LIVELY BOYS! LIVELY BOYS /" 
 
 IKE PARTINGTON; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF A HUMAN BOY 
 AND HIS FRIENDS^. '- ' 
 
 B. P. SHILLABER, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " PARTINGTONIAN PATCHWORK," "LINES IN 
 PLEASANT PLACES," ETC. 
 
 " Oh ! when I was a tiny boy, 
 My days and nights were full of joy, 
 
 My mates were blithe and kind: 
 No wonder that I sometimes sigh, 
 And dash the tear-drop from my eye, 
 
 To cast a look behind." HOOD. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM. 
 1879. 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1878, 
 
 ILLA 
 
 reserved 
 
 Electrotype* and Printed 
 
 By Rand, Avery, &* Company, 
 
 7/7 Franklin Street, 
 
 Boston. 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 " Dining once with a friend, whose family consisted of only himself and 
 three boys, conversation with my host was interrupted by a violent out- 
 break among the latter ; and, as we turned, a plate of squash was hurled 
 by one at his opposite neighbor, which took a perfect cast of his counte- 
 nance. My host, turning to me, simply said, ' Lively boys, lively boys, 
 doctor ! ' and resumed the remark he had been making." DR. TREAT'S 
 Diary and Table-Talk. 
 
 IN judging the boy, liveliness should not be mistaken 
 for wickedness, if anybody can stop long enough to 
 discriminate ; but a plate of flying squash, for the mo- 
 ment, might well awake a doubt, except in the mind 
 of the one who understood the parties. The stories 
 herein told must be judged in this way. They illus- 
 trate the general conduct of the " Human Boy, " as 
 Mr. Chadband calls him ; and the term " Lively Boys " 
 will better distinguish conduct that may be mischievous 
 without being malicious. Ike, as the representative Boy, 
 has long demonstrated this idea. The Boy must not 
 be judged by the standard of Childhood or Manhood. 
 He has a sphere of his own; and all of his mischief, 
 
 M115404 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 frolic, and general deucedness belongs to his own condi- 
 tion. The Boy* has but little plan, purpose, or intention, 
 in what he does, beyond having a good time. Boys that 
 think, and have no interest in the doings of boyhood, 
 may be delightful aids to a quiet home; but the life, 
 spirit, energy, and health of the active Boy, come with 
 his activity. As for boyish fun, it is not so much that as 
 it is experiment ; and the boyish reader of these pages 
 will see how it is for himself. He will see his own 
 motives, impulses, and conduct, in the incidents nar- 
 rated ; and those of older growth, who once were boys, 
 will read in them their own early experiences. Boys 
 will be boys. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Moving Incidents. Settled at " The Corner." The Creek and 
 
 Surroundings. Seasonable Prospects. Ready for Action . 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Ike goes to School. Plot and Counterplot. Teacher twice sold. 
 
 The Bewitched Chair. " Jump him, Jackson 1 " One for 
 
 the Teacher 19 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Creek Poets. Ballad of Bull Pad-dock. Round the Old 
 
 Cellar. Ike drops in at a Frogs' Concert .... 31 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Oven by the Shore. The Sea- Monster. Captain Bob sent 
 
 for. The great Show. The Captain treats on Grape-Culture. 44 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Voyages on the Creek. " The Jolly Robin." The Strange Sail. 
 
 Ike shipwrecked. Captain Bob to the Rescue. Sea- 
 Yarn. Mrs. Partington admonishes 58 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Neighbor Grum's Surprise-Party. Boys on the Grass. Grum a 
 
 Prisoner. An Important Question 68 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Dr. Spooner at Clam Corner. Sunday Morning. Ike surprised. 
 
 A Bald Head deceptive. Visit abruptly concluded . . 79 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Ike and Sim at the Farm. The drowned Woodchuck. The 
 
 Hornet's Nest. Uncle Tracy in Trouble 89 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. PAGE 
 
 Going Fishing. Commodore Huntress The Commodore on 
 Deep-water Fishing. " Gaft him, William." Ike caught by 
 a Fish-hook. Work of High Art. Patriotic Rooster. Ike 
 at the Churn-dasher. Uncle Tracy Son-struck . . . 100 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Homeward bound. Drifting down the River. The Ancient Fish- 
 erman. Bites. Pulling in the Bluefish. An intercepted 
 Letter. Captain Bob on Truth. His Sealing-voyage . .114 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The Wood-rangers. The old Gun and the Cats. Ground and 
 
 Lofty tumbling. Ike crippled by a Fall .... 129 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Amusing the Invalid. Trying a Cat's Temper. The old Ante- 
 diluvian. Queer Stories. The Fight at Sheldon's. Mak- 
 ing up I3$T 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Race with the Teacher. Big on Ice. Coasting on Cruft's Hill. 
 The " Red Fawn " and " King of the Coast." Mounting the 
 Drift. Ike triumphant. Grum off his Legs. Boys will be 
 Boys 153 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The drowned Boy. Captain Bob's Effort. The Faith that kills 
 Snakes. North End and South End. The Snow-fort. 
 Battle of New Orleans Reversing History . . . .166 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Winter Evenings. Neighborly Gatherings. A Night at Mrs. 
 I'artington's. Story by the Teacher. Captain Bob regard- 
 ing Mermaids 184 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Ice-navigation on the Creek. Ike strikes a Rock. Cries for Help. 
 drum under a New Aspect. A Door of Escape. The 
 New Planet. An exploding Star. Ike's Moral Culture. 
 Performance on the Organ. Couldn't play it on him. Sliver- 
 ing. The Close 209 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MOVING INCIDENTS. SETTLED AT "THE CORNER." 
 
 THE CREEK AND SURROUNDINGS. SEASONA- 
 BLE PROSPECTS. READY FOR ACTION. 
 
 IT was with a feeling of real pleasure that Mrs. 
 Partington grasped Dr. Spooner's hand, and 
 bade him welcome ; although she confessed that 
 she was " a little decomposed " at being caught 
 just as she was, as she was not dressed for com- 
 pany, and asked him to excuse her. 
 
 " Make no apology to an old friend, I beg," said 
 he. 
 
 " Thank you, doctor : please sit down," placing 
 a chair for him. 
 
 He did so, but immediately rose again as he 
 found that he had seated himself, by the dim 
 light, upon something warm ; and a shallow pan of 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 ; Vhich Ike had placed there a few 
 minutes before while he went out to set a slip- 
 noose in the fence for a cat, came up with him. 
 Mrs. Partington was much mortified ; but the doc- 
 tor re-assured her as he sat down safely in another 
 chair, though a little sticky. 
 
 " I wished to see you," she said, " to ask your 
 advice about Isaac. He isn't well, I know, 
 because he does not act well ; and what would 
 feed him would feed a robin, he eats so little. I 
 think of leaving here for a place where the air is 
 more embracing, and where he can stave round 
 and recooperate." 
 
 "Ah!" replied he. "That is indeed an im- 
 portant step." 
 
 " I wished to ask your opinion whether living 
 contagious to a river would be dilatory to him, for 
 I think he has a tenderness to bronchical diffi- 
 culty." 
 
 " I don't think it would be bad for him," replied 
 the doctor, "unless he fell into the river, and 
 couldn't swim." 
 
 " I'm shore I'm glad to hear you say so," said 
 the dame, her anxiety evidently much relieved. 
 
 "But what about his schooling? Are there 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 9 
 
 good schools where you intend to go ? " asked the 
 doctor. 
 
 " Yes : there are degraded schools, just as they 
 are here, and education is dispensed with pretty 
 much the same." 
 
 "Where is the location, madam ?" 
 
 " Oh ! it is quite different from that, I assure 
 you, and not low at all. The situation is lovely. 
 The house is by the side of a creek that is not 
 very roominous, but it is great for eelgrass." 
 
 " I mean, where is it ? " and the doctor smiled at 
 her misapprehension. 
 
 " It is on the Hardup Railroad ; and I shall buy 
 two shares of the stock if it will not cost more 
 than five dollars for both, so that Isaac and I can 
 come up to the stockholders' meetings." 
 
 " Your plan, my dear madam, is a good one. I 
 certainly think the change will benefit the lad ; 
 and though we shall miss him undoubtedly, the 
 knowledge that he is bettered by going will sus- 
 tain those he leaves behind. In fact, I think that 
 all the neighbors, seeing the advantage it will be 
 to him, will surrender every personal considera- 
 tion, and, in the kindness of their hearts, be glad 
 that he has gone." 
 
1O IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " I am truly delighted to know this. Our new 
 home is not so exorbitant as some ; but, if you can 
 come to see us in your summer vexation, you will 
 find room to be entertained." 
 
 " I shall certainly be most happy." 
 
 Ike had come in, and was looking for his candy. 
 Dr. Spooner arose to take his leave; but the 
 molasses troubled him, and he felt, as he said 
 " Good-by," like a big bee which had been revel- 
 ling in stolen sweets, and was taking some away 
 with him. 
 
 When the time arrived for the promulgation of 
 the fact that she was going, Mrs. Partington was 
 surprised and much gratified to find so deep an 
 interest felt in her boy. His health, the neighbors 
 all said, should not be neglected on any account ; 
 and, as Dr. Spooner had intimated, they were not 
 disposed to present a single obstacle. They 
 hoped he would be better by going ; and certainly 
 there seemed much room for improvement. 
 
 Ike was unfortunate in being too popular. He 
 was an active, bright-eyed, curly-headed, roguish 
 little fellow, with no doubt about the latter 
 quality, a leader in all boyish sports, known to 
 everybody as a lively lad ; but, though engaged in 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. II 
 
 many an act called "mischievous" by those who 
 had forgotten that they were once boys them- 
 selves, there was nothing malicious in his conduct. 
 Of course he got a bad reputation ; and, when any- 
 thing was done for which an author was wanted, 
 it had become a sort of fashion with the neigh- 
 bors to say that it was "one of Ike's tricks." 
 Many a time was this said as an excuse for their 
 own boys, in whom they could see no wrong 
 except what they had caught, as it were like 
 the measles ; and so Ike had to bear all the ills 
 that were his own, and theirs too. But he didn't 
 care. Who ever knew a boy that was morbidly 
 sensitive, or cared a continental copper what peo- 
 ple said about him ? He lives in a world of his 
 own, a sort of Ishmael on a small scale. And 
 this name applies very well ; for Ishmael means 
 " God who hears," and He cares for the human boy, 
 whatever any may say, and all the boy's eccen- 
 tricities harden in good time into manly character. 
 In due time Mrs. Partington packed up her 
 furniture and other portable goods, and left for 
 her new home. The good dame went with the 
 last load, sitting with the driver on the front seat ; 
 while Ike, astride of a trunk on the hind part, 
 
12 
 
 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 threw chunks of coal from a near basket at a dog 
 which came smelling round the wagon as if from 
 a wish to know what it all meant. Mrs. Partington 
 waved her umbrella in farewells, which were cor- 
 dially returned, 
 until an interven- 
 ing corner 
 
 the scene from her view, 
 perhaps forever. 
 
 The spot which she had 
 _ chosen for her new abode 
 was named Clam Corner by general usage, be- 
 cause of the many clams to be found there on 
 the shore. "The Creek," however, was the polite 
 name it bore. Her house was on the bank of the 
 creek, which was a beautiful stream what there 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 13 
 
 was of it flowing in from Rapid River. The 
 river also bore an Indian name, which signified 
 " Fish Water ; " and although its name may not 
 be found on any map, it was regarded by those 
 who lived near it as the grandest river in the 
 world. 
 
 The " Corner " was part of Rivertown, a 
 populous city : and there was quite a settlement 
 along the bank of the creek ; and, of the houses 
 composing this, Mrs. Partington's was one of 
 the neatest. An orchard, consisting of one scat- 
 tering tree, sloped back from the cottage to the 
 water's edge ; and the view from the back win- 
 dows extended as far as the eye could reach, in- 
 cluding the little village of Grace on the oppo- 
 site bank, an old graveyard on the right, and on 
 the left the creek, with deserted brick-works in 
 the distance. The convenience of water made 
 it a fine place for a boat in summer ; and one 
 could see that in winter there must be a grand 
 chance to skate there, if the water froze over, 
 which seemed very probable. There was consid- 
 erable of a hill at no great distance, promising 
 rare coasting ; and nearer, on a little rise of the 
 land, an old cellar, which some one had dug out 
 
14 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 many years before, and, failing to build over it, 
 had left it for the accommodation of frogs, in 
 summer, to hold free concerts in. 
 
 The reputation of Mrs. Partington and Ike had 
 reached the " Corner " before they did ; and their 
 coming caused a stir that it had not experienced 
 for a long time. The boys regarded Ike as an 
 important addition to their numbers ; and they 
 flocked round, thick as bees, to welcome him. 
 They were all "hail fellow, well met," in ten 
 minutes. Ike's reputation had also reached the 
 ears of Mr. Grum, a rough and disagreeable 
 person who lived in the house next to the 
 cottage of Mrs. Partington ; and he was preju- 
 diced against him from the start. He was living 
 alone, with his niece for a housekeeper, his wife 
 being dead, and his children grown up and moved 
 away ; and he saw trouble ahead from this new- 
 comer. He was out in his front yard a fine 
 green lawn the next morning after the new 
 arrival, and watched Ike, not very pleasantly, as 
 he came along whistling, with a switch cutting 
 off the heads of the weeds along the path. 
 
 " Hallo ! " cried he gruffly, or Grumly, " what's 
 your name ? " 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 15 
 
 "Ike Partington, sir," replied the boy, as he 
 spoke stripping the leaves from a green twig that 
 struggled through Grum's fence. 
 
 " Well, let that bush alone, and see that you 
 behave yourself." 
 
 "I'll try, sir." 
 
 " You'd better. Don't let us have any of your 
 city pranks here. If I catch you in any mischief 
 about my place, I'll take your hide off. Do you 
 hear?" 
 
 " Yes, sir," kicking at a mullein-root. 
 
 "Be sure you keep away from this grass. If 
 you step your foot on it, I'll take a whip to you. 
 Do you hear ? " 
 
 "Yes, I ain't deaf." And then he for the first 
 time looked at the grass, and thought, that, of all 
 things in the world, he just then would like to 
 play circus on that grass, and stood looking at it 
 so earnestly that Grum told him to go home ; and 
 he went, giving a defiant look at the old man, who 
 thought he saw mischief in that boy. Ike didn't 
 care for his threats ; and all day long he thought 
 of that little grass-plat, not two rods square, when 
 there were acres of as good grass all around that 
 he didn't think of at all. He saw in his sleep, 
 
1 6 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 that night, a circus of fifty boys trampling down 
 Grum's grass, while the old man stood at an 
 upper window, threatening them with a double- 
 barrelled shot-gun, which wouldn't go off; and he 
 awakened himself with laughing. 
 
 There was another neighbor, of quite a differ- 
 ent sort, with whom Ike soon got acquainted. 
 This was "Captain Bob," as everybody called 
 him ; and a queer old fellow he was too. He 
 was very rough-looking in his dress, wore a 
 woollen jacket, thick pants, with wide legs, 
 inside of his boots, and a Scotch cap on his 
 head ; but he had a cheery face and a good 
 word at all times, and won Ike's heart in spite 
 of his uncouth looks. He had been a sailor in 
 his young days, and had lots of wonderful stories 
 to tell about the sea. To sustain his salt-water 
 habit, he kept several boats on the creek, which 
 he let to the boys, with all of whom he was an 
 immense favorite. His wife used to say, as she 
 saw them round him, that he was the greatest boy 
 of them all. 
 
 " How fare'ee, lad ? " he would cry, as he saw 
 Ike go by; and Ike would say, "All right, 
 Cap'n," showing that they were the best of 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. I/ 
 
 friends. The captain told his wife that he liked 
 that little chap, for he had the real ginger in him ; 
 and Ike believed that since the days of Noah 
 there had been no such navigator as Captain Bob. 
 
 Ike soon grew familiar with the people and the 
 locality; but one object of the latter, more than 
 any other, attracted his attention. The street 
 through the Corner ended on a cross street, one 
 side of which was formed by a high wall ; and 
 beyond this the boys could not go. This wall 
 enclosed on three sides an old mansion and 
 grounds, the fourth bordering on the creek. A 
 crevice had been cut through the broad wooden 
 gate which opened into the grounds ; and beyond 
 it could be had limited views of luscious fruit 
 which hung near the earth, and on these the eyes 
 of the boys gloated every day. There was, how- 
 ever, the shadow of a black dog named Jack, 
 whose bark was not very pleasant to hear ; and it 
 restrained longing to their side of the wall, keep- 
 ing them honest. Ike longed with the rest ; but 
 it was ineffectual, for the present at least. 
 
 Before a ship goes into a battle the decks are 
 always cleared ; and so this chapter has been 
 simply preparation for the action of Ike and his 
 
1 8 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 friends during the year to which time it is limited. 
 The scene all laid out, and the main characters 
 introduced, there is nothing to prevent smooth 
 sailing ; and the next chapter will show how Ike 
 got along at school. 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. IQ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IKE GOES TO SCHOOL. PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT^ 
 
 TEACHER TWICE SOLD. THE BEWITCHED 
 
 CHAIR. "JUMP HIM, JACKSON ! " ONE FOR 
 
 THE TEACHER. 
 
 MRS. PARTINGTON was desirous of put- 
 ting Ike into the "degraded" school, as 
 she expressed it, and consulted her neighbor Mr. 
 Grum about it, because she saw that he had a 
 bald head, and deemed that it was full of wisdom. 
 It reminded her, as she looked at it, of an un- 
 abridged dictionary. 
 
 "Is there a degraded school near here?" she 
 asked. 
 
 " They all are, I should think, from the kind of 
 boys they turn out," said he. " I have to keep an 
 eye on my grass when they are round." 
 
 " Is the teacher sufficient ? " 
 
 " Quite so : I don't see how he could be any 
 more." 
 
2O IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " Does he practise moral training in his school ? " 
 "I guess so : the boys are great trainers." 
 " I don't want my boy to train maliciously, as 
 they do in some schools, with guns, and real per- 
 secution caps on 'em." 
 
 " Very proper, ma'am ; but he must be careful 
 and not train on my grass." 
 
 So, after going through the usual forms, Ike 
 was duly enrolled a scholar in " graded school No. 
 4," Rivertown. He went to school on Monday, 
 with Mrs. Partington's smiles and an armful of 
 books ; she having charged him to bemean himself 
 exceptionably, and try for the medal, and he would 
 be sure to win it, as he certainly was a very med- 
 alsome boy. He soon got the "hang of the 
 schoolhouse," and awakened such an interest in 
 the teacher, the very first day, that he watched 
 him almost all the time. The teacher saw, un- 
 doubtedly, that he was a boy of remarkable merit. 
 Before he had been there a week, by close applica- 
 tion he had cut a hole through his desk, spilled his 
 ink on the floor, and took a place so far down in 
 his class that it was very fortunate for him the 
 class was no longer. To enable him to apply 
 himself more diligently to his studies, he was made 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 21 
 
 to stand on various pedestals, like a Hindoo idol ; 
 but this only made the boys laugh, though he 
 made no sign to cause it, so far as the teacher 
 could see, and he proved a capital example of how 
 not to do it. 
 
 The teacher was a sharp and severe man, who 
 had few pleasant words to waste on scholars, and 
 gave them a frequent taste of " correction," as he 
 termed it ; but they took a different view of it, and 
 called it "licking," and were not at all grateful for 
 the favor intended. They had very little respect 
 for the teacher, although they were afraid of him ; 
 and his school, for order, had the best reputation 
 of any school in town. One blow of his rattan on 
 the desk would produce the most perfect silence ; 
 and every one would take to studying, with one eye 
 on the rattan, as if his life depended on the effort. 
 
 He seemed to look upon all the scholars as con- 
 spirators against his peace and dignity ; and Ike, 
 from the first moment of his entering the school, 
 was an object of especial distrust. A boy can 
 detect a feeling of this kind very quickly, and it 
 does not cause him to feel very agreeably towards 
 the one who suspects him. Do what he would, 
 the teacher's eye was on him ; and there was really 
 
22 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 little encouragement to do well ; and Ike thought 
 that if an opportunity should arise when he could 
 play a trick upon the teacher, he would do it. The 
 occasion was not long in offering itself. 
 
 It was a serious offence to bring any book into 
 the school except those they studied, and several 
 boys had been " corrected" for presuming to do 
 so. One day the teacher, on looking as usual 
 towards Ike, who sat apparently very busy with 
 his task, saw, or thought he saw, the end of another 
 book projecting beyond the one that he should be 
 studying. He was eager to detect him in the very 
 act, and so would not speak to him, nor let him 
 know that he suspected him ; but watching the 
 boy stealthily a moment, till he was quite sure he 
 was right, he left his. desk to make a circuit of the 
 room, that he might come up behind the culprit, 
 and surprise him. He chuckled to himself as he 
 thought about it, and planned some new mode of 
 punishing the offender. What an example he 
 would make of him when caught ! He went first 
 to the window, and looked out ; then he passed 
 quietly down the side aisle, glancing at the work 
 the boys were doing. Reaching the back of the 
 room, he paused a moment, and then moved slowly 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 23 
 
 along the centre aisle, on tiptoe, to where the 
 transgressor sat. He knew that the boy was 
 guilty, because he could plainly see two books 
 open before him. He knew also that he was not 
 observed by the offender, who seemed entirely 
 absorbed by his book. He therefore crept along 
 stealthily, like a cat aiming for a mouse, and when 
 within a few benches of him, before he had a 
 chance to spring, Ike suddenly pulled down the 
 top book, and put it into his desk, which was open 
 in front. .Stepping forward then, the teacher said, 
 in his severest tone, 
 
 " You call that studying, do you, Partington ? " 
 "Yes, sir," said Ike, apparently confused. 
 "What book is that which you have just put 
 into your desk ? " 
 "My lesson, sir." 
 
 " Your lesson, indeed ! Let me see it, sir ! " 
 The book was taken out, with seeming reluc- 
 tance ; and it proved to be indeed the lesson of 
 the morning. He saw that both books were the 
 same ; and, coloring away to the roots of his hair, 
 the discomfited teacher moved back to his desk, 
 while Ike, with a sly twist in the corner of his 
 mouth, winked at one of his neighbors, and a 
 
24 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 simmering laugh was heard for an instant, which 
 was immediately checked by the master's shout of 
 "Silence!" 
 
 His suspicion of Ike increased after this; and 
 his eye was on the supposed offender all the time, 
 every look of whom seemed to be defiance, every 
 gesture rebellion. The boy could not move his 
 arm without awaking in the teacher's mind the 
 impression that there was treason in it. Ike saw 
 an opening here for another trick. 
 
 The penalty for communicating, in any way, 
 was severe. 
 
 One morning, as the teacher sat overlooking his 
 school, his eye rested upon Ike, as usual ; and, 
 though the youngster seemed very busy, he saw 
 something in his conduct which fixed his attention 
 on him immediately. Ike took a slip of paper 
 from beneath his desk, and apparently wrote 
 something on it ; then he slyly slipped the paper 
 between the leaves of a book, and passing it to 
 his neighbor, without speaking, made a motion 
 towards Moody, who sat the other side of the 
 room. The teacher saw the book pass from hand 
 to hand until it reached Moody. Before the boy 
 had a chance to open it, he cried out, 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 25 
 
 "Bring that book here, Moody." 
 
 Moody complied very readily, and brought the 
 book to the teacher's desk. 
 
 " What book is that, Moody ? " 
 
 "My Arithmetic, sir." 
 
 "Who sent it to you?" 
 
 " Guess 'twas Partington, sir : I left it at his 
 desk." 
 
 "Partington, come here. Did you send this 
 book ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " Why did you send it to him ? " 
 
 " 'Cause 'twas his, and against the rules to carry 
 it to him." 
 
 " What did you put into it before you sent it ? " 
 
 " A piece of paper, sir." 
 
 "What was on the paper?" 
 
 "I didn't see any thing, sir." 
 
 "You didn't, did you ? Well, I will see." 
 
 He took the book, found the slip, inspected it 
 carefully, and then laid it in again. There was 
 not a mark on it. 
 
 " What did you mean by putting that paper in 
 the book ? " 
 
 "To mark the morning lesson, sir." 
 
26 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " Didn't you mean to deceive me by pretending 
 to write on it ? " 
 
 "How did I know you was watching me ? " 
 
 This finished the examination. No offence had 
 been committed, and the teacher felt that he had 
 again been humbugged by a sharp-witted boy. 
 
 Not long after this an affair occurred which 
 affected the whole school. On a warm summer 
 afternoon, when the boys were out at recess, the 
 teacher, who was much oppressed by the weather, 
 sat down at his desk to think. The current of his 
 thought, however, became disturbed by the influ- 
 ence of the weather. The warmth, the laughter 
 of the boys at their play not near enough to be 
 noisy, and the stillness of the room, had a drowsy 
 effect on him, and in a few moments he fell asleep ! 
 The boys had been out beyond their time ; and, 
 though they made no objection, they were curious 
 to see how it was that they were thus favored. 
 They went very softly to the door, and peeped in ; 
 and, seeing the master asleep, they were much 
 elated. It would not be good manners, they 
 thought, to awaken him ; for, if he chose to sleep, it 
 was no business of theirs : and therefore they " let 
 him sleep on," like Sir John Moore at Corunna. 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 2/ 
 
 Some fifteen minutes more were added to his nap, 
 and the waiting grew tiresome. Then the spirit 
 of mischief inspired them to play some trick on 
 the slumberer. So, after debating what to do, 
 they delegated one of their number to do what he 
 had a mind to. 
 
 The old school-bell was rung by a rope attached 
 to a long curved iron lever on top, which rope 
 came down behind the teacher's chair. Creep- 
 ing in very softly, the boy set the bell noiselessly, 
 tied the rope around the bottom rung of the 
 chair, and left to await the result. They did not 
 have to wait long : for they began to make a great 
 noise ; and one, putting his head in at the door, 
 shouted " Muggins ! " as loud as he could bawl. 
 
 The teacher started "like a guilty thing," looked 
 at his watch an instant, and then, leaving his seat, 
 turned round to ring the bell and call them in. 
 To his surprise the chair jumped up, turned over 
 with a crash, and danced as if it were bewitched. 
 In vain " he asked who did it. Nobody knew. 
 Then he thought that to harshly push the inquiry 
 might prove the worse for him, and so he apolo- 
 gized to the boys ; and while he remained with 
 them was less severe towards them, and got 
 
28 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 along a great deal better. It was never told who 
 did the bell trick, but Ike was there. 
 
 Ike got caught under the milder discipline. 
 One day he and Clem Jackson contrived a rude 
 checker-board on the cover of an atlas ; and, as 
 there was only a narrow space between the desks 
 at which they sat, they determined on having a 
 game. They watched the master to see if he was 
 noticing them ; but he had a number of the 
 scholars round his desk, who were all asking 
 questions, and they seemed quite hidden from his 
 sight. So Ike put the board on a little pile of 
 books upon the floor; and, preparing their men, 
 the boys began to play. They would give an occa- 
 sional glance toward the teacher, to assure them- 
 selves that they were safe, and were having a fine 
 time, the other boys in the vicinity looking on to 
 note the progress of the game. The checker-men 
 were small pieces of writing-book cover ; one of 
 the boys having the blue side, the other the white. 
 They couldn't play very well, and so it required 
 more attention. The interest increased as they 
 went on, until their glances at the teacher were 
 less frequent ; but they thought they could see, 
 out of the "corner of their eye," that he was still 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 2 9 
 
 engaged with the crowd of questioners at his 
 desk, and felt perfectly unobserved. They played 
 on, therefore, in fancied security, and got to the 
 most exciting part of the game, Jackson having 
 the advantage, when 
 
 " JUMP HIM, JACKSON ! " said a terrible well- 
 known voice right behind them. 
 
 It was the teacher, who had left the inquirers 
 standing at the desk while he went for the delin- 
 quents, having seen them all the while. 
 
 "Jump him, Jackson' ' he repeated. 
 
30 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 But Jackson at that moment would rather have 
 jumped out of the window, and gone home, while 
 Ike was overwhelmed. The boys laughed, and the 
 teacher enjoyed a splendid triumph as he walked 
 to his desk. He did not punish them, for he 
 thought their mortification was enough ; and Jack- 
 son was called " Jumping Jack " in school, by the 
 boys, from that day. 
 
THE OLD CELLAR. 3! 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE CREEK POETS. BALLAD OF BULL PAD-DOCK. 
 
 ROUND THE OLD CELLAR. IKE DROPS IN AT 
 
 A FROGS' CONCERT. 
 
 THERE were lively times at the " Corner," 
 the summer that Ike came there to live. 
 The boys made it specially noisy on the summer 
 evenings about the old cellar on the hill, to the 
 great disgust of the frogs, who sat and watched 
 them with great wondering eyes, but kept well 
 out of their way, 'not wishing an introduction to 
 them, like Mrs. Partington, who did not wish to 
 be introduced to anybody she was not acquainted 
 with. They the boys, not the frogs would 
 sit on the great rock near the cellar, or down on 
 the margin of the creek, and watch the lightning 
 which flashed up in the west, each taking his turn 
 for the next flash, as if it were a swing, and the 
 one who had the brightest exulting about it. 
 
 On one occasion they had gathered about the 
 
32 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 great rock, and had told wonderful stories until 
 they were weary, when Tom Hall, with a new 
 inspiration, said, 
 
 "Come, let's make up some rhymes." 
 
 "What fun is there in that?" queried one of 
 the number, who had no more rhyme in him than 
 the frogs that were croaking in the cellar. 
 
 " No matter : let's try," said Tom. 
 
 "Well, you begin." 
 
 " Here goes, then : only don't be too hard on a 
 fellow if he doesn't do very well, 
 
 " There was an old fellow named Stoker: 
 Oh, he was a terrible soaker ! 
 
 His nose in the night ' 
 
 Folks thought was a light, 
 And it shone like a red-hot poker." 
 
 This was received with a round of applause. 
 It was tip-top, they all said, and every one felt 
 ambitious to do as well. 
 
 " Come, Walters, your turn next," said a half- 
 dozen voices ; and Sim Walters said he would try 
 to make a rhyme about Captain Bob. 
 
 " Here goes : 
 
THE CREEK POETS. 33 
 
 " Captain Bob is a jolly old brick ; 
 No one to him can shake a stick : 
 O'er many a land he's been a goner, 
 But mostly down here to Clam Corner." 
 
 " Pretty good," said Bill Tibbets ; "but I don't 
 believe the captain would like it very well." 
 
 "He won't know any thing about it; and it's 
 only rhyme, you know, any way." 
 
 "That's so," from a number. 
 
 "Well, now let's see what you can do, Bill," said 
 Walters. 
 
 Bill straightened himself up to it, pulled down 
 his vest, and began, 
 
 " There was a man in our town 
 
 Whose name was Mr. Grum ; 
 And when old Scratchy called for him, 
 He said he wouldn't come." 
 
 This raised a great laugh, and Bill was voted a 
 poet right away. But he said he didn't like to be 
 personal. He had no idea, himself, how it was 
 coming out when he began, and he couldn't help 
 saying it ; showing what a mysterious thing poeti- 
 cal inspiration is. 
 
34 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " Now, Ike, your turn : give us something senti- 
 mental." 
 
 Ike said he was not much at rhyming, but would 
 do his best ; and after thinking a few seconds he 
 went on, 
 
 " The cow flies over the meadow hill, 
 Lit by the torch of the whippoorwill ; 
 The codfish sings in the turnip tree, 
 And the woodchuck chirps to the bouncing bee." 
 
 "That's good rhyme, but there isn't much 
 reason to it," said Joe Laighton. 
 
 " Well," replied Ike, " I should like to know if 
 lots of poetry isn't the same way. I've seen 
 poetry that's called good, that's got no more reason 
 than mine has." 
 
 The others said he was right, and called upon 
 Joe to show what he could do better than that. 
 So Joe, looking down into the old cellar where 
 the frogs were singing their evening song, thus let 
 himself out : 
 
 " The frog he is a funny little fish : 
 He's got a mouth like a pudding-dish. 
 He sits in the cellar all day long, 
 And sings at night his opera-song." 
 
INTRODUCES BULL-PADDOCK. 35 
 
 " Pretty good ! " was the verdict of the boys. 
 
 "Pretty good!" said Joe: "is that all you've 
 got to say ? Now, I call it the best thing yet. 
 Come, Lem Tucker, you were one that said 'twas 
 pretty good : now let us see if you can make any 
 thing that will begin with it." 
 
 "Oh, I can't! 'tisn't in me," said Lem. 
 
 "That's bosh; for I heard you the other day 
 reeling off about a rod of rhymes on a frog, if it 
 wasn't so good as mine. So fire away." 
 
 "That's a piece I learned to speak in school. 
 That isn't mine." 
 
 "Well, let's have it," they all cried. 
 
 " 'Tisn't funny," said he. 
 
 "No matter: let's have it." 
 
 Lem's voice was a little shaky at first, but he 
 soon gained confidence as he recited the spirited 
 ballad of 
 
 BULL OF PAD-DOCK. 
 
 Lazily sitting upon a log, 
 
 Near by his home the lilies among, 
 The dandy of the meadowy bog, 
 
 Bull of Pad-dock, is croaking his song : 
 " Bull Pad-dock ! Bull Pad-dock ! 
 Chock, chuck, chock ! 
 
36 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 Here I snugly and safely rest, 
 Hid from gaze in the hassock's breast. 
 Chug, chug, chug ! " 
 
 Bull of Pad-dock is jauntily dressed, 
 Wearing a bright green fancy coat, 
 Pants of the same, with yellow vest, 
 And a pure white choker round his throat. 
 Bull Pad-dock ! Bull Pad-dock ! 
 Chock, chuck, chock ! 
 See what a coat ! not wrinkled a bit, 
 Did you ever see a finer fit ? 
 Chug, chug, chug ! 
 
 Bull of Pad-dock has got a wife, 
 
 Living below with her kindred folks : 
 She sometimes peeps at outdoor life, 
 While he his song in the sunshine croaks. 
 Bull Pad-dock ! Bull Pad-dock ! 
 Chock, chuck, chock ! 
 But he greets her coming with surly tone, 
 And says he had rather be left alone. 
 Chug, chug, chug ! 
 
 Her froglings crowd the lily-pads, 
 
 Neatly clad in their coats of green, 
 The frogling lasses and frogling lads, 
 With snow-white aprons neat and clean. 
 Bull Pad-dock ! Bull Pad-dock ! 
 Chock, chuck, chock ! 
 
SELF-SATISFACTION. 37 
 
 She from her young ones seldom goes out, 
 For she knows the pickerel fish are about. 
 Chug, chug, chug ! 
 
 Bull of Pad-dock don't care a snap, 
 
 Like many a human we have seen : 
 No family cares disturb his nap 
 When he pillows his head on the cresses green. 
 Bull Pad-dock ! Bull Pad-dock ! 
 Chock, chuck, chock ! 
 Oh, an easy life lives the meadow frog, 
 While his wife takes care of the babes in the bog ! 
 Chug, chug, chug ! 
 
 The boys told him that they liked it very well, 
 and wished it were longer and better ; and Lem 
 was proud of his performance. All claimed that 
 their own rhymes were the best, and that some 
 other time they would try again. 
 
 It sometimes happened that they told such 
 terrible stories about giants, ghosts, and hobgob- 
 lins, that some of them were afraid to go home 
 alone ; and one night there had been a run of 
 such stories that made the hair of the timid stand 
 up so as almost to push their hats off. They were 
 very glad to have Captain Bob come and sit down 
 with them, as it relieved them of a great deal of 
 
38 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 their fear. They all felt, that, if the biggest ghost 
 that ever was known were to come, the captain 
 would be more than a match for it. 
 
 " Captain, do you believe in ghosts?" ques- 
 tioned Ike. 
 
 " Not much," replied Captain Bob ; "but did any 
 of ye ever hear of the haunted house that they 
 had in Rivertown a good many years ago ? " 
 
 They told him they had not. 
 
 "Well," he continued, "that was a pretty lively 
 sort of a ghost, I tell you. The old Dunkle 
 House, after the death of ' Uncle Dunkle ' as all 
 used to call him, was shut up as tight as a bottle, 
 and nobody wanted to live there. The longer it 
 was empty the more folks didn't want to occupy 
 it ; and so at last it kinder got the name of being 
 haunted. As soon as this got round, almost 
 everybody believed it ; and many had stories to tell 
 of lights seen there, and poundings heard, and 
 white shapes at the windows ; and folks hurried 
 by the house after dark for fear. Then the peo- 
 ple really began to hear sounds, like heavy blows, 
 in different rooms at night, and sometimes they 
 would hear 'em even in daylight. Early one 
 evening old Mr. Styles the blacksmith, whose 
 
CAPTAIN BOB S PARTY. 39 
 
 shop was right opposite the house, heard the 
 pounding, and saw the people running by, half 
 scared out of their wits. He didn't believe in 
 ghosts, nor in much of any thing else ; and so, 
 after listening a few minutes, he took a big black- 
 smith's hammer, and went over to interview the 
 ghost. He tried the door, which was fast, and 
 heard some loud pounding inside that jarred the 
 house. Then he gave the door a blow with his 
 hammer, which forced it open, and in he went. 
 He heard the knocking overhead, and a deep 
 groan. Up he went, and then he heard the sounds 
 in another room. He followed from room to 
 room, until he heard the sounds down cellar. He 
 followed down, and then all was still. The cellar 
 was not so dark that he couldn't see, but there 
 was no sign of the ghost there. He was on 
 the point of leaving, when he saw a barrel in the 
 deeper shadows of the cellar. It was a common 
 flour-barrel, with the head whole; and, lifting 
 his hammer, he broke the head in with a crash, 
 at the same time nearly breaking in the head of 
 little Johnny Purslaine the tailor, that popped up 
 out of the barrel, beneath which he had been hid. 
 The blacksmith led him out by the ear, and told 
 
4O IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 the ones who had gathered round that he had 
 caught the ghost. They were going to mob 
 Johnny ; but Styles told 'em, that, if Johnny was a 
 rogue, they were cowards, which he thought was 
 worse, and so they let him go. The house was let 
 the next day, and not a ghost was seen or heard in 
 it afterwards." 
 
 " 'Twas mean to be afraid," said Andy Gate.- 
 
 " I'd ha' gone right in," echoed Ike. " I wouldn't 
 ha' been afraid." 
 
 "You wouldn't, hey?" replied the captain. 
 " P'raps, my young friend, if you had a chance to 
 try your courage you would come out of it as bad 
 as I did once." 
 
 " Were you ever scared ? " asked the boys. 
 
 Captain Bob laughed. "Well, you may jedge 
 yourselves," said he. " About a hundred years ago 
 a man named Clough was hanged, up here a bit, 
 for killing another man ; and he was buried at the 
 foot of the gallows where two roads cross. When 
 I was a boy it was said by the old folks, that if 
 any one should go at night, and stamp on the 
 grave, saying with a loud voice, 'Clough, what 
 were you hanged for ? ' he would say nothing. 
 One night I was stumped to try it. I thought 
 
TEST OF COURAGE. 41 
 
 there wasn't any thing that could scare me, for I 
 felt pretty courageous, and so I said I'd go; and 
 I went, all alone, as brave as you please. When I 
 came near the place, I began to have the queerest 
 feelings, and wished that I hadn't undertaken the 
 job. But I would be laughed at if I backed out ; 
 and though I felt my knees shake, and the sweat 
 pour off my face, I stamped on the grave, and 
 shouted, ' dough, what were you hanged for ? ' ' 
 
 Here the captain paused, and laughed to him- 
 self. 
 
 " Well, what did you hear ? " cried a half-dozen 
 impatient voices. 
 
 "To tell the truth," replied the captain, "I 
 didn't wait to hear any thing, but put for home as 
 fast as I could run. I dare say, however, he said 
 nothing, just as much as though I had waited." 
 The captain chuckled as he finished, as if he 
 enjoyed the recollection very much. 
 
 The boys saw the joke, and gave three cheers 
 for Captain Bob. 
 
 There were boisterous games played around the 
 old cellar, when "Bloody Tom" and "Whip to 
 Barbary " made the night hideous to quiet people, 
 whose ears would be assailed by the boyish 
 duet, 
 
42 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " Who goes round my house by night ? " 
 
 " Only Bloody Tom." 
 " Who is it steals my sheep by night ? " 
 
 " Only this fat one." 
 
 Or the other equally noisy : 
 
 " How many miles to Barbary ? " 
 
 " Threescore and ten." 
 " Can I get there by candle-light?" 
 
 " Yes, and back again." 
 
 " Whip to Barbary ! " 
 
 This last was followed by a race around the old 
 cellar, and down through the street of the Corner, 
 like a hurricane, until the boys reached Barbary, 
 the place from which they started, puffing 
 and blowing like young porpoises, but showing 
 very healthy lungs as they disputed about the 
 game ; for boys always will dispute, and never 
 know exactly when they are satisfied. On one 
 of these occasions Ike attempted, while racing 
 around the old cellar, to trip the one behind him, 
 and throw him down among the frogs. He was full 
 of the fun of the thing, and laughed to himself as 
 he imagined the figure the fellow would cut as he 
 rolled down the embankment ; but when he made 
 
FROG CONCERT DISTURBED. 
 
 43 
 
 the attempt the one before him stumbled and fell, 
 and Ike, falling over him, pitched head first into 
 the water. Such a shout went up as he crawled 
 out, all dripping with wet ! Served him right, 
 every just-minded boy will say; but Ike felt as if 
 he was a sort of mar- 
 tyr, and didn't laugh 
 any to speak of. The 
 frogs complained to 
 one another, after the 
 boys had gone, be- 
 cause Ike's dropping 
 in upon them so sud- 
 denly had interrupted 
 a first-class concert. 
 
 " Isaac ! " said Mrs. 
 Partington as he came 
 in drenched with water, " what do you want to act 
 so like the Probable Son for ? You are not a fish." 
 
 "I fell in," replied Ike. 
 
 " Well, now go to bed ; and, if you fall in again, 
 you and I will fall out." 
 
44 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE OVEN BY THE SHORE. THE SEA-MONSTER. 
 
 CAPTAIN BOB SENT FOR. THE GREAT SHOW. 
 
 THE CAPTAIN TREATS ON GRAPE-CULTURE. 
 
 THE creek was a scene of rare sport for the 
 boys who met there on Monday and Satur- 
 day afternoons to sail or swim. There was a rich 
 deposit of clams along the shore ; and when the 
 tide was out the boys would dig these ground-nuts, 
 as Ike called them, and roast them with fire made 
 of the chips that had drifted ashore and dried. 
 No dish cooked at home tasted half so nice as these 
 clams, seasoned with smoke and black mud ; and 
 the labor of digging them was prime fun, although 
 the boys would have thought it hard work if they 
 had been compelled to hoe out weeds or split 
 kindling-wood with half the labor. 
 
 One afternoon they determined to build a " real 
 oven " down by the shore, in which to bake their 
 clams. So they hired Captain Bob's boat, "The 
 
OVEN BY THE SHORE. 45 
 
 Jolly Robin," at two cents an hour, and brought 
 a load of imperfect bricks from the old brick-yard 
 up the creek; and one having brought a shovel, 
 another a trowel, a third a hatchet, and others 
 something else to work with, they took off their 
 jackets, and went at it. The confusion attending 
 the building of the Tower of Babel could hardly 
 have been greater than that which was shown here. 
 All would be engineers. The boy who brought 
 the shovel insisted on his right to do the digging, 
 the one with the trowel to lay the bricks, while 
 each one claimed some special office for the tool 
 he had brought. 
 
 There was a stone, about two feet high, jutting 
 out from the bank, which was straight up and 
 down on one side, as if it had been prepared on 
 purpose for them ; and they decided to build the 
 oven up against it. So the dirt was levelled off 
 beside the stone by the boy with the shovel, the 
 one with the hatchet cut the bank next it smooth- 
 ly down, while the trowel fellow superintended 
 the making of mortar out of clay. All busied 
 themselves. A flat stone was found for the bot- 
 tom of the oven, which was bedded in mortar ; 
 then two rows of bricks were laid up against the 
 
46 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 side of the bank, and others, the same height, on 
 the outside, the rock forming the back, the front 
 below left open for the furnace. Then a flat stone 
 was brought and laid on the bricks, for the floor 
 of the oven ; two rows more of bricks were laid 
 on this, all round, another flat stone put on top, 
 and the oven was done. A little piece of the 
 corner of the oven floor had been chipped off, 
 round which a chimney of clay had been built 
 for a flue, which was to lead the smoke off. 
 
 There could not have been much more exulta- 
 tion at the finishing of Solomon's Temple than 
 attended the completion of this great work. Even 
 those who had done nothing but bring the 
 mortar claimed that its superiority was owing to 
 them ; which, of course, was noisily denied by 
 those of the shovel and trowel. But there arose 
 a dispute now as to who should dig the clams. 
 Each one contended that he had done his share 
 x of the work ; but the tide was coming in, and they 
 all saw that their oven would be of no use if they 
 had no clams to bake in it, and so they concluded 
 to sacrifice a little to expediency, and "pitched 
 in" with a will to secure their bivalves before the 
 tide covered them up. This was soon done, and 
 
TOUCHING IT OFF. 47 
 
 then preparations were made for lighting the fire. 
 Dry chips had been brought, which, with a news- 
 paper, had been put into the furnace; and now 
 another altercation arose as to who should have 
 the honor of " touching her off." It was decided 
 in favor of Tom Whidden, the boy with the 
 shovel, and great excitement prevailed. 
 
 " Now get out of the way," said he, " or some 
 of you'll get drawn up the chimney." 
 
 He scratched a match, and applied it to the 
 kindling stuff. It took fire, blazed a moment, 
 and then went out in smoke. Great disappoint- 
 ment was felt by all ; and the opinion was ex- 
 pressed, in no very flattering terms, that Tom 
 hadn't touched it off right, whereat he was very 
 indignant. He yielded to another, who, after the 
 kindlings had again been fixed, tried it with no 
 better success. 
 
 "Here, Ike, you try it," cried half a dozen 
 voices. 
 
 Ike was sitting upon the bank near the chim- 
 ney, to see, as he said, the smoke come out ; and 
 when they called him he came down. 
 
 " 'Tis easy enough to do that," he said. 
 
 "Well, le's see you try it." 
 
48 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 He stooped down and fixed the kindlings, rum- 
 maged in his pockets for some more paper, made 
 a little opening among the wood, and applied the 
 match. The fire took, the smoke drew up through 
 the little chimney, and the whole furnace was in a 
 blaze. 
 
 " Hurrah, hurrah ! " yelled the boys, and danced 
 wildly around. " Bring more wood ! " and every 
 one ran to get fuel, the fire going splendidly. It 
 was not for a moment suspected that Ike had had 
 his hand on the flue, as he sat there, to feel the 
 heat as well as see the smoke, when the others 
 tried to light it ; and he got considerable praise for 
 what he did not really deserve, and so much the 
 worse for him. 
 
 But the success was not complete ; for the wet 
 work required more fire than could be raised to 
 dry it, the stone forming the bottom of the oven 
 was too thick to be heated through, and the after- 
 noon was growing short : so they compromised by 
 baking their clams in the old way, and left the 
 oven for future experiment. But that very night 
 a high tide came up which surrounded the oven : 
 the wind blew over the creek, and dashed the 
 water upon it ; and when they went to see it the 
 next day, they found it a miserable ruin ! 
 
THE SEA-MONSTER. 49 
 
 But it is said that it is an ill wind that don't 
 blow anywhere ; and as Ike and the rest looked 
 upon the wreck, and fretted about it, one cried 
 out, " Look there ! " and pointed to a pile of eel- 
 grass that had drifted ashore, in the midst of 
 which were seen a pair of terrible eyes, that 
 seemed to be watching them. The eyes were as 
 large as a man's, and had an evil look in them, 
 which made the boys scramble up the bank with 
 terror. Looking down they saw what seemed to 
 be the form of a monstrous fish entangled in the 
 seaweed, which flapped its tail as if trying to free 
 itself. 
 
 " Run for Captain Bob," cried Ike. 
 
 Joe Hayes and Si Moody started off upon a 
 smart run, to bring the captain ; while Ike re- 
 mained to look after the prisoner, which might be 
 a whale, or a shark, or a sea-serpent, so far as he 
 knew. Finding that it could not free itself, he 
 ventured near it ; and the great eyes looked more 
 evil as he gazed upon them. The fish struggled 
 in the water, and Ike was afraid it would get away 
 before Captain Bob came ; but soon he heard 
 voices, and the captain appeared, armed with a 
 long boat-hook, with the boys by his side. 
 
5O IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " Hallo ! " cried the captain from the top of the 
 bank, " what you got there ? " 
 
 "The sea-serpent, I guess," said Ike, as the 
 captain came down to where he stood. 
 
 " Rayther guess not : that ain't no sea-serpent ; 
 for, let me tell you, if it was one he'd be out- 
 side of you in about two shakes of a sheep's 
 tail." 
 
 "Well, what is it?" 
 
 " "Tis a curious critter, that's plain enough. 
 -Now walk out here, old chap, and let us see 
 what you look like." 
 
 As he spoke, the captain was feeling around, 
 with his boat-hook, where he supposed the crea- 
 ture's mouth was ; and as he found it he said, 
 " Now bend on, boys, and we'll soon see what he 
 is." 
 
 They took hold with him ; and, giving a pull, they 
 drew out the ugliest looking monster that they 
 or anybody else had ever seen. It was an im- 
 mense fish, at least five feet long, formed some- 
 thing like a sculpin, its body looking rough 
 like the bark of a tree. Its mouth was large 
 enough to take in the head of a boy, and its eyes 
 looked terrible out of the water. 
 
THE PRIZE LANDED. 
 
 "That's a monkfish," said Captain Bob: "seen 
 lots of 'em down to Chaleur, but never saw one 
 round here afore." 
 
 The fish jumped and struggled, but at last 
 yielded to its fate ; and when it was dead Cap- 
 
 tain Bob and the boys hauled it up into the field 
 near the old cellar. The captain, having per- 
 formed his duty as a man and a mariner, went 
 home, leaving to the boys the disposal of their 
 prize. 
 
52 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " Now what's to be done with it ? " said Si. 
 
 " Let's throw it among the frogs," suggested 
 Joe. 
 
 " No ; I'll tell you what," said Ike : " we'll make 
 an exhibition of it." 
 
 "Agreed," cried the others. 
 
 The boys took four stakes from a neighboring 
 fence, and drove them into the ground in a quad- 
 rangular form, about the fish ; and then Ike went 
 home to procure something to make a tent of. 
 He rummaged high and low, throwing out an old 
 patchwork quilt, a bed-sack, and a tablecloth which 
 had out-served its usefulness. 
 
 " What possesses you now ? " cried Mrs. Par- 
 tington, amazed at his conduct : " what are you 
 doing ? " 
 
 " Going to make a tent," replied Ike. 
 
 " For what purpose ? " 
 
 " 'Tain't a porpoise : 'tis a monkey-fish, so Cap- 
 tain Bob says." 
 
 "Why, what do you mean by that, Isaac ? " 
 
 "We've caught a big fish, and are going to 
 exhibit him." 
 
 " Where ? " 
 
 "Out there where the boys are." 
 
GRAND EXHIBITION. 55 
 
 The old dame, without her bonnet, went out to 
 see the big fish ; and Ike followed, bearing the 
 materials for the tent, which he promised Mrs. 
 Partington he would be very careful of, and said 
 he would give her a season ticket to the show 
 for the use of them. The quilt, the bed-sack, and 
 the tablecloth answered the purpose capitally, 
 forming a serviceable tent large enough, stretched 
 about the poles, to completely hide the fish ; and 
 then, getting the cover of Mrs. Partington' s shawl- 
 box, they painted a sign, with wheel-grease, which 
 
 read, 
 
 "BIG SEA MONSTER. 
 
 EXHIBISHUN. 
 BOYS I CENT. GROAN FOLKS 3 CENTS." 
 
 "There," said Ike, "that'll bring. 'em." 
 
 "Barnum couldn't ha' done no better," said Cap- 
 tain Bob, as he inspected the work; "and let me 
 tell you that he never had a curiouser thing than 
 that, only 'tisn't so big as some of 'em I've seen." 
 
 " Do they grow very big ? " asked Ike. 
 
 " Bless you ! yes ; so big 'twould take more than 
 ten yokes of oxen to get one up here^ It isn't a 
 very handsome beast, but it has a better look when 
 it smiles." 
 
56 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 The exhibition was held during off-school hours, 
 in the mornings and afternoons; and the pen- 
 nies came in pretty freely. The editor of " The 
 Squash " came, and wrote an article about the 
 wonder, which attracted much attention. After a 
 few days, however, people began to be attracted 
 away from it as far as they could get ; and the 
 exhibition closed with more than two dollars in 
 the treasury to be divided, Ike taking an extra 
 share for supplying the tent and sign, which, 
 the boys thought, was a good deal better than 
 "hooking" old iron to sell for the appropriate 
 celebration of the "Glorious Fourth." They gave 
 the fish to Captain Bob to bury at the roots of 
 his grapevine, to improve, as he said, the " flavior " 
 of his grapes. 
 
 "Will that reprove the taste?" asked Mrs. 
 Partington. 
 
 " Certainly, ma'am," replied Captain Bob. " That 
 vine, out there now, was once a Concord. I 
 planted three dead cats at the root of it, and, if 
 you will believe me, it is now a #/-awba." 
 
 " A singular thing, sir ; but, in profligating 
 flowers, can their flagrance be infected by such 
 means ? " 
 
THE SCENTED LALOCK-BUSH. 57 
 
 " I dare say ; for I emptied my shaving-cup 
 several times out at the window on a lalock-bush, 
 and the blossoms smelt like Windsor soap." 
 
 "That's very curious," and Mrs. Partington 
 pondered upon it. 
 
58 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 VOYAGES ON THE CREEK. "THE JOLLY ROBIN." 
 
 THE STRANGE SAIL. IKE SHIPWRECKED. CAP- 
 TAIN BOB TO THE RESCUE. SEA- YARN. MRS. 
 
 PARTINGTON ADMONISHES. 
 
 ONE of the greatest sources of amusement 
 for the boys on the creek was to borrow 
 one of Captain Bob's boats, and row about pre- 
 tending to make discoveries. They would run up 
 into coves, and land on points that projected into 
 the creek, hoist a handkerchief on a stick, and take 
 possession in the name of Clam Corner, giving them 
 names, like the old navigators of which they had 
 read. Once their cruise extended round the 
 point which formed the water boundary of the old 
 mansion previously named. A long wall extend- 
 ed from a little wharf the entire length of the 
 grounds, inside of which was quite a pool, skirted 
 by willows on the farther side. A part of the wall 
 had fallen down ; and, it being high tide, the boat 
 
DOG JACK ON DUTY. 59 
 
 sailed over it easily. This they named " Ike Par- 
 tington Inlet ; " and, sailing in, they explored the 
 new territory. 
 
 Peeping through the willows, they saw the 
 orchard beyond, laden with fruit, which, though 
 nowhere near ripe, was very tempting to them, by 
 a provision of nature ; for the human boy naturally 
 covets green fruit, and will risk more to procure 
 it than he would any amount of the same fruit 
 when fully ripe and harmless. Ike, after looking 
 carefully to see that nobody was round, ventured 
 ashore, and crawled up through the grass to the 
 nearest tree, to see if there were any windfalls on 
 the ground, when he was attracted by a rushing 
 sound through the grass, and knew that the big 
 black dog was on duty, and was after him. He 
 went back a good deal quicker than he came, with- 
 out stopping to explain matters to the beast, and 
 made the best time possible ; for there is no 
 better incentive to speed than the knowledge that 
 a big dog is after one. Upon reaching the boat, 
 he found that she had swung out about half a 
 paddle's length from the shore. His first thought 
 was to have her pulled in : the second was not to 
 wait ; and he leaped for her just as the dog reached 
 
6o 
 
 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 him, leaving in the animal's mouth a generous 
 fragment of his pantaloons as a souvenir. This was 
 a great adventure ; and, as the boys rowed into deep 
 
 water, 
 they fan- 
 cied they 
 were like 
 Captain 
 Cook's 
 crew, at- 
 tacked 
 by the 
 Sand- 
 wich Is- 
 land sav- 
 ages. 
 
 But the breeziest, 
 jolliest, happiest 
 times upon the 
 creek were when 
 the boat was impelled by a sail, and the boy 
 who steered her fancied himself an admiral at 
 least. One day Ike was too ill to go to school, 
 and thought that a sail on the pond would be 
 good for him. Getting Mrs. Partington's con- 
 
A STRANGE SAIL. 
 
 6l 
 
 sent, he procured Captain Bob's boat, "The Jolly 
 Robin," and launched out on the waves of the 
 creek. With much forethought he had taken one 
 of Mrs. Partington's calico dresses with him to 
 
 use for a sail, in want of a better one. The breeze 
 was too strong for him to strive against ; so he 
 kept near shore, and, sick as he was, got into the 
 water, and dragged the boat, against the wind, 
 
62 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 away round the head of the creek to the opposite 
 side, from which quarter the wind blew. This 
 was to allow him to sail across, and he proceeded 
 to arrange his canvas. He had hauled the boat, 
 stern first, upon the shore, and secured her so that 
 she should not start before he was ready. Taking 
 the dress, he thrust a stick through the arms, tied 
 it to an oar planted upright against the fore seat 
 of " The Jolly Robin," and then, fastening strings 
 to the bottom of the dress, he drew them aft, tying 
 them on each side. A bunch of seaweed, which 
 he had playfully placed on top of the mast, gave 
 the figure the appearance of an old lady, with 
 extended arms, balancing on the bow of the boat ; 
 and he laughed at the conceit. 
 
 The wind filled the queer sail, and " The Jolly 
 Robin " struggled to escape. Ike saw that all was 
 right, and then let her go. She started off gal- 
 lantly before the wind, the water dashing from her 
 prow; and Ike, steering with a paddle, felt his 
 blood tingle with excitement as he saw the shore 
 glide by, forgetting, in his pride, even the sick- 
 ness which had kept him from school. 
 
 Mrs. Partington sat at her back window, knit- 
 ting, enjoying the fresh breeze which blew up 
 
OVER SHE GOES. 63 
 
 from the creek, bearing to her the pleasant odor 
 of decaying eelgrass which lay along the shore, 
 when she was attracted by the strange sail which 
 was coming so swiftly down the creek. She could 
 not see the helmsman, who was hidden from her 
 view by the singular figure which seemed standing 
 up in the boat ; but the dress had a familiar look, 
 and her spectacles fairly blazed with curiosity as 
 the vessel drew nearer. When it reached a posi- 
 tion opposite to where she sat, she recognized Ike, 
 proudly steering, and, with intense excitement, 
 called to him. He could hear her but faintly ; and, 
 lifting his paddle out of the water, he waved it 
 over his head as a passing salute. Just as he did 
 so, a flaw of wind, which seemed to have been 
 watching for just this opportunity, caught the sail : 
 the boat veered, and in an instant " The Jolly 
 Robin " was capsized. Ike clung to the boat, and 
 yelled for help. 
 
 As soon as she saw the accident, Mrs. Parting- 
 ton ran screaming to her neighbor Grum, and 
 begged him to rescue her boy, who was drowning 
 in the creek. He told her very coolly, though the 
 day was warm, that he should do no such thing ; 
 that he had a rheumatiz in his knee ; and as for 
 
64 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 the boy, he could get out well enough, and that 
 one intended to be hanged would never be 
 drowned. She left in great indignation, and ran 
 to Captain Bob, whom she found already engaged 
 in preparations to rescue the young shipwrecked 
 mariner. His other boats, " The Lively Turtle " 
 and "The Storm Bug," were away, and so he had 
 to invent some mode by which to reach him. 
 
 " Will he drown ? " cried the old lady, wringing 
 her hands. 
 
 "He can't, ma'am," replied the captain: "the 
 water isn't more'n four feet deep where he is." 
 
 Captain Bob could very easily have waded out, 
 but this would not be according to the rules of 
 seamanship : so he took a large tub, made of the 
 half of a hogshead ; and, launching it overboard, 
 he seized a garden-spade that was near, and, get- 
 ting into the tub, attempted to paddle it out to 
 the boat, upon which Ike was crying violently for 
 help. It was hard work for the captain, who 
 had sailed on a great many far voyages in fore-and- 
 aft vessels, but had never been in a round-and- 
 round one before; for, when he would try to paddle 
 on one side, it would turn round instead of going 
 ahead, and result the same when he tried the other 
 
CAPTAIN BOB TO THE RESCUE. 65 
 
 side. At last, by putting his spade behind, and 
 prying his queer craft along, he began to make 
 some headway ; and after great effort he reached 
 the wreck, and righted her, and Ike came ashore 
 in her a "shipwrecked passenger," much to the 
 delight of Mrs. Partington and the assembled 
 neighbors. Ike made a very dismal figure, with 
 his dripping clothes, and eelgrass in his hair ; and 
 Captain Bob told him to go home, and hang him- 
 self over a clothes-line to dry. 
 
 " I suppose you have seen many men drown," 
 said one of the lookers-on. 
 
 "Well, I can't say that I have," replied the cap- 
 tain. " I forget how many chances there is of a 
 fellow's 'scaping drownding, where there is any 
 chance at all ; but 'tis about the same as 'scaping 
 being killed in battle, where they say it takes 
 more'n a man's weight in bullets to kill him. 
 Once when I was going to the West Indies, one 
 of our men fell overboard, and we thought he was 
 drownded sure ; but we found him, three days 
 arterwards, setting on the head of the rudder ! " 
 
 " How came he there ? " 
 
 "He took holt of the rudder-chains when he 
 drifted by, and lifted himself up." 
 
66 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " Why didn't he holler ? " 
 
 " Because he'd rather stay there than work." 
 
 " But how did he live without eating ? " 
 
 " Why, he'd climb into the cabin-window nights, 
 and hook enough of the captain's provender to last 
 all next day." 
 
 "But" 
 
 " No matter about any more," said the captain : 
 "some folks is made to tell stories, and some is 
 made to believe 'em, and so the balance is kept 
 jist right; and that's what's the matter." 
 
 So they asked no more questions. 
 
 Ike was put to bed as soon as he got home, and 
 went through a severe course of bitter tea and 
 reproof, in order to keep out the cold. The next 
 morning at breakfast Mrs. Partington pointed at 
 a dress hanging on a line in view of the window, 
 and said, 
 
 " Do you see that garment, you offensive boy ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Ike very penitently. 
 
 " Captain Roberts brought that to me this 
 morning, all satiated with water, and said he found 
 it in the boat. Now, what did you take it for ? " 
 
 "Took it for sail." 
 
 "Took it for sale! I could have sold it myself 
 
THE DUCKING BENEFICIAL. 
 
 yesterday to a gentleman for a pair of decalico- 
 maniac vases, but I wouldn't." 
 
 " I didn't take it to sell : I took it for a sail to 
 make the boat go." 
 
 " Well, that is not so harmonious ; but don't 
 you do it again." 
 
 Ike promised her that he wouldn't, and went to 
 school cheerfully, receiving ten checks during the 
 day for his exemplary deportment. The ducking 
 and the fright had a very beneficial effect on his 
 health, and enabled him to take an active part in 
 the Grum surprise-party, which took place soon 
 after. 
 
68 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 NEIGHBOR GRUM'S SURPRISE-PARTY. BOYS ON THE 
 
 GRASS. GRUM A PRISONER. AN IMPORTANT 
 
 QUESTION. 
 
 THERE were great swimming-matches on the 
 creek, in which rivalry ran, or swam, high. 
 The whole' of the Rivertown boys came to the 
 creek to swim, where the water at high tide was 
 warm and nice. The county road bridged the 
 creek near its head, forming a large and deep 
 pool ; and here, safe from accidents and intrusion, 
 they sported as free as air. Ike was a famous 
 swimmer, and seldom found any one to excel him. 
 One day after school a large party of Rivertown 
 boys started for the creek to have a swim ; and, 
 when passing by Gram's place, they lingered a 
 moment to look over the fence about the patch of 
 green grass which he prized so highly and watched 
 so carefully. He was at his window in an instant, 
 as they expected he would be. 
 
GRUM'S PEACE THREATENED. 69 
 
 " Come, hurry along," said he : " don't stop here. 
 Your room is better than your company." 
 
 " We aren't harming you," replied one. 
 
 " Well, clear out : you're not wanted here." 
 
 " Can't we play on your grass a little while ? " 
 
 " No, you young scamp ! Clear out." 
 
 " You needn't bite our heads off." 
 
 " My dog shall do the biting. Here, Towser, 
 Towser ! After 'em, Towser ! " 
 
 They merely laughed at the cross old fellow, and 
 passed on, when Sam Sides burst out with, 
 
 " Let's give him a surprise-party when we go 
 back." 
 
 "What do you mean ? " cried several voices. 
 
 " Why, he called us scamps, and we'll wipe the 
 insult out on his grass." 
 
 About all of them were ready for a lark, and 
 shouted approval. So it was settled, that, when 
 they went back, they would turn their jackets, 
 swap hats, and pretend to be Indians, then jump 
 over on the grass, and cut up all sorts of capers ; 
 planning more, however, than they could possibly 
 carry out. They had thought it possible he might 
 rush out on them suddenly : but Ike told them not 
 to fear about that, he'd fix it; and they went in 
 swimming with this luxury in reserve. 
 
70 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 Ike was a capital swimmer. Like the man out 
 West, he could "dive deeper, stay under water 
 longer, and come out dryer," than any other boy, 
 at least he said so; and, the tide in the creek 
 being high, there was some fine swimming done, 
 which rivalled the exploits of any frog that ever 
 kicked. There were all sorts of trials, trials with 
 one another, trials against time, trials in floating, 
 trials in treading water, trials in diving, until it 
 was proposed to try who could stay under water 
 the longest. This was eagerly accepted by all but 
 Ike, who declared that he had had enough of it. 
 He was all "blowed," he said, and didn't believe he 
 could stay under any time at all. He gave in at 
 last, very reluctantly, and then they prepared to 
 dive. 
 
 There was a flat stone just under water, about 
 three rods from the bridge ; and it was agreed that 
 the one who went farthest beyond this should be 
 the f champion the "boss diver" of River- 
 town and the surrounding territory. 
 
 "You go first, Moody," was the cry; and 
 Moody, taking a long breath to carry with him, 
 and putting the palms of his hands together over 
 his head as if to form a cutwater, plunged in. 
 
THE DIVING TRIAL. /I 
 
 The water was deep and turbid, rendering it 
 impossible for any one to follow the track of the 
 diver; and so the boys eagerly watched for the 
 coming up of the submarine navigator. They 
 had no watch by which to note the time he was 
 under water ; but Moody was a long-winded fellow, 
 and staid under a good while. At last he arose, 
 beyond the rock, blowing the salt water out of 
 his mouth, and was received with a great shout. 
 
 One after another all tried it except Ike, 
 none of them surpassing Moody for endurance or 
 distance. Most fell far short of the flat stone, 
 and none more than reached it. It was surely 
 thought that Moody would be the champion, when 
 Ike, the last one, was called upon to "go in and 
 win." He was sitting upon the bridge, seeing 
 the others, and, when called, responded at once, 
 saying, 
 
 "It's no use : Moody's won fast enough." 
 
 "You, must try it," they all cried. 
 
 " But s'pose I should hit bottom, and knock a 
 hole through, and go down to China or some- 
 where : what'd you do then ? " 
 
 "Have you sent back by telegraph," replied 
 Sides. 
 
72 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " Well, I'll try ; but if I'm drowned you must 
 excuse me to Mr. Grum, who'll be disappointed if 
 I am not at his surprise-party." 
 
 " Go it, Ike ! " they all shouted. 
 
 He mounted the railing of the bridge, which 
 the others had not done, and there went through 
 the same motions as the rest, elevating his hands 
 above his head with the palms brought together, 
 and plunged swiftly into the water. The water 
 closed over him, and all that was to be seen were 
 a few bubbles where he had disappeared. They 
 waited with the deepest interest to see where he 
 would come up, because they knew he was the 
 only one that could compete with Moody. Where 
 was he ? they asked among themselves as he 
 failed to appear after being under water much 
 longer than Moody ; and when double Moody's 
 time had passed, they began to be alarmed. Still 
 he did not appear, and then they were in a panic 
 of excitement. All were in the water now, swim- 
 ming along the track he must have gone, in an 
 effort to find him, but in vain. 
 
 " Run for Ham ! " was the general cry. 
 
 One, with only his hat on, started off to call 
 assistance, but came back to put on some more 
 
UNDER THE BRIDGE. 73 
 
 clothes. Others still continued their search in 
 the water. Some five minutes had now been 
 spent, when Mr. Ham, who lived near the creek, 
 was seen running, with an eel-spear and a coil of 
 rope, as if he were going to harpoon the boy. 
 The greatest excitement prevailed ; and it was 
 feared that Ike had indeed gone down to " China 
 or somewhere," as he had said, when a voice was 
 heard from under the bridge, saying, 
 
 " Why don't you search here ? " 
 
 A dozen boys were overboard in an instant ; and 
 there, coolly sitting in the shadow of the bridge, 
 was the missing Ike, grinning as if he hadn't 
 been giving them the greatest scare of their lives. 
 
 " How did you get in there ? " they cried in 
 astonishment and anger. 
 
 "Well," replied he, " when I dove down I knew 
 that I couldn't beat Moody ; and so I turned 
 round under water, and swam under the bridge. 
 Scared, weren't you ? " 
 
 They told him that the next time he played 
 such a game as that they would let him go to 
 China, or anywhere, before they'd try as they had 
 to save him ; and Mr. Ham told him an original 
 story of a boy who cried " Wolf " once too often, 
 
74 * IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 and got eaten up for his deception, threatening 
 him, if he ever such a trick again, he would bring 
 a horsewhip instead of an eel-spear. 
 
 The boys talked it over ; and, after a little growl- 
 ing, they decided that it was a big joke, but one 
 too serious to be repeated very often. Then they 
 took up their homeward march, to make the " sur- 
 prise " visitation on the way. They were in high 
 glee about it. 
 
 It was just on the edge of the evening when 
 they reached the Corner, and paused a bit to 
 make arrangements. Ike told them to wait there 
 while he went forward to reconnoitre. He saw 
 Mr. Grum, as usual, at his window, and passed by 
 whistling, as if taking no notice of him ; then he 
 crept along in the shadow of the house, and 
 placed a chip over the latch of the door which 
 opened out upon the green. He then returned 
 by a path across the field, to where the boys were 
 waiting for him, and told them that he had pulled 
 all the teeth out of Grum's dog Towser. They 
 turned their jackets, and swapped hats, and 
 were so completely disguised that they scarcely 
 knew themselves, and felt certain that Grum 
 wouldn't know them ; and then moved on very 
 still to give him the surprise. 
 
THE SURPRISE-PARTY. 
 
 75 
 
 There the surly old man sat, in his shirt-sleeves, 
 not dreaming of what was awaiting him, when he 
 was truly surprised to see a dozen boys on his 
 green plat, turning summersets, playing circus, 
 
 rolling over on the grass, and yelling at the top 
 of their lungs. He was so astonished that he 
 could hardly move at first. But they saw him 
 leave the window ; and in a moment they heard 
 him at the door, trying frantically to get out. 
 
76 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 The latch wouldn't move. He was a prisoner in 
 his own house. He didn't seem to understand it 
 at first, but struggled and bumped and pushed 
 against the door, until they heard him leave for 
 another door, and then thought it was time to 
 quit. They retreated in good order, and Ike dis- 
 appeared into his own door as innocent as a lamb. 
 Next day Grum made a great fuss about the 
 affair. He knew, he said, that Ike was at the bot- 
 tom of it, but couldn't prove it ; and when he asked 
 Ike if he knew any thing about it, all he could 
 tell him was that he saw a lot of fellows get over 
 the fence, and heard 'em holler, and waited to see 
 Mr. Grum jump out of his door and catch 'em, 
 and wondered why he didn't ! Mrs. Partington 
 had marvelled why Isaac's jacket was inside out ; 
 but, remembering how Grum had served her when 
 she applied to him for help, she said nothing. 
 " \Vc are not stocks and stones;" and even Mrs. 
 Partington may have felt enough of the common 
 emotion of humanity to be a little exultant about 
 it, but it is not safe to say so. Grum then went 
 to the school, and complained to the teacher, who 
 promised all of them a good rattaning if they 
 would confess ; but they strangely refused, and 
 
THE BASIS OF RESPECT. 77 
 
 then he gave them a serious lecture, in Grum's 
 presence, on the respect that the young should 
 pay the old. When he had finished, Sim Walters, 
 one of the best boys in the school, held up his 
 hand. 
 
 " Well, Walters, what is it ? " asked the teacher. 
 
 " Please, sir, may I ask a question ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " If a man wishes to be respected, ought he not 
 to be respectable ? " 
 
 "That is, indeed, a question. What should you 
 say, Mr. Grum ? " 
 
 Mr. Grum went out suddenly, like a Roman 
 candle, firmly convinced that every boy in that 
 school was a candidate for the gallows or the 
 penitentiary. 
 
 A hint at a moral may be put in here very brief- 
 ly, instead of at the end, regarding a boy's respect 
 for superiors. The question put by the boy gives 
 the condition of the boyish mind. He has no 
 superiors really, and certainly has no respect for 
 what is mean. He feels that he is as good, as 
 wise, and respectable, as any one ; and he acts 
 upon the Golden Rule, as he understands it, of 
 
78 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 treating others pretty much as they treat him. 
 He doesn't analyze very keenly : that is matter 
 for after time and education. He grows into 
 moral wisdom as he grows into his mature 
 clothes ; but while he is a boy he cannot be any 
 thing else. Affections, morals, duties, have not 
 hardened into purpose yet ; but they are silently 
 taking form to be revealed in the " sweet by and 
 by." 
 
DR. SPOONER'S VISIT. 79 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DR. SPOONER AT CLAM CORNER. SUNDAY MORN- 
 ING. IKE SURPRISED. A BALD HEAD DECEP- 
 TIVE. VISIT ABRUPTLY CONCLUDED. 
 
 THE promise which Dr. Spooner had made 
 at parting from her, to visit Mrs. Partington 
 during the summer, had not been forgotten ; and 
 so when she received a line from him, stating that 
 he would come and spend the next Sunday with 
 her, she was filled with pleasant anticipations. 
 The note was conned again and again, and she 
 forthwith busied herself to make his visit agree- 
 able. The best room immediately went through a 
 process of airing ; and Ike was directed to procure 
 some pine-boughs from the woods, with such wild 
 flowers as he could gather, to render it agreeable 
 to the refined taste of the doctor. Therefore from 
 above the colored wood engraving of the " Prod- 
 igal Son," and the black profile of Corporal Paul, 
 waved sweet-smelling offerings of welcome, and 
 
8O IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 the old-fashioned fireplace seemed almost suffo- 
 cated with a plethora of green branches, with 
 golden-rod and mullein blossoms in between, 
 which made the apartment very cheerful. 
 
 On the Saturday after the receipt of his letter, 
 the doctor came in on the afternoon stage, which 
 rattled through the quiet settlement of Clam Cor- 
 ner, making a great sensation, and saying to all the 
 people, who were out to see it, " Here we are ! " 
 with as self-satisfied a manner as any stage-coach 
 could present. The doctor was landed at Mrs. 
 Partington's door, with a huge trunk, a jointed 
 fish-pole, and a gun-case, which denoted intentions 
 to remain for some time ; and was received in a 
 manner according well with the good dame's repu- 
 tation for hospitality. 
 
 " I'm shore I am glad to see you," said she, 
 shaking him warmly by the hand, while her specta- 
 cles beamed with kindly emotion. " I'm glad to 
 see you, because you are one of the kind that 
 come very seldom, and stay but a little while." 
 
 " I am very happy to greet you," responded the 
 doctor. "And how is your health and that of the 
 boy ? any better for the change ? " 
 
 " Much better, thank you. I have not had the 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS SHOT. 8 1 
 
 embargo in my back since I have been here, and 
 Isaac never now complains of illness except when 
 he is sick. Here he is." 
 
 Ike came in with a grin on his face, and Dr. 
 Spooner shook him by the hand, saying some 
 pleasant words to him ; after which he went out 
 again, leaving the doctor and Mrs. Partington to 
 talk over matters of interest which had transpired 
 at her old home since she left, and a very interest- 
 ing season was enjoyed. Their conversation was 
 interrupted by the report of a gun ; and a cat, 
 wild with excitement, dashed by the window at 
 which they were sitting. Looking out, they saw 
 the head of Ike rise slowly above a huge rhubarb- 
 plant, as if looking for something, and then disap- 
 pear, a slight vapor or smoke hanging over the 
 place he had occupied. 
 
 Mrs. Partington glanced at the doctor ; and the 
 doctor, very red in the face, glanced at Mrs. Par- 
 tington, and then went out in the direction of 
 the head he had seen. The head, however, had 
 disappeared ; and the doctor looked in many direc- 
 tions to discover the lad, returning to the house 
 soon after. He saw his gun-case behind the door, 
 where he had left it, but did not open it ; and, 
 when Ike came in, Mrs. Partington said, 
 
82 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " Isaac, did you hear that gun ? " 
 
 "Yes'm." 
 
 "Who fired it?" 
 
 " Guess 'twas somebody firing at a cat." 
 
 Dr. Spooner looked at him steadily over his 
 glasses, but expressed no opinion ; while Mrs. Par- 
 tington, thinking of nothing in particular, tapped 
 her snuff-box in silence. Ike was a well-mannered 
 boy, and sat down, saying nothing, but how much 
 he thought of that fishing-rod and gun standing 
 out there behind the entry-door ! 
 
 When Dr. Spooner retired to his room, which 
 Mrs. Partington trusted might be " congealing " to 
 his taste, and had bid him good-night, he took 
 the gun from its case, which he had carried up 
 with him ; and there was evidence of burnt powder 
 about the nipple, from which he drew his own con- 
 clusions. His sleep was not very refreshing. The 
 heat was great, the strange location worried him ; 
 and his first nap was broken by a dream that it 
 was the Fourth of July, and that Ike stood by his 
 ear blowing a villanous fish-horn, when, starting 
 up, he heard a dozen mosquitoes in full blast, which 
 had been holding a banquet upon his face as he 
 slept. He worried through the night, however; 
 
THE DOCTOR BATHES. 83 
 
 and at early daylight he got up softly, and went 
 out for a walk, and a bath in the creek. The doc- 
 tor was bald as a plate, though few suspected it ; 
 and, putting his wig in his coat-pocket, he was 
 refreshed by the morning air which drew through 
 the port-holes of his perforated straw hat. 
 
 There was a fringe of willow-trees by the side 
 of the creek at Sherburn's Wharf, a little distance 
 beyond the Partington residence, a cool retreat 
 in summer; and here, where a good opportunity 
 for bathing presented itself, secluded from prying 
 eyes, the doctor returned for a quiet swim, after a 
 mile walk on the road which led out to the woods. 
 It was Sunday morning, and he knew that he 
 should be free from intrusion : therefore, after a 
 few moments rest, he prepared for his plunge. 
 
 As ill luck would have it, that very morning Ike 
 had also arisen quite early to drive a cow to pas- 
 ture, as an accommodation to a friend ; and, hav- 
 ing secured his four-footed charge inside of the 
 "bars," he started to return home. He was not 
 in much of a hurry. There were chipmunks run- 
 ning along the stone walls which he was bound 
 to stone, a mud-turtle to catch in a wayside pud- 
 dle, and raspberries .tempting him on every hand, 
 
8 4 
 
 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 until his returning steps brought him to the 
 vicinity of the willows, where he heard the water 
 splashing furiously, as though a leviathan were 
 sporting there. 
 
 Ike crept along softly until he found a place 
 where he could look through the leaves without 
 being seen, and beheld the doctor's head, divested 
 of his wig, which shone in the sun like a geo- 
 
THE BALD TARGET. 85 
 
 graphical globe, greatly exciting his curiosity. 
 The bald head deceived him, and he failed to 
 know his guest as he swam around there bare- 
 headed. The tide was up, the water clear and 
 cool, and the doctor, being a good swimmer, was 
 enjoying himself hugely, when a small pebble 
 chucked into the water not far from him. He did 
 not mind it, but kept on swimming, when another 
 chucked into the water, which he likewise failed 
 to note, enjoying himself as he was. A brief time 
 elapsed, when another pebble, better directed, 
 alighted on the top of the doctor's dome, and 
 brought his swimming to a close. He put his 
 hand upon his head, and shouted, "Hi, THERE!" 
 feeling, as it seemed, a little hurt in his feelings. 
 
 Ike recognized the voice, and started in great 
 haste across the fields, towards home, where he 
 soon arrived, and sat down with the most undis- 
 turbed composure to await the doctor's return. 
 He was a little anxious to see what would come of 
 it, but had no twinges of conscience ; for he justi- 
 field what he had done on the ground that he 
 didn't know the doctor without his wig, and his 
 hurry to leave was not from a consciousness of 
 guilt, but merely from a desire to get away with- 
 out being seen. 
 
86 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 The doctor came in soon after, his face wearing 
 a troubled expression ; and Mrs. Partington smil- 
 ingly asked if he had been taking his "morning 
 oblations " in the creek. He told her that he had, 
 and had found them the most striking of any 
 which he had ever experienced. He looked at 
 Ike as he spoke, who was at that instant gazing 
 curiously at the wig, with a half smile around his 
 mouth. The doctor was rather sensitive regarding 
 his wig; and, fearing lest a severe inquiry about 
 the pebble might lead to revelations he did not 
 choose to make, he said no more upon the subject. 
 
 The next morning at breakfast the doctor told 
 Mrs. Partington that he should be compelled to 
 leave her hospitable roof immediately, as he was 
 on a scientific errand, and should have to tear him- 
 self away. She was very much surprised, and 
 tried to change his purpose, but he was firm as 
 bricks. 
 
 " What is calling you away ? " she asked. 
 
 "Why you see, madam, we physicians are 
 always studying how we can best serve human 
 needs ; and, as vaccine-matter is very scarce now, 
 I am going down to the seashore to obtain, if 
 possible, some of the virus of a sea-cow for the 
 purposes of our profession." 
 
" Well, I am sorry to have you go, but hope you 
 have enjoyed yourself." 
 
 " Most decidedly, madam : but there are some 
 kinds of enjoyment that are better through anti- 
 cipation, and some through memory, than the 
 experience itself ; and this has been one of the 
 latter description." 
 
 " I am very glad to hear it, and hope you will 
 never forget your visit to the Corner." 
 
 " Depend upon it, I never shall." 
 
 The doctor bade her farewell, and departed, with 
 his gun-case on his shoulder and his fishing-rod 
 for a cane ; and when arrived at the hotel in River- 
 town, he sent a carriage for his trunk, and booked 
 his name for a week. He thought, that, by pursu- 
 ing this indignant course, the boy might be led 
 to repent of the wrong done him, and suffer the 
 stings of an accusing conscience. In the same 
 spirit we have seen a man cut down a favorite 
 tree or vine, which the boys had robbed the year 
 previous, that the offenders might blush with 
 shame at the havoc of which they had been the 
 cause ; but did anybody ever know of an instance 
 where remorse or shame followed the act of cut- 
 ting down a tree under the circumstances named ? 
 
88 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 Ike was sorry, nevertheless, as he sat and 
 thought about the doctor's "going off mad." A 
 deep and sincere feeling of regret pervaded his 
 mind as he recalled the fishing-pole, and remem- 
 bered that he had not, in the brief time, had a 
 chance to use it. 
 
THE FARM IN VACATION. 89 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 IKE AND SIM AT THE FARM. THE DROWNED 
 
 WOODCHUCK. THE HORNET'S NEST. UNCLE 
 
 TRACY IN TROUBLE. 
 
 SIM WALTERS had an uncle that lived a 
 few miles up the big river; and Sim had 
 invited Ike to spend a week with him at his 
 uncle Tracy's farm in haying-time, assuring him a 
 hearty welcome, especially from his aunt Martha 
 and cousin Bill. Mrs. Partington was unwilling 
 that he should go among strangers on such an 
 invitation as this ; and Sim wrote to his aunt 
 Martha to know if it would be agreeable to have 
 them come. The answer being very favorable, 
 the boys, shortly after vacation began, went on 
 their visit. 
 
 The farm was near the river, and they went by 
 a packet which carried freight from Rivertown to 
 places on the stream. 
 
 They found Bill waiting for them at the land- 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 ing. He was very glad to see them, and escorted 
 them up to the house. Uncle Tracy was out in 
 the field ; but Aunt Martha received them very 
 kindly, and said she hoped they would enjoy them- 
 selves. They said they thought they should ; and, 
 after .eating a half-dozen doughnuts and drinking a 
 pint of milk apiece, they walked out to look over 
 the place. 
 
 The house was an old-fashioned weather-stained 
 affair, large and comfortable, with a green lawn in 
 front of it, shaded by grand elm-trees. This was 
 enclosed by a fence ; and outside of the fence 
 was the barnyard, where the turkeys and fowls 
 ran about with great freedom. One large white 
 rooster attracted Ike's attention ; but the bird 
 seemed suspicious of the stranger, and would 
 have nothing to do with him. He strutted off 
 with lordly pride when advances were made to 
 him, and called all the hens around him as. if to 
 tell them to look out for that little chap under the 
 straw hat. There were portly pigs in their pens, 
 looking fat and comfortable, and multitudes of 
 geese and ducks, that flocked noisily around a 
 trough in the corner of the yard, where a tall 
 well-sweep was used to draw water with. 
 
THE WELL-SWEEP. 91 
 
 Ike had never seen a well of this kind before, 
 and he looked at it with much curiosity. The 
 "sweep" was a long and heavy pole, suspended 
 at the middle from -the top of a tall crotched post, 
 the well-pole hanging from the small end of it, 
 which was up in the air, the other end hav- 
 ing a weight attached to it which bore it down 
 to the ground. He looked into the well, and saw 
 the empty bucket hanging there close by the top. 
 Sim knew all about it, but thought he would let 
 Ike find out how it worked for himself. Ike knew 
 that somehow the pole was made to draw up the 
 water, but he did not see into it at once ; so he 
 went to the part which had the weight on it, and 
 tried to make it work that way by lifting it up. 
 This he saw wouldn't do at all, and Sim clapped 
 his hands for fun to see him try. Ike then took 
 hold of the pole, and tried to pull it down. It 
 came down readily: the bucket went into the 
 well as the heavy end of the sweep rose into 
 the air; and in a few moments Ike drew up a 
 bucket of cool water, shouting his triumph, and 
 slopping some of the water over Sim. Bill came 
 along just then ; and Sim told him how Ike had 
 tried to draw water by lifting the heavy end of 
 
Q2 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 the sweep, and they both laughed. But Ike bore 
 it good-naturedly ; and then Uncle Tracy came into 
 the yard, looking very seedy and very tired, said, 
 "How d'e do?" to Ike and Sim, and went into 
 the house. The boys soon followed him ; and such 
 a nice supper as Aunt Martha had prepared for 
 them Ike thought he had never tasted. After this 
 Bill and the boys went out to milking; that is, 
 Bill milked while Sim and Ike sat on the cow- 
 yard fence, and Ike made friends with the cow 
 by holding out to her a handful of grass which 
 she reached out to take, and came nigh tipping 
 the pail over by doing so. 
 
 They all went to bed early, and Ike and Sim 
 slept together. They did not wake up till late 
 the next morning, and heard Bill, away down in 
 the field, driving some cattle out of the corn. 
 The robins were singing in the trees ; and the 
 white crower, on a cart before their window, gave 
 a crow which seemed to say, " Who-the-plague-are- 
 you?" They could see from their window for 
 miles up and down the river. The morning sun 
 was shining brightly, and fishermen were already 
 out in their boats trying for fish. 
 
 "I forgot to bring some fishing-lines," said Ike. 
 
INDUSTRIOUS RESOLUTION. 93 
 
 " No matter : Bill's got lots of 'em," responded 
 Sim. " See there ! that man in the boat is pulling 
 one in." 
 
 Sure enough, he drew in what seemed to be a 
 fine large fish ; and the boys watched him with 
 intense interest, seeing him catch several. 
 
 " My gracious ! wouldn't I like to be there ! " 
 cried Ike. 
 
 "Well," said Sim, "we shall have chance 
 enough to try it ; but we must try a little farm- 
 ing first. 'Tis jolly, hayin'g, you bet." 
 
 So they went down stairs, where Aunt Martha 
 had a fine breakfast waiting for them, and who 
 told them that Uncle Tracy and Bill had eaten 
 theirs, and had gone down to the mowing-field 
 long before. They felt ashamed of being so late, 
 and said they would get up as early as Bill did 
 while they were there. They were going to be 
 real farmers, they said, and make hay, and hoe 
 corn, and do every thing that the others did. 
 But people are very apt to promise more than they 
 are likely to perform ; and the resolution of two 
 small boys at the breakfast-table, in broad sunlight, 
 was different from that of the same boys next 
 day, when called by Bill at the dawning, and 
 
94 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 told to get up and milk the turkeys, and drive the 
 hens to pasture. It was pretty hard to get up 
 before it was light enough to see the beauty of a 
 farmer's life, and so they failed to " see it ; " but 
 they dressed themselves, and were proud to hear 
 Uncle Tracy say they were "smart boys." Ike 
 shivered in the morning air ; and, when Bill laughed 
 at him, he sung, 
 
 'VTo plough and to sow, and to reap and to mow, 
 And to be a farmer's boy, oy, oy, 
 And to be a farmer's boy." 
 
 " Bully for you ! " cried Bill ; and Uncle Tracy 
 quietly laughed as Ike took up a stone, and threw 
 it at a little chipmunk that sat on the wall. 
 
 And very good farmers the boys made for a day 
 or two. They drove the horses in the horse-rakes, 
 raked after the load, pitched on the hay, and 
 deemed that it was really fine fun ; but the thought 
 would come up that there were thousands of fish 
 waiting out there in the river to be caught, and 
 that all this time was fruitlessly spent : therefore 
 it grew irksome, and they were not so chipper as 
 they had been. 
 
 On the third day, right in the midst of making 
 
DROWNING HIM OUT. 95 
 
 a load of hay, they saw a woodchuck making for 
 his hole ; and both of the boys dropped their forks, 
 and ran for him. Of course he had disappeared 
 before they reached him, but they knew he was 
 there. Rover, an old dog belonging to one of the 
 haymakers, also took an interest in the animal, 
 and began to paw away the dirt at the mouth of 
 the hole ; but the boys drove him aside, and began 
 a noisy debate as to how they should get the wood- 
 chuck out. Sim was for digging down to him ; 
 but Ike's suggestion to drown him out, yelled in a 
 louder key, was adopted. 
 
 But what should they bring water in from the 
 spring down in the valley ? Lucky thought ! 
 There was a large tin pail over in the shadow of 
 the wall, in which the men had brought some 
 "switchel," a drink made of water, molasses, 
 ginger, and a little old cider-vinegar; and they 
 would get this for the purpose. There was some 
 left when Ike went for it; and, in the haste 
 and excitement of the moment, he drank what he 
 could, and spilled the rest on the ground, making 
 off with the pail. The spring was several rods 
 away ; and, hurrying to it, they filled the first pail, 
 leaving Rover to watch the animal. Up they came 
 
96 
 
 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 with the water, and dashed it into the hole, expect- 
 ing him to come out ; but he didn't come worth a 
 cent. Then they went for more water, which they 
 dashed into the hole as before ; but still he didn't 
 budge. Rover had grown very unconcerned, and 
 
 lay there with his head on his paws, and his eyes 
 half shut, except as a little of the water fell on 
 him, when he moved to a greater distance. 
 Bucket after bucket of water did they bring to 
 drown out the woodchuck, but he made no sign. 
 
NEST OF YELLOW-JACKETS. 
 
 " Guess he's got a life-preserver on," said Ike. 
 
 " All Rapid River couldn't drown him," echoed 
 Sim. 
 
 They were vexed enough when they found that 
 they had had all their " labor for their pains ; " and 
 probably at that very moment the woodchuck was 
 away, by the back-door of his house, high and 
 dry, and laughing, as perhaps a woodchuck can, at 
 their effort to drown him out. Rover could have 
 told them better how to manage it. 
 
 They replaced the pail, leaving the men to won- 
 der at the sudden evaporation of the " switchel ; " 
 and then, taking their forks, they commenced to 
 help turn over the hay. The two boys kept to- 
 gether; and, nearing a little clump of trees, they 
 saw a hornet's nest, as big as a hat, near the 
 ground in a small bush. 
 
 " Hallo ! " cried Ike, " see there ! " 
 
 " I see it ; real yellow-jackets," said Sim. 
 
 "What's to be done?" 
 
 " Stick a fork into it, and push for the bushes." 
 
 Sim led the way on the retreat ; and Ike, after 
 seeing the course clear to run, stuck his fork into 
 the nest, leaving it there ; and out the hornets 
 poured by hundreds. He plunged with Sim into 
 
98 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 the thick bush, and they saw the enraged insects 
 flying over them, and round about them, as if 
 they suspected the boys were hidden there; but 
 none came in to find out, and after a while they 
 all went back, probably to see what damage had 
 been done to their home ; and the boys came out, 
 and went up to where they were making up the 
 last load for the barn. 
 
 "You go on with the load, boys," said Uncle 
 Tracy, "and I will pick up the tools." 
 
 " There's a fork a little way down in the field 
 there," said Ike, "down there by that little 
 bunch of trees." 
 
 " I see it ; all right," and Uncle Tracy went in 
 that direction. 
 
 The load driven by one of the hired men, with 
 Bill and Sim and Ike on top, had reached a little 
 hill that overlooked the field, when they saw 
 Uncle Tracy cutting frantic capers all alone 
 by himself. He brandished a fork in one hand, 
 and his hat in the other, swinging them round 
 like the sails to a windmill. He would run a few 
 steps, and stop, going through the motion of bran- 
 dishing the fork and hat, till at last he threw 
 away the fork, and ran for dear life, swinging 
 
UNREASONABLENESS OF HORNETS. 99 
 
 round his hat like a crazy politician on election- 
 night. At last he stopped. Soon after he came 
 plodding after the team, with his face red from 
 heat or anger ; and, in reply to the questions 
 which they anxiously asked as to what was the 
 matter, he merely said, 
 
 " Hornets, confound 'em ! " 
 
 "Where are the tools, father?" asked Bill. 
 
 " Oh ! I thought I'd let 'em stay : we shall want 
 'em again to-morrow." 
 
 " Did the hornets bite ? " asked Ike. 
 
 "Well, they would if I'd ha' let 'em; and I 
 wish they'd ha' tried their teeth on the one that 
 left that fork in the hornets' nest." 
 
 Ike made no more remark, to avoid unpleasant- 
 ness : but when they got home they found that 
 Uncle Tracy's nose had swelled up as big as a 
 rutabaga, a hornet having stung him there; and 
 he looked just like a member of the Antiques and 
 Horribles which Ike had seen the last summer, as 
 he told Sim in a whisper. Of course Ike was 
 very sorry that he had got the good man into such 
 trouble ; but how could he know that the hornets 
 were so unreasonable as to attack one who hadn't 
 harmed them ? though he said nothing about it. 
 
IOO IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 GOING FISHING. COMMODORE HUNTRESS. THE 
 
 COMMODORE ON DEEP-WATER FISHING. "GAFT 
 
 HIM, WILLIAM." IKE CAUGHT BY A FISH-HOOK. 
 
 WORK OF HIGH ART. PATRIOTIC ROOSTER. 
 
 IKE AT THE CHURN-DASHER. UNCLE TRACY 
 
 SON-STRUCK. 
 
 THE next day was lowery, with fine rain, and 
 Bill said they would all go fishing. Ike and 
 Sim received the information with great joy, dan- 
 cing up and down, and slapping each other on the 
 back. 
 
 "Where are your lines ? " 
 
 " What are you going to do for bait ? " 
 
 " Where's the boat ? " 
 
 These were the questions asked ; and Bill soon 
 appeared with a basket and some lines, telling 
 them the basket was for the clams which they 
 were to dig down by the shore ; and the boat they 
 would have to borrow from Commodore Huntress, 
 
THE COMMODORE'S FARM. l -JPQf, 
 
 below the bank at the landing. Taking their hoes 
 to dig with, they went to the shore, which, it 
 being low tide, was bare, and they soon dug 
 plenty of clams for bait. They then went to the 
 landing, where they saw the bluff old commodore, 
 who told them that he was just going out in his 
 boat himself, and that they might go with him. 
 This pleased them exactly ; and soon they launched 
 the boat, which the commodore rowed out into 
 the stream to a place where he knew there were 
 millions of fish. 
 
 He called this place his garden, and the whole 
 river was his farm. He took his early perch, he 
 said, from the bed on which they were then about 
 to fish (speaking of them as if they were early 
 pease) ; there was a patch of splendid cod when 
 the season was colder ; and beyond them, farther 
 in shore, he had a crop of the finest flounders and 
 eels that ever were raised. 
 
 They baited their hooks, and threw over their 
 lines, after they had dropped anchor; and they did 
 not have to wait a minute before the fish began to 
 bite. Ike was in excellent luck, and caught the 
 first fish, a large perch, whereat he was much 
 delighted, the commodore saying that he had 
 
PARTINGTON. 
 
 never seen a fish "pulled in handsomer." The 
 others had bites ; but the fish took their bait off, 
 and Ike had four in the boat before either of the 
 others had caught one. Then they all took them 
 in pretty fast, and were highly excited by the sport. 
 
 The day 
 was just 
 right for 
 fishing, and 
 they had 
 caught al- 
 most a bas- 
 ket-full be- 
 fore they 
 knew it. Ike 
 
 said he thought this was 
 the best part of a farmer's 
 life, and that haying couldn't hold 
 a candle to it. 
 
 " This is nothing to deep-sea fishing," said the 
 commodore. 
 
 " You've done lots of that ! " responded Bill. 
 " Guess I have ! " continued the ancient mariner, 
 looking very knowing. 
 
 " Tell us about it," cried Ike and Sim in a 
 breath. 
 
HOOKED A WHOPPER. 1 03 
 
 "You should have been with me," he said, "one 
 night off Ragged Ledge, where my brother Wil- 
 liam and I went to fish for hake." 
 
 " By night ? " queried Sim. 
 
 " Yes : night's the time to catch hake ; they are 
 your reg'lar night tramps. Well, we had pretty 
 good luck, and had caught about as many as we 
 wanted, when, as I jerked my line at a bite, I 
 found I had got something on about as heavy as 
 an ox. Gracious, how it pulled ! I knowed it 
 couldn't be a hake, of course ; but what it was 
 puzzled me. Says I, 'William, I've got a whopper 
 on here, and that's a fact.' I didn't ask him to 
 help me pull him in ; for I wasn't going to be beat 
 by any fish that floated, 'less it might be a whale, 
 and so I pulled away. Whatever it was, it jerked 
 the boat round as if 'twere paper, and I didn't 
 know but it might capsize us ; but I held on and 
 pulled, the line cutting into my hands like a knife. 
 I found, after a while, 'twas growing weaker, and 
 soon I got it on top of the water. There's a 
 revolving light on the ledge, and just then the 
 light turned round, and flashed on the water, so 't 
 I could see what I had on to my line ; but I 
 couldn't make head nor tail of it. Leastwise I 
 
IO4 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 couldn't make any head of it ; and, when the light 
 went, I was jest as much in the dark as I was 
 when the fish was at the bottom of the sea. 
 Then, says I, seein't I couldn't get it in alone, 
 1 William, bring a gaft.' So he brought the gaft, 
 and tried to hook the critter by the gills, but 
 there didn't seem to be no gills. Says I, ' Good 
 gracious, William 1 why don't you gaft him ? ' 
 Then William says, says he, * I can't find no place 
 to hitch on to.' But he giv' a quick jerk, and had 
 him. We pulled him in. That's the biggest 
 that's been caught yet," said he, diverted from his 
 big fish-story as Ike drew a pound perch into the 
 boat. " That's a reg'lar sockdolager." 
 
 " But what about the fish you was catching ? " 
 said Sim. 
 
 " Oh, yes ! well, William got the gaft hold of 
 the critter, and we pulled him in, as much as we 
 could do, though, and found 'twas a halibut that 
 weighed two hundred pounds, hooked right 
 through the tail ! " 
 
 There was a sharp cry of pain from Ike, who, 
 as if showing his appreciation of the point of the 
 commodore's story, had forced the point of a 
 perch-hook right into the thick part of his thumb. 
 
ROUGH SURGERY. 
 
 He was caught completely, and could not get the 
 hook out. He made a good deal more fuss about 
 it than the poor fish did that he had just pulled in ; 
 and Sim unfeelingly said that he now knew how 
 it was himself. But the commodore comforted 
 him by telling him he would take it out when he 
 got on shore, and congratulated him that it had 
 not been a halibut-hook. He cut the line close to 
 the hook ; and then, Bill and Sim having pulled up 
 the anchor, he rowed the boat ashore. 
 
 " Now, boys," said the commodore, rummaging 
 in an old chest, and taking out a pair of cutting 
 nippers, " I'll show you how to take a hook out, in 
 case any of ye ever get caught so again." 
 
 "Will it hurt?" said Ike. 
 
 " P'raps it may a little," replied the commodore ; 
 "but that'll be better'n allers carryin' a hook 
 round with you, won't it? " 
 
 After a little shiver of fear, the thumb was held 
 out, when the salt-water surgeon cut off the top 
 of the hook with his nippers, and then, holding 
 the thumb so very hard in his grip that he fairly 
 benumbed it, he forced the barb through the flesh, 
 and drew it out. The pain lasted but a moment, 
 the blood flowed a little, and the boy was happy. 
 
IO6 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " There," said the commodore, "that's the way 
 to do it ; and every boy that goes a-fishing should 
 know how to manage in sich a 'mergency." 
 
 Ike thanked him ; but the thumb was sore, and 
 he allowed the other boys to divide the fish with 
 the old fisherman, while he went on before to the 
 house, to enlist the sympathy of Aunt Martha, 
 which was fully given him, with a poultice of white 
 bread and milk to keep out the inflammation. 
 
 Next day the finger was too sore to admit of his 
 going out to engage in farming, and Sim remained 
 at home to keep him company. Of course they 
 could not confine themselves to the house, and so 
 they went out to explore the barnyard and the 
 outbuildings. Every box was opened, every nook, 
 high and low, searched, with the spirit of curiosity 
 which inspires the universal boy. Things long 
 forgotten were brought to light ; and from a box 
 in the corn-chamber was taken some red and blue 
 coloring matter with which Uncle Tracy had in 
 former years marked his sheep. It was a powder ; 
 and, on mixing it with water, the boys found that 
 it made a very good paint. After experimenting 
 with both kinds, upon wheels and cart-bodies, 
 barn-doors and fences, a happy thought struck 
 Ike. 
 
AN EMBLEMATIC ROOSTER. IO/ 
 
 " Let's paint the old crower," he said. 
 
 " Done," responded Sim, laughing at the idea. 
 
 The old cock was pacing grandly up and down, 
 looking at them suspiciously as they came to this 
 conclusion ; but, failing to guess precisely what 
 they were driving at, he did not try to get out of 
 the way, and in a moment was a prisoner. He 
 made a fierce remonstrance, and his family of 
 hens ran screaming away, as the boys carried him 
 into the woodshed, where the paints were all 
 ready for the artistic decoration. 
 
 " Shall we paint him all over ? " said Sim. 
 
 " No," replied Ike: "we'll paint one wing red 
 and the other blue, and make a Hail Columbia bird 
 of him red, white, and blue, you see." 
 
 "All right: go ahead." 
 
 " You paint one wing, and I will the other." 
 
 They went to work, and in a few minutes had 
 produced the most singular and gorgeous barn- 
 yard monarch that ever spread his feathers to the 
 sun. With a white body, and red and blue wings, 
 he seemed to be unconscious of his magnificent 
 appearance, and strutted off to join his mates, who 
 ran away from him, seeming not to know him in 
 his new dress. Uncle Tracy, about this time com- 
 
IO8 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 ing in from the field, saw the strange bird, and 
 asked the grinning rogues where it came from ; 
 but when he found out about it he was much dis- 
 pleased. He told them that even a poor barn- 
 yard fowl had rights which they ought to respect, 
 and they should not expose even an innocent and 
 harmless cockerel, who had no ambition, to ridi- 
 cule, by making him appear what he was not 
 Now, in his new dress, he said, he was like some 
 politician drawn out to fill a station he was not 
 fitted to fill, to strut a while as a laughing-stock, 
 and then to disappear. That was an honest old 
 fowl, and he did not like to see him so put upon. 
 This rather dampened the fun of the thing, but 
 the crower did not seem to be at all aware of his 
 gay feathers ; and next morning, when he was all 
 alone, Uncle Tracy was heard to laugh very heart- 
 ily as he saw the bird strut by. 
 
 This was Aunt Martha's churning morning, and 
 she was very busy at the dasher ; while Ike, who 
 thought he would not go down to the field with 
 Bill and Sim, because his hand was still sore, stood 
 looking on to see her churn. 
 
 "As your other hand is not lame, dear," said 
 Aunt Martha, "would you not like to take hold 
 
TRIED BY FIRE. ICQ 
 
 and help bring my butter, while I go and do 
 something else ? " 
 
 Certainly, he thought he should like it; and 
 so he took off his jacket, and went to work. It 
 seemed easy enough at first, but his arm soon 
 began to ache; and he thought that that butter 
 was more reluctant to "come" than he had ever 
 been when called. He worked away very dili- 
 gently for about ten minutes, which seemed an 
 hour, when he stopped to rest a little ; and just 
 then he saw a great black smoke rise up over the 
 trees, followed by a blaze, which seemed but a 
 little way off. He thought it was a barn on fire ; 
 and, without even putting on his jacket, he left 
 the butter to come of its own accord, and started 
 across the fields in the direction of the smoke, 
 which proved farther away than he supposed, but 
 he kept on to where he found an immense pile of 
 brush burning in an open lot, by the river, which 
 had been cleared off. Quite a number of people 
 had collected about the fire ; and Ike, excited by 
 the scene, as every boy is by fire, forgot all about 
 his churning. As soon, however, as he thought 
 of it, he left, and ran back as fast as he could. 
 
 Aunt Martha had seen him run across the field; 
 
IIO IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 and, knowing that he could not be back again for 
 some time, she went out and renewed the churn- 
 ing, the butter coming very soon. She took it 
 out of the churn, and left the buttermilk as it 
 was, determining, with a sly humor, to play a 
 harmless trick upon the deserter. Ike came back, 
 puffing and blowing ; and, after resting a moment, 
 he took hold of the old dasher again, and went 
 to work vigorously. The butter having been re- 
 moved, it worked easier than it did before, and so 
 he churned and churned, wondering if that butter 
 ever would come. Bill and Sim came in from the 
 field, and found him hard at it. Bill looked into 
 the churn, and burst out laughing, as he said, 
 
 " What are you 'bout ? " 
 
 "Making the butter come." 
 
 " Come ! why, the butter's come and gone." 
 
 Ike was not well pleased to find that he had 
 been churning buttermilk; but he felt mean for 
 deserting his post, and with a funny look at Aunt 
 Martha, who smiled back at him, he let the matter 
 drop. 
 
 There came up a terrible rain one day ; and, as 
 there could be no working on the farm, all kept 
 in the house. Uncle Tracy took his agricultural 
 
RAINY-DAY SPORT. I 1 1 
 
 paper, and went away to read it ; Sim found a book 
 that suited him ; and Bill and Ike, after trying 
 several expedients for amusing themselves, got 
 sky-larking. Going on, little by little, they made 
 things very lively, and drowned the noise of the 
 rain and wind by their boisterous glee. The old 
 house had a large hall, or entry, that extended 
 from front to rear, a door from which opened into 
 the front -room, and another into the "sitting- 
 room," or parlor, at the back part of the house. 
 A monstrous chimney ran up between the two 
 rooms, filling the whole width, except a small 
 entry-way, at the end of the house, which con- 
 nected the two rooms. 
 
 After playing some pretty rough games on each 
 other, Ike took a heavy cane, and Bill a broom 
 which Aunt Martha had left standing by the door 
 to sweep the water out with, and commenced an 
 exhibition of fencing. Then, the doors of the 
 rooms being wide open, they began a series of 
 mutual attacks, rough and tumble, the hardest 
 fend off, chasing one another round from room 
 to room, each watching to get advantage of the 
 other, during which they received some pretty 
 hard knocks. The sport had become so fierce, 
 
112 
 
 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 and the noise so violent, that Aunt Martha begged 
 Uncle Tracy to go out and overawe the disturbers 
 of the peace by moral power, but not to hurt 
 them. 
 
 The door of Uncle Tracy's room was opposite 
 
 the one from which Ike was emerging ; and, hear- 
 ing the old man coming, he stopped, looking 
 very demure, holding his weapon behind him. 
 Uncle Tracy looked at him steadily and somewhat 
 sternly; and Ike, holding up his hand, stepped 
 
FLOORED. 113 
 
 forward, pointing to the door of the front-room, 
 saying, in a deep whisper, " In there ! " 
 
 Uncle Tracy, without saying any thing, moved 
 on softly, and thrust his head into the door where 
 Bill was waiting, in ambush, to receive his adver- 
 sary. In an instant the broom came down on 
 Uncle Tracy's head with a whack, and he found 
 himself sprawling across the entry. Aunt Martha 
 ran out to pick him up, and for a few moments 
 there was a scene. 
 
 Fortunately it was the broom part, saturated 
 with water, that struck him ; but for about a 
 minute and a half he could not have told the 
 name of the town he lived in, nor who was going 
 to be the next president. Ike threw his cane 
 aside, and stood by, with a very long face, listen- 
 ing to the lecture which Uncle Tracy gave Bill, 
 part of which was directed at him. 
 
 "I thought it was Ike," said Bill in reply. 
 
 "Well, I didn't," replied Uncle Tracy, rubbing 
 his head ; and order was restored. 
 
114 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HOMEWARD BOUND. DRIFTING DOWN THE RIVER. 
 
 THE ANCIENT FISHERMAN. BITES. PULL- 
 ING IN THE BLUEFISH. AN INTERCEPTED LET- 
 TER. CAPTAIN BOB ON TRUTH. HIS SEALING- 
 
 VOYAGE. 
 
 IKE and Sim had extended their visit to two 
 weeks, and were ready to return by the same 
 packet which had brought them up, which they 
 were to signal to stop for them. The signal was 
 set, and they bade everybody good-by ; no one, 
 however, being very urgent to have them stay but 
 Bill, who, though a little older than they, had 
 found them capital company. He went down to 
 the landing with them, where they awaited the 
 coming of the packet on the ebb tide. She was a 
 good-sized vessel, with a latteen sail, to lower when 
 she passed under the bridge before reaching Riv- 
 ertown ; and they saw her tall sail over the bushes 
 as she approached. 
 
DRIFTING DOWN. 1 15 
 
 In a few minutes, after bidding Bill good-by, 
 they were on the packet, drifting down stream 
 with the slack tide ; for there was not a breath of 
 air stirring. The way was long to Rivertown, and 
 promised little of interest to the young voyagers. 
 The river was very beautiful, bordered by deep 
 woods and majestic rocks, whose dark shadows 
 lay upon the waters ; but they did not care much 
 about such things. They would talk for a mo- 
 ment to people in boats, make signals to any one 
 they might see on the shore, shout to hear their 
 voices echo among the rocks ; but boys are impa- 
 tient, and so they were bored on board the packet. 
 There was a little cabin in "The Sally Ann" 
 (which was the vessel's name), and they went down 
 into it to see what it was like. It was a little close 
 place, with two small holes in the stern for cabin- 
 windows, and a shelf each side, on which, if hard 
 put to it, one or two might sleep. The boys 
 stretched themselves on these shelves, and looked 
 out dismally over the still water far behind. 
 
 There was an elderly passenger, who was also 
 annoyed by the slow movement of the boat. He 
 had grown tired of viewing the scenery, and thrown 
 his magazine one side, and now asked the skipper 
 
Il6 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 if he had a fishing-line on board. One of the men 
 opened a little closet near at hand, and produced 
 a line ; and then, as there was no other bait, he 
 brought a piece of fat pork to put on the hook. 
 Thus provided, the gentleman threw over his line, 
 the sinker on which being heavy, it sank quickly 
 to the bottom, the tide keeping it in place. Then 
 the fisher began the customary performance of 
 pulling the line up and down, keeping the sinker 
 a little way from the bottom, and poising it so that 
 the least nibble might not escape him. There is 
 nothing that pleases a lazy man so much as this 
 kind of fishing of course, if he catches any 
 thing ; and, when he is too old to carry a pole all 
 day through bog and brier, it is just the kind to 
 "taper off with," and brag about like an old Nim- 
 rod. So he fished. 
 
 " What's that ? " said Sim in a whisper, as he 
 saw the line drop into the water. 
 
 " Somebody's fishing, I guess," replied Ike, who 
 had been about half asleep. 
 
 "He can't catch any thing." 
 
 " No, of course not." 
 
 " I don't believe he'll get a bite." 
 
 "Nor I." 
 
A SPLENDID BITE. I I/ 
 
 After waiting a minute Ike said, "Say, Sim, 
 s'pose we give him some bites ? " 
 
 "How?" asked Sim. 
 
 "I'll show you." 
 
 Suiting the action to the word, Ike reached out 
 of the little window, took hold of the line, and 
 gave it a gentle twitch. Up went the line, hand 
 over hand, very rapidly, and they heard a voice 
 say, "'Twas a splendid bite." 
 
 " Bite him again, Ike, as soon as he gets his line 
 down," said Sim, laughing at the fun of the thing. 
 
 " I'll give him a bigger one next time," said Ike. 
 
 Down went the line ; and it was pulled up and 
 down nervously for a minute, when, reaching out 
 again, Ike gave it a smarter jerk. Again it was 
 pulled in swiftly ; and the boys were convulsed 
 with laughter, but kept as still as they could so 
 that they might not be heard. 
 
 " Didn't catch him that time," said Ike. 
 
 "I never had a more positive bite," they heard 
 the fisher say. " It must have been a tautog : 
 they always seem to shut their jaw right down on 
 the bait." 
 
 The skipper did not think it could be a tautog, 
 because none had ever been caught in the river ; 
 
Il8 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 but it might be some heavy cod which had come 
 into the river to feed on the muscles at the old 
 bridge farther up. 
 
 Down went the line again, and it was drawn up 
 and down as before ; but the boys waited fully five 
 minutes before they touched it. 
 
 " Now, Ike, give him a halibut-bite," said Sim. 
 
 This time Ike gave a more determined pull, with 
 the same result ; when, thinking they had carried 
 the joke far enough, they crept out on deck, where 
 they found the fisherman in a state of great ex- 
 citement, trying again for a bite, and disappointed 
 that he could not get another one, declaring that 
 he never had finer bites in his life. The boys 
 chuckled to themselves, but said nothing. 
 
 The old gentleman at last discontinued trying, 
 but left his line hanging over the stern. A breeze 
 sprang up, the tide increased, and the packet 
 moved swiftly, the line stretching far behind. 
 
 " Sim," said Ike in a low tone, " go down and 
 get that old umbrella-frame we saw there." 
 
 Sim crept down, and soon returned with an 
 umbrella, whereof little was left besides the sticks ; 
 to which, the line having been drawn in, Ike 
 attached the hook near the ferule, that the frame 
 
SOMETHING ON. 119 
 
 might not spread, and then threw it overboard. 
 Having done this the boys walked away very 
 unconcernedly to another part of the vessel. 
 
 The line ran out to its utmost length ; and then 
 a great commotion appeared in the water, as the 
 umbrella was dashed from side to side and over 
 and over as if by some large fish that was strug- 
 gling to free itself. No real fish could have been 
 more active ; and one of the men, glancing towards 
 it, cried, 
 
 " What's on the line?" 
 
 The cry immediately attracted the attention of 
 the old gentleman, who rushed aft, and insisted 
 on his right to pull in the fish, as he had been 
 so tantalized by the bites. The polite waterman 
 gave way; and, seizing the line, the gentleman 
 began to pull it in. The excitement in the water 
 increased with the effort he made. It was un- 
 doubtedly a bluefish, he said, because he had 
 caught hundreds of them in Buzzard's Bay, and 
 knew one by the pull. The line slipped from his 
 hands, the resistance was so great ; and he eagerly 
 began to pull in again. All on board were now 
 watching the line. 
 
 " I guess it is a whale," said Ike. 
 
120 
 
 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " Or a shark," said Sim. 
 
 The skipper said nothing, but he looked funny 
 round the corners of his mouth as he glanced 
 
 sideways at 
 the boys. 
 
 Never was 
 there greater 
 trouble in 
 
 catching a fish : 
 even Commodore Hun- 
 tress, and his halibut 
 hooked by the tail, were beat- 
 en by this that flashed and 
 floundered out there in the water. The sunlight 
 was in the eyes of those looking on, so that 
 it was no wonder they could not make out what 
 
HIS AUTOGRAPH REQUESTED. 121 
 
 it was. The old gentleman had nearly got it in, 
 and giving a last effort he drew the sea-monster 
 over the stern. Surprise and anger filled the 
 ancient fisherman as he threw down the line, and 
 walked away, laying all the blame to the one who 
 first gave the alarm. 
 
 Somehow or other it leaked out before they 
 reached Rivertown, that the boys did it, as well 
 as what sort of fish it was that gave the bites ; 
 and, though the old gent felt vexed with them at 
 first, he afterwards confessed to the skipper that 
 they were "lively boys." And when he found out 
 that one of them was Ike Partington, he asked 
 him for his autograph! 
 
 Ike was warmly welcomed home by Mrs. Par- 
 tington, who looked him over to see if he had 
 come back whole, and then began a catalogue of 
 questions as to what he had seen, how he had 
 behaved, and how they had treated him. 
 
 " I hope you were a good boy," she said. 
 
 Ike assured her that his conduct had been 
 irreproachable, for the proof of which she might 
 ask Sim. 
 
 " Well, I'm glad to hear that you didn't do any 
 thing to vindicate your good name ; for people 
 
122 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 judge a person's conduct by the way he behaves 
 himself, and we are always happier when we have 
 done nothing that our conscience acquits us of." 
 
 Ike said, " Yes 'm," as he navigated through a 
 quarter section of custard-pie. 
 
 " And did you like farming ? " 
 
 "Boss." 
 
 " What part did you like best ? " 
 
 " Fishing." 
 
 " I hope you didn't go on the water to catch 
 fish," said the dame anxiously. 
 
 " How could I catch 'em if I didn't ? " 
 
 Mrs. Partington silently admitted the logical 
 force of this question, looking at him over her 
 glasses, and then turned his valise inside out to 
 see if he had brought back all of his clothes. 
 She shook every garment ; and, as she served an 
 old jacket thus, a paper dropped out of one of the 
 pockets, which she picked up. 
 
 "What is that, Isaac ?" she asked. 
 
 "My gracious!" replied he, "if that isn't Joe 
 Moody 's letter which I wrote him up to the farm. 
 I put it in my pocket, and forgot to send it." 
 
 After rebuking him for his neglect to write to 
 her, when he could find time to write to any one 
 else, she opened the letter, and read, 
 

 LETTER AND A MORAL. 123 
 
 HILL-TOP, Augurst 5. 
 
 DEAR Jo I rite this on a bee hyve in a barn turned 
 bottom up with lots of swallers flying round but you cant 
 ketch em and I found three hens nests whitch was laid 
 away in the hay whitch I shall try to find some more. I 
 and Sim went for sum hornets down into the field and they 
 stung Uncle Tracy on the nose wen we drownded out a 
 woodchuck whitch we didnt becos he got away before we 
 drownded him. You ort to see the crower that me and Sim 
 painted red white and blew and we histed the cat up on the 
 well sweape to tellegraff the boys over the river who histed 
 up a pare of boots and a corn baskit which is fun though 
 Uncle Tracy don't like it much. I'm going fishing tomorrer 
 with Sim and Bill and tell the fellers that we are hunky dory 
 also the old woman up the crick. 
 
 Yures always, IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 "Who do you have reverence to by 'old 
 woman ' ? " said Mrs. Partington, folding the note, 
 and looking at him severely over her spectacles. 
 
 Ike was confused for a moment. 
 
 " I guess I was absent-minded when I wrote 
 that," replied he; "I should have said 'lady,' of 
 course. I had a bad pen, and couldn't think very 
 straight." 
 
 " Well, be careful that you don't make such a 
 mistake again, for to be disreputable to old people 
 is not very credible in the young." 
 
124 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 The first person that Ike called upon after 
 getting home was Captain Bob, who shook hands 
 with him cordially, as he had missed his little 
 neighbor very much. Seeing a red mark on Ike's 
 thumb : 
 
 "What's the matter with it?" asked the cap- 
 tain. 
 
 " Got a fish-hook into it," replied Ike. 
 
 Ike told him then the whole story, how he got 
 the hook in, and how he got it out, and about the 
 commodore's halibut caught by the tail, whereby 
 the captain was much interested. 
 
 "But, Lor' bless ye!" said he, "ketching one 
 halibut by the tail is no great things. Now, what 
 if I should tell you I had been in a boat where 
 two had been caught by the tail, and that one of 
 the crew stood up in the bow, and druv them 
 halibuts, like a span, through the water, drawing 
 the boat after 'em ? " 
 
 " Of course that would be twice as wonderful," 
 replied Ike with a grin. 
 
 "So 'twould," chuckled the captain, "so 
 'twould : you're right, there, every time. But 
 'tisn't no use to say I didn't see it, for you 
 wouldn't believe such a lie; and yet a lie that 
 

 GOING SEALING. 125 
 
 nobody won't believe isn't so bad as one that 
 comes so near the truth that it looks like it, and 
 cheats us. Them's the lies that count. But this 
 'ere halibut story may be true ; for, you see, there's 
 mighty strange things happening all the time on 
 salt water, as you know how it is yourself, being a 
 shipwrecked sailor." 
 
 " I know you have lots of sea-stories," said Ike. 
 
 " Guess I have, my little chap, and true ones 
 too. Huntress never went on a sealing-voyage." 
 
 " Sealing-voyage ! What's that ? " 
 
 "Why, to ketch seals like them in Barnum's 
 show, only they are different. The ones I went 
 fur were the fur seals that the gals wear on their 
 shoulders, away to the Falkland Islands, if you 
 know where they be." 
 
 Ike said he had heard of them. 
 
 "Well, we went out there, clear to Cape Horn, 
 in a little schooner called 'The Lovely Polly,' to 
 ketch seals ; and we had to kill 'em to ketch 'em. 
 It did seem cruel for us to go so fur on purpose to 
 kill the poor things that hadn't done us no harm, 
 and looked at us so cur'ously from the rocks with 
 their soft dark eyes. They didn't stop long to 
 look, though, but rolled off into the water ; and 
 
126 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 'twas real tetching to see the seal mothers tumble 
 their babies into the sea, and then follow 'em. 
 We found 'em covering the rocks, hundreds of 
 'em, and every day killed more or less. The way 
 we done it was to come upon 'em when they were 
 sunning themselves, get right in their pathway to 
 the sea, and then, when they ran by, knock 'em 
 on the nose with a heavy club, one lick of which 
 fixed 'em. It seemed cowardly like, and wicked ; 
 but we were there to make money, and men will 
 do any thing for that. 'Tis better, though, let me 
 tell you, to kill seals for money than it is to rob 
 widows and orphans as too many do nowadays. 
 One day we. went ashore where we knew there 
 must be lots of seals ; but not a whisker did we see, 
 high or low, 'cept one big seal that dodged some- 
 where as soon as he saw us. When we got up to 
 where he was, we found the mouth of a cave ; and, 
 looking in, we could see lots of eyes glisten. It 
 seemed as if the cave was full, and some one must 
 go in to drive 'em out. It was a kind o' pokerish 
 business, and nobody wanted to do it. I was 
 young then, and full of spirit, and I asked the 
 captain to let me go. He was a little doubtful 
 about it ; but, as nobody else would go, he said 
 
A WILD RIDE. 127 
 
 that I might. I crawled into the cave ; and, sure 
 enough, there they were, hundreds of 'em. They 
 jumped up with a growl when they saw me, and 
 put for the opening. I couldn't stand up, the 
 place was so low : so I sat there, and as they ran 
 by I would tip them on the nose, and the ones 
 outside drawed 'em out. I didn't move till I'd 
 killed three hundred and forty-five of 'em." 
 
 "Weren't you tired?" 
 
 " N-no : I was 'cited like, and so didn't mind 
 it." 
 
 "But how could so many get into so small a 
 place ? " 
 
 " Never you mind about that : so it was. When 
 all of 'em was killed but one old sea-lion, I 
 thought, boy-like, 'twould be fine sport to ride 
 him out; and, when he came along, I jumped on 
 to his back. I tell you he made the quickest time 
 ever known in them parts ; and, before I could say 
 * Jack Robinson,' I was overboard and that seal a 
 mile under water." 
 
 " Why wasn't you drowned ? " asked Ike, with 
 surprise. 
 
 "Because my time hadn't come. Nobody can 
 die before their time comes. I was picked up by 
 the boat." 
 
128 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 The captain, having finished his story, lay back 
 with his sharp eyes fixed on Ike to read its effect 
 on him. He evidently liked it, but he wondered 
 to himself what it had to do with getting the hook 
 out of his finger. With a promise to spin him 
 some more sea-yarns at some other time, the 
 captain went down to stop a leak in " The Jolly 
 Robin;" and Ike went up into the field by the 
 shore, to look after a bumble-bee's nest that he 
 had discovered before he went away, and took a 
 deep interest in. 
 
IN THE WOODS. I2Q 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE WOOD-RANGERS. THE OLD GUN AND THE 
 
 CATS. GROUND AND LOFTY TUMBLING. IKE 
 
 CRIPPLED BY A FALL. 
 
 A LTHOUGH the sports on the creek were 
 /~V delightful to the boys, it was equally pleas- 
 ant for them to go out into the grand old woods 
 which came down to within a mile of the town, 
 and play the "ranger." Here were broad acres 
 of forest and swamp, as new as if direct from the 
 hand of the Creator, for their improvement ; and 
 well they improved them, in their way. Sylvan 
 sports of all kinds were indulged in ; each, by a 
 free exercise of imagination, fancying himself a 
 Robin Hood or a Little John, and not on a small 
 scale either. Each one, provided with a hatchet, 
 a knife, or a bow and arrow, was inspired to 
 "blaze" every tree they passed, in imitation of 
 the early settlers, or to shoot their shafts at the 
 inoffensive birds and squirrels, which, however, 
 
I3O IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 they seldom harmed, but always came "pretty 
 near" hitting. 
 
 Who ever knew or heard of a boy killing a bird 
 with his arrow, however bloody his intention ? The 
 genii of the woods considerately turn the bolts 
 aside, or there would not be enough of the 
 feathered songsters left for seed. Boys are more 
 apt to harm themselves, as Ike was made to feel 
 when he got the corner of Ephe Dennett's hatchet 
 under the " pan-bone " of his left knee, which 
 caused him to limp for a month or two afterwards. 
 
 They were great rangers, and their pleasant 
 voices made music as they laughed and sung 
 under the arches of the trees. One song was a 
 favorite : 
 
 " ' Pray, who did kill that noble stag?' 
 
 "Twas I, 'twas I, 'twas I ; 
 And I am called bold Robin Hood.' 
 
 ' Bold Robin, you must die ! ' 
 Bold Robin then he blew his horn, 
 
 And soon his archers came : 
 They ducked the verderer in the pool, 
 
 And laughed to see his shame." 
 
 It wouldn't have been wholesome for any "ver- 
 derer " to have come among them single-handed, 
 
CAT CONCERT INTERRUPTED. 
 
 for he would probably have shared the fate of the 
 one of the ballad ; for there were plenty of pools 
 for ducking purposes all round. Once they got a 
 gun, which was a great innovation and a first-rate 
 thing, for it afforded a delightful chance to blow 
 their brains out, or inflict on themselves some 
 other mortal injury. They took turns to fire, 
 with the door of an old barn for a target, which 
 they rarely hit, but came nigh killing the cattle 
 in the field by the reckless way in which they 
 fired with both eyes shut. The gun was Captain 
 Bob's ; and they got it of him when he was labor- 
 ing under an excess of good-nature, and was sorry 
 a moment afterwards that he let it go off. They 
 returned it, however, without having blown off 
 any of their limbs. 
 
 " If that gun had served you as it did me once, 
 you'd never have wanted to borrow it," said he. 
 
 "Tell us about it," they cried. 
 
 "Well, one night as I was sleeping with my 
 brother Ben in the attic of the old homestead, 
 a little one-story house, not much bigger than a 
 martin-box, there came a yowling of cats on the 
 roof, as if they were holding a caucus up there. 
 We were right under 'em, and could hear 'em 
 
132 
 
 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 scratching, clawing, and spitting; and says I, 
 ' Ben, you lay still, and I'll go out and fix 'em.' 
 So I crept down stairs, and felt along to where 
 this old gun was hanging. I had loaded her for 
 ducks as much as six months before, and hung 
 
 her up all primed 
 for use ; but the 
 ducks hadn't hap- 
 pened along. I 
 took her down 
 from the hooks, 
 and went out just 
 as I came from 
 bed, and the night 
 was cold as Cicero. 
 I didn't stop to 
 think, because I was so chilly, 
 but blazed away ; and in half a 
 minute I was kicked about six 
 rods over across a fence into a 
 snow-drift. I got back as soon as I could, you bet, 
 and found Ben half scared into fits, because, he 
 said, the shot had come right on to him. Next 
 morning we found three dead cats in the cabbage- 
 yard behind the house. That's the dientical gun." 
 
BEAVER DAM. 133 
 
 They all looked at it and handled it with fresh 
 interest, but the captain never loaned it to them 
 again. 
 
 There was a place called "Beaver Dam," for 
 some reason or other, which was famous as a 
 place of resort for the boys ; and the names of 
 many generations of Rivertown boys were carved 
 deep in the bark of an immense broad-breasted 
 beech-tree. Ike's name soon found a place there 
 in characters more bold than elegant, to be ad- 
 mired by coming ages. There were grand pasture 
 oaks also in the vicinity, whose lower branches 
 swept the ground ; and walnut-trees, which ac- 
 counted for the attraction of boys and squirrels 
 in the fall of the year. Perhaps it was for their 
 picturesque effect when the leaves were chan- 
 ging, and the whole forest of hard-wood trees was 
 crowned with the glories of autumn. Whatever 
 the reason, they were sure to visit Beaver Dam. 
 
 One fine warm October afternoon quite a crowd 
 of the youngsters, having had their accustomed 
 ramble through the woods, cutting " cat-tails," and 
 hemlock boughs for bows, found their way to 
 the "Dam," and were enjoying themselves splen- 
 didly, risking their necks by climbing the trees 
 
134 IK E PARTINGTON. 
 
 as if they were squirrels and without any more 
 fear. After a while Ike, jumping up and catching 
 hold of a branch, cried out, 
 
 " See here, Sam Hyte ! I say, Tom Scates ! 
 Hallo, all of you ! I'm going to show you some 
 new gymnastics. I intend to join the circus next 
 year." 
 
 " What are you going to do ? " asked one. 
 
 " I'm up a tree, and I'm going to try some new 
 ground and lofty tumbling." 
 
 "Take care you don't tumble in earnest." 
 
 " Look out and don't fall." 
 
 " You'd better give up your monkey-tricks, and 
 come down." 
 
 Almost every one had something to say about 
 it ; and Ike gave up his intention of astonishing 
 them, but came down upon a limb about twelve 
 feet from the ground, and settled among the 
 branches, half way out, his weight bending down 
 the ends till the boys below could reach them. 
 
 "Now," said he, "take hold, and give us a 
 swing." 
 
 "All right." 
 
 " Well, now all together ! " 
 
 The limb, which was a pretty large one, moved 
 
THE LAST PULL. 135 
 
 gracefully up and down, and swayed a little to the 
 right and left, Ike nestling among the leaves, and 
 urging those who had hold to toss him up higher. 
 
 "Now give a half dozen pulls for the last," he 
 shouted. 
 
 They took hold now with a will, and threw all 
 their strength into the effort, when, at about the 
 fourth pull, they heard the limb split off from the 
 trunk of the tree, and Ike rolled out of his cradle, 
 falling head first upon the ground, like a paver's 
 rammer. He put out his hands to break his fall ; 
 and when he got upon his feet, as soon as he was 
 able to do so, he thought his wrists were broken. 
 They swelled immediately, and were -entirely use- 
 less. Here had been "ground and lofty tum- 
 bling " which they had not expected ; but they 
 said nothing, only to sympathize with the suf- 
 ferer. 
 
 He was in a bad condition when he got home ; 
 and Mrs. Partington sent for Dr. Kittredge to 
 come as "expediently as possible." He came, 
 examined the hurts, and was thinking what to do, 
 when Mrs. Partington asked, in a tone of deep 
 anxiety, 
 
 " Are the wrists desecrated, doctor ? " 
 
136 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 "No, nor dislocated." 
 
 " Is it a fraction of any bones, or sich ? " 
 
 " No : merely a sprain." 
 
 " I'm so glad ! I remember when my dear 
 Paul that is my- husband ran against the 
 edge of an open door, in the dark, and broke the 
 cartridge of his nose, and said he had no idea 
 that his nose was longer than his arm before, 
 how much he suffered from the confusion, with 
 the skin upbraided, and his eye as black as my 
 shoe." 
 
 " Nothing is broken, ma'am ; and, with a little 
 patience and some time, he will be out again as 
 good as new." 
 
 " I'm glad to hear you speak so sanguinary, 
 I declare." 
 
 The doctor left something for the patient, 
 visited him several times, and sent in his bill, 
 which was paid ; but it was a long time before 
 Ike was himself again. Mr. Grum was not afraid of 
 him now. Whatever the scheme the boys had on 
 foot, he could not have a hand in it. He began, 
 however, to do things, little by little, easy 
 things at first, the last, such as bringing wood 
 and water, being pronounced impossible for a 
 
HIMSELF AGAIN. 137 
 
 long while; but at length he was "right as a 
 trivet," whatever that may be, and ready to have 
 a finger in any thing that was going on, even if it 
 was a cart-load of apples. 
 
138 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 AMUSING THE INVALID. TRYING A CAT'S TEMPER. 
 
 THE OLD ANTEDILUVIAN. QUEER STORIES. 
 
 THE FIGHT AT SHELDON'S. MAKING UP. 
 
 WHILE Ike was shut up in the house with 
 his sprained wrists, the restraint was ter- 
 rible to him. He was not one of the studious 
 kind of boys, who could sit and read and enjoy 
 seclusion under the spell of a book. Even a spell- 
 ing-book had no charm for him : so he would take 
 his place by the window, and amuse himself with 
 what was going on outside ; but, as the place was 
 very quiet, not much of interest occurred to please 
 or excite him. The creek side of the house was 
 more satisfactory, as he could overlook the stream, 
 and watch the boats as they sailed by, could see 
 the people cross the bridge which dammed the 
 creek at its outlet, and the huge flood-gates be- 
 neath it, which opened and shut with the rising 
 and falling tide ; but even this grew monotonous, 
 
FUN WITH THE CAT. 139 
 
 and he sighed for release. The boys would come 
 as often as they could to cheer him, and turn sum- 
 mersets before the window, and run races, and all 
 that; but it only reminded him of his own disa- 
 bility, and he was not happy. The boys were 
 reduced to one on a Saturday afternoon, Mrs. 
 Partington having gone out for a time, while little 
 Nat Sides, a very sprightly fellow, remained in 
 charge of the invalid. 
 
 He had exhausted all of his ingenuity in provid- 
 ing expedients for the amusement of the sufferer 
 until he was about giving up, when he espied the 
 cat sleeping serenely in a corner. The instinct 
 for tormenting, which forever inspires the human 
 boy, instantly lighted his eye, and spread his face 
 with a glow of happiness. 
 
 " Let's have some fun with the cat," said he. 
 
 Ike, much interested, replied, " Yes. But what 
 are you going to do ? " 
 
 " Oh, you'll see ! Is there a big bag here any- 
 where ? " 
 
 " Look in the closet there." 
 
 Nat looked in ; and there hung Mrs. Parting- 
 ton's rag-bag in which all the shreds were usually 
 saved, but it was now nearly empty. 
 
I4O IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 "That's your sort," said he. 
 
 He took the bag down from the nail where it 
 hung, and, hitching it to the back of a chair, 
 went to bring the cat. She was in that state be- 
 twixt sleeping and waking, when a cat's senses, 
 like her claws, are sheathed; and she made no 
 resistance. Nat took possession of her in this 
 half-and-half condition ; and before a glimmer of 
 his wicked purpose could enter her mind, he had 
 her in the bag with the string drawn closely 
 around her neck. She was wide awake now, and 
 made a fierce struggle to free herself, but in vain. 
 She yowled and spit and kicked, her eyes flashing 
 fire ; but the boys only laughed. 
 
 " Tickle her with a straw," said Ike. 
 
 "Yes," replied Nat. 
 
 Mrs. Partington's best broom reposed behind 
 the door, from which a piece was taken ; and then 
 the experiment began which was to put to test the 
 temper of the cat and the cruelty of the experi- 
 menters. They tickled her nose, and tried her at 
 every exposed point. The poor creature, terrified 
 and angry, remonstrated in her way, and showed, 
 by the manner in which her claws revealed them- 
 selves through the cloth, that if she could only 
 
TRYING HER TEMPER. 
 
 141 
 
 get at them, she might have a chance to laugh, 
 and they, perhaps, wouldn't. 
 
 Right in the midst of the scene, while the boys 
 were at the height of their glee, the door opened, 
 and Mrs. Partington entered. The noise ceased 
 
 at once, the cat looked appealingly to the dame, 
 and she, with a flush of indignation, cried, 
 
 "What are you doing, you imps of wicked- 
 ness ? " 
 
 "We aren't hurting her," explained Ike. 
 
 " We are only trying her temper," echoed Nat. 
 
14 2 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " Well, you extract her from that bag as quick 
 as you can, or I shall harm yoti and try your 
 temper." 
 
 She was very severe as she said this while tak- 
 ing off her gloves, and Nat proceeded to let the 
 cat out of the bag. Coming too near her, how- 
 ever, without minding, his hand was brought with- 
 in reach of her mouth, and she seized his thumb 
 in her teeth, making him scream with pain. Mrs. 
 Partington went to his relief, and released the cat, 
 which made a dash through the open window, 
 while the boy danced round the kitchen crying. 
 
 " There, dear/' said she, softened by her sympa- 
 thy, " you see that cats and boys can be simulta- 
 neous in their feelings. You tried her tempera- 
 ture, and now she has tried yours. Think how 
 you would like to be put in a bag, and have sticks 
 stuck in your nose ; and don't serve a poor cat so 
 pussylanimously again." 
 
 There were many who came in to see Ike dur- 
 ing his trouble ; and among these was old Mark 
 Treddle, who had early got acquainted with him. 
 Old Mark, who dearly loved boys, had led a mel- 
 ancholy life. His home was at the town jail, 
 where he had been taken in his early years for a 
 
AMONG THE PATRIARCHS. 
 
 terrible crime which he had committed while in- 
 sane. The insanity was so plain that he had 
 never been even brought to trial, but had been 
 kept at the jail, where since he was perfectly harm- 
 less, he was not held in restraint, but went where 
 he would. He was very ingenious with tools, and 
 had tried to instruct Ike in the mysteries of the 
 jacknife, by which he would produce windmills and 
 kites that should defy competition. And then such 
 stories as he would tell, coined from his own dis- 
 eased fancy, so wild and strange, with no regard 
 to time or place, mixing up the men and 
 things of old with those of the present time ! He 
 knew, he said, the ones who figured in Bible 
 story, and saw them every day. David, Nathan, 
 Noah, Jeremiah, were his neighbors ; and he him- 
 self beheld the downfall of the temple where Sam- 
 son "brought down the house" when called to 
 make sport for the Philistines. 
 
 He was very prompt in coming to see Ike, and 
 often cheered him with some of his wonderful 
 stories. Mrs. Partington, while admitting that 
 these seemed a little confused, thought she saw a 
 great deal of good sense in some of them. 
 
 "You know Jeremiah?" he said, abruptly ad- 
 dressing Mrs. Partington on one occasion. 
 
144 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " Jeremiah who ? " she asked. 
 
 " Why, the prophet, Jere Green." 
 
 " I know Jere Green, but had no idea he was 
 prophetable." 
 
 "Yes. Well, it would have done you good to 
 see him fix them soothsayers and false prophets. 
 They couldn't hold a candle to Jere ; and when he 
 iiad made out the writing on the wall, he rolled up 
 the biggest of 'em into a ball, and knocked the 
 others down with it as if they'd been ninepins." 
 
 " You don't say so ! " she exclaimed. 
 
 " Yes. Well, he told me of a cure for pain. A 
 friend of his in Judee sprained his ankle, and got 
 the rheumatism in it, when Jere told him he would 
 cure it. So he got a large cannon, rammed his 
 friend into it, and fired him off ; and he went so far 
 into the country that it took him three weeks to 
 get back. He had to walk all the way, and never 
 had any trouble afterwards." 
 
 "What a curious anecdote for pain ! " said Mrs. 
 Partington, smiling, and elevating her hands. Ike 
 thought he wouldn't like to try it. 
 
 At another time, Mrs. Partington quoted David 
 as saying something. 
 
 "Yes," said Mark, "and I heard him say it. 
 
QUEER FANCIES. 145 
 
 Poor old man ! I pity him in his trouble about 
 Absalom, who has been taken up for setting fire 
 to a barn on Jerusalem Road. If the wood had 
 been like that, at Labrador," he continued, "it 
 wouldn't have done any harm if he had set it." 
 
 "Isn't it inflammatory?" asked Mrs. Partington. 
 
 " Yes. Bless you ! 'tis so cold there, and the 
 wood is so frozen, that they have to soak it in cold 
 water three days to thaw it out before it will burn, 
 and then it has to be pounded with a sledge- 
 hammer." 
 
 " Who is David ? " asked Ike. 
 
 " David Rigby ; and you ought to hear him play 
 the jews-harp, and sing at the same time. He and 
 the prophet Nathan don't quarrel so much as they 
 did, and Tubal Cain has just put new handles to a 
 pair of Bathsheba's flat-irons." 
 
 " How pleasant it is to know these old people, 
 who lived so far back in antipathy ! " said Mrs. 
 Partington, humoring him. 
 
 " Yes ; but they won't all allow that they are the 
 ones. There's Noah, now, who lives up there by 
 the creek, Simms the blacksmith, he won't 
 own it, except when there comes a very high tide 
 on the creek ; and then he sings out for Ham to 
 hurry up and get every thing snug into the ark." 
 
146 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 "Did you know any thing about the Indian 
 war ? " said Ike. 
 
 "Yes. Know? why, Lord bless you, I was 
 round, wasn't I ? And when the Miller family was 
 killed by the Indians, I helped bring 'em to." 
 
 " What ! did you recussitate* them ? " asked 
 Mrs. Partington. 
 
 " Yes ; but it was a very difficult thing to do. 
 We had to boil 'em, and then lay 'em away to cool 
 before we could put 'em together." 
 
 " But didn't they suffer ? " she queried. 
 
 " No : only one, who complained of a stiff neck 
 because he had cooled off too quick." 
 
 The weariness of restraint was relieved, by 
 this and other means, until Ike got well, and was 
 permitted to take his place among the boys again, 
 much to his and their satisfaction. 
 
 About that time Sheldon's big hog was killed, 
 which caused a great sensation among the boys. 
 The writer here trembles as he approaches the 
 incident which he, as a faithful historian or deline- 
 ator, must describe, but dreads ; like one who 
 seeks for something offensive in the dark, but 
 shudders lest he find it. The fight at Sheldon's is 
 so mixed up with the butchery of the hog, that 
 
WAR BREWING. 147 
 
 quite a bloody tinge is given to it. It was Siah 
 Tibbetts, a full-grown man, with whiskers as big 
 as a quart-bowl, who stirred up a muss betwixt 
 Ike and Joe Moody. They were, up to that mo- 
 ment, two of the best friends in the world. When 
 Ike came up to see the hog dressed, Tibbetts 
 said, 
 
 "Now say it to his face." 
 
 Joe laughed, and put his hands in his pockets. 
 
 " You darsn't say it," continued Siah. 
 
 " Say what ? " said Ike, reddening. 
 
 " Well, if he don't choose to tell it, I don't see 
 why I should; but if anybody said behind my 
 back, that my aunt or mother wasn't better than 
 she should be, I'd wop him." 
 
 " Did you say so ? " said Ike, looking excited. 
 
 " P'raps he didn't say it in them very words ; 
 but some folks says as much by looks as they do 
 by speech, and that's what's the matter with him." 
 
 Joe heard all this without replying ; while Ike 
 glared at him with the ferocity of an irate hen. 
 
 "It may be all right," continued Siah, "to say 
 that if your aunt had been a man she would have 
 been your uncle ; but that's just as folks think." 
 
 Ike doubled up his fists as big as cent buns, 
 and looked as mad as a March hare. 
 
148 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 "Then, again, there may be no harm in one's 
 saying that he hopes a fellow may be better than 
 his grandmother: it depends upon the meaning 
 that's put onto it, and 'f I was you I'd ask him 
 what he meant." 
 
 There's no meaner thing under heaven than a 
 man or one who calls himself a man who 
 will wickedly set to quarrelling two boys that 
 have always been friends. Poor Ike, too angry 
 to think of the absurdity of what Siah had been 
 saying, and of the unlikelihood of Joe's having 
 made the remarks insinuated, had worked himself 
 up to a very tempest of passion. He could not 
 contain himself; and, stepping up to Joe, he 
 said, 
 
 " Did you say that about me ? " 
 
 " Say what ? " yelled Joe. 
 
 " I don't care what : have you been saying any 
 thing ? " 
 
 " I've said a good many things." 
 
 "Then you are a sneak." 
 
 " You are another." 
 
 Siah laughed, which made Ike almost howl, and 
 Joe was stirred. Then they looked ugly at each 
 other, and walked round and round with bent fists 
 
THE FIRST BLOW. 149 
 
 and knitted brows, like two young crowers in a 
 barn-yard watching for a chance to pitch in. 
 They were so little used to it that they didn't 
 know how to begin ; but the miserable tempter, 
 Siah, was a ready prompter. 
 
 " Put a chip on your hat, Ike, and dare him to 
 knock it off," said he. 
 
 Ike picked up a chip, and placed it on his hat. 
 " Now you just knock that off," he cried. 
 
 It was a terrific spectacle to see those two 
 giants pitted against each other, their collision 
 depending on the violent removal of a chip from 
 one's hat ! On such trifles do great events 
 often depend. Siah the contemptible fellow ! 
 winked at Joe, who, in imitation of Napoleon 
 when he dispersed the mob of Paris by firing 
 shotted guns first, struck Ike instead of the chip, 
 and he fell in the dirt. But he aroused a lion 
 by doing this ; and, recovering his feet, Ike went 
 for his assailant. Joe was of good pluck; but 
 he was no match for Ike, who, backed by Siah, 
 and filled with rage, seemed as large again as he 
 was. Joe saw, perhaps, this difference of size, 
 and turned to run, going towards a little rill that 
 flowed along across the road into a field opposite. 
 
I5O IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 Just as he reached this Ike overtook him, and 
 pushed him in, from which he crawled and went 
 home. 
 
 It is painful to record a scene like this ; but the 
 introduction of a brook of water at the close 
 seems to soften the sanguinary feature, and ren- 
 ders it less like those descriptions given by the 
 writers-up of great battles on their termination. 
 So Ike went home a victor, though somehow 
 he felt meanly about it. Wellington, the great 
 soldier, said that the next worst thing to a great 
 defeat was a great victory ; and Ike felt this on a 
 small scale. Mrs. Partington saw his disturbed 
 looks. 
 
 " What is the matter, dear ? " she said. 
 
 " Nothing," he replied, in a surly tone. 
 
 "Nothing?" looking him over: "don't try to 
 keep it from me ; for I know better, with the dirt 
 on your jacket. Tell me this minute." 
 
 "Joe Moody struck me." 
 
 "What for?" 
 
 " Only because I told him to knock a chip off 
 of my hat." 
 
 " And did you brook the outrage ? " 
 
 "No, I brooked him." 
 
MAKING IT UP. 
 
 He confessed the whole to her, and she then 
 showed him the folly and wickedness of boys 
 quarrelling, her spectacles radiant with wisdom 
 and kindness ; informing him that though courage 
 was a good thing, and the power to back it excel- 
 lent, it was no proof of either to put chips on 
 hats for other boys to knock off. Then she sent 
 him to bed, to dream of his great battle ; but the 
 dream was not pleasant, nor when he got up next 
 day were his waking thoughts any more so. He 
 felt ashamed, because he saw through the trick of 
 Siah, and was provoked to think that he had been 
 made a fool of. He had lost a friend, for which 
 he was sorry ; but his pride would not allow him to 
 make a motion towards reconciliation. 
 
 The next day, or the next evening, accident 
 brought about what a month of studied effort 
 might not have done. A dozen of the boys, in- 
 cluding Ike and Joe, had been down town to see 
 or do something, and were returning towards the 
 Corner, when first one and then another of the 
 boys would drop out at his own gate, until the two 
 foes were left together. They had not spoken all 
 the evening, and now were going side by side, the 
 last of the party. They walked on in silence, at 
 first, until Ike said, 
 
152 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 "Joe." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " I've been a fool." 
 
 " I know it." 
 
 " But I won't be so any more. I'm sorry." 
 
 " What are you sorry for ? " 
 
 " Sorry you struck me." 
 
 "And I'm sorry you pushed me into the water." 
 
 "Well, let's make it up." 
 
 "Agreed." 
 
 So they chatted along as if they had never felt 
 angry with each other ; and Ike slept sweetly that 
 night, with a peaceful dream, giving Joe, the next 
 morning, three doughnuts, which he had taken 
 from Mrs. Partington's stores, as a peace-offering ; 
 and Joe gave him three white alley marbles as a 
 like sacrifice. Depend upon it, there is no emo- 
 tion of which the heart is capable that carries with 
 it such a sense of happiness as that of making up 
 after a quarrel. Both the little fellows felt thus ; 
 and this is the moral of the tragic episode which 
 has been here described. 
 
THE SKATING-SEASON. 153 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 RACE WITH THE TEACHER. BIG ON ICE. COAST- 
 ING ON CRUFT'S HILL. THE " RED FAWN " AND 
 "KING OF THE COAST." MOUNTING THE DRIFT. 
 
 IKE TRIUMPHANT. GRUM OFF HIS LEGS. 
 
 BOYS WILL BE BOYS. 
 
 IKE couldn't have told, for the life of him, when 
 winter began, so little was he expecting it. It 
 came very slyly, without making any fuss about it. 
 While he was doing up the autumnal fun, and be- 
 fore he knew it, the creek had a coating of ice 
 upon it half an inch thick ; and the old cellar was 
 frozen over so hard, that the boys could slide upon 
 it, and make "tidly benders," without any more 
 accident than sometimes breaking through the ice 
 and wetting their feet. The frogs had gone long 
 before; for frogs, though cold-blooded, disappear 
 before cold weather, but come out bravely in the 
 spring, like fashionable folks, but they never 
 change their fashions. The winds blew cold over 
 
154 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 the creek; and Captain Bob's boats were drawn 
 up, except " The Jolly Robin," which the ice had 
 caught before he could see to it, and now lay in a 
 cradle like the vessels that get frozen in at the 
 North Pole. So Ike and the boys thought when 
 they found it out, and thought, too, what fine fun it 
 would be to build a house over it, " make believe " 
 it was Arctic night, dress up in fur jackets, eat 
 candles, and do as the explorers in the ice-regions 
 do ! They debated this ; but there were some 
 obstacles in the way, and so they abandoned it. 
 
 As soon as the creek froze over hard enough, 
 then came the skaters, and the surface was made 
 lively by them. The new teacher was a capital 
 skater. He came up on the creek the first half- 
 holiday, and challenged the boys to try a race with 
 him. 
 
 " I'll give a dime," said he, " to the boy that will 
 beat me." 
 
 The whole school was there. They all skated 
 slowly up the creek to the swimming-pool of sum- 
 mer, and then started down ; and such skating! 
 
 " Hurrah ! " shouted the boys. 
 
 At first only ; for they soon found that they 
 needed all their breath to enable them to keep up 
 
RACE WITH HIS MASTER. 155 
 
 with the master. He beat them all, the first race ; 
 and now they challenged him to try it again. He 
 agreed to it, and they skated up to take the same 
 start as before. 
 
 Now, one, two, three, go ! 
 
 Away they started again, but the boys were in 
 better trim. As they glided along, however, one 
 after one gave out, until, as they neared the goal, 
 only Ike and another had kept up with the teacher. 
 Ike was gaining on him. In another moment 
 he would be even with him ; in another, perhaps 
 pass him, when his skate-strap parted, caught 
 under the iron, and Ike pitched towards the 
 teacher like a battering-ram, catching hold of his 
 coat-tails as he fell ; and in an instant both of them 
 went rolling along the ice. The teacher's hat tore 
 away, as if it were eager to keep up the race 
 with the other boy, who went over the course. 
 The teacher was much provoked, until he learned 
 how it happened; and then he laughed, telling 
 Ike he would be careful how he challenged him 
 again, as he had proved such a good skater, and 
 gave him the promised dime, which Ike generously 
 shared with the other fellow. 
 
 Soon the snow covered the hill and the creek. 
 
156 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 The skating was destroyed, and sleds of all 
 kinds began to appear. There were short sleds 
 and long sleds, broad sleds and narrow sleds, old 
 sleds and new sleds, sleds painted and sleds un- 
 painted, bearing all sorts of names. Cruft's Hill 
 was a famous " coast " for the boys of River- 
 town. It was a long and gentle slope to the edge 
 of the creek ; and along the bank of the latter ran 
 a fence designed to keep the cattle from straying 
 away around the shore. There was a slight rise 
 of the ground before reaching the fence, which 
 checked the speed of the coasters, and prevented 
 them from injuring themselves. 
 
 One night there began a tremendous snow- 
 storm, before which all the other snow-storms of 
 the season had been just nothing at all, and which 
 lasted two days. The snow piled up in huge drifts 
 as high as a man ; and some small houses were 
 entirely covered with it. The roads were so filled 
 with the drift, that the people had to turn out with 
 cattle and big ox-sleds in order to make a path ; 
 and several days passed before there was any more 
 coasting on the hill. But the weather moderated, 
 the snow settled down, and soon the sleds were all 
 out again. The wind, blowing through an opening 
 
RED FAWN AT PREMIUM. 
 
 between the boards, had made a drift as high as 
 the fence itself, which rose to a tall peak inside it, 
 leaving an open space between the drift and the 
 fence. This drift, which had a wide base in addi- 
 tion to the rise alluded to, presented an obstacle 
 which all tried to get over ; but not one succeeded. 
 The best sleds ran only to the foot of the drift, 
 and could rise no higher. 
 
 A boy named Jim Draper had come from Bos- 
 ton on a visit a short time before, and had 
 brought his sled with him. It was of elegant 
 workmanship, painted superbly in red and gold, 
 and had the name " Red Fawn " on the sides. 
 The boys admired it, feeling willing to admit them- 
 selves and their sleds beaten, even before they 
 tried it on the coast. It was, indeed, very fast; 
 and, as it flashed in the sun while running down 
 hill, they cheered it, and admitted that it was the 
 "boss sled" of the whole, though it could not get 
 over the big snow-drift down by the fence. Ike 
 did not see it in the same light that the rest did, 
 but went down to consult Captain Bob. He had 
 seen a large old sled hanging up in the captain's 
 barn, and had heard the old fellow praise it. 
 
 " Is that sled swift, Captain ? " said he. 
 
158 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " Swift ? That isn't the word for it. She can 
 fly." 
 
 " Can she ? When did she ever fly ? " 
 
 " Well, it was a good many years ago, and when 
 I lived with old Squire Furber, up in the moun- 
 tains. I had been out one day to get some brush, 
 when, just as I was hauling it home on that 'ere 
 very sled, I heard some wolves yelp ; and they 
 were pretty near too. So I started to run, but 
 they come nearer; and, just as I got to the brow of 
 a steep hill, they were almost upon me. I jumped 
 onto the sled, and let her go. And she did go ! 
 I never see sich going as that was. Why, Lor' 
 bless you ! in two minutes the wolves were out of 
 sight ; and, when I got down to the farm, them 
 runners was so hot that they sissed in the snow." 
 
 " Think she'll go so now ? " asked Ike eagerly. 
 
 " I dessay, but I haven't tried her speed lately ; 
 but, every time I take her out, it seems as if she 
 kinder twitched to get away, and I can scacely 
 keep her from my heels." 
 
 " Well, will you lend her to me ? " 
 
 "What for?" 
 
 " Why, to run down Cruft's Hill with that Bos- 
 ton fellow, who thinks he has got a sled that can 
 beat all creation." 
 
THE CAPTAINS SLED. 159. 
 
 " Yes, you can take her ; but be sure you beat 
 him," said the captain, smiling. 
 
 Ike promised, and started with the sled, which 
 was an old-looking affair enough ; and the captain, 
 who couldn't help joking, had told him what he 
 had about it merely for the fun of it, and had not 
 the least idea that his old sled could run at all. 
 It was a creaky and rough affair, but seemed to 
 go over the snow easily; and Ike, who had be- 
 lieved all that the captain had told about her good 
 qualities, dragged her up to the hill where " The 
 Red Fawn " still was beating all the other sleds. 
 Pulling his sled over the fence, and dragging it 
 slowly up the hill, he was greeted with a shout of 
 laughter when he reached the top. 
 
 " What have you got there ? " cried one. 
 
 " Here comes Noah's ark," said another. 
 
 " What do you ask for slabs ? " shouted a third. 
 
 "What are you going to do with that sand- 
 dragger ? " asked the fourth. 
 
 " What's her name ? " put in Jim Draper, laugh- 
 ing heartily. 
 
 "Her name is 'The King of the Coast,'" re- 
 plied Ike, "and she's going to beat all the sleds 
 on this hill." 
 
l6o IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 "Ha! ha! ha!" they all shouted in chorus at 
 this. 
 
 "Then get out of the way," said Ike. 
 
 "'Twill come to pieces before you get to the 
 bottom." 
 
 " You'd better get your life insured." 
 
 "We'll follow on, and pick up the pieces." 
 
 These were the jeers from the boys on the hill ; 
 but Ike didn't care. 
 
 "Say," said Ike to Draper, "suppose you go 
 down first, so that I can see how you do it." 
 
 "No, sir," he replied : " I don't run with such a 
 barge as that." 
 
 " Well, then, here I go ! " and, giving a short 
 run, he threw himself on the sled, and dashed 
 down the hill with the speed of a racer. 
 
 From laughing, the boys looked on with silent 
 wonder to see the time he made. He increased in 
 swiftness as he flew along the icy track. Down, 
 down he went, until there arose before him the 
 steep drift which had defied all efforts to get to 
 the top of it. He ran over the little rise at the 
 foot of it easily ; and then, dashing up the bank of 
 snow in full sight, he disappeared from view be- 
 yond ! 
 
KING OF THE COAST. 163 
 
 The boys all but Draper shouted "Hur- 
 rah " for victorious Ike ; but where was the victor ? 
 They expected to see him come out to receive 
 their congratulations, but he didn't ; and, running 
 down, they found that the sled had dropped down 
 between the snow-drift and the fence, while Ike 
 had been pitched upon the fence beyond, and had 
 just concluded to breathe again as they found 
 him. The way they cheered him and cheered the 
 old sled, which they now called " The King of the 
 Coast," soon brought him back to his feelings ; 
 but Draper went off as mad as a hatter because 
 the fickle crowd had left his sled to patronize the 
 "barge." 
 
 "The King" maintained its honors, and all 
 were allowed to go down on it ; but no one was 
 ambitious enough to try the drift at the bottom 
 again. As they were coasting, Mr. Grum, who 
 had been across the field on some errand, was re- 
 turning, and was picking his way down the hill so 
 busily that he did not hear the sound of " Uller ! 
 uller ! " which Ike shouted as he moved swiftly 
 along with his back next the sky. In an in- 
 stant he and Ike were back to back, Mr. Grum's 
 feet in the air, and kicking about as if they were 
 
164 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 trying to dance a hornpipe on nothing. He was 
 very much mortified and very angry ; the more so 
 as Mrs. Partington, who had heard that Ike had 
 been hurt, and come out to see about it, was 
 standing where she witnessed the accident. 
 
 "Well," said she to him, "I never saw any 
 thing like that before." 
 
 " Probably not, ma'am," replied he, " because I 
 slid down backwards ; but no thanks to that boy 
 of yours that I was not killed. And, if I had my 
 way, I'd put 'em all in Bridewell." 
 
 Captain Bob had also come up to see how Ike 
 had done with his sled, and stood leaning on the 
 fence, chewing a straw. 
 
 " Nonsense, Grum ! " said he, " that's nothing 
 to growl about. What would you say if you were 
 served as the old fellow was who weighed four 
 hundred pounds, and was caught just as you were, 
 and carried down hill and across a street, right 
 through the front of a brick four-story house, and 
 landed on the supper-table ? You'd have some 
 reason to complain, should such a thing happen ; 
 but, as it didn't, what's the use of growling ? The 
 boy got the worst of it." 
 
 " I hope so," said Grum as he moved away. 
 
BOYS WILL BE BOYS. 165 
 
 Mrs. Partington, after some smiling remark to 
 Captain Bob about " the life and animosity " of 
 boys who will be boys in spite of all efforts to 
 make them any thing else, also moved homeward ; 
 and the captain, having secured his sled for some 
 service, followed after, saying to Ike, 
 
 " Didn't I tell you she'd fly ? " 
 
 But he couldn't see into it exactly. The old 
 sled maintained its reputation as "King of the 
 Coast " in many a trial after that ; and Ike told 
 the boys the story of Captain Bob and the wolves ; 
 but they didn't quite believe it, though they didn't 
 doubt the sled. 
 
1 66 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE DROWNED BOY. CAPTAIN BOB*S EFFORT. 
 
 THE FAITH THAT KILLS SNAKES. NORTH END 
 
 AND SOUTH END. THE SNOW-FORT. BATTLE 
 
 OF NEW ORLEANS. REVERSING HISTORY. 
 
 IT must not be supposed, from the stories told 
 about the creek, that its happenings were all 
 pleasant, and had no drawbacks. There was, upon 
 that little creek, almost as great a variety of inci- 
 dents as the broad ocean could show, storm and 
 calm, rain and shine, commerce, shipwreck, and 
 death, one change following another ; the resem- 
 blance, however, not so plain, because the scene 
 was so much smaller in its scope. There was a 
 fearful calamity which happened upon the creek, 
 following close upon the incident described in the 
 last chapter, that gave sadness to the whole com- 
 munity of Rivertown. 
 
 During the winter, when the ice upon the creek 
 was covered with snow, the creek was made a 
 
TRACK OF PERIL. l6/ 
 
 highway of; and huge loaded teams and sleighs 
 crossed and recrossed it in many directions. 
 When firmly frozen, these paths were as safe as 
 the land ; but on one spot, opposite the flood-gates, 
 where the tide rushed in, it merely skimmed over. 
 Between this skimming and the firm ice there was 
 often a crust frozen a little harder, but not strong 
 enough to bear a man ; and this was carefully 
 avoided. 
 
 One cold morning, as Ike was walking upon the 
 creek, he saw little Johnny Cross on his way to 
 school on the other side, where the red belfry rose 
 above the trees, and he could hear the bell ringing 
 as he went along. He was too far away for Ike 
 to hail him, and warn him of his danger ; but he 
 was moving towards the thin ice, swinging his 
 satchel over his head as he went. Ike stood still, 
 and watched him, a mere speck out there upon the 
 ice ; for he was only a very small boy. Others 
 from the other side had seen the little fellow's 
 danger too ; for they were down on the strong ice, 
 waving him back, but he evidently did not under- 
 stand them. He kept right on. He was now 
 crossing the ice that was strong enough to bear a 
 weight as light as his ; but beyond was the weak 
 
1 68 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 ice that had frozen during the turn of the tide. 
 The gestures of those on the other side were more 
 earnestly made ; and Ike could hear, against the 
 wind, their cries of remonstrance. It seemed as 
 if Johnny had also heard them ; for he stopped 
 in a sort of uncertain manner for an instant, and 
 then took a step forward again. That fatal step ! 
 The thin ice broke beneath his tread, and he sank 
 from sight. Ike turned back, and ran scream- 
 ing, 
 
 " Captain Bob ! Captain Bob ! there's a boy 
 drowning ! " 
 
 " What's that, mother?" said the captain, as he 
 and his wife sat at breakfast ; but, without waiting 
 for her answer, he rushed to the door which over- 
 looked the creek. 
 
 " What is it ? " said he, as he saw Ike. 
 
 " Boy in the creek ! Boy in the creek ! " 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 "Why, there'' pointing to the spot: "don't you 
 see his cap ? " 
 
 The boy was wild with excitement, and jumped 
 up and down on the ice, and wrung his hands like 
 a crazy person, crying all the while. He thought 
 the captain would never come : but the ancient 
 
THE DROWNING BOY. 169 
 
 mariner only waited to kick off his boots, and 
 throw his coat to his wife ; and then he rushed 
 over the ice in his stocking-feet for the drowning 
 boy's rescue, throwing off, as he ran, his vest 
 and other little impediments of clothing. Some 
 people from the other side had reached the scene 
 first, but they seemed paralyzed with terror. 
 
 " Be lively, boys ! " shouted Captain Bob. 
 " Bring some boards ! Rip down the fences ! " 
 
 A dozen boys set off for boards, which were 
 there in a few minutes, with more coming ; the 
 tearing down of the fences seeming to give a 
 pleasant relief, for the moment, to the grief which 
 overwhelmed them. As quick as possible these 
 boards were extended over the ice between the 
 drowning boy and the thick ice : but there were 
 not enough to bear up a heavy man; and so, 
 though they worked rapidly, and were ready to 
 "rip down" every thing to procure boards, there 
 was some little delay, during which Captain Bob 
 sat, personally, very coolly upon the boards, but 
 chafing with impatience, and yelling to the boys 
 for "more boards." 
 
 During this time an occasional glimpse was had 
 of the struggling boy in the water, who had not 
 
I/O IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 sunk; and hope was strong that he might be 
 reached in season to save him. The boards were 
 brought rapidly ; and now another volunteered, 
 who joined the captain on the boards ; and they 
 both worked their way out to where they could 
 see the boy near the surface, and his little cap 
 lying on the broken ice. 
 
 Some impulsive people had thought of "The 
 Jolly Robin " as she lay frozen into the ice, and 
 after great effort had dragged her to the spot, 
 covered, outside and in, with ice, and launched 
 her into the water. The volunteer assistant to 
 Captain Bob had given his watch and papers to 
 one of the most nervous of the by-standers, 
 to keep for him ; and this person, for what reason 
 could not be seen, was the first to jump into the 
 boat. He was followed by one or two others, 
 when down she went, like a chunk of ice, and 
 the gold watch and the papers were ruined. 
 
 A cry of " SEE ! " ran through the crowd, and all 
 looked towards the drowning boy. A little hand 
 was seen raised above the water, which paused 
 for a moment, then moved gradually forward and 
 disappeared, the last motion of the drowning boy 
 perceptible. 
 
CAPTAIN BOB S FAITH. I /I 
 
 He had been in the water half an hour before 
 the captain and his ally reached him ; and when 
 he was taken out he was quite dead. He was 
 carried to the nearest house by Captain Bob, and 
 every thing done to revive him, but in vain. 
 
 It was a very sad event, but the incidents that 
 crowd upon a boy fortunately prevent his dwelling 
 long upon any one ; and therefore, beyond the 
 moment, the tide of life swept on as usual, and 
 the affair was only recalled as the old "Jolly 
 Robin " lay all winter on the spot where she sank, 
 and the little cap rested on the ice, serving as 
 reminders of the melancholy affair, till the spring 
 came, and then all that was painful vanished 
 from sight and memory. 
 
 " Were you cold out there on the ice ? " Ike 
 asked of Captain Bob next day. 
 
 " Did you never read," said the captain gravely, 
 " in the Testament, that, if you have faith of the 
 right brand, nothing shall harm ye? and how 
 Paul got bit by a snake, you know, and he jerked 
 it off into the fire, and it didn't hurt him." 
 
 Ike didn't think he had read it. 
 
 "Then you'd better; for there's a principle in 
 that which applies to this 'ere case, or any case, 
 
1/2 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 where a man is chock full of the wish to help 
 somebody else. Fire, water, weather, exposure, 
 nothing'll hurt him. Cold ! why, bless you, I 
 didn't feel nigh so cold as I did where I sat at 
 breakfast when you called me to save that drown- 
 ding boy." 
 
 "Yes," replied Ike; "but you might have got 
 drowned yourself, and wouldn't you , be harmed 
 then?" 
 
 " No ; for the feeling would continue the same, 
 though the body drownded. I tell you, youngster, 
 that no harm can happen to a man that does right. 
 That's the faith to kill snakes with." 
 
 Ike didn't understand it exactly; but he re- 
 spected the captain's grave look, and went out 
 with a profound admiration for one who had done 
 so brave a deed, shying a chunk of ice at Grum's 
 cat which sat sunning herself on the fence. 
 
 The boys of the North and South " Ends " of 
 Rivertown were hostile to each other by inherit- 
 ance and instinct, and Ike had dropped right into 
 the North-End faction. From early time numer- 
 ous battles had taken place between the two, with 
 an historical balance in favor of the North End. 
 The South-End boys, however, were clamorous in 
 
BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 1/3 
 
 making the assertion that the South End could 
 "lick" the North End, and give them odds. 
 There had not, however, been any demonstration 
 for a number of years. Both factions attended 
 the same school, studied the same lessons, played 
 together and associated very pleasantly on per- 
 sonal grounds ; but when the subject of " who was 
 best " was broached, then talk grew loud, and brag 
 boisterous. 
 
 The winter was very favorable for great games 
 of snowballing; but such are usually played on 
 the principle of the Irishman at Donnybrook fair, 
 who, when he saw a head, hit it. So the snow- 
 balls flew at random, and everybody got hit. 
 There was an immense drift, covering acres, over 
 in a field near the schoolhouse ; and a young en- 
 gineer, who did not dream that he was any such 
 thing, suggested that there would be a " bang-up 
 place" for building a snow fort. They had got 
 along in their history to the Battle of New Or- 
 leans ; and the 8th of January was approaching, 
 the anniversary of the day on which that eventful 
 battle was fought. 
 
 The suggestion of a fort, in connection with 
 their history, wrought the whole school up to a 
 
1/4 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 high pitch of excitement. " A fort ! " they cried, 
 "by all means ! " and then, even before it became 
 fully decided to have the fort, the question arose, 
 and was violently discussed, as to who should be 
 the commanders. The most desirable position 
 was that in the fort, of course ; and who should 
 personate Gen. Jackson, was matter for profound 
 deliberation. And the choice of Gen. Pakenham 
 was equally momentous ; for though he was to be 
 defeated according to history, he was the general 
 of the British forces, and an object of deep in- 
 terest. 
 
 The discussion waked up the clannish feeling 
 on both sides : the South-Enders contending, that, 
 as Jackson was a Southerner, one of their side 
 should personate him of course ; and the North- 
 Enders were equally strenuous for one of their 
 side, contending that Jackson went from the 
 North, and had a brother who was a soap-boiler 
 down in Deer Street. At last it was decided by 
 lot ; a boy of each side pulling a straw out of a 
 bundle of unequal lengths, held by one who was 
 considered impartial ; and the result was, 
 
 GEN. JACKSON . . . JOSIAH TREAT. 
 GEN. PAKENHAM . IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
BUILDING THE FORT. 
 
 When this was settled, the two armies of equal 
 numbers were counted off from both " Ends," and 
 then was commenced work on the fortifications. 
 The young engineer went over the ground, or over 
 the snow, and laid out his plans with a genius 
 worthy of Todleben, or any other Ben. The 
 works combined all the science of Bunker Hill, 
 Yorktown, New Orleans, and Sebastopol, protected 
 on one side by a deep brook, on another by a tree 
 and a rock, while in front were deep trenches for 
 rifle-pits, or snowball depositories ; and on the 
 other side more trenches for defence against 
 assailants on that side. The redoubt itself was a 
 square, or oblong-square, chamber, dug out of the 
 solid drift ; and the ramparts were formed of the 
 blocks of snow, which had been cut square on pur- 
 pose, and hoisted to their place with great labor. 
 A sally-port, for escape or for defence, was cut in 
 the rear, and the whole affair was as grand as you 
 please, and as strong as a castle. Port-holes had 
 been left all around, not for big guns, but to en- 
 able the occupants of the fort to see the approach 
 of the enemy, which they could not very well do 
 through the solid walls. The teacher, who knew 
 what was going on, and rather liked the practical 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 historical lesson, went over to see the fort, and 
 said, that, of all the forts he had ever seen, he had 
 never seen one like this before, which the engineer 
 thought a great compliment. 
 
 The 8th of January came upon Saturday ; and 
 the news got round about the great fight that was 
 to take place between the South-Enders under Gen. 
 Jackson, and the North-Enders under Gen. Paken- 
 ham. Everybody that could come determined to 
 be there. The South End had delegates from 
 Brimstone Hill, Puddle Dock, Pancake Shelf, 
 Heart's Delight, Devil's Bend, and Lilac Lane ; 
 and the North End was represented by a crowd 
 from Gravelly Ridge, Rope-walk Lane, Rock Pas- 
 ture, Clam Corner, Saints' Rest, Hard Knock, 
 and Mumblepeg. All came to see fair play, and 
 the spirit of the two parties was pretty well up. 
 Captain Bob was there also, and gave assurance 
 to the North-Enders by telling of numerous in- 
 stances where he himself had, when younger, 
 " fit " a good many such battles, and never got 
 licked. 
 
 "But the North-Enders have got to be licked," 
 said one of the spectators. 
 
 "What for? " queried the captain. 
 
QUESTION OF HISTORY. 177 
 
 "Because 'tis history. Pakenham was licked, 
 you know." 
 
 "You let history take keer of itself. Circum- 
 stances allers alters cases, and we can't sometimes 
 most allers tell how any thing's going to turn out 
 before it happens." 
 
 " I don't see how it can be helped." 
 
 " Don't you fret, honey. Did you ever hear 
 of Bologna, the great sassage-maker, who the 
 heathen made their secretary of war ? You never 
 did ? Well, in one of his battles he had to take 
 a fort, and loaded his guns with sassages, and 
 poured 'em against the wall so thick that the 
 grease mixed in with the mortar, and down the 
 walls tumbled, when Bologna jest walked right 
 in." 
 
 "Never heard of it; but Jackson won the 
 battle of New Orleans." 
 
 "Don't you worry. 'Twill all come out right, I 
 tell you. And you had better read up on histeri- 
 cal matters so's not to be cornered again." 
 
 " See, they are going to begin." 
 
 The occupants of the fort had hoisted a small 
 American flag, which blew out defiantly on the 
 breeze. They had also two or three fish-horns, 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 which they were blowing very fiercely. Occasion- 
 ally a head would be seen stuck out of one of the 
 port-holes ; for an instant, and then drawn in again 
 like a clam's. It was evident that the garrison was 
 very busy at the fort. 
 
 The other side had been equally busy in their 
 preparations. The work of attack was all laid 
 out, and parties appointed for particular objects, 
 such as skirmishers and sharp-shooters ; and Gen. 
 Pakenham, which was Ike, had told them what 
 to do. So very soon the main body of the 
 British army moved along the bank of the brook, 
 which was supposed to be the Mississippi River ; 
 while the skirmishers and sharp-shooters, with 
 their arms and pockets full of hard snowballs, 
 moved up the gentle hill on which the fort was 
 built. They were to begin ; and then the main 
 body was to come up, and attack in force. But 
 the skirmishers began too soon ; and the garrison 
 rushed on them pell-mell, taking two prisoners 
 who couldn't run with rubber boots on, and 
 pitching three others into the snow. They then 
 met the main body with such a tremendous fire 
 that it was completely demoralized, and ran down 
 hill as fast as it could go. 
 
THE COMBAT THICKENS. l8l 
 
 The South-Enders at this set up a great shout- 
 ing, and were highly delighted. Captain Bob's 
 friend, who was a North-Ender, said he didn't 
 like to see the North-End boys defeated, to 
 accommodate any old history ; and he thought 
 history was a great humbug, any way. 
 
 " I tell ye 'twill all come out right," said Cap- 
 tain Bob, " history or no history. I know Jack- 
 son ought to beat, because I know that history 
 says he did ; but then, jest see, that history is 
 sixty years old, and must have underwent a 
 change by this time ; and depend on it, we shall 
 see what we shall see." 
 
 The army formed again, and this time marched 
 in full force toward the redoubt. There was 
 silence among the spectators as the gallant fight- 
 ers moved up the hill before them. It was like 
 the hush before a storm. Then came a shrill 
 voice from the hill, which was known to be Ike's, 
 crying, " Pitch in ! " and with a leap as if each 
 one had just then felt the shock of a battery 
 behind, they sprang towards the works. They 
 were met bravely. The snowballs flew thick as 
 bullets at Waterloo. The shouts of the belliger- 
 ents were excited and loud. Still the flag waved 
 
1 82 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 over the scene, and Victory withheld her decision. 
 The battle raged fiercer and fiercer, and it was 
 still uncertain which way the fate of the day 
 would be decided, when Gen. Jackson, stepping 
 into the long trench, received a snowball in the 
 ear, which disabled him ; and Gen. Coffee hung 
 out a flag of truce for an armistice to enable 
 him to go down to the brook, and wash his eye, 
 which was closed by a ball. 
 
 The two armies rested on the field for a few 
 minutes ; and, when hostilities were resumed, a 
 party scaled the parapet by means of the tree, as 
 the British did at Bunker Hill, and a volley of 
 snowballs, poured in on the garrison, showed how 
 hopeless the contest was. The flag was lowered, 
 and Gen. Pakenham was declared the victor over 
 Gen. Jackson ! Such a ridiculous perversion of 
 history no one ever heard of before ; but the 
 honor of the North End was more to be regarded 
 than historical accuracy, and Pakenham's forces 
 consummated the victory by singing " Hold the 
 Fort." 
 
 As soon as the spectators saw how the day was 
 going, there was great commotion among them, 
 and quarrelsome words were interchanged. Then 
 
SPENT BALLS. 183 
 
 a snowball or two were thrown, then more snow- 
 balls, and a general row seemed imminent. Old 
 Mrs. Luke was standing looking over her garden 
 fence, her cap, like a circus-tent, rising above her 
 features, when a snow-ball, violently hurled, struck 
 the cap, tearing it from her head, and bearing it 
 away with the strings stretched out like the double 
 train of a meteor. As a ball struck Captain Bob, 
 he shouted in a severe voice, 
 
 "If you don't stop, and get out of this, I'll 
 serve you as I did a man down here the other day, 
 that I told to get out of the way." 
 
 The captain was a favorite with everybody, and 
 his words excited their curiosity. He also was 
 pound-keeper. 
 
 " Well, what did you do ? " one asked, after 
 waiting a little. 
 
 " Why, I told him to get out of my way, and he 
 said he would see me further first ; and then I 
 asked him seriously if he really meant so. He 
 said he did. Well, says I, then, if you won't get 
 out of the way, I will! And, by jolly, I did." 
 
 This raised a laugh ; and with a cheer for the 
 captain the crowd dispersed, the North End still 
 holding the fort, in spite of history. 
 
184 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WINTER EVENINGS. NEIGHBORLY GATHERINGS. 
 
 A NIGHT AT MRS. PARTINGTON's. STORY BY 
 
 THE TEACHER. CAPTAIN BOB REGARDING MER- 
 MAIDS. 
 
 OH the long and dreary winter!" Hiawatha 
 says; but he wouldn't have oh'd so if he 
 had been with the boys of Rivertown. In fair 
 weather, however cold, they glowed with air and 
 exercise, and were full of happiness. No oh-ing 
 or repining about them. 
 
 " I am glad, dear," said Mrs. Partington to Ike, 
 on one occasion of many that were similar, "I 
 am glad to see you so dilated ; for our happiness 
 depends mostly on how we enjoy ourselves." 
 
 "Yes'm," replied Ike, as he fished round the 
 bottle, with his fork, for the last preserved cherry. 
 
 On cold long evenings the boys would visit at 
 each other's homes, and tell stories or play games, 
 and the older members of the families would 
 
THE FEMALE TEACHER. 185 
 
 sometimes join with them in reading or singing ; 
 and the evenings were passed by the boys just as 
 agreeably as if they were standing on the street- 
 corners making remarks about people going by, 
 and indulging in ridiculous talk. On one occasion 
 the boys had met at Ike's, and were having a capi- 
 tal time. They were at times apt to be noisy; 
 to which Mrs. Partington made little objection, 
 though she had been heard to confess that some- 
 times she thought the " sciatic nerve of her head " 
 would break with the confusion. Constantly keep- 
 ing in view the universal fact that " boys will be 
 boys," she tolerated their noise without complaint, 
 and smiled even amid her pain. Some new games 
 had been introduced this evening that were 
 particularly boisterous, among which were "The 
 Hutchinson Family" and "The Muffin-Man;" the 
 latter requiring considerable muscular exertion 
 and a good deal of voice. The fun waxed fast 
 and furious, the whole party being on their feet 
 in full cry, when Mrs. Partington raised her finger. 
 
 "Hush!" said she, listening: "I thought I 
 heard some one at the door." 
 
 They were all still in an instant, when the bell 
 was heard ; and Mrs. Partington, going to the door, 
 
1 86 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 returned with Miss Fuller, who was a favorite 
 teacher in the Rivertown school which the boys 
 attended, and had come in for an evening call. 
 
 " You heard our noissomeness ? " Mrs. Parting- 
 ton said to the visitor, smiling. 
 
 Miss Fuller said she had heard the boys en- 
 joying themselves, and hesitated at first about 
 coming in, for fear that she might disturb their 
 hilarity. She greatly enjoyed seeing boys at their 
 sports, and begged they would continue just as if 
 she was not there. 
 
 But her presence was a damper ; and they all 
 came very suddenly to the conclusion that they 
 had had enough of roughing it, and would be 
 content to sit down and enjoy something more 
 quiet So they seated themselves ; and Miss 
 Fuller, who was a very bright and pleasant little 
 lady, made the time pass so agreeably by her con- 
 versation, that they forgot all about " The Muffin- 
 Man,'* and were very happy to listen to her. She 
 told them a great many useful and pretty things ; 
 and then Ike, with a very eager face, asked her if 
 she could not tell them a story. 
 
 She replied that teachers were nqt very funny 
 people, and she was afraid that she had nothing 
 
THE TEACHER'S STORY. 187 
 
 very laughable to tell them ; but Ike said they 
 wanted a good story, and didn't care about its 
 being funny. Mrs. Partington seconded the re- 
 quest by saying that nothing gave more "jest" 
 to enjoyment than a good story ; and Miss Fuller, 
 knowing that she meant "zest," said she would 
 tell them about 
 
 AN ANGEL THAT CAME FROM HEAVEN BY 
 WATER. 
 
 There was very a poor man, a fisherman, 
 who lived near the mouth of a swift river, like 
 our own, who made his living by line and net, 
 catching fishes in the sea that stretched away 
 before him, and selling them to people who lived 
 in a large town on the opposite side of the stream 
 from him. He was a jolly old fellow, even in his 
 poverty, though he could hardly support himself 
 and wife, the only members of his family except a 
 cat and a tame crow. To tell the truth, he used 
 to drink, and waste his money in buying that 
 which did him no good ; and sometimes, when he 
 had drank too much, he would scold his wife, and 
 make her very unhappy. When sober he was 
 always singing and joking, and it was pleasant to 
 listen to him. 
 
1 88 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 "Wife," he would sometimes say, "we have not 
 as much money as some of our neighbors ; but we 
 have a fine farm out here on the sea, and will get 
 a harvest from it some day." 
 
 [Ike and Sim Walters exchanged a look, as this 
 brought up a memory of Commodore Huntress's 
 "garden."] 
 
 One morning, as the fisherman was preparing 
 his lines before he went out in his boat, he saw 
 something drifting down in the tide which puzzled 
 him. It somewhat resembled a boat, but evi- 
 dently was not one. It seemed to be some rough 
 boards nailed together, like an oblong box ; and it 
 whirled round and round in the tide that brought 
 it towards the shore where he was standing. It 
 came almost into the land ; and then an eddy took 
 it, and bore it farther out. He was undecided 
 whether he should get into his boat, and go after 
 it, or not. 
 
 The morning was very pleasant and still; and 
 the sun shone brightly on the water, dazzling the 
 fisherman's eyes as he gazed. He stood, shading 
 his eyes with his hand, watching the object as it 
 moved here and there in the rough tide, when he 
 thought he heard a faint cry, as if from something 
 
A RIVER PRIZE. 189 
 
 in distress. He deemed at first that it might be a 
 cry from the opposite shore ; but a moment after- 
 ward it was repeated, and this time it seemed to 
 come from the box. 
 
 " That's queer," said he to himself: "what 
 upon earth can it be that makes such music in 
 that curious box? But I'll soon find out." 
 
 He jumped into his boat, and pushed her off 
 in pursuit of the retreating box, which he soon 
 reached. If any one had been on the shore at the 
 moment, watching him, they would have observed 
 the start of surprise he gave, and heard the long 
 whistle which he sounded, as he looked at his 
 prize. They would also have seen the eagerness 
 with which he attached the strange vessel to his 
 own to tow it ashore. This was done in a minute, 
 and, as he stepped on the land, he cried out, 
 
 " Wife, wife, make haste here ! here's one of 
 our treasures come to us ! " 
 
 " What is it ? " she cried, hastening to the shore 
 as fast as she could. 
 
 "Put on your spectacles, old lass, and see," he 
 said with great glee. 
 
 " Why, if it isn't a baby ! " she almost screamed 
 as she lifted the little thing from its strange 
 cradle. 
 
IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " There's a plaything for you," said he, "better 
 than the cat and crow, a real live baby, ready- 
 made and provided for," taking, as he spoke, a 
 bundle of baby-clothing from the box. 
 
 "'Tis a little angel from heaven, come by 
 water," she replied. 
 
 There was no fish- 
 ing that day for Hake 
 Myers. His name 
 was Tobias Myers, 
 but people called him 
 Hake on account of 
 his profession. "Call me any thing you please," 
 he would say, " only don't call me too late to din- 
 ner." He and his wife were both completely car- 
 ried away, forgetting every thing but the baby ; 
 and they willingly stood watch and watch in taking 
 care of it. At length Mrs. Hake came to her 
 senses enough to say, 
 
THE ANGEL BELOVED. 1 9! 
 
 " Well, but it isn't ours." 
 
 " I say it is ours," replied Hake : " what I pick 
 up in this river belongs to me ; and this baby is 
 mine, the same way." 
 
 They then turned the baby this way and that 
 way, trying to find some name or word to show 
 where it came from. Then they overhauled the 
 box it came in, for the same object ; but nothing 
 could be found. The box was roughly made, but 
 stoutly put together, pitched at the corners to 
 keep the water out, and had evidently been made 
 by some one for the very use to which it had been 
 put. They concluded, therefore, that the little 
 voyager had been sent adrift purposely. It was a 
 little girl, apparently not more than a month or 
 two old, as beautiful as a fairy, with charms 
 enough, Hake said, to set up a dozen romancers, 
 and fully justified Mrs. Hake's assertion that she 
 was an angel come from heaven by water. 
 
 There was a large town up the river, called Bon- 
 ville ; and the fisherman went there to make all the 
 inquiry he could for information that would throw 
 light on the matter, but it was with the hope that 
 he should hear nothing about it for fear he might 
 have to give the baby up. But though he adver- 
 
1 92 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 tised in the papers, and made many inquiries, no 
 one appeared to claim it ; and he went home 
 happy. Several offered to take it off his hands, 
 but he would not listen to them. 
 
 "I am poor," he said, "but Heaven didn't send 
 that box down to me in that way without a good 
 reason ; and I'm going to keep the baby." 
 
 And he did. He stuck to his resolution like a 
 man. And, strangely enough, his luck changed. 
 He found good market for his fish, and money 
 came in briskly. He couldn't see how it was ; but 
 his wife knew that he had given up his drink, and 
 that was why the dollars came in so, when they 
 were so very poor before. Both were very happy, 
 and all because of that little angel that came, as 
 Mrs. Hake would have it, "from heaven in a 
 rough pine box." 
 
 They named her May, because it was May when 
 she was found ; though the schoolmaster of the 
 district called her "Fleur de la Mer," a name 
 by which she was everywhere known. She was 
 white as a lily ; and the three pets the baby, the 
 cat, and the crow presented a strange contrast, 
 the cat being yellow, and the crow black. They 
 were all the best friends in the world. 
 
FLEUR DE LA MER. 193 
 
 But she was not always to remain a baby. She 
 grew to be a sweet and pleasant child, the delight 
 of everybody. She early learned her own story 
 from the old folks. Hake would take her on his 
 knee, and tell her all about it ; and thus she was 
 soon led to regard the sea as a sort of mother to 
 her. The moaning sound of the waves was a 
 lullaby ; and when the storms raged, and the great 
 waves rolled in on Ragged Rock Point, she would 
 hear it with silent awe, deeming it a note of anger 
 and reproof. She loved to sing of the sea, and 
 there were many songs taught her by the people 
 of the place where she lived. Such of them as 
 alluded to the motherly qualities of the sea were 
 her greatest favorites. Thus she would sing, 
 
 " Come ! says the voice of the motherly sea, 
 
 Give me thy young heart glowing and warm : 
 Here in my breast is a haven for thee, 
 Safe from contention, safe from life's storm. 
 
 Dearest one, dearest one, 
 Never a breath of the storm-king thou'lt know 
 Safe in my palace, the billows below." 
 
 "Are there palaces beneath the sea?" she 
 would ask the old fisherman, pausing in her song. 
 And then he would tell her stories of the mer- 
 
194 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 maidens, and the bowers of coral under the waves ; 
 of palaces made of gold and gems ; and of people 
 of the sea luring those of earth down to their 
 beautiful home, and all the wonderful lore of the 
 ocean, to which she would listen with the most 
 earnest attention. Then she would break forth 
 again, 
 
 " Let me infold thee in loving embrace, 
 
 Tenderly, tenderly, close in my arms : 
 Sorrow shall ne'er in thy heart have a place, 
 Ne'er shalt thou suffer earth's cares and alarms. 
 
 Dearest one, dearest one, 
 Never thou'lt sigh if thou comest to me, 
 And bide in the love of the motherly sea." 
 
 The old fisherman would hug her to his heart, 
 and then turn her sweet face to the light, seeing 
 in her dreamy eyes something which he could not 
 understand, and which she did not understand 
 herself. It was only the outward expression of 
 the longing which filled her, in association with 
 the sea, to which she was drawn by an intense 
 attraction. 
 
 She was at ten years a lovely child, tiny in 
 form, playing with her companions, but oftener 
 roaming along the shore communing with the 
 
BY THE SEA-SHORE. 195 
 
 sea. "Mother, dear mother," she would say, 
 "come to me, and love me. I am very sad be- 
 cause you do not come. I want to go with you 
 down in the coral groves, where the mermaids 
 sing, and the jewels are, that I may reward those 
 who are so good to me." 
 
 Then she would listen for the response, but 
 only heard the murmur of the waves. 
 
 One day, as she thus roamed along the shore, 
 uttering ,her usual invocation, her heart felt very 
 happy. The day was warm, bright, and beautiful. 
 There was no breeze stirring ; and the waves came 
 to the shore in gentle billows, singing and spar- 
 kling on the sand. She had bidden the fisherman 
 good-by as he rowed out for his customary toil, 
 had exchanged a pleasant word with the fisher- 
 man's wife as she stood upon the bank, and was 
 now alone. She sat down on a stone that over- 
 looked the sea, which shimmered in the sun, and 
 rose and fell as quietly as an infant breathing in 
 slumber. Her full heart found vent in song : 
 
 " Come from your caverns, 
 Ye maids of the sea ; 
 Don your green mantles, 
 And hasten to me. 
 
196 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 Here on the silver sands 
 
 Bright billows play: 
 We'll dance to their musical 
 Ripple all day. 
 
 Come, oh, come, 
 
 Sweet maid of the sea ! 
 Here on the shore 
 I am waiting for thee." 
 
 She paused a moment, as if waiting to hear the 
 echo of her own sweet voice, when she was 
 startled by a sound as if from beneath the water, 
 which seemed to chime with the murmur of the 
 waves, and harmonized with the strain of her own 
 melody : 
 
 " Maid of the golden hair, 
 
 Child of the main, 
 Your love we may not share, 
 
 Though we are fain. 
 Prisoned by spirits fell, 
 
 Here we are held : 
 They will but break the spell 
 By love compelled. 
 
 Thrice turn with the sun, 
 Thrice bow to the sea : 
 Thy desire is won 
 We are free ! we are free ! " 
 
THE CHARM SUCCEEDS. 
 
 She listened, wonder-struck; and then, clapping 
 her hands, she cried, in a voice of delight, 
 
 " I will do as the sea-maidens say, and they will 
 come and play with me." 
 
 She accordingly turned round thrice with the 
 sun, and then bowed herself as many times to the 
 sea, when there arose from the water a strain of 
 the sweetest music. Colored fish were seen swim- 
 ming to and fro, their sides flashing in the sun- 
 light. Then she heard a chorus of voices coming 
 nearer, singing, 
 
 " Free as the air to come and go, 
 Free as the waves in ceaseless flow, 
 All the liberty we share 
 Coming from her love and care. 
 Bring her gems from coral caves, 
 
 Bring her flowers and jewels bright, 
 Tinged with hues of golden waves 
 
 Gleaming in the upper light ; 
 Bless the maiden bright and fair, 
 "the sea-maid's friend, Fleur de la Mer." 
 
 The sea assumed a more beautiful appearance, 
 the waves made sweeter music on the beach, and 
 the little girl saw rising from the sea a bright 
 chariot of gold and blue, drawn by dolphins, and 
 
198 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 in the chariot a maiden of most lovely aspect, 
 while around her sported in the water a number 
 of others equally lovely ; and all bore in their 
 hands caskets and branches full of gems. They 
 came up to the shore, and then, approaching the 
 little maiden, laid their treasures at her feet. 
 She looked at them bewildered, not knowing what 
 to say, nor which way to turn. She had long 
 wished to meet the people of the sea ; but, now 
 they had come, she did not know what to do. 
 They were clothed in sea-green dresses, with 
 ocean mosses in their hair. Each had a girdle of 
 diamonds and rubies about her waist, and in their 
 hair were gems more costly than earth had ever 
 seen. Their feet were bare, and the little girl 
 looked to see if they were not web-footed. 
 
 After a moment or two, seeing her surprise, 
 they sang, each one having a golden harp hung 
 from her shoulder, with which they accompanied 
 their song, 
 
 " Maid of the sunny hair, 
 
 Child of the sea, 
 We come thy sport to share, 
 Made free by thee. 
 
SEA-MAIDENS. 1 99 
 
 Thy love removed the spell 
 
 Holding us bound : 
 Thy praise our song shall swell, 
 
 Queen thou art crowned." 
 
 Then the leader came forward, and placed on 
 her head a crown of sea-mosses sprinkled with 
 diamonds as large as filberts, and placed in her 
 hand a sceptre made from the wood of ocean 
 forests and covered with gold, while the rest 
 silently opened their caskets of brilliants. 
 
 This was all too formal for little May: so much 
 dignity was oppressive to her ; and she took off 
 the crown, and laid her sceptre by, saying, 
 
 " I don't want to be a queen : I had rather run 
 on the sands, and play with you, or have you tell 
 me stories about your home down under the sea." 
 
 Then she asked their names, and learned that 
 the one who had crowned her was a real princess, 
 named Gulnare ; the rest were Ripple and Sea- 
 fern, Billow and Spraybloom, Raregem and Dults- 
 leaf. They immediately became very social, and 
 walked and ran along the shore, and played with 
 May till she was tired. Then they sat down on the 
 green bank, and told her wondrous stories about 
 the things under the sea, much more beautiful, 
 
2OO IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 they said, than things on the land. There were 
 palaces of gold and diamonds, and marine forests, 
 and big fish that they rode as if they were horses, 
 some of which were the dolphins attached to the 
 chariot before them. They told her that a de- 
 mon had laid a spell on them, so that they might 
 not come to earth; but they had been attracted 
 towards her by her love of the sea, and had got 
 so near to her that they were able to give her the 
 charm by which the spell could be broken, and 
 they were very grateful to her for what she had 
 done. The stories told her so delighted her that 
 she said, 
 
 "I wish I could go down in the halls of the 
 sea." 
 
 " Is this your real wish ? " asked the princess. 
 
 "It is." 
 
 " Will you give' up every thing here for it ? " 
 
 May paused to think a little. She would cause 
 pain to those who had done so much for her, and 
 whom she loved so well, by leaving them : but 
 then, she thought, they were very poor, and she 
 might be able to do them good, instead of being 
 a burden to them, by going ; for she would send 
 a messenger fish to hang a whole basket full of 
 
UNDER THE WAVES. 2OI 
 
 diamonds on the fisherman V hook, and make him 
 rich. So, at this, she put her hand in that of the 
 princess, and said, 
 
 " I will give up all." 
 
 There was a great clapping of hands among 
 them when she said this, for they could not have 
 taken her without her consent; and the chariot 
 with the dolphins drove up to the shore, into 
 which stepped little May and the princess. They 
 rode away out into the sea, and passed under 
 where -the old fisherman sat watching his line, 
 little thinking that his pretty May was leaving 
 him. She saw him, and begged the princess to 
 let her speak to him ; but this was not permitted, 
 because if she did it would make her again a child 
 of earth, and now she was a daughter of the sea. 
 She mourned a little at this, but soon the novelty 
 of her situation stilled her grief. 
 
 Then they sank down into the ocean down, 
 down, down ; but Fleur de la Mer felt no incon- 
 venience, because she was a child of the sea, like 
 the rest. As they went down, big fishes came, 
 and put their noses into the chariot to see if they 
 were good to eat ; but the princess rapped them 
 with her whip, and they ran away. 
 
202 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 At last they reached a grand city, surrounded 
 with marine trees of rare beauty. The houses 
 were of white stone, that shone in the light like 
 pearl. From the limbs of the trees hung gems of 
 large size, which grew like apples. Sea-men and 
 sea-women and sea-children ran in and out, or 
 rather swam in and out, among the houses and 
 trees. There were stores and banks in the streets, 
 kept by fish. The sharks were bankers, the pikes 
 merchants, the swordfish soldiers, the perch specu- 
 lators, the halibut landlords, the cod editors, the 
 bluefish lawyers, the monkfish parsons. She had 
 no time to note the fashions before they arrived at 
 the palace. 
 
 Here was magnificence such as little May had 
 never dreamed of. A huge swordfish, who guarded 
 the door, received them very respectfully with a 
 military salute. They entered, and from the door 
 to the reception hall there was one blaze of jewels. 
 There was no sun, and all the light came from 
 immense diamonds as large as buckets, making it 
 like noonday. 
 
 The king, father of the princess, was on his 
 throne ; and when little May was presented to him, 
 he came down and kissed her, and told her he had 
 
THE SEA KINGDOM. 2O3 
 
 heard about her for a great while, and was glad 
 she had come down to live with them. He also 
 told her that he had, for a good while, given orders 
 to his stewards to see that the old fisherman, her 
 father, should never lack for fish, but always have 
 a good fare, for her sake. 
 
 " Which was a very fair thing, your Majesty," 
 said the court jester, a lobster-looking chap; 
 whereat the courtiers all laughed. 
 
 Little May w r as allowed to go everywhere in the 
 palace, and had great respect paid her by every 
 one. The ladies of honor were instructed to treat 
 her as well as they did the princess, and the two 
 continued excellent friends. But sometimes she 
 fancied the court ladies were cold towards her ; and 
 then she would think of the dear old home she 
 had left, and long to go back just for a moment to 
 see how her friends were situated, though there 
 could be no doubt they were doing well, for she 
 had sent them, several times, by special messen- 
 ger, large quantities of valuable gems, to be left 
 at their door. How she wished she had the privi- 
 lege of a common cod, and could have a line from 
 her dear old father! But there were so many 
 things about the court to divert her, that she 
 would forget her anxiety. 
 
2O4 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 Thus things went on for several years. She 
 had become fully accustomed to ultra marine 
 habits and manner of living. She slept on a bed 
 of algae, and delighted in deep-water society, as 
 the aristocracy of the country was called. One 
 day she had fallen asleep on a bank of sea-moss, 
 and was having a troubled dream which mingled 
 the scenes below and above water in a very vivid 
 manner. She heard familiar voices in the palace 
 and among the trees, so she thought, which re- 
 proached her for her desertion. Then there came 
 a great cry, which seemed to shake the palace to 
 its very foundation, so full of bitter anguish was 
 it, 
 
 " May, May ! my dear, darling little May ! 
 Where is my little Birdie?" 
 
 It was the voice of the old fisherman, and she 
 wondered how he had come there. Could he have 
 come down on one of his own cod-lines, or by the 
 submarine telegraph ? And, as she queried, the 
 voice kept saying, 
 
 "May, May ! Where is my pretty little May ? " 
 
 The trees seemed to have found tongues, and 
 all of them echoed the sound, " May, May ! " when 
 she awoke, and found herself in the green sedge 
 
ON SHORE AGAIN. 205 
 
 that grew along the shore, just where she was 
 playing with the maidens of the sea so long ago. 
 As she started up, there were the fisherman and 
 his wife, and several of the fisherman's neighbors, 
 old and young, coming towards her, looking just 
 as they did when she left, but very anxious ; and 
 when they saw her they gave a scream of delight. 
 The old fisherman ran towards her, with his arms 
 extended ; and he clasped her to his heart, and 
 kissed her over and over again, showing her that 
 he had forgiven her desertion of him, for which 
 she was very glad. 
 
 "The dear little angel!" said the fisherman's 
 wife, taking her turn to kiss her : " she came from 
 heaven by water, and we thought she had gone 
 back the same way." 
 
 "Where is Gulnare?" said May, as soon as 
 she could find breath. 
 
 " Who ? " asked the fisherman. 
 
 " Gulnare, the princess," she replied; "and did 
 you get the treasures I sent you ? " 
 
 They all looked astonished, and shook their 
 heads at each other. 
 
 "How did I get here?" she continued: "did 
 the dolphins bring me in the king's chariot ? " 
 
206 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 " No, darling," said the old fisherman : " we 
 missed you when I came home at noon to-day, and 
 thought you were lost ; and now we find you hid 
 here in the sedge, all safe and sound, thank the 
 Lord ! " 
 
 She then told them all the story about the visit 
 of the sea-maidens, and the treasure they brought, 
 and how she went down into the ocean with them, 
 and her life there, and how it had been inter- 
 rupted by the fisherman's calling her. It was 
 hard to convince her it was not true ; but she was 
 still only ten years old, and could not have lived 
 there long, so she was brought to regard it as a 
 dream, or a vision, in which there might be a 
 glimpse of reality. How much we can dream in 
 a little while, if we set about it ! 
 
 She lived to be a comfort to the old fisherman 
 and his wife, who affirmed, to the day of her death, 
 that she was an angel from heaven who came to 
 them by water. 
 
 The boys all applauded this story; and Mrs. 
 Partington said she sfcould think of it every time 
 she had chowder for dinner, and fear that she was 
 cooking up some princess that had got abdicated 
 from home. 
 
CAPTAIN BOB S COMMENTS. 2O/ 
 
 " Please tell us another," said Ike. 
 
 "Not to-night," she replied: "it ( is getting too 
 late ; and I hope none of you will try to find that 
 country down in the sea, unless you go there in 
 dreams, as little May did." 
 
 They laughed ; and Ike said he'd like to go down 
 in a diving-bell, and get some of the money and 
 jewels that were there. 
 
 The next morning Ike went round, and told the 
 story to Captain Bob. The captain heard it very 
 gravely. 
 
 " Well," said he, " there's stranger things than 
 that which never happened." 
 
 " Do you believe it ? " asked Ike. 
 
 " Well, it mayn't be true, and then again it may 
 be true. Didn't you never hear of mermaids ? " 
 
 Ike said he had. 
 
 " Well, these 'ere were only mermaids. What'd 
 you say to see a dozen mermaids in the morning, 
 with combs and glasses, a-sitting on the rocks, 
 and doing up their hair? " 
 
 " I'd believe in 'em then." 
 
 " It isn't wise nowadays to say you don't be- 
 lieve any thing ; for, like as not, to-morrer you'll 
 have to. At any rate, 'tis best to know something 
 
208 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 about a thing before you make up your mind. 
 There's a good many things we never can under- 
 stand, though they're possible. Fact is, nothing's 
 impossible 'cept putting two hills side by side 
 without having a valley 'twixt 'em, and I ain't 
 quite certain about that." 
 
 The captain was melting some tar to put on to 
 the "Lively Turtle," and Ike wondered if it 
 wasn't impossible to make her tight with tar. 
 After stopping a moment to select a new shingle 
 to whittle, he went off like a wedding-party. 
 
SPRING COMING. 2OQ 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 ICE-NAVIGATION ON THE CREEK. IKE STRIKES A 
 
 ROCK. CRIES FOR HELP. GRUM UNDER A 
 
 NEW ASPECT. A DOOR OF ESCAPE. THE NEW 
 
 PLANET. AN EXPLODING STAR. IKE'S MORAL 
 
 CULTURE. PERFORMANCE ON THE ORGAN. 
 
 COULDN'T PLAY IT ON HIM. SLIVERING. 
 THE CLOSE. 
 
 AN itinerant hand-organ man had dropped in 
 upon Rivertown, and for a month of the 
 coldest weather was tantalizing the people with the 
 tune, but not the air, of " Spring, spring, beautiful 
 spring," until they were almost frantic. But by 
 and by the snow began to melt, the buds to swell, 
 the winds to blow more gently, the frost to leave 
 the ground, and the ice to break up in the creek ; 
 and spring was really present almost before any 
 one knew it. The human boy can accommodate 
 himself to all seasons, but the spring is more to 
 his humor. His blood flows quicker ; his step is 
 
2IO IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 more elastic ; he thrills in every fibre with a sense 
 of growth. He leaps with new freedom, like the 
 brook unfettered. He takes to water like the 
 young ducks, and delights to see the bubbling 
 crystal force its way through the ice-chinks, and 
 lie in pools on which he can sail his mimic boats. 
 
 That shingle of Captain Bob's, or another just 
 like it, was soon seen with sails made of shaving, 
 sailing gallantly before the wind, seeking ports 
 suggested by the last geography-lesson. This is 
 grand fun for boys. But when they break through 
 the thinning ice, they realize from the cold that 
 winter hasn't quite given up yet. 
 
 'Twas no uncommon thing, on the creek, to see 
 a fleet of at least a dozen "cakes" of ice on 
 which young navigators, with a pole to push 
 with, were sailing to and fro, suffering hardship 
 greater than that of the galley-slave, as a matter 
 of labor, but glorious, for the fun of it, to the 
 human boy. Not very deep-water sailing, fortu- 
 nately ; for the bottom of many of these ice boats 
 would drop out at times, and a cold bath was sure 
 to follow. Sometimes they would be blown away 
 from the land, and then they were in real peril, 
 for the creek was wide, and the water deep ; but 
 
AN ICE-RAFT. 2 1 I 
 
 all safely returned by walking round, and so no 
 horrid examples frightened away any from daring 
 the same danger. 
 
 Another danger was from sunken rocks, and 
 Ike was put in a very perplexing predicament 
 once by getting on one of these. He was having 
 just about the j oiliest time possible. He had the 
 best raft of ice there was afloat, one, in fact, that 
 he had cut, himself, from a large body of ice that 
 rested on the shore, which the rising tide had 
 floated off, and, securing one of Mrs. Parting- 
 ton's best clothes-poles to propel it with, he was 
 as grand as the captain of a ship-of-war. The 
 boys tried to imagine themselves in Venice, and 
 that they were gay gondoliers on the Adriatic ; but 
 the weather, which was .chilly, rather marred the 
 fancy, and so they "made believe" they were 
 shipwrecked whalemen at the North Pole, and 
 one declared that he saw the North Pole sticking 
 up out of the ice in the distance ! 
 
 "Come," said Ike, " let's try a race." 
 
 " Agreed," was the cry. 
 
 "Well, start!" 
 
 The other rafts all started, but his stood still. 
 He strained and pushed and pried, but it wouldn't 
 move an inch. 
 
212 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 "Come along," they cried; "why don't you 
 come?" 
 
 He was like the soldier who caught the Tartar. 
 "Why don't you come? " cried his officer. "I've 
 caught a Tartar, sir." "Well, bring him along, 
 then." "He won't come, sir." "Well, come 
 yourself." "He won't let me, sir." Poor Ike 
 had caught the Tartar; for his craft had settled 
 gently on a rock, and the tide was falling. In 
 vain he pushed till he was red in the face. He 
 jumped from side to side to make it slide off, but 
 it wouldn't slide. The Tartar wouldn't budge an 
 inch. It was the very cream of tartar for ob- 
 stinacy. 
 
 "Why don't you come?" yelled the boys, now 
 a good distance away, who began to push for the 
 shore. 
 
 The rock on which Ike's vessel had caught 
 was at a considerable distance out. The sun 
 was going down, and the temperature was three 
 months from summer. He began to grow cold 
 and considerably scared. He made one more 
 desperate effort to pry it off, and the pole broke 
 in the middle. Then he cried out lustily for help ; 
 but Captain Bob was not at home, his boats were 
 
GRUM REDEEMING HIMSELF. 213 
 
 not launched, and there was no one about who 
 seemed to know what to do. Mrs. Partington was 
 frantic as soon as she heard of it. 
 
 Mr. Grum, hearing the noise, came out of his 
 house, and asked the cause of "the row" as he 
 called it ; and, on being told what the matter 
 was, he went into the house again, coming out a 
 moment afterward with a bow and arrow and a 
 great coil of line. 
 
 " He's going to shoot him ! " said one of the 
 boys in a low tone. 
 
 "Because of that time on the grass," said 
 another. 
 
 " It's mean as dirt," said a third. 
 
 "Just like him," said a fourth. 
 
 Without saying a word, Mr. Grum tied the end 
 of a ball of twine to the long arrow, and, fixing 
 the arrow in the bow, aimed it over the boy on 
 the ice, and fired. The arrow fell in the water 
 beyond. 
 
 "Now," he shouted, "you young rascal, pull in 
 on that twine. Pull slow." 
 
 He had attached the twine to the line, which 
 was long enough to reach to where the boy was 
 held on the rock ; and, drawing in the twine, Ike 
 
214 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 soon had the line in his hands. Mr. Grum then 
 went into a shed, near his house, and, taking a 
 large door from its hinges, threw it into the water, 
 tying the line to it. 
 
 " Now pull gently," he yelled to the shivering 
 boy. 
 
 The line tightened, and the boys, seeing the 
 door float away on the water, shouted, as old 
 Galileo did when he discovered that the earth 
 revolved around the the sun, " It moves ! " and 
 then they gave a loud " Hurrah for Grum ! " 
 Something like a smile came over the old man's 
 face as he heard it. The door, it was seen, had 
 reached its destination ; and now he shouted, 
 "Jump on ! " Ike did so, and it bore him. Then 
 said the old fellow to the boys, 
 
 "Bend on here, and we'll soon have him on 
 shore." 
 
 They all took hold with a will ; and soon he was 
 with them, but chilled with cold. 
 
 "Now," said Grum, "put for home, and get 
 warm." 
 
 Grum's stock rose one hundred per cent in the 
 estimation of the boys, and they thought he was 
 not so bad after all. His grass-plot was insured 
 
GRUM STOCK AT PAR. 215 
 
 forever, so far as they were concerned. But really 
 a wonderful change seemed to have taken place in 
 him. He allowed them to help him secure his 
 lines, and let them handle his bow and arrow, 
 which he told them were given him, when a boy, 
 by an old sailor, who got them from Indians in 
 Oregon, where they were used for killing salmon. 
 
 " I never killed any thing with 'em," said he ; 
 " and 'tis queer that the first game I've had from 
 'em should be a boy." 
 
 The old man actually laughed ; and the boys 
 laughed, and, as they went away, they voted Grum 
 a first-rate old fellow. They were sorry that they 
 had disturbed him by turning summersets on his 
 grass, and wished they might take them back ; 
 but concluded that couldn't be done unless they 
 went and turned the summersets backward, which 
 wouldn't do, you know, of course. 
 
 Ike went home to sage-tea and retirement, with 
 a stone wall of hot rocks all round him, in bed, 
 and a jug of hot water at his feet. 
 
 " We should feel very thankful that you escaped, 
 dear," said Mrs. Partington, who had been very 
 anxious, as he gulped down the last swallow of 
 bitter tea, and fervently wished he might have 
 
2l6 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 escaped that ; "thankful and glad that a door was 
 opened to you, or found for you, so providential 
 with a string to it ; and you must always treat 
 Mr. Grum respectively, and let him see that you 
 regard his kindness with proper contempt. I 
 shall knit him a pair of yarn stockings for his 
 disinteresting malevolence." 
 
 Ike said nothing, but, like the Irishman's owl, 
 did a good deal of thinking, and the next day 
 went and thanked Mr. Grum, very handsomely 
 for a little fellow ; and Grum and the boys were 
 the best of friends thereafter. They only needed 
 to understand each other; and after a while the 
 Grums and the Partingtons often took tea 
 together. 
 
 Spring came on quickly and warmly, bringing 
 the early robins which sang in the trees, and gave 
 the authorities "notices of intention to build," like 
 good observers of a law as old as time ; the mud 
 dried up, marbles and pitching cents gave place to 
 hoop and kite, the dandelions came out, spangling 
 the green grass with golden blossoms, and the 
 human boy was himself again. Such kites as 
 were sent up in the breezy days of the last of 
 March ! 
 
A STRANGE LUMINARY 
 
 One dark, windy night there was consternation 
 in the Creek district, which extended to River- 
 town. Ike rushed in upon Mrs. Partington, say- 
 ing, 
 
 " Come out here, do ! " 
 
 "What's the matter? Is there a fire?" said 
 Mrs. Partington. 
 
 " No : come out here, and see the new star." 
 
 She went out ; and, looking up, there was a large 
 red planet shining above them, the only one in 
 the sky, which gave but a sickly light, and did not 
 seem to remain steadily in its position. It went 
 from side to side, now rising and now falling ; and 
 well might the people who saw it be puzzled to 
 know what it was. Mr. Grum and Captain Bob 
 were out viewing the wonderful object, with the 
 rest. 
 
 "Do you understand the explanatory system, 
 Mr. Grum ? " asked Mrs. Partington of her neigh- 
 bor. + 
 
 " No, not much. That is curious, isn't it ? " 
 
 "It strikes me," said Captain Bob, breaking 
 in, like a boy on thin ice, " it is one of the fixed 
 stars that's got unfixed." 
 
 " How wonderful such things are ! " said Mrs. 
 
2l8 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 Partington, after a brief pause. "This reminds 
 me of the line, 'The spacious furnishment on 
 high/ and not upon the instalment plan, either, 
 because there's only one, which is very singular." 
 
 " I don't know," again remarked Captain Bob, 
 "that it isn't one of the moons of Mars, about 
 which a good deal has been said lately, cutting up 
 shines in the dark here where Mars can't see her." 
 
 " Perhaps 'tis a comet," said Mr. Grum : " I 
 thought, just now, I saw something like a tail." 
 
 " Good gracious ! what's that ? " said Mrs. Par- 
 tington, as the star gave signs of sparks, like a 
 fuse of powder, and then blew up with an explo- 
 sive sound that reached to where they stood. 
 
 "I'm as much in the dark as you are," replied 
 the captain as he turned away. 
 
 Mrs. Partington and Mr. Grum exchanged 
 " Good-night ; " and the venerable dame went into 
 the house to wait for the coming of Ike, who, she 
 hoped, could furnish some explanation of the 
 mysterious phenomenon, which she thought was 
 about as wonderful as the "Donation" comet 
 which appeared some years before. She meant 
 Donati's comet, of course, but she couldn't correct 
 herself. He came in shortly after, bearing a huge 
 
A SHOOTING STAR. 
 
 kite which he stood up behind the door, his face 
 shining with good-nature. She then guessed that 
 he was at the bottom of the stellar mystery ; and 
 though disposed to be displeased at the profane 
 attempt to get up a new " consternation," which 
 seemed like flying in the face of Providence, she 
 thought the fact showed a soaring genius, and 
 simply asked him where he expected to go for 
 deceiving Mr. Grum and Captain Roberts as he 
 had. But they both knew more about it than she 
 did. 
 
 Ike and the other fellows had worked for a 
 week diligently in preparing that new star. The 
 kite was the easiest part of it, and this was soon 
 made. Then they formed a large lantern of paper, 
 and were going to send this up to go quietly out 
 in darkness ; but Ike said No, they must have it go 
 off with a snap. And then they put their heads 
 together to produce something really startling; 
 and an exploding star, they concluded, would be 
 a novelty in science. So they set a small Christ- 
 mas-tree candle into an ounce or two of powder, 
 fastened it securely with wire, and sent it up ; and 
 those at the Corner, who were really deceived by 
 it, set it down as a forerunner of something that 
 was going to happen. 
 
22O IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 In all this time nothing has been said about the 
 moral influences brought to bear in forming the 
 character of Ike. Great care was taken by Mrs. 
 Partington that nothing should be omitted in this 
 respect. She was liberal in her religious views ; 
 and therefore, though she would like to have had 
 him with her when she went to meeting, she told 
 him he might go anywhere where the gospel was 
 dispensed with. She was more liberal in this 
 respect even than a friend of hers, who, in a gush 
 of enthusiastic regard for the liberal idea, said to 
 his son who confessed to have gone one Sunday 
 to a church of a different denomination from his 
 own, " I am glad, my son, to have you go to 
 church, and always go where you please ; but, if I 
 ever hear of your going there again, I'll take your 
 hide off ! " 
 
 So Ike connected himself with the church that 
 had the funniest Sunday-school concerts and the 
 best music. He was always on hand for picnics 
 and sociables, always managed to get his full share 
 of the cakes and oranges, and at religious fairs was 
 a great patron of the grab-boxes. He was good 
 at a pinch in the Sunday school, as the one sitting 
 next him could testify, and almost always excited 
 the profoundest interest of the superintendent. 
 
MUSICAL EXTRAS. 221 
 
 Talents of the sort which he possessed could 
 not long remain unemployed ; and, after a while, he 
 was promoted to the organ-loft, to pump wind into 
 a consumptive instrument whose life was nearly 
 played out. The one who played upon the organ 
 was a young gentleman who fancied that people 
 made a great mistake in going back very far into 
 the past for musical ability, and as for old Bach he 
 could do better himself. As soon as he found he 
 had procured a lad to blow who could do justice 
 to the subject, he let himself out to work, as he 
 called his playing. 
 
 There were rehearsals and extras and trials and 
 regular occasions ; and, as Ike was to receive but 
 fifty cents per week, he v thought it was rather 
 playing it on him to expect him to do so much for 
 the money. The extras were increasing ; and after 
 service each Sunday he was expected to stay while 
 the choir "philandered " through some fancy pieces 
 for their own amusement. He bore this once ; and 
 the next Sunday, after service, there was to be a 
 grand trial of lungs and organ for some occasion 
 that possessed no interest for Ike, so he candidly 
 told the organist, and asked an extra price for the 
 extra work. This was denied him ; but there was 
 
222 
 
 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 no strike, and the extra singing began. It went 
 on splendidly, until there was a great struggle of 
 voices, the soprano chasing the tenor, the tenor 
 dodging round the contralto, and the basso tearing 
 the gamut to pieces in roaring for the police, 
 when at the highest and most exciting point, 
 
 all the voices hanging in mid-air, so to speak, - 
 the organ stopped. The voices, shocked by their 
 own sound, fell flat. 
 
 " Why don't you blow ? " yelled the organist. 
 
 "Dear me, how mortifying!" shrieked the 
 soprano, whose voice had been caught out of tune 
 by the organ's sudden stop. 
 
A BLOW AND A STRIKE. 223 
 
 " Did ever anybody see such a stupid ? " said 
 the alto. 
 
 " Ought to be kicked, that boy," squealed the 
 tenor. 
 
 " Should be sent down below ! " growled the 
 bass. 
 
 " Blow away ! " cried the organist again ; but no 
 sound. 
 
 He arose to go around and immolate that boy, 
 whom he supposed to be waiting there, when, 
 glancing out of a front window which opened 
 upon the street, he saw the delinquent blower 
 moving along as gradually as if he were on an 
 errand, and had been told to make haste. When 
 at a safe distance he turned, and saw the organist 
 beckoning to him, but he wouldn't go back ; and 
 the basso had to pump, and sing at the same time 
 through a little window in front of the organ. 
 
 That was Ike's last Sunday as a performer on 
 the organ ; and the reason he gave for leaving was 
 that so much blowing affected his lungs. But he 
 never neglected going to church on Sunday. So 
 much for his morality. 
 
 The wood-rangers came out again as the spring 
 advanced, and the atmosphere was soft and deli- 
 
224 IKE PARTINGTON. 
 
 cious. The brooks full of the melted snow from 
 the hills, the anemones peeping up among the 
 withered leaves, the tender buds bursting into 
 flower, the greening of the trees, the varied songs 
 of birds, and the perfume that filled the air from 
 the pines, were enjoyed by the rangers with true 
 poetic feeling. They once more sought their old 
 haunts, and cut their names again on the beech- 
 trees. 
 
 This was the " sliver " season, when the sap in 
 the pine-trees was running up from the roots, and 
 the bark next' the wood was a delicious sweet 
 pulp, which the boys knew by instinct how to 
 extract. This was done by cutting away an 
 oblong section of the bark, and, stripping it up, 
 the coveted delicacy was left exposed to the knife. 
 The edge of the knife, slipped up the surface of 
 the wood without cutting it, released a thin rib- 
 bon of the tender prize, and it was devoured with 
 as much gusto as if it had been on the bill of fare 
 at an alderman's feast, perhaps more. 
 
 Fear of being caught in the act of getting it 
 added piquancy to its relish ; and Ike had a realiz- 
 ing sense of this once when he was thus caught, 
 and went away from the feast with a back ruled 
 
A GRACEFUL CLOSE. 22$ 
 
 with blue lines like a writing-book. This, however, 
 though a drawback, he placed among the chances 
 of war, and made up for it abundantly afterwards. 
 
 Thus a single year of a boy's life rounded to its 
 close, with its joys, failures, accidents, mischiefs, 
 companionships, and trials, the ups and downs 
 of the journey towards manhood. Ike Partington 
 is a fair representative of his entire class. His is 
 no phenomenal or exceptional case ; and in his 
 adventures and those of his young friends are 
 found the same characteristics that distinguish the 
 human boy all round the world and will become 
 the grandest manhood. 
 
 Electrotyped and Printed by Rand, Avery, &* Co., Boston. 
 
 \ 
 
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