LittlePrudySeriesLittlePrudysCaptainHorace 10000380

L IT T L E PR !
D Y S E R I ES
L ITTL E P R ! DY S
’
C a p t a i n H o r a ce
SOPH IE MAY
CH I CA GO
M. A D ONOH ! E
. COMP ANY
CAP T A IN H OR A CE .
C HAP T E R I .
M A K I N G C A N DY .
G R A C E and H or ace C lifford li ved i n

“
I ndi ana and , so wer e calle d Ho o s
”
i er s .
The i r home wi th i ts, charmin g

grounds wa s a l i ttle way o ut of t o wn
, ,
and fro m the front w indows o f th e

hous e you c ould look o u t o n th e bro ad
O hio a r i ve r which would h e very b eau
,
~
tiful if i t s yell ow water s we r e only once

,
s ettled A s fa r as th e eye coul d s e e

.
,
th e earth wa s o n e va st pla i n and i n o r , ,
der t o touch i t the sky s eemed to sto op

,
very l ow ; wh erea s in N ew E ngl and th e

, ,
6 C A P T A I N H O RACE .
gray he a ded mountai n s appear

-
to go up
p art way t o meet the sky
O ne fin e evening in May brown eyed ,
-
Hora ce and blu e eyed Grace sto od on

-
the balcony l eaning against th e iron

,
r ailing w a tching the stars and chatting

, ,
together .
O ne thing is very sure : they never

dreamed th a t from this e vening t heir
—
sayings and doings particularly Hor
a ce s
’ — were to be printed i n a b ook .
I f any one had whi sp ered such a thin g

h o w dumb Horace would have grown ,
his chin snuggling down i nt o a hollow

place in his neck ! and h ow n ervously
Gr a ce would have l aughed ! walking
about very fa st and s aying , ,
“
0 i t s too bad to put Horace and
,
’
,
m e in a b o ok ! I say it s to o ba d ! T ell’
t hem to wait till my hair i s curled and ,
I h ave my new pink dres s on ! And t ell

t hem to make Horace talk better ! He
p l a ys s o much with t h e D utch boys 0 .
,
”
Horace isn t fit t o p rint !
’
M AKIN G CAND Y .
Th i s is what she might have said if

“
s h e had th ought of being put in a
”
bo ok ; but a s she knew nothing at all
ab out i t sh e
,
only s to o d very quietly
l eaning agains t th e balcony ra i ling and -
,
l o okin g up a t the e vening sky merry ,
w i th stars .
“
What a shiny n i ght Horace ! Wh at ,
“
d o the s tar s lo ok l i ke ! I s i t diamond
”
rings ?
“
I ll tell y o u Gracie ; it s cigar s they
’
,
’
—
l ook lik e j us t th e ends of cigars when
”
s omebody i s smoking .
A t that moment th e clu ste r called th e

”
S eve n S i sters was drown ed in a s oft ,
white c l oud .
” “
Lo ok sa i d Gr ac e ; ther e are s ome
,
littl e tw i nkle s gone to sle ep al l tucked ,
up i n a c overlet I don t s ee wha t

.
’
make s yo u think o f d i rty ciga rs ! Th e y

l o ok t o m e l i k e l i ttle specks of gold
h arp s eve r so far o ff s o yo u can t hea r
,
’
the m u s i c 0 Hora ce don t you want

.
, ,
’
8 C A PT A I N H O RACE .
to be an angel and play on a beautifu l ,

”
h arp ?
“
I don t know said her b rother
’
knitting his brows and thinking a mo ,

“
ment ; when I can t live any longer yo u ’
,
know then I d lik e to go up t o heaven ;

,
’
bu
”
t now I d a heap s o oner be a s o l d i e r !
’
,
“
O Horace you d ought t o rather b e
, ,
’
an angel ! B e sides you re t o o little for ,

’
”
a s oldie r !
“
But I grow J ust lo ok at my hands ; .
”
th ey r e bigger than y o u r s th i s minute !
’
h
“
Why Horace C lifford what make s
, ,
”
t hem s o black ?
“
0 t h a t s no account ! I did i t climb
’
,
i n tree s
’
B arby tried t o scour it o ff
.
but i t s ticks —
I don t ca r e soldiers
.
’
hands ain t white are they ’

,
The pretty dog at Horace s feet sh o ok ’
h i s ears meaning to say

, ,
“
I sho ul d think not l i ttl e m aster ; ,
s oldiers have very dirty hands if you ,

”
s ay s o .
C ome , said Grace ,

wh o was tired of
M A KI N G CAN D Y . 9
ga zi ng at th e fa r o ff star land ; l e t s g o
- - ’
d own and s e e if B arba ra ha sn t made ’
tha t candy : sh e sa i d sh e d b e ready in ’
”
h alf an h our .
T hey wen t i nt o th e l ibrary which ,
op ened up on the b alcony th rough the ,
pa s sage do wn th e front stairs and into

, ,
th e kitchen Pi nch e r foll ow i ng cl o s e at

,
the i r h eel s .
I t wa s a very tidy k i tchen who s e ,
wh i te flo o r wa s scoured every d a y with

a s crubbing b rush - B right t i n pans
.
wer e sh i ning up on th e wall s and i n o n e ,
c orn e r s to od a highly p ol i shed c o oking

stove over wh i ch B arbar a Ki n ckl e a
, ,
r o sy che eked G e rman g i rl wa s sto op

-
,
i ng t o wa t ch a kettle o f boil in g mol a s s e s .
E very n o w and th en s h e r aised th e

sp o on w i th wh i ch sh e wa s s ti rri ng i t ,
a n d l e t th e h alf mad e candy dr i p b ac k

-
i nt o th e ke ttl e i n ropy streams I t l o oked .
very tempt i ng and gav e o u t a del i c i ou s

,
od o r P erhap s i t wa s n o t s trang e tha t!

.
10 CAP T AI N H O RACE .
the ch i ldren thought they were k e pt

waiting a l ong while .
“
Look here Grace mutte red Hor
, ,
a ce loud enough for B arbara t o hear

,
:
“
don t you think sh e s j us t th e slo w e st
’ ’
”
kind ?
“ ”
I t ll sugar o ff
’
said Gr a c e calmly , , ,
a s if she had made up her mind for the

“
wors t ; don t you know h ow it sugared
’
o ff onc e when ma wa s making it and ,
let the fire go mo st ‘
“
N ow just hear them childers s aid ,
“
go od natu r ed B arbara ;
-
where s the ’
little b oy and girl that wasn t to speak ’
t o me one wo rd if I bi l ed em s ome can

’
~
,
”
die s ?
“
There now B arby I wasn t speak
, , ,
’
” “
i ng to you s aid H o race ; I mean I
,
wa s n t talking to h er Gr a ce Look
’
,
.
he re : I ve heard you s p ell but you

’
,
”
di dn t a sk me my Jo gg er p h y
’
.
“
G e o g r ap h y you mean Horace , ,
.
Well G e o g r a p h y then Here s the

,
-
,
.
’
”
bo ok : we begin at the Mohammedans .
M AKIN G CAN D Y . 11
H orace could pronounc e that l ong

name very well th ough h e h ad n o i dea ,
what i t meant H e kn ew the re wa s a .
book ca l led t h e K or a n and would h a ve ,
told you Mr M oh ammed wrote i t ; but

.
s o had M r C o lburn wri tten a n A r i th

.
m etic and whethe r b oth the s e gentlemen

,
were a l i ve o r b o th de ad w a s m or e than
, ,
h e c ou l d say .
“ ”
Hol d up your head said Gra ce , ,
with dignity and l o ok i ng a s much a s

,
p o s sible like ta ll Mis s A ll e n h er t ea che r .
P l ea s e repeat your vers e .
“
The firs t s entence re ad Th ey c on ,
s ider Mo s e s and C hri st a s true p rophet s ,
but M ohammed a s the gre ate st and

l a st.
“ “
I ll tell you
’
said Ho ra c e : th ey,
t hink that C hrist and Mo s e s w a s go od

enough pr ophet s but M oh amme d wa s a ,
”
h eap b ette r .
“
Why H orace , it do esn t s ay any ,
’
such thing in the book ! i t begi n s T h ey ,

‘
c o n si der
’
.
12 CAP T A I N H O RACE .
“
I
don t care s aid the boy Miss ’
, ,
J ordan tell s us to get th e s ens e of it .
Ma mustn t I get th e s ens e of it ? h e

,
”
’
added a s Mrs C li fford entered the

,
.
kitchen .
“ ”
But mamma broke i n Grace ea g
, , ,
“
erly o u r teache r wants us to c o mm it
,
th e verse s : sh e s a ys a great deal about

c o mmitting the verses .
“
If
you would give m e t ime t o a n
swer said Mr s C lifford smiling
,
“
I .
, ,
should s a y bo th your tea c hers are quit e

right You should get the sens e of it
.
‘
,
’
a s Hora ce says and after that commit ,

”
th e verse s .
“
But ma do you think Horace shou l d
, ,
s ay heap and no account and such

‘
,
’ ‘
,
’
”
words ?
It
would cert a inly plea se me s a id ,
“
Mrs C liffo rd if he would try to spea k
.
,
mor e correctly My little bo y know s .
how much I disl ike s ome o f his expre s

”
sions .
M AKI N G CAN D Y . 13
There Hora ce cried Grace t r i um

, , ,
“
p h a n t l y I always
,
s aid o u talked j ust y
like the D utch b oys ; and it s very very ’

,
”
i mprop er !
B ut j ust then i t becam e e vi dent that
th e molas s es wa s bo i led en ough for B ar ,
bara p oured it i nto a large buttered pl a t

te r and s e t it out of do o rs t o c o ol A f
,
.
t e r this t h e children could do nothing

,
but wa tch the candy till i t wa s r eady to

p ull .
Then th ere wa s q u i te a b us tl e to fin d
an apron fo r Horac e and t o m ake sur e ,
“
tha t his littl e stained hands were s p a n
” “ ”
d y clean and flu ffe d all ove r with
,
flour from his wr i s ts t o th e tip s of his

,
fingers Grac e s aid sh e wish ed it wa s

.
n t s o much troubl e to a ttend to b oys ;

’
and after all Horac e only pulled a small

, ,
p iece o f th e candy and dropped half of ,
that o n the nice wh i te flo o r .
B arba ra did th e mo st o f th e pulling .
She wa s qu i te a s culp to r wh en s h e h ad
pla stic candy in h e r hands S ome o f it .
s h e cut i nto st i cks and s om e sh e t wi sted

,
14 CA P T A IN H O RACE .
i nto curious image s su p p o sed

,
b oy s and girls horse s and sheep

, .
A fter Grace and Horace had e a te n

“ ”
several o f the bo ys and girl s to s a y ,
“ ”
nothing of han dl ed baskets and ,
gentlemen s slippe rs
’
Barbara
,
“
thought it high t i me th ey were s ound
”
abed and a slee p .
So now a s th ey go up s ta i rs we will
, ,
w ish them a go od m gh t and plea sant

dre ams .
C A M PIN G O U T . 15
C H A P T E R II .
C AM P I N G O! T .
W H A T i s the m atte r with my l i ttl e

”
s on ? said Mr C lifford one mo rning at
.
,
breakfa s t ; fo r H orace sat up very s t ifil y

i n his ch a i r and refu s ed both eggs and
,
mu ffin s cho o sing instead a sl i ce o f dry

,
toa st and a gla s s o f wate r .
“ ”
you sick Hora ce ?
A re , a s k ed h i s
mother tenderly
,
.
“
No, ma am’
repl i ed t h e b oy
, ,
“
b lu shing ; but I w a nt to get t o be a
”
s old i e r !
M r C l i fford and h i s w i fe l o oked at
.
e a ch o ther acro s s th e table and sm i led ,

.
“ O p apa ” s a i d Grac e “ I sh ouldn t ’

, , ,
want t o b e a s oldier i f I couldn t h ave ’
anyth i ng nice t o e a t C an t th ey get.

’
16 CAP T AIN H O RACE .
pie s and canned peache s and things ?

Will they go with out buckwheat cake s
”
and sirup in the winte r ?
“
Ah !
my littl e daughter men wh o ,
love their c o untry are willing to make

greate r sacrifice s than merely nic e
”
fo od .
Ho race put on one of his l ofty l o oks ,
fo r he s omehow felt that his fath e r wa s

p raising h em .
“ ”
Pa said Grac e
,
plea se tell me
”
wh at s a sacrifice anyhow ?
’
,
“
A sacrifice my daughter i s th e giv
, ,
ing up of a de ar or plea sant thing fo r

the s ake o f duty : that i s very nearly
what it means ! o r instance if your
.
,
mamma consents to let me go to the war ,
be c ause sh e thinks I ought to go sh e will ,
”
mak e what i s called a s acri fi ce .
“
Do not l et us speak o f it now Hen ,
r y, said Mrs C liffor d l o oking quite

.
,
O, my de a r papa ,
cr i ed G race ,
CA M PI N G O! T . 17
b urst i ng i nto te ars we couldn t l i ve i f

,
’
”
you went t o th e war !
H o rac e l o oked at th e a corn o n th e l i d
o f th e co ffe e urn but sa i d nothing
-
,
It .
co s t his little heart a pang even to think

o f p a rt i ng from his b el ove d fathe r ; but
then wouldn t i t b e a gl orio us thing to

’
hea r him c alled General C li ffo rd ? A nd

i f h e sh ould really go away wa sn t it ,
’
l ikely that th e olde s t b oy Horace would , ,
take hi s place a t th e h ead o f th e table ?

Y e s t h ey s h o ul d m i s s p apa terribly ;
,
“
but h e would only stay away till he got
”
a general ; and fo r tha t little whil e it
would be plea sant fo r Horace to s i t in
the arm ch air and help th e o thers t o the
-
butter th e toa st and the meat

, ,
.
“ ”
H orac e ,
s a i d Mr C l i fford s m i ling
.
, ,
it wi ll b e s ome yea rs before you can b e

a s old i e r : why d o y o u beg i n now to
e at dry bread ?
I want t o get us ed t o i t s i r ,
.
”
That i ndeed ! s aid Mr C liffor d .
,
with a go o d natu r ed laugh which made

-
,
18 CAP T A I N H O RA C E .
“
Hora c e w i n ce a l i ttl e B ut th e e at i ng .
o f dry bread i s only a sm a ll part o f th e
s oldier s tough t i mes my boy S oldiers

’
,
.
have to slee p on the hard ground wi th ,
knap s acks fo r pillows ; t h ey have to

march through wet and dry with heavy
, ,
”
mus k ets which make their arms ach e
, .
“ ”
Look here B a rby s a id H orace , , ,
“
that evening ; I want a kn a p sack to ,
lea rn to be a s oldier with I f I h ave .
‘
tough time s now I ll get us e d t o it ’
,
’
.
”
C an t you find me a c a r p e t ba g B arby ?
’
r
,
‘
C arpet bag ? And what fo r a thing
‘
-
”
i s that ? said B arb a r a rou sing from ,
a nap and b egi nning t o click her knit

,
“
ting n e edle s
- Here I was a sleep
.
again N ow i f I did keep working in

.
,
t h e kitchen I could s i t up j ust what t i me

,
I want s to ; bu t when I sit s down I ,

”
goe s to sleep right o ff .
A nd B arbara went o n kn i tting put ,
ting the yarn over the needle with her

‘
left hand after the G e rman f a shion

,
.
’
B ut the carp et bag Barby : there s -
,
CA M PI N G O U T . 19
a bl ack one s ome place i n the tru nk

‘
,
’
clos et o r up attic N ow B arby y o u

-
.
, ,
know I help ed pick tho s e quails ye ster

”
day .
“
Ye s yes dear wh en I gets my eye s
, , ,
o p en fl
’
“
I would s l eep o u t do ors but m a ,
s ays I d get cold ; s o I ll lie o n th e floo r

’ ’
i n th e bathing ro om O B a r by I l l sleep
-
.
, ,
’
”
l i ke a tro oper !
But H o race wa s a l ittle mistaken A .
hard unyielding floo r make s a po o r

,
b ed ; and when a t th e s ame time on e s

, ,
' ’
n eck is almo st put out of j o int by a

c arpet bag s t uffed with newspap er it
-
,
i s not ea sy t o go to sl eep .
I n a sh o rt tim e the littl e b oy began

“
t o feel tired o f c a mping o u t ; and I
am s o rr y t o s a y that h e employed s om e
o f th e m o onlight h our s i n s tud yi ng th e
workm anship o f h i s mother s wa t ch ’
,
which had been l eft by a ccident hang , ,
i n g o n a nail in th e bath i ng room -

.
He fel t very gu i lty all th e while ; and

20 CA P T AI N H O RAC E .
whe n at last a c hi r r —
, c hi r r
,
from the
wa tch t old th a t mischief had been done ,
his heart gave a quick throb of fright

‘
a n d he stole o ff to hi s chamber und r es s ,
e d and went t o bed in th e dark

, .
N ext morning h e did not awake a s

e arly a s usual and to his great dism a y
, , ,
c am e very near bein g late t o breakfa st .
“
Go od morning little buzzard lark ,
-
,
s aid his sister coming into his ro om ,
j ust a s he wa s thrusting his arms into

his j acket .
“
Ho Gracie ! why didn t yo u w a k e m e ’
I s p oke
to you s even times Horace ,
.
Well why didn t you pinch me o r

,
’
,
”
shake me awake o r s omething ! ,
“
Why Ho race th en you d have b een
, ,
’
cro s s a n d s aid Gracie Cl i fl o r d let me

, ,
‘
,
”
alone ! Y o u know you would Ho race
’
,
.
The l i ttl e boy sto od by the l o ok ing

gla s s fin i shing h i s to i let and made no ,
reply .
“ ”
D on t yo u m ean t o b e h av e ?
’
CA M P IN G O U T . 21
“
he talking t o hi s hair
,
There now .
, ,
you ve parted in the middl e ! D o you

’
’
sp o s e I m going t o look like a g i rl ? P art
’
the way y ou ought to and l i e down ,

”
smo oth ! W e ll s ee which wil l be at !
’
“ ”
Wh y wh at i n th e world i s this ?
,
exclaimed Grace a s s omething h eavy ,
droppe d at h er feet .
I t wa s her mother s watch which had ’

,
fallen out o f Horac e s p ocket ’

.
”
W h e re did you get this watch ?
N o answer .
“
Why H o race it d oe sn t tick : have
, ,
’
”
y o u be e n playing with it ?
Still no answer .
N ow that s j u st like you Horace

,
’
, ,
to shut your mouth right up t i ght and ,
n o t speak a word when you re sp oken to

’
.
I neve r saw such a b oy ! I m going down ’
sta i r s this very minut e to tell my moth

, ,
e r you ve be en hurting he r b eautiful

’
”
gold watch !
“
Stop cr i ed th e b oy sudden l y fin d ,
“
i ng hi s vo i ce ; I r eckon I can fiX it ! I
22 CA P T A I N H O RA CE .
wa s meaning to t ell ma ! I only wan ted

ed s ee that littl e thing inside that ticks .
I ll bet I ll fix i t
’
I didn t go to h urt it
’
.
’
,
”
G r a ce !
“
0 ye s you feel l ike you could mend
, ,
w a t c h e s a n d fire guns and be s oldiers

‘
, ,
”
a n d general s said Grace shak ing her , ,
“
ringlets ; but I m going right down to ’
”
t ell ma !
H orace s lip s curled with sco rn
’
.
“ That s right Gracie run and ”

’
; t e l l ! ,
”
But Horace I ought to tell
,
said , ,
“
Grace meekly ; ,
it s my duty ! I sn t ’ ’
there a little voice a t your heart an d ,

”
don t it s ay you ve done wicked ?
’
,
’
“ ”
There s a voice there replied the
’
,
“
b oy p ertly ; but it don t say w hat you
,
’
think it does I t s ays I f your pa finds .

,
‘
o u t about the watch w o n t you c a tch ’

,
it ? ! ’ 3
T o do Ho ra ce justice he did m e an to ,
tell his mother He had been taught to .
speak the truth and the whol e truth , ,
co st what it might He kn ew that his .

CA M PI N G O U T . 23
pa rents could forgive almo st anyt hing

s o one r th an a f a ls eho od o r a cowa rdly ,
c oncealment Word s c annot tell h ow

.
Mr C li fford hated deceit

. .
“
Wh en a l i e tempt s you Ho race ,
“
s aid he ,
sco rn it if it l ook s ever s o
,
white ! P ut your foo t o n it and crush it ,

”
like a snake !
H o ra ce ate dry toa s t ag ain this m orn
ing but no one s eemed to no tice it I f
,
.
h e had dared l o ok up h e would h ave ,
s e en that hi s fathe r and mo the r wore

sorrowful face s .
A fte r brea k fa st Mr C liff o rd called

,
.
him into th e library I n th e fir st pla c e .

,
he to ok to piece s th e mangle d watch

and sh owed him how it h ad been injured .
“
Have you any right t o meddle wi th
things which belong to oth e r pe ople my ,
”
s on ?
Ho ra c e s ch in snuggl ed down in t o the
’
holl ow plac e in hi s neck and h e m a de ,
n o reply .
“
A n swer me Horace ,
.
”
N o sir
,
.
Itw i ll cost several dollars to pay

for repairing thi s watch : don t vou ’
think the little b oy who did the mis

”
chief should gi ve part of th e money ?
Horac e looked dis tre s sed ; his face be
gan to twist itself o u t of shape .
Th i s very bo y ha s a go od many
piece s of silver which were gi ven him t o
buy fir e crackers S o you s e e if h e is
-
.
,
truly s orry fo r his fault he knows the ,
”
way t o atone for it .
Horace s conscience told him by a

’
,
twin g e that it would b e no more than

,
j ust for him to p ay what h e could for

mending the watch .
“
Have you nothing t o say t o me my ,
”
child ?
F or instead of speaking th e boy wa s
, ,
working his feature s into a s many shapes

a s if they had been made of gutta p er
cha This wa s a bad habit o f his
.
,
though wh en he wa s doing it h e had

, ,
“ ”
no idea o f mak i ng up faces .
H i s fath er told h i m h e would let him

have th e wh ol e day t o decide whether he
ough t t o give up any of his money A .
t ea r trembled i n each o f Horac e s eye s ' ’

,
but befo r e they c ould fall h e caught

, ,
them on h i s th u mb and forefinge r .
“ “
N ow cont i nued M r C lifford
,
I .
,
have s omething to tell you I dec i de d .
last night to enter th e army .
“ ”
0 pa ,
cried Horace springing up
, , ,
“ ”
e agerly ; m ayn t I go to o ? ’
,
“ ”
Y o u m y l i ttl e s o n ?
,
Ye s p a ,
repl i ed Horace cl in gi ng
, ,
“
to hi s fathe r s kne e B oys go to wait
’
.
o n th e general s and th i ngs ! I can wait

‘
o n you I c an c omb your ha i r and

.
,
bring your slipp ers I f I could b e a .
waiter I d go a fly i ng
,
’
.
“ ”
P oo r child laugh ed M r C lifford
,
.
,
strok i ng H o race s h ead yo u re such a ’

,
’
”
very littl e bo y only e i gh t ye ar s old ! ,
“
I m go i ng on n i ne
’
I ll b e n i ne next .
’
”
N ew Year s Gift day ’
s t ammered Hor -
,
a c e th e bright fl u sh dying out of h i s

,
26 CA P T A I N H O R ACE .
“
cheeks 0 pa I don t want
.
, ,
’
y o u to go
”
I f I can t g o too !
’
Mr C lifford s lip s trembled He to ok

.
’
.
th e little b oy on his kn e e and t old him ,
h ow th e coun t ry wa s i n danger and ,
needed all its brave men .
“
I
sh ould feel a grea t deal e asier
”
ab out leaving my dear little family ,
“
said he if Ho r ac e never disobeyed his
,
mother ; if he did not s o often f al l into

mischie f ; if h e wa s always s ure t o r e
”
i z em be r
w .
The b oy s neck wa s twisted around

’
t i ll his father c ould only s e e th e back

o f his head .
“
L o o k here pa said he at last
, , , ,
throwing out the words o n e at a time ,
a s if e very o n e w e i gh e d a whole pound ;

“
I ll give m a that money ; I ll d o it to
’ ’
day .
“
That s right my boy ! that s h on
’
,
’
e st ! Y o u have given me plea sure R e .
member when you i njure th e prop erty

,
o f anothe r you should alway s make

,
a mends f o r it a s well a s you can I f you .
”
d o not you re unj ust and dishone st
,
’
.
I will not rep ea t all that Mr C lifford .
said to his lit t l e s o n H orac e th ought .
then h e should neve r fo rget his fathe r s ’
go od advice nor his own p rom i s e s We

, .
shall s ee whether h e did o r n o t

‘
H e wa s a restle s s often a very ,
naughty b oy ; but when you l o oked a t his

bro ad foreh ead and truthful eyes you ,
felt that b ack o f all h i s faults the re wa s

, ,
noblene s s i n h i s b oy i sh s oul H i s father .
“
o ften said He w i ll e i th er make s ome
,
”
th ing o r n othing and his mother a n ,
“
s w e r ed Y e s th ere n e ver will b e any
, ,
”
h alf way place fo r Ho ra ce
-
.
N ow that M r C l i fford had really e n

.
l i sted eve ryb ody l o oked s a d Grace

,
.
wa s often in tear s and said , ,
“
W e can t any o f u s live if p a goe s
’
,
t o th e war .
But wh en H orace c ould no t h elp cry

i ng h e always said it wa s becaus e h e
,
28 CA P T AI N H O RACE .
had the earache ; and perhap s he

thought it wa s .
Mrs C lifford tried t o b e chee rful for

.
,
sh e wa s a patriotic woman ; but s h e

could not trust her voice to talk a great
deal or sing much t o the baby
, .
Asfo r Barbara H inckle she scrubb ed ,
the flo ors and sc oured the tins harder

, ,
than e ver lo o k ing all the while a s if ev

,
ery o n e of her friends wa s dead and

buried The family were t o break up
.
h ousekeeping and B arbara wa s very

s orry N ow sh e would have t o go to her
.
h ome a littl e way back in the country ,
and work i n t h e fields a s many German

,
girl s do every summer .
“
0 , my heart i s s ore , s aid sh e c v ,
ery t i me I thinks of it They will in the

.
car s go o ff and wh eneve r again I ll see

,
’
”
th e kliny ! little ! childers I knows not .
Itwa s a s a d day when Mr C l i fford .
bade good by to his family His la st .
“
words to Horace were th es e : A lway s
CA M PIN G O U T . 29
obey your mother my boy and remem , ,

”
ber that God s ee s all you do .
“ ”
He wa s now C ap ta in Cl i fi o r d and ,
went away at th e he a d of h i s c ompany ,
l o oking like what he reall y wa s a b rave

, ,
and nobl e gentleman .
Grac e wond e red if he ever thought of

the bright new buttons on his co a t ; and
H orace walked ab out among his scho ol
fellows with quite an a ir very proud o f ,
being the son o f a man w h o either wa s

now o r wa s going to b e the g reate st o f
, ,
fic e r in I ndiana !
I f any b ody el s e had shown a s much ‘
s elf e steem a s H o race di d th e b oys

-
,
“ ”
would have said h e had the bi g hea d .
When Y anke e children think a pl aym a te

c onceited th e y c all him stuck up
,
but
“
H o o sier children say h e ha s th e bi g
”
h ead N o one spoke in this way o f H o r
.
a ce h owever fo r there wa s s ometh in g

, ,
about h i m wh ich made eve rybo dy l ike

h im in spite of h i s fa ult s
,
.
He l oved h i s play fellows and they -

,
l oved h im and wer e s orry enough to

,
have him go away ; though perhap s they , ,
did not shed so many te a rs a s Gra c e s ’
“
littl e mate s w h o s a id
,
they n eve r d
,
’
have any more go od time s : th ey didn t ’
”
m ean to try .
Mrs C li fford too left many warm

.
,
friends and it i s s a fe t o s ay that on

, ,
th e morning th e family sta r t e d for the

ea st th ere were a g reat many people
,
“ ”
crying th eir hea rt s out of their eye s .
Still I bel i eve n o o n e so rr owed more

,
sinc erely than faithful B arbara Ki n ckl e .

T AKIN G A JO! R NE Y . 31
C H A P T E R III .
T AKI N G A J O! R N EY .
IT wa s a great effort for Mr s C l i fford .
t o take a j ourn ey t o Maine wi th thre e

children ; but she needed the b racing a i r
o f N ew E ngland and s o did Grace and
,
th e b aby .
T o be sure th ey had the company o f a

gentleman wh o w a s going to B o st on ;
but h e wa s a v ery young man indeed ,
wh o th ought a gre at deal m ore of h i s

new mu s tach e than h e did of t r un k s and ,
checks and ticket s

,
.
Twe nty t i me s a day M rs C l i ffo rd .
wish ed h er h usb and coul d h ave gone

with her b efore h e enlis te d fo r s h e ,
h ardly kn ew what t o do w i t h re stle s s

littl e Ho race A s fo r sitting s till it
.
,
32 CAP T AI N H O RAC E .
wa s more than the boy could do He .
would keep j erking his inquisitive l ittle

head out of th e window for he never ,
remembered a c au t ion five minute s H e .
delighted t o run up and down the nar

row aisl e and putting h i s hands on the
,
arms of th e seat s swing backward and ,
forward with all his might He becam e .
acquainted with every lozenge b oy and -
every newspaper boy o n the route and -

,
s eemed to be in a high s tate of m e rri

m ent from morning till night .
Gra c e wh o was always p roper and

,
well behaved wa s no t a little mortified

-
,
by H orace s r ough manners ’

.
“ ”
He means no harm Mrs C lifford ,
.
would s a y with a smil e and a sigh ;

,
“
b ut Mr L a z el l e i f you wi ll be s o kind
.
,
a s t o watch h im a l i ttl e I w i ll b e gr eat,
l y obliged .
Mr . L a z el l e
would reply 0 c erta i n ,
“
,
l y madam ; be qu i te ea sy about the

,
ch i ld ; h e i s n o t o u t o f my s ight fo r a
”
m o ment !
TA KI NG A JO URNE Y . 33
S o s aying p erh ap s he would g o in

,
s earch o f h i m and find him un d e r a s eat

,
play i ng w i th P incher h i s cl othe s c o v ,
ered w i th dust and h i s cap lying be

,
twe en s omebody s feet ’

.
A t such time s Mr L a z el l e always

.
“
said ,
! p on my word you re a pretty ,
’
”
littl e fell ow ! and looked a s i f he wo ul d
like t o shake him if it were not fo r ,
s o iling his gl oves .
H orace laughed when M r L a z e ll e .
“ ”
called h im a p re tty l i ttle fellow and ,
though t it a fine j oke H e laughed to o .

, ,
“
when the young m an t old him to come
o ut,
”
fo r th ere w as s omething in th e
p ettish tone o f h i s voice which Ho rac e
c ons i dere d very amu sing .
“ ’
I ll wa i t till he gets thr ough s cold ~
”
i ng and goe s to c o axing
,
th ought the ,
“
boy : h e s a smart man ! can t m ake
’ ’
”
s uch a l i tttl e fellow mi nd !
Mr L a z el l e w a s very mu c h vexed
.
with H orace and fi rm ly re s olved that

,
h e woul d never aga i n take c h a r g e o f a

'
34 CA P T AI N H O RACE .
lady travelling with children At On e

'
!
time h e flew into a pa s sion and b oxed ,
the b oy s ears Hora ce felt very much

’
.
like a wounde d wa sp He knew Mr .

'
L a z el l e would not have dared strike him

before his moth er and from th at moment ,
“ ”
he de spised him a s a sneak .
Whe never Mr L a z el l e wa s l oo k in g
.
for him in great ha ste h e was very l ik e ,
l y to b e mis sing ; and when that s orel y

t ri e d young gentleman w a s almo st in
despair a saucy little he a d would a p
,
pear at the car window and a small -

,
voice would sh out ,
“
Ho Mr L a z el l e ! why don t yo u
, .
’
c o me ahead ? I be at you i n !
“
Horace said Mrs C lifford wear
,
.
,
“
ily you don t know h o w you tir e me !
,
’
Here i s this dear baby that I have t o

h old in my a rm s ; isn t i t enough th at I
’
sh ould have the care o f him with out be ,

:
”
i ng all th e while anxiou s about you ?
”
Ye s ,
chimed i n Grace pushing ,
“ ’
back her beautiful curls you don t ,
T AKI N G A JO U RN E Y . 35
kn ow h o w ma and I fret a bo ut you .
You ll kill p o o r m a before eve r we can

’
”
get y o u ea st !
Ho race hung h i s head fo r shame and ,
“ ”
dec i ded that it didn t pay to punish ’
Mr L a z el l e i f h i s mother mus t su ffe r

.
,
“
too . He meant fo r h e r s ake to turn
, ,
”
ove r a new l eaf though h e di d n o t s a y
,
so.
O n th e afterno on o f their second day s ’
r i de th ey reached th e beautiful c i ty of
,
C leveland Here they we re t o re st for

.
a few h our s Their cl othe s were sa dl y

.
tumbled the i r c olla r s du st col or and

,
-
,
the i r face s and hair r ough wi th C inders .
A th orough wa shing and bru shing and

s ome fre sh ruffle s and l ace s gave a
much t i d i er appe aranc e t o th e whol e
p ar t y .
A fter Grac e and Horace wer e ready ,
Mrs C l i fford th ought th ey might a s

.
well g o down sta i rs wh i l e sh e tried to

rock little K at i e t o sleep .
“
B e sur e n o t t o go away from the
36 CA P T A I N H O RAC E .
“
h ouse ,
s aid sh e Grace I de p end up
, ,
o n you to t a ke care o f Horace fo r he ,

”
m ay forget .
The children had been stand i ng on

t h e piazz a fo r s ome time watc hing th e ,
p eopl e pa s sing wh,

i le Mr L a z e ll e .
lounged near by talking politics w ith

,
s ome gentlemen I n a littl e wh i le Mrs

. .
C lifford sent for Grace to go up sta i r s

a n d amuse t h e poor baby who could no t ,
be rocked to sleep .
F o r a few moment s after she had gone

H o rac e st o o d near th e do or still gazing ,
i nto th e st r eet when suddenly h e

,
heard a faint sound of ma rtial music :

a bras s band wa s turning th e corner .
S oon they were in sight m en i n hand ,
s ome un iform drawing mu sic from va

,
r i o u s instruments picking blowing or

, , ,
h e a t i n g i t o u t a s the ca se might b e
,
.
I t w a s glor i ous Ho ra c e thought H e

’
.
,
could not keep st ill He ran o ut and .

,
threw up his cap befor e he knew i t a l c
m o s t shouting w i th del i ght

, ,
T AKI N G A JO URNE Y . 37
H o Mr L a z ell e ! a i n t that j olly ?

,
.
’
H o, M r L a z el l e ! wh ere a r e yo u any ,
how ?
P roba b ly i f th e boy ha d s topp ed t o
,
think h e might have r em embered that

,
Mr L a z ell e wa s i n th e p arlo r ; but no

.
,
H orace wa s sure h e must have c ro s sed

th e s treet t o l o ok a t th e band .
“ ”
I m go i ng t o o
’
s aid he t o h im self
, , .
O f c ours e wher e Mr L a z el l e go e s I
,
.
,
”
can go fo r h e h a s th e care of me !
,
With tha t he da sh ed headlong i n to th e

cr owd l o oking h ere th ere and e very
, , ,
wh er e fo r Mr L a z el l e . .
B ut 0 tha t musi c ! D id a l i ttle boy s

, ,
’
b o ot s ever s tand s till wh en a drum wa s

“ ”
pl ayi ng March march away ?
,
No ,
doubt h i s fath er wa s keeping step t o

j u st s uch s ounds o n h i s path to martial ,
gl ory ! T h e fife and bugl e wh i stled wi th

m ag i cal vo i ce s and s eemed t o s a y , ,
“ ”
F ollow foll ow foll ow o n !
, ,
A nd Ho ra ce foll ow e d ; somet i me s
'
th inking h e wa s in s earch o f Mr L a z el l e .
,
38 CAP T AI N H O RAC E .
so m et i mes forget ti ng i t al together He .
knew he wa s doin g very wrong but it ,
s eemed a s if the music almo s t drown ed

th e voice of h i s conscience .
In th i s way th ey turned st r eet after

s treet till sudd enly th e band and the
, , ,
cr o wd entered a large public buildi ng .
Then th e music died o u t and with it the ,
fir e o f eager n e s s in the l i ttle boy s s oul ’

.
Wher e w a s Mr L a z el l e ? I f h e could
.
s e e h i m now h e wo u ld fo rgi ve the b oxed

,
ear s H o w could h e ever find hi s w a y

.
back to th e hotel ? I t had not a s yet eu

t e r e d his head t o a sk any o n e .
H e darted o ff at great speed but a s , ,
i t happ ened i n precis ely the wrong di

,
rection Th e house s grew smaller and

.
farthe r a p ar t and presently h e came to a

,
high s andy cliff overlo oking the lake

,
.
No w th e shade s o f night began to fall ,
and h i s stout hea r t almo st fa i led him .
The longing grew s o strong to s ee moth

e r and Grac e and baby that the te a rs
, , ,
w o uld start i n spite o f hims elf

, .
T AKIN G A JO URN E Y . 39
‘
At la st just a s h e wa s wonder i ng
,
which way t o turn next someb ody ,
touched h i s sh oulder a n d a r ough voice ,
s aid ,
“
Hull o my l i ttl e m an ! W h at y o u do
‘
i n i n thi s ward ? C o me ; don t you pull

’ ’
away from me : I m a city o ffic er Go t ’

.
”
l o s t h ey ?
,
H o rac e sh o ok wi th fr i ght O dear wa s .

,
i t a cr i me th e n t o get lo st ? He remem
, ,
b ered all the storie s h e had eve r h eard

of l ock up s and sta t e p risons and
-
,
-
,
handcuffs .
“
O I d i dn t m ean any h arm sir
,
’
, ,
“
cr i ed h e trying t o steady hi s voice ; I
,
reck on I a in t l o st sir ; o r if I am I’
, , ,
”
a in t l o st m u c h !
’
“ ”
So so ,laughe d th e p ol i ceman
,
“
go od naturedly ;
-
and what wa s your
name my l i ttl e man before yo u g o t
, ,
lo st and didn t get l o st m u c h ? ’
My name i s Ho rac e C l i ffo rd s i r , ,
repl i ed th e b oy wondering why a crue l ,
p ol i ceman sh ould want t o laugh .

”
Well well s aid th e m an not uh
, ,
“
kin dl y ,
I m glad I ve com e acro s s ye ,
’ ’
fo r your mother s in a terrible taking ’

.
W hat s et ye out t o run O ff ? C ome n ow ; ,
don t b e sulky Give u s your hand and

’
.
,
I gue s s s ee i n it s you we won t put

,
’ ’
,
’
”
you i n the lo ck u p this tim e -
.
Horace wa s very g r ateful t o th e Of

fic er fo r not handc uffing him o n th e
s po t ; still h e felt a s if it wa s a grea t dis
grace to be marched through th e city by

a policeman .
Mrs C lifford Grace and Mr L a z el l e

.
, ,
.
m et them o n the way .
“
0 my dear dear s o n
,
cr i ed Mrs
, ,
.
“
C liffo rd a s s oon a s s h e c ould s p ea k ; do
,
you kn ow how you ve frightened us ’
”
all ?
“ ”
I follow e d t h e band s t a m m ered ,
“
Ho race I wa s lo oking fo r M r La
. .
Y o u r e a naughty m ean l i ttle bo y

’
, ,
cr i ed Grace when sh e had mad e sure

,
“
h e w a s not hurt anyw here I t w o uld
‘
.
T AKIN G A JO URN E Y .
h ave b ee n go od enough for you i f you d ’
drowned in the lake and th e bears had ,

”
at e you up !
Still she kis sed h er naughty broth er ,
and i t wa s t o be noticed that h er eyelids

were very red from crying .
“
I ll never l et go your h and again
’
,
” “
Ho ra ce said s h e till w e ge t to grand
, ,
”
ma s You re j ust a s s l i p p e r y !
’
.
’
Mr L a z el l e lo oked a s if it would b e an
.
i mmens e rel i ef t o him if Mis s Grace

would keep her word ; h e thought h e w a s
un d er go i ng a great t rial with Horace
-
.
“ ”
I t s a shame
’
s aid h e t o hims elf
, ,
that a p erfect lady like Mrs C lifford ,

.
,
sh ould h ave such a s o n ! I d enj oy whip ’
—
ping h i m for h er s ake ! Why in the
world don t sh e t r a i n h im ?
’
Mr L a z ell e did no t know o f the faith

.
ful talk Mr s C lifford had wi th H orace

.
that nigh t no r h ow th e boy s h eart

,
’
s w elled with grief and l ove and new , ,
re s olutions .
This adventure caus ed a da y s dela y , ’

for I t ma d e th e p ar ty t o o l at e f or the
boat Horac e was s o s orry for his fo ol
.
i sh conduct that he sp ent t h e next day in

,
the m o st subdued manner and walked ,
about th e chamber o n tiptoe while Grace ,
tried to so oth little K atie .
“
But in cro s sing th e lake he forgot
, ,
ag ain His mother allowed him to go

.
up on t h e hurrican e deck with Mr La .
z elle j ust for ten minute s ; and there

,
he became acquainte d with t h e pilo t ,
wh o wa s struck with his intelligence and ,
freely answered all th e qu e stions he ask

“ ”
ed about the engine th e whistle ,
and ,
the ste ering .
“ “
O p shaw
,
" said Horace ; I ll make
’ ’
a steamboat mys elf and give it t o Grac e

,
”
for a pre sent !
Full of this n ew plan he left th e p i ,
“ ”
l ot without so much a s as a thank you
running down the step s two at a time ,
unobs erve d by Mr L a z e l l e who w a s

.
,
playing the flute H e wanted to see

.
“
how the rigging wa s made and ,
stopped t o a s k leave of nobody .

T AKI N G A JO URN E Y . 43
D own anothe r flight o f s ta i r s out ,
acro s s trunks and bale s and r 0 p e s h e

, , ,
pushed h i s way t o get a go od sight o f

the deck He pa i d no h eed to p e ople or
.
things and nearly ran over an I rish

,
boy wh o wa s drawi ng up water in buck

,
e t s fo r wa sh i ng S omeb ody sh outed

.
,
“ ”
H e s trying kill h i s s elf I do bel i e ve !
’
,
Somebody rushed fo rward t o s eize th e

daring ch i ld by the colla r o f hi s j acket ,
but to o late ; h e had fallen h e a dlong i n

t o th e lake !
A scream w ent up from the deck that
“
p i erc e d th e air B oy overb oard !
,
”
He l p ! help ! help !
Mr s C lifford h eard and knew by i n
.
, ,
stinct that i t wa s H orace She h ad j ust

,
.
s ent Grac e to call him not fe eling s afe ,
t o trust him l onge r with Mr L a z el l e . .
She ru shed through th e do o r o f th e

state ro om and followed the crowd t o
-
,
the oth er side o f th e b o at cryi ng , ,

“ ”
O can t s omebody s ave him !
,
’
There wa s no mis taking the mother s ’
voice ; the crowd mad e way fo r h er .

44 CA P T A I N H O RA C E .
”
S a fe ! safe a n d sound ! wa s the
“ ”
shout now . A ll right !
Th e I rish l ad at Horace s first
,
’
plunge had thrown h im his bucket — i t

,
wa s a life pre server ; that is it would

-
,
—
not s ink and th e drowning boy had
been drawn up by mean s of a rope a t
t a ch ed to th e bail.
“ ”
Ma ,
s aid Grace when they were
all safely in th e cars at Bu ff al o and
Horace a s well a s ever though a lit tl e
,
“
pale I do believe the r e never wa s any
,
b ody had such an awful j ourney ! D o

you suppo se we ll ever get Horace
’
”
h ome to g randm a s ? ’
A T G RA N D PA P AR L IN s
’
45
C H AP T E R I V .
’
AT G R AN D P A P A R L I N s .
IT wa s over at the l ong t e di ou s

la st —
,
j ourney which Hora ce sp o i led for ev

,
e
e r ybo d y and which nobo dy but Horac e

,
enj oyed .
Wh en th ey drove up to th e qu i et o l d
h ome stead at Will owbro ok and s ome ,
b ody had t aken th e l ittl e baby po o r Mr s ,

.
C li fford threw h er s elf int o h er mothe r s

’
a rm s and s obb ed l i ke a child E ver y

,
.
bo dy el s e cried to o ; and go od deaf

, ,
grandp a P arlin wi th smile s and tear s a t

,
th e s ame t im e declared , ,
“
I
don t know what th e ma tte r 1 3 so
’
I can t tell wh ethe r to laugh o r c ry

’
.
Then h i s daught er Margaret went up

and said i n h i s be st ea r tha t they were
j ust crying for j oy and a sk ed h im i f ,
tha t wa sn t a s i lly thin g to do

’
.
Grace embraced everyb ody tw i ce o v

er ; but Hora c e w a s a little shy and ,
would only g ive what h i s auntie s call

“ ”
ed canary kis se s .
‘
M a rgaret I want you to gi ve me
,
”
that da rling baby thi s minute said ,
Mr s P arlin w i ping her eye s

.
,
“
Now .
y o u can bring the butter out of the cel

lar ; i t s all there is to be done except
’
,
t o set th e tea on the tabl e .
Then grandma P arlin had another

cry over littl e K atie : not such a strange
thing for sh e c ould not help thinking
,
o f Harry the baby wi th s a d eye s a n d

,
p ale face wh o had been s i ck there all

,
th e summer before and wa s now an a n ,
“
gel A s l i ttle P rudy had said
. God ,
t ook hi m up to heaven but th e tired ,
part of him i s i n the garden .
Yes under a weeping w i llow E very

,
-
.
bo dy wa s thi n king just n o w o f t i red

AT G RA N D PA PAR L I N ’
S . 47
“
li ttle Harry the sweete st flowe r that
,
”
eve r wa s plant e d i n that garden .
“ ”
Why Mar i a ,
s a i d Mrs C l i ff o rd a s
,
.
,
“
s o on a s sh e c ould sp eak h o w did you ,
ever travel s o far w i th th i s l i ttl e l i ttle ,

”
b aby ?
“
I don t know m oth er’
repl i ed Mrs , ,
.
“
C liffo rd I th i nk I c ould n ever have
:
got here w i thout Grace : sh e has been

my l ittl e waiter and K at i e s littl e ’
Gra ce blu shed with delight a t th i s

well de s erved pra i s e
-
.
“
A nd
Ho race i s s o large now that he ,
”
wa s s ome help to o I ve no doubt s a id, ,
’
,
h i s grandmother .
“ ”
Iwould have to ok th e b aby cri ed ,
H orace speaking up very quickly be

, ,
fo r e any o n e el s e had time t o answer ,
“
I would have took th e baby but she ,
”
wouldn t le t me
’
.
Mr s C l i fford m i ght have s a i d that

.
Horace h im s elf had been a s m uch trou

48 CA P T A I N H O RACE .
bl e a s th e b aby ; but t o o kin d sh e was

t o wound her little boy s feelings ’
.
I t wa s certainly a v ery happy party

wh o m e t around th e tea table at M r -
.
P arlin s that evening

’
I t wa s already .
dusk and the large globe lamp with its

, ,
wh i te p o rc elain shade gave a cheery ,
g l ow to the plea sant dining room -

.
First ; there w a s cream toa st made o f -

,
t h e whi t e st bread and the sweete st ,
cream .
“
This m a kes me think of Mrs .
“
G ray s a i d Mrs C li fford smiling ; . I ,
”
h ope she is living yet .
s aid Margaret
“ “
She is bu t t w e lve ,
years old .
Grace l o oked up in surp rise .
Why that s only a l i ttl e gi r l aunt

,
’
,
Madge ? ”
“
My d ear i t s only a c o w ! ,
”
’
0 now I remem b er ; the l i ttl e blue

,
”
p n e w i th bra s s kno b s o n her h orns !
,
“
Le t s s ee ; do yo u r e m emb er D r
’
.
”
! u ack and h i s w i fe ?
A T G RA N D PA ’
P AR L I N s . 9
O , ye s m !they were wh i te ducks ;

’
and h ow th ey did sw i m ! I t wa s a year

a go. I supp o s e Hora ce do e sn t r emem ’
b er.
“
P oh ! ye s I do ; th ey wer e s p i w fo o t
,
Why H orac e
, said Gra ce laugh ,
“ ”
i ng ; you mean w eb fo o t ed ! -
Horac e bent h i s eye s o n his pl ate and ,
did no t lo ok up again fo r s ome time .
Th ere wa s ch i cken s alad on the table

-
.
—
M a rgar et made tha t putting i n n ew
butt er becau s e sh e kn ew Mr s C liffo rd
,
.
did not like o i l .
Th ere wa s delic i ous l o oking cake ,
s om e th at had been touched w i th fro st ,

”
and s ome tha t hadn t as grandpa
’
,
sa id when h e p a s s ed th e ba sket
,
.
B ut th e crown i ng glo ry of th e supper

wa s a dish o f scarlet strawberries ,
which l o oked a s if they had been drin k

ing dew drop s and sunshine till they
-
had caught all th e r i chnes s and sweet

nes s Of summer .
” “
0, ma ! whispered G r ac e I m be ,
’
ginning to fe el s o happy ! I only wi sh my

”
fa ther w a s here .
A fter tea grandpa took Ho race and

,
Grace o n e ach knee large a s they w e re , ,
and s ang s ome delightful evening hymn s

with what wa s l eft o f his once fine voice .
He l ooked s o p eaceful and h appy that

his daughters were reminded of the B i
“
ble vers e C hildren s childr en are the
,
’
”
crown of old men .
“ ”
I think now s aid Mrs C lifford , . .
coming back from putting th e baby to

“
sleep ,
it s high time my boy and girl
’
we r e saying Good night and pleas a nt

,
‘
-
,
dream s .
’
“
A unt Ma dge is going up s t airs with
”
us aren t you aunti e ? ’
,
Y es Ho ra ce ; y o ur o ther aunt i e
,
wouldn t do I supp o s e
’
said Louis e
, ,
.
“
That make s me think of the way this
same Ho race u sed to treat me when h e
‘
wa s two years old H e r can t put me .
’
’
to bed he would s a y ; her s to o l i t t l e
,
’ ‘ ’
.
A T G RAN D PA P AR L IN s
’
. 51
“
I re m ember sa i d Margaret h ow ,
h e dreaded c old wate r Wh en his mother .
call e d h im to b e wa sh ed and s aid Ma , ,

‘
do e sn t want a l i ttl e dirty boy h e

’
,
’
would l o ok up i n he r face and say , ,
D oes m amma want i ttle co ld boy ?

‘ ‘ ’
The happy children k i s sed everyb ody

go o d night and followed their aunt
-
,
Madge up sta i rs N ow ther e wa s a.

,
c ertain small ro om wh o s e o n e w i ndow , ,
op ened upon th e piazza and it wa s call ,
“ ”
ed t h e green chambe r I t contained a .
cunning littl e bedst ead a we e bureau a , ,
-
,
—
dres sing tabl e and wa sh i ng stand a l l ,
p ea green I t wa s a ro om wh i ch s eem
-
.
ed t o h ave be en made and fu r nishe d o n

purpo s e fo r a ch i ld and i t had been ,
prom i s ed t o Grace i n every lette r aun t

Madge h ad written t o h er fo r a year .
Ho rac e h ad th ought but l i ttl e abo ut

th e ro om till t o nigh t when his aunt l ed
-
,
Gr ace into it and he foll o w ed I t s eemed

, .
“
s o fre sh and swe et in th e green cha m
”
ber ,
an d d
on th e r s i g ta
bl e there
e s n -
wa s a va s e o f flowers .
A unt Madge bade the childre n lo o k

o u t of the w indow at a bird s ne st which
’
,
wa s snuggl ed into one corner o f the

piazza ro of s o high u p th a t nobody
-
, ,
could reach it with o ut a very t all ladd e r .
“ ” “
No w s a i d aunt Madge
,
the very ,
first th ing Grace hea r s in th e morn i ng

will probably be bird music -
.
Gra c e clapped her h ands .
”
A nd
where am I going to sleep ?
s aid Horace wh o had b e en lis tening and
, ,
lo ok ing o n in silence His aunt had .
forgotten th at h e wa s sometime s j e a l
o u s ; but s h e c ould not help knowing it
now for a very d i sag r e eable expres sion

,
l o oked out at h i s eyes and dr ew down ,
the corners o f h i s mouth .
“
Why Horac e dear we h a v e t o put
, ,
you in o n e of th e back c hambers just a s ,
we did when y o u were h ere befor e ; but

y o u kn ow it s a nice clean ro om w i th
’
,
A T G RAN D PA P AR L I N s
’
. 53
wh i te c ur t a in s and you can lo ok out o f

,
”
th e window at the garden .
“ ”
B ut it s over th e kitch en !
’
” “
There H ora ce
,
s aid Grace I d
, ,
’
b e a sha m ed ! Y o u don t act like a l i ttle ’
gentleman ! Wh at woul d p a s a y ? ”
“
Why couldn t I have the big front ’
”
chamber ? said th e l i ttl e b oy shu ffling ,
h i s feet and lo oking down at his sh oe s

,
.
“ ”
B ecau se s aid aunt Madge smiling
, ,
that i s fo r your mother and the baby .
But i f I c ould h ave this l i ttl e cun

ning r oom I d g o a fl yi n Gra c e ain t
,
’ ’
.
’
company any mo re than me .
A unt Madge remembered Horace s ’
hit — o r m i s s way
-
of u sing things and ,
thought o f the el ephant that once walk

ed into a ch in a sh op .
Gra c e l aughed al oud .
W h y Ho ra c e C liffo rd you d make

, ,
’
th e r o om lo ok like everything ; you know

you woul d ! 0 auntie you ought t o s e e
, ,
h ow h e mus s es up my cabinet ! I have to

”
hide th e key ; I d o s o !
H or a c e t o ok th e r o o m whi ch was giv en

him but he left h i s sister with out his
,
u sual go od night kis s and when h e r e

-
,
p ea t e d his p r a yer I am afraid h e w a s

,
thinking all the whil e about the green

chamber .
The next mo rnin g the children h a d

i ntended t o go into t h e garden bright
and early Grace loved flowers a n d
.
,
when she wa s a mer e b a by j ust able to ,
toddle int o the meadow she would clip ,
o ff t h e head s of buttercups and pr i m
ro s es huggin g and ki s s ing them l i ke

,
friends .
Horace to o had s ome fancy for flo w

, ,
ers e spec ially flaring one s like s u n

,
flowers and hollyhocks D andelions were .
nice when th e stems would curl without

b oth ering and p oppie s w ere worth
,
while for littl e girl s h e thought b ec ause , , ,
after they are gone t o s eed you ca n ,
make them into pretty go od te a pots .
He wan t ed t o go out in the gard en

now fo r humming birds and to see if -
,
9
A T G RAN D PA PAR L I N s . 55
th e d i rt c ol ored to ad wa s still living in

-
“ ”
his ne st in o n e of the fl o w e r beds
,
- .
But the first thing th e children heard

in th e morning wa s t h e p att ering o f rain
on the ro of N 0 going out today Gra c e
. .
wa s to o tired t o ca re much Horace felt .
cro s s ; but remembering how many me s

sage s h i s grandm othe r had sent to h er
“ ”
go o d littl e grands on and h ow often ,
“
a unt Ma dge had wr itte n about d e ar
l i ttl e H ora ce th e neph ew sh e wa s s o
,
”
pr oud o f h e felt a shamed to go down
,
stair s s c owling I f his go o d mo rning

.
smile wa s s o thin tha t you c ould s ee a

frown through it s till it wa s b etter th an
,
no smil e at all .
Th e breakfa s t w a s very ni c e and Hor ,
ac e would have enj oyed t h e h ot g rid dl e

cake s and mapl e s irup only his aun t ,
Loui s e a hands om e young lady o f s i x

,
teen watc hed him more than h e th ought

,
wa s quite p olite s aying every now and ,
th en ,
“
I sn ’
t h e th e i mage of h i s father ?
J ust such a no se j ust such a mou th !

,
He eat s fa st to o ; that i s c h a r a c t er i s
,
”
tic !
“
Horace did not know wha t charac
”
teristic meant but thought it must be
,
s omething bad for with a child s quick

,
’
eye h e could s e e th at h i s pretty aunt

wa s i nclined to laugh at him I n fact .
,
h e had quite an o d d way o f talking and ,
his whole appearance was amusing to

Mis s Louis e who wa s a very lively
,
young lady .
“
Hora ce you wer e telling me la st
,
night about Mr L a z el l e : what did you

.
”
s a y w a s th e colo r of his c oat ?
I said it wa s bl ue be r r y color re ,
plied Hora ce who could s ee almo s t w ith

,
o u t lo oking up that aunt Louis e wa s

,
smiling at aunt Ma dge .
“
He is a m u s l c l a n e r too I think you
, ,
said and his hair c r i m p s D ear me

, .
,
”
what a funny man !
Hora ce w a s s ilent and made up h i s
,
mi nd that he should be careful anothe r

t ime what h e s a i d before aunt L o uis e .
A T G RAN D PA ’
P AR L I N s . 57
So on after breakfa st h e and Pi nche r

“ ”
went up attic t o s e e wh at th ey could
-
fi nd whil e Grac e followed he r grand

,
m other and aunt i e s from p arlor t o k i tch

en and from kitche n t o pantry S h e
, .
l o oked pal e and t i red but wa s s o happy ,
that sh e sang every now and th en at th e

top o f h er voice forgetting that l i ttl e ,
K at i e wa s h a v i ng a n a p .
P retty s o on Hora ce cam e down s ta i r s

with an o l d rusty gun much taller than
,
him s elf Mrs C lifford wa s sh o cked

. .
a t fi rst b ut sm i led th e next moment

, ,
a s sh e reme mbered what an i n noc ent

“ ”
t h ing i t wa s pa st i ts pr im e bef o re
,
s h e w a s o f Horace s a ge
’
.
T h e l i ttle b oy playfully po i nted th e

gun towards Grace wh o s creamed wi th ,
fright and ran away a s fa s t a s sh e

,
c oul d .
“
I don t c a re cr i ed sh e c om i ng
’
, ,
back a l i ttl e a sh amed at b eing l aughed

,
“
at : H o w did I kn ow i t wa sn t l o aded ?
' ’
D o you th i nk twould l ook well fo r a ’
”
li ttl e g i rl n o t t o b e af ra id of a g un ?
Th i s spe ech a mu s ed ev eryb o dy p a r ,
t i c ul a r l y Horace wh o wa s glad to h a v e
,
Gra c e s a y a fo olish thing on c e i n a whil e .
I t rais ed his s elf esteem som ehow ; and

-
,
more th an that he liked to rem emb er her

,
littl e slip s o f th e ton g ue and te a s e h e r,
about th em .
I t w a s not l ong before h e had seen all

there wa s to be seen i n the house and ,
“ ”
wante d to d o s omething A s fo r .
reading that wa s u sually to o s tupid fo r

,
Ho race Grace kindly offered to p lay

.
checkers with him ; but sh e understo od

the game s o much better than he did ,
that sh e won at every trial .
This wa s more than he could b e a r

wi th p atience ; and wh eneve r h e s a w ,
th at she w a s gaining upon him h e ,

“
wanted t o turn it into a g i ve g am e -
.
“ ”
But that isn t fair Horace ’
,
.
W ell ma j ust you s ee h ow mea n

, ,
Grace i s ! There s h e wants me to jump

,
that man yond e r s o she ll take two o f

,
’
”
mine and go right in th e king row !
,
-
“
But Horace
,
sa i d Grace gently
, , ,
A T G RA N D PA P AR L I N s
’
. 59
w hat do I play fo r i f I don t try to ’
”
be at ?
“ “
There now cri e d h e
,
cha s e my , ,
men up t o th e k ing r o w s o I can t crown -

,
’
”
’
em do !
,
J us t w hat I m d oi ng
’
r epl i ed ,
Grac e co olly, .
“
Well I sh ould t hi n k you d b et t er
,
’
take em all and b e done w i th i t ! B e

’
,
'
”
fore I d b e s o mean a s t o set t r ap s !
’
“ ” “
Lo ok Horace sa i d Gra c e ; y o u
, ,
d i dn t j ump when you ought t o and I m

’
,
’
go i ng t o h ufi your man S ee I blow it "

.
, ,
j ust th i s way ; Old Mr Kn i ght c alls it .
Hu ff away th e n ! but yo u stol e o n e

o f th o s e k i ngs I ll bet you s tol e i t o ff
.
’
”
t h e board after I j umped i t .
“ ”
N ow Ho rac e C l i fford
,
cr i ed Gra ce , ,
“
w i th t ea rs i n h er eye s I neve r d i d such ,
a thing a s to steal a ki ng ; a n d i f y o u
”
s a y s o I won t play !
’
”
Horac e said Mrs C l i ff o rd w h o
,
.
,
had been try i ng fo r s om e t i me t o spea k ,

“ ”
what do you play checkers fo r ?
Ma am ? Why to beat o f cour se

’
, ,
.
Well d o you consider i t

,
”
p lay ?
“
Work o r pl ay ? W h y i t s a ga m e,
’
”
m a ; s o i t s pl ay
’
.
“
But Grace w a s s o obligi ng that sh e
,
-
w i sh ed t o am us e you my s o n D o es i t ,
.
amus e yo u ? D oe sn t i t make you c ro s s ?

’
D O yo u know that you have s p oken a

great many sharp words t o your k i nd
”
s i ster ?
“
Shut th e b oard r i ght up my ch i ld ; ,
and remember from th i s t i me never to

play ch e ckers o r any oth er game wh en
, ,
you fe el yourself growi ng fretful ! A s

you s ometimes s a y I t d oe sn t p a y,
‘ ’
.
’
Hora ce clo s ed the board lo oki n g ,
a sh a med .
That s sound adv i ce for every

’
”
b ody , s a i d aunt Madge strok i ng h er ,
“
l i ttle nephew s ha i r I f child r en a lw a ys
’
r emembered i t th ey would ge t al on g
,
—
m ore pleasan t ly togeth e r I kn o w they
would .
G race had b e en l ook i n g i ll all th e

A T G RA N D PA P AR L IN s
’
. 61
m orni ng and her m o the r n ow s aw

,
symptoms of a ch i ll With all her tende r

.
anxiety sh e had not kn own h ow tired

h er l i ttl e daugh t e r w a s I t was tw o o r
.
th re e week s b efo re the ch i ld w a s re sted ;

and wh enever sh e had a ch i ll wh i ch wa s
'
eve r y th ird day fo r a wh i l e s h e wa s de ,
l i r i o u s and kept crying o ut ,
“
O do s e e to Ho ra c e m amm a ! M r
, , .
L a z el l e w i ll forget ! O Horace n o w , ,
’
d o n t let go my hand ! I ve got th e bun
’ ’
dl es mamma and th e mi lk fo r th e
, ,
b aby ? ’
An d s omet im e s Mr s C l i fford would.
c all Ho rac e to co m e and take h i s s i ster s ’
h and j ust t o a s sure her that h e w a s not

,
lyi ng cold and dead i n th e wate rs o f

Lake E r i e I t w a s really t ou ch i ng t o
.
s e e how h eav i ly th e car e s o f th e j ourney
ha d we i ghed o n the de a r g i rl s youthfu l ’
s pirits .
62 C A P T A I N H O RACE .
C HAP T E R V .
C AP T A I N O F A C O M PA N Y .
AT firs t Mrs C li ff ord thought sh e

.
not care about having the c hildren go to

s cho ol a s they had been kept at their
,
stud i es fo r nearly n in e month s wi thout

a va c at i on e x cep t C hr i s tma s h ol i days
, .
B ut what wa s t o b e done w i th Ho r
a ce ? '
A unt Lo uise wh o wa s not p a s
,
s i o n a t el y fond o f children decla r ed he r,
trial s were greate r than sh e c ould b e ar .
Grace wa s a littl e lady sh e th ought ; but,
a s fo r Horac e and hi s dog P inche r and

, ,
“ ”
th e cal i co kitty which he had picked
,
up fo r a p et ! —Lou i s e dislike d dogs and

des p ise d kit te ns Sometim es a s s h e
.
,
told Ma rgaret sh e felt a s i f s h e should

,
certa inl y fly ; somet im e s she wa s sure she

w a s go i n g cra z y ; and th en again i t
CA P T A I N O F A C O M PA NY . 63
s ee m ed a s if h er head would b urst i n t o

a thou s a nd p i e c e s .
No ne o f the s e dr e a d ful a cc i dent s h ap

p ened i t is tru e ; but a gr eat many o t her
,
th i ngs did Hammers na i l s and auger s

.
, ,
were c a rr i ed o ff and l eft to r us t i n the

,
dew A cup o f green p a i nt wh i ch for

.
,
m onth s ha d sto o d qu i e tly on an o l d s h elf

i n the sto r e room w a s now taken down,
and s t i rred wi th a stick and all th e toys ,
which Ho rac e whittled o ut were s t a i ned

gre en and set i n th e s un t o d r y A p a i r
'
.
,
c f ch ee s e tongs wh i ch hung i n t h e ba c k
-
,
r oom a b oot j a ck th e wa s h i ng b ench

,
-
,
-
,
—
wh i ch w a s once r ed all b eca m e green ,
i n a ve ry s h o rt t ime : only t h e red of t h e

bench ha d a c ur i ou s e ffect p eep i ng o u t ,
from i t s l i gh t and ragged c o at of g re en .
Th e blue sl ed wh i ch belong ed t o Susy

a n d P rudy wa s b rought down fro m t h e
sh ed chamb er and lo oked a t fo r s ome

-
,
time I t would p res ent a l ovely a p

.
p e a r a n c e H o ra
,
ce thought i f he onl y ,
d ared c ro s s it o ff w i th gree n But a s .

th e s l ed b el o nged t o h i s l i ttl e co us i n s,
and th ey were not there to s e e for them
s elves h ow beaut i ful h e c ould make i t
l o ok , why h e must wait t i ll they came ;

,
a n d then very l i kely th e paint would be

, ,
’
g one
.
O f c ours e , Ho ra ce s o i led h i s clothe s

“ ”
s a dl y : that wa s always j u st like h i m ,
h i s aunt Louis e s aid .
T h i s w a s not all : A l i ttle ne i ghbor ,

‘
G i l bert B rown came t o the hous e a t a l l

,
h ours and between th e two boys ther e

,
: a s a no i s e of driv i ng nail s
W fi r i ng p o p ,
g uns ,
shouting and runn i ng from mo rn
i n g t i ll night .
“ ”
They built a shanty o f the b oards
which grandpa wa s savi ng to mend th e
“
fence and i n this shanty they kept
,
,
s tore ,
tra ding i n crooked pins h ome ,
made t oys twine and j ack kni ves

,
-
.
“
Ma ster chap s them ch i ld r en are , ,
s a i d A bn e r th e go od natured h i red m an
’
-
.
,
“
Hard wo rk in g b oys ! T h ey ar e a s
-
”
ae s tr u ct i ve a s arm y worms decl a re d ,
CA P T A I N O F A C O M PA NY . 65
g randp a frow n i ng w
, i t h a t w i n kl e i n h i s
eye .
H o ra ce had a ca nno n a b o ut a f o ot
l ong which went o n wheel s w i th a bo x
, ,
b eh i nd i t and a ram m e r la sh e d o n at
,
—
the s i de not t o m ent i on an Am er i ca n
flag wh i ch fl o ated ove r the wh o l e W i th .
a stout s tri ng h e drew h i s c ann on up to

th e large o ilnut tre e an d then w i th a
,
real bayonet fixed to a wo oden gun h e ,
W
: ould li e at full l ength unde r th e shade ,
c all i ng h i ms elf a sharp sh o ote r guardi ng
the cannon A t th e s e t im e s w o e to th e
.
“
cal i c o kitty ,
or Gra c e o r a nyb ody
,
el s e wh o happ ened t o go nea r him ! fo r

“ ”
h e gave the o rder t o cha rge ,and th e
charge wa s m ade m o s t vi gorously .
! p on th e whol e , i t w a s de ci ded that

eve ryb ody would fe el e a s i e r and hap
p i er i f H ora ce sh ould go t o s ch o ol T h i s .
p lan d i d not plea s e h i m at all and h e ,
w ent wi th sulky loo k s and a very b ad

grace .
H i s m othe r s i ghed ; fo r thou gh he r

l i tt l e b o y k ep t th e l ett er o f th e l aw ,
“
which s ays children o bey your par
, ,
”
e nts , h e di d n o t d o it i n th e s p i r i t o f
“
the co mm andm ent H o n o r thy f a the r
,
”
and thy m other .
I n a thousan d way s Mr s C l i fford w a s .
made unhap p y by Ho race wh o should ,
have be en a comfort t o her I t wa s s a d .

,
i ndeed ; fo r never d i d a kind moth er try

“ ”
harder to tra in up a ch i ld i n the
right way .
I t did not tak e Horace a great wh il e

to renew h i s a cquaintance with the
s cho olbo ys who all seemed to l ook upon
,
him a s a sort o f curio s i ty .
“ ”
I never knew before laughed l i ttl e
,
“
D an R ideout th a t my name wa s D an
,
”
yell !
He call s a pa i l a b ucket a n d a dip
‘
,
”
p e r a ti n Im p
-
sa i d Gilbert B rown
,
.
“ ” “
Y es
,
ch i med i n Wi lly Snow and ,
”
he a sks I s s cho ol t o o k up ? j ust as if it
‘
”
W a s knitti ng -work t h a t wa s on nee dles
.
.
“ ”
H o w h e rolls h i s r s ! sa i d P ete r
’
CA P T A I N O F A C O M PAN Y . 67
G rant . You can t say h o r r -s e th e ’

-
way h e do e s ! I ll bet t h e a i n t a b oy
’ ’
can d o i t unle s s i t s a Ca h o o j a ck ’
.
P ete r meant H o o s i e r .
“
Well I wouldn t be s een s ay in g ’
”
bo s s
,
returned Horace w i th s om e ,
“ ”
sp iri t ; th at s Y ari kee ’
.
“
I gue s s th e Yankee s a r e a s go od a s
th e Ca h o o j a ck s : wa sn t your moth er a ’
”
Yank ee ?
“ ”
Y es faltered Hora c e ;
,
sh e wa s
b o r n up north here i n th e Fr i gid ! one ;
but sh e i sn t s o much r elation t o m e a s
’
my fath er i s fo r he r name w a sn t C lif

,
’
ford Sh e wouldn t h ave b e en a n y rel a

.
’
tion to m e i f s h e hadn t marrie d m y ’
father ! ’
O ne o r two o f th e l arge r boys laughe d

at th i s sp eech and H o race w h o c oul d
, ,
never endur e r i di cul e stol e qu i etly ,
away .
“
N ow b oys y o u beh ave
,
said E d
, ,
ward Snow Willy s older bro ther ;

,
’
“
h e s a smart l i ttl e fell ow and i t s mea n
’
,
’
68 CA P T A IN H O RAC E .
to go to hurting his fe el i ng s C ome .
back here Spunky C l i ff o rd ; let s have a

,
’
”
game of h i s p y !
“
Horace w a s a s s i lent a s a s t o ne .
“
He don t l i ke to b e c alled Spunk y
’
” “
C lifford s aid J ohnny B ell ; do you
, ,
”
II o r ace ?
“ ”
The r eas on I don t l i k e i t repl i ed’
,
“
th e b oy i s b ecaus e i t s not my
,
’
”
name .
“
Well then ,
s aid E dward Snow , ,
—
winking to th e othe r b oys “
won t ,
’
y o u play w i t h us M a s t e r H o r a c e ?,
”
“
I ll not go back to h e laughed at
’
,
“
re p lied h e stoutly : when I m home
,
’
I play with Ho o sier boys and they re ,

’
p oliter than Yankees .
Twa s only tho s e big boys

’
said ,
“
J ohnny B ell : now they ve gone Off ’
.
”
C ome let s play s omething ’
.
“
I should think you d b e w i ll i ng for ’
”
u s to laugh ad d ed hon e st l i ttl e W i lly
,
“
Snow ; we can t h elp i t you talk s o ’
,
”
fun ny We don t m ean anyth ing
.
’
.
”
Well , s a i d H o rac e qu i te re store d
,
t o go o d humo r and sp e a king w i t h s ome

,
“
dignity you may laugh a t me o n e kind
,
of a way but if you mean h m n p li when

,
”
you laugh I won t s tand it
,
’
.
”
W o o n t sta nd it ! ec ho e d P eter
’
“ ”
Grant ; ain t that D utch ? ’
“ ” “
D u tc h ? replied Horace : I ll sh ow ’
you what D yc h e i s ! We h ave a D yc li e

t eacher c ome in our s ch ool every day ,
and h e sta mp s h i s fo o t and tear s r o u nd !

‘
Se i ruh i g h e s ays : that means hush
’
, ,
‘
your mou th and ke e p st ill ’

.
“
I s he a Jew and do e s he s tay i n a
,
syn ag ogue ?
“
No h e i s a German L a t e r a n o r a
, ,
Du tch D efo r m e d o r s omething th at

,
way .
“ ”
Wh at do you learn i n ? sa i d
Johnny B ell .
“
Why i n l i ttle German r eaders : wh at
,
”
el s e would th ey b e ?
“
D oe s i t read l i ke storie s and
”
v er se s ?
70 C A P T A IN H O RAC E .
I
don t know He keep s hitting the
’
.
b o oks with a littl e switch and s creamin ,

’
o ut a s if the hous e wa s
“ ’
C ome s a y over s ome D utch ; w o o n t
,
”
you Horace ?
,
S o th e little boy repeated some Ge r

m an p oetry while his schoolmate s
,
lo oked up at him in wonde r and admira

tion T his wa s j ust what Ho ra c e en
.
j oyed ; and h e continued with s p arkling .
e yes ,
“
I s p o s e you can t any o f y o u c o u n t
’ ’
”
i n D utch .
The boys co n fes sed that they could

not .
I t s j u s t a s ea sy
’
sa i d Horace , ,
tell i ng over th e n umber s up t o twenty ,
a s fa st a s he could speak .
Y can t any of you w r i te

ou
’
D utch ; can you ? You give me a slate

now and I ll write it all over s o you
,
’
c ouldn t read a word of it

’
.
“ ”
Ai n ’
t i t very hard t o make ? asked
CA P TA I N O F A C O M PA NY . 71
th e boy s i n t one s of re sp ec tful a st on

i s h m en t .
“
Irec kon you d th i nk twa s hard i t s
’ ’
,
’
s o full o f little qu i rls b ut I can write it

,
”
a s ea sy a s E n gl i sh .
T hi s wa s qu i t e tru e fo r H o ra c e m ad e
v ery hard work o f any kind o f wr i ting .
I t wa s no t two days before he wa s at

th e h ea d o f tha t p art Of th e s cho ol
“ ”
known a s th e small boys b oth i n ,
study and play ; yet e veryb o dy l i ke d

h im fo r a s I have said b efore th e l i ttl e
, , ,
fell o w had such a strong s ens e o f j u s

tice and such ki ndne s s of heart th a t h e
, ,
wa s always a favorit e i n sp i te o f h i s ,
fault s .
The b oys al l s a i d ther e wa s noth i ng

”
m ean ab out Horace H e would .
n e i th er a b us e a smalle r child n or s ee ,
o n e abus ed I f h e thought a b oy w a s
.
d o i ng wron g h e wa s not afraid t o tel l

,
h im s o and you may b e sure that h e

,
w a s all th e m ore re spe c te d fo r h i s

m o r al courage .
72 CA P T A I N H O RACE .
Horac e talked to his sch o olmates a

great deal about his father C aptain ,
C lifford w h o wa s going to b e a gener a l

,
s ome day .
“ “
W h en I was home s aid he I , ,
s tudied p a s bo ok o f t i c t a c s and I used

’
,
”
to drill th e boys .
“
The r e wa s a loud cry of Why can t ’
y o u drill us ? C ome let s u s have a ,

’
”
c omp any and you be cap n !
’
,
Horac e gladly cons ented and th e next ,
Saturday afterno on a meeting was a p

“ ”
p ointed at the Glen When th e time .
came the boys were all a s j oyful a s s o

,
many squirrels s uddenly let out of a

c age .
“
N ow lo ok here b oys sa i d Horace , , ,
“ ”
b r ushing back his shingled ha i r and ,
walking about t h e grove with the air of

“
a lord First place if I m going to be
.
,
’
captain you must m i nd ; w i ll yo u ?

,
”
s ay .
Horace w a s not m uch o f a publ i c

s pea k er ; he threw words togeth er j ust
CA P T A I N O F A C O M PA N Y . 73
a s i t h app ened ; but th e r e wa s s o m uch

meani ng i n th e tw i stings o f his face th e ,
j erk i ng s o f h i s he a d and th e tw i r l i n g s ,
of his thumb s tha t i f yo u wer e l o ok ing

,
at him y o u must know wha t h e mean t

“
Ay a y p i pe d th e li tt l e bo ys i n
ch orus .
“
Then I ll must er yo u i n
’
s a i d Hor ,
“
a ce grandly Ha s everyb ody brought
,
their guns ? I mean s ti c ks yo u know !

— ”
,
! K
AY ,
”
I want t o be c o rp or al , s a i d P ete r
G r a nt .
“
I ll b e m aj or
’
cr i ed W i lly Sn ow ,
.
”
There you ve sp oke,
shouted t h e
’
,
capta i n I w i sh there w a s a tub o r bar 1

.
’
”
t o stand y o u o n wh en y o u tal k .
A fte r s ome t i m e an empty flour ba r r e l

wa s brought and pl a c ed upright under
,
a tree t o s erve a s a dunce -blo ck

, .
“ ”
N o w we ll b egi n n ew
’
s a i d th e ca p ,
“
t a in. Th o s e that want t o b e mustered ,
r i s e up the ir hands ; but don t yo u s nap ’
”
your fingers .
T he cauti on came to o late fo r s o m e o f

th e boys ; but Horace fo rgave th e se e m
ing disre sp ect kn owi ng that no ha rm
,
w a s i nte nded .
“
N ow boys what a r e yo u iflgh t i n g
, ,
a b out ? — Say ! o r o u r country !

,
”
“ ”
F o r our c ountry shouted the s o l ,
d i ers s ome i n ch orus and s ome i n s olo

, , .
“ ”
And our flag added Horace a s , ,
an after thought -
.
“
A nd o u r flag repe ated the b o ys , ,
l o oking a t th e little banner o f stars and

stripe s which wa s fa stene d t o the stum p
,
o f a tre e
,
and faintly fluttered i n th e
,
bre e z e .
“ ”
Long may i t wave ! cried Horace ,
growi ng enthusia s tic and p ointing back ,
wa rd t o th e flag with a sw e ep o f his

thumb .
“
T her e a i n t a Secesh i n th i s com
’ ‘ ’
p any ; ther e a i n t a man bu t wants our ’
b attl e to beat ! I f there i s we ll muster

’
,
”
h im o u t dou b le qui ck -
.
A few cap s were flour i sh ed i n the air

"
,
CA P TA I N O F A C O M PA N Y . 75
and every mouth wa s s et fi rm ly t ogeth er

a s if it would sh out sc orn of se c e s sion
i f i t dare d sp eak I t wa s a loya l c om

.
p any ; ther e wa s n o doubt o f tha t I n .
deed the captain wa s s o bitte r a gains t

,
th e S outh that he h ad a sked his aunt

M adge if i t wa s right t o let s o u t h e r n n
w o o d grow i n th e garden .
“ ” “
N ow sa i d H o race
,
F orward ! ,
’
—
M a rch ! P l oy c olumn ! NO form a line ,
fi rst .T en ti o n !
A curve d uncerta i n l i ne not unlike
, ,
.
t h e l ette r S gr a dually stra i ght ened i t

,
s elf and the b oys l o oked down to their

,
fe et a s i f they exp ected t o s e e a chalk

m ark on th e gras s .
“
N ow when I say R i ght ! y o u must
,
’
,
‘
l ook at th e button s on my j acket o r on —

yours I ve fo rgot wh i ch ; o n yours ;
,
’
I re ckon R i ght !
. R ight at em ! ’
”
R i ght a t the button s !
O bed i ent t o order s every b o y s head,
’
d rooped i n a moment .
“ ”
Stop ! sa i d Horac e kn itt i ng his ,
76 CA P T A IN H O RAC E .
“ ”
brows ; that s enough ! ’
F o r there
s e emed to be something wrong he could ,
not tell what .
“
N ow you m ay bout face ” that "
m eans whirl round N ow march ! o n e .
”
t w o quick time dou b le quick ! ,
-
“
They re stepping on m y t o es
’
,
cried barefo oted P eter Grant .
“
Hush r i ght up pr ivate o r I l l stand ’
”
you o n the ba r l ’
.
“ ”
I wish t you would ’
groaned l i ttl e ,
“ ”
P eter ; it hurts .
“ ”
Well then I s h an t
, ,
s a i d th e cap ’
,
“
ta i n decide dly
,
fo r tw o u l d n t be a n y
,
’ ’
p u n i s h i n . C’
an t s ome o f you’
w h i s
”
tle ?
Willy Snow s truck up Yankee D o o
dl e which s o o n charmed the wayward
,
fe et o f the littl e volunte ers and s e t ,
them to m a rch i ng i n good t im e .
A ft erward the i r captain g a ve i n

'
“
s t r uc ti o n s in d i arms ’ ’
g r o u n n
“ ” “ “
s t a ck i n a rm s fir i n an d count
’ ’
, ,
“
i n a march by whi ch h e me an t c o un ter
’
c
,
ma rching He h a d rea lly read a goo d

.
many page s i n I nfantry T a ctic s and ,
had treasured up th e military phr a se s

with s ome ca r e though h e had but a
,
c onfus ed i de a o f th eir meaning .
“ ”
Holl er square ! sa id he when h e
-
,
c ould think of noth i ng e l s e t o s a y 0 1 .

‘
“
cour s e h e meant a h ollow square .
“ ”
Shall we h oller all togeth er ? cr i ed
a voice from the mids t o f the ranks .
Th e owner o f th e voice would have .
“ ”
b een st o od on th e barrel if H o race
,
had been l e s s busy thinking .
“
I ve forgot h o w th ey h oller a s true
’
,
a s you live ; but I reckon i t s all to ’
”
gether and op en your mouth s wide
,
.
A t thi s th e young volu nte er s no thin g ,
l oath gave a long deafening shou t

, , ,
which th e wo ods caught up and e ch oed .
H o race s cratched hi s head He had .
s een hi s fath er drill h i s m en but he ,
c ould not rememb er th at h e had ever

he ard them s cream .
A pitched battl e cam e o ff next which

'
would have been a very p ea ceful o n e i f

78 CAP T A IN H O RAC E .
all th e b oys had no t wanted t o be N orth ~
er n er s . But the feeling w a s greatl y

changed when Hora ce j oined th e S outh
“
ern ranks saying h e didn t care h ow
,
’
mu ch he played S ece sh when everyb ody

knew he was a go od ! nion man and h i s ,
.
”
father wa s going to be a general Af .
ter this t h er e wa s n o troubl e ab out rais

i ng volunteer s on the rebel side .
Th e whole affair ended very pl eas

an tly ,
only ther e wa s some slashin g
right and left with a few bit s o f broken
g la s s ,
which were used a s swords ; and
several mothers had wound s to dre s s
that night .
Mrs C lifford heard no complaint

.
from her little s on although his fingers ,
were quite ragged and must have been ,
painful Ho rac e wa s re a lly a brave b oy

.
,
and always bore suffering like a hero .
More than that h e had the s at ,
i s fa c t i o n of using th e drop s o f bl o od
for red p aint ; and the first thing afte r
supper he made a wooden sword and
gun and da shed them with red s treaks
,
.
S! SI E AN D P R ! DY .
TH E C lifford ch i ldren were v e ry a n x

i ous to se e Susy and P rudy and i t ,
s eemed a long whil e t o wait ; but th e

P ortland scho ol s had a vacation a t
la st and then i t wa s t ime t o exp ect the
,
l i ttl e cousins .
T h e wh ol e fam i ly were i mpa ti ent t o

s e e them and th eir excellent m other .
G randma l o st he r spe cta cle s very ofte n

t hat a fte r no on a n d every ti m e she went
,
t o the window t o look out th e ball of ,
h er knitting work followed h e r

-
as ,
“ ”
G race said ,
like a l i ttl e kitten .
T h er ewa s great j oy when the s tage

r eally drove up t o the do o r The c ous .
i ns were rather shy o f e ach othe r at

fi rst ,and P rudy hid h er face all glow ,
ing with smile s an d blushe s in her ,
plump little hands Bu t the sti ffnes s .
wore away and they wer e all as well

,
acquainted a s ever they had been in ,
ab out te n minutes .
“ ”
A in t that a bum p i n stage though ?
’ ’
,
“
cried Horace ; j ust like a baby
jum p er .
“
We came in it yo u know Susy , , ,
“
said Grace ; didn t it shake like a c orn ’
”
p opper ?
“
I want t o go and s e e th e p i g g y and
”
ducks s aid P rudy
,
.
“ ”
Well whispered Susy wait till ,
”
afte r supper .
The C liffords were delighted with

their little cousins When they had .
last seen P rudy which was th e sum ,
mer befo re they had l ove d her dearly

,
.
“
N ow sh e was p a st five and a go od dea l ,
”
cunn inger than ever ; or so Horace
thought H e li k ed her pretty face her
.
,
‘
gentle ways and said very often i f h e

, ,
S U S Y AN D PRUD Y . 81
“
li tt l e si st er h e d
’
h ad s uch a go a d yi n
T o b e sure Susy wa s j ust his age and ,
c ould r un almo st a s fa st a s he c oul d ;

st i ll H orac e did not fancy her half a s
much a s P rudy wh o could no t run much
,
without fall i ng down and wh o was a l ,
ways sure to cry if sh e got hurt .
Grace and Susy w ere glad that H o r

ace like d P rudy s o well fo r when they ,
we r e cutting out d oll s dre s s e s o r pl ay ’

,
ing with company it wa s plea s ant to

,
have him take h er o u t o f th e way .
P rudy s m ou th wa s not much larger

’
than a butt on hol e but sh e O p ened i t

-
,
a s wide a s she coul d wh en she saw Hor

a ce whittl e out such wonderful t oys .
He tried t o b e a s much a s p o s sib l e

l i ke a man ; s o h e worked with hi s j acket
o ff whi stling all the whil e ; and when h e
,
pounded h e drew i n his breath with

,
a whizzing nois e such a s h e had heard

,
carp enters make .
A ll th i s wa s very dro l l t o l i ttle P rudy ,
wh o h ad no bro t h ers and sup p o s ed her

,
82 C A P T A I N H O RA C E .
c ap t ai n c ou si n m us t be a v ery re
markable boy espe cially a s he t old her

,
that if h e hadn t left his to ol bo x out

,
’
-
“
west h e c ould have done a heap bet
,
‘
”
ter . I t wa s quite funny to s ee her
standing over him with such a h appy ,
wondering littl e face s ometime s sing ,
ing snatche s o f little s ongs which we r e ,
sure t o b e wrong somewhere such a s , ,
“
Little k i nds of d ec d n c s s ,
Littl e words of l ove ,

’
Make this e a r t h en n e e d n t ,
”
Like the heaven above .
Sh e th ought a s Horace did that her

, ,
“
sled would look very well cro s sed o ff
”
with green ; but Susy would not con
s ent S o H orace made a doll s sl ed out
.
’
of shingle s with turn ed up runners and

,
-
,
a tongue o f string This t oy pl ea sed .
P rudy and no one had a right to say

,
i t should not be p ainted green .
But a s C aptain Ho race was j ust pre

paring to add this finishing t ouch a lady ,
arrived with little twin b oys four years -

,
S! SY AN D PRU D Y . 83
old Aun t Mad ge c am e i nt o the shed

.
“
t o call Hora c e and P ru dy O auntie
.
, ,
“
s aid Ho race I don t b e li eve I care to
,
’
”
play w i th th o s e l i ttle p ers ons !
H i s aunt s mil ed at hear i ng ch i ldre n
“ ”
called l i ttl e p er s on s but told Hora c e
,
i t w ould not b e p olite t o neglect his

young vis i to rs ; i t would b e p o s i t i vel y
rude Horac e d i d not wish t o b e c o n s i d
.
ered an i ll m annered boy and at la s t

-
,
cons ente d t o h ave his h ands and gar

ment s cle ans ed w i th turp entine t o era s e
the p a int and to go int o the nurs ery to
,
“ ”
s e e th e littl e per s ons .
I t s ee m ed t o h i m and P rudy that t h e

v i sit la sted a great whil e and th at i t ,
was e x ce edingly h ard work t o be p ol i te .
W h en it wa s well over P rudy s ai d , ,
Th e next lady tha t come s h ere I h op e ,
s h e won t br i ng any l i ttl e d o u bl e bo s !

’
y
What do I l ove little b oys fo r th out ,
’
”
th ey re my cous in s ?
’
th e sled wa s carefully dr i ed
A fte r ,
“
H orace p r i nted on it the word s Lady
84 C A PT A I N H OR A C E .
J ane , in large yellow lett ers His .
friend Gilbert found th e p aint for this ,
a n d i t wa s th ought by both the boys tha t
t h e sl ed could no t have been fi ner if

“ ”
Lady J ane had been spread o n w i th
g old leaf
-
by a si g n —
painter .
”
N ow P rudy ,
said Horace it isn t
, ,
’
e veryb ody can make such a sl ed a s that !
I t s r i ght strong to o ; a s strong a s

’
,
w h y it s strong enough to bear u p an

’ ‘
,
If Hora ce had done o n y such i n no l
“ ”
c ent things a s to drill the little b oys ,
m ake sle ds for P rudy and keep stor e ,
with Gilbert his mother might have felt

,
h appy
B ut Horace wa s growing c arele s s .
“
His father s parti ng words
’
A lw a ys ,
obey your m othe r my s on and remem

, ,
”
b er that God s ees all you do did not ,
often r i ng i n his ear s now Mr C lif . .
ford though a kind parent had always

, ,
been s tr i ct in discipline and h i s l i ttl e

,
s o n had sto od i n awe of h im Now tha t .

S! SY AN D PRUD Y . 85
h e had gone away ther e s eeme d t o be

,
s ome d a nge r that Horace might fall into

bad way s His m o the r h ad many s erious
.
fear s ab out him for w i th her fe ebl e

, ,
health and th e ca re of l i ttl e K at i e s h e

, ,
could no t b e as watchful of h im a s sh e
wishe d t o be Sh e remembe re d h ow Mr
. .
“
C liffo rd h ad o ften s aid He will eith e r ,
”
make s ome th i n g o r nothing and s h e ,
“
ha d answered Ye s there ll never be
, ,
’
”
any h alf way place fo r Horace
-
Sh e .
sighe d now a s sh e rep e ate d her o w n

wo rd s.
I n his voyage s of dis covery H orace

“ ”
ha d found some gunp owder Mine ! .
“
said he to h ims elf ; didn t aunt Mad ge ’
.
s ay we could h ave eve r ything w e found

”
u p attic ?
-
He k new that h e wa s do i ng wrong when

h e tucked the p owder slyly into hi s
p o cket H e knew h e di d wrong wh en
.
he sh owed it t o Gilbert s aying , ,
“
Got any matche s Gra s sh opper ? ,
Th ey dug h ole s in th e ground fo r th e

86 C A PT A I N H O R A C E .
p owder and over the p owder cro s sed

,
s ome dry s ticks When they touche d it

.
o ff they ran away a s fa st a s p o s sible ;
but it wa s a wonder they w ere no t b oth

bl own up I t wa s plea s ant no doubt
.
, ,
t o hear the po pping o f the powder ; but

they dared not laugh t o o l oud le st s ome ,
o n e in the hous e should hear the m and ,
c ome out to a s k what they could be pl a y

i ng that wa s s o remarkably funny .
Mrs C lifford little thought what a

.
naughty thing Horac e had bee n do i ng ,
when she called him in o n e day and ,
,
—
s aid wi th a smil i ng face fo r she loved ,
t o make him happy — “

Se e my s o n
, , ,
what I have bought fo r you ! I t i s a

pre sent from your fathe r for i n h i s last ,
”
letter h e a sked m e t o get it .
Ho race fairly sh outed w i th de light

when he saw the beautiful ! ouave suit ,
gray b ordered with red and a cap to

, ,
match I f h e had any twinge s o f con

.
'
s cience about receiving this present no ,

‘
body knew it .
S! SY AN D P R ! D Y . 87
Here is th e l ette r Of thanks wh i ch h e

wr ote to h i s father
“
D E A R P AP A .
I am s orry t o s a y I have not s een

you since yo u went t o th e war Grandpa .
ha s two pigs I want a drum s o much !

.
“
We h ave l ot s Of squirrels : they chip .
We h ave or i ole s : they say Here h ere ,

‘
, ,
her e I b e ! ’
“I want th e drum becaus e I am a
c ap t a i n !
‘
Ne are going t o train with
p a p er cap s .
“
I get up th e cow s and h a ve a go od
t i me.
“
Go o d by F ro m your s on
-
.
,
“
H O R A C E P CL I ! ! OR D . .
P S . . M a b ought me th e s oldier
“
cl othe s . I th ank you .
A b out th i s time Mrs C lifford wa s try .
ing t o put togeth er a barrel Of nice

things t o se nd t o h er husband Grandma .
and aunt M adge baked a great m any

l o ave s Of cake and hundreds Of co okie s ,
and put i n c a ns Of fruit and boxe s Of

j elly wh ereve r there wa s room A unt .
88 CA PTAI N H O RACE .
Louis e made a nice little dre ssing ca s e -
O f bronze kid lined with silk and Grac e

, ,
made a pretty pen wiper and pin ball - -

.
Hora c e whittled o u t a hands ome s t ea m ~
b oat wi th g r een pipe s and the fig ur e

, ,
h ead O f an Old man s face carved in ’
w o od But Horac e t hought th e face

.
l o oke d like P r udy s and n a med the ’

,
“ ”
s teamb o at T h e P rudy He al so
‘
b roke open his savings bank and begged -

,
hi s mother to l ay o u t all th e mone y h e

had i n pres ent s fo r th e s i ck s oldiers .
“
Horace ha s a kind and l oving heart ,
“
s aid Marga r e t to Louis e T O be sure .
h e won t ke ep still long enough to l e t

’
anybody kis s him but he really love s ,
his p arent s dearly

“
VJell h e s a terrible try patience
’
-
,
s a i d Louise .
“
Wa i t a while ! He i s w il ful and
n aughty but h e never tells w rong stor
,
i es. I think there s h op e Of a boy who’
s c o r n s a li e! S e e i f h e doesn t come ’
o u t r i ght Lou i s e ,
Why I expect to be
.
,
”
p roud Of our Horace one O f the se day s !
IN TH E W OODS . 89
C H A P T E R V II .
IN TH E W O ODS .
0 MA s a i d H ora ce c omi ng i nto

,
th e hous e o n e morning glowing

“
exc i teme nt ,
m a yn t I g o in the wo od s
’
”
with P ete r Gran t ? H e knows where
”
th ere s heap s Of b oxberrie s
’
.
“ ”
A nd w h o i s P eter Grant my s o n ? ,
He i s a l i ttl e b oy w i th a bad temper ,
s aid aunt Loui s e frowning s everely at

,
—
Horac e I f s h e h a d had h er way I ,
don t kn ow but every l i ttl e b oy i n town

’
would h a v e been tied t o a bed p o s t by a -
clothe s— line A s I h ave alre ady s aid

.
,
aunt Lou i s e wa s not remarkably fond

Of ch i ldren and wh e n the y were naughty
, ,
i t wa s h ard fo r h er t o forgi ve the m .
Sh e d i sl i ked l i ttl e P eter ; but she neve r

w C A PT A I N H O R AC E .
s to p pe d think that he had a cro s s and

igno rant m othe r wh o man aged him s o
,
badly that h e did not care about trying

to be good Mrs Grant seldom talked
. .
with him about Go d and the Saviour ; sh e

never read to him from th e B ible nor ,
t old him to s a y h i s prayers .
Mrs C li ff ord ans w ered H ora ce that

.
s h e did not wish h i m to go int o th e
woods and that wa s all th at she thought

,
it neces sary to s ay
Horace a t the time had no idea of
, ,
dis obeying his mother ; but not long a f

t e r w a r d s h e happened to go into t h e
kitchen w h er e his grandmothe r wa s
,
making be er .
“ ”
Wh at do you make it Of grandm a ?
s aid he .
“
O f mola s ses and wa r m water and
”
yeast .
“ ”
But what gives th e taste t o it ?
,
C I put in spruce or boxberry o r , ,
sarsaparilla 7
.
’
“
But se e here grandm a : wouldn t ,
’
IN THE WO OD S . 91
y ou l i ke t o have me go in th e woods
" ”
s ome pla c e and dig r o ots fo r yo u ?
,
’
“ ”
Ye s i ndeed my dear
,
said s h e i n
, ,
“
nocently ; and if you should go pray ,
”
ge t s ome W intergreen b y all means ,
.
H orace s h e art gave a wicked throb

’
O f delight I f s ome o n e wanted him t o

.
go a ft er s omething Of cours e h e o ug h t ,
t o go ; fo r h is mother h ad O ften told him

h e mu st try t o be u s eful S trolling i nt o .
th e wo od s with P ete r Grant j us t fo r ,
fun wa s v ery different from going in

,
s oberly to dig up r o ots fo r grandma .
He th ought Of i t all th e way o ut t o

th e gate T O be sure h e might go and a sk
.
“
h i s mother again but what wa s the ,
u s e when h e knew certain sure sh e d b e ’
willing ? B e side s wa sn t th e baby cry ,

’
”
i ng s o h e mustn t go in th e ro om ?
,
’
Th e s e reas on s s ounded ve ry well ; bu t

they c ould b e p icked in p ie ce s and Ho r ,
ac e knew i t I t wa s only when the baby

.
wa s a sl e ep th at h e mu st ke ep o u t Of th e
c hamb er ; and as fo r be i ng sure that his
,
92 C AP T A I N H O R A C E .
m o th er w o uld l et hi m g o i nt o the woods ,
the truth wa s h e dared not ask her fo r

, ,
“ ”
h e knew s h e would say NO ,
.
H e found P eter Grant loun gi ng near

the s cho ol hou s e scribbling his name on
-
,
the cl ean wh i te paint under o n e Of th e

windows .
P eter s black eye s twinkled

’
.
Going ain t you cap n ! dog and all ?

,
’
,
’
But where s your ba sket ? Wait and I l l

’
,
’
fetch On e
“
T here said he coming back aga i n
, , ,
I got that o u t Of th e stabl e there at t h e

tavern ; Billy Green i s ho s tle r : B illy
”
knows m e .
“
Well P ete r come ahe ad
, , .
I don t believe you know your way

’
”
i n the s e e re woods returned P eter , ,
“
with an air O f impo rtan c e I ll go fus t .
’
.
I t s a mi ghty long stretch mo st up to

’
,
’
C anada ; but I co uld find m y way in th e

”
dark I never g o t lo st anywhere s yet !
.
“ ”
P o h ! no r I e ither Horace wa s ,
a b out to s a y ; but remembering h i s a d

IN TH E W O O DS . 93
venture i n C leveland ,
h e drown ed the
words in a long whistle .
They kep t o n up the s t e e p hill fo r

s ome distance and th en struck Off into ,
th e fore s t The stra i ght pine tree s stood

.
up s olemn and s ti ff I nste ad O f tende r .
l eave s th ey bristled all over with d ark

,
“ ”
gre en ne edle s Th ey h a d no ble ssings .
O f b i rds ne st s i n their branche s ; yet

’
th ey gave out a pl ea s ant O do r wh i ch th e ,

“ ”
b oys s aid wa s n i ce .
B ut they a ren t s o splend i d P eter ’

, ,
as —
our tree s o u t we s t don t begin ! ’
T h ey gr ow s o big you can t chop em

’ ’
”
down I ll leave it t o P incher !
.
’
“
C h op em down ? I reckon it can t’ ’
be d on e ! ” —
replied P incher not in
wo rds but by a wag Of his tail
,
.
“
Well h o w d o you get em down then
,
’
,
ca p
W e cut a pla c e r i ght round e m ’ ’
that s g i r d l i n th e tre e and then ever s o

’ ’
,
long afte r i t d i e s and dro p s d own i t

,
«
”
s elf .
94 CAP TA I N H O RACE .
” “
O,
my stars ! cr i ed P eter I want
”
to know !
“
N 0 , yo u want t o k now P eter ’
D ON T , ,
for I j ust told you ! Y o u may say I ‘
wonder if you like : that s what we say

,
’ ’
”
o u t we st .
“
‘
W ait said P e ter ,
I only s a i d . .
‘
I want to know what other tre es you
have ; that s what I meant but you c h ef;
’ ’
”
me right up .
“
0 there s the butternut and the tre e
’
Of heaven and papaw and simm on ,

’
,
and a right smart sprinkle Of wo od

‘ ’
”
tr e e s .
“
What s a simmon ? ’ ’
0 it lo oks like a little bake d appl e

, ,
all wrinkled up ; but it s right sweet ’

.
”
! gh ! added Horace making a wry ,
face ; you better look out when th ey re ’
green : the y pucker y our mouth u p a

”
good deal wors e n choke cherrie s ’
.
“ ”
What s a papaw ? ’
A p apaw ? Well i t s a curious ,

’ -
thing not much account The pigs ea t

,
.
IN TH E WO O DS . 95
it . It
ta ste s l i ke a custard right s oft ,
”
and m ellow C ome let s go t o work
.
,
’
.
“ ”
Well wh at s a tre e Of h eaven ?
,
’
0 P eter fo r pity s s ake s h ow d o I

, ,
’
know ? I t s a tre e Of he aven I supp o s e

’
,
.
I t ha s pink hollyh o cks growing on it .
What make s you a sk S O many que s

”
tions ?
! p on that the b oys went t o work pick
ing boxbe rry leave s which grew at th e ,
ro ot s Of th e p ine tre es among the s oft ,
mo s s and l a st year s cone s Horace wa s

’
.
v ery a n xiou s to gather enough for s ome

beer ; but it was strange h ow many it
“ ”
to ok t o fill such en o r m o u s big ba skets .
“ “
N ow ,
said H o race I move we lo ok ,
ove r yonder fo r s om e W intergreen Yo u .
”
said you knew it by sight .
“
Wintergre en ? W i ntergreen ech o ed
“
Pe te r : O ye s I know it well enough .
I t S pangle s round ’
Se e her e s s ome ;
.
’
”
the girl s make wreath s Of it .
I t wa s m o n ey w o r t ; but Horace never

!
doubted that P eter wa s t elling th e

'
truth and suppo s ed his grandmother

,
would be delighted to s e e such quanti

tie s Of W intergreen .
A fter some time spent in gatherin g

this Horace happened to r e member that
,
he wan te d sarsaparilla .
“ ” “
I reckon thought he
,
they ll b e ’
glad I c am e i f I car r y h ome S O many

,
”
things .
P eter kne w they co ul d find s a r s a p a

rilla fo r there wa s no t a root Of a n y s ort
,
“ ”
whi c h did not grow in th e pine s ; O f
that he was sure S O they stru c k sti ll
.
deeper into the woods every step taking ,
th em far the r from h ome P incher fol .
l owed a s happy a s a dog can be ; but

, ,
alas ! neve r dreaming that s er i ous trou

bl e wa s co ming
The boys dug u p variou s ro ot s wit h
their j ackkni ve s ; but they both knew the
t a ste Of sa rsaparilla and could not b e
deceived .
“
We ha i n t come to i t yet
’
sa i d ,
IN TH E W OO D S . 97
“
P ete r ; but i t s r ound h ere s omewhere s
’
,
”
I ll bet a dolla r
’
.
“
I m ge tting hungry
’
sa i d Horace ,
isn t i t a b out tim e fo r th e dinner b el l

’
-
”
t o ri n g ?
“
P retty ne ar repl i ed P ete r s qu i nt
, ,
i ng h i s eye s and l o oking at th e sk y a s if

t h ere wa s a no on mark up there and h e -
,
“
wa s th e b oy t o find i t Tha t b ell wil l
.
ring in fifteen mi nute s : yo u se e i f it

”
d on t ’
.
B ut i t d i d not though i t wa s h i gh n o o n
, ,
c ertainly H our s pa s s ed
. Hora ce r e .
membe red they wer e t o have had s alt

c o d fi sh and crea m gra vy fo r dinner
’
-
.
A unt Madge h ad s aid S O ; al so a roly

poly wi th foaming s auce I t must n o w .
b e l ong ago s ince th e suga r and butt er

we re beaten together fo r tha t s auce He .
wondered i f there would b e any pudding

l eft He wa s sure h e sh ould like it co l d
.
,
and a gla s s Of water w i th i c e i n i t .
0,h ow many t i mes h e could have gone

to th e bar r el which s to od by the S ink ,
and drunk su c h deep draught s Of wate r ,
when h e didn t care anything a bout it !

’
But now h e wa s s o thirsty an d there wa s ,
not s o much a s a teasp o onfu l Of wate r

t o be found !
“
I motion we go home s a i d Hora c e , ,
for at lea st the tenth time .
“ ” “
Well replied P eter sulkily a i n t
, , ,
’
”
we striking a bee l i ne ? -
“ ”
We ve got turned round s aid Hor
’
,
“ ”
ace : C anada is over yonder I know , .
“
P shaw ! no it ain t no such a thing
,
’
,
.
But they we re really going th e wron g

way The v i llage bell had rung at noon
.
,
a s usual but they were t o o fa r Off t o

,
hear it I t was weary work winding i n

.
and out in and o u t among the tree s and

, ,
stump s With torn cl othes bleeding

.
,
hands and tired feet th e p o or boys

, ,
pushed o n .
“ ”
O f cours e we re r i ght
’
sa i d P eter , ,
“
i n a would be brave t o ne : don t y o u ’
-
”
remember that stump ?
“
NO I d o n t P eter G rant
,
’
re p lied
, ,
IN TH E WOODS . 99
“
Ho ra ce wh o wa s lo s i ng h i s pat i ence : I
,
never wa s he r e befo re Humph ! I .
thought you c ould find your way with

”
your eye s shut .
“
T urn and go tother way then s aid , ,
P eter adding a wi cked word I c annot

,
r ep eat .
” “
I wi ll replied Hora c e co olly : i f
, ,
I d known you used such swe a ring words

’
”
I n eve r d h ave com e !
’
“ ”
H Ol l O th ere ! ,
sh outed P eter a few ,
“
m oment s after I ll keep with you and
,
’
,
”
r i sk it cap n
,
’
.
“
C ome o n th en returned Horac e
, , ,
wh o w a s gla d O f P et er s company j us t ’
“
now littl e a s h e l iked him
,
Where s .
’
”
Our ba skets ? said h e stopping shor t ,
.
“ ” “
Su r e enough cr i ed P eter ; but w e,
”
can t go back now
’
.
T hey ha d n o t gone far when th ey wer e

startled by a cry from P incher a sharp ,
cry Of pa i n H e st o o d stock still hi s

.
,
brown eye s almo st starting from th e i r

socket s with agony and fea r I t prove d .
that h e h ad s tumb led up on a fo x-trap

which Wa s con c ealed under s ome dry
twigs and his right fo re p aw w a s caught
,
-
fast .
Here wa s a dilemm a T he boys tr i ed .
w i th all the i r might to s e t po or Pi ncher

fre e ; but i t s eemed a s if they only m ade
m atters wor s e .
“
I Vh a t an Ol d nu i sance Of a dog ! '
“
cr i ed P eter ; j ust a s we d got t o goin ’ ’
”
o n the right road .
“
B e st i ll P eter Grant ! Hush your
,
mouth ! I f y o u s a y a word against my

dog you ll c atch it P o or little P incher
’
.
s aid Horace patting him gent l y and lay

,
ing his che ek down clo s e t o h i s fa c e .
The suffering creatur e l i cked h i s

h ands and said w i th h i s eloquent eye s
, ,
“
D ear l i ttle ma ster don t take i t to
,
’
heart ! You didn t know I d ge t hurt !

’ ’
You ve always b een go od to p o o r P inch

’
”
er.
“ ’
I d rather have gi y en a do llar s aid ,
IN TH E WO OD S . 1 01
“
H o race ; O Pi nch er ! I wish twa s m y
,
’
”
fo o t ; I te ll y o u I do !
They tried again but the t rap held ,
th e dog s paw like a vi c e

’
.
“ ”
I ll t ell yo u what
’
s aid P eter ,
We ll l eave th e dog h ere and go home

’
,
”
and get s omebody t o c ome .
“
You j us t beh ave P eter Gran t s a i d , ,
“
H ora ce look i ng ve r y ang r y I shouldn t
,
.
’
want t o b e y o u r dog ! J ust yo u hold h i s

”
fo ot st i ll and I ll t ry again
,
’
.
Th i s t im e H o race examined the trap

On all S i des and being what i s called an
'
, ,
i ngen i ou s b oy did a ctually suc c e ed at

,
la s t in ge tting little P incher s foot o u t ’

.
“
Whew ! I d i dn t th i nk yo u could ’
,
s aid P ete r a dm i r ingly

, .
“
Y o u couldn t P eter ; y o u h aven t
’
,
’
s ens e en o u g
The fo ot wa s t err i bly mangled and ,
P inche r h a d t o b e carrie d home i n a rm s .
“
I sh o uld li k e t o k now P ete r w h o s e t , ,
th at tra p I f my fath er wa s here he d

.
,
’
”
have him in th e l ock up -
.
1 02 C A PT A I N H O R A CE .
“
Po h !
it wa s n t s et for d o gs repl i ed
’
,
P eter in an equally cro s s tone f o r b o th

the b oys were t i red hungry and o ut O f ,
“
sorts D on t yo u kn ow noth in ? T hat s
.
’ ’ ’
”
a bear trap !
“
A bear trap ! D O you h ave be ar s
-
”
u p here ?
0 yes de a r m e s u z : h a i n t j o u s een
, , ,
’
none since you ve been i n the Sta t e Of ’
”
Maine ? I ve ate em l o ts of times
’ ’
,
P eter had once eaten a p i e ce o f bear

s teak o r it might h ave been mo o s e meat
,
-
,
h e was not sure wh i ch ; but at any rate

it had be e n brought down from Mo o se
head Lake .
“ ”
B ear s round here ? thought H o r
’
a c e in a fright
,
.
He qu i ckened h i s pace 0 i f he could .

,
only b e sure it was th e right ro ad ! p er

hap s the y were walking straight int o a
d en O f bear s He hugged little P incher
.
c l o s e in his arms s o othing him with pe t ,
n am e s ; for the p oor dog continued to
moan .
IN THE WO ODS . 1 03
” “
O,de a r de ar ! cried P eter
,
don t ,
’
”
you feel awfully ?
“
I don t s to p to think Of my fe elings
’
,
replied Hora ce shortly ,

.
“
! Vell ,
I wish we hadn t come — I do ’
.
S O do I P eter I wo n t play h OOk

’ ‘
.
,
”
e y again ; but I m not a goin to cry
’ ’ ‘
’
-
'
“
I ll never g O anyw here s w i th you
’
any more a s l ong a s I live Ho race C lif ,

”
ford !
“
N o b ody want s y o u t o P ete G rant ,
.
T hen they pushed on in di gn i fie d S i

l enc e till P eter broke forth again w i th
,
wail i ng s ob s .
“
I dread to get home ! 0 dear I l l , ,
’
h a ve to take it I te ll you I gu e s s y ou d
,
.
’
”
cry if you exp e cted to b e whipped .
Horace m ade no rep l y He did not .
care ab out telling P e ter that he too had

a terribl e dread Of r ea ching home fo r ,
there was s omething a great deal wors e

than a whipping and th at wa s a moth , ,
er s s o rrowful face
' ’
.
“
I s h ouldn t care i f sh e d wh i p m e
’ ’
1 04 C A PT A I N H O R A CE .
” “
right h ar d th o ught H o r a ce ;
, but
‘
S he ll talk t o me about Go d and the

’
”
B ible and O she ll lo ok s o white ! ’
“ ”
P ete r you go o n ahead
,
s aid he ,
aloud .
“ ”
W h at for ?
O I want t o re st a min ute w i th
,
P incher .
I t wa s s ome moment s be fore P eter

would go and then he w ent grumbling
,
.
A s so on a s he wa s out Of S ight Hora c e ,
threw hims elf o n h i s knees and prayed

in low t one s ,
0 G o d I do want t o b e a go od b oy ;
, ,
and if I ever get o u t O f this wo od s I ll ’
begin ! K e ep the be ars Off plea s e do , ,
0 God and let us find the way o u t and ,

”
forgive me Amen . .
Horace h a d never uttered a mor e s i n

c ere prayer in his life Like many Older .
p eople h e wa i ted till h e was in s ore need

,
before he called upon God ; but wh en h e

had once opened h i s he art to Him i t was ,
.
wonderful h o w m uch l i ghter i t felt .

I N T H E W OOD S . 1 05
H e to h i s fe et and s tru ggled o n

ro s e ,
“
s aying t o P inch er P o o r fello w po o r
,
”
fell ow don t cry : we ll s o on b e h ome
,
’ ’
.
”
Hollo t h e re ca p n ! sh out e d P ete r
,
’
we re co min to a
’ ’
“
Ju st a s I e x p e cted th ough t Ho r
“ ”
ace : why di dn t I p r a y t o Go d before ?
’
106
‘
CA P T A I N H O R A C E
‘
C H APTE R VIII .
C AP T A I N C L I F F O R D .
W H E N Horace entered th e yard h Ol d ,

~
i n g th e p o or dog in his arms , he felt

w r etched indeed At
that moment all
.
the s ulkines s and self wi ll were crush ed

‘
o u t Of his littl e heart I t s eemed t o h i m

.
that never n ever had there li ved upon

,
t h e earth another boy s o w i cked a s him

s elf.
He forgot the excuse s he had b een

making up about going int o th e wo ods
becaus e his gr a n dm o th e r w a n t e d h i m to '
he s corned t o add fal seh oo d t o d i s o be d i

e nce and wa s mo re than w i lling t o take
,
h i s fu l l share O f blame .
If ma would whi p nae l ike e v ery

CA P T A I N CL I ! ! OR D . 1 07
” “
th ing th ought th e b oy
, I know I d ,
’
”
feel be tter .
I t w a s a l ong w i n di ng path from th e

,
gat e T h e gr ounds l o oked ve ry bc a uti

.
ful i n the golden light Of the afterno on

s un. T h e pink cl over patch nodded wit h -
a thousand heads a n d spr i nkled the a i r ,
I i th sweetne s s
w .
E veryth i ng w a s ve ry q u i e t : no o n e
wa s o n the piaz z a no o n e a t the w i ndows ,
.
T h e bl i nd s were all shut and you c ould ,
fancy that th e h ou s e had cl o s ed i ts many

eyes and dropp ed a slee p T here wa s an .
“
awe about such perfe ct s i l en ce
! Wh e r e .
co uld Gra ce be and th o s e two danc i ng ,

”
gi rl s Su sy and P rudy ?
,
H e s tol e al ong to the b ac k d o or and ,
l i fted th e latch His grandmothe r stop

.
p e d wi th a b owl Of gru el i n h er hand and ,

“ ”
s aid O H orace ! tha t wa s all ; bu t sh e
, ,
c ould s a y n o m or e fo r tears She s et .
down the b owl and went up to h i m try

, ,
i ng t o spe ak ; but th e wo rds trembled o n

h er l i p s u nspo k en
'
.
CA P T A I N H O RAC E .
”
O,
grandma ! said Horace s ettin g ,
littl e P incher down o n a chai r and ,
clut ching the skirt O f her

—
been right ba d : I m s orry I t ell y o u
’
”
I am .
H i s gr a ndm ot h er h ad ne ver h ea rd h im
spe ak in su c h humble tone s before .
“ ”
0 , Horace ! Sh e
s o bbed l a gai n th i s ,
t ime cl asping him clo s e to her heart and ,
kis sing him with a yearning fondnes s sh e

had hardly ever sh own sin c e he w a s a
“
little toddl ing baby My darling dar
.
,
”
l i ng boy !
H ora ce thought b y her m anner th ey
must all have been s a d ly frig htened
a b out h i m .
“
I go t lo st i n th e wo o ds grandm a ; b ut
,
it di dn t
’
hurt m e a ny onl y Pi n cher g o t
,
”
h i s fo ot caught .
“ ”
Lo st i n the wo od s ? rep eated sh e
Gra c e thought yo u went h ome to di nn er
”
wi th W il ly Snow .
S O i t seemed they had not worr i ed

CA P T A IN C L I F F O RD . 1 09
a b out him at all : then what wa s g ran dma

crying ab out ?
“
D on t go up stairs dear
’
said s h e, , ,
a s h e brushed p as t her and l aid his hand

o n th e latch Of th e chamb er do or .
“
B u t I want t o s e e ma .
”
Wait a littl e said Mr s P a rlin with
,
.
a fre sh burst Of t ears .
“
Why what i s the m a tter grandma ;
, ,
an d where s Grace and Susy and

’
, ,
”
P rudy ?
“
Grac e i s with your mother and th e ,
o th er children are at aunt Martha s But

’
.
i f you v e been i n th e w o o ds all day Ho r

’
,
”
a c e you must b e very hungry
,
.
“
Y ou ve fo rgot P incher gran dma
’
,
.
Th e b oy would not ta ste food t i ll the

d og s fo ot had been bandaged th ough
’
, ,
all th e whil e h i s grandmo ther wa s doing

up th e wound it s eemed to Ho race that
,
s h e must be thinking Of s omething el s e ,
o r s h e would p ity P inch er a gre at deal
m ore .
The c ol d dinner which sh e s et out o n

11 0 CA P T A IN H O RAC E .
th e table wa s very tempting and h e at e ,
heartily ; but after every mouthful h e

“
kept a skin g Wh at c o ul d b e the matter ?
,
Wa s baby wo rs e ? H a d anybody to ok
”
si c k ?
But his grandmother sto od by the
st ove s tirring gruel and would answer ,
“
h i m nothing but I ll let you know very
,
’
s o on .
’
She wanted the little bo y to be re sted

and refre shed by food b efo r e s h e to ld
him a very painfu l thing Then she to ok .
him up stairs with her i nt o her own

chamber which wa s quite shady with
,
g rape vines and s o still that you could

-
,
Only hear the buz zing Of two or thre e

fii e s .
S he had brought a hot bowl Of gruel

o n a little waiter She placed the waiter
.
o n the t o p O f her wa sh stand and s eated -

,
hers elf on th e bed drawing Horace ,
d own beside her .
“
My de a r littl e grands on said she , ,
“
stroking his bright hair God has been ,
CAP T A IN C L I FF O RD . 111
very go od to you always always He ,

.
love s you better than you can even

think .
“ ”
Ye s grandma answered H orace be
, ,
wildered .
“
H e i s your dear fath er in heaven
“
S h e added slowly ,
H e want s you t o
.
l ove h i m with all your heart for n o w

, ,
”
y o u have no other fa th e r !
H orac e s prang up from the bed h i s ,
eye s wild with fear and surprise yet h a v ,
i ng no idea what S h e me ant .
Why my fathe r s captain in th e

,
’
”
a rmy ! H e s down S outh ! ’
“
B ut h ave you never th ought dear , ,
”
that h e might be sh o t ?
“ ”
N O I nev er
,
cried H ora ce runn in g
, ,
to the window and ba ck a g a in i n gre a t

“
excitement M r E vans s aid they d
. .
’
p u t him in colonel He wa s coming .
h ome i n s i x month s H e c ouldn t b e .

’
”
shot .
“ ”
My dea r l i ttle boy !
1 12 C A P T A I N H O RAC E .
But 0 gran dm a is he ki lled ? S ay

, ,
”
quick !
His grandmother to ok out of he r
p o c ket a B o ston J ournal and having ,
put on her spectacle s p o inted with a ,

“ ”
trembling fin ger to the l i st Of killed .
“
O ne O f th e first names wa s C apta in
Henry S C lifford . .
“ ”
O Horace !
,
s a id Grace open i ng ,
“
the do o r s oftly I j ust thought I heard
,
”
y o u ,
Ma wants y o u to come to her .
Without speaking Horac e gave his ,
hand to h i s s i ster and went with h er

“
while the ir grandmoth er followed carry

ing th e bowl O f gruel .
A t the doo r of Mr s C l i fford s ro o m .

’
they met aunt Louis e com i ng out T h e .
S ight O f Horace and Grace walking tear

fully hand i n h a nd wa s very touching
, ,
t o her .
Y o u dear l i ttle fatherles s childr en ,
sh e whi sper ed throwing he r a r m s

,
a round them both and dropping t ear s

,
and ki s se s on their face s .

CA P T A I N C L I F F O RD . 1 13
”
O, I can t I can t bear i t
’
,
’
cried ,
Gra ce ; my o w n de a r papa that I love ,
”
b est Of any o n e i n the wo rld !
H o ra c e ran t o hi s m oth er and throw ,
i ng himself on th e b ed be s i de h er bur i ed ,
h i s fac e in the p i llows .
“
0 ma ! I reckon t i s n t true
’
It s ’ ’
.
,
”
a nothe r C aptain C liffo rd .
H i s mother l a y S O very white and st i ll

that Hora c e drew away when h e had
t ouched her ; th ere wa s s omething awful
i n th e coldne s s Of h er face H er be aut i
.
ful brown eye s sh one b r i ght and te ar

l e s s ; b ut ther e were dar k h ollows unde r
t hem deep enough t o h old many t ears
, ,
i f th e time S h ould ever com e when s h e

mi ght S hed them .
“
0 l i ttl e H orac e
,
whisp e red s h e
, ,
m other s l i ttle Horace

’
“ ”
D arl i ng m amma ! re sponded th e
b oy k i s s i ng h er p al e l i p s and smo oth i ng
,
the h a i r away fro m h er ch eeks w i th h i s

small fingers wh i ch meant t o move
,
gently but d i d not know h ow A nd then

, .
1 14 CAP T AI N H ORAC E .
th e y o ung child i sh heart w i th i ts l i ttl e

, ,
l oad Of grief wa s pre s sed cl o s e to t h e

,
larger heart who s e dee p d e ep sorro w

, ,
only G o d could h eal .
T hey wrong who s ay that l i ttl e

ar e
children ca nnot rece i ve l a st i ng impre s

s i ons There are s ome hour s of j oy
.
o r agony which they never fo rget T h is .
was such an hour for Horace He could .
almo st feel again o n his forehead the

warm good by ki s s Of h i s father ; h e
-
c ould almo s t hea r aga in th e wo rd s

“
A lways O be y
your mother my s o n , ,
”
and remember that God see s all you do .
A h he had n o t ob eyed h e had n o t

, ,
remembered .
Andthat dea r father would never ki s s

him never speak t o him aga i n ! He had
,
not thought be fo r e wh a t a l o ng word

N eve r w a s .
0 , i t w a s d re a dful to shut h i s eye s

and fan cy h i m lying S O cold and still on
that bloody battl efield ! Would all th i s
CA P T A I N C L I F F O RD . 1 15
aw ful th i ng be tru e t o m orrow m o rning

-
,
when h e waked up ?
“ ”
0 mamma ,
s ob b ed th e de solat e
c hild
,
I and Grace w i ll t a ke care Of you !
J ust fo rgive m e ma and I ll b e th e be st
’
, ,
k i n d Of a boy I will I w i ll
.
,
Grandma had already l ed G ra c e

a way into t h e g re en chamb er wh e r e
,
aunt Mad g e s a t with the baby The

.
p o o r l i ttl e g i rl would no t b e comforted .
“ ” “
O grandma
, , sh e cr i ed i f we c ould
,
k now wh o i t wa s that sh o t p a o u r mayor

wo ul d hang h i m ! I d o w i sh I could d i e ,
grandma I don t want to k eep liv i ng

.
’
and l i v i ng i n th i s great w o rld w i thou t

”
m y fath er !
1 16 C AP T A IN H O RAC E .
C HA P T E R I X .
T H E BL ! E B OO K
D AY S pa ss ed but there w a s th e s am e
,
h ush up o n the house E verybody moved

.
a bout s oftly ,
and sp oke i n l ow tones .
Ho race wa s not told th at h e m u s t go t o

school but h e kn e w aunt Lou i s e th ought
,
his shoes m a de a gre a t deal Of no i s e and ,
j ust now he wanted to plea se even h e r .
M ore than that i t wa s very pl ea sant to

,
s ee th e boys ; and while he w a s playing
games h e forgo t his s orrow and fo rgo t ,
hi s mothe r s s a d face There w a s o n e

’
.
thing however which he could n o t do ;

, ,
h e h a d not th e he art to b e c a ptain and

dr i ll h i s company just now , .
”
Ho race
,
sa i d Grace a s they were
,
s i t ting o n t h e p i a zz a step s o n e m orn i ng ,

TH E BL ! E B OOK . 1 17
I h eard m a t ell grandma ye s terday ,
you d been a b ette r bo y this week than

’
—
you h ad b e en be fore s in c e since p a —
”
went away .
“ ”
Di d sh e ? cr ie d Ho race eage r ly ; ,
wh ere w a s s h e when s h e said it ?

What did gran dm a s a y ? D i d aunt
”
M adge hear her ?
“
Y e s aunt Madge h e a rd her and sh e
, ,
s aid sh e always knew H orace would b e

”
a go o d bo y i f he would only think .
”
Well I d o th i nk
,
repl i e d H o r ace
, ,
“
l o ok i ng ve r y much plea s ed ; I th i nk
a b out all t h e t im e .
“
B ut th e n Ho ra ce you kn o w h o w
, ,
”
you ve act e d s o me day s !
’
“
We l l I don t car e
,
A unt Madge
’
.
”
s a ys t i s n t s o ea sy fo r b oys to b e go od
’ ’
.
Grac e Opened her roun d blu e eye s i n

wonde r .
“
Why H o rac e I h a v e to m a k e my
, ,
o wn bed and sweep and dust my ro om

, ,
and take car e Of my dr a wer s '
O nly .
th i nk Of th at ; an d P r udy alway s r o und

1 18 CAP T AI N H O RAC E .
i nto th i ngs , yo u kn ow ! T h en I h ave t o

s ew , 0, SO m uch ! I
reck on yo u w ouldn t ’
”
fi nd i t very ea sy be i ng a gi rl .
“
P o h ! don t I hav e t o feed the c h i ck
’
en s and bring i n th e eggs

,
and go fo r ,
t h e cows ? A nd w h en we l i ved hom e

Here Hora ce broke down ; he could
not think Of h ome wi thou t re m e mb er i n g
h i s father .
Grace burs t int o tea r s T h e wor d .
”
home h ad called up a b eautiful p i c
ture Of her father an d m othe r s i tt ing
o n the s ofa i n the library Horace a n d ,
P incher ly i ng o n the floo r the door op e n ,
from th e balcony and th e mo o n fi ll in g

,
th e ro om with a s oft light ; h e r fathe r

had a smi le o n h i s face and w a s hold ing ,
her hand .
Ah ! G race and Horace and the i r ,
m othe r would s e e m any su ch p i ctures

O f memory .
“
Well s i ster sa i d Horac e spea ki n g
, , ,
quit e sl owly and lo ok ing down at the

,
“
gra ss what do I do that s bad ?
,
’
Why Horac e I S h o uldn t think

, ,
’
you d a sk ! B l owing gunpowder and

’
runn i ng O ff i nt o th e woods and m o st ,
kill ing P incher and going tro uting down ,
t o th e cr i ck w i th your b e st clo th e s o n
‘ ’
,
and d i so b ey i ng your ma and ,
“ ”
'
S ay i n bad words ’
added H o race , ,
but I st opp e d th at th i s morn i ng .
“ ”
What do yo u m ean H ora c e ? ,
O I s a i d over all th e b ad th i ngs I

,
c ould think Of ; n o t th e s w e a r i n words ’

,
you know but shucks and gallu s ,

’ ‘
,
‘
,
’
and b ul ly ‘
and b y h ok ey a n d b y
,
’ ‘
,
’ ‘
G eorge and i t s th e l a s t t ime ’

.
”
0 I m s o gl a d Hora ce ! cr i ed G ra ce
,
’
, ,
clapping h er hands and laughing ; and

”
y o u won t bl ow any
’
mo re p owder ?
Ho rac e sho o k h i s h ead .
“
No r run O ff aga i n ? Why y o u ll be ’
l i ke Al ly Gl over and yo u k now I m ,

' ’
”
try in g t o b e l ik e l i ttl e E va .
“
Idon t want to b e l i ke A lly G l o v e r
’
r epl i ed H orace m ak i ng a wry face ; ,

he s lam e and beside s h e s t o o dread

’
, ,
’
”
ful good .
W h y Horace ,
sa i d h i s sister s ol ,
“
em n l y an yb ody can t b e to o go od ;
’
;
”
’
tish t po s sible
’
.
“
Well then h e s j ust l i ke a g i rl
, ,
’
t hat s what !
’
I m not going t o be char
’ ‘
a ct e r i s ti c any more but I don t want to

’ ’
,
b e like a g i rl neither Look h ere Grace .

, ,
it s scho ol time N ow don t you l e t on

’
.
’ ‘ ’
to ma o r anyb ody that I m go i ng t o b e

, ,
’
”
better .
G rac e prom i s ed but s he wondered ,
why Horace shoul d no t w i sh his mothe r

t o know h e wa s trying t o be go od when ,
it wo ul d mak e h er s o happy .
“ ”
H e s afra i d h e ll gi ve i t up
’
thought ’
,
“ ”
S he ; but I won t let him ’
.
She s a t o n th e p i azz a st ep s a l ong

wh i le after h e had gone A t la st a .
bright i de a fla shed a cros s h er mi nd ,
and Of cours e s h e dropp ed h er work

an d clapp e d her hands though sh e w a s ,
ui
q te a l on e ,
THE BL ! E B OOK . 12 1
“
I ll m a k e
’
a m er i t b o ok l ik e Mis s -
Al l n s and put down bl ack m arks fo r

f ’ ’
,
him when h e s n aughty ’

.
Wh en H ora ce ca me h ome that night ,
h e w a s cha r me d w i th th e plan for h e

'
w a s re a lly i n e a rne st H i s k i nd s i s t er .
m ad e the b ook very ne atly and s ewed it ,
i nto a c o ve r Of gl o s sy blue p a pe r She .
t hought th ey w oul d try i t four weeks ;

S O sh e had put i n twenty e i ght p age s , -
e a ch p age sta nd ing fo r o n e day .
“ ” “
No w s a i d sh e when yo u s ay o n e
, ,
b ad wo rd I ll put down On e B W ’’ ‘
. .
fo r sho rt ; b ut wh en you s a y two b ad

words t wi ll b e two B
,
’
y o u know ‘
. .
Wh en yo u blow gunpowder that ll be ,

’
‘
B G
.
— no B G
.
’
fo r gunp o wde r,
‘
.
i s tw o words .
An d w h en I r u n Off tw i l l b e
’
,
Or R s a i d G race fo r r a n
‘ ‘
.
,
away ’
.
“
A nd T f o r t r o ut i n
’ ‘
s a i d H ora ce
‘
.
w h o wa s gett i ng ve r y much i nt ere s ted ;

“ — —
and and P A L ’
fo r pla guing ‘
. . .
‘
a unt Lou i s e and C for chara c te r ,

’ ‘
.
’ ‘
i s ti c’
and L T fo r lo s i ng th i ngs ‘ ’
. .
’ ‘
.
“
O dear dear Horace th e bo ok
, , , ,
won t b egin to hold i t ! We m ustn t p ut

’ ’
d own thos e l i t tl e t h i n g s .
“
B ut Grac e yo u know I shan t d o em
,
’
,
’
”
a n y more .
Grace sh oo k h er head a n d s i ghed .
'
We won t p u t down all tho s e l i t t l e
’ “
” “
t hings repe ated sh e ;
,
we ll have D ’ ’ ‘
.
fo r disobedience and B
‘ —
and O ! ,
’ ‘
.
o ne thing I forgot fo r false ‘
h OOd .
’
“
Well yo u won t get any ! s out Of
,
’ ’
”
m e b y h Ok ey
,
sa i d Ho race snapp i ng , ,
h i s finger s .
“
W h y th ere i t i s One B W s o
, ,
‘
. .
’
”
quick ! cr i ed Grace hold i ng up bot h ,
hands and laugh i n g .
Horace Opened his mouth i n surp rise ,
a n d t h en clapped his h ands over it in
d ismay I t wa s not a very fortunat e

.
b eginn i ng .
“
Lo ok here G race sa i d h e m aki n g , , ,
TH E B LUE B OOK .
“
a w r y face ; I m o v e that we ca ll that
no count an d commenc e n ew t o -m o r
’
,
”
r ow !
S O G ra c e w a i ted t ill n ex t day b ef o r e
s h e dated t h e m er i t bo ok .
A l l th i s wh il e P inch e r s f o o t w a s
’
grow i ng n o b ette r A unt L ou i s e s a i d

you coul d alm o s t s ee th e p o o r d o g dw i n ‘
dl e p eak an d p in e
, ,
’
.
“
B ut i t s only h i s h u rt , s a i d G ra ce ;
’
”
t i s n t a s i ckn e s s
’ ’
.
”
I r ec k on returne d H ora ce sadl y
, ,
”
i t i sn t a w el l n es s ne i th er
’
,
.
“
Why not s end fo r Mr s D uffy ? s ug ”
.
“
ge sted aunt Madge I f any o n e c a n
.
”
he l p th e po or creature i t i s sh e ,
.
Mr s D u ffy wa s th e v ill age wa s h er

.
.
woman an d a cap i tal nurs e I t was an

,
.
a nx i ous m oment fo r l i ttl e H orac e whe n ,
S h e unwrappe d th e c r ushed p aw P i nc h e r ,
mo aning all th e wh i le i n a w ay th a t wen t

t o the hea r t .
Wull sa i d Mr s D uffy wh o sp o k e .
,
12 4 CAP T A I N H O RAC E .
b ut I v e ’
s om e i n tm en t h ere th at ll do no ’
h a r r um , a n d i t may h ul p the p o or cray

”
che r .
She put th e s a l ve o n s o m e cl ean line n

c loth s and b oun d up th e wound bidding
, ,
the m all be very careful that th e dog

“ ”
d i dn t st i r h i s fut
’
.
”
but h e don t want t o s ti r ! s a i d
’
“
Horace He j u s t l i e s down by th e
.
”
stove a l l day .
Mrs D uffy sh o ok h er h ead and s a i d

.
, ,
h e wa s a p o oty c r a ych er ; twas m ore ’
t h e pities that h e ever went Off i n the

”
wuds
. .
Horace hung h i s h ea d O i f h e could .

,
h av e bl o tted Out that day Of d i s o bed i

e n ce !
“
Wa sn t i t a r eal r e b el h ea t h en
’
,
” “
m an ,cr i ed P r udy t o put th e trap ,
”
l h er e P i n c her st i cked h i s foot in i t ?
W
Pincher grew wors e a n d wors e He .
r efu s ed hi s fo od and lay i n a b asket ,
W i th a cu sh i on i n i t
. by th e ki t chen ,
s tove where h e m i ght have b een a littl e

,
i n the way though not even aunt Lou i s e

,
ev er s aid s o .
If Grac e o r Susy o r P rudy went up

, , ,
to h im h e made no S ign I t wa s o nl y
,
.
when h e s a w h i s littl e m a ster that h e

would wag h i s ta il for j oy ; but even th at
e ffo r t s eemed t o ti r e h i m a n d h e liked ,
better to l i ck Horace s hand and l ook ’

,
up a t his face with eye s b ri mful Of l ove

and agony .
Horac e would s i t b y the h alf h our ,
co a xing him t o e a t a bit Of bro il ed steak

o r th e wing Of a chic k en ; but though th e
p o or dog would gladly h ave pl ea s ed h i s

young ma ster h e could h ardly fo r c e
,
h im s elf t o S wallow a mouthful

'
Th e s e were s ad days Grace put .
“ ”
down now and then a B W i n th e . .
blu e b ook ; bu t a s for dis ob ed i ence Hor ,
ace h ad j ust now no tempta tion t o th a t .
H e co uld hardl y think o f anyth ing b ut

his d o g .
P inch er was a b out h i s a g e He could .
n o t remember th e time wh en h e first

“
knew h i m . 0 wh at j olly t im e s they
,
had had togethe r ! H ow O ften Pi nch er

h ad trot t ed al ong to sch o o l c arryi n g ,
th e satchel w i th th e schoolbo oks i n his

teeth Why th e boy s all loved h i m
.
, ,
”
they j us t loved h im s o .
“ ”
NO s i r, s aid Ho ra c e t a lk ing t o
, ,
hi m s elf a n d lay i ng th e dog s he a d

,
’
“
gently o n h i s knee : th e r e wa sn t o n e ’
O f them but j ust wished they had h im .
But p Oh ! I wouldn t h ave s old him

,
’
for all the cannons and firecracker s in

th e ! nited State s NO no t for a real .
,
”
d rum e i ther ; would I P inch e r ?
, ,
Horace really bel i eved th e dog under

sto od h i m and many were t h e s ecret s
,
h e had p oured into his faithful ears .
P inche r would l i sten and wink and wag , ,
h i s tail b ut wa s sure to ke e p everyt h ing

,
to h ims elf .
“
I tell you what i t i s P incher Hor
“
ace burst forth I m no t going to have ’
y o u d i e ! My o w n pa gave you t o m e ,
and you re th e be s t dog that eve r l i ved

’
i n this world 0 I didn t mean t o catch

.
,
’
your fo ot i n that trap ! E at t h e ch i ck

en there s a good fell o w and w e ll c ur e
,
’
,
’
”
you all up .
THE B LUE B OOK . 1 27
But P in cher co uldn t eat the Chicken ’

,
and co uldn t be cured

’
H is eyes grew .
larger and s adde r but th ere wa s the ,
s ame p atient l o ok i n t he m a l w ays H e .
fi xed them on Ho race t o th e la st w i t h ,
a dying gaze wh i ch m ade th e boy s ’
h eart s well w i th bitter s orrow .
“
He wanted t o speak he wanted t o ,
”
a s k m e a que st i on s a i d Hora ce w i t h
, ,
s ob s h e d i d not try t o contr o l .
0 i t wa s s a d to clo s e tho s e b eaut i fu l

,
eye s fo rever tho s e be s ee ch i ng eye s

, ,
which could almo st speak .
Mr s C l i fford ca m e and kne lt on th e

'
s tone hearth b e s i de th e b a sket and wep t ,
fre ely fo r th e fi r s t t im e s i nce h er hus

b and s death
’
.
“ “
D ea r l i tt l e P i nch e r ,
s a i d sh e you ,
have d i e d a cruel death ; b ut your dea r

littl e m aster cl o s ed your eyes I t w a s .
v e ry hard p o or dogg i e but not s o h ard

, ,
a s th e b attl e field You shall ha ve a .
q uiet gr ave go od , Pi nche r ; but wher e

”
h ave they buri ed our brave s old i er ?
1 28 CAP T A IN H O RAC E .
C H AP T E R X .
T R YIN G T O GE T R ICH .
W I T H h i s o w n h ands and the help Of ,
Gras shopper who did littl e but hold th e

,
na i l s and l o ok on Horac e made a bo x,
for P incher whil e Abner dug hi s g r ave

,
under a t ree i n the gr ove .
I t w a s evening when they all follo w e d

P inche r to his la st resting place -
.
He w a s a sugar pl um Of a dog
‘
-
,
“
s a i d P rudy and I can t hel p c r ying
,
’
.
“ ”
I do n t want to help it
’
said Gra ce ,
we o ught t o cry .
“
What make s m e fe el the wor st ,
“
sa i d sober little Su sy he won t go t o ,
’
”
heaven .
“ ”
No t fo r eve r n ever amen ? ’
gasp ed
“
P rudy I n a low vo i ce
, wo ul dn t he if ! ’
TRYI N G T O GET R IC H . 29
h e h ad a n i c e c a sket and a p l ate o n i t

,
”
n e i th er ?
The s ky and e art h were v ery lo v ely .
th a t eveni ng an d i t seem ed a s if every

,
body ou gh t to be he art gla d I doub t if -

.
Hora ce h a d ever thou gh t before W h a t a

be autiful world he lived in and how ,
glorio us a thing it is to be alive ! He

c ould run ab out and do what h e pleased
wi th h i ms elf ; but ala s poo r Pi ncher ! ,
T h e s un wa s sett i ng and th e r i ve r ,
l o oked uncommonly full of l ittle spark

l e s T he s oft s k y and th e tw i nkl i ng
.
,
w a ter se emed to b e smiling at ea c h

,
other while a gre at way O ff you could

,
s ee the d i m blue mountains r i sing up
l ike cl ouds Such a l ovely world ! Ah !

.
p o or P i ncher .
It lo o k ed very mu ch a s i f H o ra ce
were really turning ove r a new leaf .
He w a s st i ll qu i te try i ng s omet i me s ,
l eav i ng th e mi lk ro om do o r open wh en
-
pus s wa s watching fo r th e cream pot o r -

,
s la mm i n th e k i t chen doo r w i th a ban g

g
1 30 CA P T AI N H O RACE .
w h en e v erybody needed fresh a i r H e .
still kept his chamber in a state o f c on

f usion , Grace called it ,
pull i ng the drawers o u t Of the b ure au ,
and scatter ing t h e c ontent s ove r th e

floor ; dropping his clothe s anywhere i t
h appened and carryin g qu a ntities Of
,
gravel up stairs in his shoe s .
Aunt L ouis e still scolded about h im ;

but even s h e c ould not help s eeing that
o n th e whol e h e wa s i mproving He .
“ ” “ ”
cared more and forgot le ss H e .
could a l ways l e arn ea s i ly and now h e

,
really tr i ed to learn H i s les sons i n

.
,
stead Of go i ng through his head

“ ”
thread i ng my grandmother s needle ’
,
went in and sta id there The blue b o ok

.
go t a few m arks i t i s tr u e but no t S O

, ,
m any a s a t fi rst .
You m ay b e sure th ere wa s n o t a go od

th i ng sa i d o r done b y H orace wh i ch did
n o t g i ve plea sure to his moth e r She .
felt n o w as i f s h e l i ved only fo r h er

c hil dren ; i f G o d wo ul d bles s her by
T R Y IN G T O G E T RIC H . 13 1
m ak i ng them go od sh e had noth i ng ,
m ore to de sire Gra ce had always been

.
a womanly thoughtful l i ttle girl but a t

, ,
th i s time S he wa s a greater c omfort than

ever ; and H ora c e had grown s o t ende r
and a ffectionate that i t gratified her ,
very much He w a s no t cont ent now

.
“ ”
wi th canary kis s e s ; but threw h i s
a rms around he r neck very O ften s ay ,
ing with his lips close to her che ek

, ,
D on t feel bad m a ; I m going to

’ ’
,
”
take care Of you .
F o r hi s m other s grief call ed forth ’
h i s manline s s .
She meant t o be che erful ; but Hora c e

k new s h e did not lo ok o r seem like her
s elf : he th ought h e ought t o try to make
her happy .
Wheneve r h e a sked for m oney a s h e ,
to o O ften did sh e t old h im that now hi s

,
father wa s gone th e r e wa s no one t o ,
earn anyth i ng and it wa s be s t to be

,
rathe r prudent He wanted a drum ; .
but sh e th ought h e mu s t wait a w hile

fo r that .
1 32 CA P T A I N H O RAC E .
They were far from be in g p oo r and ,
Mr s C li fford had n o idea O f deceiving

’
her littl e s on Yet he w a s dece i ved fo r

.
,
’
h e supp o sed that his mother s pretty
l i ttle p orte monnaie held a l l the b ank
-
b i lls and all the s i lver s h e h ad i n t h e

world .
“ ”
0 G race !
,
sa i d Hora ce com ing ,
“
d own stairs w i th a very grave face I ,
wish I wa s grown a m a n : then I d earn ’
”
m oney l i ke sixty .
Grace stopped h er singi ng l on g

e nough t o ask what he meant t o do and ,
t hen c ontinued in a high k ey ,
“
Where 0 wh ere are the Hebrew
,
”
ch i d r en ?
“
0, I
m go i ng a s a s old i er
’
repl i ed ,
“
Horace : I thought everybod y knew
t ha t ! The c ol o nel s mak e a h e ap Of
”
money !
“
But Hora ce yo u m i gh t g et s ho t
, ,
”
j ust think !
“
T hen I d dodge wh e n th ey fi r ed fo r
’
,
TRYI N G TO GE T RI C H . 1 33
I don t know what you and ma would

’
”
do if I wa s killed .
“
Well ple a s e step o u t Of the way
, ,
H orac e don t y o u s e e I m sweeping th e

: ’ ’
piazza ?
“ ”
I can t t ell pu rsued h e tak i ng a
’
, ,
“
s eat on o n e O f the s tairs in th e hall : I
c an t tell c erta i n sure ; but I may be a
’
minist er .
This wa s such a funny i dea that ,
G ra ce made a da sh with h er broom and

'
s ent th e dirt flying th e wr ong way .
“
Why Ho rac e you ll never be go od
, ,
’
”
e nough fo r a minister !
“ ”
What ll you bet ? repl i ed h e l o o k
’
,
i ng a littl e mort i fied .
You re getti ng t o b e a dear good

’
,
li t tl e boy Ho race ,
s aid Grace so o th , ,
“
i n gl y but I don t t h i n k you ll ever be’ ’
a m I n l s t er .
“
P erhap s I d a s s oon b e a shoe
’
”
m aker ,
continued Horace th ought ,
“
fully ; they get a great deal fo r tapp i n ’
b oots .
His s i ste r made no re p l y .

“
See he r e now Gra c e : perhaps , ,
you d rather I d be a tin p e dler ; then

’ ’
-
I d alway s keep a hors e and you could

’
,
”
r i de .
“ ”
R i de i n a cart ! cr i ed Gra c e laugh
i ng . C an t yo u think O f anything els e ?
’
”
Have you forgotten pa p a ?
“ ”
0 now I know
,
exclaimed Horace , ,
“
with shining e ye s : it s a lawyer I ll be ’ ’
,
j ust like fathe r wa s I ll h ave a sleepy .

’ ‘
partner the way Judge I ngle has a n d

,
’
,
”
by and by I ll be a judge ’
.
“
I know that would plea se ma H o r ,
ace ,
replied Gra c e l Oki n g at her littl e ,
brother with a good deal Of pr i de .
Who knew but he m i g h t yet b e a

j udge ? S h e l i ked to order him about ,
and have him yie ld t o h er : still sh e had

great faith in Horace .
“
But Grace after all that I ll go to
, ,
’
war and turn o ut a general ; now you see

”
i f I don t ’
.
”
T hat ll b e a great wh i l e yet
’
sa i d ,
G race sighing , .
T R Y IN G T O G E T RIC H . 1 35
”
S O i t will , repl i ed Hora c e s adly ; ,
and ma needs the m oney now I w i sh .
I could earn s omething r i ght Off wh i le

”
I m a l i ttle boy
’
.
I t wa s no t two days befo r e h e thought

h e ha d found o ut how t o get r i ch ; i n
what way yo u shall see .
136 CAP T A IN H O RAC E .
C HAP T E R X I .
TH E L IT TL E I N DI A N .
P R ! DY a m e into the h o us e
c d ay
i n a great fright and s aid they d
,
’
“
better hide th e baby for there wa s a ,
very wi cked woman round .
“
H e r ha i r lo oks lik e a hors e s ta i l
’
,
“
said she and she s got a bla ck man s
,
’
hat on her head and a table cloth o v e r

,
-
”
her .
A unt Madge t o o k P rudy i n her lap

and told h er it wa s only a n I ndia n
woman wh o h ad n o ide a Of harmin g
,
any o n e .
“ ”
What ar e Ni n di an s ? a sked th e
H er aunt a i d they we r e s o m et i m es
‘
s
“ ”
called red m en T h e country h ad
.
T H E L I TT L E IN D IA N . 137
once been filled by them ; but th e E ng

l i s h c ame a gr ea t many year s ago and
, ,
sho ok O ff th e r ed men j us t a s a high wind

s h ake s th e red le ave s O ff a tre e ; and
they we re s cattered ab out and only a ,
few wer e l eft al i ve S ometime s th e

.
O ldtown I ndians cam e around m ak i ng

ba sket s ; b ut they were qu i et and peace
abl e p e opl e .
“
Ho rac e and h i s fr i end Gra s sh op
”
per ,
as th ey w er e strolling up th e
r i ve r came upon a tent made Of canvas
, ,
and a t th e do or Of th e tent s a t a l i ttl e

b oy about th e i r o w n age w i th a bow ,
and a rr o w i n h i s hand in the a c t Of fir

,
i ng .
Gra s sh opp er wh o wa s alw ays a c ow

,
a r d ran with all h i s might ; but a s Hor

,
a c e happen ed to noti ce that the arrow
wa s p o i nted a t s om eth i ng a cro s s the

r i ver h e wa s not alarm ed b ut stopped
, ,
t o l o ok at t h e Odd l i ttl e s tranger who ,
turn ed p artly round and returned his

.
g a z e H. i s eye s w ere k een and black ,

1 38 C AP T AI N H O RAC E .
w i th a good natu r ed expre s sion s o m e

-
,
thing like the eye s Of a n intelligent dog .
“ ”
What s your name boy ? s a i d Hor
’
,
Me no unders tand .
I a sked what your n a m e i s c om ,
t i n u e d Horace who w as sure the b oy

,
un d erstood in spite Of his blank l o oks

,
.
“
Me no hurt wh i te folks ; me b unkum
”
I ndian .
“ ’
Well what s your name then ? What
, ,
”
do they call you ?
NO answer but a shake Of the he a d
,
.
“
I reckon they call yo u J o h n don t ,
’
”
they ?
Here t h e bo y s m other appeared a t
’ ‘
the door .
H i s name no J o h n! E s by i sh y o s by - -
n e e s h y Ge orge -Wampum S h o o n y Ka t o o
- - -
short name speak um quick ,

! — Ja w a wn -
.
”
Gre at l ong name ! drawled she stretch
'
i ng it out a s i f i t were made Of I ndia

r ubber and scowling with an air of d i s
,
:
gust .
T H E L I TT L E I N D IAN . 1 39
Wh a t d o es sh e m ean b y c all i ng
”
‘
J Oh n l o n g ? thought H orace
’
.
T h e woman wor e a calico dre s s sho rt ,
enough t o reve al her brown s t o c kingle s s ,
fee t and gay m occa s i ns .
H e r ha i r wa s crow black and s trayed -

,
ove r h er sh oulders and i nto her eye s .
H ora c e c oncluded S h e mu st ha v e l o st
h er bac k -c om b .
Wh i le he was lo ok i ng !a t h er w i t h
cur i ous eye s h e r daughter came t o the
,
d o or fe el i ng a littl e cro s s at th e stranger

,
wh o ever i t m i ght be ; but when she s aw

only an i nnocent little b oy she smiled ,
plea santly sh o w i ng a row Of white

,
teeth Horace thought h er rather h and

.
s ome f o r s h e wa s very straight and

,
!
slender a n d h er eye s shone like gla s s

,
beads H e r hair h e considered a great

.
deal bla cker than b la ck and i t wa s ,
braided and t i ed w i th gay rib b ons She .
w a s dre s s e d i n a br i ght large figur ed ,

-
cal i co and from h er e ar s were s u s

,
p ended t h e l onge st yell owe st queere s t

, , ,
ea r rings
-
Ho race thought they were
.
1 40 CA P T A I N H O RA CE .
sha p ed l ik e boat -paddle s and w o uld be ,
p retty fo r P rudy t o u s e wh en she rowed

her little red boat i n th e b ath i ng tub I f -
.
“ ”
they only S cooped a l i ttl e more they
“
would answer for tea spoons P le nty
-
.
”
big a s I should want for tea spoons h e -
,
decided after another gaze a t th em

,
.
T h e young g i rl wa s used to b eing a d

mired by her o wn peopl e and was n o t ,
a t all displeased wi th Hora c e for st a r

i ng at her .
Me think y o u n i ce wh i t e child ,
“
s aid s h e : you get me sticks me mak e ,
you ba s k et pretty b a sket fo r put apple s

,
7’
1n
What kind Of s ti c ks do you mean ?

said Horace forgetting that th ey pre
,
tended not to understand E nglish But .
i t appeared that they knew very well

w hat he mea n t this time and t h e I ndian ,
boy O ffered t o go with h im t o p o int o u t

the place w here th e wo od wa s to b e
found . G ra s sho p per who had only,
h i dden b eh i nd th e t ree s n ow c ame out

,
and j o i ned the boys .

T H E L I TT L E I ND IAN . 1 41
Wampum a s he ch o s e to be called,
led them back to M r P arlin s groun ds ’

‘
.
,
t o the l owe r end Of th e garden where ,
sto od s ome tall silver p oplars o n whic h ,
th e I ndi a ns h ad lo oked with longing

eye s .
“
M e sh in them tre e s sa i d Wam ,
“ ”
pum ; me make you basket .
“ ”
Would you l e t him Gra s shoppe r ? ,
Y e s indeed ; your grandfathe r won t

’
,
’
c a r ef
“
P erh aps he might ; you don t know ’
,
s a id Horace wh o a fter h e had a ske d , ,
a dvic e wa s far from feel i ng obliged t o

,
take it He ran in great h a ste t o the

.
field where hi s grandfather wa s ho e i ng

“
p ot a to e s thinking I f I a sk th en I
, , ,
shan t ge t marked i n the b lu e b o ok any

’
”
h ow .
In th i s ca s e Horace acted very prop

e rly . H e had n o right to cut th e tree s ,
o r all ow any one el s e to cut them with ,
o ut l eave T o h is grea t de l ight h i s

.
,
grandfather s aid h e did no t care if they

1 42 CA P T AIN H O RAC E .
cl i pped Off a few bran che s where they

would not show much .
Wh en Horace got back and repor ted

the words of his grandfa ther Va m p umI
,
‘
.
did not even smile but sh ot a glance at ,
him a s keen a s an arrow .
“ ”
Me no hurt trees said h e grav e ly ; ,
and he did no t : he only cut Off a few

l imb s from each one leaving the tree s ,
a s han d s om e a s ever .
“ ”
Bully for you ! cr i ed Horace for ,
getting the bl u e bo ok .
”
H e s a s sp ry a s a squirrel
’
s aid ,
“
Gra s sh opper in admiration ; how many,
”
h ough s has h e got ? O ne two three , ,
.
“ ”
Me s a y em quicke st c rie d l i ttl e
’
,
“
Wampum E en t e en t e dd e r y p ed
.
, , ,
dery h imp s atter latter doe dommy

, , , , , ,
”
dick .
“
That s ten put i n H o race who w a s
’
, ,
keeping count ’
.
“ ”
E en dick -
c onti nued the little I n
,
“
dian ,
teen dick t e d d er y dick p e d d e r y
-
,
-
d i ck bum p i n een bu m p i n teen bum p i n

, ,
-
,
-
,
T H E L I TT L E I N D IA N . 1 43
d
t e d e y bum p i n ,
r -
p e d d e r y
-
bum i
p ,n j g
i
”
ge ts.
“ ” “
H oll o ! cried Gra s sh opper ; tha t s ’
”
twenty ; j i g g e t s is twenty ; and h e rolled
over on the ground laughing a s if he ,
had made a great di sc overy .
Little by littl e they made Wampum

tell how h e l i ved a t h ome wh at s ort o f ,
boys h e played w i th and what they ,
had to e a t Th e young I ndian ass ured

.
“
them tha t at O ldtown h e l i ved i n a
h ous e go o d a s wh i te folk s ; he ate mo o s e
”
meat at e sh eep meat ate c o w meat
,
-
,
-
.
“
C o ok o u t do ors I s p o se ,
’
Gra s shopp er .
“
Wampum l o oked very s ever e When .
me l i ve s i n W i gwam m e ha s fire s in wig

,
wam : when me l i ve s i n te nt m e put s ,

”
fi re s on gra s s ; ke ep O ff them things
-
,
he added pointing a t a mo squito in th e

,
“ ”
air ; ke ep smoke o u t tent p ointing ,
upward t o show th e motion Of the

smoke .
Ho race fel t s o m uch p l ea s ed with h i s

new c omp anion that h e re s olved to
,
treat h i m to a watermelon S O with out .

,
saying a word t o the bOy s h e ran into ,
the house to ask his grandmother .
“
W hat ! a wh ol e watermelon Ho r ,
”
a ce ?
“
Yes grandm a we three ; me and
, , ,
”
Gra s shopper and Wampum , .
Mrs P arl i n could not h e l p sm i l i ng t o

.
s ee how suddenly Horac e had adopted a

new friend .
“
You may have a mel on but I th i nk ,
your m othe r would not like to h ave you

pl ay much with a s trange boy .
“
He s going t o make me a spl end i d
’
basket ; and be sides aren t I ndi ans a n d .

’
n egroe s a s good a s whi t e folks ? Sp e c i ’
ally t a m e I n di ans s aid H orace n o t ,
very re spectfully a s h e ran ba ck shoe

, ,
knife in hand t o cut the watermelon

,
.
Th i s wa s th e b egi nn i ng Of a h asty
friendship between hims elf and W a m
pum F or a few days th ere wa s nothing
.
so charming t o Hora ce a s the wi ld l i fe Of

thi s Indian family He was made w el .
TH E L I T T L E I N D IAN . 1 45
c om e at their tent and Often went in to

,
s ee them make ba ske ts .
“ ”
I trust you ,
s a i d Mrs C l i fford ; .
you will n ot deceive me H orace I f , .
you ever find that little Wampum says

bad words tells fal seh oods o r s teal s I
, , ,
shall n ot be will i ng fo r you to play with

h im You are very young and migh t be
.
,
greatly i njured by a bad pl aymate .
The tent wa s rude enough I n o n e .
corner were skins laid one over another

thes e were the beds which were spread
o u t a t night fo r the family I ns tead Of .
clo sets and p res s e s all th e wearing a p

,
p arel wa s hung o n a l ong rop e which ,
w a s stretched fro m stake to stake i n ,
v ar i ou s directions l ik e a clothe sline

,
.
It wa s cur i ous t o watch the b rown

fingers m oving s o ea sily over the white
st rip s ou t Of wh i ch they wove baskets
,
.
I t wa s such pretty work ! i t brough t s o

much m oney Hora ce thought i t wa s
.
j ust the busine s s fo r h im and Wampum ,
prom i s ed to teach h im I n return fo r

.
this favo r Horace wa s to instruct th e

,
littl e I ndian in spelling .
For one or two evening s he app ointed

meetings in the summer h ouse and -
,
really went with out his own slice Of cake ,
th at he might give it t o p oor Wampu m

“
after a le s s on in baker .
He received the basket i n d u e time a; ,
—
beautiful one red white and b l ue .
, ,
J ust a s he wa s carrying it h ome on his

arm he met Billy Gre en the ho stler
, , ,
who stopped him and a sked if he r e

,
“ ”
membered going into the P ine s one
day with P eter Grant ? Horace had no
rea son to forget it surely , .
“
Seems to me you ran away wit h my
—
horse basket ” “
said Billy ; but I never
,
kne w till ye sterd ay what had come Of ’
it3’
There now
,
replied Hor a ce quite
, ,
“
cre stfallen ; P ete r Grant t ook tha t ! I
”
forgot all about it .
What should be done ? I t would never

do t o a sk his m other for th e money ,
s i nce a s h e believed she had none to

, ,
TH E L I TT L E IN D IAN . 1 47
sp are B il ly w a s f o nd Of j ok i ng with
.
litt l e b oys .
L o k here my fi ne fell ow
,
s aid h e ,
give u s that painted c oncern you ve ’
got on your arm and we ll call i t ,

’
square .
“ ”
N O no B illy
, ,
cr i ed Horace draw ,
i n g away ; th i s i s a pre s ent and I ,
couldn t ’
B ut I m l earning t o weave
.
’
ba s k ets and I ll make you one — se e if

,
’
”
I don t !
’
Billy laugh ed and went away w h i s t l

,
i n g He had n o ide a that Hora ce woul d

.
eve r think Of th e matter again ; but i n

truth th e first articl e th e boy tr i ed t o
make w a s a h orse ba sket -
.
“
Me tell you s aid littl e
Wampum next morning a s h e and Hor
, ,
a ce were cro s s ing the field together .
“
Ve r y much m e want um um um — — ”
, , ,
— utting hi s fi nger s up t o h i s m outh in

p
a manner which signified th at h e meant
s ome thing t o eat .
“ ”
D on t understand
’
sa i d Horace ,
”
s a y it i n E ngli sh .
”
Very much m e w an t um co n tin ue d ,
“
Wampum in a be seeching tone NO tell
,
what yo u call um E en am o s t water no .

’
,
q ui t e water ; e en a m o s t punkin
’
no q ui t e ,
”
punkin .
“
P Oh ! y o u mean wat e rm e lon
“
laughed Horace should think you d
!
’
”
r emembe r that a s ea sy a s p um pkin .
“ ”
Very much me want um repeated ,
Wampum delighted at being under

,
“
s to od me like um .
“ ” “
We ll replied Hora ce they aren t
, ,
’
”
mine .
“
O yes ! gh ! you ve got em Melon
,
.
’ ’
.
wate r go od ! Me h ave m elon waters me -

,
”
gi ve y o u m o o suns -
.
“
I ll a sk my grandp a W a mpum
’
,
.
Here up on the crafty little I nd i an

shoo k his head .
“
Y o u a sk Ol e man me no gi ve you ,
m o o suns ! M e no want e c n me wan t

- —
b mp b
i — u m p i n — j gg
i e t s .
Horace s s tout littl e hea rt wavered

’
fo r a mom ent H e fan c i ed m occa s i n s

very much I n h i s mind s eye he s aw a
.
’
TH E L I TT L E I N D IAN . 1 49
pa i r sh i n i ng wi th all th e c olor s of th e
rainbow and a s Wampum ha d said Of
,
“
th e mel ons very much h e wanted
,
”
them . H O W h andsome they d be with
’
h i s ! ouave su i t !
B ut th e waver i ng did not last long .
H e remem b ered th e blu e bo ok which hi s

m other wa s to s e e n ext we ek ; for t hen
th e month would be out .
“
I t wouldn t b e a D thought he
’
.
‘
.
,
for nobody told me n o t to give th e

watermel ons .
“ ”
NO s aid C onscience ;
,
twould b e ’
a black S ; t h a t s tands fo r stealing !

.
What a b oy w i th a dead father a dead

, ,
soldie r father s t e al ! A boy called H o r

-
,
a ce C l i fford ! The b oy wh o s e fath e r ha d

said R emem be r Go d s ee s all yo u do !
,
‘ ’
“
Wampum sa i d Ho race ,
fi rmly ,
you j ust sto p that kind Of talk ! Mo c

c a s i n s ar e right pretty ; but I wouldn t
’
ste al n o n o t i f yo u gave m e a bushel O f

, ,
”
em .
A fte r th i s Ho race wa s d i s gusted wit h

h i s li t tle friend not remembering tha t ,
the r e are a gr eat many e xc u se s t o be

made for a half civilized chi ld Th ey .
had a s er i ou s quarrel and Wampum s

,
’
temp er proved to be very bad I f the .
little savage h ad no t stru ck him I h op e ,
H orace would have dropped his so ciety

a ll th e s ame ; b ecaus e af t er Wamp um
proved t o b e a thief it would hav e bee n
,
sh eer di sobedience on Horace s p ar t t o ’
play with him any longer .
O f c ours e the pl a n of b a sket m aking -
wa s given up ; but our little H o r a c e did

o n e thin g which wa s nobl e i n a boy of
his age : p erhaps he reme mbe r ed what

his father had said long ago i n regard
to th e injured watch ; but at an y rate
, ,
he went to B ill y Green of his o w n a cco r d ,
and o ffered h i m the beautiful pres ent

which he had received from th e Indians .
I t s not a hors e ba sket Billy

’
-
I ,
!
”
didn t get to make one
’
,stamm ered he ,
“
i n a ch oked voi c e ; but you said you d ’
”
call it squar e .
”
Whew ! cried B illy very much
,
“
a stonish ed : now lo ok h ere bub ; that s ,
’
TH E L I TT L E I N D IAN . 15 1
a li ttl e too ba d ! T h e o l d thing you lugged

o ff was abou t worn o u t anyhow D on t ’
, .
want any o f your fancy baskets : s o jus t

”
ca rry it back m y fin e lit tl e sha ver
, .
T o s a y th a t Hora ce wa s ver y happy ,
would n o t half expre s s the delight h e

felt a s h e ran h ome with th e beautiful
“ ”
ba ske t o n his arm his o w n e s t own
,
beyond the right of di spute .
The I ndians disapp eared quite sud

d en l y ; and perhap s it wa s nothing s u r
pr i s ing that th e very next m orn ing a f
,
te r they left grandp a P arl in should fin d

,
hi s b e a ut iful mel on patch s trippe d

-
nea rly b a r e with nothing left on th e

,
v i n e s but a few m i s erabl e green littl e

m el ons.
C HA P T E R X I I .
A PL E A S A N T S ! R P RIS E .
”
It
s to o bad said H o race to h i s s i s
’
,
“
ter tha t I didn t get to make ba sket s ;
,
’
I d ha ve grown rich s o s o on
’
W h at '
w ould you try to do next ?

“
P ick berrie s suggested Grace
, .
A nd that very afterno on they both

went blackberrying with Susy and A un t
Madge They had a deli ghtful time
. .
Horace c ould not help m i s sing P incher

very much : still in spite o f th e regr et
, ,
it wa s a happ i er day than the one he and

“ ”
P eter Grant had spent in th e P ine s .
H e wa s beginning t o find a s all ch i l d re n ,

“
do how hard i t i s to ge t up a good
,
”
time when you a r e p r i ck e d by a guilty ~
c onsc i en c e and h ow easy it i s t o be happ y

,
whe n you are do i ng r i ght .

A P L EA S AN T S URPRI S E . 15 3
Th ey did n o t leave the woods t i ll th e

sun began t o sink and r eached h ome
,
quit e tired but as merry a s larks w i th

, ,
ba skets nearly full o f berr i e s .
When Ho race t imidly told a unt

‘
Ma d ge tha t he and Grace wanted to s ell

‘
all they had gather ed h i s a un t l aughed , _ ,
and sa i d she would buy th e fruit if they

w i sh ed b ut wondered what th ey wanted
,
t o do with th e money : s h e suppo s ed i t

wa s fo r th e s oldiers .
“
I want t o give i t t o ma replied ,
Hora ce i n a l ow voic e ; fo r he d i d no t
,
“
w i sh his aunt L ou i se to overhear Sh e .
h a sn t m o re than thre e b i ll s i n he r
’
p o cket b o ok and it s time fo r me to be

-
,
’
”
g i n t o take ca re of he r .
”
Ah ,
sa i d aunt Madge wi th o n e o f ,
“
he r br i gh t smile s
'
ther e i s a secre t
,
d r a we r i n he r wri ting de sk dea r tha t -

, ,
h a s ever s o much money in i t Sh e i sn t .

’
po o r my chi ld and sh e d i dn t mean t o

, ,
’
make y o u th in k s o fo r yo u r mo the r
,
r
woul d n t dece i ve yo u
’
.
”
. N ot
po or ? crie d Horace his face ,
brightening suddenly ; and he t urned

h alf a s omerset st opping i n the midst ,
o f i t to ask how much a drum would c o st .
Th e month being now out i t wa s time ,
t o sh ow the blue b o ok to Mrs C li fford . .
Horace lo oked it ove r with s ome anxiety

“
O n ea c h page wer e the letter s D .
,
“
B . B G and . on .
s e arate lines one above another But

p , .
there w ere no figure s before the letters

“
but the B and even th o s e
.
figure s had been growing rathe r smaller ,
a s you c ould s ee by l ooki n g carefully .
“ ”
N ow Grace ,
sa i d her l i ttle brother
,
you ll tell ma t hat the bad w ords

’
a ren t sw ea r i n words ! I never d i d say

’ ’
such though s ome o f the fellows do and

, ,
”
tho s e that go t o Sabbath School to o .
“ ” “
Yes I ll tell her s a i d Gra c e ; bu t
,
’
,
s h e knows well enough that you never

”
talk anything wo rs e than lingo .
I h aven t d i s obeyed nor blown p o w

’
,
”
d e r nor told lies
,
.
A P L EA S AN T S U RP RI S E . 1 55
”
N O indeed ,,s a i d Grace d el i ghted ,
.
T o be sure you ve forgotten and ,

’
,
slam m ed doors an d lots of thin gs ; but you

,
”
know I didn t s et th at down ’
.
I w i sh al l l i ttle g i rl s felt a s much i n

t e r e s t in th e i r younger b ro th ers a s this
siste r felt i n H orace Gra ce had her .
fault s o f which I m i ght have told y o u if

,
I had be en writing the b o ok ab out her ;

b ut she l oved Ho rac e dearly kept his ,
l ittl e s ecret s whenever she promised to

do s o and wa s always glad t o h ave h i m
,
d o r i ght .
Mr s C l i fford wa s plea sed w i th th e

.
i dea o f th e blue bo ok and kis s ed H or a c e ,
and Grace s aying they gr ew dearer t o

h e r every day of the i r live s .
O ne n i ght no t long afte r th i s H o rac e

, ,
went to th e p o s t o ffic e fo r th e ma i l T his

p
.
wa s no thing new for he had o ften gone ,
before A crowd of men were s i tti ng i n

.
'
cha i rs and o n th e door stone a n d coun -
ter l i sten i ng to th e news which s ome

, ,
o n e wa s read i ng in a l oud clea r voice , .

Without speaking th e p o s t rha s t e r ,
gave Ho rac e thre e letter s and a news

pap e r A fte r tucking the letters into
.
his raglan pocket Horace rolled th e p a

,
p er into a hollow tub e p eepin g throug h ,
it at the l arge tre e standing oppo site the

po st o ffic e a n d at the p atient h o rs es
-
,
hitch e d to the po sts waiting fo r th eir,
ma ster s t o come out .
He liste ned for s ome time to the

dreadful account of a late battl e think
ing of hi s dea r fa ther a s h e always did ,
whe n h e h eard war news But a t l a st .
rememb ering that his grandfathe r would

b e anxiou s to h av e th e daily paper h e ,
s tarted for home though rather against

,
hi s w i l l .
“
I ne v er did s e e such a fus s as they
” “
make ,
th ought he i f anybody s ,
’
more n a m inute going t o the o ffic e and

’ “
”
back .
s a i d aunt Madge
“ ”
I s th i s all ? as ,
H orace gave a letter to grandma one t o ,
aunt Lou i s e and the pap er to his grand

,
father .
”
Why y e s m a a m that s all
, ,
re
’
,
’
,
pli ed H orace fa i ntly I t d i d s e em to be

, .
,
sure a s i f Mr P op e had gi ven h im thre e

, .
l etters ; but h e could not fi nd ano th er in

his po cket he suppo s e d h e mus t b e m i s
,
taken and sa i d no th i ng ab out i t He

,
.
l i ttl e knew wh at a r ele s s th ing h e had c a
done and s o on went to b ed forgett i ng

, ,
po s t o ffic e s and l etters i n a stran g e

-
d rea m o f l i ttle Wampum wh o h ad a ,
br i dle o n and wa s hitch e d t o a p o st ; and

of th e I ndian gi rl s ear -r ings which ’
,
s eemed to h ave grown i nt o a pair of

shining gold mu sket s .
A few m o rnings after th e mis t ake

about the lette r Mr s Clifford sat m end ,
.
,
i n g H o r a c e s raglan
,
Sh e emptied the
’
.
pocket s o f tw i ne fish h o oks j ack knife ,

-
,
-
,
p ebble s coppe rs and nail s ; but still

, ,
s omething rattled when sh e touched the

j acket ; it s eemed t o be p a p e r She thru st .
i n h e r finger and there be twe en th e o u t

, ,
s i de and l i n i ng wa s a crumpled worn , ,

“
l etter a ddres sed t o
, Mis s Marga ret
”
P a rl in .
”
What doe s this m ean ? thought
Mr s C lifford
.
“
Horace must have car
.
”
ried th e le tte r all summer .
But up on looking at it aga in sh e s aw ,
that it wa s mailed at Wa shington about

two weeks before — “
a s oldier s lette r
” ’
.
She carried it down t o Margaret wh o ,
w a s b usy making cream cake s -

.
“ ”
Let me s ee said aunt Lou i s e peep
, ,
i n g over Mr s C lifford s shoulder and

.
’
,
“
l aughing N o it s not Mr A ugustu s
.
,
’
.
Al len s wr iting ; but how do you know

’
s omeb ody ha sn t written it t o tell you he

’
”
i s s i ck ?
A un t Madge grew quite p al e dropped ,
th e egg beater and ca rried the letter i n

-
,
t o th e nursery t o read it by h erself She .
O p ened it with tremblin g fingers ; but

b efore she had read two lines her finger s
trembled wo rs e th a n ever her he art ,
throbbed fast the room seemed to r eel

,
a b out .
T here wa s no bad news in the lett er ,

you may b e sure o f that Sh e s a t re ad .
ing i t over and over again wh il e t h e ,

t e ars ran down h e r cheeks and th e s un ,
sh i ne i n h er eye s dr i ed them ag a i n T hen .
sh e folded h er hands togeth er and ,
humbly thanked God for his lov in g k ind

ne s s .
W h en sh e wa s sure her s i s t er Mar i a

had gone up stairs s h e ran o ut to th e ,
ki tchen wh i sp er i n g , ,
”
0 mother ! 0 L o u i s e !
, but b roke
,
d own b y l aughing .
“
What do e s a i l th e ch i ld ? s a i d Mr s .
P arl i n l augh i ng to o
, .
Margaret tr i ed aga in t o s p eak b ut ,
th i s t ime b urst i nt o t e ars .
“ ”
Th ere i t s o f no u s e ,
’
sh e so bb ed ,
“
I m s o happy that i t s really dreadful
’ ’
.
”
I m afra i d s ome b ody may d i e o f j oy
’
.
“
I m more a fra i d s o m e b ody ll d i e of
’ ’
” “
curio sity sa i d aunt L o ui s e : d o sp eak
,
”
q u i ck .
“
We ll Henry C l i fford i s al i ve
,
s ai d ,
“
Margaret : th at s the ble s sed truth !
’
No w hush ! We m u st b e ca reful h ow w e
t e l l Ma ri a !
”
Mr s P arlin c aught Margaret by the

.
sh oulder and ga sped for bre ath L ouis e

,
.
d ro p p ed in t o a ch a i r .
“
What d o you mean ? What h ave yo u
”
heard ? they both cried at once .
“
H e wa s taken o ff th e fi eld fo r dead ;
but life wa s not qu i te gone He lay for .
”
w eeks j ust breath ing and th a t was all ,
.
“ But why did

“
n o o n e let u s know it ? ”
sa i d Louis e O f course Mar i a would

.
”
have gone to him a t once .
“
Th e re wa s no o n e t o write ; and
when Henry came t o h i mself ther e w a s
n o hope o f h im except by amputat i on of
,
his left arm ; and after that op eration h e

”
wa s very low aga i n .
“
0 w h y don t you give u s the let
,
’
” “
te r , said Louise s o we can s ee fo r
,
ourselve s ?
But s h e w as t o o e x cited to read it ;
and while s h e w a s try i ng t o c ollect h e r
ideas aun t Madge had to hunt fo r
,
gra ndm a s s p e ctacles ; and th en the th re e

’
l o o k ed o ver the surge on s le tte r to ’ !
geth e r s o m e ti me s al l t alk in g at once

, .
C ap t a i n C liff o rd would b e i n Ma in e
a s s oon a s p o s sible : s o the letter said A .
young man wa s t o come with h im to take

care o f him and they were t o travel very
,
slowly i ndee d ; might b e at h o m e i n a

fortnight .
“ ”
Th ey m ay b e h ere t o n i ght sa i d -
,
Mr s P arlin
. .
This let te r had be en written t o pre

p are the family fo r C apt ain C li fford s ’
arr ival I t w a s expected that aunt

.
Madge would break t h e news to h i s w i fe .
“
I t s a pity th at littl e fl ya w a y Of a
’
H o ra c e didn t give you th e l ette r i n

’
”
t i m e said Louis e ; and then we might
,
”
h ave had s ome day s t o get us ed t o i t
'
.
.
“ ”
Wa i t a m i nute dea r sa i d aunt, ,
Madge a s Su sy c ame in fo r a drink o f

,
'
“
wat e r pl e a s e run up and a s k a unt
Mar i a t o come d own sta i rs N ow .
” “ h
mothe r s h e added
, y o u are t e o n e
,
”
t o tell th e s tory i f you plea s e ,
.
W e can all b reak i t to her by d e

” h
g ree s ,
s a i d Mrs P arlin t wi s t ing. er ,
ch ecked apron nervously .

W h en Mr s C l i ffo rd
ente red t h e ki t
.
chen s h e s a w at once th a t someth ing h a d

,
h appened H e r m other w i th a flushed

.
"
face wa s Opening and shutting the sto v e
,
do or Margaret w a s polishing a p i e
.
plat e with tear s i n he r eyes and L ouis e

, ,
had seize d a s ieve and app eared t o be ,
breaking eggs i nt o i t N obody wanted .
t o speak first
.
.
“
What do you s a y to hearing a “
”
story ? faltered Louis e .
”
0 you poor woman
, exc l a m e d Mar ,
garet s eizing Mrs C lifford by both

,
.
“
hands : you lo ok s o s orrowful dear a s , ,
i f nothing would ever make you happy

agai n C an you believe we have a piec e
.
”
o f go od news for you ?
“
F o r me ? Mr s C lifford lo oked be
”
.
w i ldered .
“
Good n ews fo r you s aid Lou i s e , ,
dropping the sieve t o the flo or : yes i n ,
deed ! 0 Maria we th ough t Henry w a s

, ,
ki lled ; but h e i sn t ; i t s a mistake of th e ’ ’
papers H e s alive and coming hom e

.
’
,
t o night
-
.
A ll this a s fa s t a s sh e c ould sp eak N o .
wonder Mrs C lifford wa s shocked !

.
F irs t sh e sto od quiet and amazed gaz ,
ing a t he r S ister with fixed eye s : then

she screamed and would have fallen if
,
h e r m ot h er and Margaret had no t caught

h er in the i r arms .
“
0 I h ave killed her
, cr i ed Louise ,
I d i dn t mean to speak s o quick ! Henry

’
i s a l m o s t dead Maria : he is n ea r l y dead

,
”
I mean ! H e s ju st alive !
’
‘
L ouis e bring s om e water at once
, ,
s aid Mr s P arlin ste rnly

.
,
.
“ ”
0 m oth er
,
s obbed Lo uis e return
, ,
“
i ng with th e wate r I didn t mean t o b e
,
’
s o ha sty ; but you might h a ve known I
would : y o u sh ould have sent me o u t of

”
th e ro om .
This wa s ve r y much th e way P ru dy

talked when sh e di d wrong : s h e had a
funny way o f blaming othe r pe opl e .
I t is always unsafe to te ll even j oy

’
ful new s t o o suddenly ; but Louis e s
t houghtl e s snes s had no t done s o muc h
h arm a s they all feared Mr s C li fford . .
recovered from th e shoc k and in an h our ,
o f t w o wa s wonderfully calm looking s o ,
perfectly happy that it wa s delightful

j ust t o gaze at her face .
She wanted th e ple a sure o f telling th e

children th e story wi th her own l i p s .
Grace w a s fairly wild with j oy kis sin g ,

“
everybody and declar i ng it wa s too
,
”
good for anything She w a s t o o happy
.
t o k e ep stil l wh i l e a s for Horac e h e

, ,
wa s to o happy t o talk .
“
Then uncl e Henry wa sn t gone t o ’
” “
heaven cried little P rudy h asn t h e
,
.
’
”
been to heaven at all ?
No, cours e not
of said Susy ,
didn t you hear em s a y h e d be here

’ ’ ’
- —
to night ? N o w you ve got on the nice st ’
kind of a dres s and if you spot it up ,

” ”
twill b e awful .
“ ” “
I gue ss pursued P rudy th e man
, ,
th at sh o o t e d found twas uncle Henry ’

,
and s o h e didn t want t o kill him d own

’
d ea d fl ’
H ow th e fam i ly found t ime to d o s o

many things tha t day I do not know ,
e spec i ally a s e ach o n e was i n s omeb ody s

’
way and th e ch i ldren under everybody s

,
’
feet B ut b efore night th e p antry wa s

.
full of nice things the wh ole h ou s e wa s

,
a s fre sh a s a ros e and the p arl or s were

,
adorned with autumn flowers and gre e n

g arl ands .
N o t only the kero sene lamp s b ut a l l ,
th e o l d o i l lamp s were fille d and every

, ,
c andle stick ,
wh ethe r b ras s i ron o r , ,
gla s s wa s u sed t o h old a spe r m candle ;

,
s o that in th e even i ng th e hous e a t every
wi ndow w a s all abla ze w i th light Th e .
front doo r s to o d wide open and th e ,
piazza and p art o f th e l awn were a s

bright a s day Th e double gat e h ad been
unl atched fo r h ours and everybody w a s
,
wa i ting fo r th e carr i age t o dr i ve up .
The hard uncomfo rtabl e s tage w h i ch

, ,
Hora ce had s aid wa s like a baby j umper -

,
w ould neve r do fo r a sick m an to ride in

s o B i lly G reen h ad dr i ven to th e cars i n
h i s e a sie st carriage and aunt Madge ,

~
had gone wi th him fo r s h e was afraid ,
n either B illy nor the gentleman who wa s
with C aptain C liffo rd would know how

t o wrap the shawl s about him carefully
enough .
I could never des crib e the j oyful mee t

i ng which took place in tho s e brilliantly
lighted parlors I t i s very rarely that
.
such wonderful happine s s fall s to any

one s l ot in this world
’
.
Whil e th e smile s are yet bright on

their fac es while Grace i s clinging t o
,
her father s neck and Horace hugs his

’
,
“ ”
new real d rum in one arm em br a c ,
ing his dear pap a w i th th e other let u s ,
take l eave of them and th e whole family

for th e p resent with m a n y ki n d good
.
j
by s ’
.
T H E E N D.

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L IT T L E PR !

G R A C E and H or ace C lifford li ved i n

The i r home wi th i ts, charmin g

and fro m the front w indows o f th e

tiful if i t s yell ow water s we r e only once

s ettled A s fa r as th e eye coul d s e e

th e earth wa s o n e va st pla i n and i n o r , ,

der t o touch i t the sky s eemed to sto op

very l ow ; wh erea s in N ew E ngl and th e

gray he a ded mountai n s appear

Hora ce and blu e eyed Grace sto od on

the balcony l eaning against th e iron

r ailing w a tching the stars and chatting

O ne thing is very sure : they never

I f any one had whi sp ered such a thin g

his chin snuggling down i nt o a hollow

t hem to wait till my hair i s curled and ,

I h ave my new pink dres s on ! And t ell

Th i s is what she might have said if

l o okin g up a t the e vening sky merry ,

A t that moment th e clu ste r called th e

littl e tw i nkle s gone to sle ep al l tucked ,

up i n a c overlet I don t s ee wha t

make s yo u think o f d i rty ciga rs ! Th e y

the m u s i c 0 Hora ce don t you want

to be an angel and play on a beautifu l ,

knitting his brows and thinking a mo ,

know then I d lik e to go up t o heaven ;

an angel ! B e sides you re t o o little for ,

hands ain t white are they ’

The pretty dog at Horace s feet sh o ok ’

h i s ears meaning to say

s oldiers have very dirty hands if you ,

C ome , said Grace ,

d own and s e e if B arba ra ha sn t made ’

tha t candy : sh e sa i d sh e d b e ready in ’

T hey wen t i nt o th e l ibrary which ,

op ened up on the b alcony th rough the ,

pa s sage do wn th e front stairs and into

th e kitchen Pi nch e r foll ow i ng cl o s e at

I t wa s a very tidy k i tchen who s e ,

wh i te ﬂo o r wa s scoured every d a y with

wer e sh i ning up on th e wall s and i n o n e ,

c orn e r s to od a highly p ol i shed c o oking

r o sy che eked G e rman g i rl wa s sto op

i ng t o wa t ch a kettle o f boil in g mol a s s e s .

E very n o w and th en s h e r aised th e

a n d l e t th e h alf mad e candy dr i p b ac k

i nt o th e ke ttl e i n ropy streams I t l o oked .

very tempt i ng and gav e o u t a del i c i ou s

od o r P erhap s i t wa s n o t s trang e tha t!

the ch i ldren thought they were k e pt

a ce loud enough for B arbara t o hear

a s if she had made up her mind for the

o ff onc e when ma wa s making it and ,

let the ﬁre go mo st ‘

little b oy and girl that wasn t to speak ’

t o me one wo rd if I bi l ed em s ome can

he re : I ve heard you s p ell but you

Well G e o g r a p h y then Here s the

H orace could pronounc e that l ong

what i t meant H e kn ew the re wa s a .

book ca l led t h e K or a n and would h a ve ,