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Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc.. peuvent dtre fiimis d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, ii est film^ i partir de Tangle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche d droits, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 I' J .} ! ''t.?»- ROBERTSONS CHEAP SERIES. f I POPULAR REAOrNG AT POPULAR PRICES. m I i r- I; BY THE AtTHOR OP HIEXjEItT'S :BJk^BX:E&. COMPLETE, ! fi*l| -tr :sf TORONTO: J. ROSS ROBERTSON, 65 KING-ST. WEST, COR. BAY. 1880. 1; » ll«' I "'S-Jjtvii?"*; ■ 11;:' i r ■•#1 ■ THE WORST BOY IN TOWK CHAPTER L A NAUTICAL EXPEDITION. •You're the worst boy in town!' The speaker waa Farmer Parking, and the fjcrson adtlrossed was Jack Wittingham, on- y son of the most successful physician in Doveton. Farmer Parkins had driven to town quite early in the morning to make some neccessary purchases, and he had been followed by liis faithful yellow dog, Sam, who had been improving the opportunity to make some personal calls and tours of obser- vation. One of these last-named recreations carried him near the back door of a butcher shop to which Jack had gone to deliver an order for his mother. Adjacent to the butch - er'ti place of business was the shop of the village tinman, and behind this were strewn sundry kitchen utensils which had proved to be too badly damaged to be mended. Jack had noticed the dog when that animal first put in his appearance in search of a scrap of meat or bone, and had thereafter observed his motions with that peculiar interest whicn dogs seem always to inspire in boys. Then he happened to see a very dilapidated tea- kettle behind the tin-shop, and when dogs and tea-kettles become closely associated m the mind of a boy, even if the boy himself be of excellent birth and breeding, and quite tender-hearted beside, the juvenile traditions of many generations have generally the ef- fect of causing the dog and the kettle to en- ter into an entangling alliance which the ani- mal regards with accumulative aversion, and about which the tea-kettle, whose expres- sions are ordinarily so cheery, indulges in much unrhythmical noise. Into such a com- bination were Farmer Parkins' yellow cog Sam and an old kettle forced very soon af^;er Jack first beheld them both, and as yellow Sam hurried down street in an honest at- tempt to rid himself of his superfluous tin ware, and as Jack followed him to note tut results, with a view to the more accunvtj affixing of tin kettles to the tails of the dogs of the future, yellow Sam dropped exhausteil in front of his master's horses, and the dog's master came out of a store near by, just as Jack, with a fragment of barrel-lioop, was trying to stimulate the animal to renewed exertion. It was then that the fanner re- marked, with admirable vigour : ' You're the worst boy in town !* Jack had heard this very expression sc many times before that he was half inclined, to bel'';ve it true, yet how it could be a fact was si. -thing that bothered him greatly. He laughed when Farmer Parkins said it, and he replied also, by several facial contor- tions, which were as irritating as they wcre^ hideous ; ht stuck his hands mto his pock- ets, and bravely tried an ingratiating smile or two upon such passers-by as hadovcrheanl the farmer's remark, but as soon as he hail readied an alley down which to disapper, Jack soon became a vey chop-fallen, unhappy looking boy, and he murmured to him- self, ' That's what everyone says. I don't see why. I don't swear, like Jimmy Myers; nor steal, like Frank Balder, I don't tell lies — except when I have to; and I go to Sunday - school every Sunday, while there are lots of boys in town who spend the whole of that day in fishing. I didn't mean to hurt old Parkins' yellow dog ; I only wanted to see what he'd do. And just didn't he travel ? oh, oh ! But I don't see why I am tlie worst boy in town. I declare, if it isn't just the morning to go fishing — warm, cloudy, worms ea.sy to get. I wish 'twas Saturday, so there wouldii t be any school, and I wish school- teachers knev what fun it is to go fishing ; then they'd be easier on a fellow wlio playod hookey, and ^^hey'd ask him where he caunht •e; ,11 THE WORST BOY IN TOWN. V>- ' thorn, and how many, and how big tlicy we;x', instead of ])ioking up their everhisting twitciies and making themselves disagree- able. Terch would bite splendidly to-day, nnd tlicre are people in this town whotl be j:lad to have a good mess of perch. I de- clare ! I've ju.st the iilea ; soliool or no tcliool, whipping or no whipping, itouglit to be done. Ill go riglit away and see if Matt can't go with me.' .Jack moved ra])idly through streets which crossed tiie main thoroughfare of the town ; t-';en he approached a wood-pile wliere a boy of about his own age was at work ; before this boy's eyes Jack dangled two new lish- lines and some h.ioks, and exclaimed — 'Come along, Matt '" 'I can't,' said Matt, gazing hungrdy at thcnew fishing tackle, 'the governor wouldn't like it at all.' ' Oh never mind the governor, ' said Jack, ril explain tilings to him when we get l>ack. ' M at t seemed to lie in some doul >t as to whether the inlluence of his tempter with the governor jimounteil to much, for the functionary al- luded to was master Matt Bolton's own l:ither, a gentleman who held quite firmly to tlio general opinion about Jack. Besides, Matt was vigorously attacking the family v oo Ijiile, his honest heart alive with a sense <;f ths need there was for iiim to do all their was in his power to relieve his overworked, hither, and alive, too, with the conviction tiiat he would have to work industriously if he would chop and split a day's supply be- fore school-time. J>esides, a fishing excursion i aplied truancy, which, in turn, implied the Ci-Ttaiuty of a wliipping in school and the probability of puni.'shment at home. ' Fatlier wouhl ])u very angry,' said Matt, as he sighing'' V withdrew his eyes from the new fishing tackle, 'and he has already ■e;:ough to bother him, without having things made worse by me.' ' Uut Matt, he won't feel bad when he knows what you did with the fish. We'll ^'i\e them to widow Batty. (This resolution oi Jack's was newer even than his tackle, for he had formed it while he talked). ' She's been sick, you know, and I heard your father say the other day that she must have a hard enough time, at best, to feed that large family of her's. ' But suppose wc don't catch any ?' sug- gested Matt. ' Tlien you can tell him what we meant to have done if we had caught some. Besides, Avu can't help catching a lot at such a splen- did tish-hole as the null dam. I think it's awful that a whole family should go hungty iast because it hasn't got any father. Didn't your governor ever read you out of tlie Bible of visiting the fatherless and widows in thoir afHictiou ? — mine has.' Boys are no more likely tlian adults to re- sist Satan when he appears as an angel of light, so Matt speedily agr-'cd to go as soon as he had prepared a day's supply of tire- wood. 'Get another axe, and I'll help you,' said Jack, and witliin five minutes tho.se two boys were making chips Hy at a rate which would have been tlie wonder of a hired v/ood-chop- l>er, while Matt's mother, who happened to glance through a window wondered why Jack's father could accuse that boy of lazi- ness. Then both boys carried the wood to tlie kitchen door, unearthed some worms be- tween sundry logs at the wood-pile, and dis- appeared as stealthily as if in their be- nevolent priiject were animated by the scrijitural injunction, to not let the left hand know what the right hand was doing. Reaching the brow of the little hill upon which the village was situated. Jack ex- claimed — 'I vow, if the river hasn't overflowed its banks. ' ' Umpli, ' replied Matt, • I knew that a week ago. ' ' Well,' said Jack, ' so did I, but I forgot it. We can get to the dam easily enough, though ; it's only half a mile across the low- lands to the river, and tliere are fences all the way. Riding rail fences is bully fun. Wait till I get my rod ; I've got two and III lend you one. ' Jack extracted two bamboo rods from the black-berry thicket where he hal)itually kept them, lest they should occasion un- pleasant questions, as they certainly would have done had his frequent expeditions M'ith them began at the house of his excellent father. Then both boys mounted the fence, which was of i-ails, and their trip to the dam was fairly begun. Now to travel by fence-rail is a delightful method of passing time, as all liberally edu- cated boys know, if one is bound for nowhere in particular, but when one is t\\ o, and both are boys, and are in quest of f'sh, and the middle of the day is approaching, in which fish do not bite, half a mile of rail fencing is a trip which consumes patience with great rapidity. Had the adventurers been othei' than boys, they w«juld have turned back at once, but when a boy gets a project clearly into his heatl he never gives any one an ex- cuse to say that the mule is the most ob- stinate of all living animals. Jack soon grew impatient of his slow progress, and conceived a brilliant idea. Raising himself THE WORST BOY IN TOWN. to his feet on a rail of rcaKonaV»lo Hatucss (for a fence rail) he stfaon it, their respective heads Iianging sonjcwhat astern and in danger of being water-soaked. ' Jilazes 1' exclaimed J.ack wrathfully, as lie eiuleavoured to stauneli a bleeding nose, ' what did a man need to have a staked and ridcrcd fence just here for? Well, we'll have to push down a couple of stakes and l^ush ourway through.' The commanding officer 'a plan was speedily acted upon, and the raft went on swimming- ly until it seemed to slide upon some obstruc- tion, then it came to a dead stop. MJroniided on an old corn hill, I suppose, ' said -Jack. "Well, 'starn all," as old Jiani- stable says in the Fourth Reader.' Hut no amount of pushing availed to move tiie raft, and the sudden breaking of Jack's rotl gave affairs a new and discouraging as- pect. * We can't both fish with one rod,' said Jack, after descending into and emerging from the depths of his mind. ' I '11 tell you what let's do, we'll take oil' our clothes, make them into a bundle, and carry them ashore on our heads, as explorer sometimes do when they ford rivers. I ' What ! ' asked Matt, ' and not get any fish for poor Mrs. Batty and her children ?' j 'That is a pity,' said Jack, with some signs of embarrassment, and thegathering to- getlier of the loose and fleeting ends of pre- vious plans and resolutions. 'But, you see, it must be nearly eleven o'clock ; we've used up an awful lot of time, and we've got to get ashore yet, and be back home the timeschool is out, else the folks '11 know we've been playing hookey. I wonder if we couldn't get the poor old woman some blaekberries ? It's only June now, though, and I nevei saw a ripe blackberry before the first of July. I'erhaps there's some early cherries in Mil- man's orchard.' With this slight salve for the consciences whose wounds had began to smart, the boys stripped once more, waded ashore through a corn-field in \/hich the hills of sharp cut %talks seemed omnipresent, dressed them- selves, and sneaked into the Milman orchard, where they made wry faces while discussing the probable value to the widow Batty of the few pale pink cherries they found. Din- ner was reached and, eaten, somehow with less appetites than was usual after a morning *A mil-fence across tlie aiigles of which two Tails meet hi X sliape, their lowest ends driven into the frround a Mtle way and a rail lying hi til J upper aiio'le of the X. spent in school, and then tlie boys, each by himself, made hasty seurcii for wliatever suitable material might l>c soonest founil to insert between shirts and jackets, to brtiak tlie force of what, in the memory of many old fillows who onCe were school- boys, was the inevitable penalty of truancy. CHArXER II. A CORNKR IX WillSKEr. For several days after their unsuccessful fishing expedition, Jack and Matt were ex- tremely oliedient and undemonstrative. Village school teachers, in that country, were not frequently the stout-armed sons of farmers, and wlien they plied the rod, any memory of the occasion was not likely soon to become dimmed. It was perliaps for this reason that even when Matt or Jack amused himself by wliistling, the airs selected were sure to have been written on minor keys, and that both boys sought earnestly, each by himself, for some method of setting some positive moral success against their late fail- ure at benevolence. Tlie opportunity did not linger long. Matt was sitting in the house one evening, wondering whether to go to bod at once, or I wrestle again with an exasperating problem in cube Toot, the answer to which, as printed in the book, he felt tlirioe assured was wrong, when a long whistle of peculiar volume and inflection informed liim that Jack was outside and had something to communicate. Matt sprang to his feet, for only a matter of extreme importance wouhl have brought Jack across town at so late an hour. The worst boy in town was found by Matt to be hanging across the garden gate and so powerfully charged with virtuous indignation that he waa unable to contain it ail. ' Look here. Matt, ' said he, ' you know what an awful thing whiskey is, don't you ?' 'I should think I did.' replied Matt, 'Haven't I been to every temperance meeting that's been held ?' * So you have, ' said Jack, • Well what do you think ? There's Hoccamine, the corner storekeeper, gone and bought seven bar- rels. ' •Isn't that dreadful!' exclaimed Matt. ' If he starts a rum -shop here, it'll spoil th« custom of his store. ' ' He isn't going to have a bar,' explained Jack, ' he's going to sell by the gallon. But what's the difference ? — •rum is rum, and it does harm, no matter in Avhat way it is sold.' THE WORST BOY IX TOWN, * It's pcrf' tly awful,' s.aiil Matt. ' All riglit,' Hiii.att'8 ear, and whispered, ' Let's spill it 1 1 them ?' ' (itraciuus !' whispered Matt, ' how can v.e ?' * Easily enough,' said Jack. ' Well Itore n gimlet hole in each harnl, and it'll have iiii night to run. I've got a gimlet. You blip out of the house ahout twelve o'clock, and BO will I ; we'll meet at the cluircli steps, and then unchain the demon only to tU;stroy him forever.' (Jack's last clause was (juoted verbatim from a temperance a.ldress to which he had lately listened.) ' I'm your man,' said Matt. ' I knew you would he,' Ja'.'k replied ; 'I 0* ul I have «lone it alone, but I was sure vou (1 enjoy helping, and I'm not the sort of iedow that goes ))ack on a friend, you know. Twelve o'clock sure, — does your clock strike tae liours ?' .. 'Yes.' * So does ourg. Can you keep awake un- til then ? If you can't 1 11 give you half of nty cloves to eat. I've saved thejn the past few Sunday nights wJien I haven't been sleepy in church. ' Matt accepted the proffered assistance, and Jack departed, whilo Matt went into the house and to bed with the firm conviction tiiat he was too excited to sleep any for a week to come. It was r.ine when he retired, and at the stroke of ten he had not hail occasion to touch the cloves except to nibble the blossom end from one, just to have a pleasant taste in his mouth. It was many liours apparently before the clock struck eleven ; had it not been for the loud per- sistent ticking Matt would have believed the old timepiece had stopped. As it was he had fully made up his mind that the striking weight had not been wound, when suddenly the hammer rattled oil" eleven. Between eleven and twelve, Matt ate all the cloves, ])inched himself nearly black and blue, pulled his hair, rubbed his ears, and did everything else he had ever heard of as an antidote to sleepiness. Finally he dressed himself and descended, intending to be at the front door when the clock should strike. As he stepped from the last stair liis frot fell upon the family cat, who habitually reposed upon a rug lying just there, and the cry which that cat uttered wj^ more aopallinsf to Matt than tlie roar of a royal IJcngal tiger would have b:'en. ] Matt s parents, however, had clear cun- \ sciences so the agonized scream did not sct>ni to awaken tiiem. Then Matt's heart beat so ' violently that he began to wonder wliy the Sound of its throbs did not sliaku the house. He tiptoed to tiio door, but his shoes scjucak- ed, and though ho expurnncntcd, by .sotting it of soap out of tlie house and settle with those stockings before they went to the family washtab. Reaching the church. Matt M'.aa sure he saw a shallow hold up a gaunt forefinger Ity way of warning, but this speedily resolved itself into J.ack, who was elevating t!;e gim- let, and who approached and wiiispered — "In hoc signo vinces, " as ohl Constantine says in the t' Universal School History." lioth l)oys hugged every fence and wall until they reached the offending barrels ; then Matt's heart began pumping again, receiving some sympatliy from ti\at of Jack. The last-named youth sudderdy whispered, ' Want to strike the first blow ?' ' I guess not,' said Matt, flattening himself as closely as possible against the wall of tho store. ' You thought of it first.' Jack knelt before one of the barrels, bored a lujle as low as possible, and a small stream of liquid and a strong smell of whiskey ap- peared instantly and at tho same time. Then another hole was bored at the top to admit air, and tlie industry of the stream increased suddenly, as Jack learned by a jet which struck his own trowsers and made itself felt a^i the skin l)ene«th. Matt oper- ated upon the second barrel. Jack unlocked the demon in the third, and so the boys pro- ceeded alternately, until while over the sixth barrel Matt's enthusiasm interfered with his steadiness of hand and he broke the gimlet. * That's too bad, ' whispered Jack, 'I guess we'd better leave, but old Hoccamine won't find five empty barrels a very small hint to stop out- raging the sentiments of the iiiliabitants of this town.' Both boys made haste to depart, •"'asling no time in formal adieu x. As .'-oon as they had reached the church and ccnieterv. in tm^T^^^mmr^wrm^^^^ii^mm 8 THE WORST BOY IN TOWN. '1 nuitlicr of wliioli they fonied listeners, Jack exolaiincd in a low tone, 'Tiiis iH a iirouil day for Doveton, Matt ; can't you nwike sonie excuse to come up town in the nioining to hear Hoccaniinu Bwcar wlien he Karns ahout it?' * I'll ask mother if slie doesn't need some- thing' from some store, 'said Matt; '^'ood iii^'lit. ' The boys went their separate ways, each unconsciously carrying the smell of whiskey in the shoe soles which had several times been wet with it, as they moved about tlie sidewalk, so when Mr. and ^Irs. IJolton nvvoke in tlie morning, it was not strange that the lady exclaimed — 'Wiierc can that strong smell of whiskey come from ? I didn't know there was a drop in the house. ' * Nor I, ' said Mr. Bolton. The odour could not be attributed to the servant, for she lived elsewhere, and had not yet come to her daily labour. Mrs. Bolton was not su- perior to the ordinary human interest in mystery, so she continued, ' Where cun it be ? Oh, husband, it can't be that Matt, our only darling boy, is getting into bad ways ?' Mr. liolton sprang from his bed and hurried to Matt's room ; there were too many other fourteen-year old boya in Doveton who had already trifled with liquor, and Matt's father had at once become suspicious. But he re- turned in a moment saying, 'Thank God, it isn't that ; the blessed scamp's breath is as sweet aa it was when he was a baby. But what can it be ?' Mr. Bolton quickly dressed himself and went through the house, but soon hurried back exclainiing — ' Tiiieves ! The front "door is ajar.' Both householders took part in a hasty search, but Mrs. Bolton found her silver spoons safe though they had been in plain view in a dining-room closet. Mr. Bolton found no clothirii; nnssing, nor could the sub- sequent search prove that any thin|^ whatever had been taken. * I have it !* exclaimed Mrs. Bolton sudden- ly. • I heard the cat scream terribly in the night It is plain that the rascal stepped upon her, and then ran away, supposing her noise would arouse the house. What a nar- row escape !* Matt slept throughout the excitement like one who has a conscience which was not only void of offence, but had the additional peace which comes of virtuous deeds successfully accomplished. It was only after consider- able effort, indeed, that he could be roused at breakfast time. As for Jack, he was up Ions before the lark, and en his way to the market (which was ofposite lloccaminc's store) to purchase houh; neraps of meat for u m^tiiical dog. He meekly stood outsile with his package, for what scorned to itiii centuries, awaiting the opening of lloeia- mine's store. Then he hurried home, ate 11, .• merc»t excuse for a breakfast, and cooled hu' heels at Matt's woo«lpile for at least an hour, and when his companion finally appeared, yawning profoundly. Jack shouted — ' Oh Matt, 'twas worth a million dollars. Hurry up, can't you ?' Matt qui'jkly roused himself to conscioui- ness that life v/as real, life was earnest, aud joined Jack, who exclaimed — ' Fun ? why there was oceans of it, w illi hundreds of lakes and ponds thrown in. First there came along old Burt, on his way to market, and aa soon as he saw the stull' in little puddles by the curbstone, and smelt what it was, he just lay down onhisstomach and began to drink. He signed the pled^ e at the last temperance meeting, too ; isn't it awful? Then Captain Sands came aloii;', and stopped to look, and so did Squire Joiiej and Joe, the barber, and everybody thiit came tomarketsaw the crowd and went over, so I thought 'twas safe to go over mysel:. All of a sudden over came Hoccamine, wlio had been to market, and then — well, yi ii never heard such swearing at a fight. I'a declared that somebody had been stealing it, and Squire Jones told him it was a righteous judgment on him, and then Hoccamine swore some more and called the Squire names, and the Squire said he'd never buy another pen- ny's worth from a man who had abused him in that way, and Hoccamine told him to talie his infernal pennies ajid buy of — of the cM fellow down below, you know, if he cho&e. Then Hoccamine opened the store and got out some pails and scoop-shovels, and tried to save some of the liquor out of the gutter. Oh, it was just glorious. ' And Jack, unable to express his feelings in any other way, danced about madly and jumped over several logs of wood. Then Matt, who has listened with consider- able interest, yet with a pre-occupied air, told the story of the attempted burglary, but ex- plained away the supposition that the thief was scared off by the cat, 'That shows, 'said Jack, briskly, 'hew necessary the work was that we did lait night. Whiskey made that thief, you sec — I shouldn't wonder if what you were abov.t at the same time had something to do with his being influenced to go away. iJon't ycu know how these things happen in books sometimes? I once read-= — ' Jack suddenly ceased talking, but burst out laughing, and finally dropped upon tl^e TIIR WOR RESTITUTION. Dr. Wittingham, whoseonly son Tack was, sat in his oHice one morning compounding a complicated and consciiuently a favoured prescription of his own, and at the same time pondering upon the eriuaally complicated character of his boy. The doctor had been a boy himself, a third of a century before, and an extremely lively one, if the traditions of hisnative village hail been correctly handed down, but a man's memory is not in the habitof going backward half alifetime, unless in search of old sweethearts, so the doctor owned to himself that Jack was without ex- ception the most mischievoua boy he had ever known or heard of. _ * It passes all explanation, too,* said tire doctor, sitting down and watching his pres- cription as it filtered slowly into a glass beneath it. ' I'm a man of good behaviour if ever there M-as one, his mother was a lady born and bred, he know* the Bible better than our minister does, and there's nothing good but what the boy seems to take a lively interest in. I was going to write a book upon heredity, basing it upon the develop- ment of that boy's character as inherited from his parents and modified by such teach- ings as I have imparted, to impi'ove the ori- iriual stock. But bless me J I'm sometimes unable to find the original stork at a", and as for tlif iuijiroveiiP-Mts I iiiti-iid to mik) I in It, Well, tiny reiis in\isil>lfaMt!ii' ailnient.i of some of my rn.h jKitieiits. W'liattvcr I siy to him seems to lilf'-r through him more rapidly than that mixture is iloim,' t'.r >u.''i the paper, and Irasis not even a sedinuiit beliiiid, while whatever ho shouldn't lit r seems to stick to him like an atlhesive phis- ter. iJe^ore he goes to schoMl, lie lecites liis lessons to me iu the most p^ileit maun- r ; wh'u he comes home iw bii;ij,'s a written complaint from the teacher, wlxi has fouml him outrageously mischievous all day long ; and when his motlier takes any of his torn jackets and trowHcrs in hand, she is certain to find two or three documents of tlie same kind whicli .lack has kindly forgotten to deliver, perhaps out of reganl for my feelings. He will «'hop Mood all day Saturday for the Widow Batty or some other needy jxison, until I determine he's growing to be too good to live ; tiien my own ilinner comes up underdone because ho hasn't c(jiisiilered tluit W(»od-chopping, like charity, should begin at home. I've heard no eomphiints of him for nearly a week ; there must be a terrible sliower of theni brewing somewhere.' There was a knock at tlie door, and tho town supervisor of roads entered. 'All, go(jd morning,' said the doctor, briskly. * Who's under tlie weather now ?' *Wa"al,' drawled tho supervisor, * no- bodj', I reckon 'less its you. llere's a little bill I'm sorry to have to bring t. ' * What on earth does this mean?' exclaim- ed the doctor after reading the bill several times. ' Bolton has paid the other half,' said tlio su]»ervisor ; 'its for that bridge that .lack and Matt hooked, you know, juid left in the middle of Brewitt's corn field half a mile from where it belonged.' • Hooked a bridge ?' exclaimed the doc- tor, ' I don't understand. Jack never said anything to be aljout it.' ' Didn't he ?' asked the supervisor with an ironical grin. ' Wa'al, like enough he didn't ; 'twas during the June freshet, you know,' an the boys found it loose, 'an went raftiu' around on it. Like enoagh they'd have fetched it back, but they rammed it throuj.a once fence after another, an' at last they l' t it aground. We tried to get it under a log waggon an' haul it back, but 'twas no eo. aa ^ii! .1. \\ i ('•PJ«ipV.,.)i.'iJi II II II 11 1.1. , III III! . uii>pi^man«nfip9Bmnce, and hung about tiie schoolhouse until the inid-niornin -■ intermission ; then he seized Matt and an- nounced the situation, taking care t<.> omit mention of his interview with Bolto'.i senior. Matt at once volunteered assi.stauce, and an hour later the boys had burning upon the bridge a glorious fire of dead bouglis and broket rails. When tlie boards luul burned in two, the boys pried the two logs toward each other, and thereafter they ailjusted the logs several times, getting each time some smut upon their clothes as well as occasional burns upon their hands. VV' hen at length the logs seemed able to take care of them- selves the boys strewed some green twigs uuon the ground to lie on, and as they were stretched upon them, chatting in, the de- sultory manner peculiar to every one who lies down about a Mre, Jack remarked, ' 8ay Matt, do you know that people in this world are awfully unfair to boys ?' ' I guess I do, ' replied Matt, ' but what made you th nk of it just now ?' * \Vniy, my governor gave me fits this morning about this bridge, and called me un- grateful and all sorts of things. I s'pose he thought he told the truth, but I know better. I'd do anything for hini — I'd die for him. Why, one day that big mulatto Injun, that he can never collect hia bills off, came iu p * THE WORST BOY IN TOWN. n his un- tie per. jiiii. Ih.at iu looking awful ugly, and blazing about being sued, and I was sure lie meant to hurt lather; I just got a hatchet and stood out- side the door, ready to rush in and toma- hawk him it' he did the least thing. It made me late at school, and I got licked for that, but I didn't care, and the teacher wrote a note home about it and I got scolded, but 1 didn't tell what I'd done.' ' My fatlier's the sivme way, sometimes, ' said Matt. ' I know he is, ' said Jack, hastily debating (with decision in the negative) whether he should tell of his own morning experience with Mr. Bolton. ' Now, ' continued Jack, ' I've got to work all my holitlays at sonietiiing, I don't know what, until i earn enough money to pay my share of that bridge— you know tlie two governors have had to settle par a new one ?* ' Mercy, no !' exclaimed Matt. ' They have, this morning,' said Jack. 'I shouldn't wonder if you'd catcli it when you I o home, but there's some bully mullein i \ives under the hill that you can put inside t.iti back of your jacket.' Matt devoted some moments of disagree- able reflection to this topic ; then his sense of companionship came to the 8urface,and he s ^id — 'I'll help you, Jack — unless father punishes nie in the same way. What do you suppose yju'll have to do?' * I don't know yet,' said Jack, 'but I've got a splendid idea. The governor has just bought his winter's supitly of wood, as he Loiierally does iu June, and he always has it cut while its green because it costs only a iioilar and a (juarter a cord, while tlie men charge a dollar and a half when its seasoned. I'll ask him to let me work it out in that M'ay. ' 'Why, Jack, ' remonstrated Matt, 'it will take you more than half a year of holi- days. ' ' No. it won't,' said Jack, 'I can chop nearly a cord a day when 1 work hard. Be- sides, I've got an iilea worth more than my own industry. I'm going to blow at school, and around among the boys, about wliat a splendid wood-chopper I am. ' ' I'll say the same thing about you,' said Matt. • All right ; we'll both talk of my particu- lar swing witli the axe until the .vhole crowd will be mad enough to take the conceit out of me at any price. Then I'll offer a bet of something worth having — a half-dollar against half a dime, say — that I can chop and split more in a single day tha:i any otiier boy iu town. Lots of them will take up the bet, we'll irppoint a flay, the place to l>e our woodpile, and every boy to l)rin_::,' nis own axe. You shall be uinpiro.sn you won't have to do anything but walk about and egg the otliers up to business.' This brilliant device took comnleto posses- sion of Matt, and as for Jack,witliin a week there was notaboy intownwhocuuld itass him witliout making a face at him, and scarcely a mother dependent upon her own b;)ys for fuel, but had an abundant supply without having to beg for it. Many indignant boys otl'ered imlignant bets in favour of their own skill with tiie axe, but tlie saiMcious .lack de- clined tliem all on the ground that he could not honoural)]y bet on what he called a sure thing. Wlien linally lie on'ui'cd his own wagT, it M'as accepted by ai'claiii'ition by nearly the whole' of his own arithmetic clas.ntestants met in convention, and .Jack formally deposited his half-dollar in the hands of Matt, who was to be stake- holder. There being some dilHculty in de- ciding how the bets against .lack M'cre to be held, the challenger niagiianiniouslj' declined to accept any bet, if the crowd would agret;, each for himself, that the man who cut least, and he alone, should be loser of a half- dime in case of Jack's triumph. After a fair canvass of contlicting interests as to date, which involved tlie wil htirawal of several boys who had agreed to go lisliing or shooting, or berrying, or visiting, it was de- cided that the ensuing Satui'day morning would be the most available time, pa'-ticu- lary as Jack explained that his father who, he was sure, would stop the whole thing if he heard of it in advance, wouhl start before daylight that morning to attend a consulta- tion miles away by rail. The idea that the proceeding would be displeasing to any adult silenced at once the oljections of all who had preferred another diiUi, and it even brought ioaek the boys who had pleaded prior engagements. « 1 'I 'I imK?!^ 12 THE WORST LOY IN TOWN. I.! ^! As for Dr. Wittinfjham, he waa compl'^tely astoumled and wonderfully pleased wUen Jack, with a frank business-like air, pro- posed to cut the ten cords of winter wood as an oli'set to the bridge bill of eleven «iol- lars and sixty-two cents. The doctor patted Jack's head, called him a noble fellow, gave him a stick of licorice, and promised him a dollar for himself on the completion of the work. • ^Sow,' said the doctor, when Jack had left )iis presence, ' I think I've a good hard point for that work on heredity : Impose a rational penalty for offence, and Its manifest justice will iini>i'ove both the reasoning and moral nature of the oileiider. ' CHAPTER VI. SnAKP AXKS AM) SHARPER WITS. During the week preceding the great con- test with axes there was very little truancy, rit'liting or bad hours to be complained of by the parents of the boys of Dovetoii. The excitement natural to an approaching stuggle was sufficient ev ai for the nerves of the most irrepressil)le juvenile natures in town. Most of tlK! l)oys went training at their res- })ective family woodjiiles, anil those who lad nouncut wood on Jiaud resorted tothenn- rirecedented custom of requesting permission to work at that of ; o icbody else. The stc ry ot tlie bet became noised abroad, beyond the limits of tile town, and several sturdy coun- try boys having signifiep into their pockets and adjured theboys, collectively, to 'go in.' A ciiip from fat Jiilly Barker's axe started to avenge Billy upon !us tormentor of an hour before, and it t truck the loafer in the back of the neck with such force that the bad boy howled with anguish, and volubly condemned his soul to all sorts of uncomfortabe places and condi- tions. Tlie axes soon broke the uniformity cf their broke ; some flew at the rate of nearly a l.'low a second, others, particularly those of the country boys, were slow, but oh, so regular ! Still others, confined almost exelusi\ely to the loafers, struck the wood ri'.pidly and with a particularly vicious hard- ness which was not without itsinfluence upon boys of small sj)irit. Tlu^ peculiar ringing of an occasional ' glaui-'c ' was hcaid, and soon a yell from Scoopy Brown, who was a very awkward boy, called general attention to that youth, wlu) was sitting upon the ground holding one of his feet ancl weeping bitterly. A careful examination determined that his axe had not gone dee])er than the stocking, so Scoopy dried his tears and began work again, his spirits sharpened by many uncom- plimentary rcmai'ks by the loafers and others who had lost time by stopping work to look at him. • Within a quarter of an hour fat Billy Barker had visited the wator-pail three times ; a quarter of an houi- later he was curled up with agony beside the fence, his only consolation consisting in making dread- ful faces at the big loafer who had proved a tolerable prophet. At the same time two other boys, one of whom had broken an arm within three months, and tlie other being so small tliat he realized the folly of contending against many large boys, retired from the contest, and took place among the spectators, who had already consisted of seven men, one woman (with baby) and two dogs. Then one of the loafers declared that although he coulil Ijeat as easily as falling off a log, fifty cents wouldn't pay for half a day of work under such a sun. Of the spare forty who remained, nearly half Mere of apopletic hue, so that Matt the umpire, consulting hia sister's watch, felt in duty bound to iuii^rm them that barely half an hour had elapsed and that tliey woidtl never get through the morning unless they took things easier. As for Jack, he did splendidly. With great sagacity he had selected the largest sticks, these requiring less handling, and fewer delays between an old stick and a new one, besides making a heap look more bulky. His axe was in capital condition, as his physicpie always was, his nerve was e<|ually good, and he h.ad the additional incentive of wanting to keep up the general interest, which would be sure to flag if he were discovered to be falling behind. The country boys led him a close race, and com- pelled him to do his best, as did also tM'o of the loafers. At the end of the first hour. Matt, the umpire, who had attended closely to his sister's watch for the ten minutes pre- ceeding, shouted 'Nine o'clock, and most of the country boys stopped for a short rest. Jack was glad to follow their example, and at the same time one of the loafers took a flask bottle from his pocket and swallowed considerable whiskey. A request, proff'ered by another loafer, that the bottle be passed was met Viy a reply similar in tenor to that given by the five wise virgins to their foolish companions, and the apparent meanness of this proccciiing made even the weariest boy ' f '! Mil I TW" .1 I ll.UIIHfm I ff flUJtT 14 THE WORST BOY IN TOWN. \ \ % determine to at least beat that particular loafer. Half-past nine came, and with it a loud snap wliicii proved to proceed from the saw block of liuiie Joey Wilson. As Joey waa a very pleiisaiit little fellow, with a widowed motliijr whose lot in life was not the easiest, another boy, who had a saw, pressed it upon Joey, and thus honourably retired from a contest wliich has kept his back aching frightfully for nearly an hour. Tiien two or three other boys honestly aeknowleged tliemselvcs completely useil up, and they re- tired to such shade as the fence aflbrded and constituted themselves an invalid corps of observation. The loafer who had drank the whiskey dropped suddenly, muttered some- thing about suiistroke, and crawled away unlamented l>y any one. At the cry of ' Ten o'clock !' the working force liad uuiudled to twenty-seven axes and two saws. Two boys had been legitimately summoned from the iield by their legal guarilians, and at least half a dozen others longed earnestly for a similar fata. Jack began to be doubtful of the entire success of his scheme, but the country boys all stuck manfully to business, and at least one of them was beginning to show signs of becoming excited. The remaining loafers, too, hung on very well, aud so did a spare lialf dozen of other boys, mostly large. The crowd was still large and industrious enough to astonish several farmers who drove into town, and the road became litterally paved with chips. The invalid corps increased at about the rate of lour men an hour between ten and eleven, but by this time Jack's mind was easy, for the only danger wiis that there would not be wood enough left with which the fittest which survived could complete the half day. Nearly all the loafers broke down, as loafers always d»duringthe decisive hour, and the strife narrowed down to the country boys, one loafer, big Frank Parker, lame Joey Wilson and Jack. Eacii boy had his special adherents ; the loafers clieered their own representative with much out'a'ul- ish language, most of the men em ouraged the country boys, tlie delegation from the other side of town urged big Frank Parker to ' lay himself out,' to ' come down iively,' to ' sling himself,' and to do many other things whicli to the youthful mind seem best signitied by idi(uns jf great peculiarity, but the mass of sympathy was pretty epially divided between Jack and lame Joey Wilson. Eligible s-:ticks of wood began to be souglit at the piles of tliose who abandoned the contest, and Matt the umpire had to exert tlie meajurc of his authority to prevent tii3 partizans of the two favourites from rushin» in and carrying wood for them. The break- ing of the axe-helve of one of the country boys elicited a tremendous roar from the ea»ti:e assemblage, which was now upon its feet. The lame Joey Wilsonfaction began to sing the chorus ' (io in lemons, if you do get squeezed,' which >. as known to Ixj Joeys favourite air and the song stimulated Joey wonderfully, noting which fact the adherents of Jack started * John Brown's body liea mouldering in the grave,' which Jack was known to consider the finest thing ever written. But somehow the tune did not stimulate Jack as it was expected to do ; perhaps the words with which tlie air is indissolubly associated had adepressing effect upon him, besides, the t^/08ong3 were roared with about equal volume of sound, and as they are written indiffei*ent keys, measures, and time, the general eflect was horribly discordant and annoying to a tired man. At half pasteleventheremainingsticks. like angels' visits, became far between, aud final- ly dwindled to one, over which two of the country boys fought, dropping it in their struggle, to be tnumpl\antly snatched and sawed by lame Joey Wilson. Then Matt, the umpire, first ascertaining from his sister's watch that it was not yet twelve o'clock, announced that any man might take a stick from any other man who had uncut sticks before him. At tlurtten minutes of twelve, five of the six country boys were upon their last sticks and the other had a single stick yet uneut before him, wiiich seemed to lie between Jack and lame Joey Wilson. Jack's axe glanced several times and Joey got the stick, and at preci ic'y ten minutes before twelve Joey had the hst stick reposing in three pieces upon his piL'. The whole crowd rushed in but Matt shouted — ' Everybody get back — quick — get back ! every man piles his own wood !' Some little delay occasioned by the difli- culty of getting stakes against which tosta'.e the piles which seemed largest, was ended by an order to pile against tiie fence. It wns generally admitted, by every one but tiie country boys, that the decision must be Lo- tween Jack and Joey, and as Jack was quick upon his feet and Joey, on account ot his lame leg, was slow, the former was al- lowed to assist the latter, but no one noticed that Jack took considerable wood from tlie piles of the ooys who had been unsuccessful with the saw ; the result was that Joey's pile was so much tlie larger that no one in- sisted upon a measurement, and Matt handed the half dollar to lame Joey Wilson without a protest from any one. thouuh the shou ts THE WORST BOY IN TO'.VY. i; •nl flifli- stalie edby bo- waa lit ot' IS al- )ticoil the issfiil oty "a c iu- nacHl thoiit louts that went up fonned a boii glomerate sound wliich was truly appalling to any adult ear which it reached. Then the boys separated and started home- ward with their respective axes, saws, and Baw-horses. Dr. Wittingham met several of them, as he returned at an earlier hour than Jack hai expected from his consultation. What to make of the unusual number of business looking boys he did not know, but R8 he went around to the wood-pile to see how his son hatl begun his self-imposed penalty, the truth dawned upon him, and he exclaimed : 'I've used eveiy evening this week upon that chapter of lierdity, and now it isn't worth the paper it's written on !" CHAPTER V. EXPERIMENTS IX GR.WITATION'. As June disappeared in the beginning of July, the long vacation of the Doveton schools began, and with it iK-gan Dr. Wit- tingham's special and particular annual an- noyance, wliich consisted of keeping Jack out of mischief. To compel the boy to work all the while was something at which the good doctor's heart naturally revolted, but it seemed that when Jack was unoccupieetween his knees yet the g^-oundn(jt invitingly near, the teacher reappeared with an inkstand wliich he threw with such excellent aim that it struck Jack in the side. The boy innnedi- ately loobened his hold and dropped, about fifteen feet, striking upon his side. In an instant he was upon his feet and hurrying homeward without as nmcli hilarity asmiglit have been expected, for in falling he had biokeu Ilia left arm. . ■ CHAPTEll VI. •When tlie dovil was sick Tho devil a sauit would be.* The only consolation that J^Iaster Jack could conjure up, as he carried his broken arm home, was that his father would un- doubtedly consider the disaster a sutticient punishment for the offence. Jack could not atfirslimaginewhy his arm should indulge in such sudden and terrible twinges and object so nervously t i^ing rubbed or held. The pain which it experienced from the shaking consequent upon running caused Jack to sub- side into a walk as soon as he had assured himself that he was not followed ; even then the pain gave no indication of subsiding. Suddenly the truth dawned upon the l>oy a mind, and between the shock occasioned by the discovery and the sense of at least a month of vacation to be utterly lost. Jack became so weak and faint that when he at last reached home he dropped upon theotlice step and his head fell heavily against the door. The doctor, who fortunately was at home, opened it hastily and exclaimed, ' Well, what's the latest ?' 'Oh, father,' gasped Jack, 'I've tumbled, and I'm afraid my arm is broken.' The doctor helped the boy into a chair, eliciting a howl as he did so. A short exam- ination of the arm caused additional howling, and during the (juarter hour consumed by the operation of .netting, Jack abandoned all preconceived ideas of the nature of fun. Finally, when the doctor carefully removeil his clothing, put him into bed, and told him he would have to lie there for at least a fort- night. Jack dragged the pillow up to lii< face with his unhurt arm, and moistened it most uncomfortjibly with tears. Half an hour later, when his father liad broken the news to his mother, who had nerves, and tlie lady canie up to 3ee him, she found him sob- bing violently. 'Jack, Jack,' she exclaimed, 'this will never do. Th*pe is always a fever with arms broken above the elbow, and if you ex- cite yourself it will come on too soon, and it may destroy your reason. ' 'I wish it would,' sobbed Jack, 'I'd a great deal rather be crazy than here in my senses all through this jolly, awful mouth. I can't pick a bi.a'kl.eny, and I can't have any money for Christmas, and I know Frank Parker guessos oi!e of the new bates 1 was going to tiy ( n the perch, and ifU be just like him to go ami catch every one of them. It's just horrid.' 'Jack!' remonstrated Mrs. Wittinghai-.i, 'can't you think how horrid it is for you t'> go anil break your arm, and make more work for everybody in the house V 'Yes,' said Jack, 'but you don't think that makes me feel any better, do you?' 1 i 'Then,' said Mrs. Wittinghani, "y. u 18 THE WORST mV IK ToWX. fr bIiouIcI take your sufl'uring aa a juu>,'iiic«it iium tlie Lord.' ' Ho might have put it off until after vaca- tion, anyhow,' exclaimed tlie bad lx)y, at vhieli Mrs, Wittingham clapped her fingers to her ears and tleil, and intormed her hus- band in almost the same breath, that the dreadful boy deserved a sound whipping even now, and that nothing but the grace lof God could ever make Jack wliat he t^hould ibe. But after Jack had recovered from his rage, and had been surprised in taking a ;shurt nap, he began to view tlie situation in ;il)uut the light which his mother would have liiccd liim to use. It certainly had been great fun to tease that Frencli tt^acher — the thought of it provoked even now a merry cinickle which a twinge of the arm suddenly tliscouraged — but it was eIawed a wonderful voyage of ('iscovery to the Xoi'th Pole, and it was of inestimable comfort to him to report pro- gress to Matt, inthetive miiuitea which that youth was allowed daily at the .sullbrer's be Iside. The tenor of his tlioughts 'vas daily interrupted by his niotlier, who con- sidered the occasion demanded IJible reading instead of personal sympatliy for the youtli, who could not leave his bed to attend family prayers, and she so frequently selected pas- sages descriptive of a locality the tempera- ture of which is the reverse of polar, that .lack had to do a good <1eal of mental ram- bling to get his thoughts in proper trim again. At last the fever subsided, leaving Jack ^jxtremely weak in body, but of a temper .dimply angelic. He prefaced every re(|uest witli ' please, ' he never for- got to say ' thank you ' and he sang little hymns softly to himself. Mrs. Wittijig- ham was delighted beyond measure, and when she suggested that the minister might like to call, and Jack replied that it would be very nice to have a chat with that gentle- man, the lady became considerably alanned on the subject of the boy's recovery. Mr. Daybright, the minister, was really a very pleasant man, as Jack discovered, now that he had time to 'take his measure, ' jis he himself expressed it, and after Mr. Day- bright had talked with him for half an hour, and prayed with him, and departed, Jack did not know but he might finally conclude to be a minister himself, and have cake and cider offered him in the middle of the after- noon when he called upon boys with broken arms. Then Jack's Sunday-school teacher called, aiiti'sutrtrested that the class shoulil ei jne in a body, on the following Sunday, ami Jack accepted the suggestion with terv> ur, and the class camo, and stood deeorously in a row, and sang several hymns, and looked ; s sober as if fish-lines and peg-topa and bulls and bird's nests and orchards and crooked l)ins and truancy did not exist anywhere nearer than the planet Neptune. Then the teacher gave Jack a book from the Sunday- school library, which book he had selected with Jack's particular condition of mind in view, and although it proved to be the story of a dreadfully priggish but very pious little London footman, svhosc nature, tastey, temptations and gineral environment were utterly unlike Jack's, the boy laboured man- fully through it, and endeavoured to per- suao vileness of the rum traffic, so the do'itor said only ' well,' in a very gi-ave Wiiv, anil made an excuse to leave the sick chaui- ber. A few days later Jack was alloMod to sit under the great trees' in front of the house, and as he was positively forbidden to leave the grounds to run, or to make any exertion which might disturb the arm, which he car- ried in a sling, he fell to noting the habits of l>irds with their young, until he became so affected that he S(denuily vowed never to rob a neat again. He found in the flowers and the shrubbery many a charm which he li.ul never suspected when weeding them; he contemplated cloud pictures until an over- whelming sense of the beautiful compell il him to decide upon an artistic career, and he watched every motion of whatever labourer happened to be in sight until he determined that he never again would throw a chip or anything else at a lubouriug man, no matter how funny he might look or how fluently 1 e could swear when he espied his tormentor. Finally, to the delight to his parents and many other people who are responsible for boys, but to the general depression of boys themselves, it Ijecame known that Jack had signified his intention of joining the chnrdi. Mr. Daybright admitted that in years Jack was rather young to take such a step, but, on the other hand, he had a far abler mintl, and — even although he was called the worst boy in town — a cleaner record than half tlia adults who came into the fold. ^!r. Day- } I r\ 20 THE WORST BOY IN TOWN. 'vl f !■ hriglit lm tlio occupants of the back benches released themselves from all restraint, and laughed aloud in a most unseemly manner, while Vater OfTenstein wiped his face and hair witl; his coat, and (quoted appro- ftriate passages of scripture most dread- ully between his teeth, translatini' some of them into English for the benelit oi the race from which alone the annoyances of the brethren proceeded. A general (piiet l)eing thereby induced, the exhortation was resum- ed for a short time, and ended in an invita- tion to the penitent to go forward to the altar and be prayed for. While the brethren sang a hymn, several sinners passed up the narrow aisle and .lailc turned his head with the hope that he mig'.t see Sam Mugley, liie saddler shop aj)pren- tice, join the band, hut the wicked Sam w;\s just in the act of blowing a second putty-ball, and Jack's head coming suddenly in ringe -.'.i is turned, the Ijall struck Jack fairly in one eye, causing the boy to emit a howl cf anguish. In an instant Shantz, the butchei , had collared Jack and shaken him soundlj , exclaiming, ' Uat iss vat a gute Amerigan boy iss, iti it?' ' Somebody hit me in the eye with some- thing,' screamed Jack, 'and it hnrts aw- fully. Oh r ' Den dat iss too bad,' said Shantz. ' Dell me who it vass and I will break elfery boiiis in hisp body. ' But Jack could not tell, and several sym- pathizing brethren gathered about him an 1 suggested that he should take a seat farthc r forward, and be where the bad boys coi'ld not annoy him. Although this suggcstinn, thanks to the mysterious ways of the un- fathomable German mind, was erpiivalent to asking him to put himself more directly un- der tire, Jack gladly availed* himself of it, so as to remove himself from an environment which was full of cause for susj)icion. By this time the assemblage was on its knees, listening to a prayer by Petrus von Sehlenker. Petrus' prayer was very earn- est, but it was also lonij ; it was delivered o> Tin: \V(^::^T v.ov ix t<)'.v \\\i'.\ Hiu'h rapiility tliiit .lack coulil not uii- (l(i.>taiiil u word of it, ho tho cxorciso la- caiiK' rather inoiiotoiioiiH to him, and ho op- I'll, il liis eyt'.i and h)ok(Ml nliout. Uiidrr tlio KiiM.fh) ulat wliicli foiincd tho hack of tlu' 111' nil, and diiTctly in front ot him, Jauk lif'ii'hl tho hroad and wcll-patLhed tntwsoiH- Hi'.it of Nudcrkopf 'I'rinkc'l.spiel, and Satan, V ho hjny a^atory hiii^h sipiare in two, and closed ll!^ eyes in I'V.iyer to bo delivered from temptation, but when he opened his eyes a,;.iiu there were the patches, apparently a liltle more inviting than before. Jack did n(jt exactly wish tliat some good lirother on tlie bench behind Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel would think to crook a pin and place it on Muderkopfs b(;nch just as the latter arose to take his seat, but he wislieil, in case anyone should be juompted to do such a thing, that he, .laclv, might have his head turned just then so as to observe the re.-^ult of the ('j)era- tioii. And still Tetrus von Scldenker's prajer went on, and Jack's eyes remained open, and the boy was glad that he did not occupy tiie seat behind Xuderkopf Tiinkel- B])iel, lest he might be tempted. Suddenly there came to Jack something which would have been called an inspiration had its ten- dency been ditl'erent. He remembered that he had a pin in the lapel of his own jacket, and it occurred to him that this pin might 1 J bent so as to have a reliable base, and the ]. lint might be inserted in the seat of Nuder- , i\)i Trinkelspiels trowsers, where it would i.t' in po.-sition to attend to business as soon as tlie worshippers resumed a sitting posture. Jacl; promptly whispered to himself ' Getthee behind me, Satan, ' suiting the action to the word by removing the pin from the coat and dropping it on the floor. But there it was more tem])ting than it had been l)efore ; it lay there, bright, thick and strong, demand- ing that Jack sliould look at it. It was no common, soft pin, to collapse at the first sign of pressure, but tough enough to serve as a nail, if occasion rec^uire 1. Jack was really curious to know if so unprecedented in application ^of a pin could be successful, because, if he became a preacher, as he in- stantly resolved he would, he might some time preach in Grennan in that very church, and then if such a trick were served upon any one, he would be able to detect the giiilty person. Besides, the patcli seemed to repose upon other patches, and probably the pin point could not more tluui pierce the elotli itself, where it would be when Nuder- kopf Trinkelspiel knelt at tho next prayer, ;ind it would demonstrate what would be the iHect of a similar operation upon a thinner [tair of trowsers, Jack picked up the pin and bent it with tho greatest care, though it woulil have .seemeil to an exact scientist that the uinight porti'in was unnecessarily long for a imr- pose merely experimental. He inserted it with the greatest nicety betweeu the coarse threads of the homesimn patch, and though he admitted that Tctrus von Schlenker was consi Ighbour- ing barns, lishing at dawn and after sunset, and diverting itself by whatever means were available, until a general amnesty could be procured. For an hour or two the group amused it- self with conversation, the guilty Pinkshaw twin causing considerable merriment by a recitf! of the experiences of the righteous I Jermans on the preceding night. Jack en- ileavoured to witlidraw hiniself from the Pinkshaw twin's audience, but who does not enjoy retrospects of affairs which in them- selves were enjoyable ? So he lingered, afar off, yet within sound of the Pinkshaw twin's voice until that youth alluded to Jack having taken a seat among the pioris, and then Jack, like the cowardly apostle Peter, began to curse and to swear. Tlie ways of Peter came to his mind, both reproachingly and in comfort, for lie remembered that Peter had behaved valiantly after discover- ing w^hat a blatant, white-livered sort of a fellow he was, and Jack, to stifle his con- Bcience, was willing for the moment to be- lieve tiijit if he himself swore, lied and put 'y in a general denial, the evil might be excus- able for the sake of ihe good it might brin". In this respect he so much resembled inaify an unscrupulous wire-puller in church aHiiirs that no tlieological partizan can fail to sym- pathize with him. After the stoiy of the German ]\Iethodist meeting had concluded, conversation lan- guished,and several boys comp]aiiiedofhun"ei". Jack took charge of the commissariat and having carefully garnered all tiie provisions that had been brought, he suggcsteil to tliose who were guiltless (except of truancy) that if they would go boldly to the justice, claim to have been at Billy Parker'« sister's party at the time of the outrage, and offer Billy, his sister and his mother in evidence, they would, witliout doul)t, be cleared. Wlien the^e boys had reluctantly departed, the as- semblage was reduced to five boys, tliree of whom had done nothing worse than laugh at the capers which had bten playeil upon the faithful. Jack and the Pinkshaw twin who pleaded guilty of having thrmn the spit- l)all at old Xokkcrman's bare scalp, consti- tuting the remainder How the£'e were to pass the time until night waaaseriousproldem, when oncof the innocent, who was also a loafer, produced agriniy puck of cards, and tlierewitli lie soon won all the fractional currency in possession of his c(im- pauions ; then he departed, having doubly avenged himself upon fate by dining heartily upon the stores of the exiles. Of the (juar- tette wiiich remained. Jack was outwardly the^ most cheerful and careless, but inwardly — well, he coulil not help thinking of tlie Spartan l)oy wlio allowed a fox to prej^ ujioii his vitals while he was denying any kin w- ledge even of the existence of a fox anywhere nearer than the Apennines. Huling in hell might have its social advantages over serv- in heaven, but in whatever location a man may be, there will the appropriate mental temperature be also. Jack's i-emorse was genuine and terrible, and he admitted to himself that he would gladly make any re- paration, endure any ol>loquy, suffer any punishment, in fact, go through anything tliat could be devised — except being caugi)t by the constaUe. When supper time came and went, it was discovered that the larder would be empty in tlie morning, but fortunately Matt appeared, coming at night, I'ke Nicode- mus, for fear of the authorities, and brought with him a whole lot of bread and fifty or sixty cubic inches of boiled ham. But tlie boj's slept out of doors that night, and awoke with such appetites that the bread and ham disappeared and they were still hungry. Then tiuy stole many ears of ' « i* <4il« vmmw"i««m'. "v^'- •^i.-' uKmmm^i^ ■ ..ly .mMifw^gr^wm 26 THE WORST BOY IN TOWN". i ,. scarcely ripe green corn, M'hioh they roasted and ate for dinntr without successfully filling their respective aching voids. A raid was made upon a patch of early potatoes, but these did not roast satisfactorily, as any of the hoys might have known had they ever tried an early potato before. The final result was that the boys slept supperless, and were at the mill-(\'\m before daylight, where they were successful in demonstrating to certain occupants of the water that catching the early worm is not an unmixed bleaa- ing. But even fish broiled on sticks or fried on a heated plowshare wnich somebody had stolen, are not particularly palatable when eaten without salt or bread. So the party finally sneaked toward town with hungry faces, vigilant eyes, and waist- bands which would lap past their accustomed meeting place, and fasten, without extra tuj^fging, at the first suspender button. Meanwhile, the constable had been prowling industriously about tlie town, stimulated beyond average othcial en- thusiasm by the offer of a ten-dollar bill from the (ierman Methodist trea- the apprehension of all the He had exanuned the innocent boys with the result of determining that the juvenile mind is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. He had been to the mill-dam only to discover traces of early work by worlcers who, like the Aral IS, had ' silently stolen away ;' he had watched under the windows |of him -Who rpturneth, Bury, for culprits. Who.-^o chambur lamp burneth No more, ' He had examined the cock-loft of the school, ridden along the river-bank, sneaked beside the the fence of popular orchards, and lain in ambush near brush-caps where laying hens most did congregate. He had even tracked, to unprofitable localities, vari- ous boys whom he suspected of conveying aid and comfort to the enemy, and all he could show for his pains was a badly sun- burned nose, and a pair of boots consider- ably damaged by brush-wood and concealed stumps. At noon, on the third day, he was completely exhausted, and determined that if ever a good watermelon could supply » pltasing finale to a noon-day meal, it was then. So he walked out to liis own melon- patch, chuckling, as he went, over the st'.ict seclusion of the same, for it occupied tlie centre of a hollow sfjuare, the sides of which consisted of dense rows of tall corn. Aa he approached this from his own back door, he perceived how vain is the cunning of man when confronted by the intuition oi the bad boy ; for there— at ease, and enjoy- mg the particularly large melon which he had been reserving against a day wlien upon his wife might accidentally be inflicted a deluge of company— sat the boys for whom he had been looking. The constable roared 'Halt !' but with u more success than if he were in the midst of a panic, for the boys separated in the corn rows, and the official was undecided as to. which to follow. So, indulging to an in- judicious extent in that profanity M'hich so naturally attends indecision and failure, he strove gloomily to the foot of his ^'arden to discover, to his great delight, that Jack had stumbled, fallen and knocked all the breath out of his body without seeming^ able to regain enough for practical pur- poses. In an instant Jack was iu the official's arms, and though he bit, scratched, kicked and begged, he was speedily invested in a pair of handcuffs in the constable's dining- room, and afterward led slowly through the main street to the town jaiL , CHAPTER IX. THE STOOL OF BEPENTAXCE. It was customary in Doveton to put sober offenders against the peace in the second floor rooms of the jail, for these, though not containing everything that a fastidious taste might desire, were well- lighted and ventilated. But as the con- stable led Jack to jail, he thought upon his own despoiled melon patch, so he decided to put the young man into the dungeon which was reserved for the most depraved disturb- ers and desperate villains. As Jack was pushed into this receptacle he noticed, with a sinking of the heart, that the door was a foot thick, built of most chilling oak-tree hearts, and strapped with huge bars of iron. Not that he had contemplated escape ; he was just then too feeble of soul to con- template anything but his own iniquity ; but he had the natural, healthful ol)jection to restraint, and when restraint can be measured by the cubic foot it is depressing almost to idiocy. Then the constable shot four massive bolts, each one of wliich seemed to give Jack's heart a mighty thump as it grated and gioaned into its proper place. Jack turned to look at the window. It was of rough glass, so tl at a prisoner could not look out ; it was only six inclics high, though its length was about two feet, and it was crossed both inside and outside hy THE WORST BOY IN TOWN. 27 Btout bars of iron let into the stone. The farniture, when Jack's eyes became suffi- ciently accustomed to the dim light to see it all, consisted of a dingy cot of canvas and a l»roken pitcher containing the water left by the cell's last occupant, who had gone to the State prison two niontlia before for passing counterfeit money. The only decorations W€re some cobwebs, which in tone harmon- ized with the general effect of the interior, and an engraving, upon the lightest side of tlie cell, of a frightful looking being with horns, hoof and barbed tail, having beneath it the inscription, ' ThE DEViL Taik Evry l)oddy.' The odour of the apartment was undesirable. By the time Jack had learned this much, he threw himself upon the canvas cot, care- less of what else there might be to observe, and sobbed violently. This, then, was the end of the boy who had been so good for a month, who was going to join the church and be useful in persuading otlier boys out of bad courses, and be a missionary, perhaps, and a minister at the very least ! Every- body now would think him a hypocrite ; he would probably be sent to the Penitentiary for a year or two, for now that the proper occasion for recalling the fact had passed, he rt'iuembered to have heard that disturbing lelgicus assemblages was a great crime in the eyes of the law. Perhaps tliey would send him to the reform school, which would be a thousand times worse than the Peniten- tiary, for the word "reform" suggested as dreadful possibilities to Jack as it ever did to a self-made politician. When he came He who No- him had out again what would happen to him ? had never seen any persons but loafers any attention to discharged prisoners made Doveton their abiding place, body would let their boys play with then— if, indeed, by that time he enough youth and spirits left to want to play ; he would have to sit on the back seats in church among the sad-eyed, uninte- resting reprobates who now sat there, in- stead of among the neatly dressed boys who sat under the eyes of their parents and the preacher. Then Jack thought of the hereafter, in the literal, material nuanner, which was the natural result of the religious teachings he had received. If angels kaew everything and went wherever they pleased, and if his deceased brothers and sisters became angels just after they died— thoy had been angelic while they lived — how must they feel to see their well-born, carefully taught brother in so dreadful a place as a common prison ? As Jack thought of it he wisheil the prison bed had a cover under which he could hide ; but as it ha(l not, he squeezed his face and flat- tened his nose upon the rough, dirty canvas. The thought of his parents recalled the wish, frequently felt by Jack, that sonielwdy would understand him, know how eaniestly he longed to be good — some one to w'lom he could tell some of the splendid thoughts he sometimes had— thoughts which would sim- ply astonish his parents out of their senses, if he could feel xrce to tell tliem. Why didn't people give liim credit for what was in him, instead of eternally finding fault with him for what came out of him ? Was he a jug that he should be judged in sucli a manner ? Looking the matter stiuaiclv in the face, however, how was any one to know what was inside of him except by what |)ro- ceeded from him ? This train of reasoning was promptly dis- missed as unpleasant in the extreme, and Jack began to search his pockets for some- thing that niiglit assist him in consuming tiir.e more entlurably, when some one at tlie grating in the door startled bi)>* y^ exclaim- ing : ^ ' Well, young man !' Jack recognized the voice ot nis father, and his heart went down, down, down, ap- parently through the floor, and all the -\\ ay into the depths of the middle of the western half of the Pacific Ocean, which, by careful investigation. Jack had determined was the geographical antipode of DoveUm. Then the door opened, and Jack's father entered, and, oh, liorror of horrors ! he brought with him Mr. Daybright, the minister. Jack sat upon the side of the cot and nervelessly dropped liis face into his 'hands and his el- bows upon his knees. ' Well, young man, ' resumed the doctor, ' what have you got to say for yourself ':' Jack preserved utter silence, but deter- mined that he never before heard so exas- perating a question. 'My poor boy,' said Mr. Daybright, sit- ting down beside Jack and putting his aim around him, ' Satan has indeed been making a mighty light to secure your immortal part.' 'I think so, too,' sobbed Jack, glad of a chance to lay the blame of his mischievous- ness upon somebody else, and iletermining that if he ever did become a minister, he would make things lively for Matt Bolton's father, who denied the existence of a person- al deviL ' So think I, ' remarked the doctor, ' and a very successful job Satan has made of it. I wish he would give me a few lessons in the art of getting hold of boys. ' The minister thought to himself that it was not necessary for the doctor to go so far for information when he could ha\e obtained U I , \ I !i if I - 4 28 THE WORST BOY IN TOWN. m 11 f ■iU i^ it from present company, but as the doctor paid a large pew rent in Mr. Daybri^lit's church, that divine thought it inadvisable to ofteud a person upon whom a portion of his own salary depended. But he could safely saj' what lie chose to Jack, so he said : * Rouse yourself, my dear young friend ; you still live and move and have your being, and " While the lamp holds out to bum The vilest sinner may return," you know. Why not, in this unsavoury place, ■eschew Hnally and forever all bad associa- tions ?' * I will — oh, I will !' cried Jack. 'I've heard something .of the sort before,' remarked the doctor. ' I heard it from this scamp himself, and, Mr. Daybright, you and I have often heard it from men who tl^ought they were upon their death-beds. ' 'Blessed be death-beds, then, ' fervently exclaimed the minister. ' Jack, why don't you determine to say, hereafter and always, " (!et thee behind me, Satan?" when wrong impulses make themselves known in your mind ?' ' I have done it, ' said Jack, recalling his experience with the pin in the (Jerman ^lethodist meeting, ' but it don't take him long to get around in front of me again. ' Tl\e doctor hid an unseemly giggle in his haudkerchief, and the minister himself was temporarily silenced ; then the doctor man- aged to straighten out his voice, as ha said : ' Listen to men, my boy. 1 can take you ■ out of this vile hole, but only by subscribing . a hundred dollars to the debt of the German Methodist church, repairing their broken window, giving them a new Bible, changing my custom from the market to Shantz, tli« butciier, who doesn't sell the best of meat but does chai'ge the highest prices, ask- ing Bolton to raise the salary of old Nokker- man, reducing the amount of my bill to Pet- r- s von Sclilenker ' — * I didn't do anything to any of these peo- ple, ' interrupted Jack. ' Whether you did or not,' said the doctor, ' doesn't affect the case. You did some- thing, whatever it was, to disturb that meet- ing : those men were all there, they are all among the complainants,and must besatisfied ni order to persuade them to withdraw their complaints.' ' Didn't— didn't Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel •V'ant anything?' asked Jack.falteringly. ' Oh !' exclaimed the doctor, ' it was you who made him sit upon that crooked pin, was it ? How did you do it ?' .lack, finding hi.nself trapped by his own words meekly explained the operation which .led to Nuderko^jfa spasmodic loc^uacity, Ijoth visitors holding their mouths as he did sf). Then the doctor resumed the disturbed line of the conversati ^n by asking : ' What do you propose to do ?' • Oh ! ' said Jack, raising his head, ' I'll be a minister, and preach to bad boys all my life, if you will only get me out of here, and send me off to some seminary where nobody knows me. ' ' Umph !' grunted the doctor. ' And what sort of a living do you suppose you'll earn in that business ?' ' "Quench not the Spirit,'" quoted the minister, and the doctor inwardly acknow- ledged tlie J4istice of the rebuke, though he hypocritcially remarked that he had spoken thus only to test Jack's sincerity. 'Will you let other boys alone — keep away from them entirely ?' asked the doctor. This was severer than Jack had anticipat- ed, even when in the depths of contrition and apprehension, so he dropped his head again and realized anew what adreadful thing sin was when one came to look it fairly in the face. ' Did you hear me ?' asked the doctor. ' All but Matt, father,' said Jack. ' He never does anything wrong, unless I put him up to it, and I'll promise never to tell him any good thing again, if you will let me go with him. ' 'Good thing !' ejaculated the doctor. ' What sort of repentance do you call that, dominie, when outrageous capers are char- acterized as good things ?' The minister siiook his head gravely, and answered : ' My dear young friend, you must realize that what you call good things are really bad things. Until yoO fully understand this, there is nothing to prevent your getting into just such trouble again.' ' Then I'll call everything bad,' said Jack; ' blackberrying, fishing, answers to hard sums, ' ' (iently, boy,' said the minister. 'None of tliese things do harm to any one. ' ' I supposed they did, ' cried Jack, ' for I like them all, and it seems as if whatever I like is bad.' ' Not at all, ' said the minister, while the doctor hastily drew forth his notebook and made the following note for the great work on heredity: ' When a person is suffering, he is liable to believe that things have always l>een as they are at that particular moment ; hence the unhealthy poems, novels and dramas which certain disordered minds spring upon the public' Then the doctor replaced his notebook, contemplated the weeping boy for a moment or two, sat dowu m THE WORST BOY IN TOWX. 23 besitle him, put his anus aronnd him, and exclaimed : ' Mv darling boy, I love you better than I love :ny life. ' The doctor lied terribly, as inpsc people do who affirm strong, unselfish seii-;iments, but Jack was not in a condition jus'; then to «juestioii the character of any one who cared to befriend him. so he hidliis face in his father's breast and cried as if he could not stop, He even threw his own arms about the doctor with a mighty grip considering how old the boy was. ' ? ' Think of your mother, too,' pleaded the doctor. ' Siie has suffered more for you than you ever can for yourself, and she is dreadfully feeble and nervous ; do try to lighten tiie Ic^f^ which at best must be very heavy to her. ' . *IwiU,'t;akl Jack ;' indeed i will. I'll darn all my own stockings. ' ♦ And,' said the minister, who wished all things done decently and in order as estab- lished ))y Providence, ' pray daily for grace to overcome every sin.' ' I always do, ' said Jack, * but it don't al- ways work.' ' It never will, ' said the minister, ' if you don't act as if your prayer was in earnest. Xo amount of praying will kee]) you out of a mud-puddle if you persist in wanting to go into it. ' ' Well, come along, ' remarked the doctor, who had consulted his watch, and remembered a patient who ex- pected a call just then. The door opened, and the trio stepped into the hall ; just then there came along a zephyr which had passed a kitchen where onions were being builed, but for all that. Jack thought it tlie most delicious breeze that ever blew. The con- stable, who stood outside tiie door gave Jack a most discomposing scowl which was not entirely disconnected with remembrances of water meloi 3, but Jack, instead of I'cpay- ing the scowl in kind, which he could liave done with entire success from his incom- parable collection of faces, inwardly deter- mined that at some appropriate time he would privately apologize to the official and repay his water melon in kind. As his father and the minister turned toward the main street Jack exhi'jited strong manifesta- tions of reluctance, so l^oth gentlemen con- cluded it would be onl^' merciful to lead the boy homeward throi gh less frequented streets. But it seemed to Jack as if tlie whole town had Icnown of liis impcndiiitf re- lease, and were lying in wait to look at lii;n. iShantz, the but^'lier, drove by and glared at hiiu ; old Nokkernian, en route, for supper, looked upon him reproachfully ; Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel, who was mixiufl: mortar in front of a new building, contemplated him with the stony stiire which is not peculiar to cockneys only, and Matt himself went by without bestow ing even a friendly wink upon him. Worst of all, as the trio passed Billy Bar- ker's nouse, tiie nice little sister of Billy liappened to step outside tlie dooi. Jack dropped his eyes so far, but he could not re- sist looking out of their extreme corners to see what she miglit think of him. The face which he saw contained consideral)le won- der, l)ut it also expressed a sorrow which was unmixed with reprobation, and by the time that Jack reached home he was brimful of a feeling to which he had hitherto been an utter stranger. It was not love, as that sentiment is conventionally defined, for it was entirely devoid of pasision and selfish- ness, but it is not surprising that Jack,, having never heard love talked of but in one way — to wit, a strong regard for one pevson. by another person of the opposite sex — should go home with the fii-m cojiviction that he was oceans deep in love witli nice little Mattie Barker, To get a kind look from a person of whom you have never heard any- thing V)ad, a person who never scolded you, nor meddled with any of your atiairs, and in whose face you can see no evidence of guile, will doubtless cause you, adult reader, to contemplate such person with earnest regard, and if you are a man, and the person alluded to is of the other sex, you will hardly be al)le, even in the light of your past experience among humaiiity, to imagine any reason why she may not be as angel in human form. CHAPTl-.R X. yOUNPT AMERICA IN POLITICS. For a month Jack laboured manfully to keep his pledge to eschew the society of boys, and a very miserable mouth it was. He at lirst determined to not even answer any boy who spoke to him, but this lei I to his being called 'Proudy,'and 'Cod-iisli,' and 'Bloated Aristocrat.' All tliis was very galling to a youth who considered him- self pre-eminently a man of the people. Then, one day, as he was hoeing potatoes in the family garden, half a dozen boys hvtncil on the fence for an hour, and shouted Iheiu- selves bourse by exclniiiiiiig in concert, 'Tombptone!' To hold one's tongue, as .Tack did throu;mout the inlliction, is to prove one's self a posfjssor of .a high de,L'ree of self-control. \Viien, Imwever, tlir lialf dozen boys grew an, ury at their iiiahi'ity to elicit any response, and begaikto throw stuiiea .l>$ n^'l so THE WORST BOY IN TOWX. m ill! at the yoiiiiL; garduiua-, Jack's eiuli'.rance esoapeil him suddenly, and he dashed at the fe ce, hoe in hand. All the hoya fled exoejit one who, being a rowdy, had hugged one of the palings in the affectionate manner peculiar to rowvith amazing celerity, invested Jack with a bloody nose and a black eye. Jack was not going to abandon the family property, even in a right, so he retained tight hold of the jugs, raised his hands alternately and smote his antagonist, tirst with one jug and then with the other. Then the rowdy made haste to cry 'Foul!' "but Jack, merely remarking, ' What's sauce for the goose — ' allowed tlie rowdy to com- plete the quotation for himself, strikin/;, him meanwhile wherever an unprotected point presented itself. A final blow in the pit of the stomach caused the rowdy to curl up on the lap of mother earth, and then Jack dis- covered, for the first time, that all that re- mained of the jugs were their respective iiajdles, and that the rowdy was bleeding profusely in several places. Jack had never before seen a more danger- ous wound than a cut finger, and even of these he had seen but one at a time, so he greatly feared that the rowdy would bleed to death. What to do, he did not know ; he recalled the little aflfair of Moses with the Egyptian taskmaster, and determined that flight was the dictate of prudence, but as for burying his victim in the .sand, there was no sand nearer than the river bank, a mile away, and the dirt under the rowdy was a hard- beaten footpath. Away flew Jack toward home and into his father's office, where he exclaimed; ^ ' l'\itlicr, there's a rowdy dying out on the path to the store." said the doctor ; prison expenses a ' Heaven be praised ! ' * that'll lessen the State few dollars.* ' He's bleeding to death,' explained Jack. ' Oh,' said the doctor arising and snatch- ing a c^^se of instruments, ' that's a difTertlit thing ; it now becomes an opportunity for experimental surgery. ' ' It was I that killed him,' continued Jack, in a very thin voice. 'Eh V exclaimed the doctor, dropping his instruments. ' Then } ou'd better get out as fast as you can, and not let me know where you are until vou have to. Don't ever do it — I don't want even to see you again — I wash my hands of you for ever.' • Father !' screamed Jack in utter agony, while gallows trees sprung up before his eyes in eveiy direction, ' let me tell you how it was.' And Jack hastily detailed his ex- periences of the morning, concluding with : ' It was all because I was trying so hard to mind you, and not have anytliing to do with boys. ' The doctor threw his arms around the youth and exclaimed : ' You're a darling, noble, splendid boy, but there is no knowing how a jury may look at the case, when your previous reputation ia considered. Get ready tu hide.' Jack hurried up to his room for what 'teemed to him necessities, but he had time to reflect upon his varied experiences to do right, with their lamentable results, and to wonder if it were not really true, as was im- plied by some novels he had been unfortu- nate enough to read, that fate occasionally forbade some people to do right successfully. Of one thing he was very sure ; come what would, he never could ask nice little Mattie Baker to "become the wife of a murderer. Then he tiptoed feebly, after one or two in- effectual efforts, to his father's room, which ovei'looked the scene of the battle ; it might be that the doctor readied the wounded boy in time to staunch the flow of blood before it was eternally too late. From the window, Jack, with great astonishment and not entirely without disgust, beheld the rowdy sauntering away with his hands in his pockets, while beside him walked the doctor, violently shaking his fist and head at the beaten man, and filling the air with threats which a breeze wafted back to Jack. The surprise was too much for Jack's nerves ; he dropped upon his father's bed and doubted whether he would ever regain his breath again ; then he bemoaned the loss of the vagaljond 'life which had been just 'vithin his gras]jj and which is the ideal of • every boy at a -"ortain period of his life. From this he was recovered by the thouffht THE WORST r.OY IX TOWX. 31 ick's bed ^gain loss just [al of ' life, iffht that, alter all, nice little Mattie Barker was not to.eto:i was upon its last legs. ' *;,/;.!; ni;ieiit es !' (*!i.id grant!) shouted Jac'v' ilown the pipe. This setiu.d to otlcr a clue to the offen- der. 'L'he language was certainly Nuder- kopf Trinkelspiers, and he was positively tlie only Baggs' man jiri-sent, so the shcriii i-.:id two constables dashed at him and rude ly aroused him. It was the only evening nioeting, exempt some of a religious charac- ter, which Xudeikopf had attended during HIS residence in Doveton ; he had freijuently to be aroused in church ; he was vei-y I'cligious and religiously inclined ; tl)e iuivc of uisociation caujed him to imagine opened his eyes, cliippcd over his applied with great head, and tiien he he was in church ; the silence to indicate a. temporary and dangerous stagnation of reli- gious service, so he cleared his throat and successfully launched the first line of a de- votional song before he when a rude hand was mouth and another was force to the side of his was pulled at and dragged, and finally lifted over the back of his seat, which happcm d to be the last bench of the jury box, and was dropped out of the window, landing on the sidewalk three feet below, in a state of confusion which bordered on imbecility. This was too much for such of Nuderkopf's religious associates as were there present, even although they were I'uttytop men, so tiiey arost* to j^oints of order, severjil of them speaking at a time, and tiiey were rebuked by the chair, and hooted at by the roM'diea, who always infested political mecjtings ; and one exeit;i,Me (lernian cast an opprobrious ej)ithet at a conspicuous rowdy, and the rowdy returted by snatcliing a transparency from a bearer, and, throwing it lancewise at the German, the cloth caught fire, and a gereral yell ensued, and everybodj' looked out for number one, with the ix-sult of mak- ing number two of everybody else, and the famous General Twitehwire stepped sudden- ly to a window and jumped out, and tlie sluiriff and the two constables bawled ' or- der' until they were themselves their own auditors, and a body of quiet but ob- servant Baggs' men in the window of a house directly opposite, agreed with each other that tiie Puttytop ticket didn't seem, to be looking up so very much, after alL CHAPTER XL A QUIET LITTLE GAME. When Jack finally left his hiding place ir tl'.e court room, it was with a pretty dis- tinct conviction that no one mouM ever dis- cover his secret, and that the evil of this life seemed as ruthless in its pursuit of .\uderkopf Triukelspiel as in his own case. Then there slowly developed within him the thought that X^iderkopf, who had been the ]n'incipal sufferer by the trick of the speaking-tube, was not even a menJjer of tl:e despised Puttytop faction ; so J:uk, like nuiny another mischief-maker who ii;juvcs some one of whom he has never thought while pla'.ming his departures from recti- tude, sought refuge from his conscience by plunging into gloomy reverie upon the fate- ful lack of sciiuence iu cartiilv affair^j. THE WOI^ST BOY IN TOWN". 33 ilis- this It oi ;ase. him Ibeeii tlie tV.c like luglit lecti- leby fate- Not the U'ast of his trouhha wa.« the fact that, wlioreas in (-tlier days lie might have called all the hoys in tov/i. togftlier and told them the sti^ry oi his cH'ort to purify the State Government, ;iiid delighted hia aoul over this enjoyment i>f it, he could now tell it only to Matt, who, while a very true friend, had not as keen a sense of the ludicrous as Jack could have desired. Still, one hearer would be better than none, and Jack wondered whether it miglC not yet be early enough for him to hurry to Matt's house and impart the delicious story, when suddenly to his great delight, he met Matt himself. * \Vhcre have you been ?' asked Matt, 'I've been over by your house whistling for you for the past hour. And the loveliest thing — oh, my ! Will Pinkshaw has learned a new game of cards — poker they call it, and it's splendid. Gamblers play it for money, but it's just as much fun to bet buttons, or V)eans, or corn-grains, or anything. Will and I have been playing it in the moonlight, by your side fence, ever since dark, and we must have played a hundred games. ' ' It isn't too late for me to learn, is it?' said Jack. * The moon will shine all night.' 'Oh, somebody might come along,' pro- tested Matt. ' The constables prowl around after ten o'clock, you know. ' ' Then let's go into the stable and get on the hay under the big window, ' said Jack. ' The moon shines in there — nice soft seat out of sight — everything. ' 'But we haven't any cards,' said Matt. ' Then borrow W^ill Pinkshaw 's, ' said Jack. 'You bring 'em up to the stable — you know the way — and I'll have a handful of com ready, and we'll have a jolly quiet game for a little while.' Matt was nothing Idth to act upon this suggestion, for new games with cards — or anything else — have a way of utterly en- thralling the juvenile mind. Within ten minutes he was back with the cards, but their owner had refused to loan the piecious pasteboards unless they were accompanied by hims Jif, and Jack experienced a great though * secret joy that without his own direct agency he was brought into company with a boy other than Matt, and at a plact someAvhat diflerent from the Sunday School where alone he had fraternized with boys during the month. The moclm operandi of the game was speedily made known to Jack, the corn was scrupulously divided into three equal portions, and the play began. Jack had npt read Hoyle, so perhaps it was the devil, who is said to T&e par- ticularly encouraging to green players, that decided nearly every game in Jack's favour. Matt was sonc 'busted,' and meekly K: r- riiwed twenty grains of eurn {I'om tiio winner, but the Pinksliaw twin, who had l)et .10 more carefully than Matt, remained financially ecjual to his eiigagemmits. Jack began to wonder whether the Pink- shaw twin might not liave sold his soul to the devil, like some gambler he had road of whose money was magically reproduced as he lost it. The thought caused him to fix- eyes upon the Pinksha'v twin as he had lieeu fascinated by him, and soon he discovered that the arch -adversary of souIh (^ptMatcd from the heart of the owner of tlio un tailing; pile, for the Pinkshaw twin, M'ho had Leon pre-informed of the currency to be used, was seen to slyly take some corn from his pocket and lay it upon his pile. In an instant a sharp quarrel ensued, the Pinkshaw twin lying most industriously and displaying an empty pocket in evidence, Vnit a careful examination of Jack's wii nini,' showed that many grains of sweet corn were among them, whereas there was no such grain in the bin from whioh Jack had sup- plied the general exchequer. So the Pink- shaw twin sullenly confessed, and pleaded that playing for corn-grains was no fun, any- how, for a fellow couldn't do anything with them if he had won them ; he therefijre proposed that the party should play for buttons. 'Where will we get them?' asked Matt.. 'Cut off the suspender buttons on our trousers,' suggested the Pinkshaw twin. 'Neitlicr of you fellows wear galluses, du' you?' The suggestion was acted upon, and t1 e volume of (mrrency being somewhat limited, the betting proceeded quite cautiously. J'>iit luck was still against the Pinkshaw twin, so, desperately remarking that his jacket was an old one, he removed the buttons from them also. And still he lost, so he attacked bis shirt front, although Matt suggested that shirt buttons were hardly big enough to bet with. These came v.-er.t the way of the others, and then the Pink- shaw twin, realizing that no one would fx« him on his way home, denuded his trow.'fers of all the remaining buttons, and tied a string around his waist to hold the garments up. Losing these, he pledged his pocket knife to Jack for ten buttons, with tho; privilege of redemption within twenty- four hours. Then, when he wanted to ' raise ' handsomely ou ' two pair, ' he had nothing to do it with. Jack declining to len-V anything whatever oa the mi.senible secu' .cy of a dirty handkerchief, so he offered to bet his pack of cards as fifty buttons, and Jnrk agi e jd, and calmly displayed ' three 01 a I i ,; % if 81 THE WORST BOY IN TOWN. kind ' and tho Pinkshaw twin was a ruined givimstor. The Pinkshaw twin had been accumulat- ing a large stock of bad temper, however, as tho game nrogroased, and of this he partial- ly divested himself, as the party arose, by striking Jack a heavy blow between the •eyes. Over M'ent Jack, backward, upon some hay which inclined downward ; away he rolled, until stopped by bringing up suil- denly against the shelving root ; tlxire he found himself upon one of those unreason- able hens who persist in stealing a nest late in the season, and 'setting' thereupon with niattniial instincts, the end of wliicli is never cnLiilatcd in advance. The hen naturally pr(jtc.sted, in the loud manner which is said to bo anattiibute of her sex ingeneral.and as .Jack was slow in clianging his position, she continued to protest, and tlien Jack heard the house door open and his father hurry y sitting on ilia jai'kot that night— l»o hatl only done so Ihiit ho niij,'ht l)o cooli-r, and that it might jiievunt tlio sliarp stalks of hay from jiro- tniiling 80 Hucffssfully tiirough Iuh thin tfowHorH. lie could not ioruseo that tht! I'inknhaw twin — hang him! — W(i,.id get angry, ami stamp over tiiiit coat aw ho stnak tho winner— for tliat w;is undouhtodly the time, when, under tho ciiineliing of the Pinkshaw slioe-l-.eel, tiio iMutoiioH were ignited. Why couldn't tho old jacket have burned up, instead of ro- iiiaining to tell tales ? Wliat couhl have i)iougfft the gunmaker, usually so indus- triijurt, to view so uninteresting an olijeot as a liunied stable, and how came ho to walk just wlierohe could espy his own saw ? Why sliouhl tho doctor have assumed, at sight, that the yard of hose had been cut from his own carriage sprinkler ? And why had the whole affair happened on tho evening pre- ceding clean stocking day ? 'Morality is tho order of things.' Jack may never have heard this saying, but ho be- «'aiiio slowly of an opinion whicli embodied t'.ie same idea, aiul ho determined upon a reformation wliichshould leave nothing to lie desired in point of thoroughness. He would not say anytliing about it to his fatiier and iMotlieV, but he would let the truth burst upon tliem oi its own irresistible force some <1 ly. He had his doubts as to whether the announcement of his resolution would have any particular effect any way, for his parents had heard something of the sort before, witii- outbeholdingany particular fruition thereof. He would give up every single pleasure M'liich could not be justified by the JJible it- self. His issue of veracity with the Pink- sluiw twin came to his mind, with the sug- gestion that the only boyish method of .set- tling such affairs was hardly consistent with the nature of his good resolutions. Still, had not Ananias and Sapphira been struck dead for lying ? — surely to give the Pink- shaw twin a sound drubbing would not only be excusable but necessary, as a matter of moral duty. Had not Mr. Daybright him- self preached a sennon to prove that every man was, morally, his brother's keeper, .and was not lying positively forbidden by one of the Ten Commandments ? As for the stable, Jack determined that the first thousand dollars he* earned when he became a man should be given to his father to compensate for the loss of the building and its contents. The building cost but little more tluin half that sum, but the in- terest which would accumulate in six or eeveu years would bring the loss up to the amount detomined upon, and Jack was de- termined to be honest to the last iieiiiiy. Ami if the Pinkshaw twin was any sort of a fellow when he became a man— though from present appearances this seemed improbable -ho would boo the justice of providing tlio money himself, for he had no moral right to get angry at the result of fair play, particidarly after having been himself detected in tho act of cheating. Jack determined to reason calmly with t!i(? I'inkshaw twin on this suliject — after the other settlement had been ma»I(!, of course. Then Jack began to realize t!iat he had catena vtry light breakfast, and that tlic smell of boiling and roasting and baking which was wafted up from the kitchen w;',s particularly tantalizing to a felloAV who had to dine on plain bread. And even this seri- ous thought was overborne by a graver one which camo suddenly to his mind ; coidd nice little Mattie Barker ever brinf» herself to love a gambler who hail liurned down a stable— hid own father's stable, too? Tiiia was too great an agony to be endure(\ — ho could give up his darling sins, but nice little Mattie JJarker was a darling of a diff'ercnt kind. Something ought to be done, and that very promptly, to disabuse Mattie'a mind of the erroneous reports M'hich would l)esure to reach theyounglady'sear8,butwhat could it be? He might write to her the plain, unvarnished tale of the affair, but that would have to admit that ho had gambled, and which would Mattie be likely to dislike most — a possible incendiary or a confessed gambler ? Suddenly, to Jack's great relief, there en- tered Mj tt, whom Mr. Wittingham had fii'Jed to realize had been a participator in th irregularities which led to the destruc- tion of the barn. To him Jack explained the situation regarding the stable, and a right doleful time the two boys had together until Jack remembered that he had not yet informed his l)08om friend of the affair with the political meeting. Jack endeav- oured to recount the incidents thereof in the light of his new resolutions, but Matt's hi- larity becani^ speedily contagious, and with- in a scant ten minutes Jack detected himself, to his great horror, in the act of framing a revised and enlarged order of disturbances for the next great Puttytop meeting, which would take place in about a fortnight, and was arrangir.g that Matt, whom he had, half an hour before, vowed to lead into riffht ways, should blow torpedoes at the speaker through the open windows from a long tube which Jack would have made for the pur- pose. Then nice little Mattie Barker came to li. iiC nil bii til t; HI In til THE WORST nov ix town". the coiiversa- Hecoiuliiry to to iiiiiid during a lull in iuiu, love htiiiiy incnly action, as it ia in ni(»st otliur restluHa iiiituru*. iiiul Jutk, not without miuie cdiilii hioii and halting of Bpcuoh, informed Mutt tliut lie vvuH ill love. ' Why, are you sure ?' asked Matt. ' It's a dead clear thing,' declareil Jack. ' l)ear me !' ejaculated Matt, ' Dear Mattie JJarker !' exclaimed Jack, r.nd instantly hia countenance ran througli the whole chromatic scale of facial expre-s- tiun, and tlieii dropped low, perhaps to rest Ironi its sudden exertion. •That's who, is it?' saiil Matt. ' Yes,' said Jack. ' I didn't mean to tell you. Matt, Ijut it came out all of a sudden. 1 mean to ask you, though, to go and ex- plain things to her, so she shouldn't have to tiiiiik any worse of me than she needs to,' 'AH rigiit,'said tlie literal Matt, ' but I couldn't have very well tolil her if I hadn't Jiuown wluj slie was, you see.' ' Yes, that's true,' admitted J.-ick, * Well, I guess I hail better do it at once, for I saw her sitting on the back piazza, peeling pcaclics, as 1 came along, ami there's no time like the present, you know.' Jack acknowledged to himself the general rpplieation of Matt's plea for promptness, 1 ut he somi-how wished tliat the explanation might be deferred, for he was 90 she (!Ver Iilays marhks iniwaihtyH I've gnt a gorgeous glass alley that I cnuld scud her,' '1 don't know about that,' said Matt, thinking pr(>f(»undly, ' but I guess it wouhl be all right, fo? she can trade it to her lirotiior Dilly fo.- his sleighline to make a skipping-rope of - I'll just suggest that to her.' '(Jood,' said Jac'«. 'You are a true friend, Mittt. Wiien do you suppose you (oidd come back and report ? 1 can't wait till to-morrow morning, but mother wont let you come in a second time to-day, I'm afraid.' ' I'll come under the windo-.- and whistle,' said Matt, 'and you can pui -i r lic.id out and I'll wliisper up.' 'All right,' said Jack, 'and you'll hurry, won't you ? ' Matt promised haste and departed just in time, for Jack's fatlior came in to say tin.t now Matt had liecome a gambler, hi^ visits would have to be discontinued. The.i ! Jack felt desolate, indeed, and he cried, and began to make a series (»f promises, but ho was cut shoit with tlie remark : I ' I've hoard a great deal from a promising boy ; I tiiink I'd enjoy a performing one, as a change.' Jack had thought some of developing to his father his great plan of restitution for the burned stable. But now he detennined most resolutely to remand this great deed to the limbo of surprises, although six or seven years would be a great wliile to defer the en- joyment of observing the effect upon the doctor of the intended opt ration. Then Jack's mother came in, bearing a tray containing several slices of bread, ann a glass of water, and she held the tray before her, exclaiming : ' Behold the w.ages of iniquity, my son. ' Jack beheld, with a hungry glance, and determined that iniquity, besides being un- pleasant, was paid for in currency of but slight intrinsic value. He recalled, some- what to his confusion, the passage of Scrip- ture which asserts that the wicked 'ha\'e more than heart can wish,' and he wondered if his spare repast might not be an indication tliat he was not so very wicked after all. 'Jack,' said Mrs. Wittingham, ' you are killing me by inches. I've reached an ace when I am easily affected by anything un- usual, -whether it is good or bad, and any- thing I hear about you upsets me. ' '^Nobody ever says anything about the good things I do, mother, ' complained Jack. Mrs. Wittingham remembered to have had some such thought at certain times in her own life, wlusa her ^ood deeds were re- i 33 THE WORST BOY IN TOWN. \i H :; '. gaided as actual matters of course, whereas her petty imperfections had been causes of complaint and unkinduess. But to admit Buch a thing would be to give the boy sym- pathy, and should wrong-doera have the «;onsolation which sympatiiy would afford ? So Mrs. Wittingham lost an opportunity of at least narrowing the gulf between her only child and herself, and continued : ' Oh, dear !— I would give anything if I could understand you. I never did any of ihe dreadful things you do.' ' You were a girl,' explained Jack. ' My brothers never did such things, eitherj' said Mrs. Wittingham. • I guess they didn't run and tell you every time they did anything,' the boy sug- gested. 'They had nothing to tell,' said Mrs. Wittingham. And she told the truth ; her brothers had lacked the vitality necessary to persistent mischief-making and had always been con- sidered good boys, though their manliness after tliey reached adult years was strictly of a negative nature, and they had invaria- bly failed in business and everything else they undertook, barring the one who had used slyness as a substitute for strength, and dbcamped to parts unknown with the funds of a corporation of which he had been cashier. But Jack could devise no retort to his mother's last remark, so he moodily took a slice of bread, and the lady departed, con- templating her son with a look far more loving than she ever indulged in when the boy's eyes were upon her. Jack ate his dinnei with considerable gus- to, complaining to himself only of insulli cient quality. As he lifted the last slice from the plate he discovered a bit of paper under it, upon which was pencilled the Scriptural saying, 'The wicked shall jiot live out half their days, ' and Jack consitX.red this Hue the most unsatisfactt)ry dessert that had ever been placed before him. He admitted the truth of all Scripture, how- ever, and he meekly hoped that lie might live loog enougli to earn money to make the l^ayment for that burned stable— this he could surely do, if the wicked Mere allowed a full lialf of three score and ten years. A sudden whistle under the window ban- ished every thought, pleasant and unplea- sant, except of nice little Mattie barker, and though from where Jack sat to the window measured only three or four steps of dis- tance, Jack feit that he consumed at least an hour in traversing it. Finally he looked down, and :\Iatt looked up and whispered ; 'It's all right.' •Glory I' whispered Jacli. ' The glass alley went right to the spot, ' continued Matt, 'for she said she'd wanted that sleigh line for months, but Billy had been too stingy for anything.' ' What did she say — about me, I mean, ' whispered Jack. 'Oh, nothing much,' said Matt, 'that is— well, she said it was too bad that you couldn't get out, and that you should have- to suffer for somebody else's meanness, but she hoped you'd never gamble again.' ' I won't,' said Jack : 'I'll swear it on my Testament, right away.' And Jack's heail was withdrawn for a moment, and then re- appeared, its owner remarki 'g : 'There — that thing is fixed.' ' And she sent you a posy — I've got it in my hat. How will I get it up to you ?' ' I'll let a fish-line down, ' whispered Jack, and hastily suited the action to the word. ' Put it on the upper hook,' Jack continued, 'that's a new one, and no fish has ever mussed it any.' The precious token of regard was hauled up, and Jack kissed it, modestly retiring hia head as he did so. Then he looked from the window again, wfch an exti'emely ra- diant face, and whispered : ' Oh, Matt, I never was so hap})y in my life !' ' Not even when you'd got up to a wood- pecker's nest ?' asked Matt. ' No, ' said Jack, 'nor when I caught that big salmon last year, either. " ' Is that so ?' asked Matt, reflectively. ' Then I think it's time for me to be think- ing about getting in love. And I know it'.s dinnertime. Good-bye.' Matt departed, and for the first time in his life. Jack did not regret the absence ot his favourite companion. Fortunately ho had not drunk the water from his goblet, s ) he placed the flowers therein, and he looked at them, collectively and individually, and he took them out again and kissed their stems, because those were what nice little Mattie Barker's fingers h? 1 touched when she plucked them, and Le skipped six or seven years as if they were mere syllogisms and he a politician, and his fancy invested him with a mustache and nice little Mattie Barker in a dress which touched the grouml, and they were living in a beautiful house overlooking the river, and the finest of fisli- ing rods and double-barrelled guns on racks in the parlour, and a beautiful easy chair which should be Mattie's very own, and a span of crack horses, which he would some- times i' iid his father, and things,aud thiu^.s, and thing.?. THE WOUST BOY IN TOWN". SD mean, haulel littl( CHAPTER XIII. THE BOY WHO WAS NOT AFBAID. When Jack emerged from his enforced re- tirement of the week, it waa with an aristo- cratic complexion, a fine sense of rectitude, and a powerful conviction that in spite of his unsavoury reputation having had addi- tionJil light cast upon it by the burning stable, there still was something worth liv- ing for, and that the something aforesaid was nice little Mattie Barker. The bouquet she had sent him had been carefully preserv- ed throughout the week, though it had not always been easy to secrete it oa the ap- proach of his mother and father. Why he sliould have hidden it from them he could not have told, for tliey would have assumed that he had culled it himself, and they were more than glad on account of the new regard for flowers he had shown since hia sickness ; but it made Jack feel very manly to hide that bouquet, to imagine that it would be removed if discovered, and to think of the desperate deeds he would do rather than have it torn from him. In spite of love, however, the boy felt somewhat as a discharged criminal is sup- posed to feel. He did not know where to go, or what to do. The prohibition of the so- ciety of other boys had been strengthened by new and stringent clauses. Jack could not very well seek out girls to play with, unless he chose to run the risk of being laughed at, and being suspected of fickleness by nice little Mattie Barker. His recent conversa- tions with his mother had not been of a va- riety of which he wanted more, his father was pleasant enough of speech — when not pre-cccupied — but he would persist in aifix- ing a moral or a warning to every sentence he spoke, and though Jack felt sure that no person living had a higher regard for moral applicat'ons than himself, he did not care to have them in everything. His father liketl butter, as was proper enough, but did he mix it with everything he put in his mouth — cake, coffee, fruit, etc.? Jack rather thought not. Perhaps the doctor had never heard of the Pope's bull against the comet and its impo- tence, or he might have evolved a moral ap- plication f.-r his own use, in the matter of Erohibiting Jack from associating with other oys. No matter how earnestly the world, in the time of the Pope alluded to, expressed its objections to associating with comets, the comet came right along as straight as a due deference to solar control would allow. And the onler of seclusion imposed upon Jack diJ not make him any the less yearned after by his late playmates. It began to be no- ticed, by boys of observing habits, tliat the youth of Dovoton were falling into ruts, and showing no inclination to depart from tlieiu ; that there was nothing particular to do ; that the procession of games, eai h according to its season, was lapsing into irregularity ; that nobody got up anything new, and the only plausible reason seemed to be the ab- sence of Jack. In a genei.il convention of boys it was agreed, with but two dissenting voices — those of the jugged loafer and the buttonless Pinkshaw twin — that what so- ciety needed was to have .Tack resume his place in it, and the two dissenters were in- formed that if they didn't make the voto unanimous they would find it advisable to move to the next town. Then it was informally resolved that Jack's father was an old hog, and a protest from lame Joey Wilson, who declared that during his own illness, which had nuidj him lame, the doctor had been just lovely to him, only made it more inexcusable that tlie doctor should not be better to Jack. To such a pitch of indignation did the feeling against the doctor arise, that after the nine o'clock evening bell broke up l'\e convention, the braver and more close-tongued boys ex- pressed their disapprobation of the doctor's course by building a rail fence, some forty lengths long, around the doctor's front gate, carrying the rails from a pasture a square away. To remove this fence, and replace the rails in their rightful positions, requir^-d all of Jack's time during the following week, noting which fact the boys doubted whether their operation against the doctor had hecn a positive success, wliile Jack himself per- ceived, as he perspired, that even sympathy has its penalties. But he adhered manfvUy to his good reso- lutions. As the time for the next Putty op demonstration approached, he determined that ho would leave all his delightful devieci to the friend who suggested them to him, while to Matt, who one day sneaked to the fence and asked when that new torpi'i.) blower' could be had, Jack tragically ex- claimed, " Get thee behind me, >Satan. " T'» be sure he said it before he had taken tini'j to ponder upon the advisability of saying it, and the instant it escaped his lips he wished he had only thought it instead of uttering itr but none of this reconsideration had any effect upon Matt, for on receipt of the unex- pected reply, he had bestowed just on.; frightened look upon .Tack and then taken t>» his heels, and remained invisible to Jac'v. through all subsequent days until he r^ - • coivctf an aj-oloyetic note, after which ccnu-- % RiPP' mmtm WMl|,l •mmil iij.,j|Juiia|iitWi 40 THE AYOrST BOY IN TOWN. t dc;iife was restored by supplementary pro- ceedings at tlie gate. 'I'be great Puttytop demonstration was t (IVcted without disturbance, but there were bonie signs of despondency manifestey the treatment which Is'uderkopf Trinkelspiel had received, made their grievance an affair of natiofialty, and Avent over bodily to Baggs' faction. As the few last days of the campaign approached, Jack's patriotic spirit began to chafe at in- action, and he finally became excited to the pitch of asking his father whether he might not take part in the great and final Baggs' torchlight procession. The doctor was astonished by the temerity of this request, i)ut he was himself a Baggs man. Doveton was too far from any great city for politics to have become exclusively ro^vdyish, the marshals of the procession were nearly all church members, Jack had been (juiet for a long time, so the doctor gave his assent, taking the precaution, however, to make a l>efsonal appeal to each marshal to keep an eye on the boy. Jack was overjoyo school, and given him evorj'thing he's askeu for that was within reason. ' ' Within our reason, yes, ' said the doctor, ' but I remember to have had tastes differ- ent from my parents, when I was a boy, and they were not at all bad, either. ' ' I've prayed for liim, heaven knows how earnestly, ' said Mrs. Wittingliam. ' So have I,' said the doctor, * but I don't cure my patients by prayer. And my own boy, my only don, who has more good quali- ties than all my patients put together, I've never paid special attention to, except wlicn his ways were irregular. And I am tlie man whose address — "An Ounce of Preven- tion is worth a Pound of Cure," — made me such a name when I read it before the State Medical Association ! Oli, consistency ! ' ' But what are you going to do, doctor ? ' asked Mrs. Wittingliam. 'There's no know- ing where he may be, or what he will do — THE WORST BOY IN TOWX. a perhaps we'll hear of him in some peniten- tiary/' ' Or in Congress,' said the doctor. ' Hell be a Hmart enough rascal to get there, witli that busy brain and smart tongue of his.' * But you must do sometliing, doctor, * pleaded Mr^. Wittingham. 'I'll tell you what I'll do first,' said the doctor, springing from his chair; 'I'll go and burn up that infernal book on heredity ; a man who can't understand his own flesh and blood, isn't fit to write about those of the rest of the race. Then I'll hi e both constables to track him, first swearing them to secrecy. I giiess I won't burn the book, though — I'll learn enough by this experience to tell the truih instead of running a lot of theories on the public' The constables were on the road in an hour, and the doctor, pleading a sudden call out of town, turned over his patients to the least disagreeable of his rivals, and took the road himself. But no one seemed to have seen Jack. Matt knew nothing about him, and the doctor reached home at midnight, look- ing as many jears older, as he certainly was, wiser and sadder. All night long Jack's parents lay awake in eadi other's ai'uis, crying, praying, reproach- ing themselves and excusing each other, and fonnmg self-denying resolutions for tlie future, in which they hoped to have their boy again. With each gust of wind, Mrs. Wittingham shuddered, and suggested dread- ful possibilities, and the doctor comforted his wife while lie kept to himself suggestions equally dreadful. The rain sat the doctor to fearing dangerous sickness to the boy who was in such unlit condition to breast a storm. When he was a scrapegrace boy himself, and away from home, he hail always sense enough to go into a barn when it rained, but he never tlioaght to attribute this much of Avisdoin to Jack, for his tlioughts kept recuiiing to the boy's earlier days, when Jack was a sturdy, merry, helpless baby, and his parents had planned such a delightful future for the jolly little rogue. A swing of tlie gate leading to the barn- yard brouglit the doctor to his feet, and hurried him out into the storm with bare head and feet, Init, alas, it was only the wind. A nuiiUed step on the back piazza called him again from his bed. but he found oidy the family cat. He grew too weak to try to silence his wife's fears, too weak to tliink, too Aveak to examine his own appre- hensions, too weak to do anything but pray and promise. At early dawn he dressed himself and hurried out to feed his horse, so tliat tlie animal might be ready for an early Btart. He gave the pony an extra measure of com, and climbed into the Iiayloft to push down som<>Jiay. An old hat of Jack's lay upon the liay a little way of, and the doctor snatched it and kissed it passionately, his eyes .filing with tears as he did so. Then, as he wiped his eyes, ho saw some- thing else that reminded him of his boy, though he scarcely knew wliy. He stopped to pick it up, aiui a haul yell resulted, for the dingy object was Jack's liair, the owner of which had buirowed the remainder ot himself deep in the warm hay. Tears, fears, prayers, good resolutions and all other products of night and penitence escaped the doctor as if they were dreams, and he ex- claimed : 'Well, sir!' ' Oh, father !' said Jack. ' Is tiiis as far as you've been ?' demanded the parent, indignant about what seemed to him sympathy obtained under false pr«- oences. ' Oh, no, ' said Jack, * I've had an awful time. You may punish me all you want to, but you can never make me suffer as I've done to-nik. ' and if I can't see things that^ j I have to do others.' good to do, The doctor remembered having had somo such experience himself, in the days of liis own mischief-making, but he answered gravely : 'I have to spend a great deal of time in sick-rooms, my boy, where it would not i»e convenient for you to be.' ' Then let me be with you when you're at home,' said Jack, ' and,' he continued,ratlior hesitatingly, ' let me ask (luestions, and you try to answer so I can understand you.' The doctor dimly realized that when he ■was busy he did not answer questions wil- lingly or lucidly, but he replied : ' Von ask a great many (questions about things which I don't think you should know about, Jack.' ' Well, ' .said Jack, ' I can't help thinking about them, and when you turn me oil', I nearly always ask somebody else and I lind out anyhow.' The idea that other people should be tell- ing his boy about matters which he declined imonning him upon was a bloM' to the doc- tor's self-respect, and his sense of propriety, too, for he knew what class of i)eople Jack would be likely to apply to for information, and the nature of the answers whicli would be given. The doctor pondered a little while, and then said : ' Jack, how would you like to learn a trade ? You could be with me in the evenings, your know. ' ' What sort of a trade ?' said Jack. ' Whatever you like, ' said the doctor. ' T wouldn't for anything have you at any that was distasteful to you. You certainly like to use tools — you have ruined all of mme in various ways. ' 'I think I'd like to be a carpenter, ' said Jack. 'Then you shall,' said the doctor. ' If you like it, and stick to it, I'll set you up as a builder when you learn it, but the moment you grow sick of it I want you to let mo know. You are smart enough to become a good architect, and that's a more profitable profession than mine ' ^j*lj so THE WORST BOY IN TOWX. i* ; > h in r f^;\«!l';: ' May I have tools uf my uwn ?' aiiked Jiuik. ' Yea, ' replied hia fatlit-r, 'tliu best that niDuey can buy. And 1 will go riglit away and liud some one who will ttiueli you.' The doctor went strai^^'litway to the })e8t builder in tlie neighbourhood, and hud tiie proposition civilly but promptly declined. 'Every boy I ever took inan.-.ged to ruin all my l)est tools within a year,' explained the builder, ' to aay nothing of the lumber which he worked up into fancicB of his own and ruined by failures of one sort and another. ' ' I'll buy my boy the best and largest set of tools that you can select, ' said the doctor. For a moment this otFer seemed an in- duceument to the builder, for tliere were many tools which he disliked to buy, yet needed occasionally to use ; he might bor- r(jv\- from the promised outfit. But as he tliought further, he replied : •' You're very fair, but tools aren't every- thing. If I do the square tiling by the boy, I must use a great deal of time in teaching him, and time is money. My time is money. My time is worth a groat deal n-re than the boy's work will be for a couple of years.' 'I'll pay you cash for your time,' said the doctor ;' I'll give you a thousand dollars in advance, if you say so. " This oft'er staggered the builder, prosper- ous though he was, for where is the man V'ho does not want a thousand dollars ? But still the builder hesitated, and the doctor asked : ' What else do you want ?' ' Well, " said the builder, prudently retir- ing to the doorway of a house he was l)uild- ing, ' what I want is to tell you something tliat maybe you won't like, but I can't help taking it into consideration. They do say — / don t say it, mind, but I've heard it from a good many — that Jack is the worst boy in town. ' ' It's a lie !' roared the doctor. ' He's the best — that is, he has the best stuff in him. He's never quiet ; he learns his lessons as quickly as a flash ; he hates work about the house, just as I'll warrant you did when you were a boy, and he must do something. He likes to handle tools, though, and wants to be a carpenter. ' ' Liking its all very well,' said the builder, • but sticking to work don't naturally follow.' 'Did you ever hear of his dropping a job of mischief until he had thoroughly finished it?'a8ked the doctor. 'No, 'answered the builder with great promptness. The final result was that sundry papers and monies passed between the doctor and the builder, and on the following Mondav morning Jack was at work at seven o'clock I. ailing planking upan a barn. The news got about town very rapidly, and by nuon there were at least twenty boys looking at the unexpected spectacle, and tcn-mentiiig Jack with ironical ({uestions. When night came Jack's hand felt as if it could never grasp a iiaminer agaii^ and he was other- wise so weary tiiathe declined without thanks, an inviibation to go with the otiier boys to serenade a newly-married couple with horue and bells. Then he helped shingle a portion of the roof of the new barn, but his mind was greatly distracted by the awkwa- 'ness of a noy, in an adjoining pasture, who was trying to braid together the tips of tlie tails of two calves ; the conseijuence was tljat lie had progressed so short a distaine with his own row of shingles that the (jtlier workmen had gone across the barn and returned to start afresh, and, as tiiey rested until .faok got out of the way, they ungratefully up- braided him because of his slowness, and lie wasn't going to be called slow again, not for all the calves' tails in the universe. This book might have been continued in- definitely, had it not been that .lack was steadily at work which he liked, and had a great deal of liis father's society out of working hours. CJaining these he lost his reputation for being the worst boy in town, for although he remained for several years a boy and a very lively one, he had some- thing beside mischief to excercise his busy brain upon, and a boy cannot be honestly busy and mischievous also, any more than he can eat his cake and have it too. Even the doctor and Mrs. Wit- tingham reformed, though it was very hard for the latter to stop fretting at the boy, and for the former to cease acting as if his son, like his horse, merely needed food, rest and correction. Jack did not go about preaching reform to the boys and advising them all to l)e car- penters, but he unconsciously talked from a standpoint very different from that which he had habitually occupied iir other days, and his talk came gradually to exert con- siderable influence among the boys, though they seldom noticed the change them- selves. Jack's very title, " The Worst Boy in Town," was in considerable danger of lapsing for lack of a successor, and the inhabitants of Doveton are still un- decided as to where it belongs. As for the doctor's great work on heredity, it is not in print yet, for the doctor happen- ed one day, while mourning over a neglected and consequently unpi'oductive Bartlett jiear tree, to drift into some analogies between THE WORST BOY IN TOWN. thi; animal and vu^utaUe kingdoms, with tlu! result that he realized that if the spluii- did hereditary tendenciua of the tree could not prevent itu IturenesH and ita running to supertluuua wood, there uould be no hope of an untrained buy, even if he waa ft scion of the Wittingham stuck. This idea tuuk sucli ontiru posHcssiun of the d'lotor that he wont into the house au«l bui'ucd his manuHuri^it as far as completed, aiidall the notes beside. According to Jack, who professes to be jin infallible authority on tiie subject, nice little Mattie iJarker grows nicer every day, and she has promised tu change her name m the course of time, and her parents have en- dorsed her diicision, for though Jack is not yet of age, steftdy boys who are also bright, and have learned u biif^iiiess ^rhich is not Akiu either to gambling or thcit, are not nnmerous enouph to be despised. And Jack haa a whole portfolio of cottage plaiiR, nil of his own doHigniiig, over which he and Mattie spend long and industrious evenin;^^, and Jack has taken a soKniu vow that when the proper plan is decided upon, and the build- ing begins, Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel shall be the sole hud-carrier, and shall 1h« paid the higliest market rateH for his service.^. Being practically a successful man, .laa'< is the receptacle for the confidences of iMst'^ of old playmates, who feel that their good qualities are not appreciated by a world which is quick to complain of the occasional irregularities, but he has sent many of these youths sadly away by remarking : ' It doesn't matter how many good quail* ties are inside of a fellow, if omy his bad uueb make theiiuielvt>s lively uii the surface.' vuna. i ' ii *