could speak without interruption. - -But there came an hour when the boys could no longer prolong the usual -preliminaries of going to bed, although they kissed their parents -and visitors once as a matter of course, a second time to be sure -they had done it, and a third time to assure themselves that they -had forgotten nobody. Then several chats were interrupted by various -juvenile demands, pleas and questions from the upper floor; but as, -when Lawrence went in person to answer the last one he found both boys -sleeping soundly the families devoted themselves to each other with the -determination of passing a pleasant evening. They talked of what was -going on in the world, and much that might be going on but was not, the -blame being due to persons who did not think as they did; they sang, -played, quoted books, talked pictures and bric-a-brac, and then Mrs. -Lawrence changed the entire course of conversation by promising to -replace Mrs. Burton’s chair which the dog Terry had destroyed by special -arrangement with the boys. - -[Illustration: BOTH BOYS SLEEPING SOUNDLY] - -“You sha’n’t do anything of the sort!” said Mrs. Burton. “Keep the dear -little scamps from playing such pranks on any one who don’t happen to -love them so well, and I’ll forgive them.” - -“You don’t imagine for a moment that they knew what the result would be -when they tied Terry to the chair, do you?” Mrs. Lawrence asked. - -“Never!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, emphatically, “but they did it, and it -might have happened somewhere else, with people who didn’t love them so -well, and what would they have thought?” - -“She means that strangers would have imagined your boys a couple of -little boors, Nell,” said Mr. Burton to his sister. - -“Strangers know nothing whatever about other people’s children,” said -Mrs. Lawrence with dignity, “and they should therefore have nothing to -do with them and pass no opinions upon them. No one estimates children -by what they are; they only judge by the amount of trouble they make.” - -“Now you’ve done it, Mistress Alice,” said Mr. Burton to his wife. “It -is better to meet a she-bear that is robbed of her whelps than a mother -whose children are criticized by any one but herself.” - -“I’ve done it!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. “Who translated my quiet remark -into something offensive. Besides, you’ve misapplied Scripture only -to suggest things worse yet. If I’m not mistaken, the proverb about -the she-bear and her whelps has something in it about a fool and his -folly. Do you mean to insinuate such insulting ideas about your sister -and her darlings?” - -But no amount of badinage could make Mrs. Lawrence forget that some -implied advice was secreted in her sister-in-law’s carefully worded -remark, so she continued, - -“I’m extremely sorry they had to go to you, but I couldn’t imagine what -better to do. I wish Tom could have staid at home all the while to -take care of them. I hope, if we ever die, they may follow us at once. -Nothing is so dreadful as the idea of one’s children being perpetually -misunderstood by some one else, and having their honest little hearts -hardened and warped just when they should be cared for most patiently -and tenderly.” - -“Helen!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, changing her seat so as to take Mrs. -Lawrence’ hand, “I’d die for your children at any time, if it would do -them any good.” - -“I believe you, you dear girl,” said Mrs. Lawrence, recovering her -natural manner, and not entirely unashamed of her outburst of feeling, -“but you don’t understand it all, as you will some day. The children -trouble me worse than they ever did or can any one else; but it isn’t -their fault, and I know it, and can endure it. No one else can. I -am sure I don’t know how to blame people who are annoyed by juvenile -pranks.” - -“Then what’s to be done with youngsters in general?” Mrs. Burton asked. - -“They’re to be kept at home,” said Mrs. Lawrence, “under the eye of -father or mother continually, until they are large enough to trust; and -the age at which they’re to be trusted should not be determined by the -impatience of their parents, either.” - -“Don’t be frightened, Allie,” said Tom. “Helen had some of these -notions before she had any boys of her own to defend.” - -“They’re certainly not the result of my children’s happy experiences -with the best aunt and uncle that ever lived,” said Mrs. Lawrence, -caressing her adopted sister’ hand. “If you could hear the boys’s -praises of you both, you’d grow insufferably vain, and imagine -yourselves born to manage orphan asylums.” - -“Heaven forbid!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, the immediate result of her -utterance being the partial withdrawal of Mrs. Lawrence’ hand. “There -are only two children in the family----” - -“Three,” corrected Mrs. Lawrence promptly. - -“Oh, bless me, what have I said!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. “Well, there -are only three children in the family, and they are not enough to found -an asylum, while I feel utterly unfitted to care for any one child that -I don’t know very well and love very dearly.” - -“Is it possible that any one can learn so much in so short a time?” -exclaimed Tom Lawrence. “Harry, my boy, you’re to be congratulated.” - -“Upon having educated me?” Mrs. Burton asked. - -“Upon the rare wisdom with which he selected a wife, or, the special -favor he found at the court where matches are made,” Tom explained. - -“Harry didn’t select me at all,” said Mrs. Burton. “Budge did it for -him, so of course the match was decreed in heaven. But may I know of -what my sudden acquisition of knowledge consists? If there’s anything -in my experience with the boys that I am not to feel humiliated about, -I should be extremely glad to know of it. I went into the valley of -humiliation within an hour of their arrival, and since then I’ve -scarcely been out of it.” - -“If it weren’t for being suspected of throwing moral deductions at -people,” Tom replied, “I would say that that same valley of humiliation -is very prolific of discoveries. But, preaching aside, no one can -manage children without first loving them. Even a heart full of love -has to make room for a lot of sorrow over blunders and failures.” - -“I’ve learned that affection is absolutely necessary,” said Mrs. -Burton, “but I confess that I don’t see clearly that love requires that -one should be trampled upon, wheedled, made of no account and without -authority in one’s own house, submit to anything, in fact----” - -“Now you’ve done it again,” whispered Mr. Burton to his wife, as Helen -Lawrence’ cheek began to flush, and that maternal divinity replied: - -“Does the parent of all of us resign his authority when he humors us in -our childish ways because we can’t comprehend any greater ones? Every -concession is followed by growth on the part of his children, if they -are honest; when they are not, it seems to me that the concessions -aren’t made. But my children are honest.” - -Mrs. Burton’s lips were parting, seeing which her husband whispered, - -“Don’t!” - -There was a moment or two of silence; then Mrs. Burton asked: - -“How are people to know when they’re not being imposed upon by -children? You can’t apply to the funny little beings the rules that -explain the ways of grown people.” - -“Is it the most dreadful thing in the world to be imposed upon by a -child?” asked Tom. “We never impose upon them, do we? We never give -them unfair answers, arbitrary commands, unkind restrictions, simply to -save ourselves a little extra labor or thought?” - -“Tom!” Mrs. Burton exclaimed; “I don’t do anything of the sort, I am -sure.” - -“Why will you display so touchy a conscience, then?” whispered her -husband. “If you continue to put up your defense the instant Tom -launches a criticism, he’ll begin to suspect you of dreadful cruelty to -the boys.” - -“Not I,” laughed Tom. - -“She had you to reform, for half a year before the boys visited her,” -said Helen, “and you still live.” - -“But, Tom, seriously now, you don’t mean to have me infer that children -shouldn’t be made to mind, and be prevented from doing things that can -bother their elders?” asked Mr. Burton. - -“Certainly they should have to obey,” said Tom, “but I’d rather they -wouldn’t, if at the same time they must learn, as in general they do, -that obedience is imposed more for the benefit of their elders than -themselves.” - -“I was always taught to obey,” said Mrs. Burton, with the not unusual -though always unconscious peculiarity of supposing the recital of -personal experience to be a sufficient argument and precedent. - -“Do you find the habit still strong in her, Harry?” asked Tom. - -“_Do_ I!” exclaimed Harry, with a mock tragic air, “’could I the -horrors of my prison house unfold,’s you would see that the obedient -member of the Burton family never appears in gowns.” - -“Certainly not,” said Mrs. Burton. “Didn’t he promise to be mine, and -shall I neglect my responsibilities? I obeyed my parents.” - -“And never doubted that their orders were wise, beneficent, and -necessary, of course?” asked Lawrence. - -[Illustration: THE OBEDIENT MEMBER OF THE BURTON FAMILY] - -“Tom, Tom!” said Helen, warningly; “if you don’t want Alice to abuse -other people’s children be careful what you say about other children’s -parents. Don’t play grand inquisitor.” - -“Oh, not at all,” said Tom, hastily. “But I should like to borrow -woman’ curiosity for a while, and have it gratified in this particular -case.” - -“I don’t know that I always admitted the wisdom of my parents’s -commands,” said Mrs. Burton; “but how could I? I was only a child.” - -“You rendered unquestioning obedience in spirit as well as in act, when -you became a young lady, then?” pursued Tom. - -“No, I didn’t. There!” Mrs. Burton exclaimed; “but what return can a -child make for parental care and suffering, except to at least seem to -be a model of compliance with its parents’s desires?” - -“Good!” exclaimed Harry. “And what can a husband, who knows that his -own way is best, do to recompense wifely companionship but meekly do as -his wife wants him to, no matter how incorrect her ideas?” - -“He can listen to reason and not be a conceited goose,” said Mrs. -Burton; “and he can refrain from impeding the flow of brotherly -instruction.” - -“Tom shall say whatever he likes,” said Mr. Burton. - -Mrs. Lawrence’s smile showed that she would be satisfied with the -result, and her husband continued: - -“Children--ninety-nine one-hundredths of those I’ve seen, at least, -are treated as necessary nuisances by their parents. The good fathers -and mothers would be horrified to realize this truth, and when it -accidentally presents itself, as it frequently does to any with heart -and head, its appearance is so unpleasing and perplexing that they -promptly take refuge in tradition. Weren’t they brought up in the same -way? To be sure, it’s the application of the same rule that has always -made the ex-slave the cruelest of overseers, and the ex-servant the -worst of masters; but such comparisons are odious to one’s pride, and -what chance has self-respect when pride steps down before it?” - -“Poor human nature!” sighed Harry. “You’ll get to Adam’s fall pretty -soon, won’t you, Tom?” - -“Don’t fear,” laughed Mr. Lawrence. “It’ the falling of later people -that troubles me--that, and their willingness to stay down when they’ve -tumbled and the calmness with which they can lie quiet and crush poor -little children who aren’t responsible for being under them. Adam knew -enough to wish himself back in his honorable position, but most parents -have had no lofty position to which they could look longingly back, -and but few of them can remember any such place having been in the -possession of any member of their respective families.” - -“But what is to be done, even if any one wishes to live up to your -ideal standard as a guardian of children?” Mrs. Burton asked. “Submit -to any and every imposition; allow every misdeed to go unpunished; be -the ruled instead of the ruler?” - -“Oh, no,” said Tom, “it’s something far harder than that. It’s to live -for the children instead of one’s self.” - -“And have all your nice times spoiled and your plans upset?” - -“Yes, unless they’re really of more value than human life and human -character,” Tom replied. “You indicated the proper starting point in -your last remark; if you’ll study that for yourself, you’ll learn a -great deal more than I can tell you, and learn it more pleasantly too.” - -“I don’t care to study,” said Mrs. Burton, “when I can get my -information at second-hand.” - -“Go on, Tom,” said Mr. Burton, “Continue to appear in your character of -the ‘Parental Encyclopædist’; we’ll try to stop one ear so that what -goes in at the other shall not be lost.” - -“I only want to say that the plans and good times spoiled by the -children are what ruin every promising generation. The child should -be taught, but instead of that he is only restrained. He should be -encouraged to learn the meaning and the essence of whatever of the -inevitable is forced upon him from year to year; but he soon learns -that children’s questions are as unwelcome as tax-collectors or -lightning-rod men. It’s astonishing how few hints are necessary to give -a child the habit of retiring into himself, and from there to such -company as he can find to tolerate him.” - -“You needn’t fear for your boys, Tom,” said Mr. Burton. “I’d pay -handsomely for the discovery of a single question which they have ever -wanted to ask but refrained from putting.” - -“And what myriads of them they can ask--not that there’s anything -wrong about it, the little darlings,” Mrs. Burton added. - -“I am glad of it,” said Tom; “but I hope they’ll never again have to go -to any one but their mother and me for information.” - -“Tom, there you go again!” said Mrs. Burton. “Please don’t believe I -ever refused them an answer or answered unkindly.” - -“Certainly you haven’t,” said Tom. “Excuse a stale quotation--’the -exception proves the rule.’s I’ve really been nervously anxious about -the soundness of this rule, until you were brought into the family, for -I never knew another exception.” - -“May I humbly suggest that a certain brother-in-law existed before the -boys had an Aunt Alice?” asked Mr. Burton. - -“Oh, yes,” said Tom; “but he was too well rewarded, for the little he -did, to be worthy of consideration.” - -Mrs. Burton inclined her head in acknowledgment of her brother-in-law’s -compliment, and asked: - -“Do you think all children’s questions are put with any distinct -intention? Don’t you imagine that they ask a great many because they -don’t know what else to do, or because they want to--to----” - -“To talk against time, she means, Tom,” said Mr. Burton. - -“Very likely. But the answers are what are of consequence, no matter -what the motive of the questions may be.” - -“What an idea!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton; “really, Tom, aren’t you afraid -you’re losing yourself?” - -“I really hadn’t noticed it,” said Tom; “but perhaps I may be able to -explain myself more clearly. You go to church?” - -“Regularly--every Sunday,” responded Mrs. Burton. - -“And always with the most reverent feelings, of course. You never find -your mind full of idle questionings, or mere curious wondering, or even -a perfect blank, or a circle upon which your thoughts chase themselves -around to their starting place without aim or motive?” - -“How well you know the ways of the hum-drum mind, Tom,” said Mrs. -Burton. “You didn’t learn them from your personal experience, of -course?” - -“I wish I hadn’t! But supposing you at some few times in your life have -gone into the sanctuary in such frames of mind, did you never have -them changed by what you’ve heard? Did you never have the very common -experience of learning that it is at these very moments of weakness, -indecision, blankness, childishness, or whatever you may please to call -it, the mind becomes peculiarly retentive of whatever of real value -happens to strike it?” - -Mrs. Burton reflected, and by silence signified her assent, but she was -not fully satisfied with the explanation, for she asked, - -“Do you think, then, that all the ways of children are just as they -should be?--that they never ask questions from any but heaven-ordained -motives?--that they are utterly devoid of petty guile?” - -“They’re human, I believe,” said Mr. Lawrence, “and full of human -weaknesses, but any other human beings--present company excepted, of -course--should know by experience how little malice there is in the -most annoying of people. Certainly children do copy the faults of their -elders, and--oh, woe is me! inherit the failings of their ancestors, -but it is astonishing how few they seem to have when the observer will -forget himself and honestly devote himself to their good. I confess it -does need the wisdom of Solomon to discover when they are honest and -when they’re inclined to be tricky.” - -“And can you inform us where the wisdom of Solomon is to be procured -for the purpose?” asked Mrs. Burton. - -“From the source at which Solomon obtained it, I suppose,” Tom replied; -“from an honest, unselfish mind. But it is so much easier to trust to -selfishness and its twin demon suspicion, that nothing but a pitying -Providence saves most children from reform schools and penitentiaries.” - -“But the superiority of adults--their right to demand implicit, -unquestioning obedience----” - -“Is the most vicious, debasing tyranny that the world is cursed by, -“Tom exclaimed with startling emphasis.” It gave the old Romans power -of life and death over their children. It cast some of the vilest blots -upon the pages of Holy Writ. Nowadays it is worse, for then it worked -its principal mischief upon the body, but nowadays ‘I say unto you fear -not them that kill the body, but’--excuse a free rendering--fear them -who cast both soul and body into hell. You’re orthodox, I believe.” - -Mrs. Burton shuddered, but her belief in the rights of adults, which -she had inherited from a line of ancestors reaching back to Adam or -protoplasm, was more powerful than her horror, and the latter was -quickly overcome by the former. - -“Then adults have no rights that children are bound to respect?” she -asked. - -“Yes; the right of undoing the failures of their own education and -doing it for the benefit of beings who are not responsible for their -own existence. Can you imagine a greater crime than calling a soul into -existence without its own desire and volition, and then making it your -slave instead of making yourself its friend?” - -“Why, Tom, you’re perfectly dreadful,” exclaimed Mrs. Burton.” One -would suppose that parents were a lot of pre-ordained monsters!” - -“They’re worse,” said Tom; “they’re unthinking people with a lot of -self-satisfaction, and a reputation for correctness of life. Malicious -people are easily caught and kept out of mischief by the law. The -respectable, unintentional evil-doers are those who make most of the -trouble and suffering in the world.” - -“And you propose to go through life dying deaths daily for the sake of -those children,” said Alice, “rather than make them what you would like -them to be?” - -“No,” said Tom, “I propose to live a new life daily, and learn what -life should be, for the sake of making them what I would like them to -be; for I don’t value them so much as conveniences and playthings, as -for what they may be to themselves, and to a world that sorely needs -good men.” - -“And women,” added Mrs. Lawrence. “I do believe you’ve forgotten the -baby, you heartless wretch!” - -“I accept the amendment,” said Tom, “but the world has already more -good women than it begins to appreciate.” - -“Bless me! what a quantity of governing that poor sister-baby will -get!” said Mrs. Burton. “But, of course, you don’t call it governing; -you’ll denominate it self-immolation; you’ll lose your remaining hair, -and grow ten years older in the first year of its life.” - -“I shouldn’t wonder,” said Tom, with an expression of countenance which -banished the smiles occasioned by his sister-in-law’ remark. - -“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton; “is there any more?” - -“Only this--it’s positively the last--’and, finally, we then that are -strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please -ourselves.’s Again I would remark, that I believe you’re orthodox?” - -The Burtons looked very sober for a moment, when suddenly there came -through the air the cry-- - -“Pa-_pa_!” - -Tom sprang to his feet; Helen looked anxious, and the Burtons smiled -quietly at each other. The cry was repeated, and louder, and as Tom -opened the door a little figure in white appeared. - -[Illustration: MAKING THEM WHAT I WOULD LIKE THEM TO BE] - -“I can’t get to sleep,” said Budge, shielding his eyes a moment from -the light. “I ain’t seen you for so long that I’e got to sit in your -lap till some sleep will come to me.” - -“Come to auntie, Budge,” said Mrs. Burton. “Poor papa is real tired; -you can’t imagine the terrible work he’s been at for an hour.” - -“Papa says it rests him to rest me,” said Budge, clasping his father -tightly. - -The Burtons looked on with quiet amusement, until there arose another -cry in the hall of-- - -“Papa! Ow! pa-pa!” - -Again Tom hurried to the door, this time with Budge clinging around -his neck. As the door opened, Toddie crept in on his hands and knees, -exclaiming: - -“De old bed wazh all empty, only ’cept me, an’ I kwawled down de -stepsh ’cauzh I didn’t want to be loneshome no more. And Ize all empty -too, and I wantsh somefin’ to eat.” - -Helen went to the dining-room closet and brought in a piece of light -cake. - -“There goes all my good instructions,” groaned Mrs. Burton. “To think -of the industry with which I have always labored to teach those -children that it’s injurious to eat between meals, and, worse yet, to -eat cake!” - -“And to think of how you always ended by letting the children have -their own way!” added Mr. Burton. - -“Eating between meals is the least of two evils,” said Tom. “When -a small boy is kept in bed with a sprained ankle, and on a short -allowance of food---- Oh, dear! I see my subject nosing around again, -Alice. Do you know that most of the wickednesses of children come from -the lack of proper attention to their physical condition?” - -“Save me! Pity me!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. “I’m convinced already that -I don’t know a single thing about children, and I’ll know still less if -I take another lesson to-day.” - -“Izh you takin’ lessons, Aunt Alish?” asked Toddie, who had caught a -fragment of the conversation. “What book is you lynin’ fwom?” - -“A primer,” replied Mrs. Burton; “the very smallest, most insignificant -of A B C books.” - -“Why, can’t you read?” asked Budge. - -“Oh, yes,” sighed Mrs. Burton. “’But whether there be knowledge it -shall vanish away.’” - -“’But love never faileth,’” responded Mr. Lawrence. - -“If you want to learn anythin’,” said Budge, “just you ask my papa. -He’ll make you know all about it, no matter how awful stupid you are.” - -“Many thanks for the advice--and the insinuations,” said Mrs. Burton. -“I feel as if the latter were specially pertinent, from the daze my -head is in. I never knew before how necessary it was to be nobody in -order to be somebody.” - -The boys took possession of their father, one on each knee, and Tom -rocked with them and chatted in a low tone to them, and hummed a tune, -and finally broke into a song, and as it happened to be one of the -variety known as “roaring,” his brother-in-law joined him, and the air -recalled old friends and old associations, and both voices grew louder, -and the ladies caught the air and increased its volume with their own -voices, when suddenly a very shrill thin voice was heard above their -heads, and Mrs. Lawrence exclaimed: - -“Sh--h--h! The baby is awake.” - -Subsequent sounds indicated beyond doubt that Mrs. Lawrence was correct -in her supposition, and she started instinctively for the upper floor, -but found herself arrested by her husband’s arm and anxious face, while -Mrs. Burton exclaimed, - -“Oh, bring it down here! Please, do!” - -The nurse was summoned, and soon appeared with a wee bundle of -flannel, linen, pink face and fingers. - -“Give her to me!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, rising to take the baby, but -the baby exclaimed “Ah!” and its mother snatched it. Then the baby did -its best to hide in its mother’s bosom, and its mother did her best -to help it, and by the merest chance a rosy little foot escaped from -its covering, seeing which Mrs. Burton hurriedly moved her chair and -covered the foot with both her hands; though it would have been equally -convenient and far less laborious to have tucked the foot back among -its habitual wrappings. Then the boys had to be moved nearer the baby, -so that they could touch it, and try to persuade it to coo; and Harry -Burton found himself sitting so far from any one else that he drew -his chair closer to the group, just to be sociable; and the Lawrences -grew gradually to look very happy, while the Burtons grew more and -more solemn, and at last the hands of Mr. and Mrs. Burton met under -the superabundant wraps of the baby, and then their eyes met, and the -lady’s eyes were full of tears and her husband’s full of tenderness, -and Budge, who had taken in the whole scene, broke the silence by -remarking; - -“Why, Aunt Alice, what are you crying for?” - -Then every one looked up and looked awkward, until Mrs. Lawrence leaned -over the baby and kissed her sister-in-law, noticing which the two men -rose abruptly, although Tom Lawrence found occasion to indulge in the -ceremony of taking Harry Burton by the hand. Then the baby yielded -to her aunt’ solicitations, and changed her resting-place for a few -moments, and the gentlemen were informed that if they wanted to smoke -they would have to do it in the dining-room, for Mrs. Lawrence was not -yet able to bear it. Then the gentlemen adjourned and stared at each -other as awkwardly over their cigars as if they had never met before, -and the ladies chatted as confidentially as if they were twin sisters -that had never been separated, and the boys were carried back to bed, -one by each gentleman, and they were re-kissed good night, and their -father and uncle were departing when Toddie remarked, - -“Papa, mamma hazhn’t gived our sister-baby to Aunt Alish to keep, hazh -she?” - -“No, old chap,” said Tom. - -“I don’t want anybody to have that sister-baby but us,” said Budge; -“but if anybody had to, Aunt Alice would be the person. Do you know, I -believe she was prayin’ to it, she looked so funny.” - -[Illustration: A LITTLE VISITOR AT THE BURTONS’] - -The gentlemen winked at each other, and again Tom Lawrence took the -hand of his brother-in-law. Several months later, the apprehensions -of the boys were quieted by the appearance of a little visitor at the -Burtons’, who acted as if she had come to stay, and who in the course -of years cured Mrs. Burton of every assumption of the ability of -relatives to manage “Other People’s Children.” - - -THE END. - - - - -FAMOUS COPYRIGHT BOOKS IN POPULAR PRICED EDITIONS - -Re-issues of the great literary successes of the time. Library size. -Printed on excellent paper--most of them with illustrations of marked -beauty--and handsomely bound in cloth. Price, 75 cents a volume, -postpaid. - - - BEVERLY OF GRAUSTARK. By George Barr McCutcheon. With Color - Frontispiece and other illustrations by Harrison Fisher. Beautiful - inlay picture in colors of Beverly on the cover. - -“The most fascinating, engrossing and picturesque of the season’ -novels.”--_Boston Herald._ “’Beverly’s is altogether charming--almost -living flesh and blood.”--_Louisville Times._ “Better than -‘Graustark’.”--_Mail and Express._ “A sequel quite as impossible as -‘Graustark’s and quite as entertaining.”--_Bookman._ “A charming love -story well told.”--_Boston Transcript_. - - HALF A ROGUE. By Harold MacGrath. With illustrations and inlay cover - picture by Harrison Fisher. - -“Here are dexterity of plot, glancing play at witty talk, characters -really human and humanly real, spirit and gladness, freshness and quick -movement. ‘Half a Rogue’s is as brisk as a horseback ride on a glorious -morning. It is as varied as an April day. It is as charming as two most -charming girls can make it. Love and honor and success and all the -great things worth fighting for and living for the involved in ‘Half a -Rogue.’”--_Phila. Press._ - - THE GIRL FROM TIM’S PLACE. By Charles Clark Munn. With illustrations - by Frank T. Merrill. - -“Figuring in the pages of this story there are several strong -characters. Typical New England folk and an especially sturdy one, old -Cy Walker, through whose instrumentality Chip comes to happiness and -fortune. There is a chain of comedy, tragedy, pathos and love, which -makes a dramatic story.”--_Boston Herald._ - - THE LION AND THE MOUSE. A story of American Life. By Charles Klein, - and Arthur Hornblow. With illustrations by Stuart Travis, and Scenes - from the Play. - -The novel duplicated the success of the play; in fact the book is -greater than the play. A portentous clash of dominant personalities -that form the essence of the play are necessarily touched upon but -briefly in the short space of four acts. All this is narrated in the -novel with a wealth of fascinating and absorbing detail, making it one -of the most powerfully written and exciting works of fiction given to -the world in years. - - BARBARA WINSLOW, REBEL. By Elizabeth Ellis. With illustrations by John - Rae, and colored inlay cover. - -The following, taken from story, will best describe the heroine: A -TOAST: “To the bravest comrade in misfortune, the sweetest companion -in peace and at all times the most courageous of women.”--_Barbara -Winslow._ “A romantic story, buoyant, eventful, and in matters of love -exactly what the heart could desire.”--_New York Sun._ - - SUSAN. By Ernest Oldmeadow. With a color frontispiece by Frank - Haviland. Medalion in color on front cover. - -Lord Ruddington falls helplessly in love with Miss Langley, whom he -sees in one of her walks accompanied by her maid, Susan. Through a -misapprehension of personalities his lordship addresses a love missive -to the maid. Susan accepts in perfect good faith, and an epistolary -love-making goes on till they are disillusioned. It naturally makes a -droll and delightful little comedy; and is a story that is particularly -clever in the telling. - - WHEN PATTY WENT TO COLLEGE. By Jean Webster. With illustrations by C. - D. Williams. - -“The book is a treasure.”--_Chicago Daily News._ “Bright, whimsical, -and thoroughly entertaining.”--_Buffalo Express._ “One of the best -stories of life in a girl’s college that has ever been written.”--_N. -Y. Press._ “To any woman who has enjoyed the pleasures of a college -life this book cannot fail to bring back many sweet recollections; and -to those who have not been to college the wit, lightness, and charm of -Patty are sure to be no less delightful.”--_Public Opinion._ - - THE MASQUERADER. By Katherine Cecil Thurston. With illustrations by - Clarence F. Underwood. - -“You can’t drop it till you have turned the last page.”--_Cleveland -Leader._ “Its very audacity of motive, of execution, of solution, -almost takes one’s breath away. The boldness of its denouement is -sublime.”--_Boston Transcript._ “The literary hit of a generation. -The best of it is the story deserves all its success. A masterly -story.”--_St. Louis Dispatch._ “The story is ingeniously told, and -cleverly constructed.”--_The Dial._ - - THE GAMBLER. By Katherine Cecil Thurston. With illustrations by John - Campbell. - -“Tells of a high strung young Irish woman who has a passion for -gambling, inherited from a long line of sporting ancestors. She has a -high sense of honor, too, and that causes complications. She is a very -human, lovable character, and love saves her.”--_N. Y. Times._ - - THE AFFAIR AT THE INN. By Kate Douglas Wiggin. With illustrations by - Martin Justice. - -“As superlatively clever in the writing as it is entertaining in -the reading. It is actual comedy of the most artistic sort, and it -is handled with a freshness and originality that is unquestionably -novel.”--_Boston Transcript._ “A feast of humor and good cheer, yet -subtly pervaded by special shades of feeling, fancy, tenderness, or -whimsicality. A merry thing in prose.”--_St. Louis Democrat._ - - ROSE O’ THE RIVER. By Kate Douglas Wiggin. With illustrations by - George Wright. - -“‘Rose o’ the River,’s a charming bit of sentiment, gracefully written -and deftly touched with a gentle humor. It is a dainty book--daintily -illustrated.”--_New York Tribune._ “A wholesome, bright, refreshing -story, an ideal book to give a young girl.”--_Chicago Record-Herald._ -“An idyllic story, replete with pathos and inimitable humor. As -story-telling it is perfection, and as portrait-painting it is true to -the life.”--_London Mail._ - - TILLIE: A Mennonite Maid. By Helen R. Martin. With illustrations by - Florence Scovel Shinn. - -The little “Mennonite Maid” who wanders through these pages is -something quite new in fiction. Tillie is hungry for books and beauty -and love; and she comes into her inheritance at the end. “Tillie is -faulty, sensitive, big-hearted, eminently human, and first, last and -always lovable. Her charm glows warmly, the story is well handled, the -characters skilfully developed.”--_The Book Buyer._ - - LADY ROSE’S DAUGHTER. By Mrs. Humphry Ward. With illustrations by - Howard Chandler Christy. - -“The most marvellous work of its wonderful author.”--_New York World._ -“We touch regions and attain altitudes which it is not given to the -ordinary novelist even to approach.”--_London Times._ “In no other -story has Mrs. Ward approached the brilliancy and vivacity of Lady -Rose’s Daughter.”--_North American Review._ - - THE BANKER AND THE BEAR. By Henry K. Webster. - -“An exciting and absorbing story.”--_New York Times._ “Intensely -thrilling in parts, but an unusually good story all through. There is a -love affair of real charm and most novel surroundings, there is a run -on the bank which is almost worth a year’s growth, and there is all -manner of exhilarating men and deeds which should bring the book into -high and permanent favor.”--_Chicago Evening Post._ - - -NATURE BOOKS - -With Colored Plates, and Photographs from Life. - - -BIRD NEIGHBORS. An Introductory Acquaintance with 150 Birds Commonly -Found in the Woods, Fields and Gardens About Our Homes. By Neltje -Blanchan. With an Introduction by John Burroughs, and many plates of -birds in natural colors. Large Quarto, size 7¾ × 10⅜, Cloth. Formerly -published at $2.00. Our special price, $1.00. - - As an aid to the elementary study of bird life nothing has ever been - published more satisfactory than this most successful of Nature Books. - This book makes the identification of our birds simple and positive, - even to the uninitiated, through certain unique features. I. All the - birds are grouped according to color, in the belief that a bird’s - coloring is the first and often the only characteristic noticed. II. - By another classification, the birds are grouped according to their - season. III. All the popular names by which a bird is known are - given both in the descriptions and the index. The colored plates are - the most beautiful and accurate ever given in a moderate-priced and - popular book. The most successful and widely sold Nature Book yet - published. - -BIRDS THAT HUNT AND ARE HUNTED. Life Histories of 170 Birds of Prey, -Game Birds and Water-Fowls. By Neltje Blanchan. With Introduction by -G. O. Shields (Coquina). 24 photographic illustrations in color. Large -Quarto, size 7¾ × 10⅜. Formerly published at $2.00. Our special -price, $1.00. - - No work of its class has ever been issued that contains so much - valuable information, presented with such felicity and charm. The - colored plates are true to nature. By their aid alone any bird - illustrated may be readily identified. Sportsmen will especially - relish the twenty-four color plates which show the more important - birds in characteristic poses. They are probably the most valuable and - artistic pictures of the kind available to-day. - -NATURE’S GARDEN. An Aid to Knowledge of Our Wild Flowers and Their -Insect Visitors. 24 colored plates, and many other illustrations -photographed directly from nature. Text by Neltje Blanchan, Large -Quarto, size 7-3/4 × 10-3/8. Cloth. Formerly published at $3.00 net. -Our special price, $1.25. - - * * * * * - -Superb color portraits of many familiar flowers in their living tints, -and no less beautiful pictures in black and white of others--each -blossom photographed directly from nature--form an unrivaled series. By -their aid alone the novice can name the flowers met afield. - -Intimate life-histories of over five hundred species of wild flowers, -written in untechnical, vivid language, emphasize the marvelously -interesting and vital relationship existing between these flowers and -the special insect to which each is adapted. - -The flowers are divided into five color groups, because by this -arrangement any one with no knowledge of botany whatever can readily -identify the specimens met during a walk. The various popular names -by which each species is known, its preferred dwelling-place, months -of blooming and geographical distribution follow its description. -Lists of berry-bearing and other plants most conspicuous after the -flowering season, of such as grow together in different kinds of soil, -and finally of family groups arranged by that method of scientific -classification adopted by the International Botanical Congress which -has now superseded all others, combine to make “Nature’s Garden” an -indispensable guide. - - -FAMOUS COPYRIGHT BOOKS IN POPULAR PRICED EDITIONS - -Re-issues of the great literary successes of the time. Library size. -Printed on excellent paper--most of them with illustrations of marked -beauty--and handsomely bound in cloth. Price, 75 cents a volume, -postpaid. - - - THE SPIRIT OF THE SERVICE. By Edith Elmer Wood. With illustrations by - Rufus Zogbaum. - -The standards and life of “the new navy” are breezily set forth with a -genuine ring impossible from the most gifted “outsider.” “The story of -the destruction of the ‘Maine,’s and of the Battle of Manila, are very -dramatic. The author is the daughter of one naval officer and the wife -of another. Naval folks will find much to interest them in ‘The Spirit -of the Service.’”--_The Book Buyer._ - - A SPECTRE OF POWER. By Charles Egbert Craddock. - -Miss Murfree has pictured Tennessee mountains and the mountain people -in striking colors and with dramatic vividness, but goes back to the -time of the struggles of the French and English in the early eighteenth -century for possession of the Cherokee territory. The story abounds in -adventure, mystery, peril and suspense. - - THE STORM CENTRE. By Charles Egbert Craddock. - -A war story; but more of flirtation, love and courtship than of -fighting or history. The tale is thoroughly readable and takes its -readers again into golden Tennessee, into the atmosphere which has -distinguished all of Miss Murfree’s novels. - - THE ADVENTURESS. By Coralie Stanton. With color frontispiece by - Harrison Fisher, and attractive inlay cover in colors. - -As a penalty for her crimes, her evil nature, her flint-like -callousness, her more than inhuman cruelty, her contempt for the laws -of God and man, she was condemned to bury her magnificent personality, -her transcendent beauty, her superhuman charms, in gilded obscurity at -a King’s left hand. A powerful story powerfully told. - - THE GOLDEN GREYHOUND. A Novel by Dwight Tilton. With illustrations by - E. Pollak. - -A thoroughly good story that keeps you guessing to the very end, and -never attempts to instruct or reform you. It is a strictly up-to-date -story of love and mystery with wireless telegraphy and all the modern -improvements. The events nearly all take place on a big Atlantic liner -and the romance of the deep is skilfully made to serve as a setting for -the romance, old as mankind, yet always new, involving our hero. - - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, NEW YORK - - * * * * * - -Transcriber’s Notes - -Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Hyphenation -have been standardised except where it appears to have been used for -emphasis, but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. - -A table of contents has been added. - -Italics are represented thus _italic_ and bold thus =bold=. In the -following paragraph in Chapter III the Said has been added. - -“Oh, no, I won’t. I only said ’twas something to eat. But say, Aunt -Alice, how do bananas grow?” [said] Toddie, with brightening eyes and -a confident shake of his curly head. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Budge & Toddie, by John Habberton - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUDGE & TODDIE *** - -***** This file should be named 52298-0.txt or 52298-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/2/9/52298/ - -Produced by David Edwards, Les Galloway and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/old/52298-0.zip b/old/52298-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 67d302c..0000000 --- a/old/52298-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h.zip b/old/52298-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 1b8a9cc..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/52298-h.htm b/old/52298-h/52298-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 5971f12..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/52298-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13390 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Budge and Toddie Or Helen’s Babies at Play , by John Habberton. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -h1 -{ - margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; - text-align: center; - font-size: x-large; - font-weight: normal; - line-height: 1.6; -} - - h2, h3 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; - } - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} - -p -{ - margin-top: .75em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .75em; -} - -.space-above {margin-top: 6em;} -.hang {text-align: justify; padding-left: 1.75em; text-indent: -1.75em;} - -.half-title { - text-align: center; - font-size: x-large; - font-weight: normal; -} - -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.full {width: 95%; margin-left: 2.5%; margin-right: 2.5%;} -hr.small {width: 25%; margin-left: 37.5%; margin-right: 37.5%;} - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - - .tdrb {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; -} /* page numbers */ - - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.small {font-size: small;} - - -/* Images */ -.figcenter {margin: 1em auto; text-align: center;} -.caption {font-size: smaller; font-weight: bold;} -img {border: none; max-width: 100%} - -.figright { - float: right; - clear: right; - margin-left: 1em; - margin-bottom: - 1em; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-right: 0; - padding: 0; - text-align: center; -} -.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} - -.bt {border-top: solid 2px; border-style: double;} - - -/* Poetry */ -.poetry-container - { - text-align: center; - margin: -1em 0; - } - -.poetry - { - display: inline-block; - text-align: left; - } - -.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} - -.poetry .verse - { - text-indent: -3em; - padding-left: 3em; - } -.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2em;} - -@media handheld -{ - .poetry - { - display: block; - margin-left: 1em; - } -} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Budge & Toddie, by John Habberton - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Budge & Toddie - Helen's Babies at Play - -Author: John Habberton - -Illustrator: Tod Dwiggins - -Release Date: June 10, 2016 [EBook #52298] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUDGE & TODDIE *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Les Galloway and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - - - - -<h1> -BUDGE AND TODDIE<br /> -OR<br /> -HELEN’S BABIES AT PLAY -</h1> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/frontis.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">THE MAID’S GENERAL CARE OF THE BOYS</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/title.jpg" alt="" /> -</div> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Budge & Toddie<br /> - -or<br /> -Helen’s Babies at Play</span></p> -<p class="center"> -Being an account<br /> -of the further doings of these<br /> -marvelously precocious children.<br /> - -By <span class="smcap">John Habberton<br /> - -Author of Helen’s Babies</span>, etc., etc..</p> -<p class="center"> -With fifty illustrations by <span class="smcap">Tod Dwiggins</span></p> -<p class="center"> -<span class="smcap">Grosset and Dunlap<br /> -New York</span> -</p> - - -<p class="center space-above"> -COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY<br /> - -<big>GROSSET & DUNLAP</big></p> -<hr class="small" /> -<p class="center"><i>BUDGE & TODDIE</i> -</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/dedication.jpg" alt="" /> -</div> -<h2 id="Illustration_DEDICATION">DEDICATION</h2> - -<p>The Author of “Helen’s Babies” -dedicated that book “To the -Parents of the Best Children -in the World”; and -his commercial hint -appended thereunto -was so generally -taken, that he is impelled -by selfishness to -seek even a larger class -to which to inscribe the -present volume. -He therefore dedicates -it to</p> - -<p><b>Those Who Know -How to Manage -Other People’s -Children</b>.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">vii</span></p> - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="Introduction">Introduction</h2> - - -<p>The many indulgent men and women who -liked “Helen’s Babies” so well that they -wished they had written it themselves would -have changed their minds could they have -been compelled to read criticisms of a certain -kind that were inflicted upon the author as -soon as his name and mail address became -known. Some people were in such haste to -relieve their minds that they rushed into -print with their charges and specifications, -all of which were of service to the book, as so -much free advertising; at least, the publisher -said it was, and his opinion on such a matter -was entitled to special respect.</p> - -<p>Some of the critics were parents of the -earnest, forceful, but matter-of-fact kind that -does not doubt its own infallibility in family -government and regards all children as scions -of one unchanging stock and needing to be -treated exactly alike, no matter in what direction -their tendencies may be. A larger -number were unmarried persons with theories -of their own which had not been marred<span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">viii</span> -in whole or in part by anything so utterly -commonplace and exasperating as experience. -These good people, whether uncles or -aunts of children over whom they were not -allowed to exercise any authority, or mere -bachelors and maids unattached to anybody’ -babies of any kind, joined in abusing Budge -and Toddie as the worst trained children that -ever were tossed into print and in declaring -the boys’s Uncle Harry incomparably incapable -as a disciplinarian, unless, indeed, the -parents of Budge and Toddie were still less -competent to bring up children in the way -they should go.</p> - -<p>Still another class was composed of professional -teachers who had taken long, serious -courses of instruction in juvenile humanity, -its nature, possibilities, limitations, duties -and mental conditions at specified ages. -Apparently these regarded a child as something -created for the special purpose of being -subjected to personal, exact and continuous -domination by adults, and to be let alone -only when the adults themselves wearied of -the strain. To prove the unfitness of the -boys’s uncle and their parents to have the -care of children they quoted fluently from -standard authorities on education, all the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">ix</span> -way from Aristotle, concerning whose children -history is silent, to Froebel, the founder -of the kindergarten system, who was childless.</p> - -<p>Others who joined in the effort to analyze -this literary butterfly with a mallet were of -the class that could not understand why the -misdeeds and shortcomings of Budge and -Toddie were not treated with reproofs and -warnings deduced from certain catechisms, of -which infant depravity is a popular feature. -And there were the people that never read -a book but on compulsion. Anyone errs -greatly who believes that this class lacks intelligence, -for the world has contained many -wondrously clever people who could not read -or write; nevertheless, men and women who -seldom read anything do take any book -seriously, no matter if it deserves as little -attention as last year’s almanac. Some of -them sought out the author, after reading -“Helen’s Babies,” to tell him in good faith -what they would have done to Budge and -Toddie to correct some alleged deficiencies.</p> - -<p>It was useless to assure any of these unexpected -critics that the author was not himself -the hero of his story, or that he had never -been manager of other people’s children when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">x</span> -he was a bachelor, unless unwillingly and for -a few moments at a time, or that his book -was not in any sense a disclosure of the methods -he would have followed had such a responsibility -been thrust upon him, or that it -was no longer fashionable for a man to write -an amusing sketch for the purpose of covertly -inculcating a lot of moral principles, like so -many sugar-coated pills, or that for some -years he had been joint owner of some children -to whose mental and moral well-being -he had given more thought and care than to -his business interests and almost everything -else that men live for, and consequently he -might be regarded as beyond the need of -volunteer counsel and admonition.</p> - -<p>The criticisms continued until the author -repented of having written the story that was -the cause of them. But one day a publisher -asked for some more—much more—about -Budge and Toddie, to be published serially, -and the inducements he offered were so -timely and convincing that regrets and critics -alike were laughed at. The stock of -available material was unlimited, for had -not many mothers reproached the author -for not having put into print the tales they -had told him of their own boys’s doings—<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">xi</span> -tales which they knew were far funnier than -any recorded in “Helen’s Babies”—and had -not many other mothers given him capital -stories with positive orders to put them in -shape for publication and do so quickly? -Besides, he had a store of similar material in -his own mind. How to use the aggregate -mass of incident did not readily appear to his -mind’s eye, for he had been too long engaged, -professionally, in picking other men’s books -to pieces to have found time to learn how -best to put together a book of his own. He -had not a novelist’s privilege of choosing -from many meritorious models, for tales -about children, yet written principally to be -read by adults, were very few and of doubtful -quality.</p> - -<p>Suddenly out of nowhere, apparently, -came the suggestion that the possible experiences -of some one, any one, of the critics who -knew exactly how other people’s children -should be managed would be a good framework -for the desired story. Naturally the -person most confident of such ability would -be the best character for the purpose, so it -should be a young, whole-hearted woman of -positive nature, who loved children dearly -but had none of her own to disarrange her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">xii</span> -theories. Facts have always been the most -pestilent enemies of theories, and children are -facts, sometimes stubborn facts, always startling -ones when they encounter any theory not -founded on the rock of experience.</p> - -<p>So the tale was begun in haste, as well as -in glee over its probable effect on some of the -men and women who had been burdening the -author’s ears and mail-box with criticism and -counsel. Whether any of them ever read a -line of it when it appeared serially, or afterward -in book form, remains unknown; probably -it is better so, for the author was thereby -spared the meanness of exultation over men -and women quite as well-meaning as himself, -or spared the humiliation of discovering -that he had done his work so badly that they -were unconscious of what he had attempted -to do. And, really, none of them was any -wiser in his own conceit than was the author -himself before he had any children of his own -yet was sure he knew how other people’ -children should be trained, admonished, controlled, -restrained, disciplined and otherwise -tormented by their parents.</p> - -<p>The new book was spared a depressing experience -of its predecessor, for, instead of -being declined by almost every reputable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiii">xiii</span> -publisher in the United States, it was demanded -by several before the second instalment -appeared and the number of requests -for it increased week by week as the serial -issue continued.</p> - -<p>But, like almost everything else from the -same pen, “Other People’s Children” was -written so hastily and put to press so carelessly -that it abounded in repetitions and -other errors that made cultivated readers -grieve, so an opportunity to allow the book to -drop out of print was welcomed by the author.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless he was compelled to believe -his friends and enemies when they -insisted that “Other People’s Children” was -an abler and more amusing story than -“Helen’s Babies,” for their opinion agreed -with his own. So he has responded gladly -to the request of the present publishers that -he should give the copy a careful revision. -It is extremely unlikely that any reader of -the old edition will detect any alterations in -the new, for nothing has been added nor has -anything of consequence been taken out; yet -the author and publishers know that more -than a thousand corrections and emendations -have been made and that almost all of them -were needed.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr> - <td align="left"></td> - <td align="right"><small>Page</small></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"> CHAPTER I</td> - <td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"> CHAPTER II</td> - <td align="right"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"> CHAPTER III</td> - <td align="right"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"> CHAPTER IV</td> - <td align="right"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"> CHAPTER V</td> - <td align="right"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"> CHAPTER VI</td> - <td align="right"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"> CHAPTER VII</td> - <td align="right"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"> CHAPTER VIII</td> - <td align="right"><a href="#Page_224">224</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"> CHAPTER IX</td> - <td align="right"><a href="#Page_251">251</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"> CHAPTER X</td> - <td align="right"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"> CHAPTER XI</td> - <td align="right"><a href="#Page_302">302</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"> CHAPTER XII</td> - <td align="right"><a href="#Page_332">332</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"> FAMOUS COPYRIGHT BOOKS IN POPULAR PRICED EDITIONS</td> -</tr> -</table></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr> - <td align="left">The Maid’s General Care of the Boys</td> - <td class="tdrb" colspan="2"><i>Frontispiece.</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left"></td> - <td class="tdrb" colspan="2"><i>Page</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Mrs. Burton Brushed a Tiny Crumb from Her Robe</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_4">4</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“It’s Only Jus’ About So Long”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“We’s Makin’ Pickles for You”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“I Got Into a Hen’s Nesht Where There Was Some Eggs”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Isn’t It Lovaly?”</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Ragged, Dirty Men Talk to My Papa Sometimes”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Yes, an’ We Put a Little Stone at the Head of the Grave”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Don’t Either of You Move Out of a Chair?”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“—But I Didn’t Know Ashes Made ’Em”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Splashin’ In the Bathtub”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Jump!” Shouted Mr. Burton</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Cats,” Uttered Mr. Burton</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Both Started In Chase of It</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Tell Me What You Think About It”</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“We Got Three or Four Nice Bunches”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“So I Putted Crosses on the Door”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Then You Can Only Have One Bite,” Said Budge</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Where Did the Cards Come From?”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">He Kicked, Pushed, Screamed and Roared</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">The Jardiniére Came Down With a Crash</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_124">125</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Threw a Mean Old Dirty Carpet On Top of It”</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Toddie Playing Bear</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Budge Taking Up the Collection</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Terry</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">The General Fell Into the Water</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_161">160</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Dreamin’ I was In a Candy-Store”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Wonder How Big Moons Got to be Little Again”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“A Cow Readin’ An Atlas”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“How Do They Get Things to Eat for the Angels?”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">The Squeak of the Violin and the Wail of a Badly -Played Wind Instrument</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Uncle Harry’s Frantic Examination of His Beloved -Violin</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Both Boys Tumbled Into the Room</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Toddie Drank About Two Swallows of Water</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Suddenly Heard a Splash and a Howl</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_211">211</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Budge Enlivened the Dust of the Roadway</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_215">215</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Further Progress Was Arrested</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_223">222</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Well,” Said Budge “’Cause You’re Different”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Pretending to be Horses</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_232">232</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Budge Lost His Balance</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_239">239</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Two Inquiring Faces Hanging Over the Bread-Pan</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_243">243</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">A Loud Report Startled the Party</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Too Much Tea Isn’t Good for People, Is It?”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_253">253</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“When We Cooked ’Em, What Do You Think?”</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_256">256</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Budge and Toddie Playing Doctor</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Down the Stairs, Dashed Terry</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_271">271</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Why Aunt Alice! How Did You Upset That Table?”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">A Red Pepper Experience</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_288">288</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Candy Making</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_295">295</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">The Dandelion</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_301">301</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“We’re Goin’ Home”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_303">303</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Some Nashty Medshin”</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_313">313</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">“Izhe a Shotted Soldier”</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_322">322</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Both Boys Sleeping Soundly</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_333">333</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">The Obedient Member of the Family</td> - <td class="tdrb"><i>Facing</i></td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_340">340</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">Making Them What I Would Like Them To Be</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_351">351</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td align="left">A Little Visitor at the Burtons’s</td> - <td class="tdrb"> </td> - <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_357">357</a></td> -</tr> -</table></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">1</span></p> - - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="BUDGE_AND_TODDIE">BUDGE AND TODDIE<br /> - -<small>OR</small><br /> - -HELEN’S BABIES AT PLAY</h2> - - -<p>The writer of a certain much-abused -book sat at breakfast one morning with -his wife, and their conversation turned, as it -had many times before, upon a brace of boys -who had made a little fun for the lovers of -trifling stories and a great deal of trouble for -their uncle. Mrs. Burton, thanks to that -womanly generosity which, like a garment, -covers the faults of men who are happily -married, was so proud of her husband that -she admired even his book; she had made -magnificent attempts to defend it at points -where it was utterly indefensible; but her -critical sense had been frequently offended -by her husband’s ignorance regarding the -management of children. On the particular -morning referred to, this critical sense was -extremely active.</p> - -<p>“To know, Harry,” said Mrs. Burton, -“that you gave so little true personal attention -to Budge and Toddie, while you pro<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">2</span>fessed -to love them with the tenderness -peculiar to blood-relationship, is to wonder -whether some people do not really expect -children to grow as the forest trees grow, -utterly without care or training.”</p> - -<p>“I spent most of my time,” Mr. Burton -replied, attacking his steak with more energy -than was called for at the breakfast-table of -a man whose business hours were easy, “I -spent most of my time in saving their parents’ -property and their own lives from destruction. -When had I an opportunity to -do anything else?”</p> - -<p>A smile of conscious superiority, the honesty -of which made it none the less tantalizing, -passed lightly over Mrs. Burton’s features as -she replied:</p> - -<p>“All the while. You should have explained -to them the necessity for order, -cleanliness and self-restraint. Do you -imagine that their pure little hearts -would not have received it and acted upon -it?”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton offered a Yankee reply.</p> - -<p>“Do you suppose, my dear,” said he “that -the necessity for all these virtues was never -brought to their attention? Did you never -hear the homely but significant saying, that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span> -you may lead a horse to water, but you can’t -make him drink?”</p> - -<p>With the promptness born of true intuition, -Mrs. Burton went around this verbal -obstacle instead of attempting to reduce it.</p> - -<p>“You might at least have attempted to -teach them something of the inner significance -of things,” said Mrs. Burton. “Then -they would have brought a truer sense to the -contemplation of everything about them.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton gazed almost worshipfully at -this noble creature whose impulses led her -irresistibly to the discernment of the motives -of action, and with becoming humility he -asked:</p> - -<p>“Will you tell me how you would have -explained the inner significance of dirt, so that -those boys could have been trusted to cross -a dry road without creating for themselves -a halo which should be more visible than -luminous?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t trifle about serious matters, -Harry,” said Mrs. Burton, after a hasty but -evident search for a reply. “You know that -conscience and æsthetic sense lead to correct -lives all persons who subject themselves to -their influence, and you know that the purest -natures are the most susceptible. If men<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span> -and women, warped and mistrained though -their earlier lives may have been, grow into -sweetness and light under right incentives, -what may not be done with those of whom it -was said, ‘Of such is the kingdom of heaven’?”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton instinctively bowed his head -at his wife’s last words, but raised it speedily -as the lady uttered an opinion which was -probably suggested by the holy sentiment -she had just expressed.</p> - -<p>“Then you allowed them to be dreadfully -irreverent in their conversations about sacred -things,” said she.</p> - -<p>“Really, my dear,” expostulated the victim, -“you must charge up some of these -faults to the children’s parents. I had -nothing to do with the formation of the -children’s habits, and their peculiar habit of -talking about what you call sacred things is -inherited directly from their parents. Their -father says he doesn’t believe it was ever intended -that mere mention of a man in the -Bible should be a patent of sacredness, and -Helen agrees with him.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p004.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">MRS. BURTON BRUSHED A TINY CRUMB FROM HER ROBE</div> -</div> - -<p>Mrs. Burton coughed. It is surprising -what a multitude of suggestions can be conveyed -by a gentle cough.</p> - -<p>“I suppose,” she said slowly, as if musing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span> -aloud, “that inheritance <i>is</i> the method by -which children obtain many objectionable -qualities for which they themselves are -blamed, poor little things. I don’t know -how to sympathize in the least degree with -this idea of Tom’s and Helen’s, for the Maytons, -and my mother’s family, too, have -always been extremely reverent toward -sacred things. You are right in laying the -fault to them instead of the boys, but I -cannot see how they can bear to inflict such -a habit upon innocent children and I must -say that I can’t see how they can tolerate it -in each other.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton raised her napkin, and with -fastidious solicitude brushed a tiny crumb or -two from her robe as she finished this remark. -Dear creature! She needed to display a -human weakness to convince her husband -that she was not altogether too good for -earth, and this implication of a superiority -of origin, the darling idea of every woman -but Eve, answered the purpose. Her spouse -endured the infliction as good husbands -always do in similar cases, though he somewhat -hastily passed his coffee-cup for more -sugar, and asked, in a tone in which self-restraint -was distinctly perceptible:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span></p> - -<p>“What else, my dear?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton suddenly comprehended the -situation; she left her chair, made the one -atonement which is always sufficient between -husband and wife, and said:</p> - -<p>“Only one thing, you dear old boy, and -even that is a repetition, I suppose. It’ -only this: parents are quite as remiss as loving -uncles in training their children, instead -of merely watching them. The impress of -the older and wiser mind should be placed -upon the child from the earliest dawn of its -intelligence, so that the little one’s shall be -determined, instead of being left to chance.”</p> - -<p>“And the impress is readily made, of -course, even by a love-struck uncle on a -short vacation?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly. Even wild animals are often -tamed at sight by master-minds.”</p> - -<p>“But suppose these impressible little beings -should have opinions and wishes and -intentions of their own?”</p> - -<p>“They should be overcome by the adult -mind.”</p> - -<p>“And if they object?”</p> - -<p>“That should make no difference,” said -Mrs. Burton, gaining suddenly an inch or -two in stature and queenly beauty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span></p> - -<p>“Do you mean that you would really make -them obey you?” asked Mr. Burton, with a -gaze as reverent as if the answer would be by -absolute authority.</p> - -<p>“Certainly!” replied the lady, adding a grace -or two to her fully aroused sense of command.</p> - -<p>“By Jove!” exclaimed her husband, -“what a remarkable coincidence! That is -just what I determined upon when I first -took charge of those boys. And yet——”</p> - -<p>“And yet you failed,” said Mrs. Burton. -“How I wish I had been in your place!”</p> - -<p>“So do I, my dear,” said Mr. Burton; -“or, at least, I would wish so if I didn’t -realize that if you had had charge of those -children instead of I, there wouldn’t have -occurred any of the blessed accidents that -helped to make you Mrs. Burton.”</p> - -<p>The lady smiled lovingly, but answered:</p> - -<p>“I may have the opportunity yet; in fact—oh, -it’s too bad that I haven’t yet learned -how to keep anything secret from you—I -have arranged for just such an experiment. -And I’m sure that Helen and Tom, as well -as you, will learn that I am right.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose you will try it while I’m away -on my spring trip among the dealers?” -queried Mr. Burton hastily. “Or,” he con<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span>tinued, “if -not, I know you love me well -enough to give me timely notice, so I can -make a timely excuse to get away from home. -When is it to be?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton replied by a look which her -husband was failing to comprehend when -there came help to him from an unexpected -source. There were successive and violent -rings of the door-bell, and as many tremendous -pounds, apparently with a brick, at the -back door. Then there ensued a violent -slamming of doors, a trampling in the hall -as of many war-horses, and a loud, high-pitched -shout of, “I got in fyst,” and a louder, -deeper one of “So did I!” And then, as Mr. -and Mrs. Burton sprang from their chairs -with faces full of apprehension and inquiry -the dining-room door opened and Budge and -Toddie shot in as if propelled from a catapult.</p> - -<p>“Hello!” exclaimed Budge, by way of -greeting, as Toddie wriggled from his aunt’ -embrace, and seized the tail of the family -terrier. “What do you think? We’ve got -a new baby, and Tod and I have come down -here to stay for a few days; papa told us to. -Don’t seem to me you had a very nice breakbux,” -concluded Budge, after a critical survey -of the table.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span></p> - -<p>“And it’s only jus’ about so long,” said -Toddie, from whose custody the dog Terry -had hurriedly removed his tail by the conclusive -proceeding of conveying his whole -body out of doors—“only jus’ so long!” repeated -Toddie, placing his pudgy hands a -few inches apart, and contracting every -feature of his countenance, as if to indicate -the extreme diminutiveness of the new heir.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p009.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“IT’S ONLY JUS’ ABOUT SO LONG”.</div> -</div> - -<p>Mrs. Burton kissed her nephews and her -husband with more than usual fervor and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span> -inquired as to the sex of the new inhabitant.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s the nicest thing about it,” -said Budge. “It’s a girl. I’m tired of such -lots of boys—Tod is as bad as a whole lot, -you know, when I have to take care of him. -Only, now we’re bothered, ’cause we don’t -know what to name her. Mamma told us to -think of the loveliest thing in all the world, -so I thought about squash-pie right away; -but Tod thought of molasses candy, and then -papa said neither of ’em would do for the -name of a little girl. I don’t see that they’re -not as good as roses and violets, and all the -other things that they name little girls after.”</p> - -<p>During the delivery by Budge of this information, -Toddie had been steadily exclaiming, -“I—I—I—I—I—I——!” like a -prudent parliamentarian who wants to make -sure of recognition by the chair. In his excitement, -he failed to realize for some seconds -that his brother had concluded, but he finally -exclaimed: “An’ I—I—I—I—I’m goin’ to -give her my turtle, an’ show her how to make -mud pies wif currants in ’em.”</p> - -<p>“Huh!” said Budge, with inexpressible -contempt in his tones. “Girls don’t like such -things. I’m going to give her my blue<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span> -necktie, and take her riding in the goat-carriage.”</p> - -<p>“Well, anyhow,” said Toddie, with the air -of a man who was wresting victory from the -jaws of defeat, “I’ll give her caterpillars. I -know she’ll be sure to like them, ’cause -they’e got lovely fur jackets all heavenly-green -an’ red an’ brown, like ladies’s djesses.”</p> - -<p>“And you don’t know what lots of prayin’ -Tod and me had to do to get that baby,” said -Budge. “My! It just makes me ache to -think about it! Whole days and weeks and -months!”</p> - -<p>“Yesh,” said Toddie. “An’ Budgie sometimes -was goin’ to stop, ’caush he fought the -Lord was too busy to listen to us. But I -just told him that the Lord was our biggesht -papa, an’ just what papas ought to be, an’ -papa at home was just like papas ought to -be. An’ the baby comeded. Oh! Yesh, -an’ we had to be awful good too. Why don’t -you be real good an’ pray lots? Then maybe -you’ll get a dear, sweet, little baby!”</p> - -<p>The temporary reappearance of the dog, -Terry, put an end to the dispute, for both -boys moved toward him, which movement -soon developed into a lively chase. Being -not unacquainted with the boys, and know<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span>ing -their tender mercies to be much like those -of the wicked, Terry sought and found a -forest retreat and the boys came panting -back and sat dejectedly upon the well-curb. -Mrs. Burton, who stood near the window, -leaning upon her husband’s shoulder, looked -tenderly upon them, and murmured:</p> - -<p>“The poor little darlings are homesick -already. Now is the time for my reign to -begin. Boys!”</p> - -<p>Both boys looked up at the window. Mrs. -Burton gracefully framed a well-posed picture -of herself as she leaned upon the sill, and -her husband hung admiringly upon her -words. “Boys, come into the house, and -let’s have a lovely talk about mamma.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t want to talk about mamma,” said -Toddie, a suspicion of a snarl modifying his -natural tones. “Wantsh the dog.”</p> - -<p>“But mammas and babies are so much -nicer than dogs,” pleaded Mrs. Burton, after -a withering glance at her husband, who had -received Toddie’s remark with a titter.</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t think so,” said Budge, reflectively. -“We can always see mamma and -the baby, but Terry we can only see once in a -while, and he never wants to see us, somehow.”</p> - -<p>“My dear,” said Mr. Burton humbly, “if<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span> -you care for the experience of another, my -advice is that you let those boys come out of -their disappointment themselves. They’ll -do it in their own way in spite of you.”</p> - -<p>“There are experiences,” remarked Mrs. -Burton, with chilling dignity, “which are -useful only through the realization of their -worthlessness. Anyone can let children -alone. Darlings, did you ever hear the story -of little Patty Pout?”</p> - -<p>“No,” growled Budge, in a manner that -would have discouraged any one not conscious -of having been born to rule.</p> - -<p>“Well, Patty Pout was a nice little girl,” -said Mrs. Burton, “except that she would -sulk whenever things did not happen just as -she wanted them to. One day she had a -stick of candy, and was playing ‘lose and -find’ with it; but she happened to put it -away so carefully that she forgot where it -was, so she sat down to sulk, and suddenly -there came up a shower and melted that -stick of candy, which had been just around -the corner all the while.”</p> - -<p>“Is Terry just around the corner?” asked -Toddie, jumping up, while Budge suddenly -scraped the dirt with the toes of his shoes -and said:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span></p> - -<p>“If Patty’d et up her candy while she -had it, she wouldn’t have had any -trouble.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton hurried into the back parlor to -laugh comfortably, and without visible disrespect, -while Mrs. Burton remembered that -it was time to ring the cook and chambermaid -to breakfast. A moment or two later -she returned to the window, but the boys -were gone; so was a large stone jar, which -was one of those family heirlooms which are -abhorred by men but loved as dearly by -women as ancestral robes or jewels. Mrs. -Burton had that mania for making preserves -which posterity has inflicted upon even some -of the brightest and best members of the race, -and the jar referred to had been carefully -scalded that morning and set in the sun, -preparatory to being filled with raspberry jam.</p> - -<p>“Harry,” said Mrs. Burton, “won’t you -step out and get that jar for me? It must -be dry by this time.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton consulted his watch, and replied:</p> - -<p>“I’ve barely time to catch the fast train to -town, my dear, but the boys won’t fail to get -back by dinner-time. Then you may be able -to ascertain the jar’s whereabouts.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span></p> - -<p>Mr. Burton hurried from the front door, -and his wife made no less haste in the opposite -direction. The boys were invisible, and -a careful glance at the adjacent country -showed no traces of them. Mrs. Burton -called the cook and chambermaid, and the -three women took, each one, a roadway -through the lightly wooded ground near the -house. Mrs. Burton soon recognized familiar -voices, and following them to their -source, she emerged from the wood near the -rear of the boys’s own home. Going closer, -she traced the voices to the Lawrence barn, -and she appeared before the door of that -structure to see her beloved jar in the middle -of the floor, and full of green tomatoes, over -which the boys were pouring the contents of -bottles labeled “Mustang Liniment” and -“Superior Carriage Varnish.” The boys -became conscious of the presence of their -aunt, and Toddie, with a smile in which confidence -blended with the assurance of success -attained, said:</p> - -<p>“We’s makin’ pickles for you, ’cause you -told us a nysh little story. This is just the -way mamma makes ’em, only we couldn’t -make the stuff in the bottles hot.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton’s readiness of expression<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span> -seemed to fail her, and as she abruptly quitted -the spot, with a hand of each nephew in -her own, Budge indicated the nature of her -feelings by exclaiming:</p> - -<p>“Ow! Aunt Alice! don’t squeeze my hand -so hard!”</p> - -<p>“Boys,” said Mrs. Burton, “why did you -take my jar without permission?”</p> - -<p>“What did you say?” asked Budge. “Do -you mean what did we take it for?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly.”</p> - -<p>“Why, we wanted to give you a s’prise.”</p> - -<p>“You certainly succeeded,” said Mrs. Burton, -without a moment’s hesitation.</p> - -<p>“You must give us s’prises, too,” said -Toddie. “S’prises is lovaly; papa gives us -lots of ’em. Sometimes they’s candy, but -they’s nicest when they’s buttonanoes” -(bananas).</p> - -<p>“How would you like to be shut up in a dark -room all morning, to think about the naughty -thing you’ve done?” asked Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Huh!” replied Budge. “That wouldn’t -be no s’prise at all. We can do that any -time that we do anything bad, and papa and -mamma finds out. Why, you forgot to -bring your pickles home! I don’t think you -act very nice about presents and s’prises.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p017.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“WE’S MAKIN’s PICKLES FOR YOU”</div> -</div> - - -<p>Mrs. Burton did not explain nor did she -spend much time in conversation. When she -reached her own door, however, she turned -and said:</p> - -<p>“Now, boys, you may play anywhere in -the yard that you like, but you must not go -away or come into -the house until I -call you, at twelve -o’clock. I shall -be very busy this -morning, and must<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span> -not be disturbed. You will try to be good -boys, won’t you?”</p> - -<p>“I will,” exclaimed Toddie, turning up an -honest little face for a kiss, and dragging his -aunt down until he could put his arms about -her and give her an affectionate hug. Budge -seemed lost in meditation, but the sound of -the closing of the door brought him back -to earth; he threw the door open, and exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice!”</p> - -<p>“What?”</p> - -<p>“Come here—I want to ask you something.”</p> - -<p>“It’s your business to come to me, Budge, -if you have a favor to ask,” said Mrs. Burton, -from the parlor.</p> - -<p>“Oh! Well, what I want to know is, how -did the Lord make the first hornet—the very -first one that ever was?”</p> - -<p>“Just the way he made everything else,” -replied Mrs. Burton. “Just by wanting it -done.”</p> - -<p>“Then did Noah save hornets in the ark?” -continued Budge. “’Cause I don’t see how -he kept ’em from stingin’ his boys and girls, -and then gettin’ killed ’emselves.”</p> - -<p>“You ask me about it after lunch, Budge,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span>” -said Mrs. Burton, “and I will tell you all I -can. Now run and play.”</p> - -<p>The door closed again, and Mrs. Burton, -somewhat confused, but still resolute, seated -herself at the piano for practice. She had -been playing perhaps ten minutes, when a -long-drawn sigh from some one not herself -caused her to turn hastily and behold the boy -Budge. A stern reproof was ready, but -somehow it never reached the young man. -Mrs. Burton afterward explained her silence -by saying that Budge’s countenance was so -utterly doleful that she was sure his active -conscience had realized the impropriety of -his affair with the jar, and he had come to -confess.</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice,” said Budge, “do you know -I don’t think much of your garden? There -ain’t a turtle to be found in it from one end -to the other, and no nice grassy place to -slide down like there is at our house.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t you understand, little boy,” replied -Mrs. Burton, “that we arranged the -house and grounds to suit ourselves, and not -little boys who come to see us?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t think that was a very nice -thing to do,” said Budge. “My papa says -we ought to care as much about pleasing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span> -other folks as we do for ourselves. I didn’t -want to make you that jar of pickles, but -Tod said ’twould be nice for you, so I went -and did it, instead of askin’ a man that drove -past to give me a ride. That’s the way you -ought to do about gardens.”</p> - -<p>“Suppose you run out now,” said Mrs. -Burton, “I told you not to come in until I -called you.”</p> - -<p>“But you see I came in for my top—I laid -it down in the dining-room when I came in, -and now it ain’t there at all. I’d like to -know what you’ve done with it, and why -folks can’t let little boys’s things alone.”</p> - -<p>“Budge,” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, turning -suddenly on the piano-stool, “I think there’ -a very cross little boy around here somewhere. -Suppose I were to lose something?”</p> - -<p>“’Twas a three-cent top,” said Budge. -“’Twasn’t only a something.”</p> - -<p>“Suppose, then, that I were to lose a top,” -said Mrs. Burton, “what do you suppose I -would do if I wanted it very much?”</p> - -<p>“You’d call the servant to find it—that’ -what I want you to do now,” said Budge.</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t do anything of the kind. -Try to think, now, of what a sensible person -ought to do in such a case.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span></p> - -<p>Budge dejectedly traced with his toe one -of the figures in the carpet, and seemed buried -in thought; suddenly, however, his face -brightened, and he looked up shyly and said, -with an infinite scale of inflection:—</p> - -<p>“I know.”</p> - -<p>“I thought you would find out,” said -Mrs. Burton, with an encouraging kiss and -embrace, which Budge terminated quite -abruptly.</p> - -<p>“One victory to report to my superior -officer, the dear old humbug,” murmured -Mrs. Burton, as she turned again to the keyboard. -But before the lady could again put -herself <i>en rapport</i> with the composer Budge -came flying into the room with a radiant face, -and the missing top.</p> - -<p>“I told you I knew what you’d do,” said -he, “an’ I just went and done it. I prayed -about it. I went up-stairs into a chamber -and shut the door, and knelt down an’ said, -‘Dear Lord, bless everybody, an’ don’t let -me be bad, an’ help me to find that top again, -an’ don’t let me have to pray for it as long as -I had to pray for that baby.’s And then when -I came down-stairs there was that top on the -register, just where I left it. Say, Aunt -Alice, I think brekbux was an awful long<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span> -while ago. Don’t you have cakes and -oranges to give to little boys?”</p> - -<p>“Children should never eat between meals,” -Mrs. Burton replied. “It spoils their digestion -and makes them cross.”</p> - -<p>“Then I guess my digestion’s spoilt already,” -said Budge, “for I’m awful cross -sometimes, an’ you can’t spoil a bad egg;—that’ -what Mike says. So I guess I’d better -have some cake; I like the kind with raisins -an’ citron best.”</p> - -<p>“Only this once,” murmured Mrs. Burton -to herself, as she led the way to the dining-room -closet, partly for the purpose of hiding -her own face. “And I won’t tell Harry -about it,” she continued, with greater energy. -“Here’s a little piece for Toddie, too,” said -Mrs. Burton, “and I want you both to remember -that I don’t want you to come indoors -until you’re called.”</p> - -<p>Budge disappeared, and his aunt had an -hour so peaceful that she began to react -against it and started to call her nephews -into the house. Budge came in hot haste in -answer to her call, and volunteered the information -that the Burton chicken-coop was -much nicer than the one at his own house, for -the latter was without means of ingress for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span> -small boys. Toddy, however, came with -evident reluctance, and stopped <i>en route</i> to sit -on the grass and gyrate thereon in a very constrained -manner.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter, Toddie?” asked Mrs. -Burton, who speedily discerned that the -young man was ill at ease.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p023.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“I GOT INTO A HEN’S NESHT WHERE THERE WAS SOME EGGS”</div> -</div> - - -<p>“Why,” said -Toddie, “I got -into a hen’ -nesht where -there was some -eggs, an’ made -believe I was a henny-penny that was goin’ -to hatch little tsickens, an’ some of ’em was -goin’ to be brown, an’ some white an’ some -black, an’ dey was all goin’ to be such dear -little fuzzy balls, an’ dey was goin’ to sleep in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span> -the bed wif me every night, an’ I was goin’ to -give one of de white ones to dat dear little -baby sister, an’ one of ’em to you, ’cause you -was sweet, too, an’ dey was all goin’ to have -tsickens of deir own some day, an’ I sitted -down in de nesht ever so soffaly ’cause I -hasn’t got fevvers, you know, an’ when I got -up dere wasn’t nuffin dere but a nasty muss. -An’ I don’t feel comfitable.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton grasped the situation at once, -and shouted: “Toddie, sit down on the -grass. Budge, run home and ask Maggie for a -clean suit for Toddie. Jane, fill the bathtub.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t want to sit on the gwass,” whined -Toddie. “I feels bad, an’ I wantsh to be loved.”</p> - -<p>“Aunty loves you very much, Toddie,” -said Mrs. Burton, tenderly. “Doesn’t that -make you happy?”</p> - -<p>“No,” exclaimed the youth with great emphasis. -“Dat kind of lovin’ don’t do no -good to little boys with eggy dresses. -Wantsh you to come out an’ sit down by me -an’ love me.”</p> - -<p>Toddie’s eyes said more than his lips, so -Mrs. Burton hurried out to him, prudently -throwing a light shawl about her waist. -Toddie greeted her with an effusiveness which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span> -was touching in more senses than one, as -Mrs. Burton’s morning robe testified by the -time Budge returned. Carefully enveloped -in a hearth-rug, Toddie was then conveyed to -the bathroom, and when he emerged he was -so satisfied with the treatment he had received -that he remarked:</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice, will you give me a forough -baff every day, if I try to hatch out little -tsickens for you?”</p> - -<p>The events of the morning resulted in -luncheon being an hour late, so Mrs. Burton -was compelled to make considerable haste in -preparing herself for a round of calls. She -was too self-possessed, however, to forget the -possible risks to which her home would be -subjected during her absence, so she called -her nephews to her and proceeded to instruct -them in the duties and privileges of the -afternoon.</p> - -<p>“Darlings,” she said, putting an arm -around each boy, “Aunt Alice must be away -this afternoon for an hour or two. I wonder -who will take care of the house for her?”</p> - -<p>“I want to go wif you,” said Toddie, with a -kiss.</p> - -<p>“I can’t take you, dear,” said the lady, -after returning Toddie’s salute. “The walk<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span> -will be too long; but auntie will come back to -her dear little Toddie as soon as she can.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you’re goin’ to walk to where you’ -goin’, are you?” said Toddie, wriggling from -his aunt’s arm. “Den I wouldn’t go wif you -for noffin’ in the wyld.”</p> - -<p>The pressure of Mrs. Burton’s arm relaxed, -but she did not forget her duty.</p> - -<p>“Listen, boys,” said she. “Don’t you -like to see houses neatly and properly arranged, -like your mamma’s and mine?”</p> - -<p>“I do!” said Budge. “I always think -heaven must be that way, with parlors an’ -pictures an’ books an’ a piano. Only they -don’t ever have to sweep in heaven, do they, -’cause there ain’t no dirt there. But I -wonder what the Lord does to make the -little angels happy when they want to make -dirt-pies, and can’t?”</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice will have to explain that to -you when she comes back, Budge. But -little angels never want to make mud-pies.”</p> - -<p>“Why, papa says people’s spirits don’t -change when they die,” said Budge. “So -how can little boy angels help it?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton silently vowed that at a more -convenient season she would deliver a course -of systematic theology which should correct<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span> -her brother-in-law’s loose teachings. At -present, however, the sun was hurrying toward -Asia, and she had made but little progress -in securing insurance against accident -to household goods.</p> - -<p>“You both like nicely arranged rooms,” -pursued Mrs. Burton, but Toddie demurred.</p> - -<p>“I don’t like ’em,” said he. “They’re the -kind of places where folks always says -‘Don’t!’s to little boysh that wantsh to have -nysh times.”</p> - -<p>“But, Toddie,” reasoned Mrs. Burton, -“the way to have nice times is to learn to -enjoy what is nicest. People have been -studying how to make homes pretty ever -since the world began.”</p> - -<p>“Adam an’ Eve didn’t,” said Toddie. -“Lord done it for ’em; an’ he let ’em do just -what dey wanted to. I bet little Cain an’ -Abel had more fun than any uvver little -boys dat ever was.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, they didn’t,” said Mrs. Burton, -“because they never were in that lovely -garden. Their parents had to think and -plan a long time to make their home beautiful. -Just think, now, how many people -have had to plan and contrive before the -world got to be as pleasant a place as it is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span> -now! When you look at your mamma’ -parlor and mine, you see what thousands and -millions of people have had to work to bring -about.”</p> - -<p>“Gwacious!” exclaimed Toddie, his eyes -opening wider and wider. “Dat’s wonnerful!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and every nice person alive is doing -the same now,” continued Mrs. Burton, -greatly encouraged by the impression she -had made, “and little boys should try to do -the same. Every one should, instead of disturbing -what is beautiful, try to enjoy it, -and want to make it better instead of worse. -Even little boys should feel that way.”</p> - -<p>“I’e goin’ to ’member that,” said Toddie, -with a far-away look. “I fink it awful nysh -for little boys to fink the same finks dat big -folks do.”</p> - -<p>“Dear little boy,” said Mrs. Burton, arising. -“Then you won’t let anybody disturb -anything in Aunt Alice’s house, will you? -You’ll take care of everything for her just as -if you were a big man, won’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Yesh, indeedy,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“An’ me, too,” said Budge.</p> - -<p>“You’re two manly little fellows, and I -shall have to bring you something real nice,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span>” -said Mrs. Burton, kissing her nephews good-by. -“There!” she whispered to herself, as -she passed out of the garden-gate, “I wonder -what my lord and master will say of that -victory over imperfect natures, of the sense -of the fitness of things? He would have left -the boys under the care of the servants; I -am proud of having been able to leave them -to themselves.”</p> - -<p>On her return, two hours later, Mrs. Burton -was met at her front door by two very -dirty little boys, with faces full of importance -and expectancy.</p> - -<p>“We done just what you told us, Aunt -Alice,” said Toddie. “We didn’t touch a -thing, an’ we thought of everything we -could do to make the world prettier. D’just -come see.”</p> - -<p>With a quickened step Mrs. Burton followed -her nephews into the back parlor. -Furniture, pictures, books, and bric-a-brac -were exactly as she left them, but some improvements -had been designed and partly -executed. A bit of wall several feet long, -and bare from floor to ceiling, except for a -single picture, had long troubled Mrs. Burton’ -artistic eye, and she now found that -tasteful minds, like great ones, think alike.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span></p> - -<p>“I think no room is perfect without flowers,” -said Budge; “so does papa an’ mamma, -so we thought we’d s’prise you with some.”</p> - -<p>On the floor, in a heap which was not without -tasteful arrangement, was almost a cartload -of stones disposed as a rockery, and on -the top thereof, and working through the -crevices, was a large quantity of street dust. -From several of the crevices protruded ferns, -somewhat wilted, and bearing evidence of -having been several times disarranged and -dropped upon the dry soil which partly covered -their roots. Around the base was -twined several yards of Virginia creeper -while from the top sprang a well-branched -specimen of the “Datura stramonium” (the -common “stink-weed”). The three conservators -of the beautiful gazed in silence for a -moment, and then Toddie looked up with angelic -expression and said:</p> - -<p>“Isn’t it lovaly?”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p030.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“ISN’T IT LOVALY?”</div> -</div> - - -<p>“I hope what you brought us is real nice,” -remarked Budge, “for ’twas awful hard -work to make that rockery. I guess I never -was so tired in all my life. Mamma’s is on a -big box, but we couldn’t find any boxes anywhere, -an’ we couldn’t find the servants to -ask ’em. That ain’t the kind of datura that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span> -has flowers just like pretty vases, but papa -says it’s more healthy than the tame kind. -The ferns look kind o’s thirsty, but I couldn’t -see how to water ’em without wettin’ the -carpet, so I thought I’d wait till you came -home, and ask you about it.”</p> - -<p>There was a sudden rustle of silken robes -and two little boys found themselves alone. -When, half an hour later, Mr. Burton returned -from the city, he found his wife more -reticent than he had ever known her to be, -while two workmen with market baskets -were sifting dust upon his hall-carpets and -making a stone-heap in the gutter in front of -the house.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span></p> - - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</h2> - - -<p>On the morning of the second day of Mrs. -Burton’s experiment, the aunt of Budge -and Toddie awoke with more than her usual -sense of the responsibility and burden of life. -Her husband’s description of a charming lot -of bric-à-brac and pottery soon to be sold at -auction did not stimulate as much inquiry as -such announcements usually did, and Mrs. -Burton’s cook did not have her usual early -morning visit from her watchful mistress. -Mrs. Burton was wondering which of her -many duties to her nephews should be first -attended to; but, as she wondered long without -reaching any conclusion an ever-sympathizing -Providence came to her assistance, -for the children awoke and created such a -hubbub directly over her head that she speedily -determined that reproof was the first -thing in order. Dressing hastily, she went up -to the chamber of the innocents, and learned -that the noise was occasioned by a heavy -antique center-table, which was flying back -and forth across the room, the motive power -consisting of two pairs of sturdy little arms.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span></p> - -<p>“Hullo, Aunt Alice!” said Budge. “I -awful glad you came in. The table’s a choo-choo, -you know, an’ my corner’s New York -an’ Tod’s is Hillcrest, an’ he’s ticket-agent at -one place an’ I at the other. But the choo-choo -hasn’t got any engineer, an’ we have to -push it, an’ it isn’t fair for ticket-agents to do -so much work besides their own. Now you -can be engineer. Jump on!”</p> - -<p>The extempore locomotive was accommodatingly -pushed up to Mrs. Burton with such -force as to disturb her equilibrium, but she -managed to say:</p> - -<p>“Do you do this way with your mamma’ -guest-chamber furniture?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Toddie, “’cause why, ’pare-chamber’h -always lockted. B’ides dat, -papa once tookted all de wheels off our -tables—said tables wash too restless.”</p> - -<p>“Little boys,” said Mrs. Burton, returning -the table to its place, “should never use things -which belong to other people without asking -permission. Nor should they ever use anything, -no matter who it belongs to, in any way -but that in which it was made to be used. -Did either of you ever see a table on a railroad?”</p> - -<p>“’Coursh we did,” said Toddie, promptly;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span> -“dere’s a tyne-table at Hillcrest, an’annuvver -at Dzersey City. How could choo-choos -turn around if dere wasn’t?”</p> - -<p>“It’s time to dress for breakfast now,” said -Mrs. Burton in some confusion, as she departed.</p> - -<p>The children appeared promptly at the -table on the ringing of the bell and brought -ravenous appetites with them. Mrs. Burton -composed a solemn face, rapped on the table -with the handle of the carving-knife, and all -heads were bowed while the host and hostess -silently returned thanks. When the adults -raised their heads they saw that two juvenile -faces were still closely hidden in two pairs of -small hands. Mrs. Burton reverently nodded -at each one to attract her husband’ -attention, and mentally determined that souls -so absorbed in thanksgiving were good ground -for better spiritual seed than their parents -had ever scattered. Slowly, however, twice -ten little fingers separated, and very large -eyes peeped inquiringly between them; then -Budge suddenly dropped his hands, straightened -himself in his chair, and said:</p> - -<p>“Why, Uncle Harry! Have you been forgettin’ -again how to ask a blessin’?”</p> - -<p>And Toddie, looking somewhat complain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span>ingly -at his uncle, and very hungrily at the -steak, remarked:</p> - -<p>“Said my blessin’ ’bout fifty timesh.”</p> - -<p>“Once would have been sufficient, Toddie,” -said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you say yoursh once, den?” -asked Toddie.</p> - -<p>“I did. We don’t need to talk aloud to -have the Lord hear us,” explained Mrs. -Burton.</p> - -<p>“’Posin’ you don’t,” said Toddie, “I don’t -fink it’s a very nysh way to do, to whisper -fings to de Lord. When I whisper anyfing -mamma says, ‘Toddie, what’s you whisperin’ -for? You ’shamed of somefing?’s Guesh you -an’ Uncle Harry’s bofe ’shamed at de same -time.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton desired to give his wife a pertinent -hint yet dared not while two such vigilant -pairs of ears were present. A happy thought -struck him and he said in very bad German:</p> - -<p>“Is it not time for the reformation to -begin?”</p> - -<p>And Mrs. Burton answered:—</p> - -<p>“It soon will be.”</p> - -<p>“That’s awful funny talk,” said Budge. -“I wish I could talk that way. That’s just -the way ragged, dirty men talk to my papa<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span> -sometimes, and then he gives ’em lots of -pennies. When was you an’ Aunt Alice -ragged an’ dirty, so as to learn to talk that -way?”</p> - -<p>“Budge, Budge!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. -“Thousands of very rich and handsome people -talk that way—all German people do.”</p> - -<p>“Do they talk to the Lord so?” asked -Budge.</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Gracious!” exclaimed the young man. -“He must be awful smart to understand -them.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton repeated his question in -German, but Mrs. Burton kept silent and -looked extremely serious, with a ghost of a -frown.</p> - -<p>“What are you boys and your auntie going -to do with yourselves to-day?” asked -Mr. Burton, anxious to clear away the cloud -of reticence which, since the night before, -had been marring his matrimonial sky.</p> - -<p>“I guess,” said Budge, looking out through -the window, “it’s going to rain; so the best -thing will be for Aunt Alice to tell us stories -all day long. We never do get enough -stories.”</p> - -<p>“Just the thing!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span> -her face coming from behind the clouds, and -with more than its usual radiance.</p> - -<p>“Hazh you got plenty of stories in your -’tomach?” asked Toddie, poising his fork in -air, regardless of the gravy which trickled -down upon his hand from the fragment of -meat at the end.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p037.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“RAGGED, DIRTY MEN TALK TO MY PAPA SOMETIMES”</div> -</div> - - -<p>“Dozens of them,” said Mrs. Burton. “I -listened to stories in Sunday-school for about -ten years, and I’ve never had anybody to tell -them to.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span></p> - -<p>“I don’t think much of Sunday-school -stories,” said Budge, with the air of a man -indulging in an unsatisfactory retrospect. -“There’s always somethin’ at the end of -’em that spoils all the good taste of ’em—somethin’ -about bein’ good little boys.”</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice’s stories haven’t any such -endings,” said Mr. Burton, with a sneaking -desire to commit his wife to a policy of simple -amusement. “She knows that little boys -want to be good, and she wants to see them -happy, too.”</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice will tell you only what you -will enjoy, Budge—she promises you that,” -said Mrs. Burton. “We will send Uncle -Harry away right after breakfast and then -you shall have all the stories you want.”</p> - -<p>“And cake, too?” asked Toddie. “Mamma -always gives us cakesh when she’s tellin’ -us stories, so we’ll sit still an’ not wriggle -about.”</p> - -<p>“No cakes,” said Mrs. Burton, kindly but -firmly. “Eating between meals spoils the -digestion of little boys, and makes them very -cross.”</p> - -<p>“I guess that’s what was the matter with -Terry yesterday, then,” said Budge. “He -was eatin’ a bone between meals, out in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span> -garden yesterday afternoon, and when I took -hold of his back legs and tried to play that -he was a wheelbarrow, he bit me.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton gave the dog Terry a sympathetic -pat and a bit of meat, making him -stand on his hind legs and beg for the latter, -to the great diversion of the children. Then, -with an affectionate kiss and a look of tender -solicitude he wished his wife a happy day and -hurried off to the city. Mrs. Burton took -the children into the library and picked up -a Bible.</p> - -<p>“What sort of story would you like first?” -she asked, as she slowly turned the leaves.</p> - -<p>“One ’bout Abraham, ’cause he ’most -killed somebody,” said Toddie, eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no,” said Budge; “one about Jesus, -because He was always good to everybody.”</p> - -<p>“Dear child,” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. -“Goodness always makes people nice, doesn’t -it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Budge; “’cept when they talk -about it to little boys. Say, Aunt Alice, -what makes good folks always die?”</p> - -<p>“Because the Lord needs them, I suppose, -Budge.”</p> - -<p>“Then don’t he need me?” asked Budge, -with a pathetic look of inquiry.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span></p> - -<p>“Certainly, dear,” said Mrs. Burton; “but -he wants you to make other people happy -first. A great many good people are left in -the world for the same reason.”</p> - -<p>“Then why couldn’t Jesus be left?” said -Budge. “He could make people happier -than every one else put together.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll understand why, when you grow -older,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“I wish I’d hurry up about it and grow, -then,” said Budge. “Why can’t little boys -grow just like little flowers do?—just be put -in the ground an’ watered and hoed? Our -’paragus grows half-a-foot in a day almost.”</p> - -<p>“You’s a dyty boy to want to be put in -de dyte, Budgie,” said Toddie, “an’ I isn’t -goin’ to play wif you any more. Mamma -says I mustn’t play wif dyty little boys.”</p> - -<p>“Dirty boy yourself!” retorted Budge. -“You like to play in the dirt, only you cry -whenever anybody comes with water to put -on you. Say, Aunt Alice, how long does people -have to stay in the ground when they die -before they go to heaven?”</p> - -<p>“Three days, I suppose, Budge,” said Mrs. -Burton.</p> - -<p>“An’ does everybody that the Lord loves -go up to heaven?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span></p> - -<p>“Yes, dear.”</p> - -<p>“Well, papa says some folks believe that -dead people never go to heaven.”</p> - -<p>“Never mind what they believe, Budge. -You should believe what you are taught,” -said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“But I’d like to know for sure.”</p> - -<p>“So you will, some day.”</p> - -<p>“I wish ’twould be pretty quick about -it, then,” said Budge. “Now tell us a -story.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton drew the children nearer her -as she reopened the Bible, when she discovered, -to her surprise, that Toddie was -crying.</p> - -<p>“I hazhn’t talked a bit for ever so long!” -he exclaimed, in a high, pathetic tremolo.</p> - -<p>“What do you want to say, Toddie?” -asked Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“I know all ’bout burying folks—that’ -what,” said Toddie. “Mamma tolded me all -’bout it one time, she did. An’ yeshterday -me and Budgie had a funelal all by ourselves. -We found a dear little dead byde. An’ we -w’apped it up in a piesh of paper, ’cause a -baking-powder box wazn’t bid enough for a -coffin, an’ we dugged a little grave, an’ we -knelted down an’ said a little prayer, an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span>’ -ashked de Lord to take it up to hebben, an’ -den we put dyte in the grave an’ planted -little flowers all over it. Dat’s what.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, an’ we put a little stone at the head -of the grave, too, just like big dead folks,” -said Budge. “We couldn’t find one with any -writin’ on it, but I went home and got a picture-book -an’ cut out a little picture of a bird, -an’ stuck it on the stone with some tar that I -picked out of the groceryman’ wagon-wheel, -so that when the angel that takes spirits to -heaven comes along, it can see there’s a dead -little birdie there waitin’ for him.”</p> - -<p>“Yesh,” added Toddie, “an’ little bydie -ishn’t like us. ’Twon’t have to wunner how -it’ll feel to hazh wings when it gets to be a -angel, ’cause ’twas all used to wings ’fore it -died.”</p> - -<p>“Birds don’t go——” began Mrs. Burton, -intending to correct the children’s views as to -the future state of the animal kingdom, when -there flashed through her mind some of the -wonderings of her own girlish days, and the -inability of her riper experience to answer -them, so she again postponed, and with a -renewed sense of its vastness, the duty of -reforming the opinions of her nephews on -things celestial. At about the same time her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span> -cook sought an interview, and complained of -the absence of two of the silver tablespoons. -Mrs. Burton went into the mingled despondency, -suspicion and anger which is the frequent -condition of all American women who -are unfortunate enough to have servants.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p043.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“YES, AN’ WE PUT A LITTLE STONE AT THE HEAD OF THE -GRAVE”</div> -</div> - -<p>“Where is the chambermaid?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“An’ ye’s needn’t be a-suspectin’ av her,” -said the cook. “It’s them av yer own family -that I’m thinkin’ hez tuk ’em.” And the -cook glared suggestively upon the boys. -Mrs. Burton accepted the hint.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span></p> - -<p>“Boys, have either of you taken any of -auntie’s spoons for anything?”</p> - -<p>“No,” answered Toddie, promptly; and -Budge looked very saintly and shy, as if he -knew something that, through delicacy of -feeling and not fear, he shrank from telling.</p> - -<p>“What is it, Budge?” asked Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Why, you see,” said Budge, in the sweetest -of tones, “we wanted somethin’ yesterday -to dig the grave of the birdie with, an’ we -couldn’t think of anything else so nice as -spoons. There was plenty of ugly old iron -ones lyin’ around, but birdies are so sweet -an’ nice that I wouldn’t have none of ’em. -An’ the dinner-dishes was all lyin’ there with -the big silver spoons on top of ’em, so I just -got two of ’em—they wasn’t washed yet, but -we washed ’em real clean so’s to be real nice -about everythin’, so that if the little birdie’ -spirit was lookin’ at us it wouldn’t be disgusted.”</p> - -<p>“And where are the spoons now?” demanded -Mrs. Burton, oblivious to all the -witchery of the child’s spirit and appearance.</p> - -<p>“I dunno,” said Budge, becoming an ordinary -boy in an instant.</p> - -<p>“I doeszh,” said Toddie—“I put ’em -somewherezh, so when we wanted to play<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span> -housh nexsht time we wouldn’t have to make -b’lieve little sticks was spoons.”</p> - -<p>“Show me immediately where they are,” -commanded Mrs. Burton, rising from her -chair.</p> - -<p>“Den will you lend ’em to us nexsht time -we playzh housh?” asked Toddie.</p> - -<p>“No,” said Mrs. Burton, with cruel emphasis.</p> - -<p>Toddie pouted, rubbed his knuckles into -his eyes, and led the way to the rear of the -garden where, in a hollow at the base of an -old apple-tree, were the missing spoons. -Wondering whether other valuable property -might not be there, Mrs. Burton cautiously -and with a stick examined the remaining -contents of the hole, and soon discovered one -of her damask napkins.</p> - -<p>“Datsh goin’ to be our table-cloff,” explained -Toddie, “an’ dat”—this, as an unopened -pot of French mustard was unearthed -“is pizzyves” (preserves).</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton placed her property in the -pocket of her apron, led her two nephews into -the house, seated them with violence upon a -sofa, closed the doors noisily, drew a chair -close to the prisoners, and said:</p> - -<p>“Now, boys, you are to be punished for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span> -taking auntie’s things out of the house without -permission.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t want to be shpynkted!” screamed -Toddie, in a tone which seemed an attempt -at a musical duet by a saw-filer and an ungreased -wagon-wheel.</p> - -<p>“You’re not to be whipped,” continued -Mrs. Burton, “but you must learn not to -touch things without permission. I think -that to go without your dinners would help -you to remember that what you have done -is naughty.”</p> - -<p>“Izhe ’most ’tarved to deff,” exclaimed -Toddie, bursting out crying. (N.B. Breakfast -has been finished but a scant hour.)</p> - -<p>“Then I will put you into an empty room, -and keep you there until you are sure you -can remember.”</p> - -<p>Toddie shrieked as if enduring the thousand -tortures of the Chinese executioner, and -Budge looked as unhappy as if he were a -young man in love and in the throes of reluctant -poesy, but Mrs. Burton led them both -to the attic, and into an empty room, placed -chairs in two corners and a boy in each chair, -and said:</p> - -<p>“Don’t either of you move out of a chair. -Just sit still and think how naughty you’ve<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span> -been. In an hour or two I’ll come back, and -see if you think you can be good boys here-after.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p047.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“DON’T EITHER OF YOU MOVE OUT OF A CHAIR”.</div> -</div> - -<p>As Mrs. Burton left the room, she was followed -by a shriek that seemed to pierce the -walls and be heard over half the earth. Turning -hastily, she saw that Toddie, from whom -it had proceeded, had neither fallen out of his -chair, nor been seized by an epileptic fit, nor -stung by some venomous insect; so she closed -the door, locked it, softly placed a chair -against it, sat down softly and listened. -There was silence after the several minutes -required by Toddie to weary of his crying,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span> -and then Mrs. Burton heard the following -conversation:</p> - -<p>“Tod?”</p> - -<p>“What?”</p> - -<p>“We ought to do something!”</p> - -<p>“Chop Aunt Alish into little shnipsh of -bitsh—datsh what I fink would be nysh.”</p> - -<p>“That would be dreadful naughty,” said -Budge, “after we’ve bothered her so! We -ought to do something good, just like big -folks when they’ve been bad.”</p> - -<p>“What doezh big folks do?”</p> - -<p>“Well, they read the Bible an’ go to -church. But you an’ me can’t go to church, -’cause ’tain’t Sunday, an’ we ain’t got no -Bible, an’ we wouldn’t know how to read it if -we had.”</p> - -<p>“Den don’t letsh do noffin’ but be awful -mad,” said the unrepentant Toddie. “I’ll -tell you what we can do. Let’s do like dat -Maggydalen dat mamma’s got a picture of, -and dat was bad an’ got sorry; letsh look -awful doleful and cwosh. See me.”</p> - -<p>Toddie apparently gave an illustration of -what he thought the proper penitential countenance -and attitude, for Budge exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“I don’t think that would look nice at all. -It makes you look like a dead puppy-dog<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span> -with his head turned to one side. I’ll tell you -what; we can’t read Bibles like big folks, but -we can tell stories out of the Bible, an’ that’ -bein’ just as good as if we read ’em.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes,” said Toddie, repenting at once. -“Letsh! I wantsh to be good just awful.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what shall we tell about?” asked -Budge.</p> - -<p>“’Bout when Jesus was a little boy,” said -Toddie, “for he was awful good.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Budge; “we’ve been naughty, -an’ we must tell about somebody that was -awful naughty. I think old Pharaoh’s about -the thing.”</p> - -<p>“Aw right,” said Toddie. “Tell us ’bout -him.”</p> - -<p>“Well, once there was a bad old king down -in Egypt, that had all the Izzyrelites there -an’ made ’em work, an’ when they didn’t -work he had ’em banged. But that dear -little bit of a Moses, that lived in a basket in -the river, grew up to be a man, an’ he just -killed one of Pharaoh’s bad bangers, an’ then -he skooted an’ hid. An’ the Lord saw that -he was the kind of man that was good for -somethin’, so he told him he wanted him to -make Pharaoh let the poor Izzyrelites go -where they wanted to. So Moses went and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span> -told Pharaoh. An’ Pharaoh said, ’No, you -don’t!’s Then Moses went an’ told the Lord, -an’ the Lord got angry, and turned all the -water in the river into blood.”</p> - -<p>“My!” said Toddie. “Then if anybody -wanted to look all bluggy, all he had to do -was to go in bavin’, wasn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“But he wouldn’t let ’em go then,” continued -Budge. “So the Lord made frogs -hop out of all the rivers an’ mud-puddles -everywhere, and they went into all the houses -an’ folks couldn’t keep ’em out.”</p> - -<p>“I just wis mamma an’ me’d been in -Egypt, den,” said Toddie. “Den she couldn’t -make me leave my hop-toads out of doors, if -de Lord wanted ’em to stay in de house. I -loves hop-toads. I fwallowed one de uvver -day, an’ it went way down my ’tomach.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t it kick inside of you?” asked -Budge, with natural interest.</p> - -<p>“No-o!” said Toddie. “I bited him in two -fyst. But he growed togvver ag’in, an’dzust -hopped right out froo de top of my head.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s see the hole he came out of?” said -Budge, starting across the floor.</p> - -<p>“It all growded up again right away,” said -Toddie, in haste, “an’ you’s a bad boy to get -out of your chair when Aunt Alice told you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span> -not to, and you’s got to tell annuvver story -’bout naughty folks to pay for it. Gwon!”</p> - -<p>Budge returned to his chair, and continued:</p> - -<p>“An’ old Pharaoh went down to Moses’s -house an’ said, ‘Ask the Lord to make the -frogs hop away, an’ you can have your old -Izzyrelites—I don’t want ’em.’ So the Lord -done it, an’ all the glad old Pharaoh was, was -only ’cause he got rid of ’em; an’ he kept the -Izzyrelites some more. Then the Lord thought -he’d fix ’em sure, so he turned all the dirt into -nasty bugs.”</p> - -<p>“What did little boys do den, dat wanted -dyte to make mud-pies of?” asked Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Well, the bugs was only made out of dry -dirt,” exclaimed Budge; “just dust like we -kick up in the street, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Oh,” said Toddie. “I wonder if any of -dem bugs was ’tato-bugs?”</p> - -<p>“I dunno, but some of ’em was the kind -that mammas catch with fine combs after -their little boys have been playin’ with dirty -children. An’ Pharaoh’s smart men, that -thought they could do everythin’, found they -couldn’t make them bugs.”</p> - -<p>“Why-y-y,” drawled Toddie, “did Pharaoh -want some more of ’em?”</p> - -<p>“No, I s’pose not, but he stayed bad, so he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span> -had to catch it again. The Lord sent whole -swarms of flies to Egypt, an’ there wasn’t any -mosquito-nets in that country either. An’ -then Pharaoh got good again, an’ the Lord -took the flies away, an Pharaoh got bad again, -so the Lord made all the horses an’ cows -awful sick, an’ they all died.”</p> - -<p>“Then couldn’t Pharaoh go out ridin’ at -all?”</p> - -<p>“No. He had to walk, even if he wanted -to get to the depot in an awful hurry. An’ it -made him so mad that he said the Izzyrelites -shouldn’t go anyhow. So Moses took a -handful of ashes an’ threw it up in the air -before Pharaoh, an’ everybody in all Egypt -got sore with boils right away.”</p> - -<p>“Ow!” said Toddie, “I had some nashty -boils oncesh, but I didn’t know ashes made -’em. I’ll ’member that.”</p> - -<p>“An’ Pharaoh said ‘no!’again, so he got -some more bothers. The Lord made great -big lumps of ice tumble down out of heaven, -an’ he made the thunder go bang, an’ the -lightnin’ ran around the ground like our -fizzers did last Fourth of July, an’ it spoiled -all the growing things.”</p> - -<p>“Strawberries?” queried Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span></p> - -<p>“An’ dear little panzhies?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Poo’s old Pharo’! Gwon.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p053.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“—BUT I DIDN’T KNOW ASHES MADE ’EM”</div> -</div> - -<p>“Then Pharaoh’s friends began to tell him -he was bein’ a goose, thinkin’ he could be -stronger than the Lord, an’ Pharaoh kind o’ -thought so himself. So he told Moses that -the men-folks of the Izzyrelites might go -away if they wanted to, but nobody else.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span></p> - -<p>“Mean old fing! Who did he fink was -goin’ to cook fings—an’ go to school?”</p> - -<p>“I dunno, but I guess he had a chance to -think about it, for the Lord made whole -crowds of locusts come. Them’s grasshoppers, -you know, an’ they ate up everythin’ -in all the gardens, an’ the folks got half crazy -about it.”</p> - -<p>“Den I guesh dey didn’t tell their little -boysh that they mushn’t kill gwasshoppers, -like mamma doesh. Wish I’d been dere! -What did he do den?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, he was a selfish old pig, just like he -was before, so the Lord said, ‘Moses, just -hold your hand up to the sky a minute.’ An’ -Moses did it, and then it got darker in Egypt -than it is in our coal-bin. Folks couldn’t see -anythin’ anywhere, an’ wherever they was -when it growed dark, they had to stay for -three whole days an’ nights.”</p> - -<p>“Gwacious!” Toddie exclaimed. “Wouldn’t -it be drefful if Moses was to go an’ hold his -hand up in the sky while we’s a-sittin’ in -dezhe chairzh? Mebbe he will! Let’s holler -for Aunt Alish!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, he can’t do it now, ’cause he’s dead. -Besides that, we ain’t keepin’ any Izzyrelites -from doin’ what they want to. Old Pharaoh<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span> -got awful frightened then, an’ told Moses he -might take all the people away, but they -mustn’t take their things with ’em—the selfish -old fellow! But Moses knew how hard -the poor Izzyrelites had to work for the few -things they had, so he said they wouldn’t go -unless they could carry everythin’ they owned. -An’ that made Pharaoh mad, an’ he said, -‘Get out! If I catch you here again I’ll kill -you!’s An’ Moses said, ‘Don’t trouble yourself; -you won’t see me again unless you want me.’”</p> - -<p>“Shouldn’t fink he would,” said Toddie. -“Nobody’s goin’ to vizhit kings dzust to have -deir heads cutted off. Even our shickens -knows enough not to come to Mike when he -wants to cut deir heads off. Gwon!”</p> - -<p>“Well, then the Lord told Moses somethin’ -that must have made him feel awful. He -told him that next night every biggest boy in -every family was goin’ to be killed by an -angel. Ain’t I glad I didn’t live there then! -I’d like to see an angel, but not if that’s what -he wants to do with me. What would you -do if an angel was to kill me, Tod?”</p> - -<p>“I’d have all your marbles,” Toddie answered, -promptly, “and the goat-cawwiage -would be all mine. Gwon!”</p> - -<p>“Well, the Lord told Moses about it, an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span>’ -Moses told the folks; an’ he told ’em all to -kill a little lamb, an’ dip their fingers in the -blood, an’ make a cross on their door-posts, -so when the angel came along an’ saw it he -wouldn’t kill the biggest boy in their houses. -An’ that night down came the angel, an’ -everybody woke up an’ cried awful—worse -than you did when you fell down-stairs the -other day, because all the biggest died. You -couldn’t go anywhere without hearin’ papas -an’ mammas cryin’.”</p> - -<p>“Did dey all have funerals den?”</p> - -<p>“Of course.”</p> - -<p>“Gwacious! Den the little ’Gyptian boys -dat didn’t get killed could look at deaders all -day long! What did Pharo’s do ’bout it -den?”</p> - -<p>“He sent right after Moses an’ his brother, -in a hurry, an’ he told ’em that he’d been a -bad king—just as if they didn’t know that -already! An’ he told ’em to take all the -Izzyrelites, an’ all their things, an’ go right -straight away—he was in such a hurry that -he didn’t even invite Moses to the funeral, -though he had a dead biggest boy himself. -An’ all the Egyptian people came too, and -begged the Izzyrelites to hurry an’ go—they -didn’t see what they was waitin’ for. They<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span> -was so glad to get rid of ’em that they lent -’em anything they wanted.”</p> - -<p>“Pies an’ cakes?”</p> - -<p>“No!” said Budge, contemptuously. “You -don’t s’pose folks that’s goin’ off travelin’ for -forty years is goin’ to think ’bout eatin’ first -thing, do you? They borrowed clothes, an’ -money, an’ everything else they could get, an’ -left the Egyptians awful poor. An’ off they -started.”</p> - -<p>“Did they have a ’cursion train?”</p> - -<p>“No! All the excursion trains in the -world couldn’t have held such lots of people. -They rode on camels and donkeys, but lots of -’em walked.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think that was a bit of fun.”</p> - -<p>“You would have,” said Budge, “if you’d -always had to work like everything. Don’t -you ’member how once when mamma made -you work, an’ carry away all the blocks you -brought up on the piazza from the new -buildin’? You walked ’way off to the village -to get rid of it.”</p> - -<p>“Ye—es,” drawled Toddie, “but I knew -I’d be rided back when dey came to look for -me. Den what did they do?”</p> - -<p>“They started to travel to a nice country -that the Lord had told Moses about, an’ they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span> -got along till they came to a pretty big ocean -where there wasn’t any ferry-boats. I don’t -see what Moses took ’em to such a place as -that for, unless the Lord wanted to show ’em -that no ferry-boats could get the best of Him, -when all of a sudden they saw an awful lot of -dust bein’ kicked up behind ’em, an’ somebody -said that Pharaoh was a-comin’.”</p> - -<p>“Should fink he’d seen ’nough of ’em,” -said Toddie. “Did he come down to the -boat to wave his hanafitch good-by at ’em?”</p> - -<p>“No, he knew there wasn’t any boats -there, an’ so he came to take ’em back again -an’ make ’em work some more.”</p> - -<p>“Should fink he’d be afraid de Lord would -kill him next.”</p> - -<p>“P’r’aps he did; but then, you see, he was -awful lazy, an’ didn’t like to work for himself; -papa says there’s lots of folks that would -rather be killed than do any work.”</p> - -<p>“Den what d’s de lazy folks do? They -can’t catch any Izzyrelites, can they?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Budge, “but they can do what -the Izzyrelites done themselves—they borrow -other people’s money. Well, when the -folks saw that ’twas Pharaoh a-comin’, they -began to grunt, an pitch into poor Moses, an’ -told him he ought to be ashamed of hisself<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span> -to bring ’em away off there to be killed, when -they might have died in Egypt without havin’ -to walk so far. But Moses said: ‘Shut your -mouth, will you? The Lord’s doin’ this job.’ -Then the Lord said: ‘Moses, lift up your cane -an’ point across the water with it!’s An’ the -minute Moses done that, the water of that -ocean went way up on one side, and way up -on the other side—just like it does in the -bathtub sometimes when we’re splashin’, you -know—and there was a path right through -the bottom of that ocean. An’ the people just -skooted right along it!”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p059.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“SPLASHIN’ IN THE BATHTUB”</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span></p> - -<p>“Did they put on their rubbers fyst? -’Cause if they didn’t there must have been lots -of little boys spanked when they got across -for gettin’ their shoes muddy.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know about that,” said Budge, after -a slight pause for reflection. “I must ’member -to ask papa about that. But when they all -got over they began to grumble some more, for -along came Pharaoh’s army right after ’em.”</p> - -<p>“I fink they was a lot of good-for-nothing -cry-babies,” Toddie exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“Huh!” grunted Budge. “I guess you’d -have yowled if you’d have been trudgin’ -along through the mud ever so long, an’ then -seen some soldiers an’ chariots an’ spears an’ -bows an’ arrows comin’ to kill you. But the -Lord knew just how to manage. He always -did. Papa says He always comes in when -you think He can’t. He said to Moses, ‘Lift -up your cane an’ point it across the ocean -again.’s An’ Moses done it, an’ down came -that big fence of water on both sides kerswosh! -An’ it drownded old Pharaoh an’ -the whole good-for-nothin’ lot.”</p> - -<p>“Then did the Izzyrelites go to cryin’ some -more?”</p> - -<p>“Not much! They all got together an’ -had a big sing.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span></p> - -<p>“I know what they sung,” said Toddie. -“They all sung ‘TurnbackPharo’army-hallelujah.’”</p> - -<p>“No, they didn’t,” said Budge. “They -sung that splendid thing mamma sings sometimes, -‘Sound the—loud tim—brel o’er—Egypt’—Egypt’ -dark——’”</p> - -<p>Budge had with great difficulty repeated -the line of the glorious old anthem, then he -broke down and burst out crying.</p> - -<p>“What’s you cryin’ about?” asked Toddie. -“Is you playin’ you’s an Izzyrelite?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Budge; “but whenever I think -about that song, somethin’ comes up in my -throat and makes me cry.”</p> - -<p>The door of the room flew open, there was -a rustle and a hurried tread, and Mrs. Burton, -her face full of tears, snatched Budge to her -breast, and kissed him repeatedly, while -Toddie remarked:</p> - -<p>“When fings come up in my froat I just -fwallows ’em.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton conducted her nephews to the -parlor floor, and said:</p> - -<p>“Now, little boys, it’s nearly lunch time, -and I am going to have you nicely washed -and dressed, so that if any one comes in you -will look like little gentlemen.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span></p> - -<p>“Ain’t we to be punished any more for -bein’ bad?” asked Budge.</p> - -<p>“No,” said Mrs. Burton, kindly; “I’m -going to trust you to remember and be -good.”</p> - -<p>“That isn’t what bothers me,” said Budge; -“I told a great, long Bible story to Tod up-stairs, -so’s to be like big folks when they get -bad, as much as I could. But Tod didn’t tell -any; I don’t think he’s got his punish.”</p> - -<p>“He may tell his to-night, after Uncle -Harry gets home,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“An’ sit in a chair in the corner of the up-stairs -room?” asked Budge.</p> - -<p>“I hardly think that will be necessary this -time,” answered the lady.</p> - -<p>“Then I don’t think you punish fair a bit,” -said Budge, with an aggrieved pout.</p> - -<p>“I’ll be dzust as sad as I can ’bout it, -Budgie,” said Toddie, with a brotherly kiss.</p> - -<p>The boys were led off by the chambermaid -to be dressed and Mrs. Burton seated herself -and devoted herself to earnest thought. -Time was flying, her husband had been between -dark and breakfast-time most exasperatingly -solicitous as to the success of his -wife’s theories of government, and not even -her genius of self-defense had prevailed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span> -against him. She felt that so far she had -been steadily vanquished. Her husband -had told her in other days that it was always -so with the best generals in their first engagements, -so she determined that if men -had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, -she should be able to do so as well. Her -desperation at the thought of a long lifetime -of “I told you so’” from her husband made -her determine that no discomfort should prevent -the most earnest endeavor for success.</p> - -<p>The luncheon bell aroused her from what -had become a reverie in the valley of humiliation, -and she found awaiting her at the table -her nephews—Budge in a jaunty sailor-suit -and Toddie in a clean dress and an immaculate -white apron. An old experience caused -her to promptly end some researches of Toddie’, -instituted to discover whether his aunt’ -dishes were really “turtle-pyates,” and an -attempt by Budge to drop oysters in the -mouth of the dog Terry, as he had seen his -uncle do with bread-crusts in the morning, -was forcibly brought to a close. Beyond the -efforts alluded to, the children did nothing -worse than people in good society often do at -table. After luncheon, Mrs. Burton said:</p> - -<p>“Now, boys, this is Aunt Alice’s reception<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span>day. -I will probably have several calls, and -every one will want to know about that dear -little new baby, and you must be there to tell -them. So you must keep yourselves very -neat and clean. I know you wouldn’t like to -see any dirty people in my parlor!”</p> - -<p>“Hatesh to shtay in parlors,” said Toddie. -“Wantsh to go and get some jacks” (“Jack-in-the-pulpit”—a -swamp plant).</p> - -<p>“Not to-day,” said Mrs. Burton, kindly, -but firmly. “No one with nice white aprons -ever goes for jacks. What would you think -if you saw me in a swampy, muddy place, -with a nice white apron on, hunting for -jacks!”</p> - -<p>“Why, I’d fink you could bring home -more’n me, ’cause your apron would hold the -mosht,” Toddie replied.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you what,” said Budge, calling -Toddie into a corner and whispering earnestly -to him. The purity of Budge’s expression of -countenance and the tender shyness with -which he avoided her gaze when he noticed -that it was upon him, caused Mrs. Burton to -instinctively turn her head away, out of respect -for what she believed to be a childish -secret of some very tender order. Glancing -at the couple again for only a second, she saw<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span> -that Toddie, too, seemed rather less matter-of-fact -than usual. Finally both boys started -out of the doorway, Budge turning and remarking -with inflections simply angelic:</p> - -<p>“Will be back pretty soon, Aunt Alice.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton proceeded to dress; she idly -touched her piano, until one lady after another -called, and occupied her time. Suddenly, -while trying to form a good impression on a -very dignified lady of the old school, both -boys marched into the parlor from the dining-room. -Mrs. Burton motioned them violently -away, for Budge’s trousers and Toddie’ -apron were as dirty as they well could be. -Neither boy saw the visitor, however, for she -was hidden by one of the wings which held -the folding-doors, so both tramped up to their -aunt, while Budge exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Folks don’t go to heaven the second day, -anyhow, for we just dug up the bird to see, -an’ he was there just the same.”</p> - -<p>“And dere wazh lots of little ants dere wiv -him,” said Toddie. “Is dat ’cause dey want -to got to hebben, too, an’ wantsh somebody -wif wings to help ’em up?”</p> - -<p>“Budge!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, in chilling -tones; “how did all this dirt come on your -clothes?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span></p> - -<p>“Why, you see,” said the boy, edging up -confidentially to his aunt, and resting his -elbows on her knee as he looked up into her -face, “I couldn’t bear to put the dear little -birdie in the ground again without sayin’ -another little prayer. And I forgot to brush -my knees off.”</p> - -<p>“Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, “you couldn’t -have knelt down with your stomach and -breast. How did you get your nice white -apron so dirty?”</p> - -<p>Toddie looked at the apron and then at -his aunt—looked at a picture or two, and -then at the piano—followed the cornice-line -with his eye, seemed suddenly to find what -he was looking for, and replied:</p> - -<p>“Do you fink dat apron’s dyty? Well, I -don’t. Tell you watsh de matter wif it—I -fink de white’s gropped off.”</p> - -<p>“Go into the kitchen!” Mrs. Burton commanded, -and both boys departed with heavy -pouts where pretty lips should have been. -Half an hour later their uncle, who had come -home early with the laudable desire of meeting -some of his wife’s acquaintances, found -his nephew Toddy upon the scaffolding of an -unfinished residence half-way between his -own residence and the railway station. Re<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span>membering -the story, dear to all makers of -school reading-books, of the boy whose sailor -father saw him perched upon the mainyard, -Mr. Burton stood beneath the scaffolding and -shouted to Toddie:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p066.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“JUMP!” SHOUTED MR. BURTON</div> -</div> - -<p>“Jump!”</p> - -<p>“I can’t,” screamed Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Jump!” shouted Mr. Burton, with increased -energy.</p> - -<p>“Tell you I can’t,” repeated Toddie. -“Wezh playin’ Tower of Babel, an’ hazh had -our talks made different like de folks did -den, an’ when I tells Budge to bring buicksh, -he only buingzh mortar, an’ when I wantsh -mortar he buings buicksh. An’ den we talksh -like you an’ Aunt Alice did yestuday at de -table.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Budge, appearing from the inside -of the building with an armful of blocks. -“Just listen.” And the young man chattered -for a moment or two in a dialect never -even dimly hinted at except by a convention -of monkeys.</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton cautiously climbed the ladder, -brought down one boy at a time, kissed -them both and shook them soundly, after -which the three wended homeward, the boys -having sawdust on every portion of their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span> -clothes not already soiled by dirt, and most -of Mrs. Burton’s callers meeting the party -<i>en route</i>.</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton found his wife brilliantly conversational, -yet averse to talking about her -nephews. The exercise which they had been -compelled to take in their emulation of the -architects of the incomplete building on the -plain of Shinar gave them excellent appetites -and silenced tongues; but after his capacity -had been tested to the uttermost Budge said:</p> - -<p>“It’s time for Tod to do his punishment -now, Aunt Alice. Don’t you know?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton winked at her husband, and -nodded approvingly to Budge.</p> - -<p>“Come, Tod,” said Budge, “you must tell -your awful sad story now, an’ feel bad.”</p> - -<p>“Guesh I’ll tell ’bout Peter Gray,” said -Toddie; “thatsh awful sad.”</p> - -<p>“Who was Peter Gray?” asked Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“He’s a dzentleman dat a dyty little boy -in the nexsht street to us sings ’bout,” said -Toddie, “only I don’t sing ’bout him—I only -tellsh it. It’s dzust as sad that-a-way.”</p> - -<p>“Go on,” said Budge.</p> - -<p>“Once was a man,” said Toddie, with -great solemnity, “an’ his name was Peter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span> -Gray. An’ he loved a lady. An’ he says to -her papa, ‘I wantsh to marry your little gyle.’ -An’ what you fink dat papa said? He said, -‘No!’” (this with great emphasis). “That -izhn’t as hard as he said it, eiver, but it’s azh -hard as I can say it. It’s puffikly dzedful -when Jimmy sings it. An’ Peter Gray felt -awful bad den, an’ he went out Wesht, to buy -de shkinzh dat comes off of animals an’ fings, -dough how dat made him feel nicer Jimmy -don’t sing ’bout. An’ bad Injuns caught -him an’ pulled his hair off, djust like ladies -pull deirsh off sometimezh. An’ when dat -lady heard ’bout it, it made her feel so bad -dat she went to bed an’ died. Datsh all. -Uncle Harry, ain’t you got to be punished -for somefin’, so you can tell ush a story?”</p> - -<p>“It’s time little boys were in bed now,” -said Mrs. Burton, arising and taking Toddie -in her arms.</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear!” said Budge. “I wish I was a -little boy in China, an’ just gettin’ up.”</p> - -<p>“So does I,” said Toddie; “’cause den you -would have a tay-al on your head an’ I could -pull it!”</p> - -<p>The boys retired, and Mrs. Burton broke -her reticence so far as to tell her husband the -story she had heard in the morning, and to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span> -insist that he was to arise early enough in the -morning to unearth the buried bird and -throw it away.</p> - -<p>“It’s perfectly dreadful,” said she, “that -those children should be encouraged in making -trifling applications of great truths, and -I am determined, as far as possible, to prevent -the effects by removing the causes.”</p> - -<p>And her husband put on an exasperating -smile and shook his head profoundly.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span></p> - - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</h2> - - -<p>The sun of the next morning arose at the -outrageously unfashionable hour that -he affects in June, but Mrs. Burton was up -before him. Her husband had attended a -town meeting the night before, and the forefathers -of the hamlet had been so voluble -that Mr. Burton had not returned home until -nearly midnight. He needed rest, and his -wife determined that he should sleep as long -as possible; but there were things dearer to -her than even the comfort of her husband, -and among these were the traditions she had -received concerning things mystical. She -had an intuition that her nephews would examine -the grave of the bird they had interred -two days before, and she dreaded to listen to -the literal conversation and comments that -would surely follow. Had the bird been a -human being, the remarks of its tender-hearted -little friends would have seemed anything -but materialistic to Mrs. Burton; but -it was only a bird, and the lady realized that -to answer questions as to the soullessness of -an innocent being and the comparative value<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span> -of characterless men and women was going -to be no easy task.</p> - -<p>She therefore perfected a plan which should -be fair to all concerned; she would arouse her -husband only when she heard her nephews -moving; then she would engage the young -men in conversation while her husband desecrated -the grave. She would have saved considerable -trouble by locking the young men in -their chamber and allowing her husband to -slumber content, but having failed to remove -the key on the advent of the boys they had -found use for it themselves, and no questioning -had been able to discover its whereabouts. -Meanwhile the boys were quiet, and Mrs. -Burton devoted the peaceful moments to laying -out the day in such a manner as to have -the least possible trouble from her nephews.</p> - -<p>A violent kicking at the front door and -some vigorous rings of the bell aroused the -lady from her meditation and her husband -from his dreams, while the dog Terry, who -usually slept on the inner mat at the front -door, began to howl piteously.</p> - -<p>“Goodness!” growled Mr. Burton, rubbing -his eyes, as his wife pulled the bell-cord leading -to the servants’s room. “To whom do we -owe money?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, I’m afraid Helen is worse, or the -baby is poorly!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, -opening the chamber-window, and shouting, -“Who is there?”</p> - -<p>“Me,” answered a voice easily recognizable -as that of Budge.</p> - -<p>“Me, too!” screamed a thinner but equally -familiar voice.</p> - -<p>“We’ve got somethin’ awful lovely to tell -you, Aunt Alice,” shouted Budge. “Let us -in, quick!”</p> - -<p>“Lovelier dan cake or pie or candy!” -screamed Toddie.</p> - -<p>One of the servants hurried down the stairs, -the door opened, light footsteps hurried up -the steps, and the dog Terry, pausing for no -morning caress from his master, hurried under -the bed for refuge, from which locality he -expressed his apprehension in a dismal falsetto. -Then, with a tramp which only children -can execute, and which horses cannot -approach in noisiness, came Budge and -Toddie. Arrived at their aunt’s chamber-door, -each boy tried to push the other away, -that he might himself tell the story of which -both were full. At last, from the outer side -of the door:</p> - -<p>“Dear little bydie’s gone to hebben.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span></p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Budge, “the angels took him -away.”</p> - -<p>“An’ de little ants all went to hebben wif -him,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Only the angels didn’t take the gravestone, -too,” said Budge. “Say, Aunt Alice, -what’s the use of gravestones after folks is -gone to heaven?”</p> - -<p>“I know,” said Toddie. “I fought everybody -knowed dat; it’s so’s folks know where -to plant lovely flowers for deir angel what was -in the grave to look down at.”</p> - -<p>“Now,” said Budge, with the air of a -champion of a newly discovered doctrine, -“I’m just goin’ to ask papa who the folks are -that don’t believe deaders go to heaven. I’ll -jist tell ’em what geese they are.”</p> - -<p>“Angels is dzust like birdies, isn’t they, -Aunt Alice?” Toddie asked. “’Cause dey’ -got winghs an’ clawshes, too.”</p> - -<p>“How do you know they have claws?” -asked Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“’Cause I saw deir scratch-holes in the -dyte at the grave,” said Toddie. “Dey was -dzust little bits of scratchy cracks like little -bydies make. I guesh dey was little baby-angels.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton winked at his wife, who was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span> -looking greatly mystified, and he uttered the -single monosyllable:</p> - -<p>“Cats.”</p> - -<p>“How did you get out of the house, children?” -Mr. Burton asked.</p> - -<p>“Jumped out of one of the kitchen windows,” -said Budge. “But it was so high -from the ground that we couldn’t get in again -that way. And I think it’s breakfast-time; -we’ve been up ’bout two hours.”</p> - -<div class="figright" > -<img src="images/p075.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“CATS,” UTTERED MR. BURTON</div> -</div> - -<p>“Now’s the time for orthodox teaching, my dear,” suggested Mr. -Burton. “Physiologists say that the mind is more active when the -stomach’s empty.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” said Mrs. Burton, starting -for the kitchen, “but the minds of those boys -are too active, even on full stomachs.”</p> - -<p>Breakfast was on the table in due time, -and the boys showed appreciation of it. -After they were partly satisfied, however, -Budge asked:</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice, how much longer do you sup<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span>pose -we can live without seeing that dear -little sister?”</p> - -<p>“Dear little girl sister,” said Toddie, by -way of correction.</p> - -<p>“Oh, quite a while,” Mrs. Burton replied. -“I know you love it and your mamma too -much to make either of them any trouble, -and both of them are quite feeble yet. You -love them better than you love yourself, -don’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” said Budge. “That’s why I -want to see ’em so awful much.”</p> - -<p>“I fink it’s awful mean for little sishterzh -not to have deir budders to play wif,” said -Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Well, I will think about it, and if you will -both be very good, we will go there to-day.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” said Budge. “We’ll be our very -goodest. I’ll tell you what, Tod; we’ll have -a Sunday-school right after breakbux; that’ll -be good.”</p> - -<p>“I know something gooder dan that,” said -Toddie. “We’ll play Daniel in de lions’s den, -and you be de king an’ take me out. Dat’ -a good deal gooder dan dzust playin’ Sunday-school; -’caush takin’ folks away from awful -bitey lions is a gooder fing dan dzust singin’ -an’ prayin’, like they do in Sunday-school.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span></p> - -<p>“Another frightful fit of heterodoxy to be -overcome, my dear,” observed Mr. Burton. -“That dreadful child is committed to the -doctrine of the superior efficacy of works -over faith.”</p> - -<p>“I shall tell him the story of Daniel correctly,” -said Mrs. Burton, “and error will be -sure to fly from the appearance of truth.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton took his departure for the day, -and while his wife busied herself in household -management, the children discussed the etiquette -of the promised visit.</p> - -<p>“Tell you what, Tod,” said Budge, “we -ought to take her presents, anyhow. That -was one of the lovaly things about Jesus being -a little baby once. You know those -shepherds came an’ brought him lots of -presents.”</p> - -<p>“What letsh take her?” asked Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Budge, “the shepherds carried -money and things that smelled sweet, so -I guess that’s what we ought to do.”</p> - -<p>“Aw wight,” said Toddie. “’Cept, houzh -we goin’ to get ’em?”</p> - -<p>“We can go into the house very softly -when we get home, you know,” said Budge, -“an’ shake some pennies out of our savings-bank; -them’ll do for the money. Then for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span> -things that smell sweet we can get flowers -out of the garden.”</p> - -<p>“Dat’ll be dzust a-givin’ her fings that’s at -home already. I fink ’twould be nicer to -carry her somefin’ from here, just as if we was -comin’ from where we took care of de sheep.”</p> - -<p>“Tell you what,” said Budge. “Let’ -tease Aunt Alice for pennies. We ought to -have thought about it before Uncle Harry -went away.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes!” said Toddie. “An’ dere’s a -bottle of smelly stuff in Aunt Alice’s room; -we’ll get some of dat. Shall we ask her for -it, or dzust make b’lieve it’s ours?”</p> - -<p>“Let’s be honest ’bout it,” said Budge. -“It’s wicked to hook things.”</p> - -<p>“’Twouldn’t be hookin’ if we took it for -dat lovaly little sister baby, would it?” asked -Toddie. “’Sides, I want to s’prise Aunt -Alice an’ everybody wif de lots of presentsh -I makesh to de dear little fing.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! I’ll tell you what,” said Budge, forgetting -the presents entirely in his rapture -over a new idea. “You know how bright the -point of the new lightning-rod on our house -is? Well, we’ll make b’lieve that’s the star -in the East, an’ it’s showin’ us where to come -to find the baby.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, yes!” exclaimed Toddie. “An’ maybe -Aunt Alice’ll carry us on her back, and -then we’ll make b’lieve we’re ridin’ camels, -like the shepherds in the picture we had -Christmas, an’ tore up to make menageries -of.”</p> - -<p>The appearance of a large grasshopper -directly in front of the boys ended the conversation -temporarily, for both started in -chase of it.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p079.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">BOTH STARTED IN CHASE OF IT</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span></p> - -<p>Half an hour later both boys straggled into -the house, panting and dusty, and flung -themselves upon the floor, when their aunt, -with that weakness peculiar to the woman -who is not also a mother, asked them where -they had been, why they were out of breath, -how they came by so much dust on their -clothes, and why they were so cross. Budge -replied, with a heavy sigh:</p> - -<p>“Big folks don’t know much about little -folks’s troubles.”</p> - -<p>“Bad old hoppergrass, just kept a-goin’ -wherever he wanted to, an’ never comed under -my hat,” complained Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he knew it would not be best for -you to have him, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton. -“What would you have done with him if you -had succeeded in catching him?”</p> - -<p>“Tookted his hind hoppers off,” said Toddie, -promptly.</p> - -<p>“How dreadful!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. -“What would you have done that for?”</p> - -<p>“So’s he’d fly,” said Toddie. “The idea -of anybody wif wings goin’ awound on their -hoppersh! How’d you like it if I had wings, -an’ only trotted and jumped instead of flied?”</p> - -<p>“My dear little boy,” said Mrs. Burton, -taking her nephew on her lap, “you must<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span> -know that it’s very wrong to hurt animals in -that way. They are just as the Lord made -them, and just as he wants them to be.”</p> - -<p>“All animals?” asked Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” answered Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Then what for doesh you catch pitty little -mices in traps an’ kill ’em?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton hastened to give the conversation -a new direction.</p> - -<p>“Because they’re very troublesome,” she -said. “And even troublesome people have -to be punished when they meddle with other -people’s things.”</p> - -<p>“We know that, I guess,” interposed -Budge, with a sigh.</p> - -<p>“But,” said Mrs. Burton, hurrying forward -to her point, “the animals have nerves and -flesh and blood and bones, just like little boys -do, and are just the way the Lord made them.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll look for the hoppergrass’s blood next -time I pull one’s legsh off,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Don’t,” said Mrs. Burton. “You must -believe what aunty tells you, and you mustn’t -trouble the poor things at all. Why, Toddie, -there are real smart men, real good men that -everybody respects, that have spent their -whole lives in study of insects, like grasshoppers, -and flies, and bees——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span></p> - -<p>“An’ never got stung?” asked Toddie. -“How did dey do it?”</p> - -<p>“They don’t care if they are stung,” said -Mrs. Burton. “They are deeply interested -in learning how animals are made. They -study all kinds of animals, and try to find out -why they are different from people; and they -find out that some wee things, like grasshoppers, -are more wonderful than any person -that ever lived!”</p> - -<p>“I should think so,” said Budge. “If I -could hop like a grasshopper, I could jump -faster than any boy in the kindergarten, an’ -if I could sting like a hornet, I could wallop -any boy in town.”</p> - -<p>“Does they adzamine big animals, too?” -asked Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Mrs. Burton. “One of them -has been away out West among the dreadful -Indians, just to find out what horses were -like a good many years ago.”</p> - -<p>“If I find out all ’bout horsesh,” said Toddie, -“will everybody like me?”</p> - -<p>“Very likely,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Then I’m goin’ to,” said Toddie, sliding -out of his aunt’s lap.</p> - -<p>“Never mind about it now, dear,” said -Mrs. Burton. “We are going to see mamma<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span> -and baby now. Go and dress yourselves -neatly, boys.”</p> - -<p>Both children started, and Mrs. Burton, -who was already prepared for her trip, opened -a novel, first giving herself credit for having -turned at least one perverted faculty of -Toddie’s into its heaven-ordained channel.</p> - -<p>“Another triumph to report to my husband,” -said she, with a fine air of exultation, -as she opened her novel. “And yet,” she -continued, absent-mindedly, laying the book -down again, “I believe I have found no occasion -on which to report yesterday’s victories!”</p> - -<p>The boys were slow to appear; but when -they came down-stairs they presented so -creditable an appearance as to call for a special -compliment from their aunt. On their -way to their mamma’s house they seemed -preoccupied, and they sought frequent occasions -to whisper to each other.</p> - -<p>Arrived at home, their impatience knew no -restraint; and when the nurse appeared with -a wee bundle, topped with a little face, and -lying on a big pillow, both boys pounced upon -it at once, Budge trying to crowd several -pennies into the baby’s rose-leaves of hands, -while Toddie held to its nose a bottle labeled -“Liquid Bluing.” At the same time the baby<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span> -sneezed alarmingly and a strong odor of -camphor pervaded the room.</p> - -<p>“Where can that camphor be?” asked the -nurse. “There is nothing that Mrs. Lawrence -hates so intensely!”</p> - -<p>The baby stopped sneezing and began a -pitiful wail, while Toddie hastened to pick up -the bluing-bottle; then the nurse saw that -upon the baby’s hitherto immaculate wraps -there was a large stain of a light-blue tint -and emitting a strong odor of camphor. -Meanwhile, Toddie had dragged upon his -aunt’s sack, held his precious bottle up to -his aunt’s nose, and exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Izhn’t dat too baddy! Baby gropped it, -and spilled mosht every bit of it on her -c’ozhes an’ on de floor!”</p> - -<p>“Where did you get that camphor, Toddie?” -asked Mrs. Burton, “and why did you -bring it here?”</p> - -<p>“Tizhn’t campiffer,” said Toddie. “It’ -pyfume; I got it out of a big bottle on your -bureau, where you makes your hankafusses -smell sweet at. Budgie an’ me done dzust -what dem sheepmen did when dey came to -Beflehem to see de dear little Jesus-baby: -we brought our baby money an’ fings dat -smelled sweet.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span></p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton kissed Toddie; then the nurse -fell on the floor and displayed the baby’s face, -and then the face was shadowed from the -light, and baby opened two little eyes and -regarded her brothers with a stare of queenly -gravity and gentleness, and the adoration -expressed by the faces of the two boys was -such as no old master ever put into the faces -in an “Adoration of the Magi,” and above -them bent a face more mature but none the -less suffused with tender awe. The silence -seemed too holy and delightful to be broken, -but Toddie soon looked up inquiringly into -his aunt’s face and asked:</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice, why don’t dere be a lovely -sun around her head like dere is in pictures -of dear little Jesus-babies?”</p> - -<p>The quartet became human again, and the -nurse offered each of the party a five-minute -interview with the mother. Mrs. Burton -emerged from the sick-chamber with a face -which her nephews could not help scrutinizing -curiously; Budge came out with the remark -that he would never worry his sweet mamma -again while he lived, but Toddie exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“If I had a little new baby I wouldn’t stay -in bed in dark roomsh all day long. I dzust -get up an’ dansh awound.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span></p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice,” asked Budge, on the way -back to his uncle’s residence, “now there’ -somebody else at our house to have a birthday, -isn’t there? When will baby sister’ -birthday come—how many days?”</p> - -<p>“About three hundred and sixty,” said -Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Goodness!” exclaimed Budge. “And -how long ’fore Christmas’ll come again?”</p> - -<p>“Nearly two hundred days.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I think I will die if somebody don’t -have a birthday pretty soon, so I can give ’em -presents.”</p> - -<p>“Why, you dear, generous little fellow,” -said Mrs. Burton, stooping to kiss him, “my -own birthday will come to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“Oh—h—h—h!” exclaimed Budge. “Say -Toddie——” The remainder of the conversation -was conducted in whispers and -with countenances of extreme importance. -The boys even took a different road for home, -Budge explaining to his aunt that they had a -big secret to talk about.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton stopped <i>en route</i> to ask a -neighborly question or two, and arrived at -home somewhat later than her nephews. -She saw a horse and wagon at the door, and -rightly imagined that they belonged to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span> -grocer. But what a certain white mass on -the ground under the horse could consist of -Mrs. Burton was at a loss to conjecture, and -she quickened her pace only to find the white -substance aforesaid resolve itself into the -neatly clothed body of her nephew, Toddie, -who was lying on his back in the dirt, and -contemplating the noble animal’s chest with -serene curiosity.</p> - -<p>There are moments in life when dignity -unbends in spite of itself, and grace of deportment -becomes a thing to be loathed. -Such a moment Mrs. Burton endured, as, -dropping her parasol, she cautiously but -firmly seized Toddie and snatched him from -his dangerous position.</p> - -<p>“Go into the house, this instant, you dirty -boy!” said she, with an imperious stamp of -her foot.</p> - -<p>The fear in Toddie’s countenance gave -place to expostulation, as he exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“I was only dzust——”</p> - -<p>“Go into the house this instant!” repeated -Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Ah—h—h—h!” said Toddie, beginning -to cry, and rolling out his under lip as freely -as if there were yards of it yet to come. “I -was only studyin’ how the horsie was made<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span> -togevver, so’s everybody’d espec’s an’ love -me. Can’t go to where dem Injuns is, so I -fought a gushaway’s [grocery] man’ horsie -would be dzust as good. Ah—h—h!”</p> - -<p>“There was no necessity for your lying on -the ground, in your clean piqué dress, to do -it,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Ah—h—h!” said Toddie again. “I studied -all de west of him fyst, an’ I couldn’t hold -him up so as to look under him. I tried to, -an’ he looked at me dweadful cwosh, an’ so -I didn’t.”</p> - -<p>“Go into the house and have another dress -put on,” said Mrs. Burton. “You know very -well that nothing excuses little boys for dirtying -their clothes when they can help it. When -your Uncle Harry comes home we shall have -to devise some way of punishing you so that -you may remember to take better care of -your clothing in the future.”</p> - -<p>“Ah—h—h—h—! I hope de Lord won’t -make any more horsesh, den, nor any little -boys to be told to find out about ’em, an’ -be punnissed dzust for gettin’ deir c’oshes a -little dyty!” screamed Toddie, disappearing -through the doorway and filling the house -with angry screams.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton lingered for a moment upon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span> -the piazza steps, and bravely endured a -spasm of sense. There forced itself upon her -mind the idea that it might be possible that -the soiling of garments was not the sin of all -sins, and that Toddie had really been affected -by her information about the noble origin -and nature of the animal physique. Certainly -nothing but a sincere passion for investigation -could have led Toddie between -the feet of a horse, and a person so absorbed -in scientific pursuits might possibly be excused -for being regardless of personal appearance. -But clean clothing ranked next -to clean hearts in the Mayton family, and -such acquirements as Mrs. Burton possessed -she determined to lovingly transmit to her -nephews, so far as was in her power. Toddie -seemed in earnest in his indignation, and she -respected mistaken impressions which were -honestly made, so she determined to try to -console the weeping child. Going into his -room, she found her nephew lying on his -back, kicking, screaming, and otherwise giving -vent to his rage.</p> - -<p>“Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, “it is too bad -that you should have so much trouble just -after you have been to see your mamma and -little sister.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span></p> - -<p>“I know it!” screamed Toddie, “an’ you -can dzust go down-stairs again if dat’s all -you came to tell me.”</p> - -<p>“But, Toddie, dear,” said Mrs. Burton, -kneeling and smoothing the hot forehead of -her nephew, “aunty wants to see you feeling -comfortable again.”</p> - -<p>“Den put me back under the horsie again, -so folksh’ll ’espec’s me,” sobbed Toddie.</p> - -<p>“You’ve learned enough about the horse -for to-day,” said Mrs. Burton. “I’ll ask -your papa to teach you more when you go -back home. Poor little boy, how hot your -cheeks are! Aunt Alice wishes she could see -you looking happy again.”</p> - -<p>Toddie stopped crying for a moment, -looked at his aunt intently, sat up, put on -an air of importance, and said:</p> - -<p>“Did de Lord send you up-stairsh to tell -me you was sorry for what you done to me?” -asked Toddie. “Den I forgives you, only -don’t do dat baddy way any more. If you -want to put a clean dwess on me, you can.”</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice,” said Budge, who had sauntered -into the room, “you told Uncle Harry -at the breakbux table that you was goin’ to -tell us about Daniel to-day. Don’t you -think it’s about time to do it?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, yes,” said Toddie, hurrying his head -into his clean dress, “an’ how de lions et up -de bad men dat made de king frow Daniel -in de deep dark hole. Gwon.”</p> - -<p>“There was a very good young man whose -name was Daniel,” said Mrs. Burton, “and -although the king made a law that nobody -should pray except to the gods that his people -worshiped, Daniel prayed every day to -the same Lord that we love.”</p> - -<p>“He was up in heaven then, like he is -now, wasn’t he?” said Budge.</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Then where was the other people’s god?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, on shelves and in closets, and all sorts -of places,” said Mrs. Burton. “They were -only bits of wood and stone; idols, in fact.”</p> - -<p>“And wasn’t they good?”</p> - -<p>“Not at all.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t think that’s very nice, for -papa sometimes says that I am mamma’ -idol. Am I sticky or stony?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not, dear. He means that your -mother cares a great deal for you; that is all. -And Daniel prayed just as he chose and -when he chose, and the people that didn’t like -him hurried up the king and said, ‘Just see, -that young man for whom you care so much<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span> -is praying to the Lord that the Jews believe -in.’s The king was sorry to hear this, but -Daniel wouldn’t tell a lie; he admitted that -he prayed just as he wanted to, so the king -had to order some men to throw Daniel into -the den of lions. He felt very badly about -it, for Daniel had been always very good and -honest, and very good people are hard to find -anywhere.”</p> - -<p>“Musht tell mamma dat, nexsht time she -saysh I must be very good,” said Toddie. -“Gwon.”</p> - -<p>“They threw poor Daniel in among the -lions, and he must have felt dreadful on the -way to the den, for he knew that lions are -very savage and hungry. Why, one single -lion will often eat up a whole man, yet there -were a great many lions in the den Daniel -was taken to.”</p> - -<p>“He wouldn’t make much of a supper for -all of them, poor fellow, would he?” Budge -asked.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p092.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT IT”</div> -</div> - -<p>“No,” said Mrs. Burton, “so he did what -sensible people always do when they find -themselves in trouble. He prayed. As for -the king, I imagine he didn’t sleep much that -night. People who take the advice of others -and against their own better judgment, gen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span>erally -have to feel uncomfortable about it. -At any rate, the king was awake very early -next morning, and hurried off to the den -alone, and looked in, and shouted, ‘Daniel! -the Lord that you believe in, was he strong -enough to keep the lions from eating you?’ -And then Daniel answered the king—think of -how happy it must have made the king to hear -his voice, and know he was not dead! The -unkindness of the king had not made Daniel -forget to be respectful, so he said, ‘Oh, king, -I hope you may live for ever.’s Then he told -the king that he had not been hurt at all, and -the king was very glad, and he had Daniel -taken out, and then the bad men who had -been the cause of Daniel being given to the -lions were all thrown into the den themselves, -and the lions ate every one of them.”</p> - -<p>“I know why they let Daniel alone an’ ate -up all the other fellows,” said Budge, with an -air of comprehension.</p> - -<p>“I felt sure you would, dear little boy,” -said Mrs. Burton; “but you may tell me -what you think about it.”</p> - -<p>“Why, you see,” said Budge, “Daniel was -only one man, and he would be only a speck -apiece for all those lions—just like one single -bite of cake to a little boy. When there were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span> -plenty of men, so that each lion could have -one for himself, they made up their minds -it was dinner-time, an’ so they went to -work.”</p> - -<p>Somehow this reply caused Mrs. Burton to -forget to enforce the great moral application -of the story of Daniel, and she found it convenient -to make a sudden tour of inspection -in the kitchen. She was growing desperately -conscious that, instead of instructing and -controlling the children, she had thus far -done little but supply material for their active -minds and bodies to employ in manners -extremely distasteful to her. More than -once she found her mind wavering between -two extremes of the theories of government—it -seemed to her that she must either be -very severe, or must allow the children to -naturally develop their own faculties, within -reasonable bounds. At the first she rebelled, -partly because she was not cruel by nature, -as severe rulers of children often are, and -partly because the children were not her own. -The other extreme was equally distasteful, -however. Were not children always made -to mind in well-regulated families? To be -sure, they seldom in such cases fulfilled, in -adult years, the promise of their youth, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span> -that, of course, was their own fault—whose -else could it be? Should adults, should she, -whose will had never been brooked by parent -or husband, set aside her own inclinations for -the sake of a couple of unformed, unreasoning -minds?</p> - -<p>Like most other people in doubt, Mrs. Burton -did nothing for a few hours and succeeded -thereby in entirely losing sight of her nephews -until nearly sunset, when, drawn by that instinct -which is strongest in the most immature -natures, the boys returned for something -to eat. Though quiet, there could be no -doubt about their contentment; their clothes -were very dirty, and so were their faces, but -out of the latter shone that indefinable something -that is the easily read indication of the -consciousness of rectitude and satisfaction -with the results of right-doing. They were -not communicative, even under much questioning, -and Mr. Burton finally said, as one in -a soliloquy:</p> - -<p>“I wonder what it was?”</p> - -<p>“What are you talking about, Harry?” -asked Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“I am merely wondering what original and -expensive experiment they’ve been up to -now,” replied the head of the household.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span></p> - -<p>“None whatever,” said Mrs. Burton, with -an energy almost startling. “I often wonder -how men can be so blind. Look at their -dear, pure little faces, dirty though they are; -there’s no more consciousness of wrong there -than there could be in an angel’s face.”</p> - -<p>“Just so, my dear,” said Mr. Burton. “If -they were oftener conscious of misdeeds they -would be worse boys, but a great deal less -troublesome. Come see uncle, boys—don’t -you want a trot on my knees?”</p> - -<p>Both children scrambled into their uncle’ -arms, and Budge began to whisper very -earnestly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I suppose so,” Mr. Burton answered.</p> - -<p>“Goody, goody, goody!” exclaimed Budge, -clapping his hands. “I’m going to give -you a birthday present to-morrow, Aunt -Alice.”</p> - -<p>“So am I,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“It’s something to eat,” said Budge.</p> - -<p>“Mine, too,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Be careful, Budge,” said Mr. Burton. -“You’ll let the secret out if you’re not careful.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, I won’t. I only said ’twas something -to eat. But say, Aunt Alice, how do -bananas grow?” [said] -Toddie, with brightening eyes and a confident -shake of his curly head.</p> - -<p>“And I know,” said Mr. Burton, lifting -Toddie suddenly from his knee, “that either -a certain little boy is breaking to pieces and -spilling badly, or something else is. What’ -this?” he continued, noticing a very wet spot -on Toddie’s apron, just under which his -pocket was. “And” (here he opened Toddie’ -pocket and looked into it) “what is that -vile muss in your pocket?”</p> - -<p>Toddie’s eyes opened in wonder, and then -his countenance fell.</p> - -<p>“’Twash only a little bunch,” said he, “an’ -I was goin’ to eat it on de way home, but I -forgotted it!”</p> - -<p>“They’re white grapes, my dear,” said -Mr. Burton. “The boys have been robbing -somebody’s hothouse; Tom has no -grapes in his. Where did you get these, -boys?”</p> - -<p>“Sh—h—h!” whispered Toddie, impressively. -“Nobody musht never tell secretsh.”</p> - -<p>“Where did you get those grapes?” demanded -Mrs. Burton, hastening to the examination -of the dripping dress.</p> - -<p>Toddie burst into tears.</p> - -<p>“I should think you would cry!” ex<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span>claimed -Mrs. Burton; “after stealing people’ -fruit.”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t cryin’ ’bout dat,” sobbed Toddie. -“I’ze cryin’ ’caush youze a-spoilin’ my -s’prise for your bifeday ev’ry minute you’ -a-talkin’!”</p> - -<p>“Alice, Alice!” said Mr. Burton, softly. -“Remember that the poor child is not old -enough to have learned what stealing means.”</p> - -<p>“Then he shall learn now!” exclaimed -Mrs. Burton, all of her righteous sense upon -the alert. “What do you suppose would become -of you if you were to die to-night?”</p> - -<p>“Won’t die!” sobbed Toddie. “If angel -comes to kill me like he did the ’Gyptians, -I’ll hide.”</p> - -<p>“No one could hide from the angel of the -Lord,” said Mrs. Burton, determined that -fear should do what reason could not.</p> - -<p>“Why, he doesn’t carry no lanternzh wif -him in de night-time, does he?” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton laughed but his wife silenced -him with a glance and answered:</p> - -<p>“He can see well enough to find bad little -boys when he wants them.”</p> - -<p>“Ain’t bad,” screamed Toddie, “an’ I -won’t give you de uvver grapes now, dat we -brought home in a flower-pot.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span></p> - -<p>“Come to uncle, old boy,” said Mr. Burton, -taking the doleful child upon his knee -again, and caressing him tenderly. “Tell -uncle all about it, and he’ll see if you can’t -be set all right.”</p> - -<div class="figright" > -<img src="images/p099.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“WE GOT THREE OR FOUR NICE BUNCHES”</div> -</div> - -<p>“An’ not -let de killey -angel come -catch me?” -asked Toddie.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you, -Uncle Harry,” -said Budge. -“We was goin’ to give Aunt Alice fruit for -her birthday—me bananas an’ Tod white -grapes. We didn’t know where any bananas -growed, but Mr. Bushman, way off along the -mountain, has got lots of lovely grapes in his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span> -greenhouse, ’cause we went there once with -papa, and they talked ’bout grapes an’ -things ’most all afternoon, an’ he told him to -come help himself whenever he wanted any. -So we made up a great secret, an’ we went -up there this afternoon to ask him to give us -some for our aunt, ’cause ’twas goin’ to be -her birthday. But he wasn’t home, and the -greenhouse man wasn’t there either; but the -door was open, an’ we went in an’ saw the -grapes, an’ we made up our minds that he -wouldn’t care if we took some, ’cause he told -papa to. So we got three or four nice bunches, -and put ’em in a flower-pot with leaves in -it, and each of us got a little bunch to eat -ourselves; but we found lots of wild strawberries -on the way back, so Tod forgot his -grapes, I guess, but mine’s safe in my stomach. -An’ ’twas awful hot an’ dusty, an’ I -never got so tired in my life. But we wanted -to make Aunt Alice happy, so we didn’t -care.”</p> - -<p>“An’ then she said we was fiefs!” sobbed -Toddie. “Bad old fing!”</p> - -<p>“Never mind, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, -all her moral purpose taking flight as she -kissed the tear-stained, dirty little cheeks, -and carried her nephew to the dinner-table.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span></p> - -<div class="figright" > -<img src="images/p101.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“SO I PUTTED CROSSES ON THE DOOR”</div> -</div> - - -<p>Toddie’s meal was quickly dispatched. He -seemed preoccupied, and hurried away from -the table, though he was quite ready to go to -bed when summoned by his aunt. Half an -hour later Mr. Burton, sauntering out to the -piazza to smoke, saw a large, rude cross, in -red ink, on either side of the door-frame. -Even men have weaknesses, and a fastidiousness -about the appearance of his house was -one of Mr. Burton’. He dashed up the -stairs, three steps at a time, and burst into -his nephew’s room, exclaiming:</p> - -<p>“Who daubed the door with ink?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span></p> - -<p>“Me,” said Toddie, boldly. “I was afraid -you’d forget to tell dat killey angel I wasn’t -any fief, so I putted crosses on de door, like -de Izzyrelites did, so he would go a-past. -He wouldn’t know de ink wasn’t blood, I -guess, in de night-time.”</p> - -<p>Toddie suddenly found himself alone again.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span></p> - - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</h2> - - -<p>Mrs. Burton’s birthday dawned -brightly, and it is not surprising that -as it was her first natal anniversary since her -marriage to a man who had no intention or -ability to cease being a lover, her ante-breakfast -moments were too fully and happily occupied -to allow her to even think of two little -boys who had already impressed upon her -their willingness and general ability to think -for themselves. As for the boys themselves, -they woke with the lark, and with a heavy -sense of responsibility also. The room of -Mrs. Burton’s chambermaid joined their own, -and the occupant of that room having been -charged by her mistress with the general care -of the boys between dark and daylight, she -had grown accustomed to wake at the first -sound in the boys’s room. On the morning -of her mistress’s birthday the first sound she -heard was:</p> - -<p>“Tod?”</p> - -<p>No response could be heard; but a moment -later the chambermaid heard:</p> - -<p>“T—o—o—od!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span></p> - -<p>“Ah—h—h—ow!” drawled a voice, not so -sleepily but it could sound aggrieved.</p> - -<p>“Wake up, dear old Toddie budder. It’ -Aunt Alice’s birthday now.”</p> - -<p>“Needn’t bweak my earzh open, if ’tis,” -whined Toddie.</p> - -<p>“I only holloed in one ear, Tod,” remonstrated -Budge, “an’ you ought to love dear -Aunt Alice enough to have that hurt a little -rather than not wake up.”</p> - -<p>A series of groans, snarls, whines, grunts, -snorts, and remonstrances semi-articulate -were heard, and at length some complicated -wriggles and convulsive kicks were made -manifest to the listening ear, and Budge -said:</p> - -<p>“That’s right! Now let’s get up an’ get -ready. Say; do you know that we didn’t -think anything about having some music? -Don’t you remember how papa played the -piano last mamma’s birthday when she came -down-stairs, an’ how happy it made her, an’ -we danced around?”</p> - -<p>“Aw wight,” said Toddie. “Let’.”</p> - -<p>“Tell you what,” said Budge. “Let’ -both bang the piano, like mamma an’ Aunt -Alice does together sometimes.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yesh!” Toddie exclaimed. “We can<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span> -make some awful big bangsh before she can -get down to tell us to don’t.”</p> - -<p>Then there was heard a scurrying of light -feet as the boys picked up their various articles -of clothing from the corners, chairs, -bureau, table, etc., where they had been -tossed the night before. The chambermaid -hurried to their assistance, and both boys -were soon dressed. A plate containing bananas, -and another with the hard-earned -grapes, were on the bureau, and the boys -took them and tiptoed down the stair and -into the dining-room.</p> - -<p>“Gwacious!” said Toddie, as he placed his -plate on the sideboard; “maybe the gwapes -an’ buttonanoes has got sour. I guesh we’d -better try ’em, like mamma does de milk on -hot morningsh when the baddy milkman -don’t come time enough.” Toddie suited -the action to the word by plucking from a -cluster the handsomest grape in sight. “I -fink,” said he, smacking his lips with the suspicious -air of a professional taster; “I fink -dey is gettin’ sour.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s see,” said Budge.</p> - -<p>“No,” said Toddie, plucking another -grape with one hand while with the other he -endeavored to cover his gift. “Ize bid<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span> -enough to do it all myself. Unless,” he added, -as a happy inspiration struck him, -“you’ll let me help see if your buttonanoes -is sour.”</p> - -<p>“Then you can only have one bite,” said -Budge. “You must let me taste about six -grapes, ’cause ’twould take that many to -make one of your bites on a banana.”</p> - -<p>“Aw wight,” said Toddie; and the boys -proceeded to exchange duties, Budge taking -the precaution to hold the banana himself, -so that his brother should not abstractedly -sample a second time, and Toddie doling out -the grapes with careful count.</p> - -<p>“They are a little sour,” said Budge, with -a wry face. “Perhaps some other bunch is -better. I think we’d better try each one, -don’t you?”</p> - -<p>“An’ each one of the buttonanoes, too,” -suggested Toddie. “Dat one wazh pretty -good, but maybe some of the others isn’t.”</p> - -<p>The proposition was accepted, and soon -each banana had its length reduced by a -fourth, and the grape-clusters displayed a -fine development of wood. Then Budge -seemed to realize that his present was not -as sightly as it might be, for he carefully -closed the skins at the ends, and turned the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span> -unbroken ends to the front as deftly as if -he were a born retailer of fruit.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p107.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“THEN YOU CAN ONLY HAVE ONE BITE,” SAID BUDGE</div> -</div> - -<p>This done, he exclaimed: -“Oh! we want -our cards on ’em, else -how will she know who -they came from?”</p> - -<p>“We’ll be here to tell -her,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Huh!” said Budge; -“that wouldn’t make -her half so happy. Don’t you know how -when cousin Florence gets presents of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span> -flowers, she’s always happiest when she’ -lookin’ at the card that comes with ’em?”</p> - -<p>“Aw wight,” said Toddie, hurrying into -the parlor, and returning with the cards of a -lady and gentleman, taken haphazard from -his aunt’s card-receiver.</p> - -<p>“Now, we must write ‘Happy Birthday’ -on the backs of ’em,” said Budge, exploring -his pockets, and extracting a stump of a lead -pencil. “Now,” continued Budge, leaning -over the card, and displaying all the facial -contortions of the unpractised writer, as he -laboriously printed, in large letters, speaking, -as he worked, a letter at a time:</p> - -<p>“H—A—P—P—E B—U—R—F—D—A—Happy -Birthday. Now, you must hold -the pencil for yours, or else it won’t be so -sweet; that’s what mamma says.”</p> - -<p>Toddie took the pencil in his pudgy hand, -Budge guided it, and two juvenile heads -touched each other and swayed and twisted -and bobbed in unison until the work was -completed.</p> - -<p>“Now, I think she ought to come,” said -Budge. (Breakfast-time was still more than -an hour distant.) “Why, the rising-bell -hasn’t rung yet! Let’s ring it!”</p> - -<p>The boys fought for possession of the bell,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span> -but superior might conquered and Budge -marched up and down the hall, ringing with -the enthusiasm and duration peculiar to the -amateur.</p> - -<p>“Bless me!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, hastening -to complete her toilet. “How time -does fly—sometimes!”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton saw something in his wife’ -face that called for lover-like treatment, but -it was not without a sense of injury that he -exclaimed, immediately after, as he drew -forth his watch:</p> - -<p>“I declare! I would make an affidavit -that we hadn’t been awake half an hour. -Ah! I forgot to wind my watch last -night.”</p> - -<p>The boys hurried into the parlor.</p> - -<p>“I hear ’em trampin’ around!” exclaimed -Budge, in great excitement. “There!—the -piano’s shut! Isn’t that too mean? Oh, -I’ll tell you; here’s Uncle Harry’s violin.”</p> - -<p>“But whatsh I goin’ to play on?” asked -Toddie, dancing frantically about.</p> - -<p>“Wait a minute,” said Budge, dropping -the violin, and hurrying to the floor above, -from which he speedily returned with a -comb. A bound volume of the <i>Portfolio</i> lay -upon the table, and opening this, Budge tore<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span> -the tissue paper from one of the etchings and -wrapped the comb in it.</p> - -<p>“There!” said he, “you fiddle an’ I’ll blow -the comb. Goodness! why don’t they come -down? Oh, we forgot to put pennies under -the plate, and we don’t know how many -years old to put ’em for.”</p> - -<p>“An’ we ain’t got no pennies,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“I know,” said Budge, hurrying to a cabinet -in a drawer of which his uncle kept the -nucleus of a collection of American coinage. -“This kind of pennies,” Budge continued, -“isn’t as pretty as our kind, but they’re bigger, -an’ they’ll look better on a table-cloth. -Now, how old do you think she is?”</p> - -<p>“I dunno,” said Toddie, going into a reverie -of hopeless conjecture. “She’s about as -big as you an’ me put togevver.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Budge, “you’re four an’ I’m -six, an’ four an’ six is ten—I guess ten’ll be -about the thing.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton’s plate was removed, and the -pennies were deposited in a circle. There -was some painful counting and recounting, -and many disagreements, additions and subtractions. -Finally, the pennies were arranged -in four rows, two of three each and -two of two each, and Budge counted the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span> -threes and Toddie verified the twos, and -Budge was adding the four sums together, -when footsteps were heard descending the -stairs.</p> - -<p>Budge hastily dropped the surplus coppers -upon the four rows, replaced the plate, and -seized the comb as Toddie placed the violin -against his knee as he had seen small, itinerant -Italians do. A second or two later, as -the host and hostess entered the dining-room, -there arose a sound which caused Mrs. Burton -to clap her fingers to her ears, while her -husband exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“’Scat!”</p> - -<p>Then both boys dropped their instruments, -Toddie finding the ways of his own feet seriously -compromised by the strings of the violin, -while both children turned happy faces -toward their aunt, and shouted:</p> - -<p>“Happy Burfday!”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton hurried to the rescue of his -darling instrument, while his wife gave each -boy an appreciative kiss, and showed them a -couple of grateful tears. Her eye was caught -by the fruit on the sideboard, and she read -the cards aloud:</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Frank Rommery—this is just like -her effusiveness. I’ve never met her but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span> -once, but I suppose her bananas must atone -for her lack of manners. Why, Charley -Crewne! Dear me! What memories some -men have!”</p> - -<p>A cloud came upon Mr. Burton’s brow. -Charley Crewne had been one of his rivals for -Miss Mayton’s hand, and Mrs. Burton was -looking a trifle thoughtful, and her husband -was as unreasonable as newly made husbands -often are, when Mrs. Burton exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Some one has been picking the grapes off -in the most shameful manner. Boys!”</p> - -<p>“Ain’t from no Rommerys an’ Crewnes!” -said Toddie. “Devsh from me an’ Budgie, -an’ we dzust tasted ’em to see if dey’d got -sour in the night.”</p> - -<p>“Where did the cards come from?” asked -Mrs Burton.</p> - -<p>“Out of the basket in the parlor,” said -Budge. “But the back is the nice part of -’em.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton’s thoughtful expression and -her husband’s frown disappeared together -as they seated themselves at the table. Both -boys wriggled vigorously until their aunt -raised her plate, and then Budge exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“A penny for each year, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Thirty-one!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span> -after counting the heap. “How complimentary!”</p> - -<p>“What doesh you do for little boys on -your bifeday?” asked Toddie, after breakfast -was served. “Mamma does lots of -fings.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p113.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“WHERE DID THE CARDS COME FROM?”</div> -</div> - -<p>“Yes,” said Budge, “she says she thinks -people ought to get their own happy by -makin’ other people happy. An’ mamma -knows better than you, you know, ’cause -she’s been married longest.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span></p> - -<p>Although Mrs. Burton admitted the facts, -the inference seemed scarcely natural, and -she said so.</p> - -<p>“Well—a—a—a—a—anyhow,” said Toddie, -“mamma always has parties on her bifeday, -an’ we hazh all de cake we want.”</p> - -<p>“You shall be happy to-day,” said Mrs. -Burton; “for a few friends will be in to see -me this afternoon, and I am going to have a -nice little luncheon for them, and you shall -lunch with us, if you will be very good until -then, and keep yourselves clean and neat.”</p> - -<p>“Aw wight,” said Toddie. “Izhn’t it most -time now?”</p> - -<p>“Tod’s all stomach,” said Budge. “Say, -Aunt Alice, I hope you won’t forget to have -some fruit-cake. That’s the kind we like -best.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll come home very early, Harry?” -asked Mrs. Burton, ignoring her nephew’ -question.</p> - -<p>“By noon, at furthest,” said the gentleman. -“I only want to see my morning letters, -and fill any orders that may be in them.”</p> - -<p>“What are you coming so early for, Uncle -Harry?” asked Budge.</p> - -<p>“To take Aunt Alice riding, old boy,” said -Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span></p> - -<p>“Oh! just listen, Tod! Won’t that be -jolly? Uncle Harry’s going to take us riding!”</p> - -<p>“I said I was going to take your Aunt -Alice, Budge,” said Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“I heard you,” said Budge, “but that -won’t trouble us any. She always likes to -talk to you better than she does to us. -Where are we going?”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton asked his wife, in German, -whether the Lawrence-Burton assurance -was not charmingly natural, and Mrs. Burton -answered in the same tongue that it was, -but was none the less deserving of rebuke, -and that she felt it her duty to tone it down -in her nephews. Mr. Burton wished her joy -of the attempt, and asked a number of -searching questions about success already attained, -until Mrs. Burton was glad to see -Toddie come out of a brown study and hear -him say:</p> - -<p>“I fink dat placesh where de river is bwoke -off izh de nicest placesh.”</p> - -<p>“What does the child mean?” asked his -aunt.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you know where we went last year, -an’ you stopped us from seein’ how far we -could hang over, Uncle Harry?” said Budge.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span></p> - -<p>“Oh! Passaic Falls!” exclaimed Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Yes, that’s it,” said Budge.</p> - -<p>“Old riverzh bwoke wight in two dere,” -said Toddie, “an’ a piece of it’s way up in de -air, an’ anuvver piece izh way down in big -hole in de stones. Datsh where I want to -go widin’.”</p> - -<p>“Listen, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton. “We -like to take you riding with us at most times, -but to-day we prefer to go alone. You and -Budge will stay at home. We sha’n’t be gone -more than two hours.”</p> - -<p>“Wantsh to go a-widin’,” exclaimed Toddie.</p> - -<p>“I know you do, dear, but you must wait -until some other day.”</p> - -<p>“But I wantsh to go,” Toddie explained.</p> - -<p>“And I don’t want you to, so you can’t,” -said Mrs. Burton in a tone which would reduce -any reasonable person to hopelessness. -But Toddie, in spite of manifest astonishment, -remarked:</p> - -<p>“Wantsh to go a-widin’.”</p> - -<p>“Now the fight is on,” murmured Mr. Burton -to himself. Then he arose hastily from -the table and said:</p> - -<p>“I think I’ll try to catch the earlier train, -my dear, as I am coming back so soon.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span></p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton arose to bid her husband -good-by, and was kissed with more than -usual tenderness, and then held at arm’ -length, while manly eyes looked into her -own with an expression which she found untranslatable—for -two hours, at least. Mrs. -Burton saw her husband fairly on his way, -and then she returned to the dining-room, -led Toddie into the parlor, took him on her -lap, wound her arms tenderly about him, -and said:</p> - -<p>“Toddie, dear, listen carefully to what -Aunt Alice tells you. There are some reasons -why you boys should not go with us -to-day, and Aunt Alice means what she says -when she tells you you can’t go with us. If -you were to ask a hundred times it would not -make the slightest bit of difference. You cannot -go, and you must stop thinking about it.”</p> - -<p>Toddie listened intelligently from beginning -to end, and replied:</p> - -<p>“But I wantsh to go.”</p> - -<p>“And you can’t. That ends the matter.”</p> - -<p>“No, it don’t,” said Toddie; “not a single -bittie. I wantsh to go badder dan ever.”</p> - -<p>“But you are not going.”</p> - -<p>“I wantsh to go so baddy,” said Toddie, -beginning to cry.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span></p> - -<p>“I suppose you do, and auntie is very -sorry for you, but that does not alter the -case. When grown people say ‘No!’ little -boys must understand that they mean it.”</p> - -<p>“But what I wantsh izh to go a-widin’ -wif you.”</p> - -<p>“And what I want is, that you shall stay -at home; so you must. Let us have no more -talk about it now. Shouldn’t you like to go -into the garden and pick some strawberries -all for yourself?”</p> - -<p>“No, I’d like to go widin’.”</p> - -<p>“Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, “don’t let me -hear one more word about riding.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I want to go.”</p> - -<p>“Toddie, I will have to punish you if you -say any more on this subject, and that will -make me very unhappy. You don’t want -to make auntie unhappy on her birthday, -do you?”</p> - -<p>“No; but I do want to go a-widin’.”</p> - -<p>“Listen, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, with -an imperious stamp of her foot, and a sudden -loss of her entire stock of patience. “If you -say one more word about that trip, I shall -lock you in the attic chamber, where you -were the day before yesterday, and Budge -shall not be with you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span></p> - -<p>Toddie gave vent to a torrent of tears, and -screamed:</p> - -<p>“A—h—h—h! I don’t want to be locked -up, an’ I do want to go a-widin’!”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p119.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">HE KICKED, PUSHED, SCREAMED AND ROARED</div> -</div> - -<p>Toddie suddenly -found himself clasped -tightly in his aunt’ -arms, in which -position he -kicked, pushed, -screamed and -roared during the passage of two flights of -stairs. The moment of his final incarceration -was marked by a piercing shriek which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span> -escaped from the attic-window, causing the -dog Terry to retire precipitately from a -pleasing lounging place on the well-curb, and -making a passing farmer to rein up his horses -and maintain a listening position for the -space of five minutes. Meanwhile Mrs. Burton -descended to the parlor, more flushed, -untidy and angry than any one had ever -seen her. She soon encountered the gaze of -her nephew Budge, and it was full of solemnity, -inquiry and reproach.</p> - -<p>“How would you like to be carried up-stairs -screamin’ an’ put in a lonely room, -just ’cause you wanted to go ridin’?” Budge -asked.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton was unable to imagine herself -in any such position, but replied:</p> - -<p>“I should never be so foolish as to keep on -wanting what I knew I could not have.”</p> - -<p>“Why!” exclaimed Budge. “Are grown -folks as smart as all that?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton’s conscience smote her not -overlightly, and she hastened to change the -subject, and to devote herself assiduously to -Budge, as if to atone for some injury which -she might have done his brother. An occasional -howl which fell from the attic-window -increased her zeal for Budge’s comfort;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span> -under each one, however, her resolution -grew weaker, and, finally, with a hypocritical -excuse to Budge, she hurried up to the door -of Toddie’s prison and said through the keyhole:</p> - -<p>“Toddie?”</p> - -<p>“What?”</p> - -<p>“Will you be a good boy, now?”</p> - -<p>“Yesh, if you’ll take me a-widin’.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton turned abruptly away, and -simply flew down the stairs. Budge, who -awaited her at the foot, instinctively stood -aside, and exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“I thought you was goin’ to tumble! Why -didn’t you bring him down?”</p> - -<p>“Bring who?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I know what you went up-stairs for,” -said Budge. “Your eyes told me all about -it.”</p> - -<p>“You’re certainly a rather inconvenient -companion,” said Mrs. Burton, averting her -face, “and I want you to run home and ask -how your mamma and baby-sister are. -Don’t stay long: remember that luncheon -will be earlier than usual to-day.”</p> - -<p>Away went Budge, and Mrs. Burton devoted -herself to thought. Unquestioning -obedience had been her own duty since she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span> -could remember, yet she was certain that her -will was as strong as Toddie’. If she had -been always able to obey, certainly the unhappy -little boy in the attic was equally capable; -why should he not do it? Perhaps, she -admitted to herself, she had inherited a faculty -in this direction, and perhaps—yes, certainly, -Toddie had done nothing of the sort. -How was she to overcome the defect in his -disposition; or was she to do it at all? Was -it not something with which no one temporarily -having a child in charge should -interfere?</p> - -<p>An occasional scream from Toddie helped -to unbend the severity of her principles, but -suddenly her eye rested upon a picture of -her husband, and she seemed to see in one of -the eyes a quizzical expression. All her determination -came back in an instant with -heavy re-enforcements, and Budge came back -a few moments later. His bulletins from -home, and his stores of experiences <i>en route</i> -consumed but a few moments, and then Mrs. -Burton proceeded to dress for her ride. To -exclude Toddie’s screams she closed her door -tightly, but Toddie’s voice was one with -which all timber seemed in sympathy, and it -pierced door and window apparently without<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span> -effort. Gradually, however, it seemed to -cease, and with the growing infrequency of -his howls and the increasing feebleness of -their utterance, Mrs. Burton’s spirits revived. -Dressing leisurely, she ascended to -Toddie’s prison to receive his declaration of -penitence and to accord a gracious pardon. -She knocked softly at the door and said:</p> - -<p>“Toddie?”</p> - -<p>There was no response, so Mrs. Burton -knocked and called with more energy than -before, but without reply. A terrible fear -occurred to her; she had heard of children -who screamed themselves to death when angry. -Hastily she opened the door, and saw -Toddie, tear-stained and dirty, lying on the -floor, fast asleep. She stooped over him to -be sure that he still breathed, and then the -expression on his sweetly parted lips was such -that she could not help kissing it. Then she -raised the pathetic, desolate little figure -softly in her arms, and the little head dropped -upon her shoulder and nestled close to -her, and one little arm was clasped tightly -around her neck, and a soft voice murmured:</p> - -<p>“I wantsh to go a-widin’.”</p> - -<p>Just then Mr. Burton entered, and, with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span> -an exasperating affectation of ingenuousness -and uncertainty asked:</p> - -<p>“Did you conquer his will, my dear?”</p> - -<p>His wife annihilated him with a look, and -led the way to the dining-room; meanwhile, -Toddie awoke, straightened himself, rubbed -his eyes, recognized his uncle, and exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Uncle Harry, does you know where we’ -goin’ dis afternoon? We’s goin’ a-widin’.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton hid in his napkin the half of -his face that was below his eyes, and his wife -wished that his eyes might have been hidden -too, for never in her life had she been so -averse to having her own eyes looked into.</p> - -<p>The saintliness of both boys during the -afternoon’s ride took the sting out of Mrs. -Burton’s defeat. They gabbled to each other -about flowers and leaves and birds, and they -assumed ownership of the few summer clouds -that were visible, and made sundry exchanges -of them with each other. When the -dog Terry, who had surreptitiously followed -the carriage and grown weary, was taken in -by his master they even allowed him to lie -at their feet without kicking, pinching his -ears or pulling his tail.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p125.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">THE JARDINIÈRE CAME DOWN WITH A CRASH</div> -</div> - -<p>As for Mrs. Burton, no right-minded husband -could wilfully torment his wife upon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span> -her birthday, so she soon forgot the humiliation -of the morning, and came home with -superb spirits and matchless complexion for -the little party. Her guests soon began to -arrive, and after the company had assembled -Mrs. Burton’s chambermaid ushered in -Budge and Toddie, each in spotless attire, -and the dog Terry ushered himself in, and -Toddie saw him and made haste to interview -him, and the two got inextricably mixed -about the legs of a light jardinière, and it -came down with a crash, and then the two<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span> -were sent into disgrace, which suited them -exactly, although there was a difference between -them as to whether the dog Terry -should seek and enjoy the seclusion upon -which his heart was evidently intent.</p> - -<p>Then Budge retired with a face full of -brotherly solicitude, and Mrs. Burton was -enabled to devote herself to the friends to -whom she had not previously been able to -address two consecutive sentences.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton occasionally suggested to her -husband that it might be well to see where -the boys were and what they were doing, but -that gentleman had seldom before found himself -the only man among a dozen comely and -intelligent ladies, and he was too conscious -of the rarity of such experiences to trouble -himself about a couple of people who had unlimited -ability to keep themselves out of -sight, so the boys were undisturbed for the -space of two hours. A sudden summer -shower came up in the meantime, and a sentimental -young lady requested the song “The -Rain upon the Roof,” and Mrs. Burton and -her husband began to render it as a duet; -but in the middle of the second stanza Mrs. -Burton began to cough, and Mr. Burton -sniffed the air apprehensively, while several<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span> -of the ladies started to their feet, while others -turned pale. The air of the room was evidently -filling with smoke.</p> - -<p>“There can’t be any danger, ladies,” said -Mrs. Burton. “You all know what the -American domestic servant is. I suppose -our cook, with her delicate sense of the appropriate, -is relighting her fire, and has the -kitchen door wide open, so that all the smoke -may escape through the house instead of the -chimney. I’ll go and stop it.”</p> - -<p>The mere mention of servants had its -usual effect; the ladies began at once that -animated conversation which this subject -has always inspired, and which it will probably -continue to inspire until all housekeepers -gather in that happy land, one of whose -charms it is that the American kitchen is -undiscernible within its borders, and the purified -domestic may stand before her mistress -without needing a scolding. But one nervous -young lady, whose agitation was being -manifested by her feet alone, happened to -touch with the toe of her boot the turn-screw -of a hot-air register. Instantly she sprang -back and uttered a piercing scream, while -from the register there arose a thick column -of smoke.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">128</span></p> - -<p>“Fire!” screamed one lady.</p> - -<p>“Water!” shrieked another.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” shouted several in chorus.</p> - -<p>Some ran up-stairs, others into the rainy -street, the nervous young lady fainted, a -business-like young matron, who had for -years been maturing plans of operation in -case of fire, hastily swept into a table-cover -a dozen books in special morocco bindings, -and hurried through the rain with them to a -house several hundred feet away, while the -faithful dog Terry, scenting the trouble afar -off, hurried home and did his duty to the -best of his ability by barking and snapping -furiously at every one, and galloping frantically -through the house, leaving his mark -upon almost every square yard of carpet. -Meanwhile Mr. Burton hurried up-stairs -coatless, with disarranged hair, dirty hands, -smirched face, and assured the ladies that -there was no danger, while Budge and Toddie, -the former deadly pale, and the latter -almost apoplectic in color, sneaked up to their -own chamber.</p> - -<p>The company dispersed; ladies who had -expected carriages did not wait for them, -but struggled to the extreme verge of politeness -for the use of such umbrellas and water<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">129</span>proof -cloaks as Mrs. Burton could supply. -Fifteen minutes later the only occupant of -the parlor was the dog Terry, who lay, with -alert head, in the centre of a large Turkish -chair. Mrs. Burton, tenderly supported by -her husband, descended the stair, and contemplated -with tightly compressed lips and -blazing eyes the disorder of her desolated -parlor. When, however, she reached the -dining-room and beheld the exquisitely set -table, to the arrangement of which she had -devoted hours of thought in preceding days -and weeks, she burst into a flood of tears.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you how it was,” said Budge, who -appeared suddenly and without invitation, -and whose consciousness of good intention -made him as adamant before the indignant -frowns of his uncle and aunt, “I always think -bonfires is the nicest things about celebrations, -an’ Tod an’ me have been carryin’ -sticks for two days to make a big bonfire in -the back yard to-day. But it rained, an’ -rainy sticks won’t burn. So we thought we’d -make one in the cellar, ’cause the top is all -tin, an’ the bottom’s all dirt, an’ it can’t rain -in there at all. An’ we got lots of newspapers -and kindlin’-wood, an’ put some kerosene -on it, an’ it blazed up beautiful, an’ we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">130</span> -was just comin’ up to ask you all down to -look at it, when in came Uncle Harry, an’ -banged me against the wall an’ Tod into the -coal heap, an’ threw a mean old dirty carpet -on top of it, an’ wetted it all over.”</p> - -<p>“Little boysh never can do anyfing nysh -wivout bein’ made to don’t,” said Toddie. -“Dzust see what an awful big splinter I got -in my hand when I was froin’ wood on de -fire! I didn’t cry a bit about it den, ’cause I -fought I was makin’ uvver folks happy, like -de Lord wants little boysh to. But dey -didn’t get happy, so now I’m goin’ to cry -’bout de splinter!”</p> - -<p>And Toddie raised a howl which was as -much superior to his usual cry as things made -to order generally are to the ordinary supply.</p> - -<p>“We had a torchlight procession too,” said -Budge. “We had to have it in the attic, but -it wasn’t very nice. There wasn’t any trees -up there for the light to dance around on, like -it does on ’lection-day nights. So we just -stopped, an’ would have felt real doleful if -we hadn’t thought of the bonfire.”</p> - -<p>“Where did you leave the torches?” asked -Mr. Burton, springing from his chair, and -lifting his wife to her feet at the same time.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p130.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“THREW A MEAN OLD DIRTY CARPET ON TOP OF IT”</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">131</span></p> - -<p>“I—I dunno,” said Budge, after a moment -of thought.</p> - -<p>“Froed ’em in a closet so’s not to dyty de -nice floor wif ’em,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton hurried up-stairs and extinguished -a smoldering heap of rags, while his -wife, truer to herself than she imagined she -was, drew Budge to her, and said, kindly:</p> - -<p>“Wanting to make people happy, and -doing it, are two very different things, -Budge.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I should think they was,” said -Budge, with an emphasis which explained -much that was left unsaid.</p> - -<p>“Little boysh is goosies for tryin’ to make -big folksh happy at all,” said Toddie, beginning -again to cry.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, they’re not, dear,” said Mrs. Burton, -taking the sorrowful child on her lap. -“But they don’t always understand how best -to do it, so they ought to ask big folks before -they begin.”</p> - -<p>“Den dere wouldn’t be no s’prises,” complained -Toddie. “Say, izh we goin’ to eat -all dis supper?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so, if we can,” sighed Mrs. -Burton.</p> - -<p>“I guesh we can—Budgie an’ me,” said<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">132</span> -Toddie. “An’ won’t we be glad all them -wimmens wented away!”</p> - -<p>That evening, after the boys had retired, -Mrs. Burton seemed a little uneasy of mind, -and at length she said to her husband:</p> - -<p>“I feel guilty at never having directed the -boys’s devotions since they have been here, -and I know no better time than the present -in which to begin.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton’s eyes followed his wife reverently -as she left the room. The service she -proposed to render the children she had -sometimes performed for himself, with results -for which he could not be grateful -enough, and yet it was not with unalloyed -anticipation that he softly followed her up -the stair. Mrs. Burton went into the chamber -and found the boys playing battering-ram, -each with a pillow in front of him.</p> - -<p>“Children,” said she, “have you said your -prayers?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Budge; “somebody’s got to be -knocked down first. Then we will.”</p> - -<p>A sudden tumble by Toddie was the signal -for devotional exercises, and both boys knelt -beside the bed.</p> - -<p>“Now, darlings,” said Mrs. Burton, “you -have made some sad mistakes to-day, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</span> -they should teach you that, even when you -want most to do right, you need to be helped -by somebody better. Don’t you think so?”</p> - -<p>“I do,” said Budge. “Lots.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t,” said Toddie. “More help I -getsh, de worse fings is. Guesh I’ll do fings -all alone affer dish.”</p> - -<p>“I know what to say to the Lord to-night, -Aunt Alice,” said Budge.</p> - -<p>“Dear little boy,” said Mrs. Burton. “Go -on.”</p> - -<p>“Dear Lord,” said Budge, “we do have -the awfullest times when we try to make -other folks happy. Do, please, Lord, please -teach big folks how hard little folks have to -think before they do things for ’em. An’ -make ’em understand little folks every way -better than they do, so that they don’t make -little folks unhappy when they try to make -big folks feel jolly. Make big folks have to -think as hard as little folks do. Amen! Oh -yes, an’ bless dear mamma an’ the sweet little -sister baby. How’s that, Aunt Alice?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton did not reply, and Budge, on -turning, saw only her departing figure, while -Toddie remarked:</p> - -<p>“Now it’s my tyne. Dear Lord, when I -getsh to be a little boy anzel up in hebben,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</span> -don’t let growed-up anzels come along whenever -I’m doin’ anyfing nysh for ’em, an’ say -’don’t’s or tumble me down in heaps of nashty -old black coal. Dere! Amen!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</span></p> - - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</h2> - - -<p>It was with a sneaking sense of relief that -Mrs. Burton awoke on the following morning, -and realized that the day was Sunday.</p> - -<p>“Even school-teachers have two days of -rest in every seven,” she said to herself, “and -no one doubts that they deserve them. How -much more deserving of rest and relief must -be the volunteer teacher who, not for a few -hours only, but from dawn to twilight, has -charge of two children whose capacity for -both learning and mischief surely equals any -school full of boys.”</p> - -<p>The feeling that she was attempting for a -few days only that which mothers everywhere -were doing without hope of rest excepting -in heaven, made her feel humble and -worthless, but it did not banish her wish to -turn the children over to the care of their -uncle for the day. Thoughts of a Sunday -excursion, from participation in which she -should in some way excuse herself; of volunteering -to relieve her sister-in-law’s nurse -during the day, and thus leaving her husband, -in charge of the house and the children; of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</span> -making that visit to her mother which is -always in order with the young wife—all -these, and other devices not so practicable, -came before her mind’s eye for comparison, -but they all and together took sudden wing -when her husband awoke and complained of -a raging toothache. Truly pitiful and sympathetic -as Mrs. Burton was, she exhibited -remarkable resignation in the face of the -thought that her husband would probably -need to remain in his room all day, and that it -would be absolutely necessary to keep the -children out of his sight and hearing. Then -he could find nothing to criticise; she might -fail frequently, as she probably would, but he -would know only of her successes.</p> - -<p>A light knock was heard at Mrs. Burton’ -door, and then, without waiting for invitation -there came in two fresh, rosy faces, two heads -of disarranged hair, and two long white night-gowns, -and the occupant of the longer gown -exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Say, Uncle Harry, do you know it’s Sunday? -What are you going to do about it? -We always have lots done for us Sundays, -’cause it’s the only day papa’s home.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I—think I’ve heard—something of -the kind—before,” mumbled Mr. Burton,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</span> -with difficulty, between the fingers that covered -his aching tooth.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p137.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">TODDIE PLAYING BEAR</div> -</div> - - -<p>“Oh—h,” exclaimed Toddie, “I b’lieve -he’s goin’ to play bear! Come on, Budgie, -we’s got to be dogs.” And Toddie buried -his face in the bed-covering and succeeded in -fastening his teeth in his uncle’s calf. A -howl from the sufferer did not frighten off the -amateur dog, and he was finally dislodged only -by being clutched by the throat by his victim.</p> - -<p>“Dat izhn’t de way to play bear,” complained -Toddie. “You ought to keep on -a-howlin’, an’ let me keep on a-bitin’, an’ den -you give me pennies to stop. Dat’s de way -papa does.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</span></p> - -<p>“Can you see how Tom Lawrence can be -so idiotic?” asked Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“I suppose I could,” replied the sufferer, -“if I hadn’t such a toothache.”</p> - -<p>“You poor old fellow!” said Mrs. Burton, -tenderly. Then she turned to her nephews, -and exclaimed: “Now, boys, listen to me! -Uncle Harry is very sick to-day—he has a -dreadful toothache, and every particle of -bother and noise will make it worse. You -must both keep away from his room, and be -as quiet as possible wherever you may be in -the house. Even the sound of people talking -is very annoying to a person with the -toothache.”</p> - -<p>“Den you’s a baddy woman to stay in -here an’ keep a-talkin’ all de whole time,” -said Toddie, “when it makes poor old Uncle -Harry hurt so. G’way.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton’s lord and master was not in -too much pain to shake with silent laughter -at this rebuke, and the lady herself was too -startled to devise an appropriate retort, so -the boys amused themselves by a general -exploration of the chamber, not omitting the -pockets of their uncle’s clothing. This work -completed to the full extent of their ability, -they demanded breakfast.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</span></p> - -<p>“Breakfast won’t be ready until eight -o’clock,” said Mrs. Burton, “and it is now -only six. If you little boys don’t wish to -feel dreadfully hungry you had better go back -to bed and lie as quiet as possible.”</p> - -<p>“Is dat de way not to be hungry?” asked -Toddie, with the wide-open eyes, which -always accompany the receptive mind.</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” said Mrs. Burton. “If you -run about, you agitate your stomachs, and -that makes them restless, so you feel hungry.”</p> - -<p>“Gwacious!” said Toddie. “What lots of -fings little boys has got to lyne, hazn’t dey? -Come on, Budgie; let’s go put our tummuks -to bed, an’keep ’em from gettin’ ajjerytated.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Budge. “But say, Aunt -Alice, don’t you s’pose our stomachs would -be sleepier an’ not so restless if there was -some crackers or bread an’ butter in ’em?”</p> - -<p>“There’s no one down-stairs to get you -any,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Oh,” said Budge, “we can find ’em. We -know where everything is in the pantries and -storeroom.”</p> - -<p>“I wish I were so clever,” sighed Mrs. -Burton. “Go along; get what you like, but -don’t come back to this room again. And<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</span> -don’t let me find anything in disorder down-stairs, -or I shall never trust you in my kitchen -again.”</p> - -<p>Away flew the children, but their disappearance -only made room for a new torment, -for Mr. Burton stopped in the middle of the -operation of shaving himself, and remarked:</p> - -<p>“I’ve been longing for Sunday to come, for -your sake, my dear. The boys, as you have -frequently observed, have very strange notions -about good things; but they are also, -by nature, quite spiritually minded. You -are not only this latter, but you are free from -strange doctrines and the traditions of men. -The mystical influences of the day will make -themselves felt upon those innocent little -hearts, and you will have an opportunity to -correct wrong teachings and instill new sentiments -and truths.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton’s voice had grown a bit shaky -as he reached the close of this neat little -speech, so that his wife scrutinized his face -closely to see if there might not be a laugh -somewhere about it. A friendly coating of -lather protected one cheek, however, and the -troublesome tooth had distorted the shape -of the other, so Mrs. Burton was compelled -to accept the mingled ascription of praise<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</span> -and responsibility, which she did with a -sinking heart.</p> - -<p>“I’ll take care of them while you’re at -church, my dear,” said Mr. Burton. “They’re -always saintly with sick people.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton breathed a sigh of relief. She -determined that she would extemporize a -special “Children’s Service” immediately -after breakfast, and impress her nephews as -fully as possible with the spirit of the day; -then if her husband would but continue the -good work thus begun, it would be impossible -for the boys to fall from grace in the few -hours which remained between dinner time -and darkness. Full of her project, and forgetting -that she had allowed her chambermaid -to go to early service, and promised herself -to see that the children were dressed for -breakfast, Mrs. Burton, at the breakfast-table, -noticed that her nephews did not respond -with their usual alacrity to the call of -the bell. Recalling her forgotten duty, she -hurried to the boys’s chamber, and found -them already enjoying a repast which was -remarkable for variety. On a small table, -drawn to the side of the bed, was a pie, a -bowl of pickles, a dish of honey in the comb, -and a small package of cinnamon bark; with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</span> -spoons, knives and forks and fingers the boys -were helping themselves to these delicacies. -Seeing his aunt, Toddie looked rather guilty, -but Budge displayed the smile of the fully -justified, and remarked:</p> - -<p>“Now, you know what kind of meals little -boys like, Aunt Alice. I hope you won’t -forget it while we’re here.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean!” exclaimed Mrs. -Burton, sternly, “by bringing such things -up-stairs?”</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Budge, “you told us to get -what we wanted, an’ we supposed you told -the troof.”</p> - -<p>“An’ I ain’t azh hungry azh I wazh,” said -Toddie, “but my tummuk feels as if it growed -big and got little again, every minute or two, -an’ it hurts. I wishes we could put tummuks -away when we get done usin’ ’em, like -we do hats an’ over-shoes.”</p> - -<p>To sweep the remains of the unique morning -lunch into a heap and away from her -nephews, was a work which occupied but a -second or two of Mrs. Burton’s time; this -done, two little boys found themselves robed -more rapidly than they had ever before been. -Arrived at the breakfast-table, they eyed -with withering contempt an irreproachable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</span> -cutlet, some crisp brown potatoes of waferlike -thinness, and a heap of rolls almost as -light as snowflakes.</p> - -<p>“We don’t want none of this kind of breakfast,” -said Budge.</p> - -<p>“Of coursh we don’t,” said Toddie, “when -we’s so awful full of uvver fings. I don’t -know where I’zhe goin’ to put my dinner -when it comes time to eat it.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t fret about that, Tod,” said Budge. -“Don’t you know papa says that the Bible -says somethin’ that means ‘don’t worry till -you have to’?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton raised her eyebrows with horror -not unmixed with inquiry, and her husband -hastened to give Budge’s sentiment its -proper biblical wording, “Sufficient unto the -day is the evil thereof.” Mrs. Burton’ -wonder was allayed by the explanation, although -her horror was not, and she made -haste to say:</p> - -<p>“Boys, we will have a little Sunday-school, -all by ourselves, in the parlor immediately -after breakfast.”</p> - -<p>“Hooray!” shouted Budge. “An’ will -you give us a ticket an’ pass around a box for -pennies, just like they do in big Sunday-schools?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</span></p> - -<p>“I—suppose so,” said Mrs. Burton, who -had not previously thought of these special -attractions of the successful Sunday-school.</p> - -<p>“Let’s go right in, Tod,” said Budge, -“’cause the dog’s in there. I saw him as I -came down, and I shut all the doors so -he couldn’t get out. We can have some -fun with him ’fore Sunday-school begins.”</p> - -<p>Both boys started for the parlor-door, and, -guided by that marvellous instinct with -which Providence arms the few against the -many, and the weak against the strong, the -dog Terry, also approached the door from -the inside. As the door opened there was -heard a convulsive howl, and a general tumbling -of small boys, while at almost the same -instant Terry flew into the dining-room and -hid himself in the folds of his mistress’s morning -robe. Two or three minutes later Budge -entered the dining-room with a very rueful -countenance, and remarked:</p> - -<p>“I guess we need that Sunday-school -pretty quick, Aunt Alice. The dog don’t -want to play with us, and we ought to be -comforted some way.”</p> - -<p>“They’re grown people, all over again,” -remarked Mr. Burton, with a laugh.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</span></p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” demanded Mrs. -Burton.</p> - -<p>“Only this; when their own devices fail, -they’re in a hurry for the consolations of -religion. May I visit the Sunday-school?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose I can’t keep you away,” sighed -Mrs. Burton, leading the way to the parlor. -“Boys,” said she, greeting her nephews, “first -we’ll sing a little hymn. What shall it be?”</p> - -<p>“Ole Uncle Ned,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s not a Sunday song.”</p> - -<p>“I fink tizh,” said Toddie, “’cause it -sayzh, free or four timezh, ‘He’s gone where -de good niggers go,’s an’ dat’s hebben, you -know. So it’s a Sunday song.”</p> - -<p>“I think ‘Glory, glory, hallelujah!’s is -nicer,” said Budge, “an’ I know it’s a Sunday -song, ’cause I’ve heard it in church.”</p> - -<p>“Aw wight,” said Toddie; and he started -the old air himself, with the words, “There -liezh de whiskey-bottle, empty on de sheff,” -but was suddenly brought to order by a -shake from his aunt, while his uncle danced -about the front parlor in an ecstasy not -directly traceable to toothache.</p> - -<p>“That’s not a Sunday song, either, Toddie,” -said Mrs. Burton. “The words are -real rowdyish. Where did you learn them?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">146</span></p> - -<p>“Round the corner from our housh,” said -Toddie; “an’ you can shing you ole shongs -yourseff, if you don’t like mine.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton went to the piano, rambled -among chords for a few seconds, and finally -recalled a Sunday-school air in which Toddie -joined as angelically as if his own musical -taste had never been impugned.</p> - -<p>“Now, I guess we’d better take up the collection -before any little boys lose their pennies,” -said Budge, hurrying to the dining-room, -and returning with a strawberry-box -which seemed to have been specially provided -for the occasion; this he passed gravely before -Toddie, and Toddie held his hand over it -as carefully as if he were depositing hundreds, -and then Toddie took the box and passed it -before Budge, who made the same dumb -show, after which Budge retook the box, -shook it, listened, remarked, “It don’t rattle—I -guess it’s all paper-money to-day,” placed -it upon the mantel, reseated himself, and remarked:</p> - -<p>“Now bring on your lesson.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p146.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">BUDGE TAKING UP THE COLLECTION</div> -</div> - - -<p>Mrs. Burton opened her Bible with a sense -of helplessness. With the instinct of a person -given to thoroughness, she opened at the -beginning of the book, but she speedily<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">147</span> -closed it again. Turning the leaves rapidly; -passing, for conscience’s sake, the record of -many a battle, the details of which would -have delighted the boys, and hurrying past -the prophecies as records not for the minds of -children, she at last reached the New Testament -and the ever-new story of the only boy -who ever was all that his parents and relatives -could wish him.</p> - -<p>“The lesson will be about Jesus,” said Mrs. -Burton.</p> - -<p>“Little-boy Jesus or big-man Jesus?” asked -Toddie.</p> - -<p>“A—a—both,” replied the teacher, in confusion.</p> - -<p>“Aw wight,” said Toddie. “G’won.”</p> - -<p>“There was once a time when all the world -was in trouble, without knowing exactly -why,” said Mrs. Burton; “but the Lord understood -it, for He understands everything.”</p> - -<p>“Does He know how it feels to be a little -boy,” asked Toddie, “an’ be sent to bed -when He don’t want to go?”</p> - -<p>“And He determined to comfort the world, -as He always does when the world finds out it -can’t comfort itself,” continued Mrs. Burton, -ignoring her nephew’s questions.</p> - -<p>“But wasn’t dere lotsh of little boyzh den?<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">148</span>” -asked Toddie, “an’ didn’t they need to be -comforted as well as big folks?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so. But He knew that if He -comforted grown people, they would make -the children happy.”</p> - -<p>“I wiss He’d comfort you an’ Uncle Harry -ev’ry mornin’, den,” said Toddie. “G’won.”</p> - -<p>“So He sent His own Son—His only Son—down -to the world to be a dear little baby. -And while smart people everywhere were -wondering what would or could happen to -quiet the restless heart of people——”</p> - -<p>“Izh restless hearts like restless tummuks?” -interrupted Toddie. “Kind o’ -pumpy an’ wabbley?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so.”</p> - -<p>“Poor folks!” said Toddie, clasping his -hands over his waistband. “I’zhe sorry for -’em.”</p> - -<p>“While smart folks were trying to think out -what should be done,” continued Mrs. Burton, -“some shepherds, who used to sit around -at night under the moon and stars, and wonder -about things which they could not understand, -saw a wonderfully bright star in the -sky.”</p> - -<p>“Was it one of the twinkle-twinkle kind, or -one of the stand-still kind?” asked Toddie.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">149</span></p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Mrs. Burton, after a -moment’s reflection. “Why do you ask?”</p> - -<p>“’Cauzh,” said Toddie, “I know what -’twazh dere for, an’ it ought to have twinkled, -’cauzh twinkley stars bob open an’ shut dat -way ’cauzh dey’re laughin’ an’ can’t keep -still, an’ I know I’d have laughed if I’d been -a star an’ was goin’ to make a lot of folks -awful happy. G’won.”</p> - -<p>“Then,” said Mrs. Burton, looking alternately -and frequently at the two accounts of -the Advent, “they suddenly saw an angel, -and the shepherds were afraid.”</p> - -<p>“Should fink dey would be!” said Toddie. -“Everybody gets afraid when dey see good -people around. I ’pec dey thought de angel -would say ‘Don’t!’ in about a minute.”</p> - -<p>“But the angel told them not to be afraid,” -said Mrs. Burton, “for he had come to bring -good news. There was to be a baby born at -Bethlehem, and He would make everybody -happy.”</p> - -<p>“Wouldn’t it be nice if that angel would -come an’ do it all over again?” Budge asked. -“Only he ought to pick out little boys instead -of sheep fellows. I wouldn’t be afraid of an -angel.”</p> - -<p>“Neiver would I,” said Toddie. “I’d dzust<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">150</span> -go round behind him an’ see how his wings -was fastened on.”</p> - -<p>“Then a great many other angels came,” -said Mrs. Burton, “and they all sang together. -The shepherds didn’t know what to -make of it, but after the singing was over -they all started for Bethlehem to see that -wonderful baby.”</p> - -<p>“Just like the other day we went to see the -sister-baby!”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Mrs. Burton; “but instead of -finding him in a pleasant home and a nice -room, with careful friends and nurses around -him, he was in a manger out in a stable.”</p> - -<p>“That was ’cause he was so smart that he -could do just what he wanted to, an’ be just -where he liked,” said Budge, “an’ he was a -little boy, an’ little boys always like stables -better than houses. I wish I could live in a -stable always an’ for ever!”</p> - -<p>“So do I,” said Toddie, “an’ sleep in -mangers, ’cauzh den de horses would kick -anybody dat made me put on clean clozhezh -when I didn’t want to. Dey gaveded him -presentsh, didn’t they?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Mrs. Burton; “gold, frankincense, -and myrrh.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t they give him rattles and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">151</span> -squealey-balls, like folks did budder Phillie -when he was a baby,” asked Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Because, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton, glad -of an opportunity to get the sentiment of the -story into her own hands, from which it had -departed very early in the course of the lesson—“because -he was no common baby, like -other children.”</p> - -<p>“Did he play around, like uvver little -boysh?” continued Toddie.</p> - -<p>“I—I—suppose so,” said Mrs. Burton, -fearing lest in trying to instill reverence into -her nephews, she herself might prove irreverent.</p> - -<p>“Did somebody say ‘Don’t’ at him every -time he did anyfing?” continued Toddie.</p> - -<p>“N—n—n—o! I imagine not,” said Mrs. -Burton, “because he was always good.”</p> - -<p>“That don’t make no diffwelence,” said -Toddie. “De better a little boy triesh to be, -de more folks says ‘Don’t’ to him. So I -guesh nobody had any time to say anyfing -elsh at all to Jesus.”</p> - -<p>“What did he do next?” asked Budge, as -deeply interested as if he had not heard the -same story many times before.</p> - -<p>“He grew strong in body and spirit,” said -Mrs. Burton, “and everybody loved him; but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">152</span> -before he had time to do all that, an angel -came and frightened his papa in a dream, and -told him that the king of that country would -kill little Jesus if he could find him. So -Joseph and Mary, the mamma of the baby, -got up in the middle of the night and started -off to Egypt.”</p> - -<p>“What did they do when they got there?” -Budge asked.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Mrs. Burton. “I -suppose the papa worked hard for money to -buy good food and comfortable resting-places -for his wife and the baby; and I suppose the -mamma walked about the fields, and picked -pretty flowers for her baby to play with; and -I suppose the baby cooed when his mamma -gave them to him, and laughed and danced -and played, and then got tired, and came and -hid his little face in his mamma’s lap, and -was taken into her arms and held ever so -tight, and fell asleep, and that his mother -looked into his face as if she would look -through it, while she tried to find out what -her baby would be and do when he grew up, -and whether he would be taken away from -her, while it seemed as if she couldn’t live at -all without having him very closely pressed -to her breast and——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">153</span></p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton’s voice grew a little shaky and -soon failed her entirely. Budge came in -front of her, scrutinized her intently but with -great sympathy also, rested his elbows on -her knees, dropped his face into his own -hands, looked up into her face, and said:</p> - -<p>“Why, Aunt Alice, she was just like my -mamma, wasn’t she? An’ I think you are -just like both of ’em!”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton took Budge into her arms, -covered his face with kisses, and totally destroyed -another chance of explaining the -difference between the earthly and the heavenly -to her pupils, while Toddie eyed the -couple with evident disfavor, and said:</p> - -<p>“I fink ’twould be nicer if you’d see if dinner -was bein’ got ready, instead of stoppin’ -tellin’ stories an’ huggin’ Budgie. My tummuk’ -all gotted little again.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton came back to the world of to-day -from that of history, though not without -a sigh, while the dog Terry, who had divined -the peaceful nature of the occasion so far as -to feel justified in reclining beneath his mistress’ -chair, now contracted himself into the -smallest possible space, slunk out of the doorway, -and took a lively quickstep in the direction -of the shrubbery. Toddie had seen him,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">154</span> -however, and told Budge, and both boys -were soon in pursuit, noticing which, Terry -speedily betook himself to that distant retirement -which the dog who has experience -in small boys knows well how to discover and -maintain.</p> - -<p>As the morning wore on the boys grew -restless, fought, drummed on the piano, -snarled when that instrument was closed, -meddled with everything that was within -reach, and finally grew so troublesome that -their aunt soon felt that to lose was cheaper -than to save, so she left the house to the -children, and sought the side of the lounge -upon which her afflicted husband reclined. -The divining sense of childhood soon found -her out, however, and Budge remarked:</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice, if you’re going to church, -seems to me it’s time you was getting ready.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t go to church, Budge,” sighed Mrs. -Burton. “If I do, you boys will only turn -the whole house upside down, and drive your -poor uncle nearly crazy.”</p> - -<p>“No, we won’t,” said Budge. “You don’t -know what nice nurses we can be to sick -people. Papa says nobody can even imagine -how well we can take care of anybody until -they see us do it. If you don’t believe it,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">155</span> -just leave us with Uncle Harry, an’ stay -home from church an’ peek through the keyhole.”</p> - -<p>“Go on, dear,” said Mr. Burton. “If you -want to go to church, don’t be afraid to leave -me. I think you should go, after your experience -of this morning. I shouldn’t think -your mind could be at peace until you had -joined your voice with that of the great congregation, -and acknowledged yourself to be -a miserable sinner.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p155.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">TERRY</div> -</div> - -<p>Mrs. Burton winced, but nevertheless retired, -and soon appeared dressed for church,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">156</span> -kissed her husband and her nephews, gave -many last instructions, and departed. Budge -followed her with his eye until she had stepped -from the piazza, and then remarked, with a -sigh of relief:</p> - -<p>“Now I guess we’ll have what papa calls a -good, old-fashioned time, for we’ve got rid of -her.”</p> - -<p>“Budge!” exclaimed Mr. Burton, sternly, -and springing to his feet, “do you know who -you are talking about? Don’t you know that -your Aunt Alice has saved you from many a -scolding, done you many a favor, and been -your best friend?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes,” said Budge, with at least a -dozen inflections on each word, “but ev’ry -day friends an’ Sunday friends are kind o’ -different; don’t you think so? She can’t -make whistles, or catch bullfrogs, or carry -both of us up the mountain on her shoulders, -or sing ‘Roll, Jordan.’”</p> - -<p>“And do you expect me to do all these -things to-day?”</p> - -<p>“N—n—no, unless you should get well, -an’ feel just like it; but we’d like to be with -somebody who could do ’em if he wanted to. -We like ladies that’s all ladies, but then we -like men that’s all men, too. Aunt Alice is a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">157</span> -good deal like an angel, I think, and you—well, -you ain’t. An’ we don’t want to be -with angels all the time until we’re angels -ourselves.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton turned over suddenly and contemplated -the back of the lounge, while -Budge continued:</p> - -<p>“We don’t want you to get to be an angel, -so what I want to know is, how to make you -well. Don’t you think if I borrowed papa’ -horse and carriage an’ took you ridin’ you’d -feel better? I know he’d lend ’em to me if I -told him you were goin’ to drive.”</p> - -<p>“And if you said you would go with me to -take care of me?” suggested Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Y—e—es,” said Budge, as hesitatingly -as if such an idea had never occurred to him. -“An’ don’t you think that up to the top of -Hawksnest Rock an’ out to Passaic Falls -would be the nicest places for a sick man to -go? When you got tired of ridin’ you could -stop the carriage an’ cut us a cane, or make -us whistles, or even send us in swimming in a -brook somewhere if you got tired of us.”</p> - -<p>“H’m!” grunted Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“An’ you might take fings to eat wif you,” -suggested Toddie, “an’ when you got real -tired and felt bad you might stop an’ have a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">158</span> -little picnic. I fink dat would be dzust de -fing for a man wif de toofache. And we -could help you, lotsh.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll see how I feel after dinner,” said Mr. -Burton. “But what are you going to do for -me between now and then, to make me feel -better?”</p> - -<p>“We’ll tell you storiezh,” said Toddie. -“Dem’s what sick folks alwayzh likesh.”</p> - -<p>“Very well,” said Mr. Burton. “Begin -right away.”</p> - -<p>“Aw wight,” said Toddie. “Do you -wantsh a sad story or a d’zolly one?”</p> - -<p>“Anything. Men with the toothache can -stand nearly anything. Don’t draw on your -imagination too hard.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t never draw on no madzinasuns,” -said Toddie; “I only draws on slatesh.”</p> - -<p>“Never mind. Give us the story.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Toddie, seating himself in a -little rocking-chair, and fixing his eyes on the -ceiling, “guesh I’ll tell about AbrahammynIsaac. -Onesh de Lord told a man named -Abraham to go up the mountain an’ chop -his little boy’s froat open an’ burn him up on -a naltar. So Abraham started to go do it. -An’ he made his little boy Isaac, dat he was -going to chop and burn up, carry de kindlin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">159</span>’ -wood he was goin’ to set him a-fire wif. An’ -I want to know if you fink dat wazh very -nysh of him?”</p> - -<p>“Well, no.”</p> - -<p>“Tell you what,” said Budge, “you don’t -ever catch me carryin’ sticks up the mountain, -even if my papa wants me to.”</p> - -<p>“When they got up dere,” said Toddie, -“Abraham made a naltar an’ put little Ikey -on it, an’ took a knife an’ was goin’ to chop -his froat open, when a andzel came out of -hebben, an’ said: ‘Stop a-doin’ dat!’s So -Abraham stopped, an’ Ikey skooted. An’ -Abraham saw a sheep caught in de bushes, -an’ he caught him an’ killed him. He wasn’ -goin’ to climb way up a mountain to kill -somebody an’ not have his knife bluggy a bit. -An’ he burned de sheep up. An’ den he -went home again.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll bet you Isaac’s mamma never knew -what his papa wanted to do with him,” said -Budge, “or she’d never let her little boy go -away in the mornin’. Do you want to bet?”</p> - -<p>“N—no, not on Sunday,” said Mr. Burton. -“Now, suppose you little boys go out of doors -and play for a while, while uncle tries to get -a nap.”</p> - -<p>The boys accepted the suggestion and dis<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">160</span>appeared. -Half an hour later, as Mrs. Burton -was walking home from church under -escort of old General Porcupine, and enduring -with saintly fortitude the general’s compliments -upon her management of the children, -there came screams of fear and anguish from -the general’s own grounds, which the couple -were passing.</p> - -<p>“Who can that be?” exclaimed the general, -his short hairs bristling like the quills -of his titular godfather. “We have no -children.”</p> - -<p>“I think I know the voices,” gasped Mrs. -Burton, turning pale.</p> - -<p>“Bless my soul!” exclaimed the general, -with an accent which showed that he was -wishing the reverse of blessings upon souls -less needy than his own. “You don’t -mean——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I do!” said Mrs. Burton, wringing -her hands. “Please hurry!”</p> - -<p>The general puffed and snorted up his -gravel walk and toward the shrubbery, behind -which was a fishpond from which direction -the sound came. Mrs. Burton followed -in time to see her nephew Budge help his -brother out of the pond while the general -tugged at a large crawfish which had fastened<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">161</span> -its claw upon Toddies finger. The fish was -game, but, with a mighty pull from the general, -and a fiendish shriek from Toddie, the -fish’s claw and body parted company, and -the general, still holding the latter tightly, -staggered backward and himself fell into the -pond.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p160.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">THE GENERAL FELL INTO THE POND</div> -</div> - - -<p>“Ow—ow—ow!” howled Toddie, clasping -the skirt of his aunt’s mauve silk in a ruinous -embrace, while the general floundered and -snorted like a whale in dying agonies and -Budge laughed as merrily as if the whole -scene had been provided especially for his -entertainment. Mrs. Burton hurried her -nephews away, forgetting, in her mortification, -to thank the general for his service, and -placing a hand over Toddie’s mouth.</p> - -<p>“It hurts!” mumbled Toddie.</p> - -<p>“What did you touch the fish at all for?” -asked Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“It was a little baby-lobster,” sobbed Toddie, -“an’ I loves little babies—all kinds of -’em—an’ I wanted to pet him. An’ den I -wanted to grop him.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you do it?” demanded the -lady.</p> - -<p>“’Cauzh he wouldn’t grop,” said Toddie. -“He isn’t all gropped yet.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">162</span></p> - -<p>True enough, the claw of the fish still hung -at Toddies finger, and Mrs. Burton spoiled a -pair of four-button kids in detaching it, -while Budge continued to laugh. At length, -however, mirth gave place to brotherly love, -and Budge tenderly remarked:</p> - -<p>“Toddie dear, don’t you love Bother -Budgie?”</p> - -<p>“Yesh,” sobbed Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Then you ought to be happy,” said -Budge, “for you’ve made him awful happy. -If the fish hadn’t caught you, the general -couldn’t have pulled him off, an’ then he -wouldn’t have tumbled into the pond, an’ oh, -my—didn’t he splash bully!”</p> - -<p>“Then you’s got to be bited wif a fiss yourself,” -said Toddie, “an’ make him tumble in -again, for me to laugh ’bout.”</p> - -<p>“You’re two naughty boys,” said Mrs. -Burton. “Is this the way you take care of -your sick uncle?”</p> - -<p>“We did take care of him!” exclaimed -Toddie. “Told him a lovaly Bible story, an’ -you didn’t, an’ he wouldn’t have had not no -Sunday at all if I hadn’t done it. An’ we’ -goin’ to take him widin’ dis afternoon.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton hurried home, but it seemed -to her that she had never met so many in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">163</span>quiring -acquaintances during so short a walk. -Arrived at last, she ordered her nephews to -their room, and flung herself in tears beside -her husband, murmuring:</p> - -<p>“Harry!”</p> - -<p>And Mr. Burton, having viewed the ruined -dress with the eye of experience, uttered the -single word:</p> - -<p>“Boys!”</p> - -<p>“What am I to do with them?” asked the -unhappy woman.</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton was an affectionate husband. -He adored womankind, and sincerely bemoaned -its special grievances; but he did not -resist the temptation to recall his wife’s announcement -of five days before, so he whispered:</p> - -<p>“Train them.”</p> - -<p>“I——”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton’s humiliation by her own lips -was postponed by a heavy footfall, which, by -turning her face, she discovered was that of -her brother-in-law, Tom Lawrence, who remarked:</p> - -<p>“Tender confidences, eh? There’s nothing -like them, if you want to be happy. But -Helen’s pretty well to-day, and dying to have -her boys with her, and I’m even worse with a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">164</span> -similar longing. You can’t spare them, I -suppose?”</p> - -<p>The peculiar way in which Tom Lawrence’ -eyes danced as he awaited a reply would, at -any other time, have aroused all the defiance -in Alice Burton’s nature; but now, looking -at the front of her beautiful dress, she only -said:</p> - -<p>“Why—I suppose—we might spare them -for an hour or two.”</p> - -<p>“You poor, dear Spartan,” said Tom, -with genuine sympathy, “You shall be at -peace until their bedtime.”</p> - -<p>And Mrs. Burton found occasion to rearrange -the bandage on her husband’s face so -as to whisper in his ear:</p> - -<p>“Thank heaven!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">165</span></p> - - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</h2> - - -<p>The boys returned to the Burtons fast -asleep, Budge in his father’s arms, and -Toddie’s head pillowed on the shoulder of -faithful Mike. No sound was heard from -either of them until the next morning, when -finding that they slept later than usual, their -aunt went to their chamber to arouse them. -She found Budge sitting up in bed rubbing -his eyes with one hand, while with the other -he shook his brother, and elicited some ugly -grunts of remonstrance.</p> - -<p>“Tod!” exclaimed Budge; “Tod! Wake -up! We ain’t where we was!”</p> - -<p>“Don’t care if we ain’t,” drawled Toddie. -“I’zhe in—a—nicer playsh. I’zhe in—big -candy-shop.”</p> - -<p>“No, you ain’t,” said Budge, trying to -pick his brother’s eyes open. “You’re at -Aunt Alice’, and when you went to sleep you -was at mamma’s house.”</p> - -<p>“Pw—w—w—!” cried Toddie, arising -slowly; “you’s a hateful bad boy, Budgie. I -was a-dreamin’ I was in a candystore, an’ -gotted all my pockets full an’ bof hands full,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">166</span> -too, an’ now you’s woketed me up an’ my -hands is all empty, an’ I hazn’t got any -pocket-clozhezh on me at all.”</p> - -<p>“Well, next time you have a dream I won’t -wake you at all, even if you have nightmares -an’ dream awful things. Say, Aunt Alice, -how do folks dream, I wonder? What makes -everythin’ go away an’ be somethin’ else?”</p> - -<p>“It is the result of indistinct impressions -upon a semi-dormant brain,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Oh!”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton thought she detected a note of -sarcasm in her nephew’s exclamation, but he -was so young and he seemed so meek of -countenance that she abandoned the idea. -Besides, her younger nephew had been saying -“Aunt Alish—Aunt Alish—Aunt Alish—Aunt -Alish—” as rapidly as he could with an -increasing volume of voice. Mrs. Burton -found time in which to say:</p> - -<p>“What?”</p> - -<p>“Did you say pwessin’ on bwains made us -dweam fings, Aunt Alish?”</p> - -<p>“Ye—es,” Mrs. Burton replied. “That is -the——”</p> - -<p>“Well, then,” interrupted Toddie. “Jzust -you sit down on my head an’ make dat candy-shop -come back again, won’t you?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">167</span></p> - -<p>“Say, Aunt Alice,” said Budge, “do you -know that lots of times I don’t know any -more than I knew before.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t understand you, Budge.”</p> - -<p>“Why, when folks tell me things—I mean, -I ask them how things are, an’ they tell me, -an’ then I don’t -know any better -than I did before. -Is that the way -it is with grown -folks?”</p> - -<div class="figright" > -<img src="images/p167.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“DREAMIN’ I WAS IN A CANDY-STORE”</div> -</div> - -<p>Mrs. Burton reflected -for a moment -and recalled many -experiences very -much like that -of Budge—experiences, -too, in -which she had -forced the same -impassive face that Budge wore, as she pretended -to comprehend that which had been -imperfectly explained. She remembered, too, -how depressing had been the lack of understanding, -and how strong was the sense of -injury at being required to act as if her -comprehension had been perfectly reached.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">168</span> -Whether the topics had been the simple -affairs of childhood, or the social, æsthetic -and religious instructions of adult age, -Mrs. Burton, like every one else, had been -told more than she understood, and misunderstood -many things she had been told, -and blamed her friends and the world for -her blunders and for lack of appreciation of -the intentions to which proper and fostering -training had never been applied. Was it -possible that she was repeating with her -nephews the blunders which others had committed -while attempting to shape her own -mind?</p> - -<p>The thought threw Mrs. Burton into the -profoundest depths of reverie, from which -she was aroused by Budge, who asked:</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice, do you see the Lord?”</p> - -<p>“No, Budge!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, -with a start. “Why do you ask?”</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Budge, “you was lookin’ so -hard through the window, an’ right toward -where you couldn’t see anythin’ but sky; an’ -your eyes had such an ever-so-far look in -them that I thought you must be lookin’ -straight at the Lord.”</p> - -<p>“If you sees Him,” said Toddie, “I wiss -you’d ask him to send that dream back again<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">169</span> -to-night; to push on my bwains an’ make it -come back, and then let me stay asleep until -I eat up all de candy I gotted into my pockets -an’ hands.”</p> - -<p>The appearance of the chambermaid, who -came to dress the boys for breakfast, put an -end to the conversation, but Mrs. Burton -determined that it should be renewed at the -earliest opportunity, or, rather, that her discoveries -of her own shortcomings as a teacher -of children should lead to an early and practical -reformation.</p> - -<p>The fit of mental abstraction into which -this resolution threw her was the cause of a -silence which puzzled her husband considerably, -for he could plainly see by her face that -no affair merely matured was at the bottom -of her reticence, and that what in men would -be called temper was equally absent from her -heart. In fact, the result upon Mrs. Burton’ -face and actions was so beneficial that -the lady’s husband determined to plead -toothache as an excuse to remain at home for -a day and look at her.</p> - -<p>The mere suggestion, however, elicited -from Mrs. Burton the mention of so many -absolute necessities which could be procured -only in the city and by her husband, that he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">170</span> -departed by a train even earlier than the -one upon which he usually travelled, and -with sensations very like those of a man -who has been forcibly ejected from a residence.</p> - -<p>Then Mrs. Burton led her nephews into -the sitting-room, seated herself, placed an -arm tightly about each little boy, and said: -“Children, is there anything that you -would very much like to know?”</p> - -<p>“Yesh,” answered Toddie, promptly. “I’d -like to know what we’s going to have for -dinner to-day?”</p> - -<p>“And I,” said Budge, “would like to -know when we’re all goin’ for a ride again.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t mean silly things of that sort,” -said Mrs. Burton, “but——”</p> - -<p>“Ain’t silly fings!” said Toddie. “Deysh -what makesh ush happy.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton made a mental note of the -justice of the rebuke, and of its connection -with the subject of which her heart was already -full; but she was still Alice Mayton -Burton, a lady whose perceptions could not -easily prevent her from following the paths -which she had already laid out for herself, so -she replied:</p> - -<p>“I know they are; but I want to teach you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">171</span> -whatever you want to learn about matters -of more importance.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean that you want to play -school?” asked Budge. “Papa don’t think -school is healthy for children in warm -weather, an’ neither do we.”</p> - -<p>“No, I don’t want to play school, but I -want to explain to you some of the things -which you say you don’t understand, though -people tell you all about them. It makes -Aunt Alice very unhappy to think that her -dear little nephews are troubled about understanding -things when they want so much -to do so. Aunt Alice was once a little bit of -a girl, and had just the same sort of trouble, -and she remembers how uncomfortable it -made her.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” said Budge, changing his position -until he could look into his aunt’s eyes. -“Did you ever have to wonder how big -moons got to be little again, an’ then have -big folks tell you they chopped up the old -moons an’ made stars of them, when you -knew the story must be an awful whopper?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“An’ didn’t you ever wunner what dinner -was goin’ to be made of, an’ den have big -folks just say ‘never mind’?” asked Toddie.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">172</span></p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Mrs. Burton, giving Toddie a -light squeeze. “I’ve been through that, -too.”</p> - -<p>“Why!” said Budge, “you was awful little -once, wasn’t you? Well, did you ever have -to wonder where God stood when he made -the world out of nothing?”</p> - -<p>“An’ did you ever have to fink how the -sweet outsides got made onto date-stones an’ -peach-pits?” asked Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes.”</p> - -<p>“Then tell us all about ’em.”</p> - -<p>“You asked me about dreams this morning, -dear,” said Mrs. Burton, addressing -Budge, “and——”</p> - -<p>“I know I did,” said Budge; “but I’d -rather know about dates an’ peaches now. I -can’t dream any more till I go to bed; but I -can buy dates inside of a quarter of an hour, -if you’ll give me pennies. Oh, say—I’ll tell -you what—you send me to buy some, and -then you can explain about ’em easier. It’ -so much nicer to see how things are than to -have to think about ’em.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t spare you now, dear, to go after -dates. I may not have time to talk to you -when you get back.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we’d manage not to bother you. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">173</span> -think we could find out all about ’em ourselves, -if we had enough of ’em to do it with.”</p> - -<p>“Very well,” said Mrs. Burton, compromising -reluctantly. “I’ll tell you about -something else at -present; then I will -give you some -money to purchase -dates, and you may -study them for -yourselves.”</p> - -<div class="figright" > -<img src="images/p173.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“WONDER HOW BIG MOONS GOT -TO BE LITTLE AGAIN”</div> -</div> - -<p>“All right. Now -tell us what makes -your dog Terry -always run away -whenever we want -him?”</p> - -<p>“Because you -tease him so much, -whenever you -catch him that -you have made -him hate you,” -said Mrs. Burton, -delighted at the double opportunity to -speak distinctly and impart a lesson in -humanity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">174</span></p> - -<p>“Now, you’s gettin’ ready to say ‘Don’t,’” -Toddie complained. “Can’t little boysh lyne -noffin’ dat hazn’t got any mean old ‘Don’t’ -in it?”</p> - -<p>“I hope so, poor little fellow,” said Mrs. -Burton, repenting at once of her success.</p> - -<p>“What would you like to know?”</p> - -<p>Toddie opened his mouth and eyes, hung -his head to one side, meditated for two or -three minutes, and said:</p> - -<p>“I—I—I—I—I wantsh to know whatsh -de reason dat when a little boy hazh been -eatin’ lotsh of buttananoes he can’t eat any -more, when he’s been findin’ out all the -whole time how awful good dey is?”</p> - -<p>“Because his little stomach is full, and -when one’s stomach is full it knows enough -to stop wanting anything.”</p> - -<p>“Then tummuks is gooses. I wiss I was -my tummuk dzust once; I’d show it how -never to get tired of buttananoes.”</p> - -<p>“What I want to know,” said Budge, “is -how we have dreams, ’cause I don’t know -any more about it than I did before, after -what you told me this morning.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a hard thing to explain, dear,” said -Mrs. Burton, as she endeavored to frame a -simple explanation. “We think with our<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">175</span> -brain, and when we sleep our brain sleeps -too, though sometimes it isn’t as sleepy as -the rest of our body; and when it is a little -wakeful it thinks the least bit, but it can’t -think straight, so each thought gets mixed -up with part of some other thought.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the reason I dreamed last night -that a cow was sittin’ in your rockin’-chair -readin’ an -atlas,” said -Budge. “But -what made -me think -about cows -an rockin-chairs -an’ atlases -at all?”</p> - -<div class="figright" > -<img src="images/p175.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“A COW READIN’s AN ATLAS”</div> -</div> - -<p>“That’s one of -the things which -we can’t explain -about dreams,” -said Mrs. Burton. “We seem to remember -something that we have seen at some other -time, and our memories jumble against each -other, when two or three come at a time.”</p> - -<p>“Then,” said Toddie, “some night when -I’ze asleep I’m goin’ to fink about buttananoes -an’ red-herrin’ an’ ice-cream an’our<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">176</span>grass -an’ hard-boiled eggs an’ candy an’ fried -hominy, an’ won’t I hazh a lovaly little tea-party -in bed, if all my finks djumbles togevver? -An’ I won’t djeam about any uvver -little boy wif me at all.”</p> - -<p>“When I dream about dear little dead -brother Phillie,” said Budge, “don’t I do -anythin’ but just remember him? Don’t he -come down from heaven and see me in my -bed?”</p> - -<p>“I imagine not, dear,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Then what makes him look so white and -sunny, an’ smile so sweet, an’ flap his dear -little white wings close to my face so I can -touch ’em?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose it is because—because you -have thought of him looking that way,” said -Mrs. Burton, drawing Budge closer to her side -to hide the wistfulness of his face from her -eyes. “You’ve seen pictures of angels all in -white, with graceful wings, and you’ve -thought of little brother Phil looking that -way.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Budge, burying his -face in his aunt’s robe and bursting into tears. -“I wish I hadn’t tried to find out about -dreamin’! I don’t ever want to learn about -anything else. If dear little angel Phillie is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">177</span> -only a piece of a think in my brain when I’m -asleep, then there isn’t nothin’ that’s anythin’. -I always thought it was funny that he -began to go away as soon as I began to wake -up.”</p> - -<p>“Cows don’t go ’way when I wakes up -from dreamin’ about ’em,” said Toddie. “I -’members ’em all day, an’ sees ’em whenever -I don’t want to.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton could not repress a smile, -while Budge raised his head, and said:</p> - -<p>“Well, I suppose it’s no good to be unhappy. -We’d better have fun than think -about things that’s awful sad. Can’t you -think of some new kind of a play for us?”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid I can’t, at this minute,” said -Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Suppose you play store,” said Budge, -“an’ keep lots of nice things, like cakes an’ -candies, an’ let us buy ’em of you for pins. Oh, -yes! an’ you give us the pins to buy ’em with.</p> - -<p>“An’ do it ’fore it getsh dinner-time,” said -Toddie, “so de fings you sell us can get out of -the way in time, so we can get empty to get -fullded up at dinner.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t do that,” said Mrs. Burton, “because -it would give you an excuse to eat between -meals.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">178</span></p> - -<p>“Then tell us stories,” Budge suggested; -“no, make a menagerie for us. Oh, no!—I’ll -tell you what, make believe it was our house, -an’ you was comin’ to visit us, an’ we’ll bring -you up cake an’ coffee to rest yourself with.”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid I smell some little mice!” said -Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“In the mouse-twap?” inquired Toddie. -“Oh! get ’em for ush to play wif!”</p> - -<p>“Tell you what,” said Budge. “You can -tell us that funny story about the man that -had dogs for doctors.”</p> - -<p>“Dogs for doctors?” echoed Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Budge; “don’t you know? -He’s in the Bible book.”</p> - -<p>“He may be,” said Mrs. Burton, rapidly -passing in review such biblical dogs as she -could remember, “but I don’t know where.”</p> - -<p>“Why, don’t you know?” continued Budge. -“He was that man that was so poor that he -had to eat crumbs, an’ papa don’t think he -had any syrup with ’em, either, like we do -when the cook gives us the crumbs out of the -bread-box.”</p> - -<p>“Is it possible you mean Lazarus?” exclaimed -Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Yesh,” said Toddie, “dat was him. -’Twasn’t de Lazharus that began to live again<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">179</span> -after he was buried, though. He didn’t have -no dogs.”</p> - -<p>“The poor man you mean,” said Mrs. -Burton, “was very sick and very poor, so -that he had to be fed with the scraps -that a rich man named Dives left at his -own table. But the Lord saw him and knew -what troubles he was having, and determined -that the poor man should be happy -after he died, to make up for the trouble -he had when he was alive. So when poor -Lazarus died the Lord took him right into -heaven.”</p> - -<p>“Nobody has to eat table-scraps there, do -they?” said Budge. “But say, Aunt Alice, -what do they do in heaven with things that’ -left at the table? Isn’t it wicked to throw -them away up there?”</p> - -<p>“Should fink they’d cut a hole in the floor -of hebben an’ grop de scraps down froo, for -poor people,” said Toddie. “When I gets to -be an andzel, an’ gets done my dinners, I’m -goin’ to get up on the wall an’ froe the rest -over down into the world. Only I must be -careful not to grop off myself an’ tumble into -the wylde again.”</p> - -<p>“What I want to know is,” said Budge, -“how do they get things to eat for the angels?<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">180</span> -Do they have grocery stores, an’ butcher -shops, an’ milk wagons up there?”</p> - -<p>“Gracious, no!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, -her fingers instinctively moving toward her -ears. “The Lord provides food in some way -that we don’t understand. But this poor -Lazarus, after he became an angel, looked -out of heaven, and saw, away off in the bad -place, the rich man whose leavings he used to -eat, for the rich man had died too. And the -rich man begged Abraham——”</p> - -<p>“I fought his name was Lazharus?” said -Toddie.</p> - -<p>“The poor man was named Lazarus,” said -Mrs. Burton; “but when he reached heaven -he found good old Abraham there, and Abraham -took care of him. And the rich man -begged Abraham to send Lazarus just to dip -his finger in water and rub it on the rich man’ -lips, for he was so thirsty.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t he get a drink for himself?” -asked Budge. “Can’t rich people wait on -themselves even when they die?”</p> - -<p>“There is no water in the bad place,” said -Mrs. Burton. “That was why he was so -thirsty.”</p> - -<p>“Goodnesh!” said Toddie. “How does -little boysh make mud-pies there?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">181</span></p> - -<p>“I hope no little boys ever go there,” said -Mrs. Burton. “But Abraham said: ‘Not so, my -friend. You had your good things while you -were alive; -now you -must get -along without -anything. -But -poor Lazarus must -be made happy, for -he had very bad -times when he was -alive!’”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p181.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“HOW DO THEY GET THINGS TO - EAT FOR THE ANGELS?”</div> -</div> - -<p>“Is that the way -it is?” Budge asked. -“Then I guess Abraham -will have to do -lots for me when I -die, for I have a -good many bad -times nowadays. -Then what did the bothered old rich man -do about it?”</p> - -<p>“He told Abraham that he had some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">182</span> -brothers that were alive yet, and he wished -that an angel might be sent to tell them to be -good, so as never to have to come to that -dreadful place. But Abraham told him it -wouldn’t be of any use to send an angel. They -had good books and preachers that would tell -them what to do.”</p> - -<p>“An’ did he have to go on bein’ thirsty forever?” -asked Budge.</p> - -<p>“I suppose so,” said Mrs. Burton, with a -shudder, and realizing why it was that the -doctrine of eternal torment was not more industriously -preached from the pulpit.</p> - -<p>“G’won!” remarked Toddie.</p> - -<p>“That is all there is of it,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Why you didn’t tell us a fing about the -doctor-dogs,” complained Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Oh, those are not nice to tell about,” said -Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“I fink deysh dzust de nicest fing about de -story. Whenever I getsh a sore finger, I -goes an’ sits down by the back door an’ calls -Terry. But I don’t fink Terry’s a very good -doctor, ’cauzh he don’t come when I wants -him. One of dese days when I getsh lotsh of -soresh, like Jimmy McNally when he had the -smallpox, an’ Terry will want to see me awful,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">183</span> -I won’t let him see me a bit. Tell us ’nother -story.”</p> - -<p>The sound of harp and fiddle came to Mrs. -Burton’s rescue, and the boys hurried to the -front of the house to behold two very small -Italians, who were doing their utmost to teach -adults the value of peace and quietness.</p> - -<p>Budge and Toddie listened to the whole -repertoire of the couple, encored every selection, -bestowed in payment the pennies their -aunt gave them for the purpose, and proposed -to follow the musicians on their route -through the town, but their aunt stopped -them.</p> - -<p>“What do those little fellows do with all -the pennies they get?” asked Budge. “Do -they buy candy with them?”</p> - -<p>“What lotsh of candy they must have!” -exclaimed Toddie.</p> - -<p>“I suppose they take their money home to -their papas and mammas,” said Mrs. Burton, -“for they are very poor people. Perhaps the -parents of those two little boys are sick at -this very moment, and are looking anxiously -for the return of their little boys who are so -far away.” (Mem. The first report of the -Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to -Children had not been published at that time.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">184</span></p> - -<p>“An’ do the little boys make all that music -dzust ’cauzh dey love somebody?” asked -Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear.”</p> - -<p>“But folks always gets paid by the Lord -for doin’ things for other folks, don’t they, -Aunt Alice?” asked Budge.</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear old fellow,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“One fing nysh about dem little boysh,” -said Toddie, “ish dat, when their papas an’ -mammas is sick, dere isn’t anybody to tell -’em not to get deir shoes dusty. Dzust see -how dey walksh along in the middle of the -street, kickin’ up de dust, an’ nobody to say -‘Don’t!’s to ’em, an’ nobody skrong enough to -spynk ’em for it when dey gets home. I wiss -I was a musicker.”</p> - -<p>“Well, they’re gone now,” sighed Budge, -“’an we want something else to make us -happy. Say, Aunt Alice, why don’t you -have a horse an’ carriage like mamma, so that -you could take us out ridin’?”</p> - -<p>“Uncle Harry isn’t rich enough to keep -good horses and carriages,” said Mrs. Burton, -“and he doesn’t like poor ones.”</p> - -<p>“Why, how much does good horses cost? -I think Mr. Blanner’s horses are pretty good,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">185</span> -but papa says they’d be dear at ten cents -apiece.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose a good horse costs three or -four hundred dollars,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“My—y—y!” exclaimed Budge. “That’ -more money than it costs our Sunday-school -to pay for a missionary! Which is goodest—horses -or missionaries?”</p> - -<p>“Missionaries, of course,” said Mrs. Burton, -leaving the piazza, with a dim impression -that she had, during the morning, answered -a great many questions with very slight benefit -to any one.</p> - -<p>The boys cared for themselves until luncheon, -and then returned with rather less appetite -than was peculiar to them. The new -siege of questioning which their aunt had -anticipated was postponed; each boy’s mind -seemed to be in the reflective, rather than the -receptive, attitude.</p> - -<p>After luncheon they hastily disappeared, -without any attempt on the part of their -aunt to prevent them, for Mrs. Burton had -arranged to make, that afternoon, one of the -most important of calls. Mrs. Congressman -Weathervane had been visiting a friend at -Hillcrest, and Mrs. Weathervane’s mother -and Mrs. Burton’s grandmother had been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">186</span> -schoolday acquaintances, and Mrs. Mayton -would have come from the city to pay her -respects to the descendant of the old friend -of the family, but some of the infirmities of -age prevented. And Mrs. Mayton instructed -her daughter to call upon Mrs. Weathervane -as a representative of the family, -and Mrs. Burton would have lost her right -hand or her new spring hat rather than -disregard such a command. So she had -hired a carriage and devised an irreproachable -toilet, and recalled and tabulated everything -she had ever heard about the family of -the lady who had become Mrs. Weathervane.</p> - -<p>The carriage arrived, and no brace of boys -dashed from unexpected lurking-places to -claim a portion of its seats. The carriage -rolled off in safety, and Mrs. Burton fell into -an impromptu service of praise to the kind -power which often blesses us when we least -expect to be blessed. The carriage reached -the house and the terrible Mrs. Weathervane -turned out to be one of the most charming -of young women, before whose sunny temperament -Mrs. Burton’s assumed dignity -melted like the snow of May, and her store -of venerable family anecdotes disappeared<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">187</span> -at once from the memory which had guarded -them jealously.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p187.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">THE SQUEAK OF THE VIOLIN AND THE WAIL OF A BADLY -PLAYED WIND INSTRUMENT</div> -</div> - -<p>But joy is never unalloyed in this wicked -world. While the couple were chatting -merrily, and Mrs. Weathervane was insisting -that Mrs. Burton should visit her at Washington -during the session, and Mrs. Burton -was trying to persuade Mrs. Weathervane -to accept the Burton hospitality for at least -a day or two, there arose under the window -the squeak of violin and the wail of some -badly played wind instrument.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">188</span></p> - -<p>“Those wretched little Italians!” exclaimed -Mrs. Weathervane. “For which -of our sins, I wonder, are we condemned to -listen to them?”</p> - -<p>“If they come as punishment for sins,” -said Mrs. Burton, “how wicked I must be, -for this is my second experience with them -to-day. They were at my house for half an -hour this morning.”</p> - -<p>“And you are sweet of disposition this -afternoon?” said Mrs. Weathervane. “Oh! -I must spend a day or two with you, and -take some lessons in saintly patience.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton inclined her head in acknowledgment, -and Mrs. Weathervane approached -some other topic, when the violin under the -window gave vent to a series of terrible -groans of anguish, while the wind-instrument, -apparently a flute, shrieked discordantly in -three notes an octave apart from each other.</p> - -<p>“An attempt to execute something upon -one string, I suppose,” said Mrs. Weathervane, -“and the execution is successful only -as criminal executions are. What should be -done to the little wretches? And yet one -can’t help giving them money; did you see -the story of their terrible life in the newspapers -this week? It seems they are hired<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">189</span> -in Italy by dreadful men, who bring them -here, torture them into learning their wretched -tunes and then send them out to play and -beg. They are terribly whipped if they do -not bring home a certain sum of money every -day.”</p> - -<p>“The poor little things!” exclaimed Mrs. -Burton. “I’m glad that I gave them a good -many pennies this morning. I must have -had an intuition of their fate, for I’m certain -I had no musical enjoyment to be paid for. -They can hardly be as old as some children -in nurseries, either.”</p> - -<p>“No, indeed,” said Mrs. Weathervane, -going to the window. “The elder of these -two boys cannot be more than six, while the -younger may be four; and the older looks so -sad, so introspective! The younger—poor -little fellow—has only expectancy in his -countenance. He is looking up to all the -windows for the pennies that he expects to be -thrown to him. He has probably not had so -hard an experience as his companion, for his -instrument is only a common whistle. Think -of the frauds which their masters practise -upon the tender-hearted! The idea of sending -out a child with a common whistle on the -pretense of making music.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">190</span></p> - -<p>“It’s perfectly dreadful!” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Then to think what the parents of some -of these children may have been,” continued -Mrs. Weathervane. “The older of this couple -has really many noble lines in his face, -did not the long-drawn agony of separation -and abuse inscribe deeper ones there. The -smaller one, vilely dirty as he is, has a very -picturesque head and figure. He is smiling -now. Oh! what wouldn’t I give if some -artist could catch his expression for me!”</p> - -<p>“Really,” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, approaching -the window; “I hadn’t noticed so -many charms about them, but I shall be glad -to have them pointed out to me. Mercy!”</p> - -<p>“What can be the matter?” murmured -Mrs. Weathervane, as her visitor fell back -from the window and dropped into a chair.</p> - -<p>“They’re my nephews!” gasped Mrs. Burton. -“Oh, what shall I do with those dreadful -children?”</p> - -<p>“Stolen from home?” inquired Mrs. Weathervane, -discerning a romance within reaching -distance.</p> - -<p>“No—oh, no!” said Mrs. Burton. “I left -them at home an hour or two ago. I can’t -imagine why they should have taken this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">191</span> -freak, unless because boys will be dreadful, -no matter what is done for them. I suppose,” -she continued, hurrying to the window, -“that Budge has his uncle’s violin, -which I think is fully as dear to its owner as -his wife. Yes, he has it! Boys!” exclaimed -Mrs. Burton, appearing at the piazza-door, -“go directly home.”</p> - -<p>At the sound of their aunt’s voice the boys -looked up with glad smiles of recognition, -while Budge exclaimed, “Oh, Aunt Alice! -we’ve played at lots of houses, an’ we’ve got -nearly a dollar. We told everybody we was -playin’ to help Uncle Harry buy a horse an’ -carriage!”</p> - -<p>“Go home!” repeated Mrs. Burton. “Go -by the back road, too. I am going myself -right away. Be sure that I find you there -when I return.”</p> - -<p>Slowly and sadly the amateurs submitted -to the fateful decree and moved toward -home, while Mrs Weathervane bestowed a -sympathetic kiss upon her troubled visitor. -A great many people came to doors and windows -to see the couple pass by, but what -was public interest to a couple whose motive -had been rudely destroyed? So dejected -was their mien as they approached the Bur<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">192</span>ton -mansion, and so listless was their step, -that the dog Terry, who was on guard at the -front door, gave only an inquiring wag of his -tail, and did not change his position as the -boys passed over the door-mat upon which he -lay. A moment or two later a carriage dashed -up to the door, and Mrs. Burton descended, -hurried into the house, and exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“How dared you to do such a vulgar, -disgraceful thing?”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Budge, “that’s another of the -things we don’t understand much about, -even after we’re told. We thought we could -be just as good to you an’ Uncle Harry as -dirty little Italian boys is to their papas an’ -mammas, an’ when we tried it, you made us -go straight home.”</p> - -<p>“Dzust the same fing as saying ‘Don’t’s at -us,” Toddie complained.</p> - -<p>“An’ after we got a whole lot of money, -too!” said Budge. “Papa says some big -men don’t get more than a dollar in a day, -an’ we got most a dollar in a little bit of a -while. It’s partly because we was honest, -though, I guess, an’ told the troof everywhere—we -told everybody that we wanted -the money to help Uncle Harry to buy a -horse an’ carriage.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">193</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p193.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">UNCLE HARRY’S FRANTIC EXAMINATION OF HIS BELOVED -VIOLIN</div> -</div> - - -<p>Uncle Harry himself, moved by his aching -tooth, had returned from New York in time -to hear, unperceived, the last portion of -Budge’s explanation, after which he heard -the remainder of the story from his wife. -His expression -as he listened, -his glance at his -nephews, and -his frantic examination -of his beloved violin, gave the -boys to understand how utter is sometimes -the failure of good intentions to make happy -those persons for whose benefit they are exerted. -The somber reflections of the musi<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">194</span>cians -were unchanged by anything which occurred -during the remainder of the afternoon, -and when they retired, it was with a full but -sorrowful heart that Budge prayed: “Dear -Lord, I’ve been scolded again for tryin’ to do -somethin’ real nice for other people. I -guess it makes me know something about -how the good prophets felt. Please don’t -let me have to be killed for doin’ good. -Amen.”</p> - -<p>And Toddie prayed: “Dee Lord, dere’ -some more ‘Don’t’s been said to me, an’ I -fink Aunt Alice ought to be ’hamed of herself. -Won’t you please make her so? Amen.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">195</span></p> - - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</h2> - - -<p>“That,” murmured Mrs. Burton on Tuesday -morning, as she prepared to descend -to the breakfast table, “promises a pleasant -day.” Then, in a louder tone, she said to -her husband: “Harry, just listen to those -dear children singing! Aren’t their voices -sweet?”</p> - -<p>“’Sing before breakfast, cry before dark,’” -quoted Mr. Burton, quoting a popular saying.</p> - -<p>“For shame!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. -“And when they’re singing sweet little child-hymns -too! There! they’re starting another.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton took the graceful listening -attitude peculiar to ladies, her husband stood -in the military position of “attention,” and -both heard the following morceau:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">“I want—to be—an an—gel</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An’ with—the an—gels stand;</div> - <div class="verse">A crown—upon—my fore—head</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A hop—per in—my hand.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>“Hopper—h’m!” said Mr. Burton. “They -refer to the hind-leg of a grasshopper, my -dear. The angelic life would be indeed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">196</span> -dreary to those youngsters without some such -original plaything.”</p> - -<p>“You ought to be ashamed of yourself!” -said the lady. “I hope you won’t suggest -any such notion to them. I don’t believe -they would have had so many peculiar views -about the next world if some one hadn’t exerted -an improper influence—you and your -brother-in-law Tom Lawrence, their father, -for instance.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Mr. Burton, “if they are so -susceptible to the influence of others, I suppose -you have them about reformed in most -respects? You have had entire charge of -them for seven days.”</p> - -<p>“Six—only six,” corrected Mrs. Burton, -hastily. “I wish——”</p> - -<p>“That there really was one day less for -them to remain?” said Mr. Burton, looking -his wife full in the face.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton dropped her eyes quickly, trying -first to turn in search of something she -did not want, but her husband knew his -wife’s nature too much to be misled by this -ruse. Putting as much tenderness in his -voice as he knew how to do, he said:</p> - -<p>“Little girl, tell the truth. Haven’t you -learned more than they?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">197</span></p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton still kept her eyes out of range -of those of her husband, but replied with -composure:</p> - -<p>“I have learned a great deal, as one must -when brought in contact with a new subject, -but the acquired knowledge of an adult is the -source of new power, and of much and more -knowledge to be imparted.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton contemplated his wife with -curiosity which soon made place for undisguised -admiration, but when he turned his -face again to the mirror he could see in its -expression nothing but pity. Meanwhile the -cessation of the children’s songs, the confused -patter of little feet on the stair, and an agonized -yelp from the dog Terry, indicated that -the boys had left their chamber. Then the -Burtons heard their own door-knob turned, -an indignant kick which followed the discovery -that the door was bolted, and then a -shout of:</p> - -<p>“Say!”</p> - -<p>“What’s wanted?” asked Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“I want to come in,” answered Budge.</p> - -<p>“Me, too,” piped Toddie.</p> - -<p>“What for?”</p> - -<p>A moment of silence ensued, and then -Budge answered:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">198</span></p> - -<p>“Why, because we do. I should think -anybody would understand that without -asking.”</p> - -<p>“Well, we bolted the door because we -didn’t want any one to come in. I should -think anybody could understand that without -asking.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! Well, I’ll tell you what we want to -come in for; we want to tell you something -perfectly lovely.”</p> - -<p>“Do you wish to listen to an original romance, -my dear?” asked Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” replied the lady.</p> - -<p>“And break your resolution to teach them -that our chamber is not a general ante-breakfast -gathering-place?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, they won’t infer anything of the kind -if we admit them just once,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“H’m—we won’t count this time,” quoted -Mr. Burton from “Rip Van Winkle,” with a -suggestive smile, which was instantly banished -by a frown from his wife. Mr. Burton -dutifully drew the bolt and both boys tumbled -into the room.</p> - -<p>“We were both leaning against the door,” -explained Budge; “that’s why we dropped -over each other. We knew you’d let us in.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">199</span></p> - -<p>Mr. Burton gave his wife another peculiar -look which the lady affected not to notice as -she asked:</p> - -<p>“What is the lovely thing you were going -to tell us?”</p> - -<p>“Why——”</p> - -<p>“I—I—I—I—I——” interrupted Toddie.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p199.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">BOTH BOYS TUMBLED INTO THE ROOM</div> -</div> - -<p>“Tod, be still!” commanded Budge. “I -began it first.”</p> - -<p>“But I finked it fyst,” expostulated Toddie.</p> - -<p>[Ilustration: BOTH BOYS TUMBLED INTO THE ROOM]</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you what, then, Tod—I’ll tell ’em -about it an’ you worry ’em to do it. That<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">200</span>’ -fair, isn’t it?” and then, without awaiting the -result of Toddie’s deliberations Budge continued:</p> - -<p>“What we want is a picnic. Papa’ll lend -you the carriage, and we’ll get in it and go up -to the Falls, and have a lovely day of it. -That’s just the nicest place I ever saw. You -can swing us in the big swing there, an’ take -us in swimmin’, an’ row us in a boat, an’ buy -us lemonade at the hotel, an’ we can throw -stones in the water, an’ paddle, an’ catch fish, -an’ run races. All these other things—not -the first ones I told you about—we can do for -ourselves, an’ you an’ Aunt Alice can lie on -the grass under the trees, an’ smoke cigars, -an’ be happy, ’cause you’ve made us happy. -That’s the way papa does. An’ you must -take lots of lunch along, ’cause little boys gets -pretty empty-feeling when they go to such -places. Oh, yes—an’ you can throw Terry in -the water an’ make him swim after sticks—I’ll -bet he can’t get away there without our -catching him.”</p> - -<p>“But de lunch has got to be lots,” said -Toddie, “else dere won’t be any fun—not one -bittie. An’ you’ll take us, won’t you? We’ze -been dreadful good all mornin’. I’ze singed -Sunday songs until my froat’s all sandy.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">201</span></p> - -<p>“All what?” asked Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Sandy,” replied Toddie. “Don’t you -know how funny it feels to rub sand between -your hands when you hazhn’t got djuvs on? -If you don’t, I’ll go bring you in some.”</p> - -<p>“Your aunt will take your word for it,” -said Mr. Burton, as his wife did not respond.</p> - -<p>“An’ we’ll be awful tired after the picnic’ -done,” said Budge, “an’ you can hold us in -your arms in the carriage all the way back. -That’s the way papa an’ mamma does.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” said Mr. Burton. “That -will be an inducement. And it explains why -your papa can make a new coat look old -quicker than any other man of my acquaintance.”</p> - -<p>“And why your mother always has a skirt -to clean or mend,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“It’s all told now, Tod,” said Budge. -“Why don’t you worry ’em?”</p> - -<p>Toddie clasped his aunt’s skirts affectionately, -and said, in most appealing tones:</p> - -<p>“You’e a-goin’ to, izhn’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Papa says it was always easier for you to -say ‘yes’s than ‘no,’” remarked Budge; “an’——”</p> - -<p>“A fine reputation your brother-in-law -gives you,” remarked Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">202</span></p> - -<p>“An’ I once heard a lady say she thought -you said ‘yes’s pretty easy,” continued Budge, -addressing his aunt. “I thought she meant -something that you said to Uncle Harry, by -the way she talked.” Mrs. Burton flushed -angrily, but Budge continued: “An’ you -ought to be as good to us as you are to him, -’cause he’s a big man, an’ don’t have to be -helped every time he wants any fun. Besides, -you’ve got him all the time, but you -can only have us four days longer—three -days besides to-day.”</p> - -<p>“Another paraphrase of Scripture—application -perfect,” remarked Mr. Burton to his -wife. “Shall we go?”</p> - -<p>“Can you?” asked the lady, suddenly -grown radiant.</p> - -<p>“I suppose—oh, I know I can,” replied -Mr. Burton, assuming that the anticipation -of a day in his society was the sole cause of -his wife’s joy.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton knew his thoughts but failed -to correct them, guilty though she felt at her -neglect. That she would be practically relieved -of responsibility during the day was -the cause of her happiness. The children had -always preferred the companionship of their -uncle to that of his wife; she had at times<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">203</span> -been secretly mortified and offended at this -preference, but in the week just ending she -had entirely lost this feeling.</p> - -<p>The announcement that their host and -hostess thought favorably of the proposition -was received by the boys with lively manifestations -of delight, and for two hours no other -two persons in the state were more busy than -Budge and Toddie. Even their appetites -gave way under the excitement and their -stay at the breakfast table was of short -duration.</p> - -<p>Budge visited his father and arranged for -the use of the carriage while Toddie superintended -the packing of the eatables until the -cook banished him from the kitchen, and protected -herself from subsequent invasion by -locking the door. Then both boys suggested -enough extra luggage to fill a wagon and volunteered -instructions at a rate which was not -retarded by the neglect with which their -commands were received.</p> - -<p>When the last package was taken into the -carriage the dog Terry was helped to a seat -and the party started. They had been <i>en -route</i> about five minutes, when Budge remarked:</p> - -<p>“Uncle Harry, I want a drink.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">204</span></p> - -<p>“Uncle Harry,” said Toddie, “I’m ’most -starved to deff. I didn’t have hardly any -brekspup.”</p> - -<p>“Why not?” asked Mrs. Burton. “Wasn’t -there plenty on the table?”</p> - -<p>“I doe know,” Toddie replied, looking -inquiringly into his aunt’s face as if to refresh -his memory.</p> - -<p>“Weren’t you hungry at breakfast-time?” -continued Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“I—I—I—I—why, yesh—I mean my tummuk -wazh hungry, but my toofs wasn’t—dat’ -de way it wazh. An’ I guesh what I’d -better have now is sardines an’ pie.”</p> - -<p>“Ethereal creature!” exclaimed Mr. Burton, -giving Toddie a cracker.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t remember that I was hungry,” -said Budge, “but Tod’s talking about it reminds -me. An’ I’d like that drink, too.”</p> - -<p>Budge also received some crackers and the -carriage was stopped near a well. The descent -of Mr. Burton from the carriage compelled -the dog Terry to change his base, -which operation was so impeded by skillful -efforts on the part of the boys that Terry -suddenly leaped to the ground and started -for home, followed by a remonstrance from -Toddie, while Budge remarked:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" > -<img src="images/p204.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">TODDIE DRANK ABOUT TWO SWALLOWS OF WATER</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">205</span></p> - -<p>“He won’t ever go to heaven, Terry won’t. -He don’t like to make people happy.”</p> - -<p>Away went the carriage again and it had -reached the extreme outskirts of the town -when Toddie said:</p> - -<p>“I’m awful fursty.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you drink when Budge did?” -demanded Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“’Cauzh I didn’t want to,” replied Toddie. -“I izhn’t like old choo-choos dat getsh filled -up dzust ’cause dey comes to a watering -playzh. I only likesh to dwink when I’zhe -fursty; an’ I’zhe fursty now.”</p> - -<p>Another well was approached; Toddie -drank about two swallows of water, and replied -to his aunt’s declaration that he couldn’t -have been thirsty at all by the explanation:</p> - -<p>“I doezn’t hold very much. I izhn’t like -de horsesh, dat can dwink whole pails full of -water, an’ den hazh room for gwash. But -I guesh I’zhe got room for some cake.”</p> - -<p>“Then I’ll give you another cracker,” said -Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Don’t want one,” said Toddie. “Cwacker -couldn’t push itself down as easy as cake.”</p> - -<p>“I do believe,” said Mrs. Burton, “that the -child’s animal nature has taken complete -possession of him. Eating and mischief has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">206</span> -been the whole of his life during the week, yet -he used to be so sweetly fanciful and sensitive.”</p> - -<p>“Children’s wits are like the wind, my -dear,” said Mr. Burton. “’Thou canst not -tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth’; -you set your sails for it, and behold it isn’t -there, but when you’re not expecting it, -down comes the gale.”</p> - -<p>“A gale!” echoed Budge. “That’s what -we’re goin’ to have to-day.”</p> - -<p>“Izn’t neiver,” said Toddie. “Goin’ to -hazh a picnic.”</p> - -<p>“Well, gales and picnics is the same thing,” -said Budge.</p> - -<p>“No, dey izhn’t. Galesh is kind o’s rough, -but picnics is nysh. Galesh is like rough -little boysh, like you, but picnics is nysh, -like dear little sister-babies.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear,” sighed Budge, “we haven’t -seen that baby for two days. Let’s go right -back an’ look at her.”</p> - -<p>“Budge, Budge!” remonstrated Mrs. Burton; -“try to be content with what you have, -and don’t always be longing for something -else. You can go to see her when we return.”</p> - -<p>“I can see her wivout goin’ back,” said -Toddie. “I can see anybody I wantsh to, -dzust whenever I pleash.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">207</span></p> - -<p>“Don’t be silly, Toddie,” remonstrated -Mrs. Burton, in spite of a warning nudge -from her husband.</p> - -<p>“How do you see them, Toddie?” asked -Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Why, I duzst finks a fink about ’em, an’ -den dey comezh wight inshide of my eyezh, -an’ I sees ’em. I see lotsh of peoples dat-a-way. -I sees AbrahammynIsaac, an’ Bliaff, an’ little -Dave, an’ de Hebrew children, an’ Georgie -Washitton hatchetin’ down his papa’s tree, -whenever I finks about ’em. Oh, dere goezh -a wabbit! Letsh stop an’ catch him.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, let him go,” said Mr. Burton. -“Perhaps he’s going home to dinner, and his -family are all waiting at the table for him.”</p> - -<p>“Gwacious!” said Toddie, opening his -eyes very wide and keeping silence for at -least two minutes. Then he said, “I saw a -wabbit family eatin’ dinner once. Dey had -a little bittie of a table, an’ little bitsh of -chairzh, an’ de papa wabbit ashkted a blessin’ -an’——”</p> - -<p>“Toddie, Toddie, don’t tell fibs!” said -Mrs. Burton, as she again felt herself touched -by her husband’s elbow.</p> - -<p>“Izn’t tellin’ fibs! An’ a little boy wabbit -said, ‘Papa, I wantsh a dwink.’s So his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">208</span> -papa took a little tumbler, dzust about as big -as a fimble, an’ held a big leaf up sideways -so de dew would run off into de tumbler, an’ -he gived it to the little boy wabbit. An’ -when dey got done dinner, de mamma wabbit -gave each of de little boy wabbits a strawberry -to suck. An’ none of ’em had to be -told to put on de napkins, ’cause dey only -had one dwess, and dat was a color dat didn’t -show dyte, like mamma says I ought to -have.”</p> - -<p>“Were all the little rabbits boys—no girls -at all?” asked Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Yesh, dere was a little sister baby, but -she wazh too little to come to de table, so de -mamma wabbit held her in her lap and played -‘Little Pig Went to Market’s on her little bits -of toes. Den de sister-baby got tired, an’ de -mamma wabbit wocked it in a wockin’-tsair, -an’ sung to it ’bout——</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">“Papa gone a-huntin’,</div> - <div class="verse">To get a little wabbit-skin</div> - <div class="verse">To wap a baby buntin—baby wabbit—in.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Den de baby-wabbit got tired of its mamma, -an’ got down an’ cwept around on itsh handsh -an’ kneezh, an’ didn’t dyty its djess at all or -make its kneezh sore a bit, ’cauzh dere wazh -only nice leaves an’ pitty fynes for it to cweep<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">209</span> -on, instead of ugly old carpets. Say, do you -know I was a wabbit once?”</p> - -<p>“Why, no,” said Mr. Burton. “Do tell -us about it.”</p> - -<p>“Harry!” remonstrated Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“He believes it, my dear,” explained her -husband. “He has his ’weetly fanciful’ -mood on now, that you were moaning for a -few moments ago. Go on, Toddie.”</p> - -<p>“Why, I was a wabbit, and lived all by -myself in a hole froo de bottom of a tree. An’ -sometimes uvver wabbits came to see me, an’ -we all sat down on our foots an’ bowled our -ears to each uvver. Dogsh came to see me -sometimes, but I dzust let dem wing de bell -an’ didn’t ask ’em to come in. An’ den a -dzentleman came an’ asked me to help him -make little boysh laugh in a circus. So I -runned around de ring, and picked up men -an’ fings wif my tchunk——”</p> - -<p>“Rabbits don’t have trunks, Toddie.”</p> - -<p>“I know it, but I tyned into a ephalant. -An’ I got lotsh of hay an’ fings wif my tchunk, -an’ folks gave me lotsh of cakes an’ candies to -see me eat ’em wif my tchunk, an’ I was so -big I could hold ’em all, an’ I didn’t have any -mamma ephalant to say, ‘Too muts cake an’ -candy will make you sick, Toddie.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">210</span>’”</p> - -<p>“Anything more?” asked Mr. Burton. -“We can stand almost anything.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I gotted to be a lion den, and had -to roar so much dat my froat gotted all -sandy, so I got turned into a little boy again, -an’ I was awful hungry. I guesh ’twas djust -now.”</p> - -<p>“Can you resist that hint, my dear?” Mr. -Burton asked. His wife, with a sigh, opened -a basket and gave a piece of cake to Toddie, -who remarked:</p> - -<p>“Dish izh to pay me for tellin’ de troof -about all dem fings, izhn’t it?”</p> - -<p>About this time the party reached Little -Falls, and Budge said:</p> - -<p>“I suppose lunch’ll be the first thing?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Mrs. Burton; “we won’t lunch -until our usual hour.”</p> - -<p>“But you can have all the drinks you -want,” said Mr. Burton. “There’s a whole -river full of water.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t feel as if I’d ever be thirsty -again,” said Budge. “But I wish Terry was -here to swim in after sticks. You do it, -won’t you? You play dog an’ I’ll play -Uncle Harry an’ throw things to you.”</p> - -<p>By this time Toddie had sought the water’ -edge, and, taking a stooping position, looked<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">211</span> -for fish. The shelving stone upon which he -stood was somewhat moist and Toddie was -so intent on his search that he stooped forward -considerably. Suddenly there was -heard a splash and a howl, and Toddie was -seen in the river, in water knee-deep. To -rescue him was the work of only a moment, -but to stop his tears was no such easy matter.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p211.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">SUDDENLY HEARD A SPLASH AND A HOWL</div> -</div> - -<p>“What is to be done?” exclaimed Mrs. -Burton.</p> - -<p>“Take off his shoes and stockings and let -him run barefooted,” said Mr. Burton. “The -day is warm, so he can’t catch cold.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">212</span></p> - -<p>“Oh!” exclaimed Toddie, “Izh I goin’ to -be barefoot all day? I wishes dish river -wazh wight by our housh; I’d tumble in every -day. Budgie, Budgie, if you wantsh fun -dzust go tumble splash into de river.”</p> - -<p>But Budge had strolled away, and was -tugging at some moss in a crevice of rock. -Here his aunt found him, and he explained, -toiling as he talked:</p> - -<p>“I thought—this—would make such—a—lovely -cushion for—for you to sit on.”</p> - -<p>The last word and the final tug were concurrent -and the moss gave way; so did Budge, -and with a terrific scream, for a little snake -had made his home under the moss, and was -expressing indignation, in his own way, at -being disturbed.</p> - -<p>“I won’t never do nothin’ for nobody -again,” screamed Budge. “I’ll see that -snake every time I shut my eyes, now.”</p> - -<p>“You poor, dear little fellow,” said Mrs. -Burton, caressing him tenderly. “I wish -Aunt Alice could do something to make you -forget it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, you can’t, unless—unless, maybe, a -piece of pie would do it. It wouldn’t do any -harm to try, I s’pose?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton hurried to unpack a pie, as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">213</span> -her husband remarked that Budge was born -to be a diplomatist. Looking suspiciously -about, for fear that Toddie might espy -Budge’s prescription, and devise some ailment -which it would exactly suit, she discovered -that Toddie was out of sight.</p> - -<p>“Oh, he’s gone, Harry! Hurry and find -him. Perhaps he’s gone above the Falls. I -do wish we had gone further down the river!”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton took a lively double-quick up -and along the bank of the river, but could see -nothing of his nephew.</p> - -<p>After two or three minutes, however, above -the roar of the falling water, he heard a shrill -voice singing over and over again a single line -of an old Methodist hymn,</p> - -<p> -“Roar—ing riv—ers, migh—ty fountains!”<br /> -</p> - -<p>Following the sound, he peered over the -bank, and saw Toddie in a sunny nook of -rocks just below the Falls, and in a very -ecstasy of delight. He would hold out his -hands as if to take the fall itself; then he -would throw back his head and render his line -with more force; then he would dance frantically -about, as if his little body was unable to -comfortably contain the great soul within it.</p> - -<p>Suddenly coming up the sands below the -cliff appeared Mrs. Burton, whose appre<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">214</span>hensions -had compelled her to join in the -search.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Aunt Alish!” exclaimed Toddie, discovering -his aunt, and hurrying to grasp her -hand in both of his own; “dzust see de water -dance! Do you see all de lovely lights dat -de Lord’s lit in it? Don’t you wiss you could -get in it, an’ fly froo it, an’ have it shake itself -all over you, an’ shake yourself in it, an’ -shake it all off of you, an’ den fly into it aden? -Deresh placesh like dis up in hebben. I -know, ’cauzh I saw ’em—one time I did. An’ -all the andzels staid around ’em, an’ flew in -an’ out, an’ froo an’ froo’s an’ laughed like -everyfing!”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton concealed all of himself but his -eyes and hat to observe the impending conflict -of ideas; but no conflict ensued, for -Mrs. Burton snatched her nephew and kissed -him soundly. But Toddie wriggled away, -exclaiming:</p> - -<p>“Don’t do dat, or I’ll get some uvver eyes -when I don’t want ’em.”</p> - -<p>How long Toddie’s ecstasy might have endured -the Burtons never knew, for a clatter -of horse-hoofs on the road attracted Mr. Burton, -and, looking hastily back, he beheld one -of his brother’s horses galloping wildly back<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">215</span> -towards Hillcrest, while, just letting go of a -reinstrap, and enlivening the dust of the roadway, -was the form of the boy Budge, whose -voice rose -shrilly above -the thunder of -the falling -waters.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p215.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">BUDGE ENLIVENED THE DUST OF THE ROADWAY</div> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Burton -attempted first to catch the horse, but the -animal shied successfully and had so clear a -stretch of roadway before him that humanity<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">216</span> -soon had Mr. Burton’s heart for its own and -he hurried to the assistance of Budge.</p> - -<p>“I—boo-hoo—was just goin’ to lead -the—boo-hoo-hoo—horse down to water -like—boo-hoo-hoo—ah—like papa does, -when he—oh! how my elbow hurts!—just -pulled away an’ went off. An’ I caught -the strap to stop him, an’—oh! he just -pulled me along on my mouth in the dirt -about ten miles. I swallowed all the dirt -I could, but I guess I’ve got a mouthful -left.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton hurriedly unharnessed the -other horse, and started, riding bareback, in -search of the runaway, while his wife, who -had intuitively scented trouble in the air, -hurried up the cliff with Toddie, and led both -boys to the shadow of the carriage, with instructions -to be perfectly quiet until their -uncle returned.</p> - -<p>“Can’t we talk?” asked Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Oh, not unless you need to for some particular -purpose,” said Mrs. Burton, who, like -most other people in trouble, fought most -earnestly against any form of diversion -which should keep her from the extremity of -worry. “Can’t little boys’s mouths ever be -quiet?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">217</span></p> - -<p>“Why, yes,” said Budge, “when there’ -something in ’em to keep ’em still.”</p> - -<p>In utter desperation Mrs. Burton unpacked -all the baskets and told the children to help -themselves. As for her, she sought the roadside -and gazed earnestly for her husband. -Wearied at last by hope deferred she returned -to the carriage to find that the boys -had eaten all the pie and cake, drank the -milk and ate the sugar which were to have -formed part of some delicious coffee which -Mr. Burton was to have made <i>à la militaire</i>, -and had battered into shapelessness a box of -sardines by attempting to open it with a -stone.</p> - -<p>“You bad boys!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. -“Now what will your poor uncle have to eat -when he comes back all tired, hungry, and -thirsty and all because of your mischief, -Budge.”</p> - -<p>“Why, we haven’t touched the crackers, -Aunt Alice,” said Budge.” They’re what he -gave us when we said we was awful hungry, -an’ there’s a whole river full of water to -drink, like he told us about when he thought -we was thirsty.”</p> - -<p>The information did not seem to console -Mrs. Burton, who ventured to the roadside<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">218</span> -with the feeling that she could endure it to -know that her husband was starving if she -could only see him safe back again. The moments -dragged wearily on, the boys grew restive -and then cross, and at about three in the -afternoon, Mr. Burton reappeared. The runaway -had nearly reached home, breaking a -shoe <i>en route</i>, and his captor had found it -necessary to seek a blacksmith. The horse -he rode had evidently never been broken to -the saddle, and many had been the jeers of -the village boys at his rider’s apparent mismanagement. -All he knew now was that -he was ravenously hungry.</p> - -<p>“And the boys have eaten everything but -the bread and crackers,” gasped Mrs. Burton. -“I’ve not eaten a mouthful.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness!” exclaimed Mr. Burton, feeling -the boys’s waist-belts; “didn’t they throw -anything away?”</p> - -<p>“Only down our froats.” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Then I’ll go to the nearest hotel,” said -the disappointed man,” and get a nice -dinner.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll go too,” said Budge. “Pie an’ -cake an’ all such things don’t fill people a bit -on picnics.”</p> - -<p>“Then a little emptiness will be best for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">219</span> -you,” said Mr. Burton. “You remain here -with your aunt.”</p> - -<p>“Well, hurry up, then,” said Budge. -“Here’s the afternoon half gone, Aunt Alice -says, and you haven’t made us a whistle, or -taken us in swimmin’, or let us catch fishes, -or throwed big stones in the water for us, or -anythin’.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton departed with becoming meekness, -his nephew’s admonition ringing in his -ears, while the boys hovered solemnly about -their aunt until she exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Why are you acting so strangely, boys?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we feel kind o’s forlorn, an’ we want -to be comforted,” said Budge.</p> - -<p>“Will you comfort poor Uncle Harry when -he comes back?” asked Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Why, I heard him once tell you that you -were his comfort,” said Budge; “and comforts -oughtn’t to be mixed up if folks is goin’ -to get all the good out of ’em; that’s what -papa says.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton kissed both nephews effusively -and asked them what she could do for them.</p> - -<p>“I doe know,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>Inspiration came to Mrs. Burton’s assistance -and she said,</p> - -<p>“You may both do exactly as you please.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">220</span></p> - -<p>“Hooray!” shouted Budge.</p> - -<p>“An’ you izhn’t goin’ to say ‘Don’t!’s a -single bit?” Toddie asked.</p> - -<p>“No.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” exclaimed both brothers, in unison.</p> - -<p>Then they clasped hands and walked -slowly and silently away. They even stopped -to kiss each other, while Mrs. Burton looked -on in silent amazement.</p> - -<p>Was this really the result of not keeping a -watchful eye upon children?</p> - -<p>The boys rambled quietly along, sat down -on a large rock, put their arms around each -other and gazed silently at the scenery. -They sat there until their uncle returned and -their aunt pointed out the couple to him. -Then the adults insensibly followed the example -set by the juveniles, and on the banks -of the river sweet peace ruled for an hour, -until old Sol, who once stood still to look at -a fight but never paused to contemplate -humanity conquered by the tender influences -of nature, warned the party that it was time -to return.</p> - -<p>“It’s time to go, boys,” said Mr. Burton, -with a sigh.</p> - -<p>The words snapped the invisible thread -that had held the children in exquisite cap<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">221</span>tivity, -and they were boys again in an -instant, though not without a wistful glance -at the Eden they were leaving.</p> - -<p>“Now, Uncle Harry,” said Budge, “there’ -always one thing that’s got to be done before -a picnic an’ a ride is just right, an’ that is for -me to drive the horses.”</p> - -<p>“An’ me to hold de whip,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I think you’ve done your whole duty -to-day—both of you,” said Mr. Burton, instinctively -grasping his lines more tightly.</p> - -<p>“But we don’t,” said Budge, “an’ we know. -Goin’ up the mountain papa always lets us do -it an’ he says the horses always know the -minute we take ’em in hand.”</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t wonder. Well, here’s a hill; -take hold!”</p> - -<p>Budge seized the reins, and Toddie took -the whip from its socket. The noble animals -at once sustained their master’s statement, -for they began to prance in a manner utterly -unbecoming quiet family horses. Mrs. Burton -clutched her husband’s arm, and Mr. -Burton prudently laid his own hand upon the -loop of the reins.</p> - -<p>The crest of the hill was reached, Mr. Burton -took the reins from the hand of his -nephew, but Toddie made one final clutch at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">222</span> -departing authority by giving the off horse -a spirited cut. Tom Lawrence would never -own a horse that needed a touch of the whip, -though that emblem of authority always -adorned his carriage. When, therefore, this -unfamiliar attention greeted them the horse -who was struck became gloriously indignant, -and his companion sympathized with him -and the heels of both animals shot high in -the air and then, at a pace which nothing -could arrest, the horses dashed down the -rocky, rugged road. The top of a boulder, -whose side had been cleanly washed, lay in -the path of the carriage, and Mr. Burton gave -the opposite rein a hasty twist about his -hand as he tried to draw to the side of the -road. But what was a boulder, that equine -indignation should regard it? The stone -was directly in front and in line of the wheels. -Mrs. Burton prepared for final dissolution by -clasping her husband tightly with one arm, -while with the other she clutched at the reins. -The boys started the negro hymn, “Oh, De -Rocky Road to Zion,” the wheels struck the -boulder, four people described curves in air -and ceased only when their further progress -was arrested by some bushes at the roadside. -The carriage righted itself and was hurried<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">223</span> -home by the horses, while a party of pedestrians, -two of whom were very merry and -two utterly reticent, completed their journey -on foot, pausing only to bathe scratched -faces at a brookside. And when, an hour -later, two little boys had been prepared for -bed, and their temporary guardians were -alternately laughing and complaining over -the incidents of the day, a voice was heard at -the head of the stairs, saying:</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p222.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">FURTHER PROGRESS WAS ARRESTED</div> -</div> - -<p>“Uncle Harry, are we going to finish the -picnic to-morrow? ’Cause we didn’t get half -through to-day. There’s lots of picnicky -things that we didn’t get a chance to think -about.”</p> - -<p>And another voice shouted:</p> - -<p>“An’ letsh take more lunch wif us. I’zhe -been awful hungwy all day long!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">224</span></p> - - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</h2> - - -<p>“Only three more days,” soliloquized -Mrs. Burton, when the departure of -her husband for New York and the disappearance -of the boys gave her a quiet moment -to herself. “Three more days, and -then peace—and a life-long sense of defeat! -And by whom? By two mere infants—in -years. I erred in not taking them singly. -When they are together it’s impossible to -take their minds from their own childish affairs -long enough to impress them with larger -sense and better ways. But I didn’t take -them singly, and I have talked, and oh—stupidest -of women!—I’ve blundered upon -my husband for my principal listener. He -does get along with them better than I do, -and the exasperating thing about it is that he -seems to do it without the slightest effort. -How is it? They cling to him, obey him, -sit by the roadside for an hour before train -time just to catch the first glimpse of him, -while I—am I growing uninteresting? Many -women do after they marry, but I didn’t -think that I”—here Mrs. Burton extracted a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">225</span> -tiny mirror from a vase on the mantel—“that -I could be made stupid by marrying a -loving old merry heart like Harry!”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton scrutinized her lineaments intently. -A wistful earnestness stole into her -face as she studied it, and it softened every -line. Suddenly but softly a little arm stole -about her neck, and a little voice exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice, why don’t you always look -that way? There! Now you’re stoppin’ it. -Big folks is just like little boys, ain’t they? -Mamma says it’s never safe to tell us we’re -good, ’cause we go an’ stop it right away.”</p> - -<p>“When did you come in, Budge? How did -you come so softly? Have you been listening? -Don’t you know it is very impolite to -listen to people when they’re not talking to -you? Why, where are your shoes and -stockings?”</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Budge,” I took ’em off so’—so’ -to get some cake for a little tea-party -without makin’ a noise about it! You say -our little boots make an awful racket. But -say, why don’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Why don’t I what?” asked Mrs. Burton, -her whole train of thought whisking out of -sight at lightning speed.</p> - -<p>“Why don’t you always look like you did<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">226</span> -a minute ago? If you did, I wouldn’t ever -play or make trouble a bit. I’d just sit still -all the time, and do nothin’ but look at you.”</p> - -<p>“How did I look, Budge?” asked Mrs. -Burton, taking the child into her arms.</p> - -<p>“Why, you looked as if—as if—well, I -don’t ’zactly know. You looked like papa’ -picture of Jesus’s mamma does, after you look -at it a long time an’ nobody is there to bother -you. I never saw anybody else look that -way ’xcept my mamma, an’ when she does it -I don’t ever say a word, else mebbe she’ll -stop.”</p> - -<p>“You can have the cake you came for,” -said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“I don’t want any cake,” said Budge, with -an impatient movement. “I don’t want any -tea-party. I want to stay with you, an’ I -want you to talk to me, ’cause you’re beginnin’ -to look that way again.” Here Budge -nearly strangled his aunt in a tight embrace, -and kissed her repeatedly.</p> - -<p>“You darling little fellow,” asked Mrs. -Burton, while returning his caresses, “do you -know why I looked as I did? I was wondering -why you and Toddie love your Uncle -Harry so much better than you love me, and -why you always mind him and disobey me.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">227</span></p> - -<p>Budge was silent for a moment or two, -then he sighed and answered:</p> - -<p>“’Cause.”</p> - -<p>“Because of what?” asked Mrs. Burton. -“You would make me very happy if you were -to explain it to me.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p227.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“WELL,” SAID BUDGE, “CAUSE YOU’RE DIFFERENT.”</div> -</div> - -<p>“Well,” said Budge, “’cause you’re different.”</p> - -<p>“But, Budge, I know a great many people -who are not like each other, but I love them -equally well.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">228</span></p> - -<p>“They ain’t uncles and aunts, are they?”</p> - -<p>“No, but what has that to do with it?”</p> - -<p>“And they’re not folks you have to mind, -are they?” continued Budge.</p> - -<p>“N——no,” said Mrs. Burton, descrying a -dim light afar off.</p> - -<p>“Do they want you to do things their way?”</p> - -<p>“Some of them do.”</p> - -<p>“An’ do you do it?”</p> - -<p>“Sometimes I do.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t unless you want to, do you?”</p> - -<p>“No!”</p> - -<p>“Well, neither do I,” said Budge. “But -when Uncle Harry wants me to do somethin’, -why somehow or other I want to do it myself -after a while. I don’t know why, but I -do. An’ I don’t always, when you tell me to. -I love you ever so much when you ain’t tellin’ -me things, but when you are, then they ain’t -ever what I want to do. That’s all I know -’bout it. ’Xcept, he don’t want me to do -such lots of things as you do. He likes to -see us enjoy ourselves; but sometimes I think -you don’t. We can’t be happy only our way, -an’ our way seems to be like Uncle Harry’, -an’ yours ain’t.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton mused, and gradually her lips -twitched back into their natural lines.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">229</span></p> - -<p>“There—you ’re stoppin’ lookin’ that way,” -said Budge, sighing and straightening himself. -“I guess I do want the cake an’ the -tea-party.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t go, Budgie, dear,” exclaimed Mrs. -Burton, clasping the boy tightly. “When -any one teaches you anything that you want -very much to know doesn’t it make you -happy?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes—lots,” said Budge.</p> - -<p>“Well, then, if you try, perhaps you can -teach Aunt Alice something that she wants -very much to know.”</p> - -<p>“What!” exclaimed Budge. “A little boy -teach a grown folks lady? I guess I’ll stay.”</p> - -<p>“I want to understand all about this difference -between your Uncle Harry and me,” -continued Mrs. Burton. “Do you think you -minded him very well last summer?”</p> - -<p>“That’s too long ago for me to remember,” -said Budge “But I didn’t ever mind him -unless I wanted to, or else had to, an’ when -I had to an’ didn’t want to I didn’t love him -a bit. I talked to papa about it when we got -back home again, an’ he said ’twas ’cause -Uncle Harry didn’t know us well enough an’ -didn’t always have time to find out all about -us. Then they had a talk about it—papa<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">230</span> -and Uncle Harry did, in the library one day. -I know they did, ’cause I was playin’ blocks -in a corner, an’ I just stopped a-playin’ an’ -listened to ’em. An’ all at once papa said, -‘Little pitchers!’s an’ said I’d oblige him very -much if I’d go to the store and buy him a -box of matches. But I just listened a minute -after I went out of the room, until I heard -Uncle Harry say he’d been a donkey. I -knew he was mistaken about that, so I went -back an’ told him he hadn’t ever been any -animals but what’s in a menagerie, an’ then -they both laughed an’ went out walkin’, -an’ I don’t know what they said after that. -Only Uncle Harry’s been awful good to me -ever since, though sometimes I bother him -when I don’t mean to.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton released one arm from her -nephew and rested her head thoughtfully upon -her hand. Budge looked up and exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“There! You’re looking that way again. -Say, Aunt Alice, don’t Uncle Harry love you -lots an’ lots when you look so?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton recalled evidence of such experiences, -but before she could say so a small -curly head came cautiously around the edge -of the door, and then it was followed by the -whole of Toddie, who exclaimed:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">231</span></p> - -<p>“I fink you’s a real mean bruvver, Budgie! -De tea-party’s been all ready for you an’ de -cake till I had to eat up all de strawberries to -keep de nasty little ants from eatin’ ’em. I -yet up de cabbage-leaf plate dey was in, too, -to keep me from gettin’ hungrier.”</p> - -<p>“There!” exclaimed Budge, springing from -his aunt’s lap.” That’s just the way, whenever -I’m lovin’ to anybody, somethin’ always -goes and happens.”</p> - -<p>“Is that all you care for your aunt, Budge?” -asked Mrs. Burton. “Is a tea-party worth -more than me?”</p> - -<p>Budge reflected for a moment. “Well,” -said he, “didn’t you cry when your tea-party -was spoiled last week on your burfday? To -be sure, your tea-party was bigger than ours, -but then you’re a good deal bigger than we, -too, an’ I haven’t cried a bit.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton saw the point and was mentally -unable to avoid it. The view was not a -pleasant one, and grew more humiliating the -longer it was presented. It was, perhaps, to -banish it that she rose from her chair, brought -from a closet in the dining-room some of the -coveted cake and gave a piece to each boy, -saying:</p> - -<p>“It isn’t that Aunt Alice cares so much for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">232</span> -her cake, dears, that she doesn’t like you to -have it between meals, but because it is bad -for little boys to eat such heavy food excepting -at their regular meals. There are grown -people who were once happy little children, -but now they are very cross all the while because -their stomachs are disordered by -having eaten when they should not, and -eating things which are richer and heavier -than their bodies can use.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Budge, crowding the contents -of his mouth into his cheeks, “we can -eat somethin’ plainer an’ lighter to mix up -with ’em inside of us. I should think charlotte-russe -or whipped cream would be about -the thing. Shall I ask the cook to fix some?”</p> - -<p>“No! Exercise would be better than anything -else. I think you had better take a -walk.”</p> - -<p>“Up to Hawkshnesht Rock?” Toddie suggested.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes!” exclaimed Budge. “An’ you -come with us, Aunt Alice; perhaps you’ll -look that way again; that way, you know, -an’ I wouldn’t like to lose any of it.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p232.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">PRETENDING TO BE HORSES</div> -</div> - -<p>Mrs. Burton could not decline so delicate -an invitation, and soon the trio were on the -road, Mrs. Burton walking leisurely on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">233</span> -turf by the side, while the boys ploughed -their way through the dust of the middle of -the road, pretending to be horses and succeeding -so far as to create a dust-cloud which -no team of horses could have excelled.</p> - -<p>“Boys, boys!” shouted Mrs. Burton. “Is -no one going to be company for me?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ll be your gentleman,” said Budge.</p> - -<p>“I’ll help,” said Toddie, and both boys -hurried to their aunt’s side.</p> - -<p>“Little boys,” said Mrs. Burton, gently, -“do you know that your mamma and papa -have to pay a high price for the fun you have -in kicking up dust? Look at your clothes! -They must be sent to the cleaner’s before -they will ever again be fit to wear where respectable -people can see you.”</p> - -<p>“Then,” said Budge, “they’re just right to -give to poor little boys, and just think how -glad they’ll be! I guess they’ll thank the -Lord ’cause we run in the dust.”</p> - -<p>“The poor little boys would have been just -as glad to have them while they were clean,” -said Mrs. Burton, “and the kindness would -have cost your papa and mamma no more.”</p> - -<p>“Well, then—then—then I guess we’d better -talk about something else,” said Budge, -“an’ go ’long froo the woods instead of in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">234</span> -road. Oh—h—h!” he continued, kicking -through some grass under the chestnut-trees -by the roadside, “here’s a chestnut! Is it -chestnut-time again already?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, that’s one of last year’s nuts.”</p> - -<p>“H’m!” exclaimed Budge; “I ought to -have known that. It’s dreadfully old-fashioned.”</p> - -<p>“Old-fashioned?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; it’s full of wrinkles, don’t you see; -like the face of Mrs. Paynter, an’ you say -she’s old-fashioned.”</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice,” said Toddie, “birch-trees -izh de only kind dat wearzsh Sunday clothes, -ain’t dey? Deyzh always all in white, like -me and Budgie, when we goes to Sunday-school. -Gwacious!” he exclaimed, as he -leaned against one of the birches and examined -its outer garments. “Deyzh Sunday -trees awful; dish one is singin’ a song! Dzust -come—hark!”</p> - -<p>Though somewhat startled at the range of -Toddie’s imagination, and wondering what -incentive it had on the present occasion, -Mrs. Burton approached the tree, and solved -the mystery by hearing the breeze sighing -softly through the branches. She told Toddie -what caused the sound, and the child replied:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">235</span></p> - -<p>“Den it’s de Lord come down to sing in it, -’cauzh it’s got Sunday clothes on. Datsh it, -izhn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, Toddie; the wind is only the -wind.”</p> - -<p>“Why I always fought it wazh the Lord -a-talkin’, when the wind blowed. I guesh -somebody tolded me so, ’cauzh I fought dat -before I had many uvver finks.”</p> - -<p>Up the mountain-road leisurely sauntered -Mrs. Burton, while her nephews examined -every large stone, boulder tree and hole in -the ground <i>en route</i>.</p> - -<p>The top of the hill was gained at last and -with a long-drawn “Oh!” both boys sat -down and gazed in delight at the extended -scene before them. Budge broke the silence -by asking:</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice, don’t you s’pose dear brother -Phillie, up in heaven, is lookin’ at all these -towns, an’ hills, an’ rivers, an’ things, just -like we are?”</p> - -<p>“Very likely, dear.”</p> - -<p>“Well, then he can see a good deal further -than we can. Do our spirits have new eyes -put in ’em when they get up to heaven?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. Perhaps they merely -have their sight made better.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">236</span></p> - -<p>“Why, does spirits take deir old eyes wif -’em to hebben, an’ leave all de rest part of -’em in de deader?” asked Toddie.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton realized that she had been too -hasty in assuming knowledge of spiritual -physiognomy, and she endeavored to retract -by saying:</p> - -<p>“Spiritual eyes and bodily eyes are different.”</p> - -<p>“Does dust and choo-choo cinders ever -get into spirit eyes, an’ make little boy andzels -cry, and growed-up andzels say swear -wordsh?” asked Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Certainly not. There’s no crying or -swearing in heaven.”</p> - -<p>“Then what does angels do with the water -in their eyes, when they hear music that -makes ’em feel as if wind was blowin’ fro -’em?” asked Budge.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton endeavored to change the -subject of conversation to one with which -she was more familiar, by asking Budge if he -knew that there were hills a hundred times -as high as Hawksnest Rock.</p> - -<p>“Goodness, no! Why, I should think you -could look right into heaven from the tops of -them. Can’t you?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Mrs. Burton, with some im<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">237</span>patience -at the result of her attempt.” Besides, -their tops are covered with snow all the -time, and nobody can get up to them.”</p> - -<p>“Then the little boy andzels can play -snowballs on ’em wifout no cross mans comin’ -up an’ sayin’, ‘Don’t!’” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton tried again:</p> - -<p>“See how high that bird is flying,” she -said, pointing to a hawk who was soaring -far above the hill.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Budge. “He can go up into -heaven whenever he wants to, ’cause he’s got -wings. I don’t know why birds have got -wings and little boys haven’t.”</p> - -<p>“Little boys are already hard enough to -find when they’re wanted,” said Mrs. Burton. -“If they had wings they’d always be out of -sight. But what makes you little boys talk -so much about heaven to-day?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, ’cause we’re up so much closer to it, -I suppose,” said Budge, “when were on a -high hill like this.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you think it must be nearly lunching -time?” asked Mrs. Burton, using, in despair, -the argument which has seldom failed -with healthy children.</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” said Budge. “I always do. -Come on, Tod. Let’s go the quickest way.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">238</span></p> - -<p>The shortest way was by numerous short -cuts, with which the boys seemed perfectly -acquainted. One of these, however, was by -a steep incline, and Budge, perhaps snuffing -the lunch-basket afar off, descended so rapidly -that he lost his balance, fell forward, -tried to recover himself, failed, and slipped -rapidly through a narrow path which finally -ended in a gutter traversing it.</p> - -<p>“Ow!” he exclaimed as he picked himself -up, and relieved himself of a mouthful of mud. -“Did you see my back come up an’ me walk -down the mountain on my mouth? I think -a snake would be ashamed of himself to see -how easy it was. I didn’t try a bit, I just -went slip, slop, bunk! to the bottom.”</p> - -<p>“An’ you didn’t get scolded for dytyin’ -your clothes, either.” said Toddie. “Let’ -sing ‘Gloly, Gloly, Hallehelyah.”</p> - -<p>The subject of dirt upon juvenile raiment -began to trouble the mind of Mrs. Burton. -Could it be possible that children had a -natural right to dirtier clothing than adults, -and without incurring special blame? Was -dirtiness sinful? Well, yes—that is, it was -disgusting, and whatever was disgusting was -worse in the eyes of Mrs. Burton than what -was sinful. Could children be as neat as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">239</span> -adults? Had they either the requisite sense, -perception or the acquired habit of carefulness? -Again Mrs. Burton went into a study -of the brownest description, while the children -improved her moments -of preoccupation to do all -sorts of things which would -have seemed dreadful to -their aunt but were delightful -to themselves. At length, -however, they reached -the Burton dining-table, -and managed -a series of rapid disappearances -for -whatever was -upon it.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p239.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">BUDGE LOST HIS BALANCE</div> -</div> - -<p>“Aunt Alice,” -said Budge, -after finishing -his meal,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">240</span> -“what are you going to do to make us happy -this afternoon?”</p> - -<p>“I think,” said Mrs. Burton,” I shall allow -you to amuse yourselves. I shall be quite -busy superintending the baking. Our cook -has only recently come to us, you know, and -she may need some help from me.”</p> - -<p>“I fought bakin’ wazh alwaysh in mornin’?” -said Toddie. “My mamma says dat -only lazy peoplesh bakesh in affernoonzh.”</p> - -<p>“The cook was too busily engaged otherwise -this morning, Toddie,” said Mrs. Burton. -“Besides, people bake mornings because they -are compelled to; for, when they put bread to -rise overnight, they must bake in the morning. -But there is a new kind of yeast now -that lets us make our bread whenever we -want to, within a couple of hours from the -time of beginning.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know, Aunt Alice,” said Budge, -“that we can bake? We can—real nice. -We’ve helped mamma make pies an’ cakes -lots of times, only hers are big ones an’ ours -are baby ones.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose I am to construe that remark -as a hint that you would like to help me?” -said Mrs. Burton. “If you will do only what -you are told, you may go to the kitchen with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">241</span> -me; but listen—the moment you give the -cook or me the least bit of trouble, out you -shall go.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, goody, goody!” shouted Toddie. -“An’ can we have tea-parties on de kitchen-table -as fast as we bake fings?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so.”</p> - -<p>“Come on. My hands won’t be still a bittie, -I wantsh to work so much. How many -kindsh of pies is you goin’ to make?”</p> - -<p>“None at all.”</p> - -<p>“Gwacious! I shouldn’t fink you’d call it -bakin’-day den. Izhn’t you goin’ to make -noffin’ but ole nashty bwead?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I can find a way for you to make -a little cake or some buns,” said Mrs. Burton, -relenting.</p> - -<p>“Well, that would be kind o’s bakin’-day -like; but my hands is gettin’ still again awful -fasht.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton led the way to the kitchen, -and the preparation of the staff of life was -begun by the new cook, with such assistance -as a small boy wedged closely under each -elbow, and two inquiring faces hanging over -the very edge of the bread-pan.</p> - -<p>“That don’t look very cakey,” remarked -Budge. “She ain’t put any powder into it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">242</span></p> - -<p>“This kind of bread needs no powder. -Baking-powders are used only in tea-biscuit.”</p> - -<p>“When tea-biscuits goes in de oven deysh -little bits of flat fings,” said Toddie—“deysh -little bits of flat fings, but when dey comes -out dey’s awful big an’ fat. What makes ’em -bake big?”</p> - -<p>“That’s what the powder is put in for,” -said Mrs. Burton. “They’d be little, tasteless -things if it weren’t for the powder. -Bridget, work some sweetening with a little -of the dough, so the boys can have some -buns.”</p> - -<p>Both boys escorted the cook to the pantry -for sugar, and back again to the table, and -got their noses as nearly as possible under the -roller with which the sugar was crushed, and -they superintended the operation of working -it into the dough, and then Mrs. Burton -found some very small pans in the center of -which the boys put single buns which they -were themselves allowed to shape. A happy -inspiration came to Mrs. Burton; she -brought a few raisins from the pantry and -placed one upon the center of each tiny bun -as it was made, and she was rewarded by a -dual shriek of delight.</p> - -<p>“Stop, Toddie!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">243</span> -suddenly noticing that Toddie was shaping -his dough by rolling it vigorously between -his hands, as little boys treat clay while attempting -to make marbles. “If you press -your dough hard it will never bake light in -the world.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p243.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">TWO INQUIRING FACES HANGING OVER THE BREAD-PAN</div> -</div> - -<p>“You mean de hot won’t make it grow -big?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Datzh too baddy. It’h awful too baddy,” -said Toddie “Dere won’t be as much<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">244</span> -of ’em to eat. Tell you what—put some -powder in it to help the uvvr swelly stuff.”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid that won’t do any good.”</p> - -<p>“Might twy it,” Toddie suggested. “Ah—h—h—Budgie’ -makin’ some of my buns -baldheaded.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” Mrs. Burton asked.</p> - -<p>“He’s takin’ de raisins off de tops of ’em, -an’ dat makes ’em baldheaded.”</p> - -<p>“I was only keepin’ ’em from lookin’ all -alike,” explained Budge, hastily putting the -raisins where they could not be affected by -any future proceedings. “Don’t you see, -Toddie, you’ll have two kinds of buns -now?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t want two kindsh,” cried Toddie. -“I’ze a good mind to cut you open an’ take -dem heads back again.”</p> - -<p>Budge was reproved by his aunt, and Toddie -was pacified by the removal of raisins -from his brother’s buns to his own. Then -some of the little pans were placed in the -vacant space in the oven, and during the -next fifteen minutes Mrs. Burton was implored -at least twenty times to see if they -weren’t almost done. When, finally baked, -Toddie’s were as small as bullets and about -as hard.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">245</span></p> - -<p>“Put some powder in de rest of dem,” -pleaded Toddie.</p> - -<p>“It wouldn’t do the slightest bit of good,” -said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>Further entreaties led to a conflict between -will and authority, after which Toddie -sulked and disappeared, carrying one of his -precious pans with him. When he returned -the baking was over, and the oven-door was -open.</p> - -<p>“Izhe a-goin’ to bake dis uvver one any -how,” said Toddie, putting the single remaining -pan into the oven and closing the door. -“Say, Aunt Alice,” he continued, his good, -nature returning, “now fix dat tea-party we -was goin’ to have wif our own fings. You -can come to the table wif us if you want to.”</p> - -<p>“Only, don’t you think she ought to bring -somethin’ with her?” asked Budge. “That’ -the way little boys’s tea-parties out of doors -always are.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton herself rendered a satisfactory -decision upon this question by making a -small pitcher of lemonade: the table was -drawn as near the door as possible, to avoid -the heat of the room; Budge escorted his -aunt to the seat of honor, and, when all -were seated, he asked:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">246</span></p> - -<p>“Do you think these is enough things to -ask a blessin’ over? Sometimes we do it, an’ -sometimes we don’t, ’cordin’ to how much -we’ve got.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton rapidly framed a small explanatory -lecture on the principle under-lying -the custom of grace at meals; but whatever -may have been its merits the boys never -had an opportunity of judging, for suddenly -a loud report startled the party, a piece of -the stove flew violently across the room and -broke against the wall, the stove-lids shivered -violently and the doors fell open; the poker, -which had lain on the stove, danced frantically, -and a small pan of some sort of fat, -such as some cooks have a fancy to be always -doing something with but never do it, was -shaken over and its burning contents began -to diffuse a sickening odor. The cook -dropped upon her knees, the party arose—Budge -roaring, Toddie screaming, and Mrs. -Burton very pale, while the cook gasped:</p> - -<p>“The wather-back’s busted!”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton disengaged herself from her -clinging nephews and approached the range -cautiously. There was no sign of water and -the back of the range was undisturbed; even -the fire was not disarranged.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p246.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">A LOUD REPORT STARTLED THE PARTY</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">247</span></p> - -<p>“It isn’t the water-back,” said Mrs. Burton, -“nor the fire. What could it have -been?”</p> - -<p>“An’ I belave, mum,” said the cook, “that -’twas the dhivil, savin’ yer prisince; an’, -saints presarve us! I ’ve heerd at home as how -he hated dese new ways of cookin’, because -dheres no foine place for him to sit in the -corner of, bad luck to him! It was the dhivil, -sure, mum. Did iver ye schmell the loike av -that?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton snuffed the air, and in spite of -the loathsome odor of burning grease she detected -a strong sulphurous odor.</p> - -<p>“An’ he went and tookted my last bun wif -him too,” complained Toddie, who had been -cautiously approaching the oven in which he -had placed his pan. “Bad ole debbil! I -fought he didn’t have noffin but roasted -peoples at hizh tea-parties!”</p> - -<p>The whole party was too much agitated -and mystified to pursue their investigations -further. The fire was allowed to die out and -Mrs. Burton hurried up-stairs and to the front -of the house with the children.</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton on his way home was met by -his wife and nephews, and heard a tale which -had reached blood-curdling proportions. His<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">248</span> -descent to the scene of the disaster was reluctantly -consented to by his wife; but he -was unable to discover the cause of the accident, -and he succeeded in getting his hands -shockingly dirty. He hurried to his bed-chamber -to wash them, and in a moment he -roared from the head of the stairs:</p> - -<p>“Boys, which of you has been up here to-day?”</p> - -<p>There was no response for a moment; then -Budge shouted:</p> - -<p>“Not me.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton looked inquiringly at Toddie, -and the young gentleman averted his eyes. -Then Mr. Burton hurried down-stairs, looked -at both boys and asked: “Why did you meddle -with my powder-flask, Toddie?”</p> - -<p>“Why—why—why, Aunt Alice wouldn’t -put no powder in my buns to make ’em light -after I rolled ’em heavy—said ’twouldn’t do -’em no good. But my papa says ’tain’t -never no harm to try, so I dzust wented and -gotted some powder out of your brass bottle -dat’s hanging on your gun, an’ I didn’t say -nuffin’ to nobody, ’cauzh I wanted to s’prise -’em. An’ while I was waitin’ for it to get -done, bad ole debbil came an’ hookted it. -Guesh it must have been real good else he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">249</span> -wouldn’t have done it, ’cauzh he’s such a -smart fief he can steal de nicest fings he -wantsh—whole cakeshop windows full.”</p> - -<p>“How did you mix it with the dough?—how -much did you take?” Mrs. Burton demanded.</p> - -<p>“Didn’t mix it at all,” said Toddie; “dzush -pourded it on de pan azh full azh I could. -You’d fink I’d have to, if you tried to eat one -of my buns dat didn’t have no powder in. -Gwacious! wasn’t dey hard? I couldn’t -bite ’em a bit—I dzust had to swallow ’em -whole.”</p> - -<p>“Umph!” growled Mr. Burton. “And do -you know who the devil—the little devil was -that—”</p> - -<p>“Harry!”</p> - -<p>“Well, my dear, the truth appears to be -this; your nephew——”</p> - -<p>“Your nephew, Mr. Burton.”</p> - -<p>“Well, my—our nephew, put into the oven -this afternoon about enough of gunpowder -to charge a six-pounder shell, and the heat of -the oven gradually became too much for it.”</p> - -<p>Toddie had listened to this conversation -with an air of anxious inquiry, and at last -timidly asked:</p> - -<p>“Wazhn’t it de right kind of powder? I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">250</span> -fought it wazh, ’cauzh it makes everyfing else -light when it goezh off.”</p> - -<p>“Do you suppose your method of training -will ever prevail against that boy’s logic, my -dear?” asked Mrs. Burton. “And if it won’t, -what will?”</p> - -<p>“I won’t put so much in nexsht time,” said -Toddie, “’cauzh ’tain’t no good to twy a fing -an’ den have de tryin’ stuff go an’ take de -fing all away from you an’ get so mad as to -bweak stoves to bits an’ scare little boysh -an’ Aunt Alishes ’most to deff.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">251</span></p> - - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</h2> - - -<p>“Ow, Ow, OW!” was the réveillé of the -Burton family on the next morning, -and it was sounded from the room of the -juvenile guests.</p> - -<p>“Another fight, I suppose,” grunted Mr. -Burton in his room, “and as I’m dressed I -might as well go and see which one was -whipped and which ought to be.”</p> - -<p>Arrived at his nephew’s room, Mr. Burton -found Toddie curled up in the middle of the -bed sound asleep, and his brother with his -eyes shut, but wriggling restlessly.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter, Budge?” asked Mr. -Burton.</p> - -<p>“My side hurts, where I bunked it, stoppin’ -in the gutter, when I slid down the mountain,” -drawled Budge. “An’ the hard part of the -bed comes up to it and hurts it. As soon as I -find a soft part of the bed, the hard part begins -to come up through it and hurt me.”</p> - -<p>“Suppose you were to turn and lie on the -other side?”</p> - -<p>“I—why—I—then—I—” stammered -Budge, arising slowly and rubbing his eyes,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">252</span> -“then I wouldn’t have any soft parts to look -for, an’ I wouldn’t have anythin’ to do.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no,” Mr. Burton muttered, turning -abruptly and quitting the room; “the faculty -for hugging misery isn’t born in people; not -at all! I’ll have to tell this to our parson. A -lot of good people that need it might get a -sound thrashing over somebody else’s shoulders.”</p> - -<p>At the breakfast table Budge ate quietly, -but with characteristic American industry, -before he said:</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice, too much tea isn’t good for -people, is it?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no! It’s very bad.”</p> - -<p>“And one cup is enough for pretty much -every one, isn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“I think so.”</p> - -<p>“Sometimes my papa drinks three or four.”</p> - -<p>“That must be when he has a headache.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, ’tis. People need more then, -don’t they?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed!”</p> - -<p>“Well, don’t you think a sideache is as bad -as a headache?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton guessed the sequel, but refrained -from replying.</p> - -<p>“An awful sideache,” Budge continued,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">253</span> -“when a little boy’s side has been bumped -real hard by a great big mountain side.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton bit her upper lip and reached -for Budge’s mug, which the young man accommodatingly -pushed toward her, saying:</p> - -<p>“And I think when it’s a little boy that’ -got to drink it ’cause he’s sick, there ought to -be lots an’ lots of sugar -in it, to keep it from being -too strong.”</p> - -<div class="figright"> -<img src="images/p253.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“TOO MUCH TEA ISN’T GOOD -FOR PEOPLE, IS IT?”</div> -</div> - -<p>Budge’ -mug was -filled according -to -his liking, -Mr. Burton’s eyes dancing -over it so busily -that they could not -stop when Mrs. Burton -accidentally detected -them. A few moments -of adult silence was the -natural result, and the boys improved the -opportunity to disappear without being -questioned; after which Mr. Burton, starting -for the city, gave shortly the monosyllable -“No!” in reply to the question whether he -should bring anything home.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">254</span></p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton found herself soon in the depth -of another inspection of her career as a manager -of children, and began to realize that -she was as faulty in being too indulgent as -she was in being too severe. Recalling the -many tricks of the children to overcome her -rules, she could not remember a single one at -which they had not succeeded, and the realization -of this was as mortifying to her sense -of duty as it was to her pride. To be firm -when her sense of humor was touched was a -phase of ability of which she found herself to -be as destitute as people usually are; but the -existence of such a failing she had never even -imagined before, and it doubled her sense of -responsibility and—humility.</p> - -<p>But the latter quality soon was lost in one -which comes more naturally, and is always -fully developed—pride. What wouldn’t -she have given to have that breakfast-scene -to manage again? To think that she, who -had in every other department of life, discerned -sly attempts afar off, and successfully -circumvented them, should have been outwitted -by two very small boys! Oh, for just -one more attempt by either of them! Mrs. -Burton instinctively bit her lip until pain -caused her to stop. Upon this, at any rate,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">255</span> -she was determined—she would not only prevent -her nephews accomplishing their artfully -laid purposes, but she would explain to -them how dishonest such attempts were, and -endeavor to shame them into ingenuousness.</p> - -<p>At this instant the sound of a wordy altercation, -momentarily growing livelier, floated -up from the kitchen windows, and Mrs. Burton -started to act as arbitrator.</p> - -<p>“We want it. That’s why,” was heard -from Budge, as Mrs. Burton entered the -kitchen.</p> - -<p>“Want what?” asked the mistress of the -house.</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Budge, his face lighting with -the anticipation of assistance close at hand, -“we’ve found a big nest full of eggs in the -grass, a good way off, an’ we want to boil ’em -and eat ’em, and I’ve asked Bridget over an’ -over again for a pail to boil ’em in, and all she -says is, ’Niver a bit.’”</p> - -<p>“Which she is perfectly right in saying,” -said Mrs. Burton,” when, as I assume from -what I overheard as I came in, you did not -tell her what you wanted of the pail.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I couldn’t help remembering what -you said to Uncle Harry the other evening—that -you had the most utter contempt for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">256</span> -people that always wanted to know about -other people’s business. I don’t know what -’utter contempt’s means, but I thought, from -the way you said it, you meant folks who was -always askin’ questions about what other -folks was doin’.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton hastily took a small pail from -a shelf and gave it to Budge, who walked off -while his aunt, recollecting her good resolutions, -retired and wept despairingly. The -idea of letting two small children eat a lot of -eggs between meals! No one knew where -they were or how many eggs they had; probably -they had built a fire where no fire should -be, and what damage they were threatening -to property and life only Heaven knew. She -wished herself within the councils of Heaven; -she committed a dozen frightful heresies -while she wondered, but came back by necessity -to the virtue of resignation, for how to -find her nephews would have puzzled a head -more experienced than her own in the ways -of small boys.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p256.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“WHEN WE COOKED ’EM, WHAT DO YOU THINK?”</div> -</div> - -<p>Her morning was spent in vague attempts -to do something, and it was with satisfaction -that she beheld her two nephews approaching -by a road which led through woods and -fields. The borrowed pail was not visible,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">257</span> -but Mrs. Burton did not notice its absence. -Toddie dropped dejectedly upon a large -stone in the back yard, and Budge sauntered -into the sitting-room with the air of a man of -the world who had squeezed life’s orange and -found it juiceless.</p> - -<p>“You’re safely back, are you?” asked Mrs. -Burton, anxious to know what had happened, -but fearing to ask.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, we’re back, but that don’t do us -any good.”</p> - -<p>“Why, what can be the matter with my -dear little Budge?”</p> - -<p>“A good deal,” sighed Budge. “There’ -some awful funny things in this world, Aunt -Alice, an’ they ain’t nice either.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me all about them, dear.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I was awful disappointed to-day. -We found sixteen eggs in a nest, an’ I came -all the way home to get somethin’ to cook ’em -in, an’ I carried some salt an’ pepper with -me to help ’em to taste nice, an’ when we -cooked ’em, what do you think? There was -a little chicken inside of each of ’em!”</p> - -<p>“Dis—gusting!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“I know it is,” said Budge; “an’ I guess -you’d have thought so more yet if you’d been -there when we opened ’em. You know how<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">258</span> -nice eggs smell when you open ’em? Well, -those eggs didn’t even smell good a bit.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s talk of something else, Budge,” said -Mrs. Burton, instinctively raising her handkerchief -to her nose.</p> - -<p>“But I ain’t through yet,” said Budge. “I -want to know why the little chickens didn’t -come out of their shell to their mamma, instead -of waiting to bother us?”</p> - -<p>“Because you scared their mamma away -from them, I suppose, when you found the -nest.”</p> - -<p>“Why, no, we didn’t. She just went away. -We said ‘Chick, chick, chick!’s to her, an’ she -just ran around an’ cackled, so we s’posed -she’d got through with the nest, and we took -what was in it to keep ’em from bein’ spoiled. -Papa says eggs always spoil when they lie out -in the sunshine. What do you s’pose that -poor hen mamma’ll think when she comes -walkin’ along that way some day an’ sees -all her dear little children lyin’ around -mussed up in the grass?”</p> - -<p>“She will probably think that some meddlesome -little boys have been along that way, -and haven’t cared for anything or anybody -but themselves.”</p> - -<p>Budge looked up quickly into his aunt<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">259</span>’ -face, but finding neither humor nor sympathy -there he sighed deeply and started to -rejoin his brother.</p> - -<p>“Budge!” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>The child arrested his steps, and looked -back inquiringly.</p> - -<p>“When you want anything, as, for instance, -that pail to boil eggs in, the proper way to do -is to ask for it honestly and if some grown -person refuses to give it to you, you should be -satisfied with the reasons they give and make -no trouble about it. You ought to love -what is right so much that you will be -ashamed to get around it in some underhand -way.”</p> - -<p>“Why, ’tain’t any underhand way to say -just what I think, is it?” Budge asked. “Papa -says folks ought always to be honest, and say -just exactly what they mean, an’ I’m sure I -always do it, but I like to say things the way -that I think folks listen to ’em best. Ain’t -that the way that you do?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton could not say “No,” and -would not say “Yes,” so she walked off and -left her nephew master of the field, from -which he himself soon retired in response to -repeated shouts of “Budgie!” from his -brother.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">260</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, Budgie,” exclaimed Toddie, as the -former rejoined him,” izhe got him! Oh, -izhe got him! Ain’t you glad?”</p> - -<p>“Who you got?”</p> - -<p>“Got Terry!” exclaimed Toddie. “Got -doggie Terry!”</p> - -<p>“Ow!” shouted Budge, clapping his hands -and dancing about. “That’s the nicest thing -I ever heard of! Just won’t we have fun? -How did you catch him?”</p> - -<p>“Why, he wazh asleep, an’ I dzust tied a -skring to his collar, an’ tied de uvver end to -a little tree, an’ dere he is. See him?”</p> - -<p>The brothers moved towards the dog; the -doomed animal, after one frantic tug at his -bonds, recognized the inevitable and shrank -whimperingly against the tree.</p> - -<p>“Poor doggie’s sick, Tod,” said Budge. -“We’ll have to play doctor to him an’ make -him well. I think he ought to go to bed, -don’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Yesh,” said Toddie, “an’ have a night-gown -on, like we do when we’s sick.”</p> - -<p>“That’s so. You run an’ get yours for -him. He needs a little one, you know. I -guess you’d better take off your shoes, so’ -not to disturb Aunt Alice.”</p> - -<p>Toddie cast his shoes and vanished, re<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">261</span>turning -speedily with a robe in which the -dog Terry, not without much remonstrance, -was soon enveloped; after which Budge lifted -him tenderly in his arms, saying,—</p> - -<p>“His night-gown hangs down an awful lot, -I think. We’d better pin up the bottom -part, like nurse did for the sister-baby the -other day.”</p> - -<p>“Hazhn’t got no pins,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Then we’ll tie it up with a string. Besides, -when it’s tied up he can’t get his foots -out, an’ forget what a poor little sick doggie -he is.”</p> - -<p>In another moment the superabundant -skirts were folded up and tied tightly around -the poor animal’s body, while Toddie, who -was having great trouble to hold the stout -little beast, exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Gwacious! the fwont end of him is awful -well! See how it keeps not keepin’ still. I -don’t fink his night-gown collar looksh very -nysh, does you?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Budge,” and he’ll go right out -of it if we don’t make it look nicer. I’ll put -string around that too—there! I want to -know if anybody ever saw a lovelier-lookin’ -sick dog than that? Where’ll we put him to -bed now?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">262</span></p> - -<p>“Let’s wock him,” Toddie suggested. -“Datsh what we likes when we’s sick.”</p> - -<p>“Then we got to take him in the house,” -said Budge, “’cause there ain’t any way of -makin’ believe rockin’-chair. Come on!”</p> - -<p>Quietly the couple sneaked into the house -and up to their room. Then Budgie resigned -his precious burden a moment to Toddie’ -care while he went in search of a rocking-chair, -with which he shortly returned.</p> - -<p>“There!” said he, taking the invalid and -seating himself, “this is something like playin’ -doctor. But I wonder what kind of medicine -he ought to have?—pills or powders?”</p> - -<p>“Or running stuff out of a bottle?” suggested -Toddie.</p> - -<p>“That’s so,” said Budge. “I guess it -’pends on what kind of medicine we’ve got. -We might make him some nice pills out of -soap.”</p> - -<p>“I know,” said Toddie, going into the -closet, bringing from a corner an old winter -cloak trimmed with beads, and picking some -of the beads from it; “these is splendid for -pills. I took some of ’em de uvver day when -I wazsh playin’ doctor an’ sick boy too, an’ -dey didn’t taste bad a bit.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Budge, “pick some off.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">263</span>” -His order was obeyed, and soon the beads -were being carefully dropped, one by one, -down the dog’s throat, Budge opening the -animal’s mouth with finger and thumb as he -had seen his father do. Soon, however, the -dog’s jaws closed tightly.</p> - -<p>“I want to make him well,” said Toddie. -“I ain’t doctored him a bit yet.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I hardly know what you can do for -him,” said Budge, “for he won’t take any -more pills. Perhaps there’s a sore place on -his head somewhere that you might put a -stickin’-plaster on; but you haven’t got any -plaster. Oh, I’ll tell you what; you can get a -postage-stamp out of Uncle Harry’s desk—that’ll -do for a stickin’-plaster first-rate.”</p> - -<p>“I wantsh to wock him,” said Toddie, -“’ides doct’rin’ him.”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid ’twon’t be best to move him -just now,” said Budge, scanning the face of -the patient with solicitude.</p> - -<p>“I tell you what,” said Toddie, with the -air of a man to whom had come a direct inspiration -“letsh stop makin’ b’lieve for a -minute, till I get hold of him; den he can be -made into a sick boy again.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Budge, though evidently -against his will. “I s’pose I’ve got to, so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">264</span> -that all the doctors get a chance at him. But -say, papa says, mixin’ doctors kills sick folks. -Don’t you think we’d better talk it all -over again? ’Twould be dreadful if Uncle -Harry’s dear little dog was made dead, you -know.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Toddie, “an’ I’ll hold him -while we talk about it. I won’t give him a -single bittie of medshin ’til we know dzust -what he ought to have.”</p> - -<p>“Mebbe different people’s arms make a -difference to sick folks,” suggested Budge, -holding the patient still more tenderly, and -oblivious to Toddie’s outstretched arms.</p> - -<p>“Dzust see how sad he looks at you!” said -Toddie. “I fink his eyes is a-sayin’, ‘Oh, I’ll -die if dat dear Doctor Toddie don’t nurse me.’ -I shouldn’t fink you could be so dreadful -cruel, Budgie.”</p> - -<p>Budge reluctantly relinquished the patient, -on whom Toddie bestowed a squeeze -so affectionate that the dog howled piteously, -and struggled to free himself.</p> - -<p>“There!” said Budge,” what did I tell you. -You’re the kind of doctor that don’t agree -with him, you see.”</p> - -<p>“’Tain’t me,” said Toddie. “I guesh it’ -de medshin takin’ effec’. Dem beads—pills,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">265</span> -I mean—can’t get into his bonesh an’ mushels -wifout skwatchin’ him.”</p> - -<p>“I ’pect that’s ’cause we forgot to give -’em to him in somethin’ nice, like papa gives -us our medicine.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p265.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">BUDGE AND TODDIE PLAYING DOCTOR</div> -</div> - -<p>“Letsh give him -somefin’ nysh -now!” said Toddie, -“Mebbe it can find -de medshin, an’ dey’ll go along nysh togevver, -dzust like two little budders.”</p> - -<p>“All right. What’ll it be?”</p> - -<p>“Cake.”</p> - -<p>“Who’ll ask Aunt Alice for it?” Budge<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">266</span> -asked. “I guess you’d better; I did, last -time we wanted cake. Anyhow, I was getting -it without askin’, an’ I promised her I’d always -ask after that.”</p> - -<p>“Den you ought to begin, right stwaight -away,” said Toddie, “elsh mebbe you’d forget. -I know what you wantsh! You wants -me to ask so’s you can get poor sick baby -again while I go.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Budge, somewhat abashed, -“I suppose I’ll have to do it.”</p> - -<p>He departed, and returned within two or -three minutes with a large piece of fruit cake -and a radiant countenance.</p> - -<p>“I tell you, Tod, just don’t folks get paid -for bein’ good? I was going down to ask -Aunt Alice, just as good as could be, and then -I couldn’t find her anywhere in the house, so -there wasn’t anythin’ to do but go get the -cake myself. I don’t believe we’d have got -such a big piece, either, if she’d been there; -now I know what that big thing on the Sunday-school -wall means, ‘Wirtue is its own -reward.’”</p> - -<p>“Gwacious Peter!” exclaimed Toddie, extending -his hand for the cake; “we dassent -give him all dat! ’Twould make him dweam -dweadful fings.” Here Toddie put the cake<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">267</span> -to the dog’s mouth, and the animal eagerly -bit at it. “Goodnish! I forgot dat dogs -could open moufs bigger dan babies. I fink -he’s got more now dan’ going to agree wif -him. G’way!” continued Toddie, as the dog -again snapped at the cake. “We’s got to -put dis where he can’t see it, ’less he’ll be -cryin’ for it all de time.” And Toddie hastily -crowded a large portion of the remainder into -his own mouth.</p> - -<p>“Oh—h—h!” exclaimed Budge, moving -to the rescue of the remainder of the cake. -“You ain’t took no medicine, an’ you’ll -dream of more cows than you ever saw. -Give me it!”</p> - -<p>“Um—m—m—ugh—mow—moo-um—guh!” -mumbled Toddie with difficulty, as he -tightened his grasp on the remainder of the -cake.</p> - -<p>“Oh, give it to me, Tod!” pleaded Budge. -“I’ll eat it, and then I’ll dream ’bout the -same cows that you do. Don’t you know -how often you wish I’d dream the same things -you do, and get mad ’cause I don’t?”</p> - -<p>Toddie indulged in some spasmodic final -gulps, coughed violently, and said:</p> - -<p>“It’s dwefful to dweam about cows, an’ I -loves you, ’cauzh you’s my dee budder<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">268</span> -Budgie, an’ I don’t want you to dweam dwefful -fings.” Here Toddie hastily crammed -most of the remainder of the cake into his -mouth, and handed the rest to his brother, -saying:</p> - -<p>“That’ll make—you—dweam ’bout two -or—or free cows, an’ so it’ll let you get into -de dweam wifout such drefful times as Izh -got to have.”</p> - -<p>Budge might, perhaps, have recognized in -fitting terms this evidence of brotherly forethought, -but his mouth found other occupation -for a moment. Meanwhile, the patient -was wriggling; by a desperate effort he freed -himself from Toddie’s embrace, and fell upon -the floor, where he rolled frantically about -with many contortions and howls.</p> - -<p>“Oh, he’s got a convulsion! I guess he -must be havin’ a stomach tooth come,” said -Budge. “What can we do?”</p> - -<p>“Pallygollic,” Toddie suggested.</p> - -<p>“We ain’t got none,” said Budge. “Tell -you what. Let’s make b’lieve he’s a dog a -minute, an’ throw water on him. That’ -what they do to dogs in fits.”</p> - -<p>“Den we’d get Aunt Alice’s new carpet all -wet,” said Toddie. “Let’s put him in de -bafftub.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">269</span></p> - -<p>“Just the thing!” said Budge, picking up -the animal while Toddie ran before and -turned on the water. The dog was dropped -into the tub, where he naturally redoubled -his efforts to free himself; noting which, -Budge remarked:</p> - -<p>“Say, Tod, it’s hot water they set babies in -when the tooths bother ’em. We’ll make -b’lieve he’s a baby again, and turn on t’other -faucet.”</p> - -<p>Toddie quickly opened the hot-water -faucet.</p> - -<p>“There—he’s gettin’ better,” said Budge, -observing the animal with professional closeness. -“I guess he can come out now. OW!—that -water’s awful hot! How are we goin’ -to get him out?”</p> - -<p>Toddie leaned over the edge of the tub and -seized the dog by the head. The animal -struggled violently. Toddie redoubled his -exertions, lost his balance, and tumbled -headlong into the tub himself, from which he -speedily scrambled, howling violently, while -Budge snatched the animal and landed him -on the bathroom floor.</p> - -<p>“Oh, de—oh!” cried Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Does it hurt you awful, dear little -brother?” asked Budge tenderly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">270</span></p> - -<p>“No! De hurtzh gone off of me, but I -gotted a lot of water in my mouf, and it -washed out all de taste of de cake. I fink it’ -too good-for-nuffin mean for anyfing.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I guess you’d better go sit out in -the sun and dry yourself,” said Budge, “and -change the poor doggie’s clothes for him.”</p> - -<p>“Wantsh my clozhezh tschanged,” sobbed -Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Come on, then,” said Budge, leading the -way back to his own room, and dragging the -bundle of wet dog behind him. “There!” -said he, closing the door, “you dress yourself -and I’ll fix the dog.”</p> - -<p>Carefully untying the strings that confined -the animal, but taking the precaution to tie -one end to Terry’s collar and the other to a -chair, he removed the night-gown, brought a -brush, comb, and bottle of cologne from his -aunt’s room, and began to brush the dog’ -coat, pouring on cologne without stint. The -animal was too grateful to be on his feet again -to offer any serious remonstrance, until suddenly -Budge poured considerable cologne -upon his head; the liquid found its way into -Terry’s eyes, and the spirits put the brute in -such pain that he began to dash frantically -about the room, dragging the light chair<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">271</span> -after him. Budge had left the door open, -and through this dashed Terry, and down the -stairs. The top of the chair struck the stair-rail, -and at once resolved itself into its original -parts; the remainder flew -down the steps after the -dog, and executed a -rapid semicircle in -air in the lower -hall as the dog -flew around -the newel -post and -encountered a handsome cabinet hat-rack on -the way, to the great damage of the polish.</p> - -<div class="figright"> -<img src="images/p271.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">DOWN THE STAIRS, DASHED TERRY</div> -</div> - -<p>Then, still obeying the inexorable demands -of the string, whose other end was attached<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">272</span> -to the collar of the dog, it meandered through -the parlor, leaving a leg with the piano pedal -as a memento of a trifling difference, attempted -to ascend the chimney through the -fireplace but succeeded only so far as to seriously -compromise the positions of the andirons, -lodged between the legs of an antique -table to the complete prostration of the table -itself, and leaving the seat of the chair among -the table’s varied contents, struck a jardinière, -which came down with a ceramic crash, -flew to the dining-room, into a chair, upon -and across the table, taking with it a cover -with which for a moment or two it was seriously -mixed, and went down the kitchen -stairs, where it met Mrs. Burton returning -from a conference with the greengrocer. As -the chair was one of special lightness and exceeding -cost, Mrs. Burton was naturally desirous -of interviewing Terry; but the animal -had evidently formed plans which he did not -intend should be thwarted, so with a vicious -snap he eluded her, dashed through the -kitchen and sought the shady solitude of the -forest.</p> - -<p>Intuition and experience combined to suggest -to Mrs. Burton the original causes of -Terry’s excitement; so, waiting only a few<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">273</span> -moments, that she might be perfectly calm -and righteously judicial, she started in search -of the culprits. They were not in their room, -though a heap of wet clothes and a general -displacement of everything proved that they -had been there since the chambermaid had -put the room in order. A further search disclosed -Toddie upon Mrs. Burton’s own bed, -so soundly asleep that she had not the heart -to wake him. Promptly assuming that -Budge was the only culprit, she continued -her search, and found him leaning out of a -window in a little observatory on the top of -the house. The rustle of his aunt’s dress -aroused him, and, bending upon her a look of -exquisite yet melancholy sensitiveness, he -said:</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice, everybody must die, mustn’t -they?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” replied Mrs. Burton, “and if you -had paid the debt of nature before destroying -my pretty chair your earthly influence might -have been less injurious than it has been this -morning.”</p> - -<p>“But, Aunt Alice,” said Budge, absorbed -in his own thoughts, “do you see that graveyard -way off yonder? It’s awful full of dead -folks, ain’t it?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">274</span></p> - -<p>“Very,” said Mrs. Burton; “but what they -have to do with a ruined chair I am unable -to see.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what I want to know,” said Budge, -still oblivious to everything but the matter -that was occupying his mind—“what I want -to know is, who’s goin’ to throw flowers into -the last man’ grave, an’ who’s goin’ to make -the hole that he’s put into? What if he -should be me? I’d feel awful bothered to -know how I’d have any funeral at all. I -know what I’d do—I’d just pray the Lord -to take me straight up to heaven, like he did -with the good Elijah. Say, Aunt Alice, what -drawed the chariot that Elijah went up in? -Did them ravens do it that used to bring him -his lunch?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Mrs. Burton, “but no -chariot would ever have come for him if he -had been in the habit of breaking up chairs -and tying pieces of them to dogs.”</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Budge, beginning to comprehend -the drift of his aunt’s remarks, “I -didn’t tie any piece of any chair to any dog. -I tied all of Terry to a chair, and was bein’ as -nice to him as you ever was to me, an’ all of a -sudden he ran away with the whole of the -chair. You remember that story in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">275</span> -Bible about some bad devils goin’ into a lot -of pigs an’ makin’ ’em jump over the side of a -mountain an’ into the ocean? Well, I think -some of them same chaps must have got into -Terry.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p275.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“WHY AUNT ALICE! HOW DID YOU UPSET THAT TABLE?”</div> -</div> - -<p>Mrs. Burton’s faith in this demonological -theory was not strong, -but she felt that her -wrath had deserted her, -so to escape further -humiliation she descended to the parlor. The -scene which presented itself to her gaze was -one to which womanly language could not do -justice, and her hurried attempts to repair<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">276</span> -the damage were not sufficient to prevent the -reawakening of her anger. While still in the -depths of her indignant despair, her nephew -Budge entered the room and exclaimed -honestly:</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice, how did you upset that table -and break that handsome great big vase of -make-believe flowers?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton instinctively rose to her feet, -assumed a conventional attitude of Lady -Macbeth, and shook a forefinger at Budge in -a menacing manner that caused the child to -shudder, as she uttered the single word—</p> - -<p>“Tomorrow!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">277</span></p> - - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</h2> - - -<p>“The beginning of the end!” was the remark -with which Mr. Burton broke a -short silence at his breakfast-table, on the -last day of the time for which his little visitors -had been invited.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton looked meek and made no -reply.</p> - -<p>“Budders,” said Mr. Burton, addressing -his nephews, “do you feel reconstructed?”</p> - -<p>“Huh?” asked Budge.</p> - -<p>“Do you feel mentally and morally reconstructed?” -repeated the uncle.</p> - -<p>“Reconwhichted?” asked Budge.</p> - -<p>“That’s an awful big wyde,” remarked -Toddie, through a mouthful of oatmeal porridge. -“It’s like what the minister says in -chych sometimes, an’ makes me want to -play around in the seat.”</p> - -<p>“Reconstructed; made over again,” explained -Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Why, no,” said Budge, after looking at -his hands and feeling for his stomach, as if to -see if any radical physical change had taken -place without his knowledge. “Maybe we’re<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">278</span> -a little bigger, but we can’t see ourselves -where we grow.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you feel as if you wanted to see -that baby sister again?” asked Mrs. Burton, -endeavoring to change the subject. “Don’t -you want to go back to her and stay all the -time?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t,” said Toddie, “’cauzh dere ain’t -no dog at our house, an’ tryin’ to catch dogs -is fun, ’cept when dey never want to be -catched at all, like Terry is lotsh of de time.”</p> - -<p>“I mean, haven’t you learned, since you’ve -been here, to be a great deal better than you -ever were before?” asked Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“I guesh so,” Toddie replied. “I’zhe said -more prayersh an’ sung more little hymns -dan I ever did in all my life before. An’ I -ain’t pulled off any more hind hoppers from -gwasshoppers sinsh Aunt Alice told me it -wazh bad. I only pulls off front hoppers -now. Dey’zh real little, you know—dere’ -only a little bittie of ’em to feel hurted.”</p> - -<p>“How is it with you, Budge?” asked Mr. -Burton. “Do you feel as if you had learned -to act from different motives.”</p> - -<p>“What’s a motive?” asked Budge; “anythin’ -like a loco-motive? I never feel like -them, ’xcept when I run pretty hard; then I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">279</span> -puff like everythin’, only steam don’t come -out of me, but I always think there’s an engine -inside of me, goin’ punk! punk! like -everything. Papa says it’s only a heart—a -little bit of a boy’s heart, but if that’s all, I -should think a big man’ heart could pull a -whole train of cars.”</p> - -<p>“You haven’t learned to bear in mind the -subject of conversation. But have you become -able to comprehend the inner significance -of things?”</p> - -<p>“Things inside of us, do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Like oatmeal powwidge?” Toddie suggested.</p> - -<p>“Have you realized that a master mind -has been exerting a reformatory influence -upon you?”</p> - -<p>“Izh master mind an’ ’must mind’s de -same fing?” asked Toddie. “We wasn’t -doin’ noffin’ ’cept eatin’ our brekspups. -Don’t see what we’s got to mind about.”</p> - -<p>“Have you always unhesitatingly obeyed -your aunt’s commands, moved thereunto by -a sense of her superiority by divine right?”</p> - -<p>“Now, Harry!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, -who during this conversation had been making -mute appeals which her husband could -not have resisted had he seen them, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">280</span> -knowing of the existence of which he had -carefully kept his eyes averted from her -face.</p> - -<p>“If you don’t stop tormenting those poor -children with stupid sections of dictionary -you yourself shall realize my superiority by -divine right, for I’ll take them up-stairs and -away from you.”</p> - -<p>“Only one more question, my dear,” said -Mr. Burton, “and I’ll have done. I want -only to ask the boys if they’ve noticed any -conflicts of heredity, and, if so, which side -has triumphed?”</p> - -<p>“I guess you are tryin’ to play preacher, -like Tod said,” remarked Budge.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” said Mr. Burton, blushing a little -under a merry laugh from his wife. “Well, -how does it affect you?”</p> - -<p>“It makes me feel like I do in church when -I wish Sunday-school time would hurry up,” -said Budge.</p> - -<p>“Me too,” assented Toddie.</p> - -<p>“You can run away and play now,” said -Mrs. Burton, seeing that the children’s plates -were empty.</p> - -<p>The boys departed, the dog Terry apparently -leading the way, yet being invisible -when the children reached the open air.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">281</span></p> - -<p>“You needn’t have humiliated me before -the children,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton hastened to make the “amende -honorable” peculiar to the conjugal relation -and said:</p> - -<p>“Don’t fear, my dear. They didn’t understand.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, didn’t they?” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. -“I wish all my adult friends had as quick -perceptions as those boys. They may not -understand big words, but tones and looks -are enough for them.”</p> - -<p>“Why?” said Mr. Burton, “they scarcely -looked up from their plates.”</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” replied the lady, delighted -at an opportunity to reassert her superiority -in at least one particular. “Children—boys, -are more like women than like men. Their -unblunted sensibilities are quick; their intuition -is simply angelic. Would that their -other qualities were also so perfect.”</p> - -<p>“I’m very sorry, my dear,” said Mr. Burton, -temporarily subjugated, “that I said a -word to them, and when you are ready to -kneel upon the stool of repentance I’ll depart -and leave you alone.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll have no occasion to go,” said Mrs. -Burton. “I’ve confessed already—to them,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">282</span> -and a single confession is enough. I rather -like the operation, when, for my reward, I -receive sympathy instead of sarcasm.”</p> - -<p>“Again, I ask forgiveness,” said Mr. Burton; -“and having made a fellow-penitent of -myself, can’t I have good in return for my -evil, and know what a fellow-sufferer has -learned from experience?”</p> - -<p>“Just this,” said Mrs. Burton; “that nobody -is fit to take the care of children excepting -the children’s own parents.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton dropped his fork and exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“My dear, that’s better than an experience. -It’s a revelation.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton regained her pleasantness of -countenance and said:</p> - -<p>“I think that only one of kindred blood -can comprehend an adult——”</p> - -<p>“Unless modest enough to go out of self -for a little while,” suggested Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton opened her eyes very wide and -dropped her lip a little, but recovered herself -to finish her sentence by “And I think it is -ever so much harder to comprehend children, -with their imperfect natures that never develop -harmoniously, and that can but seldom -express themselves intelligently.”</p> - -<p>“I never noticed that the boys were at a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">283</span> -loss to express themselves, when they wanted -anything,” said Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“That sounds just like a man,” said Mrs. -Burton, fully herself again. “As if children -had no desires and yearnings excepting for -material things! What do you suppose it -means when Budge sits down in a corner, goes -into a brown study, and, when asked what the -matter is, drawls ‘Nothin’!’s in a tone that -indicates that a very considerable something -is puzzling his young head? What does it -mean when Toddie asks his half-funny, half-pathetic -questions about matters too great -for his comprehension, and looks as wistful -as ever after he is answered? Do you suppose -they care for nothing but food and -play?”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton felt humbled, and his looks -evinced the nature of his feeling.</p> - -<p>“You are right, little woman. I wish I -might have consulted you before I took the -boys in hand last summer.”</p> - -<p>“And I’m very glad you didn’t,” said Mrs. -Burton; “for you did a great deal better -with them than you could have done if I had -been your adviser. There is some of the -same blood in both of you, and you succeeded -in many points where I have blundered. Oh,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">284</span> -if I had but known it all before they came! -How much I might have spared them—and -myself!”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton hastened to extend to his wife -some mute sympathy.</p> - -<p>“They’re going to-day,” said Mrs. Burton, -finding something in her eyes that required -the attention of her kerchief—“just as I’ve -learned what I should be to them! They’re -angels, in spite of their pranks, and it’s always -so with angels’s visits; one never discovers -what they are until they spread their -wings to depart.”</p> - -<p>“This particular pair of angels can be borrowed -for an extra day, I suppose, if you desire -it!” suggested Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“I declare,” said Mrs. Burton, “that’s a -brilliant idea! I’ll go tell Helen that I don’t -think she’s yet fit to have them back -again.”</p> - -<p>“And I,” said Mr. Burton, preparing to go -to the city, “will try to persuade Tom into -the same belief, though I know he’ll look like -a man being led to execution.”</p> - -<p>The Burtons left the house together a few -minutes later, and the boys returned soon -after. Being unable to find their aunt, they -descended to the kitchen, and made a formal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">285</span> -demand upon the cook for saucers, spoons, -sugar and cream.</p> - -<p>“An’ fhot are yees up to now?” asked -Bridget.</p> - -<p>“You’ll see, after you give us the things,” -said Budge.</p> - -<p>“Deysh the reddesht, biggesht ones I ever -saw anywheresh,” Toddie exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“I don’t want ye to be takin’ the things -way off to nobody but the dhivil knows -where,” said Bridget. “Fhot if yees should -lose one of the shpoons an’ the misthress ’ud -think I sthole it?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we won’t go anywheres but ’cept -under the trees in the back yard,” pleaded -Budge. “An’ there’s all the nice berries -spoilin’ now while you’re botherin’ about it. -My papa says berries ought always to be -eaten just when they’re picked.”</p> - -<p>“Av it’s only berries, I s’pose yees can -have the things,” muttered Bridget, bringing -from a closet a small tray, and covering it -with the desired articles.</p> - -<p>“Give us another saucer, an’ we’ll bring -you some,” said Budge, “’cause you’re nice -to us. We’ll need more sugar, though, if -we’re goin’ to do that.”</p> - -<p>In the presence of flattery Bridget showed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">286</span> -herself only a woman. She replaced the teacup -of sugar with a well-filled bowl; she even -put a few lumps on top of the powdered article -which filled the bowl, and as the boys -departed she remarked to the chambermaid -that “that bye Budge is a rale gintleman. -I’ve heard as how his father’s folks came -from the ould counthry, an’ mark me words, -Jane, they’re from the nobility.”</p> - -<p>A few minutes later Mrs. Burton emerged -from the sick-room of her sister-in-law. She -had meant to stay but a moment, but Mrs. -Lawrence’s miniature had, as a special favor, -been placed in Mrs. Burton’s arms, and it was -so wee and helpless, and made such funny -little noises, and blinked so inquiringly, and -stretched forth such a diminutive rose petal -of a hand, that time had flown in apprehension, -and sent the nurse to recapture the -baby and banish the visitor. And Mrs. -Burton was sauntering leisurely homeward, -looking at nothing in particular, touching -tenderly with the tip of her parasol the daisies -and buttercups that looked up to her from -the roadside, stopping even to look inquiringly -upon a solitary ewe, who seemed solicitous -for the welfare of a lamb which playfully -evaded her. Suddenly Mrs. Burton heard a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">287</span> -howl, a roar, and a scream inextricably -mixed. She immediately dropped all thought -of smaller beings, for she recognized the -tones of her nephews. A moment later, the -noise increasing in volume all the while, both -boys emerged from behind a point of woods, -running rapidly, and alternately howling and -clapping their hands to their mouths. Mrs. -Burton ran to meet them, and exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Boys, do stop that dreadful noise. What -is the matter?”</p> - -<p>“Ow—um—oh!” screamed Budge.</p> - -<p>“Wezh been—ow!—eatin’ some—some—ow!—some -pieces of de bad playsh,” said -Toddie, “wif, oh, oh!—cream an’ sugar on -’em. But dey wazh dzust as hot as if noffin’ -was on ’em.”</p> - -<p>“Come back and let aunty see about it,” -said the mystified woman, but Budge howled -and twitched away, while Toddie said:</p> - -<p>“Wantzh papa an’ manma! Deyzh had -all little boy bovvers an’ knowsh what to do. -Wantsh to get in our ice-housh an’ never go—ow!—out -of it.”</p> - -<p>The screaming of the children had been -heard farther than Mrs. Burton imagined it -could be, for a sound of heavy and rapid footsteps -increased behind her and, turning, she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">288</span> -beheld the faithful Mike, Mr. Lawrence’ -gardener-coachman.</p> - -<p>“Fhot is it, dharlin’?” asked Mike, looking -sharply at each boy, and picking a red speck -from the front of Toddie’s dress. “Murther -alive! red peppers!”</p> - -<p>Mike dashed across the street, vaulted a -fence, and into an inclosed bit of woodland, -ran frantically about among the trees, stopped -in front of one and attacked it with his knife, -to the astonishment of Mrs. Burton, who -imagined the man had lost his senses. A few -seconds later he returned with a strip of -bark, which he cut into small pieces as he -ran.</p> - -<p>“Here, ye dharlin’ little divils,” said he, -cramming a piece of the bark into each boy’ -mouth, “chew that. It’s slippery elm; it’ll -sthop the burnin’. Don’t the byes play that -trick on the other byes at school often an’ -often, an’ hasn’t me sister’s childher been -nearly murthered by it? An’ fhot ought -your father do to yees for throyin’ to shwally -such thrash? Oh, but wouldn’t I loike to -foind the dhivils that put yees up to it! Who -was they? Tell me, so I can sind them afther -their father, where it’s hotter than pepper.”</p> - -<p>“How did you come to eat red peppers?”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">289</span> -asked Mrs. Burton, as the children escaped -slowly from their pain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">290</span></p> -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p288.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">A RED PEPPER EXPERIENCE</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">291</span></p> - -<p>“Why, a boy once told us they was strawberries,” -cried Budge, “an’ to-day we saw a -lot where men was spoilin’ a garden to build -a house, an’ we asked ’em if we could have -’em, an’ they said yes, an’ we brought ’em -all back in a piece of paper, an’ didn’t bite -one of ’em, ’cause we wanted to eat ’em all in -a littel tea-party like gentlemen, and the first -one I chewed—ow! That poor rich man in -the fire—I know just how he felt when he -begged Abraham to have his tongue cooled -with a drop of water.”</p> - -<p>“Poor old rich man didn’t have all de fire -in hizh mouf, ’pectin’ dat ’twazh goin’ to be -strawbewwies,” sobbed Toddie.</p> - -<p>“There wasn’t no dear old Mike to go an’ -get him slippery elm, either,” said Budge. -“Soon’s we come back home to stay, Mike, -I’m goin’ to put dirt in the stable-pump, just -to be real good about stoppin’ when you tell -me to.”</p> - -<p>“An’ I,” said Toddie, “’zh goin’ to make -you a present all alone by myseff. I don’t -know yet what it’ll be. I guess it’ll have to -be a ’prise. What would you like best?—a -gold watch or a piece of peanut candy?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">292</span></p> - -<p>Between two presents of such nearly equal -value Michael, the benefactor, found some -difficulty in deciding, and he walked away -with that application of fingers to head which -is peculiar to many persons when in a quandary. -Meanwhile Mrs. Burton led the children -toward her own house, saying:</p> - -<p>“What can we do to-day that can be extremely -nice, little boys? Mamma expects -you home to-morrow, and Aunt Alice wants -to make your last day a very happy one.”</p> - -<p>“To-morrow!” exclaimed Budge, apparently -oblivious to all else his aunt had said. -“I thought we were going home to-day!”</p> - -<p>“So you were, dear,” said Mrs. Burton; -“but you didn’t seem to be in any hurry, and -I couldn’t bear to let you go so soon. Did -you really want to go to-day?”</p> - -<p>“Why, I’ve been thinkin’ about it an’ -countin’ days till to-day ever since we’ve -come,” said Budge. “Sometimes it seemed -as if I’d burst if I couldn’t be back home -again, but I tried to be real good about it, -’cause papa said ’twould be better for the -sister-baby and mamma if we stayed away. -Sometimes in the night-time, I’ve cried because -I wasn’t in my own little bed.”</p> - -<p>“You poor dear boy,” said Mrs. Burton,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">293</span> -stopping to kiss Budge, “why didn’t you tell -Aunt Alice when you were so unhappy?”</p> - -<p>“You couldn’t do me any good,” said -Budge. “Nobody could but my papa or -mamma. An’ then I don’t like to tell what’ -hurtin’ my heart—somethin’ in my throat -makes me hate to tell such things.”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t you had a pleasant time at our -house? When you’ve not been doing whatever -you liked, haven’t Uncle Harry and I -been trying to make you happy?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes. But some folks know just -what we like, and some other folks know -what they want us to like; and the first some -folks are my papa and mamma, an’ the other -some folks are you an’ Uncle Harry. You’ve -done some real nice things for us, though, an’ -I’m goin’ to ask mamma to let us invite you -to our house, an’ then I’ll show you how to -take care of little boys an’ make ’em happy!”</p> - -<p>“You come to vizhit at our housh,” said -Toddie,” an you can have cake between -mealsh, an’ make mud-pies whenever you -want to, no matter if youzh got your very -besht clozhezh on. An’ I won’t ever say -‘Don’t!’s to you one single time!”</p> - -<p>“An’ you shall have your own mamma -come every day to frolic an’ cut up with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">294</span> -you,” said Budge. “I wish you had a papa; -we’d have him too!”</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice,” said Budge, “how do big -folks get along without papas and mammas?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, I’m sure, dear,” said Mrs. -Burton, remembering how helpless she found -herself when her husband first took her from -beneath her mother’s wing.</p> - -<p>“Don’t they ever have somethin’ to tell -’em, an’ then feel like somebody else when -they find they ain’t there to tell ’em to?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose some do,” said Mrs. Burton, recalling -some periods of her own life when she -longed for a confidant who should be neither -lover nor friend.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you think maybe they look all -around then, an’ think the nicer things are -the lonelier they are?” continued Budge.</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear,” replied Mrs. Burton, with a -kiss.</p> - -<p>“Musht be awful not to have anybody to -ask for pennies when youzh lonesome an’ -don’t know what else to do,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“An’ not to have anybody hold you to -keep from kind o’s tumblin’ to pieces when -you’ve seen enough of everythin’, an’ done -enough of everythin’, an’ don’t know what’ -goin’ to happen next, an’ wish it wouldn’t<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">295</span> -happen at all,” said Budge. “Say, Aunt -Alice, folks don’t ever have to feel that way -when they get to be angels, do they?”</p> - -<p>“No, indeed!”</p> - -<p>“Well, do you think it makes folks in -heaven happy to have a father—the Lord, -you know, when there ain’t anythin’ to ask -Him for? If they’re happy the whole time, I -don’t see when they can think about how nice -it is to have a heavenly papa. Do little -angels ever have to go away from home an’ -stay a few days, an’ not see their father at -all?”</p> - -<p>“Mercy—no!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, -with a shudder. “Where do you get such -ideas, Budge?”</p> - -<p>“Nowhere. I don’t get ’em at all—they -get me, an’ don’t let go of me until I think -myself most to pieces, or else get somethin’ -new to do that makes me forget ’em.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton mentally resolved to immediately -find something new for Budge to do, -if only to keep him from leading her mind -upon ground which, being unknown to her, -she assumed must be dangerous. Her anxiety -was not lessened when Toddie strayed -into more active conversation.</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alish,” said he, “what does little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">296</span> -boy angels do wif deir pennies when dey get -’em? Ish dere candy stores up in hebben, -and do de folks dat keeps ’em give more for a -penny dan dey do here?”</p> - -<p>“Pennies are of no use in heaven, Toddie,” -said Mrs. Burton, almost frantic to find a -way of escape from the pair of literalists, yet -remembering her longings of the early morning, -to have the boys with her that she might -find her way to their hearts and lead them -into her own.</p> - -<p>“What? Not good for anyfin’?” asked -Toddie. “Wouldn’t it be dweadful den if I -was to get to be an angel right now?—dere’h -sixty-four pennies in my savings bank.”</p> - -<p>“You can’t carry pennies to heaven, you -silly boy!” exclaimed Budge. “In a place -where the streets are made of gold, you don’t -s’pose anybody cares for pennies, do you? I -don’t b’lieve you could buy a single stick of -candy there for less than a dollar bill!”</p> - -<p>“If you little boys are so fond of candy,” -said Mrs. Burton, in desperation, “we will -make a lot ourselves, after lunch.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, oh!” Budge exclaimed. “Can common -folks like us make candy?”</p> - -<p>“But we are not common folks, Budge.”</p> - -<p>“I think we are,” said the boy, “when I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">297</span> -think what lovely people candy-makers -must be.”</p> - -<p>“How much will we make?” asked Toddie. -“Two pennies’s worth?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes. More than two little boys can -eat in a day.”</p> - -<p>“Gwacious Peter!” Toddie exclaimed, -“dat would be more dan a whole candystore -full! Come -on! Don’t letsh eat -any lunch at all, -so’s to have our -tummuks all empty -for de candy.”</p> - -<div class="figright"> -<img src="images/p295.jpg" alt="Fairies making candy" /> -</div> - -<p>“I’ll bet I -can walk faster -than you -can, Aunt -Alice,” said -Budge, tugging -at his aunt with one hand and pushing -her with the other.</p> - -<p>“I can run faster dan bofe of you,” -shouted Toddie. “Come on!”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton declined both challenges, so -the boys went rapidly over the course without -her and ran frantically up and down the -piazza until their aunt joined them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">298</span></p> - -<p>“What are you goin’ to make it in, Aunt -Alice?” shouted Budge, while Mrs. Burton -was yet a hundred yards away.</p> - -<p>“A saucepan.”</p> - -<p>“A washboiler would be better—two washboilersh!” -suggested Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Now, do you want to go home to-day, -Budge?” asked Mrs. Burton mischievously.</p> - -<p>“I—well—I guess you’d better not remind -me very much about it,” replied Budge, -“else maybe I will. What kind of candy is -it goin’ to be?”</p> - -<p>“Molasses.”</p> - -<p>“De stick kind, or de sticky?” asked -Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Both,” replied the lady, ascending the -steps.</p> - -<p>“Oh, goody, goody!” exclaimed Toddie, -clutching at his aunt’s dress. “I wants to -kish you.”</p> - -<p>“An’ I want to give you an awful big -hug,” said Budge.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton accepted these proffered -tokens of esteem and afterward spent two -miserable hours in trying to pacify the boys -until lunch-time. They ate scarcely anything, -and remonstrated so persistently -against their aunt’s appetite that the meal -remained almost untouched. Then the lady -was escorted to the kitchen by her nephews -and there was an animated discussion as to -the size of the saucepan to be used, and the -boys watched the pouring of the molasses so -closely that not a fly dared to assist. Then -they quarreled for the right to stir the odorous -mass until Mrs. Burton was obliged to -allot them three-minute reliefs by the kitchen -clock, and Budge declared that his turns -didn’t last more than a second, while Toddie -complained that they occupied two hours, -and each boy had to assist at the critical -operation of “trying,” and they consumed -what seemed to them long, weary years in -watching the paste cool itself. When, at -last, Mrs. Burton pronounced one panfull -ready to “pull,” a deep sigh of relief burst -from each little chest.</p> - -<p>“This is the way to pull candy,” said Mrs. -Burton, touching her fingers lightly with -butter, and then taking a portion of the paste -from a pan and drawing it into a string in the -usual manner. “And here,” she said, separating -the smaller portions, “is a piece for -each of you.”</p> - -<p>Budge carefully oiled his fingers as he had -seen his aunt do, and proceeded cautiously to -draw his candy, but Toddie seized his portion -with both hands, raised it to his mouth, -and fastened his teeth in it. Mrs. Burton -sprang at him in an instant.</p> - -<p>“Stop, Toddie—quick! It may fasten your -teeth together so you can’t easily open them.”</p> - -<p>Many were the inarticulate noises, all in a -tone of remonstrance, that Toddie made as -his aunt forcibly removed the mass from his -face. When at last he could open his mouth -he exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Don’t want mine pulled! itsh too awful -good the way it izh—you’ll pull de good out, -I’zh ’fwaid.”</p> - -<p>“You boys should have aprons,” said Mrs. -Burton. “Budge, put down your candy, -run up-stairs and tell Jane to bring down two -of Toddie’s aprons.”</p> - -<p>Budge hurried up-stairs, forgetting the -first half of his aunt’s injunction. Returning, -he had just reached the foot of the main -stair, when the door-bell rang. Hastily putting -his candy down, he opened the door and -admitted two ladies, who asked for Mrs. -Burton.</p> - -<p>“I guess she’s too busy makin’ candy to be -bothered by any lady,” said Budge, “but I’ll -ask her. Sit down.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">299</span></p> - -<p>Ten minutes later, Mrs. Burton, by a concentration -of effort peculiar to woman, but -which must ever remain a mystery to man, -entered the parlor in afternoon dress, and -greeted her visitors. Both rose to meet her, -and with one of them rose also a rocking-chair -with a cane seat. This remained in -mid-air only an instant, however, for the -lady’s dress had not been designed for the -purpose of moving furniture; with a sharp, -ripping sound, like that of musketry file-firing -afar off, her skirt soon took the appearance -of a train dress, heavily puffed at the -waist with fabric of another color.</p> - -<p>Both ladies endeavored to disengage her; -Mrs. Burton turned pale and then red as she -discovered the cause of the accident, while -Budge’s voice was heard from the doorway -saying:</p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice, have you seen my candy? I -laid it down somewhere so’s to let the ladies -in, an’ now I can’t find it!”</p> - -<p>An indignant gesture by Mrs. Burton sent -Budge away pouting and grumbling and the -chambermaid was summoned, the visitor’ -dress was repaired temporarily and the accident -was being laughed away, when from the -kitchen there arose an appalling sound. It<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">300</span> -was compounded of shrieks, yelps, and a peculiar -noise as of something being thrown -upon the floor.</p> - -<p>The noise increased; there were irregular -footfalls upon the kitchen-stairs, and at last -Toddie appeared, dragging by the collar the -dog Terry, from whose fore feet hung, by a -slowly lengthening rope of candy, one of the -pans of the unpulled paste.</p> - -<p>“I fought if I gived him candy he would -be nicer to me,” Toddie explained,” so I -chased him into a closet, an’ put the pan -up to his nose, an’ told him to help hisself. -And he stuck his foot in, an’——”</p> - -<p>Further explanation was given by deeds, -not words, for as Toddie spoke the dog kicked -violently with his hind feet, disengaged himself -from Toddie and started for the door, -dragging and lengthening his sweet bonds -behind him upon the floor. Toddie shrieked -and attempted to catch him, stepped upon -the candy-rope, found himself fastened to -the carpet, and burst into tears, while the -visitors departed and told stories which by -the next afternoon had developed into the -statement that Mrs. Burton had been foolish -enough to indulge her nephews in a candy-pulling -in her parlor and upon her new carpet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">301</span></p> - -<p>As for the boys, Budge ate some of his -candy, and Toddie ate much of everybodies, -and had difficulty in saving a fragment for -his uncle. And when at night he knelt in -spotless white to pray he informed Heaven -that now he understood what ladies meant -when they said they had had a real sweet -time.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p301.jpg" alt="The boys with a cartoon sunflower" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">302</span></p> - - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</h2> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">“We’re goin’ home</div> - <div class="verse">We’re goin’ home</div> - <div class="verse">We’re goin’ home</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To die no more.”</div> -</div></div></div> - - -<p>Sang Budge through the hall next morning, -and he repeated the lines over and -over so many times that they at last impressed -themselves upon the mind of Toddie, who -asked:</p> - -<p>“Budgie, izh you a-tellin’ de troof?”</p> - -<p>“What ’bout?”</p> - -<p>“Why, ’bout not dyin’. Don’t little boys -hazh to die after goin’ to live wif their uncles -an’ aunts for a little while?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, of course they do, but I’m so happy -I’ve got to sing somethin’; the front part of it -is troof, and that’s three times as big as the -other part, and I can’t think of any other -song ’bout goin’ home.”</p> - -<p>“Datsh too baddy,” complained Toddie. -“I fought you wazh tellin’ the troof, an’ I -wouldn’t never hazh to hazh a lot of dirt on -my eyes, so I couldn’t look up into de sky.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you won’t have to be bothered that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">303</span> -way,” said Budge. “When you die your -spirit goes up to heaven, an’ you can look -straight down froo the sky with your new -eyes, an’ laugh at the old dirt that thinks it’ -keepin’ your old eyes shut up.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t want no new eyes! Eyes I’zh -got izh good enough -to see fings wif.”</p> - -<p>“But just you -think, Toddie,” -reasoned Budge, -“heaven-eyes can’t -get dust in ’em, or -have to be washed, -or be bothered with -choo-choo smoke.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t smoke get -in the windows of -steam-cars up in -hebben?”</p> - -<p>“Of course not! -Not if everythin’ -goin’ to be all right -up there. There ain’t no choo-choos in -heaven anyhow. What does angels want -of choo-choos, I’d like to know, when they’ve -got wings to fly with?”</p> - -<div class="figright"> -<img src="images/p303.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“WE’RE GOIN’s HOME”</div> -</div> - -<p>“I’d never want all the choo-choos to go<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">304</span> -away, even if I had a fousand wingsh,” said -Toddie. “’Twould be such fun to fan myself -wif my wings when I was goin’ froo hot -old tunnels.”</p> - -<p>“Tunnels can’t be hot in heaven,” explained -Budge; “’cause they’re uncomfortable, -an’ nothin’ can be uncomfortable in -heaven. I guess there ain’t any tunnels -there at all. Oh, yes! I guess there’s little -bits of ones, just long enough to give little -boys the fun of ridin’ in and ridin’ out of ’em.”</p> - -<p>“Well, how’s you goin’ to ride in an’ out if -dere ain’t no choo-choos to pull de cars?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll tell you, Tod, I guess that’s one -of the things that the Bible don’t tell folks -about heaven. You know papa says that -there’s lots of things the Lord don’t let -people know ’bout heaven; ’cause it’ -none of their business, an’ I guess that’s one -of ’em.”</p> - -<p>“Wish dere’d be some more Bibles, den! -I wantsh to know lotsh more fingsh.”</p> - -<p>“Well, anyhow,” said Budge, “we’re goin’ -home to-day, an’ that fills me so full I ain’t -got room for the littlest speck of heaven. -Wonder who’s goin’ to take us, an’ when -we’re a-goin’, an’ ev’rything? Let’s go ask -Uncle Harry.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">305</span></p> - -<p>“Come on!” exclaimed Toddie, “Izh been -finkin’ awful hard ’bout how to get into his -bedroom wifout bein’ scolded, an’ now I -know. Hurry up ’fore we forgets.”</p> - -<p>Both boys hurried to the family chamber, -and assaulted the door with fists and feet.</p> - -<p>“’The overture of the angels,’” quoted -Mr. Burton, “’and positively their last appearance.’”</p> - -<p>“Don’t speak of it,” said Mrs. Burton. “I’ve -been crying about it in my dreams, I believe, -and I’m in a condition to begin again.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve a great mind to make them cry,” -said the man of the house savagely. “No -scrubbing will take the mark of small shoe-toes -out of painted wood.”</p> - -<p>“Let them kick to their dear little hearts’ -content! Not a mark of that kind shall ever -be insulted by a scrubbing brush. I feel as -if I’d like to go about the house and kiss -everything they’ve touched.”</p> - -<p>“You might kiss the sounding board of -my violin, then,” said Mr. Burton, “where -there’s an ineffaceable scratch from a nail -in Toddie’s shoe, placed there on the morning -of your birthday anniversary. There’s a nice -generous blot on the wood of the writing-desk, -too, where Toddie upset a bottle of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">306</span> -violet ink. Would that your kisses could -efface the stain that the cabinet-maker says -is indelible. Then there are some dingy -streaks on the wall beside their bed, where -they’ve lain crosswise and rubbed their heads -against the wall.”</p> - -<p>“It shall remain forever,” said the lady.</p> - -<p>“What! in your darling spare chamber?”</p> - -<p>A violent mental struggle showed its indications -in Mrs. Burton’s face, but she replied:</p> - -<p>“The furniture can be changed. We can -put a screen in front of the place; we’ll change -the room in any way, excepting their blessed -tokens of occupation.”</p> - -<p>But none of this devotion found its way -through the keyhole to shame the boys into -silence, for the noise increased until Mrs. -Burton herself hastened to draw the bolt.</p> - -<p>“It’s us,” was the unnecessary information, -volunteered by Budge as the door -opened; “an’ we want to know when we’re -goin’ home, an’ who’s goin’ to take us, an’ -how, an’ what you’re goin’ to give us to remember -you by, an’ we don’t care to have it -flowers, ’cause we’ve got plenty of ’em at -home.”</p> - -<p>“Fruit-cake would be nicesht,” suggested -Toddie. “Folks ’members that an awful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">307</span> -long time, ’cause when mamma once asked -papa if he ’membered de fruit-cake at Mrs. -Birch’s party he looked drefful sad, an’ said -he couldn’t ever forget it. Say, Aunt Alish, -don’t you get extra nice dinners for folks -dat’s goin’ away? Mamma always doesh; -says dey need it, cauzh folks need to be well-feeded -when they’e goin’ to travel.” [The -distance from the Burton residence to that -of the Lawrences was about a quarter of a -mile.]</p> - -<p>“You shall have a good-by dinner, Toddie, -dear,” said Mrs. Burton; “and the very -nicest one that I can prepare.”</p> - -<p>“Better make it a brekspup,” suggested -Toddie. “Mebbe we’ll be come for ’fore -dinner-time.”</p> - -<p>“You sha’n’t be taken until you get it, -dear.”</p> - -<p>“I ’pects I’ll have an awful good dinner -waitin’ for us, too, when we get home,” said -Budge; “’cause that’s the way the papa in -the Bible did, an’ yet he had only one boy -come home instead of two, an’ he’d been -bad.”</p> - -<p>“What portion of the Scriptural narrative -is that child running into now?” asked Mrs. -Burton.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">308</span></p> - -<p>“Aunt Alice don’t know who you’re talking -about, Budge,” said Mr. Burton. “Explain -it to her.”</p> - -<p>“Why, that boy that his papa made a dinner -out of fat veal for,” said Budge; “though -I never could see how that was a very nice -dinner.”</p> - -<p>“Worse and worse,” sighed Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Tell us all about it, old fellow,” said Mr. -Burton. “We don’t know what you’re driving -at.”</p> - -<p>“Why,” exclaimed Budge, “are you bad -folks that don’t read your Bible-books? I -thought everybody knew about him. Why, -he was a boy that went to his papa one day -and told him that whatever he was goin’ to -give him as long as he lived, he wished he’d -give it to him all at once. An’ his papa did. -Wasn’t he a lovely papa, though? So the -boy took the money, an’ went travelin’, an’ -had larks. There’s a picture about it all -in Tommy Bryan’ mamma’s parlor, but -I don’t think it’s very larkey; he’s just -a-sittin’ down with a whole lot of women -actin’ like geese all around him. But he -had to pay money to have larks, an’ he -had such lots of ’em that pretty soon he -didn’t have no money. Say, Uncle Harry,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">309</span> -why don’t people have all the money they -want?”</p> - -<p>“That’s the world’s prize conundrum,” -said Mr. Burton. “Ask me something easier.”</p> - -<p>“I’m goin’ to have all the money I wantsh -when I gets growed,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“How are you going to get it?” asked his -uncle, with natural interest.</p> - -<p>“Goin’ to be real good, an’ then ashk de -Lord for it,” said Toddie. “Wonder where -de Lord keepsh de lotsh of nysh fings he’ -goin’ to give good people when dey ashk Him -for ’em?—money and fings?”</p> - -<p>“Why, in heaven, of course,” said Budge.</p> - -<p>“Hazh He got a savin’ bank an’ a toy-store?” -asked Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Sh—h—h!” whispered Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“He’s only talking of what grown people -expect, my dear,” said Mr. Burton. “Go -on, Budge.”</p> - -<p>“Well, he didn’t have any more money, -an’ he couldn’t write to his papa for some, -’cause there wasn’t any post offices in that -country, so he went to work for a man, an’ -the man made him feed pigs, and he had to -eat the same things that the pigs ate. I -don’t know whether he ate them out of a -troff or not.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">310</span></p> - -<p>“It’s a great pity that you are in doubt -on that point,” said Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“He could play in de mud like de pigs, -couldn’t he?” said Toddie. “His papa was -too far away to know about it, an’ to say -‘Don’t!’s at him.”</p> - -<p>“I s’pose so,” said Budge, “but I don’t -think a boy could feel much like playin’ with -mud when he had to eat with the pigs. Well, -he went along bein’ a pig-feeder, when all at -once he ’membered that there was always -enough to eat at his papa’s house. Say, -Uncle Harry, boys is alike everywhere, ain’t -they?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so, present company excepted. -But what reminded you of it?”</p> - -<p>“Why, he wanted to go home when he -couldn’t hook enough from the pigs to fill -his stomach, an’ my papa says little boys -that can’t be found when their mamma -wants ’em always start for home when they -get hungry. That’s what this boy off in -another country did—papa says the Bible -don’t tell whether he told the man to get -another pig-feeder, or whether he just skooted -in a hurry. But, anyhow, he got pretty near -home, an’ I guess he felt awful ashamed of -himself an’ went along the back road; for, in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">311</span> -the picture of our big Bible-book, his clothes -are awful ragged an’ mussy, an’ he must have -been sure he was goin’ to get scolded an’ wish -he could get in the back door an’ go up to his -room without anybody seein’ him.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Harry!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. -“This is growing perfectly dreadful. It’ -positively sacrilegious.”</p> - -<p>“The application is the only sacred part of -the original, my dear,” said Mr. Burton, “and -you may trust that boy to discover the point -of anything. I wish doctors of divinity were -like him. Go ahead, Budge.”</p> - -<p>“Well, he was sneakin’ along, an’ gettin’ -behind trees an’ fences whenever he saw anybody -comin’ that he knew, when all at once -his papa saw him. Papas always can see -farther than anybody else, I believe, an’ they -always kind o’s know when their boys are -comin’, an’ they just look as if they’d always -been standin’ right there waitin’ for ’em. -An’ that pig-feeder’s papa ran right out of the -house without his hat on—that’s the way he -is in the picture in the big Bible-book, an’ -grabbed him, an’ kissed him, an’ hugged him -so hard that he had to grunt, an’——”</p> - -<p>“An’ he didn’t say ‘Why, how did you get -your clozhezh so dyty,’s eiver?” said Toddie.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">312</span></p> - -<p>“No, indeed! An’ the pig-feeder said he’d -been a bad boy, an’ he guessed he’d better -eat his dinner in the kitchen after that, but -his papa wouldn’t let him. He put clean -clothes on him, an’ gave him a new pair of -shoes, an’ put a ring on his finger.”</p> - -<p>“Ringsh ain’t good to eat,” said Toddie. -“I fwallowed one once, I did, an’ it didn’t -taste nohow at all. And den I had to take -some nashty medshin, an’ de ring came unfwallowed -again.”</p> - -<p>“He didn’t give him the ring to eat, you -silly boy,” said Budge. “Rings squeeze -fingers all the time, an’ let folks know how -the folks that give ’em the rings want to -squeeze ’em all the time. Then they killed a -whole calf—’cause the pig-feeder was awful -empty, you know, an’ they had a jolly old -time. An’ the pig-feeder’s big brother heard -’em all cuttin’ up, an’ he was real cross about -it, ’cause he’d always been good, an’ there -hadn’t ever been any tea-parties made for -him. But his papa said, ‘Oh, don’t say a -word—we’ve got your brother back again—just -think of that, my boy.’s I’m awful sorry -for that big brother, though; I know how he -felt, for when Tod’s bad, an’ I’m good papa -just takes Tod in his lap an’ talks to him,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">313</span> -an’ hugs him, an’ I feel awful lonesome an’ -wish I wasn’t good a bit.”</p> - -<p>“And what do you suppose the bad boy’ -mamma did when she saw him?” asked Mr. -Burton.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p313.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“SOME NASHTY MEDSHIN”</div> -</div> - -<p>“Oh,” said Budge, “I guess she didn’t say -anythin’, but just looked so sad at him that -he made up his mind he wouldn’t ever do a -naughty thing again as long as he lived, an’ -after that he’d stand behind her chair whole -half-hours at a time just to look at her where -she wouldn’t catch him at it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">314</span></p> - -<p>“And what do you think that whole story -means, Budge?” asked Mrs. Burton, determined -to impress at least one prominent -theological deduction upon her nephew.</p> - -<p>“Why, it means that good papas can always -see when bad boys is real ashamed of -themselves,” said Budge, “an’ know it’s best -to be real sweet to ’em then, an’ that papas -that can’t see and don’t know better than -to scold ’em they needn’t ever expect -to see their bad little boys come home -again.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton started, and her husband -laughed inwardly at this unusual application, -but the lady recovered herself and returned -in haste to her point.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you think it’s intended to teach us -anything about the Lord?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Why, yes,” said Budge, “of course. He -is the best of all papas, so he’ll be better to his -bad children than any other good papas -know how to be.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what the story is meant to teach,” -said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“I thought everybody knew that about the -Lord.” Budge replied.</p> - -<p>“If they did, Jesus would never have told -the story,” said Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">315</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, I s’pose those old Jews had to be told -it,” said Budge, “’cause folks used to be awful -bad to their children, an’ believe the Lord -would be awful bad to them.”</p> - -<p>“People need to be told the same story -now, Budge,” continued Mrs. Burton. “They -love to hear it, and know how good the Lord -is willing to be to them.”</p> - -<p>“Do they love it better than to learn how -good they ought to be to their children?” -Budge asked. “Then I think they’re piggish. -I wouldn’t like my papa an’ mamma -to be that way. They say that it’s gooder to -care for what you can give than what you -can get. An’ Uncle Harry hasn’t told us yet -when we’re goin’ home, and who’s goin’ to -take us.”</p> - -<p>“Your papa is going to come for you as he -returns from the city,” said Mr. Burton. “I -think he wants to tell you something before -you go home; you little boys don’t know yet -how to act in a house where there’s sick mammas -and little babies.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, we do,” said Budge. “All we’ve -got to do is to sit still an’ look at ’em with all -our mights.”</p> - -<p>“Only dzust dzump up ev’ry two or free -minutes to kiss ’em,” suggested Toddie.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">316</span></p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Budge, “an’ to pat their -cheeks an’ to put nice things to eat in their -mouths, like papa an’ mamma does to us, -when we’re sick.”</p> - -<p>“An’ make music for ’em,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“An’ give ’em pennies,” said Budge.</p> - -<p>“An’ shake their savings banks for ’em to -make de pennies rattle, like Budgie did for -me once when I was too sick to rattle my -own bank,” said Toddie, bestowing a frantic -hug upon his brother.</p> - -<p>“An’ put the room to rights for ’em,” said -Budge.</p> - -<p>“An’ bring ’em in nice mud-pies all ready -baked, like I did once for Budgie, to play wif -on de bed when he was sick,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“An’ dance for ’em,” suggested Budge. -“That’s the way I used to do for Baby Phillie, -an’ it always made him happy.”</p> - -<p>“An’ put up pictures on de wall for ’em,” -said Toddie; “we’s got whole newspapers -full that we’s cutted out up in your garret; -and dere’s a whole bottle of mucilage——”</p> - -<p>“My war file of illustrated papers!” explained -Mr. Burton. “How did they find -that? Oh, this cross of love!”</p> - -<p>“Whole bottle of mucilage in papa’s room -to stick ’em on wif,” continued Toddie; “an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">317</span>’ -mamma’s room is nice pink, like de leaves of -my scrap-book dat pictures look so pretty -on.”</p> - -<p>“And these are the child-ideas of being -good and useful!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, as -the boys forgot everything else in the discovery -of their uncle’s razor-strop with an -extension at one end.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” sighed Mr. Burton, “and they’re -not much nearer the proper thing, in spite of -their good intentions, than the plans of grown -people for the management of children, the -reformation of the world, and a great many -other things.”</p> - -<p>“Harry!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“No personal allusion, my dear,” said her -husband, quickly. “I’d no thought of anything -of the kind. Adults and children alike -mean well enough; the difference is that the -former wonder why their ideas are not appreciated -while with the children the energies -of parents and teachers are devoted to treating -mistaken opinions as great sins. How -many children could do the kindnesses which -Budge and Toddie have devised out of the -tenderness of their dear little hearts and not -be scolded and whipped for their pains? -Hosts of children have had all the good blood<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">318</span> -and kind heart and honest head scolded and -beaten out of them, and only the baser qualities -of their natures allowed to grow, and -these only because in youth many of them -are dormant and don’t make trouble.”</p> - -<p>“Harry, what a preacher you are!—what a -terrible preacher!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Where does the terror come in?” asked -Mr. Burton, with signs of that indignation -which every man with an idea in advance of -his generation must frequently be afflicted -by.</p> - -<p>“Why, to imply that there’s so much injustice -being done to children.”</p> - -<p>“Of course the saying of it is worse than -the fact of its existence,” said Mr. Burton, -with a curl of the lip.</p> - -<p>“Please don’t speak in that cruel way, -Harry. It isn’t anything of the sort—excepting -for a moment or two.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Burton apologized, and restored confidence -without saying a word, and then the -couple turned instinctively to look at the -first causes of their conversation, but the -boys were gone.</p> - -<p>“The tocsin of their souls, the dinner-bell—breakfast-bell, -I mean, has probably -sounded,” said Mr. Burton; “and I’m as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">319</span> -hungry as a bear myself. Let’s descend and -see what they’ve succeeded in doing within -five brief minutes.”</p> - -<p>The Burtons found the dining-room, but -not the boys and the chambermaid was sent -in search of them. The meal was slowly -consumed but the boys did not appear.</p> - -<p>“You’d better have the cook prepare -something additional,” suggested Mr. Burton, -as he arose and started for his train. -“The appetite of the small boy is a principal -that accumulates frightful usury in a very -small while after maturity.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton acted upon her husband’ -suggestion, and busied herself about household -affairs for an hour or more, until, learning -that the boys had not yet arrived, she -strolled out to search for them. Supposing -that they might have been overpowered by -their impatience so far as to have gone home -at once, she visited the residence of her sister-in-law, -and inquired of Mike.</p> - -<p>“Dhivil a bit have they been here,” replied -Michael. “Ain’t me ould eyes sore for the -soight av ’em all the whoile ag’in? They’re -nowhere about here, rest ye aisy.”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid they may be lost,” said Mrs. -Burton.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">320</span></p> - -<p>Mike burst into a prolonged horse laugh, -and then, recovering himself by sundry contortions -and swallowings, he replied:</p> - -<p>“Beggin’ yez pardon, ma’am, but I -couldn’t help it—as the blessed Virgin is -smoilin’ in heaven, I cuddent—but thim byes -can niver be lost. Lost, is it? Cud ye lose a -ghost or a bird? They’ll foind their way -anywhere they’ve been once, an’ if they -haven’t been there before they’ll belave -they have, an’ foind their way out all roight. -Lave yer boddher till dinner-time, an’ mark -me wurruds ye’ll foind ye’ve no nade av it. -Losht!” and Mike burst into another laugh -that he hurried into the stable to hide while -Mrs. Burton returned to her home with a -mind almost quiet.</p> - -<p>The morning ended, however, and no -small boys appeared at the table. Mrs. Burton’ -fears came back with increased strength -and she hurried off again to Mike and -implored him to go in search of the children. -The sight of an ugly looking tramp -or two by the way suggested kidnapping -to Mrs. Burton and brought tears to her -eyes. Even the doubting Mike, when he -learned that the children had eaten nothing -that day, grew visibly alarmed and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">321</span> -mounted one of his master’s horses in hot -haste.</p> - -<p>“Where are you going first, Mike?” asked -Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Dhivil a bit do I know!” exclaimed Mike; -“but I’m goin’ to foind ’em, an’ may the -blessed saints go with me!”</p> - -<p>Away galloped Mike, and Mrs. Burton, -fearing that the alarm might reach the boys’ -mother, hurried home, started the cook on -one road, the chambermaid on another, and -herself on a third, while Mike sought the -candystore, the schoolhouse, sundry bridges -over brooks, and the various other places that -boys delight in. Mrs. Burton’s own course -was along a road leading up the rugged, -heavily wooded hill called by courtesy a -mountain, but she paused so many times, to -call, to listen, to step considerably out of her -way to see if dimly descried figures were not -those of her nephews, and to discover that -what seemed in the forest to be boyish figures -were only stumps or bushes, that she -spent at least two hours upon the road, -which doubled many times upon itself. Suddenly -she saw in the road beyond her a familiar -figure dragging a large green bough.</p> - -<p>“Budge!” she screamed and ran toward<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">322</span> -him. The little figure turned its head, and -Mrs. Burton was shocked to see a haggard -face, whose whiteness intensified the starting -eyes, pink, distended nostrils, and thin, -drawn lips of her nephew. And upon the -bough, holding to one of the upper sprigs -tightly with one hand, while with the other -he clutched something green and crumpled, -lay Toddie, dust-encrusted from head to -foot.</p> - -<p>“Oh! what has happened?” Mrs. Burton -exclaimed.</p> - -<p>Toddie raised his head and explained.</p> - -<p>“Izhe a shotted soldier bein’ tookted to -where de shooters can’t catch me, like sometimes -dey used to be in de war.”</p> - -<p>Budge dropped in the road and cried.</p> - -<p>“Oh, what is it?” cried Mrs. Burton, -kneeling beside Toddie, and taking him in -her arms. And Toddie replied:</p> - -<p>“Ow!”</p> - -<p>“Budge, dear,” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, -releasing Toddie, and hurrying to his brother, -“what has happened? Do tell me!”</p> - -<p>Budge opened his eyes and mouth reluctantly, -and replied with a thin voice:</p> - -<p>“Wait till I get alive again, an’ I’ll tell -you. I haven’t got many words inside of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">323</span> -me now; they’re all dropped out, I’m so -tired, and, oh——”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p322.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“I’ZHE A SHOTTED SOLDIER”</div> -</div> - -<p>Budge closed his eyes again. Mrs. Burton -picked him up tenderly, sat upon a large stone, -rocked back and forth, kissed him repeatedly, -cried over him, while Toddie turned upon his -stomach, surveyed the scene with apparent -satisfaction, and said:</p> - -<p>“Say, Aunt Alish, it’s djolly to be a shotted -soldier.”</p> - -<p>Budge slowly recovered, put his arm -around his aunt tightly, and said:</p> - -<p>“Oh, Aunt Alice, ’twas awful!”</p> - -<p>“Tell me all about it, dear, when you feel -well enough. Where have you been all day? -Aunty’s heart has been almost broken about -you.”</p> - -<p>“Why, you see, we wanted to do something -nice for you, ’fore we went home to -stay, ’cause you’ve been so nice to us. Why, -when we talked about it, we couldn’t think -of a single unpleasant thing you’d done to -us—though I’m sure you done a lot. Anyhow, -we couldn’t ’member any.”</p> - -<p>“’Cept sayin’ ‘Don’t!’s lotzh of timesh,” -said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Budge, “Tod thought ’bout -that, but we made up our minds perhaps we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">324</span> -needed that said to us. An’ we couldn’t -think of anything nicer than to get you some -wild flowers. Ev’rybody’s got tame flowers, -you know, so we thought wild ones would be -nicer. An’ we thought we could get ’em -’fore breakbux if we’d hurry, so off we came -right up to the foot of the mountains, but -there wasn’t any. I guess they wasn’t -awake yet, or else they’d gone to sleep. -Then we didn’t know what to do.”</p> - -<p>“’Cept get you some bych [birch] bark,” -said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Budge; “but birch bark is to -eat, an’ not to look at; an’ we wanted to give -you somethin’ you could see, an’ remember -us a few days by.”</p> - -<p>“An’ all of a sudden I said ’fynes!’ -[ferns],” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Budge, “Tod said it first, but -I thought it the same second. An’ there’ -lovely ferns up in the rocks. Don’t you -see?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton looked, and shuddered. The -cliff above her head was a hundred feet high, -jagged all over its front, yet from every -crevice exquisite ferns posed their peaceful -fronds before the cold gray of the rock.</p> - -<p>“’Twasn’t here,” Budge continued.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">325</span> -“’Twas ’way up around the corner, where -the rocks ain’t so high, but they’re harder to -climb. We climbed up here first.”</p> - -<p>“You dreadful, darling children!” exclaimed -Mrs. Burton, giving Budge a squeeze -of extra severity. “To think of two little -children going up such a dreadful place! -Why, it makes me dizzy to see your Uncle -Harry do it.”</p> - -<p>“Ain’t childrens, when we climb mountainsh!” -asserted Toddie; “we’zh mans -den.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” Budge continued, “we got lots, -and throwed each one away ’cause we kept -seein’ nicer ones higher up. Say, Aunt Alice, -what’s the reason things higher up always -look extra nice?”</p> - -<p>“I know,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Why is it, Toddie?” Mrs. Burton asked.</p> - -<p>“’Cauzh deysh closer to hebben,” said -Toddie. “G’won, Budgie. I likes to hear -’bout it, too.”</p> - -<p>“Well, at last we got to a place where the -rocks all stopped and some more began. An’ -up on them was the loveliest ferns of all.”</p> - -<p>“An’ I went up dat mountain fyst, I did,” -said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Tod did, the blessed little sassy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">326</span> -rascal,” said Budge, blowing a kiss to his -brother. “I told him I didn’t believe that -any ferns was nicer than any others, but he -said, ‘Lord’ll make ’em so den, for Aunt -Alish.’s An’ up he went, just like a spider.”</p> - -<p>“Went up fyst,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>“’Course you did,” said Budge. “’Cause I -didn’t go up at all. And Tod was pullin’ at a -big fern with his back to me, an’ the first -thing I knew there he was in the air layin’ -down sideways on nothin’. Then he hollered.”</p> - -<p>“’Cauzh I camed down bunk on whole -lotch of little rocks,” explained Toddie. “But -I didn’t lose the fyne—here tizh!” and Toddie -held up a badly crushed and wilted ball -of something that had once been a fern, seeing -which Mrs. Burton placed Budge on the -stone, hurried to Toddie, thrust the bruised -fern into her bosom, and kissed its captor -soundly.</p> - -<p>“Hold me some more,” said Budge, “I -don’t feel very good yet.”</p> - -<p>“Then what did you do?” asked Mrs. Burton, -resuming her position as nurse.</p> - -<p>“Why, Tod went on hollerin’, an’ he -couldn’t walk, so I helped him down to the -road, an’ he couldn’t walk yet——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">327</span></p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton had turned again to Toddie, -and carefully examined his legs without finding -any broken bones.</p> - -<p>“The hurt is in de bottom part of my leg -an’ de top part of my foot,” said Toddie, who -had turned his ankle.</p> - -<p>“An’ he just hollered ‘mam-<i>ma</i>’s and ‘pa-<i>pa</i>,’ -so sad,” continued Budge. “An’ ’twas -awful. An’ I looked up the road an’ there -wasn’t anybody, an’ down the front of the -mountain and there wasn’t anybody, an’ I -didn’t know what to do, ’cause ’twouldn’t do -to go ’way off home to tell, when a poor little -brother was feelin’ so dreadful bad. Then I -’membered how papa said he’d sometimes -seen shot soldiers carried away when there -wasn’t any wagons. So I pulled at the limb of -a tree to get the thing to drag him on.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Budge!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, -“you don’t mean to say you got that bough -all alone by yourself, do you?”</p> - -<p>“Well, no, I guess not,” said Budge, hesitatingly. -“I pulled at one after another, -but not one of them would split, and then I -thought of somethin’ an’ kneeled right down -by the tree, an’ told the Lord all about it, an’ -told Him I knew He didn’t want poor little -hurt Tod to lie there all day, an’ wouldn’t<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">328</span> -He please help me break a limb to draw him -on? An’ when I got up off of my knees I -was as strong as forty thousand horses. I -don’t think I needed the Lord to help me a -bit then. An’ I just gave one pull at the -limb, an’ down it came kersplit, an’ I put Tod -on it, an’ dragged him. But I tell you it was -hard work!”</p> - -<p>“’Twash fun, too,” said Toddie, “’cept -when it went where dere was little rocks in de -road, an’ dey came up an’ hitted de hurt -playsh.”</p> - -<p>“I dragged it in the soft parts of the road,” -said Budge, “whenever I could, but sometimes -there wasn’t any soft place all across -the road. An’ things jumped inside of me—that -little heart-engine, you know, awfully. -I could only go about a dozen steps without -stoppin’ to rest. An’ then Tod stopped cryin’ -an’ said he was hungry, an’ that reminded -me that I was hungry, too.”</p> - -<p>“But we didn’t lose the fyne,” said Toddie.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton took the memento from her -breast and kissed it.</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Budge, “you like it, don’t -you? All right, then. Tod an’ me don’t -care for bothers an’ hurts now, do we, Tod?”</p> - -<p>“No, indeedy,” said Toddie. “Not when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">329</span> -we can ride like shotted soldiers, an’ get -home to get breakbux an’ lunch togevver.”</p> - -<p>“Neither of you shall have any more -trouble about getting home,” said Mrs. Burton. -“Just sit here quietly while I go and -send a carriage for you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” said Budge. “That’ll be lovely; -won’t it, Tod? Ain’t you glad you got hurt? -But say? Aunt Alice, haven’t you got any -crackers in your pocket?”</p> - -<p>“Why, no—certainly not!” exclaimed the -lady, temporarily losing her tenderness.</p> - -<p>“Oh! I thought you might have. Papa -always does, when he goes out to look for us -when we stay away from home a good -while.”</p> - -<p>Suddenly a horse’s hoofs were heard on the -road below.</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t wonder if that was Mike,” -said Mrs. Burton. “He has been out on -horseback, looking for you.”</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t wonder if ’twas papa,” said -Budge. “He’s the funniest man for always -comin’ anywhere first when we need him -most.”</p> - -<p>“An’ wif crackers,” Toddie added.</p> - -<p>The clattering hoofs came nearer, though -slower, and, true to the children’s intuitions,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">330</span> -around the bend of the road came Tom Lawrence -on horseback, an old army haversack -and canteen slung over his shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Papa!” shouted both boys. “Hooray!” -Tom Lawrence waved his hat, and Toddie -shouted, “He’s got de crackers! I see de -bag!” The father reined up suddenly and -dismounted, Budge rushed to his arms, and -Toddie exclaimed,</p> - -<p>“Papa, guesh it’s a long time since you’ -seen a shotted soldier, ain’t it?”</p> - -<p>Then Toddie was placed in the saddle, and -Budge behind him, and the precious haversack -was opened and found to contain sandwiches, -and both boys tried to drink out of -the canteen, and poured a great deal of water -into their bosoms, and Tom led the horse -carefully, and Mrs. Burton walked upon one -side, with a hand under Toddie’s lame leg to -keep the bruised ankle from touching the -saddle, and she did not swerve from the middle -of the dusty road, even when carriages full -of stylish acquaintances were met, and both -little heroes, like men of larger growth, forgot -at once that they had ever been heroic, and -they prattled as inconsequently as any couple -of silly children could, and the horse was led -by a roundabout road so that no one might<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">331</span> -see the party and apprise Mrs. Lawrence that -anything unusual had happened, and the -boys were heavily bribed to tell their mother -nothing until their father had explained, and -they were carried in, each in his father’ -arms, to kiss their mamma; and when they -undressed and went to bed, the sister-baby -was, by special dispensation of the nurse, allowed -to lie between them for a few moments, -and the evening ceremonies were prolonged -by the combined arts of boys and parent, and -then Budge knelt and prayed:</p> - -<p>“Dear Lord, we’re awful glad to get back -again, ’cause nobody can be like papa and -mamma to us, an’ I’m so thankful I don’t -know what to do for bein’ made so strong -when I wanted to break that limb off of the -tree, and bless dear Aunt Alice for findin’ us, -and bless poor uncle more, ’cause he tried to -find us, and was disappointed, and make -every little boy’s papa just like ours, to come -to ’em just when they need him, just like you. -Amen.”</p> - -<p>And Toddie shut his eyes in bed, and said,</p> - -<p>“Dee Lord, I went up de mountain fyst. -Don’t forget dat. Amen.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">332</span></p> - - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</h2> - - -<p>There was a little family conclave at -the Lawrence house a fortnight later. -No deliberative meeting had been intended; -quite the contrary; for Mrs. Lawrence was on -that day to make her first appearance at the -dinner-table in a month, and Mrs. Burton and -her husband were invited to step in informally -on the occasion, and they had been glad -enough to do so although the boys, who had -been allowed to dine that night with the family -in honor of the occasion, conversed so volubly -that no other person at the table could -speak without interruption.</p> - -<p>But there came an hour when the boys -could no longer prolong the usual preliminaries -of going to bed, although they kissed -their parents and visitors once as a matter of -course, a second time to be sure they had -done it, and a third time to assure themselves -that they had forgotten nobody. Then several -chats were interrupted by various juvenile -demands, pleas and questions from the -upper floor; but as, when Lawrence went in -person to answer the last one he found both<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">333</span> -boys sleeping soundly the families devoted -themselves to each other with the determination -of passing a pleasant evening. They -talked of what was going on in the world, and -much that might be going on but was not, the -blame being due to persons who did not think -as they did; they sang, played, quoted books, -talked pictures and bric-a-brac, and then Mrs. -Lawrence changed the entire course of conversation -by promising -to replace Mrs. Burton’ -chair which the dog Terry had destroyed -by special arrangement with the boys.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p333.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">BOTH BOYS SLEEPING SOUNDLY</div> -</div> - -<p>“You sha’n’t do anything of the sort!” said -Mrs. Burton. “Keep the dear little scamps -from playing such pranks on any one who -don’t happen to love them so well, and I’ll -forgive them.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t imagine for a moment that -they knew what the result would be when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">334</span> -they tied Terry to the chair, do you?” Mrs. -Lawrence asked.</p> - -<p>“Never!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, emphatically, -“but they did it, and it might -have happened somewhere else, with people -who didn’t love them so well, and what would -they have thought?”</p> - -<p>“She means that strangers would have -imagined your boys a couple of little boors, -Nell,” said Mr. Burton to his sister.</p> - -<p>“Strangers know nothing whatever about -other people’s children,” said Mrs. Lawrence -with dignity, “and they should therefore -have nothing to do with them and pass no -opinions upon them. No one estimates -children by what they are; they only judge -by the amount of trouble they make.”</p> - -<p>“Now you’ve done it, Mistress Alice,” said -Mr. Burton to his wife. “It is better to meet -a she-bear that is robbed of her whelps than -a mother whose children are criticized by any -one but herself.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve done it!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. -“Who translated my quiet remark into something -offensive. Besides, you’ve misapplied -Scripture only to suggest things worse yet. -If I’m not mistaken, the proverb about the -she-bear and her whelps has something in it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">335</span> -about a fool and his folly. Do you mean to -insinuate such insulting ideas about your sister -and her darlings?”</p> - -<p>But no amount of badinage could make -Mrs. Lawrence forget that some implied advice -was secreted in her sister-in-law’s carefully -worded remark, so she continued,</p> - -<p>“I’m extremely sorry they had to go to -you, but I couldn’t imagine what better to do. -I wish Tom could have staid at home all the -while to take care of them. I hope, if we -ever die, they may follow us at once. Nothing -is so dreadful as the idea of one’s children -being perpetually misunderstood by some -one else, and having their honest little hearts -hardened and warped just when they should -be cared for most patiently and tenderly.”</p> - -<p>“Helen!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, changing -her seat so as to take Mrs. Lawrence’ -hand, “I’d die for your children at any time, -if it would do them any good.”</p> - -<p>“I believe you, you dear girl,” said Mrs. -Lawrence, recovering her natural manner, -and not entirely unashamed of her outburst -of feeling, “but you don’t understand it all, -as you will some day. The children trouble -me worse than they ever did or can any one -else; but it isn’t their fault, and I know it,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">336</span> -and can endure it. No one else can. I am -sure I don’t know how to blame people who -are annoyed by juvenile pranks.”</p> - -<p>“Then what’s to be done with youngsters -in general?” Mrs. Burton asked.</p> - -<p>“They’re to be kept at home,” said Mrs. -Lawrence, “under the eye of father or -mother continually, until they are large -enough to trust; and the age at which they’re -to be trusted should not be determined by the -impatience of their parents, either.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be frightened, Allie,” said Tom. -“Helen had some of these notions before she -had any boys of her own to defend.”</p> - -<p>“They’re certainly not the result of my -children’s happy experiences with the best -aunt and uncle that ever lived,” said Mrs. -Lawrence, caressing her adopted sister’ -hand. “If you could hear the boys’s praises -of you both, you’d grow insufferably vain, -and imagine yourselves born to manage -orphan asylums.”</p> - -<p>“Heaven forbid!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, -the immediate result of her utterance being -the partial withdrawal of Mrs. Lawrence’ -hand. “There are only two children in the -family——”</p> - -<p>“Three,” corrected Mrs. Lawrence promptly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">337</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, bless me, what have I said!” exclaimed -Mrs. Burton. “Well, there are only -three children in the family, and they are not -enough to found an asylum, while I feel utterly -unfitted to care for any one child that I -don’t know very well and love very dearly.”</p> - -<p>“Is it possible that any one can learn so -much in so short a time?” exclaimed Tom -Lawrence. “Harry, my boy, you’re to be -congratulated.”</p> - -<p>“Upon having educated me?” Mrs. Burton -asked.</p> - -<p>“Upon the rare wisdom with which he selected -a wife, or, the special favor he found at -the court where matches are made,” Tom -explained.</p> - -<p>“Harry didn’t select me at all,” said Mrs. -Burton. “Budge did it for him, so of course -the match was decreed in heaven. But may -I know of what my sudden acquisition of -knowledge consists? If there’s anything in -my experience with the boys that I am not -to feel humiliated about, I should be extremely -glad to know of it. I went into the -valley of humiliation within an hour of their -arrival, and since then I’ve scarcely been out -of it.”</p> - -<p>“If it weren’t for being suspected of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">338</span> -throwing moral deductions at people,” Tom -replied, “I would say that that same valley -of humiliation is very prolific of discoveries. -But, preaching aside, no one can manage -children without first loving them. Even a -heart full of love has to make room for a lot -of sorrow over blunders and failures.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve learned that affection is absolutely -necessary,” said Mrs. Burton, “but I confess -that I don’t see clearly that love requires that -one should be trampled upon, wheedled, -made of no account and without authority in -one’s own house, submit to anything, in -fact——”</p> - -<p>“Now you’ve done it again,” whispered -Mr. Burton to his wife, as Helen Lawrence’ -cheek began to flush, and that maternal -divinity replied:</p> - -<p>“Does the parent of all of us resign his -authority when he humors us in our childish -ways because we can’t comprehend any -greater ones? Every concession is followed -by growth on the part of his children, if they -are honest; when they are not, it seems to -me that the concessions aren’t made. But -my children are honest.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton’s lips were parting, seeing -which her husband whispered,</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">339</span></p> - -<p>“Don’t!”</p> - -<p>There was a moment or two of silence; then -Mrs. Burton asked:</p> - -<p>“How are people to know when they’re not -being imposed upon by children? You can’t -apply to the funny little beings the rules that -explain the ways of grown people.”</p> - -<p>“Is it the most dreadful thing in the world -to be imposed upon by a child?” asked Tom. -“We never impose upon them, do we? We -never give them unfair answers, arbitrary -commands, unkind restrictions, simply to -save ourselves a little extra labor or -thought?”</p> - -<p>“Tom!” Mrs. Burton exclaimed; “I don’t -do anything of the sort, I am sure.”</p> - -<p>“Why will you display so touchy a conscience, -then?” whispered her husband. “If -you continue to put up your defense the -instant Tom launches a criticism, he’ll begin -to suspect you of dreadful cruelty to the -boys.”</p> - -<p>“Not I,” laughed Tom.</p> - -<p>“She had you to reform, for half a year -before the boys visited her,” said Helen, -“and you still live.”</p> - -<p>“But, Tom, seriously now, you don’t mean -to have me infer that children shouldn’t be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">340</span> -made to mind, and be prevented from doing -things that can bother their elders?” asked -Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Certainly they should have to obey,” -said Tom, “but I’d rather they wouldn’t, if -at the same time they must learn, as in general -they do, that obedience is imposed more -for the benefit of their elders than themselves.”</p> - -<p>“I was always taught to obey,” said Mrs. -Burton, with the not unusual though always -unconscious peculiarity of supposing the recital -of personal experience to be a sufficient -argument and precedent.</p> - -<p>“Do you find the habit still strong in her, -Harry?” asked Tom.</p> - -<p>“<i>Do</i> I!” exclaimed Harry, with a mock -tragic air, “’could I the horrors of my prison -house unfold,’s you would see that the obedient -member of the Burton family never appears -in gowns.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not,” said Mrs. Burton. “Didn’t -he promise to be mine, and shall I neglect my -responsibilities? I obeyed my parents.”</p> - -<p>“And never doubted that their orders were -wise, beneficent, and necessary, of course?” -asked Lawrence.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p340.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">THE OBEDIENT MEMBER OF THE BURTON FAMILY</div> -</div> - -<p>“Tom, Tom!” said Helen, warningly; “if<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">341</span> -you don’t want Alice to abuse other people’s -children be careful what you say about other -children’s parents. Don’t play grand inquisitor.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, not at all,” said Tom, hastily. “But -I should like to borrow woman’ curiosity for -a while, and have it gratified in this particular -case.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know that I always admitted the -wisdom of my parents’s commands,” said Mrs. -Burton; “but how could I? I was only a child.”</p> - -<p>“You rendered unquestioning obedience -in spirit as well as in act, when you became -a young lady, then?” pursued Tom.</p> - -<p>“No, I didn’t. There!” Mrs. Burton exclaimed; -“but what return can a child make -for parental care and suffering, except to at -least seem to be a model of compliance with -its parents’s desires?”</p> - -<p>“Good!” exclaimed Harry. “And what -can a husband, who knows that his own way -is best, do to recompense wifely companionship -but meekly do as his wife wants him to, -no matter how incorrect her ideas?”</p> - -<p>“He can listen to reason and not be a conceited -goose,” said Mrs. Burton; “and he -can refrain from impeding the flow of brotherly -instruction.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">342</span></p> - -<p>“Tom shall say whatever he likes,” said -Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lawrence’s smile showed that she -would be satisfied with the result, and her -husband continued:</p> - -<p>“Children—ninety-nine one-hundredths of -those I’ve seen, at least, are treated as necessary -nuisances by their parents. The good -fathers and mothers would be horrified to -realize this truth, and when it accidentally -presents itself, as it frequently does to any -with heart and head, its appearance is so unpleasing -and perplexing that they promptly -take refuge in tradition. Weren’t they -brought up in the same way? To be sure, -it’s the application of the same rule that has -always made the ex-slave the cruelest of -overseers, and the ex-servant the worst of -masters; but such comparisons are odious to -one’s pride, and what chance has self-respect -when pride steps down before it?”</p> - -<p>“Poor human nature!” sighed Harry. -“You’ll get to Adam’s fall pretty soon, -won’t you, Tom?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t fear,” laughed Mr. Lawrence. “It’ -the falling of later people that troubles me—that, -and their willingness to stay down -when they’ve tumbled and the calmness with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">343</span> -which they can lie quiet and crush poor little -children who aren’t responsible for being under -them. Adam knew enough to wish himself -back in his honorable position, but most -parents have had no lofty position to which -they could look longingly back, and but few -of them can remember any such place having -been in the possession of any member of their -respective families.”</p> - -<p>“But what is to be done, even if any one -wishes to live up to your ideal standard as a -guardian of children?” Mrs. Burton asked. -“Submit to any and every imposition; allow -every misdeed to go unpunished; be the ruled -instead of the ruler?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no,” said Tom, “it’s something far -harder than that. It’s to live for the children -instead of one’s self.”</p> - -<p>“And have all your nice times spoiled and -your plans upset?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, unless they’re really of more value -than human life and human character,” Tom -replied. “You indicated the proper starting -point in your last remark; if you’ll study that -for yourself, you’ll learn a great deal more -than I can tell you, and learn it more pleasantly -too.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care to study,” said Mrs. Burton,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">344</span> -“when I can get my information at second-hand.”</p> - -<p>“Go on, Tom,” said Mr. Burton, “Continue -to appear in your character of the -‘Parental Encyclopædist’; we’ll try to stop -one ear so that what goes in at the other -shall not be lost.”</p> - -<p>“I only want to say that the plans and -good times spoiled by the children are what -ruin every promising generation. The child -should be taught, but instead of that he is -only restrained. He should be encouraged -to learn the meaning and the essence of -whatever of the inevitable is forced upon him -from year to year; but he soon learns that -children’s questions are as unwelcome as tax-collectors -or lightning-rod men. It’s astonishing -how few hints are necessary to give a -child the habit of retiring into himself, and -from there to such company as he can find to -tolerate him.”</p> - -<p>“You needn’t fear for your boys, Tom,” -said Mr. Burton. “I’d pay handsomely for -the discovery of a single question which -they have ever wanted to ask but refrained -from putting.”</p> - -<p>“And what myriads of them they can -ask—not that there’s anything wrong<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">345</span> -about it, the little darlings,” Mrs. Burton -added.</p> - -<p>“I am glad of it,” said Tom; “but I hope -they’ll never again have to go to any one but -their mother and me for information.”</p> - -<p>“Tom, there you go again!” said Mrs. -Burton. “Please don’t believe I ever refused -them an answer or answered unkindly.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly you haven’t,” said Tom. “Excuse -a stale quotation—’the exception proves -the rule.’s I’ve really been nervously anxious -about the soundness of this rule, until you -were brought into the family, for I never -knew another exception.”</p> - -<p>“May I humbly suggest that a certain -brother-in-law existed before the boys had -an Aunt Alice?” asked Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes,” said Tom; “but he was too well -rewarded, for the little he did, to be worthy of -consideration.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton inclined her head in acknowledgment -of her brother-in-law’s compliment, -and asked:</p> - -<p>“Do you think all children’s questions are -put with any distinct intention? Don’t you -imagine that they ask a great many because -they don’t know what else to do, or because -they want to—to——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">346</span></p> - -<p>“To talk against time, she means, Tom,” -said Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Very likely. But the answers are what -are of consequence, no matter what the motive -of the questions may be.”</p> - -<p>“What an idea!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton; -“really, Tom, aren’t you afraid you’re losing -yourself?”</p> - -<p>“I really hadn’t noticed it,” said Tom; -“but perhaps I may be able to explain myself -more clearly. You go to church?”</p> - -<p>“Regularly—every Sunday,” responded -Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“And always with the most reverent feelings, -of course. You never find your mind -full of idle questionings, or mere curious wondering, -or even a perfect blank, or a circle -upon which your thoughts chase themselves -around to their starting place without aim -or motive?”</p> - -<p>“How well you know the ways of the hum-drum -mind, Tom,” said Mrs. Burton. “You -didn’t learn them from your personal experience, -of course?”</p> - -<p>“I wish I hadn’t! But supposing you at -some few times in your life have gone into -the sanctuary in such frames of mind, did -you never have them changed by what you’ve<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">347</span> -heard? Did you never have the very common -experience of learning that it is at these very -moments of weakness, indecision, blankness, -childishness, or whatever you may please to -call it, the mind becomes peculiarly retentive -of whatever of real value happens to strike it?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton reflected, and by silence signified -her assent, but she was not fully satisfied -with the explanation, for she asked,</p> - -<p>“Do you think, then, that all the ways of -children are just as they should be?—that -they never ask questions from any but -heaven-ordained motives?—that they are -utterly devoid of petty guile?”</p> - -<p>“They’re human, I believe,” said Mr. Lawrence, -“and full of human weaknesses, but -any other human beings—present company -excepted, of course—should know by experience -how little malice there is in the most -annoying of people. Certainly children do -copy the faults of their elders, and—oh, woe -is me! inherit the failings of their ancestors, -but it is astonishing how few they seem to -have when the observer will forget himself -and honestly devote himself to their good. I -confess it does need the wisdom of Solomon -to discover when they are honest and when -they’re inclined to be tricky.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">348</span></p> - -<p>“And can you inform us where the wisdom -of Solomon is to be procured for the purpose?” -asked Mrs. Burton.</p> - -<p>“From the source at which Solomon obtained -it, I suppose,” Tom replied; “from an -honest, unselfish mind. But it is so much -easier to trust to selfishness and its twin -demon suspicion, that nothing but a pitying -Providence saves most children from reform -schools and penitentiaries.”</p> - -<p>“But the superiority of adults—their right -to demand implicit, unquestioning obedience——”</p> - -<p>“Is the most vicious, debasing tyranny -that the world is cursed by, “Tom exclaimed -with startling emphasis.” It gave the old -Romans power of life and death over their -children. It cast some of the vilest blots -upon the pages of Holy Writ. Nowadays it is -worse, for then it worked its principal mischief -upon the body, but nowadays ‘I say unto you -fear not them that kill the body, but’—excuse -a free rendering—fear them who cast -both soul and body into hell. You’re orthodox, -I believe.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Burton shuddered, but her belief in -the rights of adults, which she had inherited -from a line of ancestors reaching back to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">349</span> -Adam or protoplasm, was more powerful -than her horror, and the latter was quickly -overcome by the former.</p> - -<p>“Then adults have no rights that children -are bound to respect?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Yes; the right of undoing the failures of -their own education and doing it for the benefit -of beings who are not responsible for their -own existence. Can you imagine a greater -crime than calling a soul into existence without -its own desire and volition, and then -making it your slave instead of making yourself -its friend?”</p> - -<p>“Why, Tom, you’re perfectly dreadful,” -exclaimed Mrs. Burton.” One would suppose -that parents were a lot of pre-ordained -monsters!”</p> - -<p>“They’re worse,” said Tom; “they’re unthinking -people with a lot of self-satisfaction, -and a reputation for correctness of life. -Malicious people are easily caught and kept -out of mischief by the law. The respectable, -unintentional evil-doers are those who make -most of the trouble and suffering in the world.”</p> - -<p>“And you propose to go through life dying -deaths daily for the sake of those children,” -said Alice, “rather than make them what you -would like them to be?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">350</span></p> - -<p>“No,” said Tom, “I propose to live a new -life daily, and learn what life should be, for -the sake of making them what I would like -them to be; for I don’t value them so much -as conveniences and playthings, as for what -they may be to themselves, and to a world -that sorely needs good men.”</p> - -<p>“And women,” added Mrs. Lawrence. “I -do believe you’ve forgotten the baby, you -heartless wretch!”</p> - -<p>“I accept the amendment,” said Tom, -“but the world has already more good women -than it begins to appreciate.”</p> - -<p>“Bless me! what a quantity of governing -that poor sister-baby will get!” said Mrs. -Burton. “But, of course, you don’t call it -governing; you’ll denominate it self-immolation; -you’ll lose your remaining hair, and -grow ten years older in the first year of its -life.”</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t wonder,” said Tom, with an -expression of countenance which banished -the smiles occasioned by his sister-in-law’ -remark.</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton; “is -there any more?”</p> - -<p>“Only this—it’s positively the last—’and, -finally, we then that are strong ought to bear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">351</span> -the infirmities of the weak, and not to please -ourselves.’s Again I would remark, that I -believe you’re orthodox?”</p> - -<p>The Burtons looked very sober for a moment, -when suddenly there came through the -air the cry—</p> - -<p>“Pa-<i>pa</i>!”</p> - -<p>Tom sprang to his feet; Helen looked anxious, -and the Burtons smiled quietly at each -other. The cry was repeated, and louder, -and as Tom opened the door a little figure in -white appeared.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p351.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">MAKING THEM WHAT I WOULD LIKE THEM TO BE</div> -</div> - -<p>“I can’t get to sleep,” said Budge, shielding -his eyes a moment from the light. “I -ain’t seen you for so long that I’e got to sit -in your lap till some sleep will come to me.”</p> - -<p>“Come to auntie, Budge,” said Mrs. Burton. -“Poor papa is real tired; you can’t<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">352</span> -imagine the terrible work he’s been at for an -hour.”</p> - -<p>“Papa says it rests him to rest me,” said -Budge, clasping his father tightly.</p> - -<p>The Burtons looked on with quiet amusement, -until there arose another cry in the hall -of—</p> - -<p>“Papa! Ow! pa-pa!”</p> - -<p>Again Tom hurried to the door, this time -with Budge clinging around his neck. As the -door opened, Toddie crept in on his hands and -knees, exclaiming:</p> - -<p>“De old bed wazh all empty, only ’cept me, -an’ I kwawled down de stepsh ’cauzh I didn’t -want to be loneshome no more. And Ize all -empty too, and I wantsh somefin’ to eat.”</p> - -<p>Helen went to the dining-room closet and -brought in a piece of light cake.</p> - -<p>“There goes all my good instructions,” -groaned Mrs. Burton. “To think of the industry -with which I have always labored to -teach those children that it’s injurious to eat -between meals, and, worse yet, to eat cake!”</p> - -<p>“And to think of how you always ended by -letting the children have their own way!” -added Mr. Burton.</p> - -<p>“Eating between meals is the least of two -evils,” said Tom. “When a small boy is kept<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">353</span> -in bed with a sprained ankle, and on a short -allowance of food—— Oh, dear! I see my -subject nosing around again, Alice. Do you -know that most of the wickednesses of children -come from the lack of proper attention -to their physical condition?”</p> - -<p>“Save me! Pity me!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. -“I’m convinced already that I don’t -know a single thing about children, and I’ll -know still less if I take another lesson to-day.”</p> - -<p>“Izh you takin’ lessons, Aunt Alish?” -asked Toddie, who had caught a fragment of -the conversation. “What book is you lynin’ -fwom?”</p> - -<p>“A primer,” replied Mrs. Burton; “the -very smallest, most insignificant of A B C -books.”</p> - -<p>“Why, can’t you read?” asked Budge.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes,” sighed Mrs. Burton. “’But -whether there be knowledge it shall vanish -away.’”</p> - -<p>“’But love never faileth,’” responded Mr. -Lawrence.</p> - -<p>“If you want to learn anythin’,” said -Budge, “just you ask my papa. He’ll make -you know all about it, no matter how awful -stupid you are.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">354</span></p> - -<p>“Many thanks for the advice—and the insinuations,” -said Mrs. Burton. “I feel as -if the latter were specially pertinent, from -the daze my head is in. I never knew before -how necessary it was to be nobody in order -to be somebody.”</p> - -<p>The boys took possession of their father, -one on each knee, and Tom rocked with -them and chatted in a low tone to them, and -hummed a tune, and finally broke into a song, -and as it happened to be one of the variety -known as “roaring,” his brother-in-law joined -him, and the air recalled old friends and old -associations, and both voices grew louder, -and the ladies caught the air and increased -its volume with their own voices, when suddenly -a very shrill thin voice was heard -above their heads, and Mrs. Lawrence -exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Sh—h—h! The baby is awake.”</p> - -<p>Subsequent sounds indicated beyond doubt -that Mrs. Lawrence was correct in her supposition, -and she started instinctively for the -upper floor, but found herself arrested by her -husband’s arm and anxious face, while Mrs. -Burton exclaimed,</p> - -<p>“Oh, bring it down here! Please, do!”</p> - -<p>The nurse was summoned, and soon ap<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">355</span>peared -with a wee bundle of flannel, linen, -pink face and fingers.</p> - -<p>“Give her to me!” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, -rising to take the baby, but the baby exclaimed -“Ah!” and its mother snatched it. -Then the baby did its best to hide in its -mother’s bosom, and its mother did her best -to help it, and by the merest chance a rosy -little foot escaped from its covering, seeing -which Mrs. Burton hurriedly moved her -chair and covered the foot with both her -hands; though it would have been equally -convenient and far less laborious to have -tucked the foot back among its habitual -wrappings. Then the boys had to be moved -nearer the baby, so that they could touch it, -and try to persuade it to coo; and Harry Burton -found himself sitting so far from any one -else that he drew his chair closer to the group, -just to be sociable; and the Lawrences grew -gradually to look very happy, while the Burtons -grew more and more solemn, and at last -the hands of Mr. and Mrs. Burton met -under the superabundant wraps of the baby, -and then their eyes met, and the lady’s eyes -were full of tears and her husband’s full of -tenderness, and Budge, who had taken in the -whole scene, broke the silence by remarking;</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">356</span></p> - -<p>“Why, Aunt Alice, what are you crying -for?”</p> - -<p>Then every one looked up and looked -awkward, until Mrs. Lawrence leaned over -the baby and kissed her sister-in-law, noticing -which the two men rose abruptly, although -Tom Lawrence found occasion to indulge in -the ceremony of taking Harry Burton by the -hand. Then the baby yielded to her aunt’ -solicitations, and changed her resting-place -for a few moments, and the gentlemen were -informed that if they wanted to smoke they -would have to do it in the dining-room, for -Mrs. Lawrence was not yet able to bear it. -Then the gentlemen adjourned and stared -at each other as awkwardly over their cigars -as if they had never met before, and the ladies -chatted as confidentially as if they were twin -sisters that had never been separated, and -the boys were carried back to bed, one by -each gentleman, and they were re-kissed -good night, and their father and uncle were -departing when Toddie remarked,</p> - -<p>“Papa, mamma hazhn’t gived our sister-baby -to Aunt Alish to keep, hazh she?”</p> - -<p>“No, old chap,” said Tom.</p> - -<p>“I don’t want anybody to have that sister-baby -but us,” said Budge; “but if anybody<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">357</span> -had to, Aunt Alice would be the person. Do -you know, I believe she was prayin’ to it, she -looked so funny.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/p357.jpg" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">A LITTLE VISITOR AT THE BURTONS’</div> -</div> - -<p>The gentlemen winked at each other, and -again Tom Lawrence took the hand of his -brother-in-law. Several months later, the -apprehensions of the boys were quieted by -the appearance of a little visitor at the Burtons’, -who acted as if she had come to stay, -and who in the course of years cured Mrs. -Burton of every assumption of the ability of -relatives to manage “Other People’s Children.”</p> - - -<p class="center">THE END.</p> - - - - -</div><div class="chapter"> -<div class="bt"></div> -<h2><a name="FAMOUS_COPYRIGHT_BOOKS" id="FAMOUS_COPYRIGHT_BOOKS"></a>FAMOUS COPYRIGHT BOOKS -IN POPULAR PRICED EDITIONS</h2> - -<p class="bb">Re-issues of the great literary successes of the time. Library -size. Printed on excellent paper—most of them with illustrations -of marked beauty—and handsomely bound in cloth. -Price, 75 cents a volume, postpaid.</p> - - -<p class="hang">BEVERLY OF GRAUSTARK. By George Barr McCutcheon. -With Color Frontispiece and other illustrations -by Harrison Fisher. Beautiful inlay picture in colors of -Beverly on the cover.</p> - -<p>“The most fascinating, engrossing and picturesque of the season’ -novels.”—<i>Boston Herald.</i> “’Beverly’s is altogether charming—almost -living flesh and blood.”—<i>Louisville Times.</i> “Better than -‘Graustark’.”—<i>Mail and Express.</i> “A sequel quite as impossible -as ‘Graustark’s and quite as entertaining.”—<i>Bookman.</i> “A charming -love story well told.”—<i>Boston Transcript</i>.</p> - -<p class="hang">HALF A ROGUE. By Harold MacGrath. With illustrations -and inlay cover picture by Harrison Fisher.</p> - -<p>“Here are dexterity of plot, glancing play at witty talk, characters -really human and humanly real, spirit and gladness, freshness and -quick movement. ‘Half a Rogue’s is as brisk as a horseback ride on -a glorious morning. It is as varied as an April day. It is as charming -as two most charming girls can make it. Love and honor and success -and all the great things worth fighting for and living for the involved -in ‘Half a Rogue.’”—<i>Phila. Press.</i></p> - -<p class="hang">THE GIRL FROM TIM’S PLACE. By Charles Clark -Munn. With illustrations by Frank T. Merrill.</p> - -<p>“Figuring in the pages of this story there are several strong characters. -Typical New England folk and an especially sturdy one, old -Cy Walker, through whose instrumentality Chip comes to happiness -and fortune. There is a chain of comedy, tragedy, pathos and love, -which makes a dramatic story.”—<i>Boston Herald.</i></p> - -<p class="hang">THE LION AND THE MOUSE. A story of American Life. -By Charles Klein, and Arthur Hornblow. With illustrations -by Stuart Travis, and Scenes from the Play.</p> - -<p>The novel duplicated the success of the play; in fact the book is -greater than the play. A portentous clash of dominant personalities -that form the essence of the play are necessarily touched upon but -briefly in the short space of four acts. All this is narrated in the -novel with a wealth of fascinating and absorbing detail, making it one -of the most powerfully written and exciting works of fiction given to -the world in years.</p> - -<p class="hang">BARBARA WINSLOW, REBEL. By Elizabeth Ellis. -With illustrations by John Rae, and colored inlay cover.</p> - -<p>The following, taken from story, will best describe the heroine: -A TOAST: “To the bravest comrade in misfortune, the sweetest -companion in peace and at all times the most courageous of women.”—<i>Barbara -Winslow.</i> “A romantic story, buoyant, eventful, and in -matters of love exactly what the heart could desire.”—<i>New York Sun.</i></p> - -<p class="hang">SUSAN. By Ernest Oldmeadow. With a color frontispiece -by Frank Haviland. Medalion in color on front cover.</p> - -<p>Lord Ruddington falls helplessly in love with Miss Langley, whom -he sees in one of her walks accompanied by her maid, Susan. -Through a misapprehension of personalities his lordship addresses -a love missive to the maid. Susan accepts in perfect good faith, -and an epistolary love-making goes on till they are disillusioned. It -naturally makes a droll and delightful little comedy; and is a story -that is particularly clever in the telling.</p> - -<p class="hang">WHEN PATTY WENT TO COLLEGE. By Jean Webster. -With illustrations by C. D. Williams.</p> - -<p>“The book is a treasure.”—<i>Chicago Daily News.</i> “Bright, -whimsical, and thoroughly entertaining.”—<i>Buffalo Express.</i> “One -of the best stories of life in a girl’s college that has ever been written.”—<i>N. -Y. Press.</i> “To any woman who has enjoyed the pleasures -of a college life this book cannot fail to bring back many sweet recollections; -and to those who have not been to college the wit, lightness, -and charm of Patty are sure to be no less delightful.”—<i>Public Opinion.</i></p> - -<p class="hang">THE MASQUERADER. By Katherine Cecil Thurston. -With illustrations by Clarence F. Underwood.</p> - -<p>“You can’t drop it till you have turned the last page.”—<i>Cleveland -Leader.</i> “Its very audacity of motive, of execution, of solution, almost -takes one’s breath away. The boldness of its denouement -is sublime.”—<i>Boston Transcript.</i> “The literary hit of a generation. -The best of it is the story deserves all its success. A masterly story.”—<i>St. -Louis Dispatch.</i> “The story is ingeniously told, and cleverly -constructed.”—<i>The Dial.</i></p> - -<p class="hang">THE GAMBLER. By Katherine Cecil Thurston. With -illustrations by John Campbell.</p> - -<p>“Tells of a high strung young Irish woman who has a passion for -gambling, inherited from a long line of sporting ancestors. She has -a high sense of honor, too, and that causes complications. She is a -very human, lovable character, and love saves her.”—<i>N. Y. Times.</i></p> - -<p class="hang">THE AFFAIR AT THE INN. By Kate Douglas Wiggin. -With illustrations by Martin Justice.</p> - -<p>“As superlatively clever in the writing as it is entertaining in the -reading. It is actual comedy of the most artistic sort, and it is -handled with a freshness and originality that is unquestionably -novel.”—<i>Boston Transcript.</i> “A feast of humor and good cheer, -yet subtly pervaded by special shades of feeling, fancy, tenderness, -or whimsicality. A merry thing in prose.”—<i>St. Louis Democrat.</i></p> - -<p class="hang">ROSE O’ THE RIVER. By Kate Douglas Wiggin. With -illustrations by George Wright.</p> - -<p>“‘Rose o’ the River,’s a charming bit of sentiment, gracefully -written and deftly touched with a gentle humor. It is a dainty book—daintily -illustrated.”—<i>New York Tribune.</i> “A wholesome, bright, -refreshing story, an ideal book to give a young girl.”—<i>Chicago -Record-Herald.</i> “An idyllic story, replete with pathos and inimitable -humor. As story-telling it is perfection, and as portrait-painting -it is true to the life.”—<i>London Mail.</i></p> - -<p class="hang">TILLIE: A Mennonite Maid. By Helen R. Martin. With -illustrations by Florence Scovel Shinn.</p> - -<p>The little “Mennonite Maid” who wanders through these pages -is something quite new in fiction. Tillie is hungry for books and -beauty and love; and she comes into her inheritance at the end. -“Tillie is faulty, sensitive, big-hearted, eminently human, and first, -last and always lovable. Her charm glows warmly, the story is well -handled, the characters skilfully developed.”—<i>The Book Buyer.</i></p> - -<p class="hang">LADY ROSE’S DAUGHTER. By Mrs. Humphry Ward. -With illustrations by Howard Chandler Christy.</p> - -<p>“The most marvellous work of its wonderful author.”—<i>New York -World.</i> “We touch regions and attain altitudes which it is not given -to the ordinary novelist even to approach.”—<i>London Times.</i> “In -no other story has Mrs. Ward approached the brilliancy and vivacity -of Lady Rose’s Daughter.”—<i>North American Review.</i></p> - -<p class="hang">THE BANKER AND THE BEAR. By Henry K. Webster.</p> - -<p>“An exciting and absorbing story.”—<i>New York Times.</i> “Intensely -thrilling in parts, but an unusually good story all through. There -is a love affair of real charm and most novel surroundings, there is a -run on the bank which is almost worth a year’s growth, and there is -all manner of exhilarating men and deeds which should bring the -book into high and permanent favor.”—<i>Chicago Evening Post.</i></p> - -<div class="bt"></div> -<p class="half-title">NATURE BOOKS</p> - -<p class="bb">With Colored Plates, and Photographs from Life.</p> - - -<p>BIRD NEIGHBORS. An Introductory Acquaintance -with 150 Birds Commonly Found in the Woods, -Fields and Gardens About Our Homes. By Neltje -Blanchan. With an Introduction by John Burroughs, -and many plates of birds in natural colors. Large -Quarto, size 7¾ × 10⅜, Cloth. Formerly published -at $2.00. Our special price, $1.00.</p> - -<p>As an aid to the elementary study of bird life nothing has ever been -published more satisfactory than this most successful of Nature -Books. This book makes the identification of our birds simple and -positive, even to the uninitiated, through certain unique features. -I. All the birds are grouped according to color, in the belief that a -bird’s coloring is the first and often the only characteristic noticed. -II. By another classification, the birds are grouped according to their -season. III. All the popular names by which a bird is known are -given both in the descriptions and the index. The colored plates -are the most beautiful and accurate ever given in a moderate-priced -and popular book. The most successful and widely sold Nature -Book yet published.</p> - -<p>BIRDS THAT HUNT AND ARE HUNTED. Life -Histories of 170 Birds of Prey, Game Birds and Water-Fowls. -By Neltje Blanchan. With Introduction by -G. O. Shields (Coquina). 24 photographic illustrations -in color. Large Quarto, size 7¾ × 10⅜. Formerly -published at $2.00. Our special price, $1.00.</p> - -<p>No work of its class has ever been issued that contains so much -valuable information, presented with such felicity and charm. The -colored plates are true to nature. By their aid alone any bird illustrated -may be readily identified. Sportsmen will especially relish -the twenty-four color plates which show the more important birds in -characteristic poses. They are probably the most valuable and -artistic pictures of the kind available to-day.</p> - -<p>NATURE’S GARDEN. An Aid to Knowledge of -Our Wild Flowers and Their Insect Visitors. 24 colored -plates, and many other illustrations photographed -directly from nature. Text by Neltje Blanchan, -Large Quarto, size 7-3/4 × 10-3/8. Cloth. Formerly published -at $3.00 net. Our special price, $1.25.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Superb color portraits of many familiar flowers in -their living tints, and no less beautiful pictures in -black and white of others—each blossom photographed -directly from nature—form an unrivaled -series. By their aid alone the novice can name the -flowers met afield.</p> - -<p>Intimate life-histories of over five hundred species -of wild flowers, written in untechnical, vivid language, -emphasize the marvelously interesting and -vital relationship existing between these flowers and -the special insect to which each is adapted.</p> - -<p>The flowers are divided into five color groups, because -by this arrangement any one with no knowledge -of botany whatever can readily identify the -specimens met during a walk. The various popular -names by which each species is known, its preferred -dwelling-place, months of blooming and geographical -distribution follow its description. Lists of berry-bearing -and other plants most conspicuous after the -flowering season, of such as grow together in different -kinds of soil, and finally of family groups arranged -by that method of scientific classification -adopted by the International Botanical Congress -which has now superseded all others, combine to -make “Nature’s Garden” an indispensable guide.</p> - -<div class="bt"></div> -<p class="half-title">FAMOUS COPYRIGHT BOOKS -IN POPULAR PRICED EDITIONS</p> - -<p class="bb">Re-issues of the great literary successes of the time. Library -size. Printed on excellent paper—most of them with illustrations -of marked beauty—and handsomely bound in cloth. -Price, 75 cents a volume, postpaid.</p> - - -<p class="hang">THE SPIRIT OF THE SERVICE. By Edith Elmer -Wood. With illustrations by Rufus Zogbaum.</p> - -<p>The standards and life of “the new navy” are breezily set forth -with a genuine ring impossible from the most gifted “outsider.” -“The story of the destruction of the ‘Maine,’s and of the Battle of -Manila, are very dramatic. The author is the daughter of one naval -officer and the wife of another. Naval folks will find much to interest -them in ‘The Spirit of the Service.’”—<i>The Book Buyer.</i></p> - -<p class="hang">A SPECTRE OF POWER. By Charles Egbert Craddock.</p> - -<p>Miss Murfree has pictured Tennessee mountains and the mountain -people in striking colors and with dramatic vividness, but goes back -to the time of the struggles of the French and English in the early -eighteenth century for possession of the Cherokee territory. The -story abounds in adventure, mystery, peril and suspense.</p> - -<p class="hang">THE STORM CENTRE. By Charles Egbert Craddock.</p> - -<p>A war story; but more of flirtation, love and courtship than of -fighting or history. The tale is thoroughly readable and takes its -readers again into golden Tennessee, into the atmosphere which has -distinguished all of Miss Murfree’s novels.</p> - -<p class="hang">THE ADVENTURESS. By Coralie Stanton. With color -frontispiece by Harrison Fisher, and attractive inlay cover -in colors.</p> - -<p>As a penalty for her crimes, her evil nature, her flint-like callousness, -her more than inhuman cruelty, her contempt for the laws of -God and man, she was condemned to bury her magnificent personality, -her transcendent beauty, her superhuman charms, in gilded -obscurity at a King’s left hand. A powerful story powerfully told.</p> - -<p class="hang">THE GOLDEN GREYHOUND. A Novel by Dwight -Tilton. With illustrations by E. Pollak.</p> - -<p>A thoroughly good story that keeps you guessing to the very end, -and never attempts to instruct or reform you. It is a strictly up-to-date -story of love and mystery with wireless telegraphy and all the -modern improvements. The events nearly all take place on a big -Atlantic liner and the romance of the deep is skilfully made to serve -as a setting for the romance, old as mankind, yet always new, involving -our hero.</p> - - -<hr class="full" /> -<p class="center">GROSSET & DUNLAP, NEW YORK</p> -<hr class="full" /> - -</div> -<div class="transnote"> -<h3>Transcriber’s Notes</h3> - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Hyphenation -have been standardised except where it appears to have been used for -emphasis, but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.</p> - -<p>A table of contents has been added.</p> - -<p>In the following paragraph in Chapter III the Said has been added (<a href="#Page_96">page 96/7</a>). </p> -<p>“Oh, no, I won’t. I only said ’twas something -to eat. But say, Aunt Alice, how do -bananas grow?” [said] Toddie, with brightening eyes and a confident -shake of his curly head.</p> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Budge & Toddie, by John Habberton - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUDGE & TODDIE *** - -***** This file should be named 52298-h.htm or 52298-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/2/9/52298/ - -Produced by David Edwards, Les Galloway and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - - -</pre> - -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 2a38f6d..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/dedication.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/dedication.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 47ef0cf..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/dedication.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/frontis.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/frontis.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 873d04c..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/frontis.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p004.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p004.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 873ce56..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p004.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p009.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p009.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 1dd0551..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p009.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p017.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p017.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 41baf00..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p017.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p023.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p023.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 2b590b9..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p023.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p030.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p030.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 8d8a5ad..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p030.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p037.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p037.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 9d08696..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p037.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p043.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p043.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 8f7d02d..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p043.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p047.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p047.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 58a3da0..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p047.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p053.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p053.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 940c9cb..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p053.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p059.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p059.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 45d9de3..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p059.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p066.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p066.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 52fac1e..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p066.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p075.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p075.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index de657b7..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p075.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p079.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p079.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a22f65f..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p079.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p092.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p092.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c9a8d46..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p092.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p099.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p099.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c4149fe..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p099.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p101.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p101.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index b5125dd..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p101.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p107.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p107.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c1bc3f2..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p107.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p113.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p113.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 88e5969..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p113.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p119.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p119.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index d3ff3bc..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p119.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p125.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p125.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 2d0920e..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p125.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p130.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p130.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index ddda4b6..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p130.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p137.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p137.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a906922..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p137.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p146.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p146.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index e2cef0b..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p146.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p155.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p155.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 0b4bd90..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p155.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p160.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p160.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 86a16f6..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p160.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p167.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p167.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index e1d9490..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p167.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p173.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p173.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 0047b91..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p173.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p175.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p175.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 2fb4880..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p175.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p181.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p181.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 0b7dd56..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p181.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p187.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p187.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index acb31a6..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p187.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p193.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p193.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index bbd116f..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p193.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p199.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p199.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 0dbca62..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p199.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p204.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p204.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index dac2dc0..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p204.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p211.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p211.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c074cdd..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p211.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p215.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p215.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index d251f00..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p215.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p222.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p222.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 970519e..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p222.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p227.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p227.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c4ac2f3..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p227.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p232.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p232.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 52f743d..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p232.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p239.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p239.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index bfece32..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p239.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p243.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p243.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c5ae7dd..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p243.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p246.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p246.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index e152469..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p246.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p253.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p253.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index d403020..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p253.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p256.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p256.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 1974c78..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p256.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p265.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p265.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a24a640..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p265.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p271.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p271.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index d91bd2f..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p271.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p275.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p275.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index e933f20..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p275.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p288.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p288.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 962d157..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p288.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p295.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p295.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 83fe168..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p295.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p301.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p301.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 729dad2..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p301.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p303.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p303.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 788b880..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p303.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p313.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p313.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 221c884..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p313.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p322.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p322.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index f7ead43..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p322.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p333.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p333.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index bf26ab8..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p333.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p340.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p340.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index ff0b8e9..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p340.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p351.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p351.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index ad4a6c5..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p351.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/p357.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/p357.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index cd744cd..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/p357.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52298-h/images/title.jpg b/old/52298-h/images/title.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 777c6b8..0000000 --- a/old/52298-h/images/title.jpg +++ /dev/null |
