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BabyLM_Small_Chunked

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"Yes," and young Dallas' teeth chattered. He stepped out to the veranda and there was Cassowary dancing up and down and looking more like a bird than ever in her tight fitting suit with its bobbing tail. "Are you really going in the lake this chilly morning?" asked Dallas. "Shut up," she said good naturedly. "Don't let...
"So there is," and she pointed to a little green house among the lilacs, "and bath-rooms in the house too." Unfortunately Big Chief who had just come leaping out of his room heard these last remarks. "Lots of bath-rooms," he cried, "for sissies and old women." Then he did cart-wheels down the drive to the road. Dallas'...
Then she drew Dallas in to the big fire where he got nicely warmed by the blaze. When Mr. Devering appeared--such a handsome lean brown-armed man in his blue bathing suit, the two good people took the boy between them, and raced down to the wharf. "Go on, Mother," said Mr. Devering, "I'll keep the boy with me," and did...
Dallas was entering the water very slowly, and holding tight to Mr. Devering's hand. "Have you never been in open water before?" asked my little lad's uncle. "Once on a beach on a hot day with John and Margie, but usually only in a bath-tub," said the poor lad. To encourage him, I ran before and did my water stunts.
He smiled when he saw me swimming and frisking and said, "The Prince is braver than I am." "He's an old campaigner," said Mr. Devering. "That pony hasn't lived in vain. Come out deeper, boy. You won't find the water cold when you've been in a few minutes." "It's simply freezing my heart," said the boy pitifully. "Jump ...
"Y-yes, Uncle, and I'll try to splash you." The splashing was a failure for he fell down. Mr. Devering picked him up by the back as if he had been a puppy dog and said, "Tear up to the house--touch a match to the kindling in the box stove in your room and dress like sixty." Dallas cast an apprehensive look over his sho...
"And you, Prince Fetlar," he called after me, "run up and down the road to dry yourself--we're all too busy to give you a rub-down now." I ran along beside my master up to the house and found to my dismay that his eyes were full of tears. "I'm an awful baby, my Pony," he gulped, "but I can't help it." I just tore up an...
He had his nephew's clothes all on in a trice, brushed his hair, fastened his tie, then took him to the living room. "Mother," he called through the open doorway to the dining veranda, "may Dallas and I have our breakfast by the fire?" She opened her eyes a bit, but her husband gave her a glance, and she said, "Certain...
Dallas shrank back against the seat, then to make matters worse a sudden terrible sound arose from the Lake that frightened even me--the old campaigner as Mr. Devering had called me. CHAPTER XI ANOTHER LIE I had hidden myself among the lilacs but I could see quite plainly across the veranda into the big living-room.
Dallas had sprung up and clutched the nearest person who happened to be Big Chief carrying a pile of plates in his hand. Smash! went the plates on the floor, and whack went Big Chief's empty hands against Dallas' shoulders. "What's the matter with you?" he exclaimed. "Are you crazy?" "That yell," gasped Dallas. "Is som...
"No, no," said Mr. Devering, "it's only Bolshy getting his bath." White and ashamed, young Dallas had sunk back on the settle, and Mr. Devering turned to his son. "Tecumseh, my boy," he said good-naturedly, "it seems to me you were laying rather violent hands on our guest." His tone was not stern. I saw he was not a pe...
"Your ugly humors are riding you to a fall," he said quietly. "Go apologise to your cousin." Big Chief gave him a quick look, then he went to Dallas and said gruffly, "I hope I didn't hurt you, when I grabbed your shoulders." "Not a bit," said Dallas; "but do tell me what that noise was." I saw Big Chief's lips just fo...
"It's a Russian," he said. "He fought in France, was wounded, came to Canada as a stoker on a steamer, was arrested and put in a camp near here. The war over, he was released. He didn't want to go to Russia. He got lost in the woods. The game warden found him, and washes him and the Russian yells." "The warden is tryin...
"We can take over the Russian blouse Mother is making for him," said the girl, "and you can see for yourself, Dallas, how kind the warden and his son are to him. But of course he must keep clean." Dallas shuddered. He had great sympathy for anyone forced to go into the water that cold morning. "We'll go after breakfast...
Mrs. Devering gave her husband a helpless look. By this time the cereal had been put on the table by Big Chief and the children were busily eating it and pouring on plenty of rich wonderful cream. Oh! how I wished that some of the pale young children in cities could have such cream. "Daddy," said Mrs. Devering, "what a...
"It's nothing to worry about," he said, "only misdirected energy. The trouble with young things is that they can't remember to remember. What do they propose to do themselves about it?" and he glanced through the doorway at his children. My dear young master was going on eating quite comfortably. For once this trouble ...
"Fine them," called Champ. "Send them to bed," exclaimed Sojer. "Take away their toys," shrieked Dovey. "And you Big Chief," said Cassowary pertly, "you with the brassiest voice of all, what say you?"
He was finishing his oatmeal quickly, so he could get up and change the plates, and he said in a thick voice, "Cut their grub." Mrs. Devering smiled quite contentedly. "I think this expression of opinion goes to prove that each child has mentioned the punishment most disliked. Therefore if you baby don't stop screaming...
How he loved his uncle. He watched him as a cat would watch a mouse, and ate everything he ate and drank whatever he drank---- No one had coffee or tea, they had milk, cocoa, buttermilk, and cold water, which latter the kiddies drank as if it had been something that would make them super-children. As soon as breakfast ...
I could see the children flying about the place. Cassowary was carrying food from the kitchen to the hen-house, Big Chief had gone to help clean the stables, Sojer was sweeping the verandas, Dovey was putting seeds and scraps on the wild bird tables about the lawn. It seems there weren't enough birds about to kill the ...
That was I, and I bowed my head a great many times to propitiate him as I joined them. Oh! what a lesson he gave my young master on the proper way to take care of a pony. "Horses are true friends of man," he said, as he led the way past my cabin and the barns up to the long horse stable on the hill. "Every boy should k...
"No, concrete with a hollow centre for a dead air space." We walked inside the nice fresh-smelling stable and Dallas looked round him. "Where are the horses?" "Out to pasture--let us go down this main alleyway and I will explain the lay-out to you." My young master was intensely interested as his uncle talked to him ab...
"Why didn't you bring my Prince Fetlar up to this grand stable?" asked young Dallas, smiling at me as I thrust an inquiring muzzle over his shoulder. "Because we never assign a stall till we find out a horse's disposition. If you went to boarding-school you wouldn't want to bed next a boy you disliked." "Not I," said m...
This was a compliment for me, so I licked a bit of this nice man's shoulder in a caressing way, and he turned and gazed deep into what he called my "soft and soulful" eyes. "So you are to come up here, Prince Fetlar," said Dallas, stroking me kindly. "Now I wonder what this big stall beyond yours is for. It looks as if...
"Yes, the horse race likes cheerfulness as much as we do. Now let us groom the Prince." Didn't I step forward with alacrity when I heard this. "He knows every word we say," remarked Mr. Devering. "I'm mighty glad I chanced on so knowing a little fellow. Now, Dallas, a few words on grooming. Indians use the bare hand an...
"Exactly--horses shed particles of skin the way we do. One must remove them. To begin with I may say that I do not permit in my stables any metal curry-combs. Men are careless about filing the new ones and they worry a horse. I use no metal brushes. Now here is a brush for you--no, don't rub your Prince the right way o...
Dallas was delighted. "I never did this before for any animal," he said. "Why it almost makes my dear Pony human." "Ah! lad," said his uncle, "when one thinks of the state of uncleanness in which animals are allowed to exist one is appalled." "Don't nearly all our domestic animals come from wild ones?" asked Dallas. "Y...
"It's pretty cold here in winter, isn't it?" asked Dallas. Mr. Devering's black eyes twinkled. "Forty and fifty below zero." "Why how do you keep warm?" "It's all a question of food supply. We eat nourishing things and dress warmly. You should see my children and animals disporting themselves in the snow and on the ice...
"That is most interesting," said Dallas with a wise air, and putting his head on one side. Then he listened to his uncle who was singing four lines to him, "And Nature, the old nurse, took The child upon her knee Saying, 'Here is a story book Thy Father hath written for thee.'" Dallas began to laugh merrily and said, "...
Mr. Devering showed every one of his strong white teeth in a pleased smile, then he said, "Come and see one of the most useful things on the farm." "A vacuum cleaner for horses," exclaimed Dallas after we had crossed to the horses' side of the stable. "I never heard of such a thing." "Let's try it on the Prince," said ...
I liked it and did not wince. Then I listened to Mr. Devering who was saying, "We use this cleaner for the work-horses only. I prefer that you children rub down your ponies. Now I see a man from the sawmill out there and you have had lesson enough for one morning. Let us go back to the house." Arrived there, the childr...
Poor little lad. I knew by his face that he was not telling the truth. Oh! why would he lie? In the first place a pony or a child who lies is usually found out, and if you're not found out you feel so like a little fool that you lose self-respect. Cassowary was doubtful and said shrewdly, "Where were you ever in a cano...
"Champ, go to the bow," he was roaring. "I'll take the stern myself. Sojer sit down. Dovey, if you wriggle, I'll pitch you out. No you shan't take Sideways." I turned around. Who was Sideways? Of all things--a common tortoiseshell cat. Why in the name of cat sense would she want to go on the water? Later on I found out...
Dallas looked confused, took her hand, stepped into the canoe, over-balanced and went ker-splash! into the water and down under the crib from which the canoes were being launched. I waited two seconds, saw Cassowary drop like a loon after him, but she did not bring him up. Then I galloped to the beach and wading out sw...
Dallas by this time was sitting up and spitting out last mouthfuls of water, so his uncle saw he was in no danger. "Come here, Dad, please," said Cassowary. Mr. Devering bent over his young daughter as she swayed herself idly to and fro in the water, only her head and shoulders visible. "Do you remember the picture," s...
"Yes, I remember it," he said impatiently. She went on, "Then there was another picture of six little funerals marked, 'But they didn't.'" "Yes, I remember that too," he said. "Now do come out of the water and go put on dry overalls." "Dallas thought he knew canoes, but he didn't," she said as she accepted her father's...
I heard a sound of sly laughter in my ears as I stood shaking myself and looking round saw Sideways the cat. "Girls are queer," she said. "Cassowary is jealous of the new boy. She has snubbed her father and praised her mother who does not pet the lad." "You mind your own affairs," I said crossly. "There are too many an...
Then he went on helping my young master walk slowly to the house. So I was led away to my pony stall and Dallas was put in his room stall and kept there for some hours. "Dad! Dad!" howled the younger children who were not at all impressed by this accident, "aren't we going to see Bolshy?" "Another time," he called. "Ho...
They made the welkin ring when they heard this proposal, and smiling kindly on the little flock this patient man went on his way up to the house. I wondered what he would say to his nephew, but as it turned out he never mentioned the affair till days later. He just sat by the fire with Dallas, reading to him and trying...
Mr. Devering kept Dallas quiet for several days. He saw that the boy had been under a great nervous strain in coming here and he had him lounge about the veranda while I was detained in my stall. It is not good for ponies and horses to be too much in cold water and I had had a chill. I dozed and slept and had a fine pe...
They walked in, and Dallas after petting me affectionately said shyly to his uncle, "Seeing Prince Fetlar again reminds me that you have not yet spoken to me about the other morning. I know you wish to do so." I too was nervous. Ponies that are well brought up always worry when their young masters worry. The man had an...
His laugh was the kind that makes one feel like joining in and soon young Dallas was giggling feebly. Then he too burst into a jolly peal. Tears ran down his cheeks. "Oh! Uncle," he said, getting out his handkerchief which was white and clean like a girl's, "I don't know what I'm laughing at." "Neither do I," said his ...
"Are you afraid of my children that you tell stories to them?" "N-no, not exactly. I want to please them." "Oh!" said Mr. Devering, "that fatal wish to please. It has slain its millions." "I love to see boys and girls comfortable in their minds," said Dallas wistfully.
"And if they expect you to know how to do a thing you lie to gratify them--but when they find you out--then they're not happy." Dallas said nothing and his uncle went on, "When I was a boy there was a weak-minded lad living near us. The children all picked at him. The grown-ups were always after us for it. Do you catch...
"Oh! yes, I do indeed." "Well! what are you going to do about it?" "I've got to get a grip on myself," said Dallas. "If you knew how queer it seems to me to be here with all these kids----" "I can guess. You see, boy, the trouble is that the first five years of a child's life are the ones in which he gets his mould. Yo...
Dallas put up a slight hand, and said solemnly, "I promise to speak the truth and the truth only from this on." Mr. Devering clapped him on the shoulder. Then he slipped his hand under my blanket, felt me to see whether I was warm, and folding the blanket backward drew it off in the proper way so as to leave my hair sm...
"Stop your tickling, Prince," he said; "here's a bit of sugar for you. Now keep your soft old nose to yourself--let's go get the deer-hound. He'd enjoy an afternoon out." We all went up to the kennel by the cow stable where Drunkard welcomed us frantically. Mr. Devering unchained him and led him toward the house. When ...
They were well-drilled children. A list was hung on a veranda post, and each child kept consulting it while packing baskets. So many knives, forks, spoons, napkins, cups and saucers and plates must go in, also a huge frying-pan, a big pot for coffee which they were allowed on picnics. Bingi brought bacon, cold potatoes...
Suddenly that clever woman Mrs. Devering gave us an understanding glance over her shoulder. "Daddy," she called in her clear voice to Mr. Devering, who was leading with the biggest baskets, "is this little pony broken to harness?" "Oh! yes, he was for some years in Ohio, where one sees ponies hauling two or four person...
"Certainly," he said. "Who will go with you?" Childlike every boy and girl but Dallas cried out. "Dallas goes," she said. "He is the only one who was politely silent. My darlings--you must not run after invitations. Let them run after you." And so speaking she was just about to drop out of the procession when Cassowary...
Cassowary, who was ahead with Drunkard, passed his lead to Champ and my young master and I joyfully followed her to the carriage-house, where she wheeled out a two-seated cart. "I suppose you know nothing about harnessing," she said to Dallas. "Oh! yes," he began, then he checked himself and said over again, "Oh! yes, ...
Dallas had a good memory and when she gave him a brief examination she found he had forgotten nothing, but he stood staring at me. "All very fine," he remarked. "I understand about the bridle, collar, traces, breeching, hip-strap and so on, but how do you get harness and cart together?" Cassowary did not smile. She was...
"Now, jump in," she said, "box seat. Take the reins or as you, I suppose, would call them, the lines. Not that way. Here change your fingers--reins held in left hand, right free for take-back or whip." "And would you whip this beautiful little creature?" asked Dallas in a shocked voice. "Not I--I'm merely teaching you ...
"Looks like it," she said. Happy in having no blinds I could cast a glance back toward the proud and delighted boy. "Don't look so nervous," said Cassowary. "That pony could go it alone. Tighten your reins though. If he were a stumbler down he would go. It's hard lines you couldn't have had this fun sooner. If I were Q...
"Wait till you ride," said Cassowary, "then you'll be in the seventh heaven." "Cousin," said Dallas, "it's mighty good in you to take so much trouble with an awkward boy like me." "Dad told me," she said sheepishly. "Then I know everyone has to learn. Hello! there's Happy Harry--want to go to a picnic, Harry?" The lame...
"Nice boy," she said as we spun along. "My! I'm glad I haven't lost my feet--look out, you're heading the Prince for those cows. Give them a bit of the road. Cows have rights." The cows politely stepped into the bushes as we went by. Soon I could tell by the movement of the hand on the lines that my young master was ge...
"How are you telling Prince Fetlar the way to go?" "By these lines, I suppose." "Which lead to the bit in Pony's soft mouth. Your feelings run along the lines to the bit. Pony feels them and his mind and yours keep working together. This fellow is bright enough to do things himself. If you don't approve you will check ...
"You'll never hurt him. You'll be too gentle probably." "I'm glad we're meeting no one," said Dallas. "We'll just pretend we are," she said promptly. "Now I'll show you how to turn out on a narrow road." "Why do automobiles not come up here on this fine road?" asked Dallas.
"They do, but they can't come just now because the government is repairing the new road. It's a beauty, and where the big flat rocks are too dreadful overhead bridges are made. You came the old bad road." "It was certainly bad," said Dallas feelingly. "Dad is tremendously keen on road-making," said the girl. "He's neve...
"That is Beaver Meadow," said Cassowary, "and that lazy little river poking through it as if looking for the shortest way to the lake is Fawn River." "What pretty little islands those are at the river mouth," said Dallas. "That's the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe--you've heard of her?" "Oh! yes, quite often."
"Well! there she is on that biggest island which is shaped like a green shoe. See her head sticking up from behind that high rock." "Do you mean the silver birch broken off short?" asked Dallas; "that one with the queer bunch on its head?" "Yes, that's her bonnet," said Cassowary. "One day we paddled over and nailed a ...
"Yes, don't they look wise? They sit there and ponder, ponder, then they fly away and come back and ponder some more. They're not a bit afraid of us. Hear me call them," and she gave a very good gull yell, "Cack, cack, ker-ack, ker-ack, ker-ack." "Cack, cack, hah, hah, hah!" came back from one of the gulls who raised h...
"Been having adventures, my darling?" she shrieked up at him. "Come and tell your old girl all about them. Did you go to Cuba or Lower California last winter?" "Cow-ow," he responded with a long deep harsh sob. "This boy won't hurt you, my pet," she shrilled up in the air. "Quick, Dallas, tell him you wouldn't shoot a ...
The gull brayed like a donkey, "Ha, ha ha!" "He doesn't trust you," said Cassowary; "hunters must have been shooting at him. Good-bye, my angel. Come play with me when I'm bathing in the morning. Bah! my neck aches," and she dropped down on the seat of the cart. "Drive on, boy! For mercy sake!--the Prince is most on hi...
"How would he play with you?" asked Dallas. "Oh! he flaps round me in the water--strikes me with his wings. He's very rough but I give him as good as he gives me--slap for slap. He knows I like him. Hurry up, Prince, and don't try to listen to every word we say. The others will get there before us, although they have t...
"Who is he?" asked Dallas. "Such a naughty little man. He and Mrs. Beaver are making a dam across the river and soon they'll have to be checked for they would stop up the water and make it so deep that the cows would drown when crossing from one meadow to another. Mr. Beaver is Dad's pet, though they don't have anythin...
“I never knew he could do such things.” “But,” said the captain, “Ben and Sally do; and I should have thought they would have taken the hint before this time. Have they found out where the other pig came from?” “No, sir; they think Uncle Isaac brought him on when he was going a-gunning.” “I tell you what you do, Charli...
“That I will, sir; I’ll warm his back for him.” “Did Ben say you must come right back?” “No, sir; he said it was a good ways for a boy like me to pull, but that I might stay till afternoon; and, if the wind blew hard, stay till it was calm.” The boys went down to the cave, because Charlie wanted to see Tige catch sculp...
“What kind of a time did Fred have on the island?” “O, he had a bunkum time. He said he never had so good a time in his life.” “Did he like me?” “Yes; he liked you first rate. He said he was so glad you didn’t know how to shoot.”
“What for?” “Because, he said, you knew so much more than he did, and could do so many things, that he should have felt as if he was a fool, if he couldn’t have shown you something.” “I can shoot now. I shot a blue-bill, and three old squaws, and horse-headed coot last week. When I first got up I saw them in the mouth ...
“I will, John, some time when we sleep together. I don’t like to tell you in the daytime, because it makes me cry, and I don’t like to cry before folks; but in the night, when we are in bed, I’ll tell you. I liked Fred very much, and so we all did; you tell him I said so--won’t you?” “Yes; we’ll go over and see him aft...
“No, not one; but there’s raccoons and squirrels. Don’t you think, there ain’t any birds there,--only the sea-fowl. Sometimes wild pigeons, woodpeckers, robins, and blue-jays come on there, but they fly right off again; I wish they would stay and build nests. We have such a sight of birds in Lincolnshire! O, I wish you...
“It won’t; they’re just as tight as can be.” “Can you do it?” “Yes; I’ve helped my father mend the thatch a hundred times.” “Some time let’s make a little house, just as they do there, and you make a straw roof.”
“Well, so we will. They make houses there mostly of stone, and we can get plenty of stones, on the island. They make bee-hives there of straw.” At dinner-time Captain Rhines said, “Wife, you must tell Ben whether you will let him have one of the girls.” “Indeed, if you are going on there to work, I’ve a good mind to go...
“Well, you are going away this winter, and if I thought the girls could get along--” “Get along, mother! we’ll get along first rate,” was the unanimous response. “But then there’s the soap; I was thinking of making soap this week.” This was only adding fuel to the fire. Filled with the idea of making soap, the girls we...
“Why, mother,” said Mary, the eldest, “we can make the soap. I have helped you make it a great many times, and if there is anything I don’t know, I can get Mrs. Hadlock to show us. What shall we be good for, if we are always tied to your apron-strings, and never try to do anything for ourselves?” “Sure enough,” said th...
Mrs. Rhines was not at all convinced that she was of such little consequence in the household, and that affairs could proceed so easily without her. “There is that quilt,” she said, “that I meant to have had put into the frames next week.” This ill-judged speech only made her absence more desirable. “O, mother!” was th...
“There, girls, hold your tongues; you know you can do no such thing.” “Yes, mother, we can; because we can get Hannah Murch, Aunt Molly Bradish, and Sukey Griffin, and do it first-rate.” “I want the fun of quilting it myself. Well, I will go; the quilt can stand till I get back. Charlie, you tell Ben I’m coming to keep...
Charlie lost no time putting into execution Captain Rhines’s directions in respect to the pig, having first enjoined upon them the greatest secrecy, not even permitting them to tell Ben and Sally of his plots and suspicions, lest Joe, who was very quick of perception, should divine what was in store for him. In the fir...
He ran to the house and got some corn in a dish, and to the fire for a brand; he called the pig, rattled the corn in the dish with one hand, and with the other lighted the brush in different places, as he walked around the heap. “Chook, chook,” cried Charlie; squeal, squeal, went the pig. The cunning boy had now fired ...
“Pig, pig, pig-e-e!” screamed Charlie, rattling the corn, and laughing as though he would split between every word. “Shut up, you little brat!” cried Joe, flinging a pitch knot at him with a good will, that, if he had not dodged, would have broken his head. Roused by the uproar, and smelling the smoke, the whole family...
“The pig has bit him,” cried Charlie. “O, I wish John was here.” Joe ran off to the beach to cool his fingers. “What in the world,” said Ben, “is the reason, that when all of us have always known what a mimic Joe is, that we couldn’t have thought it was him squealing, and making such fools of us. How did you know it wa...
“Father,” said Ben, “do you know whether Uncle Isaac has been on any of the islands gunning?” “No; but I don’t believe he has fired a gun these three weeks; he’s been too busy. Why?” “Because there’s a pig in the pen that came there we don’t know how; all we know is, that we found him there.” “Why,” said Mrs. Rhines, l...
Captain Rhines gave his wife a nudge to keep dark, but it was too late. Ben had heard the remark, and insisted upon knowing. “Well,” said his mother, “I suppose I am telling tales out of school; but Charlie came to our house in the middle of the night, and called John out of bed, and they took off, as though they were ...
“We are square now, Joe,” said the captain; “your scorching will do to offset the fright you gave me, when I thought I had shot Ben, having put one bullet through the window, and the other into a milk-pan of eggs, on the dresser.” CHAPTER XIII. A NOVEL CRAFT. John Strout now came from the West Indies, and went to work ...
Charlie was very much puzzled to know how the meat was got out of the shell without breaking it. John told him that he bored the hole for the mouth, and then turned the milk out, filled it with salt water, and set it in the sun, when, the meat decaying, he washed it all out; then scraping the outside with a knife and p...
Ben now ascertained that there was a large trade carried on from Wiscasset in spars and ton-timber, that was shipped to Europe. He accordingly took what he had, and making them into a raft, sold them there, and bought his rudder-irons, a second-hand jib and flying-jib, and provisions for his workmen. She now sat on the...
At length, one pleasant morning, Ben, to his great joy, took the canoe, and went to bring her home. If Charlie went down to the eastern point once that day with the spy-glass, he went fifty times. “I can’t do anything,” he said to Captain Rhines, “nor set myself about anything, till I know whether mother is coming.” It...
“No, Charlie; I never was better in my life.” When they neared the shore Charlie pulled ahead, and landing, stood ready to hug his mother as soon as she should get out of the canoe. “Don’t hug me hard,” said she, kissing him, “for you might do some damage.” “O, mother! what is that under your shawl? do let me see. Is i...
“Look,” said she, opening the folds of her shawl. “O, a little baby! Whose is it? Where did you get it? What a wee bit of a thing! what little mites of hands! I wish it would wake up and open its eyes. I do love babies so! and how I shall love your baby,--our baby. It will be my brother--won’t it, mother?” “Yes, Charli...
It was not the custom in those days to put pigs in pens and keep them there; they let them run about the door, and feed in the pasture with the cattle, only putting them up in the fall to fatten; or when they bought a strange one in the spring, they shut him up till he got tame. “Mother, would you believe that a pig kn...
“Yes.” “Well, they have got young ones. O, they are the prettiest little things that ever were; come and see them;” and, getting her by the hand, he drew her out of doors. “Mother,” he said, “it was not altogether to see the pig that I got you out here.” “I thought as much, Charlie.”
“Well, sit down on this nice log; I want to tell you what good people Captain Rhines and his wife are; you don’t know how good they are.” “Yes, I do, Charlie; they’re real estate--both of them. I never shall forget when my father died, and mother was left poor and broken-hearted, with a family of little children, and k...
“I’ll bet you would, mother; and I’d help you.” “I’ve waked up at sunrise many times, and seen Captain Rhines and Ben ploughing for mother; they would plough till nine o’clock, then go home, eat their breakfast, and then do their own work, while mother and I, with Sam to drop the seed, would plant it, and the next day ...
In the spring, soon after Ben had told his father of his plan, the captain said to Charlie, “Now you set all the hens you can, and raise chickens, and when I go to the West Indies you can send them out as a venture, and get coffee, sugar, and cocoa-nuts.” Charlie told his mother, and they put their heads together, and ...
“Money! yes.” “How do they get it?” “Why, they have Sundays and holidays to themselves, and what they earn they have. Many of them have earned enough to buy their freedom, and are well off. Do you go over to our house, and ask John to give you some turnip-seed, and sow it on that ground you burned over when you was roa...
“Let me alone for that, Charlie; I’m an old traveller.” It may be well to inform our readers that in those days but comparatively few vegetables were carried there, and they brought a high price in the way of barter. Charlie was by no means slack in acting upon these suggestions, and made baskets with all his might. It...
“I mean to make a cradle for him,” said Charlie. “You are too late,” said Ben; “for the cradle was made before he was born, long enough.” He then told Charlie to go up chamber, and look under some boards in the north-east corner; and there he found the cradle that Sam Atkins made for the boy, whose birth Seth Warren, i...
THE BURN. It was now the latter part of summer. The vessel being completed as far as was possible at present, Captain Rhines went home, leaving Ben and Charlie alone. There was now a large piece of land running along the eastern side of the island, beside the middle ridge, which was ready for a burn. From this land Ben...
The settlers run great risks in clearing their lands, either of burning up their houses, or of destroying the timber they wish to spare. A few years since there were fires in Maine that burned for weeks, and destroyed thousands of acres of timber, and cattle, houses, barns, and many human beings, and even crossed strea...