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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. 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