THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 IRVINE 
 
 GIFT OF 
 FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY
 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF AUTON HOUSE. Profusely illustrated by the 
 Author. Small 410, $i 25. 
 
 It is more than an irresistibly droll family history : it is a true picture of the domestic life of a 
 period dating two generations back ; and the " Recollections," if one could help laughing over them, 
 might be pronounced a serious contribution to American history. New York Evening Post. 
 
 A jolly book, and one that will bj thoroughly enjoyed by young readers. Boston Transcript. 
 
 A FASHIONABLE SUFFERER; or, Chapters from Life's Comedy. 
 
 With numerous Illustrations by the Author. I2mo, $1.50. 
 
 Writing while still under the charm of Mr. Hoppin's book, we are tempted to say that it equals 
 Longfellow's " Hyperion " in the line of perfection of good taste in sentimental literature. There are 
 in it clever analysis, wit, graceful description, a. id a pleasant sadness that is a burden to no reader's 
 spirits. Boston Courier. 
 
 Full of clever things, and the illustrations thoroughly characteristic. Philadelphia Press. 
 
 UPS AND DOWNS ON LAND AND WATER. The European Tour 
 in a Series of Pictures. Small folio, $5.00. 
 
 F.iirly an outbreak of graphic genius. ... It is a notable and unique production. With the excep 
 tion, perhaps, of the humorous sketches of Mr. Richard Doyle, we know of no volume in which the 
 pencil plavs such delightful pranks, or any that overflows with so much humor and quaintness. 
 Appletons 1 Journal. 
 
 CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. A collection of Designs depicting the Hu 
 mors of a Sea Voyage. Small folio, $3.00. 
 
 Mr. Hoppin's " Crossing the Atlantic " is a series of comic sketches in a bold and free style, per 
 fectly free from coarseness or vulgar caricature, and comic only in that sense of the word which is 
 wholly distinct from the farcical associations attached to it by frequent misuse. They delineate in a 
 spirited fashion some of the amusing incidents of an Atlantic voyage, and the personal peculiarities of 
 different types of passengers. Saturday Review (London). 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. A new book. With Illustrations by the Author. 
 
 Small 4to, $1.50. 
 
 *** For sale by Booksellers. Sent, post-paid, on receipt of price by the Publishers, 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY, BOSTON, MASS.
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS 
 
 BY 
 
 AUGUSTUS JJOPPIN 
 
 AUTHOR OF "RECOLLECTIONS OF AUTON HOUSE,' 
 "A FASHIONABLE SUFFERER" 
 
 NINETY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS 
 BY THE AUTHOR 
 
 SECOND EDITION 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 New York : 11 East Seventeenth Street 
 Htoerstoe Press, 
 1885
 
 Ps 
 
 Copyright, 1884, 
 BY HOUGUTOX, M1FFL1N & CO. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 The Riverside Press, Cambridge: 
 Electrotyped and Printed by II 0. Iloughtou & Co.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. RICHARD LION REYDON. PIZARRO FITTS 9 
 
 II. MISS KAMLIN'S SCHOOL . . in 
 
 III. WARTS. "FITS' KEEPS" 32 
 
 IV. ROBBING A HAWK'S NEST 43 
 
 V. FISHING 54 
 
 VI. BOY FIGHT 68 
 
 VII. LUCY BINGHAM'S PARTY 78 
 
 VIII. HAPS AND MISHAPS 94 
 
 IX. A DRIVE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES lOtt 
 
 X. THE TRIAL 119 
 
 XI. A CRISIS 136 
 
 XII. CONCLUSION 155
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 RICHARD LION REYDON. PIZARRO FITTS. 
 
 NCE there was a boy named Richard Lion 
 Reydon. He lived in the town of Compton, 
 in New England, fifty years ago. His father's 
 name was Ephraim. His mother's name was 
 Anna, both good old biblical appel 
 lations. In those days, when a child 
 was born, the Scriptures were at once 
 put into requisition to furnish it a ti 
 tle ; for if a " young one " should by 
 chance have a " new-fangled," or fancy 
 cognomen, he was somehow considered to be beyond the pale of 
 Christianity. This superstition was a quaint relic of Puritanism, which 
 exercised great power among the inhabitants of Compton fifty years 
 ago. 
 
 It always seemed to me that such names as Shear jashub, Melchisedec, 
 and Jonadab were indissolubly associated with individuals who wore 
 long flowing robes and turbans, and were entirely inappropriate to 
 people in coats and breeches ; but they thought otherwise fifty years
 
 10 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 ago. Immediately on receipt of their new boy, Ephraim and Anna 
 Reydon rushed to the Scriptures to search for a fitting appellation. 
 
 They searched in vain. There 
 ?rv... iiilsll ^ seemed to be nothing there 
 
 which exactly met the require 
 ments of this name 
 less cherub, which 
 lay writhing and 
 screaming in its 
 nurse's arms. 
 
 Their only other alternative was the pages of Romance and History. 
 To these they at last repaired as a final resort. Richard Coeur de Lion 
 was a character, both historical and romantic, which exhibited those 
 magnanimous and heroic peculiarities which they 
 thought they perceived in their own infant. Like the 
 ,t hero, their child was as straight as a lath 
 and as fair as a lily. His tremendous screams 
 and various contortions indicated that he was 
 thoroughly able-bodied, while at the same 
 time he grasped the father Ephraim's fore 
 finger with a tenacity sufficient to have stran 
 gled a small-sized Saracen. 
 
 After that the mind of the father was 
 made up, and Ephraim said to Anna, 
 his wife, " My dear ! his name is Rich 
 ard Lion Reydon." So by that title 
 he was known to the end of his days. 
 Richard's father was a rich East India merchant. He owned ships 
 which sailed from Compton to China, and sometimes to South America,
 
 lllCUARD LION REYDON. PIZARRO F1TTS. 11 
 
 bringing back teas, oriental commodities, and other products of for 
 eign climes, which were either sold on commission, or appropriated 
 to his own individual account. 
 
 The India trade was a very lucrative one in those days, and Mr. 
 Reydon soon became a wealthy man. This end was more easily assured 
 from the fact that he had inherited from his father Old Ephraim - 
 a splendid business which he managed so skillfully that it rapidly grew 
 into magnificent proportions. Mr. Reydon was somewhat puritanical 
 in his habits ; characteristics which he inherited along with his father's 
 money ; but he also possessed the instincts of a gentleman, and all the 
 ability of gratifying his quiet gentlemanly tastes. 
 
 At the time of which we write, Compton had a population of fifteen 
 thousand inhabitants. It was neither city nor country. It possessed 
 some of the advantages of both, but all the delights of neither. It 
 had banks and street-lamps, and cobble-stones in some of its streets, 
 yet was destitute of gas, sewers, and water-works. It had six cross; 
 " bug-a-boo," ununiformed constables, to frighten the boys. It de 
 pended on wells and cisterns to put out its fires. It burnt whale oil in 
 its brass lamps, and hickory wood in its fire-places. Situated near the 
 sea, and being the entrepot of a large foreign trade, its wealthier 
 citizens enjoyed many of those luxuries which are usually found in 
 larger places, and filled their homes with objects of eastern splendor. 
 Their drawing-rooms smelt of sandal-wood and Canton shawls, and 
 their store-closets were crammed with pots of preserved ginger and 
 pressed oranges. 
 
 The citizens of Compton were composed of two classes. One an 
 humble, untraveled, common-school-educated and independent sort ; 
 the other, a rich, cosmopolitan, and luxury-loving sort. Luckily these 
 two classes mingled together on the pleasantest terms, and their daily
 
 12 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 intercourse progressed with the least amount 6f friction. There were 
 no public schools, nor high schools, nor normal schools, nor Schools of 
 Technology in the town of Compton, in those days. All the girls 
 and boys both the rich and the less rich were sent for their 
 education to some Miss Philbank's or Marm Jones's or Miss Kamlin's 
 who brought them up after their own particular system, and accord 
 ing to their own plan of training, unmolested by 
 officious public-school superintendents, or aesthetic 
 committees on free education. The result was that 
 these schools presented a motley group of scholars. 
 Boys from four years old up to fourteen, and girls 
 of the same ages were mixed together in a charm 
 ing medley. The class in spelling would very 
 likely be composed of a big booby with incipient 
 whiskers, standing by the side of a precocious little 
 sprite of ten, and a tall, freckled girl, who wore 
 gingham pantalets, and chewed cinnamon-stick. At 
 recess, the boys' yard had a very singular appear 
 ance, with its big fellows who smoked cigars, and 
 its little chaps in " panties " and garters. At the time when this story 
 begins, Richard Reydon was twelve years old. His parents had sent 
 him, for the past five years, to Miss Kamlin's school. The time had 
 not yet arrived when they would be compelled to decide whether it 
 were better to put him into college, or send him to China in one of his 
 father's ships ; so they allowed him to continue with Miss Kamlin until 
 the solution of this momentous problem should be forced upon them. 
 Dick Reydon was a tall, muscular, light-hearted fellow. He was not 
 over studious, and was naturally given like every boy to sports 
 of all kinds. A healthy and vigorous constitution begat healthy and
 
 RICHARD LION REYDON. PIZARRO F1TTS. 13 
 
 vigorous spirits. Generous, active, brave, and quick-tempered, he was 
 as good a specimen of the genus Boy as the town produced. His 
 parents had trained him in the most judicious manner. They neither 
 stuffed his little " cocoa-nut " with false ideas of social position, nor al 
 lowed him to think that his condition in life was any better than 
 that of his companions. He grew up, therefore, a frank and generous 
 fellow. He shared his bread and butter with his poorer school-mates, 
 and was thankful to get a spoonful of cracker and milk from Ed 
 Bush's bowl, his father's gardener's son. Such a chap as this was 
 sure to be a favorite with his companions, and the consequence was, 
 that Dick Reydon became, every year, more and more of a leader. 
 
 In a small place like Compton, all the boys of the town were nat 
 urally thrown together. It required nearly their whole number to 
 make up a respectable show, when any game was to be played, so 
 that every boy, not under the ban of being a " loafer," was gladly ad 
 mitted into the fraternity. 
 
 In those days, oftentimes the most popular of all playfellows was a 
 negro. He was generally more active, more able-bodied, and more 
 good-natured than any of his companions. His feats of agility in 
 climbing and running, and his fertile imagination in suggesting fun, 
 were greatly appreciated ; so that where one saw a group of school 
 boys, he was sure to spy out in the midst of it some grinning coun 
 tenance with a dark skin and a crape-like head. 
 
 Dick Reydon's father had a black coachman named Joshua Fitts. 
 He was a short, stubbed, able-bodied man, who had once been a 
 whaler. He had a square, lumpy nose, and possessed a good deal 
 of natural intelligence. He wore ear-rings, and had a curious habit 
 of going about the streets, turning up the corners of his mouth, and 
 squinting up his eyes, as if the sun was continually shining in them.
 
 14 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 To look at him, no one could tell whether he was thirty or sixty 
 years old. In some lights, for instance early in the morning, 
 he appeared very youthful, while just at sunset it seemed as if he 
 might well be a hundred. 
 
 Joshua was good-natured and served his master 
 faithfully many years. He was intrusted by him 
 with various kinds of business. He carried to the 
 bank Mr. Reydon's notes for discount. He de 
 posited for him large sums of money as a private 
 secretary might have done. He settled for him his 
 household expenses; and his accounts, when pre 
 sented, always showed the correct balance. He 
 was almost as much an integral part of Mr. 
 Reydon's family as one of his own children. In 
 process of time, Joshua Fitts led to the hymen 
 eal altar Amanda, daughter of George Wash 
 ington Jenkins, a respectable colored man in the 
 neighborhood. With her he moved into a cosey 
 little cottage, only five minutes' walk from 
 Mr. Reydon's homestead, where they set 
 tled down and had several small Fitts. 
 Mrs. Fitts belonged to the " quality " branch of the society in which 
 she moved. She was the fashionable wedding-cake maker for the 
 whole town. She made this necessary, but indigestible, compound 
 blacker with spices, and fuller with citron and currants, than any cook 
 in the large cities ; so that when it was cut up into slices, and placed 
 in bits of note-paper, tied with white wedding ribbon, its winey, fruity, 
 frosting-y fragrance overcame even the orange flowers of the bridal 
 bouquet. The first fruit of this Joshua-Amanda union was a son,
 
 RICHARD LION REYDON. PIZARRO FITTS. 15 
 
 whose history we are narrating in connection with that of his intimate 
 friend, Richard Lion Reydon. Born in the same year as Richard, this 
 little black boy's parents, imitating their master and mistress, searched 
 in vain through the same old Bible and dictionary to find a name for 
 their suffering child. Now, at first sight, one might think that Joshua 
 and Amanda were too particular on this point, but they reasoned, and 
 with some truth, that the squirming little pickaninny in their laps 
 was to grow up and become the companion of Master Richard himself ; 
 and therefore he ought to be designated by some title which would 
 correspond with that young gentleman's appellation, even if they had 
 to go, as Joshua expressed it, " to de page of morance itself." For 
 tune favored them however, in that they succeeded in discovering the 
 object of their search before they had quite exhausted history, and had 
 fairly turned the tempting page of ." morance." One of Mr. Rey don's 
 ships which had been trading on the West Coast of South America 
 had lately come into port from Lima, laden with merchandise, which 
 it had landed at Compton on a mercantile venture. Joshua heard 
 " Massa " Reydon talk of Peru, and " de histry of dat country." He 
 caught the name of " Pizarro," which was frequently mentioned as an 
 individual of note and celebrity, who figured in all " de battles wid 
 de Incas," etc. So he went home and walked straight up into Aman 
 da's chamber. There rested Amanda, bolstered up with pillows on a 
 feather bed. She wore a tall, white, high-peaked mob-cap, with a 
 deep frill hanging over her eyes and nose. She neld the infantile 
 Fitts with no name in her motherly arms, while the blue-checked coun 
 terpane and the high-posted bedstead acted as a sort of frame-work 
 to this- domestic picture. " 'Mandy ! " said Joshua, " I 've got de 
 right name for de chile at las'. Massa Reydon's been talkin' 'bout de 
 conques' o' Peru, de country whar our ship jes' cum from, an' in all de
 
 16 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 battles in de subjactin' of dat nation, de greates' gin'ral of all, an' 
 de one who was de fus' to take all de natives an' put 'em to def, an' 
 beat 'em in pieces, an' make 'em surrender to de Spanish Armada, was 
 a chap dey call Pizarrer, a mighty gin'ral, 'Mandy, he was ! Now, 
 dere ain't no Pizarrers roun' here, honey, so let de chile hav dis yere 
 name. It takes my eye mighty, 'Mandy ! It does." 
 
 " I doan' min'," said Amanda, soothing the young Pizarro, who was 
 trying to swallow his fist. " I doan' min' so long as he has sumthin' 
 respec'able to denominate him with." " Piazzer, 
 Piazzer ! " thoughtfully repeated his wife, who had, 
 after all, mistaken the name. " I allus thought 
 1 piazzer ' was a pair of steps an' no gin'ral at all ; 
 but all right, Joshua. Let it be Piazzer, then. I 
 like de foreign accent of de term." So Amanda 
 thought her child's name was Piazza, and Joshua 
 took but little notice whether his wife had caught 
 it aright or not; he was only sure that his son 
 bore the name of the great Spanish conqueror, 
 and that he had at last settled a very vexatious 
 question. 
 
 Under this title, then, little Pizarro flourished, 
 and became the playfellow and intimate com 
 panion of Dick Reydon. He was constantly at Mr. Reydon's house, 
 and shared with Dick his noon-day meal, and his place by the nursery 
 fire. The boys of Compton, however, soon discovered that the word 
 " Pizarro " was much too long and unwieldy for their use. " Pizarro 
 come here," and " Pizarro go there," wasted more breath than they 
 could afford to lose, and was endured just long enough to find a nick 
 name to take its place. So " Pizarro " was soon shortened into
 
 RICHARD LION REYDON. PIZARRO FITTS. 17 
 
 " Peez," in spite of his mother's persistence in calling him " Piazzer " 
 with a " foreign accent." " Dick and Peez," or, as the boys called 
 them, " Duck and Peas," were always together. They " stood up " 
 for each other, went bird-nesting, and in to swim together ; and were 
 naughty and good at one and the same time. They did n't go to the 
 same school, however ; indeed, " Peez " went to no school at all, but 
 generally " waited round " until school was out, to meet his little 
 master and suggest to him and the other boys the mischief he had 
 concocted during study-hours.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MISS KAMLIN'S SCHOOL. 
 
 ISS KAMLIN'S school, where Dick Reydon 
 went for so many years, was a typical school 
 of fifty years ago, and we may perhaps be par 
 doned if we describe it with some minuteness. 
 It was held in the back room, on the first 
 floor of a two -story wooden house with 
 wooden steps. The space between it and the 
 next house was occupied by a high, unpainted, 
 rotten fence, with a tumble-down, rickety gate, hanging to it by one 
 hinge. Right under this gate was a perennial puddle. The feet of 
 gathering scholars from day to day had worn a perceptible depression 
 in the ground, where wandering rills of water congregated. The soil 
 in this shady spot between the two houses was black, and always 
 damp. A low slatted fence separated the yard in the rear from a 
 large lot, where ploughing and planting went on regularlv every year 
 as the spring came round, leaving during the autumn and winter a 
 wild waste of potato-hills and dead cornstalks. On either side the 
 back door of the house (which was the entrance to the school) holly 
 hocks and fragrant lilacs grew ; while a few tall, masculine sunflowers 
 looked furtively over the fence at the arriving scholars. This school 
 room, with its low ceiling, had no carpet. It served also as a kitchen 
 for Miss Kamlin, and boasted a good sized cooking-stove which burnt 
 wood, and was useful for comfort as well as for culinary purposes.
 
 3/755 KAMLIN >S SCHOOL. 
 
 19 
 
 Miss Kamlin sat in the northeastern corner of this room, in a high- 
 backed rocking-chair, with stuffed calico cushion. Before her was 
 a motley group of patchwork 
 and spelling-books, nuts and 
 green apples, these latter 
 being the contents of scholars' 
 pockets. Hanging near the 
 window, and in convenient lo 
 cation for reference, were her 
 big, round pincushion and scis 
 sors ; her long, wooden ferule, 
 and a large, dried, yellow gourd. 
 The bees flew in and out of the 
 window, while the June air 
 cooed softly around the yellow 
 gourd, and gently stirred the 
 dangling ferule, thus attract 
 ing the scholars' attention, and 
 quietly reminding them of the 
 reserved force concealed therein. On the little table beside Miss Kam 
 lin lay two long, sharp, wooden " pointers," to indicate the different 
 letters of the alphabet to the infant class in spelling and reading. It 
 required the assistance of these celebrated instruments to keep the at 
 tention of the scholars concentrated upon such important sentences as 
 " Is he up ? " " So am I," and " We will go." Miss Kamlin was a 
 tall, thin, erect woman, with a dry, brown frizzette, kept on by a broad 
 piece of- black velvet. She was an estimable woman in every sense of 
 the word, with an aquiline nose. She was a long-suffering creature 
 too, up to a certain point ; but that point was certain, and the boys
 
 20 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 knew it. At such dreadful junctures, when that point was reached, it 
 required a good deal of nerve to march up and gracefully careen over 
 Miss Kamlin's knees for the coming castigation. A species of refined 
 cruelty seemed to possess her at such times, which prompted her to 
 allow the expectant boy to lie several minutes in this ignoble position 
 before the punishment came ; but it was sure to come, and enough of 
 it, too. 
 
 Still, Miss Kamlin was kind-hearted, and full of patience, or else 
 she would have died long before she did. Twenty or thirty scholars 
 of all ages and sizes, and of both sexes, filled her school-room, and 
 Dick Reydon formed acquaintances there which lasted throughout his 
 whole life. After a few remarks more concerning the school-room 
 and the adjoining apartment, we will describe some of Dick Reydon's 
 school-fellows. 
 
 There were four or five benches, big and little, in Miss Kamlin's 
 school-room. They had no backs, and were shiny from friction of 
 frock and trousers, and well hacked by the keen blade of the youthful 
 jack-knife. There was a double-desk in one corner of the room, re 
 served for the two best scholars. Here these patterns of righteousness 
 were allowed to stow away their " goodies ; " and this spot, also, was 
 the general receptacle for the broken slates and the dog-eared spelling- 
 books which constituted the working capital of the school. 
 
 In summer the school-room was hot, and Miss Kamlin would often 
 fill a good-sized tub with water, which she placed in the middle of the 
 floor. From this the scholars filled large pewter mugs and slaked 
 their thirst, and from time to time sprinkled the floor from the same 
 source. Miss Kamlin had a mysterious closet wliere she kept all her 
 crockery and her dainty tid-bits. To this cupboard she frequently 
 repaired during school-hours, and often remained so long that it ex-
 
 MISS KAMLIN'S SCHOOL. 
 
 21 
 
 cited the scholars' curiosity, and they would peep through the crack 
 of the door, and catch her munching away at her hidden repast. 
 Poor creature ! No wonder that she had a " gone-ness " in her stomach 
 after punishing so many boys, and trying to teach so many girls the 
 " capitals of the States." Dick was never able, however, to discover 
 exactly what it was she was eating in that closet. Appetizing whiffs 
 would wander forth from time to 
 time, which so wonderfully quick 
 ened his and the " other fellows' ' 
 appetites, that they were almost 
 ready to attack that depot of " good 
 ies," and satisfy themselves with its 
 contents by force. Miss Kamlin's 
 " best room " was the front one. 
 Here, curiously enough, the bad boys 
 were sent, to stay until she saw fit 
 to recall them. In this apartment 
 hung a picture of two black pointers, 
 in a very gilt frame. A red and 
 green carpet, staggering under the 
 weight of Brobdingnagian roses, was 
 spread at one's feet, while a fire- 
 board painted black and varnished, but adorned with specimens of 
 scissor-cuttings of animals and birds covered the empty fire-place. 
 These specimens of art were the product of the talent of one of Miss 
 Kamlin's old scholars, who had " done " these things as a token of 
 gratitude for his early training, and which she had utilized in this 
 manner. A weird, solemn, and uncanny sensation was always the result 
 of being sent into this silent, mysterious " keeping-room." The boy
 
 22 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 banished there spent his tune in wonder. He expected every instant 
 that the black pointers would leap out of the frame at him ; or else that 
 the fire-board would be hauled suddenly aside, to allow the entrance of 
 some old " Bloody-bones." People talk about the " emptiness " of a 
 
 " best chamber." I think they mis 
 take the silence which reigns every 
 where for emptiness, because in Miss 
 Kamlin's best room even the shovel 
 and the tongs seemed to have eyes, 
 and the pictures on the walls were all 
 pointing at the bad boy who stood in 
 the middle rolling his frightened 
 eyes about. From this oppressive 
 apartment the criminal was always 
 glad enough to escape, and return to 
 the school - room ; even though he 
 passed through Miss Kamlin's bed 
 chamber, which had a feather-bed 
 about three feet thick, and upon 
 which the girls who fainted or had 
 fits were always thrown. 
 
 In this little school-room, sixteen 
 feet square, Dick Reydon learned to read and spell. Here he stood 
 up before Miss Kamlin, and told off the capitals of the United States 
 in unison with the rest of the class, which was swaying meanwhile 
 from right to left. Here he got up to the head of his class by spell 
 ing " separate " with an a instead of in all sorts of other ways, as the 
 rest of the scholars insisted upon doing. For example, Miss Kamlin 
 would say, " Spell separate ! "
 
 MISS KAMLIN 'S SCHOOL. 23 
 
 First Boy (pronouncing first). " Separate " (defining next), " to 
 disunite ; to disjoin. S-e-p, sep, e, sepe, r-a-t-e, rate. Seperate." 
 
 Miss Kamlin would then say, " Wrong ! Next ! " 
 
 Second Boy. " S-e-p-e-r, seper, r-a-t-e, rate, seperrate." 
 
 " Wrong ! Next ! Deborah, spell separate ! " 
 
 Deb. " S-e-p-p-e-r, sepper, r-a-t-e, rate, sepperrate ! " 
 
 " Wrong ! Albert, spell separate ! " 
 
 Alb. (pronouncing separate). " S-o-e-p-a-r-r-a-t-e, soeparrate ! : ' 
 
 " Wrong ! Richard, spell separate ! " 
 
 Rich, (pronouncing separate). " S-e-p-a, sepa, r-a-t-e, rate, sepa 
 rate." 
 
 Miss K. " Correct. Go to the head ! The rest will stay after 
 school until they have learned how to spell that easy word ! First 
 class in Arithmetic ! " 
 
 They never had whole slates at Miss Kamlin' s, only pieces of 
 them. Sums were done on dark, greasy, blue fragments of what were 
 once slates. These fragments abounded in lighter blue spots, looking 
 like human eyes, imaginary islands, and the bodies of ugly beasts, to 
 which the scholars would add legs and wings. On these fragments, 
 too, the righteous ones in the big double-desk amused themselves by 
 making snow-storms out of pencil-dust and saliva ; which when dry 
 were very suggestive of the real article, especially if the effigy of a 
 man or a dog was sketched in, ploughing his way through these pencil 
 " blizzards." 
 
 When a boy was very good indeed, he was allowed to go down in the 
 cellar during school-hours, and pile up wood for Miss Kamlin's stove. 
 If this privilege happened at the time when the multiplication-table 
 class recited, so much the better. As the floor was not a double one, 
 the boy thus excused, could hear what was going on above his head as
 
 24 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 
 plain as day, and yet not be called upon to recite. This was a rare 
 delight. When the class reached, in the seventh table, " seven times 
 eight and seven times nine," he would pause in his piling to hear who 
 would make the first mistake. He chuckled to himself (not so loud, 
 however, as to be heard up-stairs), when Abigail Moore or Nancy 
 Adams said, " seven times eight are sixty three," and " seven times nine 
 are seventy-two," because some one of his class was just as sure to make 
 these mistakes every day, as Miss Kamlin was sure to make the class 
 recite the tables ; and he thought it was as well to allow some other 
 boy to miss and stay after school, as the righteous little wood-piler 
 underneath the school-room. But, unconsciously, he held up his hand 
 in the cellar to signify that he knew the correct answer. He blushed 
 
 scarlet a minute afterwards (as he 
 heard the right reply given) to think 
 he was just on the point of saying 
 " seven times nine are sixty-eight ; " 
 but he whistled to himself, and went 
 on piling his wood as if nothing par 
 ticular had happened, happy only 
 that nobody was looking, and that 
 he had escaped. 
 
 Snow-storms, at the time Miss 
 Kamlin kept school, were deeper and 
 remained longer on the ground than 
 any that have fallen since Compton 
 became a city. The drifts were al 
 ways above a boy's knees, and it 
 took ever so long for the track to be broken. In those days, ox-sleds 
 and high-backed sleighs (where the thills and the horse were clear
 
 MISS KAMLIN'S SCHOOL. 25 
 
 out at one side) were to be seen everywhere ; so that when one of 
 those sleds, loaded with wood, passed down the street, there would al 
 ways be a crowd of Miss Kamlin's boys hanging on to the runners, 
 or else being dragged on their sleds in a grand procession, shouting 
 and snowballing each other. On snow-storm afternoons it used to get 
 dark very early, so that Miss Kamlin would be compelled to light up 
 her two low, brass, greasy lamps, so as to be able to hear the last class 
 in geography. 
 
 It will, perhaps, be well for us to mention here the names of some of 
 the scholars who attended Miss Kamlin's school ; who were all such 
 friends of Dick Reydon. 
 
 Here they are : 
 
 Al. Gould. Peter Smart. 
 
 Deborah Good. Daniel Kafee. 
 
 Joe Wood. Olive Barton. 
 
 Rosamond Tarbox. Darius Fenno. 
 
 Eben Tucker. Simeon Brewer. 
 
 Mary Tarbox. Jane Newsom. 
 
 Carrington Padelford. Mary Arnold. 
 
 Abigail Moore. Eph. Bowen. 
 
 Nancy Adams. Joe Hodges, etc. 
 
 Deborah Good was a tall, nice-looking girl, with a prepossessing 
 face, somewhat freckled. She wore gold beads about her neck, 
 was constantly eating raisins, and going through the operation of dis 
 engaging the pits from the pulp. She had an odd way of pulling out 
 the skin of her neck even with her chin, and letting it snap back. She 
 was a good scholar, and wore gingham pantalets, which extended to 
 her ankles. Rosamond Tarbox sucked her thumb to such an alarming 
 extent that it looked pointed and parboiled. Her parents, in order
 
 26 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 to cure their child of this habit, covered the digit with aloes, which 
 destroyed the little girl's happiness, and kept her constantly in tears 
 bitter tears. 
 
 Jane Newsom ate slate pencils, and became so chalky and pallid 
 that you could almost do sums on her. 
 
 Dan Kafee was a good little fellow, but always ailing. The doctors 
 had given him so much mercury that his teeth used to drop out on 
 the school-room floor when his nurse, who came to carry him home, 
 jerked his head about, to tie the strings of his hat. These dental 
 specimens were found by the stay-after-school scholars under the big 
 bench, after Dan was gone ; and the lucky discoverer would hold up 
 his hand to Miss Kamlin and say, " Here 's one of Dan Kafee's teeth, 
 he dropped just now ! " 
 
 There was another of Dick Rey don's school-mates who deserves 
 mention. This was a small urchin named Darius Fenno. He was a 
 sort of martyr in the school. That is, he suffered every sort of indig 
 nity from the other scholars without whimpering. It very often hap 
 pens that in small communities like Miss Kamlin's school there is a 
 particular scholar who, either by his looks, his manners, or by some 
 personal defect, offends his companions, and excites their worst traits 
 of character. Darius Fenno was one of that sort. He was a forlorn 
 looking specimen. His under-lip hung out, and he had a meeching 
 expression of countenance. Poor fellow ! He constantly needed a 
 handkerchief, but never had one. He was forever " tagging " after 
 the "big girls," and there is nothing meaner than that. He never 
 resented anything ; for the girls would pinch him, and stick pins 
 into him ; and he would patiently bear it all, looking up, like a dove, 
 at his tormentors, all the while. But after receiving his punish 
 ment, he quietly commenced his " tagging " again, as if nothing had
 
 MISS KAMLIN'S SCHOOL. 27 
 
 happened. He wore short breeches buttoned up at the side. This 
 showed his bare skin at the gaping pocket-holes. Some of the biggest 
 and wickedest of the girls would pinch and nip this vulnerable and ex 
 posed part, to see how long Darius would stand it. Any one who has 
 been pinched by a girl knows how these nips hurt. Darius stood 
 these onslaughts until his little sides were a deep crimson color, and 
 then bawled at the " top of his lungs." This stopped the game. So 
 you see there were tyrants in those days, even in good Miss Kamlin's 
 school. 
 
 One of the privileges, at this ancient seminary of learning, was to be 
 sent, during school-hours, on an errand. Dick Reydon was sometimes 
 selected for this service. Once, when he was only nine years old, 
 Miss Kamlin dispatched him to the post-office. He was ignorant of 
 the method which people used to obtain their letters. He simply ob- 
 .served that they entered the office, tapped on their respective boxes, 
 repeating their numbers, " Twenty," " Eighty-four," or whatever it 
 might be ; and he saw the clerk hand out to them, with a smile and 
 a bow, bundles of letters and papers. It seemed to him that letters 
 came every day regularly, from everybody to everybody, and of course 
 he thought Miss Kamlin had her portion like the rest. With this 
 crude idea of the postal system, Dick rushed down the main street to 
 the letter department, repeating to himself, " Fifty-six, fifty-six," that 
 being the number of Miss Kamlin's box. Arriving at the office, he 
 raised himself on tip-toe and tapped bravely on his box, as everybody 
 else did, and sang out " Fifty-six, fifty-six ! " The clerk scowled at 
 him through the wicket, and said in hoarse tones, " There 's no letter 
 there"! what d' ye mean ? " 
 
 " Miss Kamlin sent me down here to get her letter in No. 56," re 
 plied Dick, " and I 'm going to get it ! "
 
 28 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 " I tell ye," answered the angry official, " there 's no letter for ye. 
 Get out, or I '11 call the constable ! " Richard began to shake his 
 head ominously. Tears sprang into his eyes. He thought the clerk 
 was withholding the letter. He did n't dare return without it, so he 
 hung about the vestibule, hoping that the man would go off to dinner, 
 and that some one else would take his place, and he would then ask 
 him. While he waited, he wondered why this person was so angry 
 with him, and so very bland and pleasant to everybody else. At last 
 he determined to make just one more attempt, so boldly walking up 
 to box No 56, he tapped it in a loud and decided manner, saying, 
 " I want Miss Karalin's letter, and you just give it to me now ! " 
 
 With that the angry clerk 
 disappeared from the window 
 an instant ; then a door flew 
 open, and out he came with 
 a whip, and out of the post- 
 office poor Dick went with a 
 bound hat in hand, fol 
 lowed by the angry clerk in 
 hot pursuit, screaming, " If 
 ever I catch you here again, 
 I '11 cut your ears off, you 
 little scamp ! " 
 
 Dick Reydon did n't stop 
 running until he got inside the high gate in the alley that led up to 
 the school. He poured into Miss Kamlin's ears the details of his ex 
 perience. The good woman listened to his narration with a smile, and 
 then, patting him on the cheek, said, " My dear ! you should always 
 be sure that the box contains a letter before you scream out the 
 number."
 
 MISS KAMLIN'S SCHOOL. 29 
 
 " Oh ! " replied Dick, " I did n't know that. Perhaps that was the 
 reason then why that horrid man was so cross." 
 
 Chirography was not a specialty of Miss Kamlin's teaching. The 
 scholars made slow progress in this branch of education. Dick was 
 naturally quick to learn, and his father taught him to write his own 
 name in a single evening, after he had labored for half a year to no 
 purpose over pot-hooks and whole pages of m's under his school- 
 marm's tuition. The more advanced scholars used a writing-book with 
 the picture of a human hand, holding the quill in the proper position, 
 on the cover. 
 
 " A man's manners commonly make his fortune." 
 
 " Let beauty shine in every line." 
 
 " Application in youth makes old age comfortable." 
 
 " Duty is the delight of the good." 
 
 These were the most popular lines for Miss Kamlin's scholars to copy. 
 
 The first attempt at these wholesome proverbs was usually the best. 
 After that the handwriting grew poorer and crookeder and more slant 
 ing, until one could hardly distinguish whether the bottom line was 
 writing or shading. 
 
 It was as good as a play to watch the countenances of the class in 
 writing, as they attempted the capital letters at the commencement of 
 the sentences. 
 
 The C's and the Y's and the L's produced horrible contortions of 
 face. The eyeballs would stare and the eyebrows elevate with the up 
 ward strokes. Then the mouth and lips would stick out and seem to 
 follow the pen as it described the long round quirls of the D's, and 
 the big loops of the L's, while the tongue would run out at one side of 
 the mouth as the writer reached at last the end of his sentence, hav 
 ing successfully covered with ink both his page and his fingers.
 
 30 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 It was remarkable how few ever imitated the copy, either of the 
 line to be written, or the correct position of the body and hand during 
 the operation. Each succeeding line was a poorer imitation of the one 
 immediately above it, and this with no reference to the parent line 
 at the top of the page ; while most of the scholars found it easier to 
 write with their books turned topsy-turvy and their heads and faces 
 buried in their left arms. Mistakes were always smooched out with 
 the forefinger, and pens invariably cleansed either by sucking the ink 
 or wiping on top of the head. 
 
 In after years Dick Reydon experienced great delight in the mem 
 ories which lingered about Miss Kamlin's school. He remembered 
 how hard a time he thought he was having, and that his life then 
 oftentimes seemed to be a burden hardly worth the bearing. Still the 
 golden hours flew by just as if he had prized them ; and in maturity,, 
 like everybody else, he perceived clearly that this educational epoch 
 was the most delightful portion of his existence. Even the feruling 
 which he occasionally received became a sweet memory to him in after 
 years, as he thought it all over in his great office, among his clerks 
 and his business cares. He often brought up before him, with a laugh, 
 just how he must have looked, when he had been detected eating 
 raisins, or biting apples, against the rules : how he hung his head, and 
 made haste slowly to obey Miss Kamlin's commands to advance and 
 receive his punishment. How he would cross two eye-winkers in the 
 palm of his hand, in order to neutralize the pain produced by the 
 ferule, and rub liquorice juice over it for the same object. How he 
 flinched and winked at the expectant blow. How he stuck out his 
 hand and drew it back again, and raised his right leg, and put on an 
 agonized expression. How many times Miss Kamlin missed his hand, 
 and only struck the air ; and how, at last, she seized his fingers with
 
 MISS KAMLIN'S SCHOOL. 31 
 
 sudden ferocity and " whanged " them to her heart's content, giv 
 ing him also two or three on his legs and thighs. All this misery (as 
 he boo-hooed his way back to his seat, supporting his chastened 
 palm with the " well-one," and ominously shaking his head) was light, 
 in comparison to that which torments a merchant when he wonders 
 how he can pay the twenty thousand dollars he owes with the nine 
 teen thousand he has. 
 
 And then Dick Revdon's vacations ! Bliss unutterable ! Beatitude 
 
 \) 
 
 indescribable ! The dance in which all the scholars joined when the 
 final session of the school had closed, and they were assembled in little 
 groups in the blind, damp alley just by the tumble-down gate on one 
 hinge, and in close proximity to the little puddle under it was like 
 the war dance of the Wampanoags after a victory over their enemies. 
 
 " Good-by scholars Good-by school ! 
 Good-by Kamlin cross old fool." 
 
 They did 'nt exactly mean what those lines suggested, but sweet liberty 
 gave license to their little tongues. These words rang in his ears like 
 a loving requiem over the dead past, as he sat at his mahogany desk 
 in his office in Compton.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 WARTS. "FITS' KEEPS." 
 
 LL of Dick Reydon's early memories, 
 until he got to be fourteen years old, 
 were indissolubly connected with Miss 
 Kamlin's school. It was like a second 
 home to him, for indeed the most of 
 his waking hours were spent there. 
 School " let out " punctually at twelve 
 o'clock. Forth rushed the boys and 
 girls ; the boys first, stamping like so 
 many wild horses : some with com 
 forters around neck (if it happened to be cold weather), and some 
 with this article about the waist ; in skull caps and fur caps and no 
 caps. To complete the picture we must imagine any amount of hair 
 pulling, shin kicking, pin pricking, and loud shouting. It took but a 
 minute for these future fathers and mothers to empty the building. 
 Dick Reydon, Pete Smart, Al. Gould, and Eben Tucker were the most 
 popular boys in the school. They were half a head taller than the 
 other boys. Their arms were too long for their jackets. Their trousers 
 were too short for their legs. Their voices were changing, and their 
 thick locks needed cutting. 
 
 At a certain age a boy seems to be afflicted with great numbers of 
 warts and freckles. They are not identified so much with people of
 
 WARTS. "FUS 1 KEEPS." 33 
 
 riper years, as they are with the rising generation. Why this is so 
 remains a mystery. Some boys in Dick Reydon's time thought it was 
 because they had touched a toad-stool in their sleep. Perhaps it was a 
 special dispensation sent on them for constantly meddling with every 
 thing they ought not to, and poking their good-natured faces into 
 other people's affairs. Whatever be the truth, certain it is that wher 
 ever you saw a boy, there you found a freckle and a wart ; just as on 
 the western plains, when you meet a prairie dog, there you will in 
 evitably encounter the associate rattlesnake and little owl. 
 
 The youngsters above alluded to had their hands and faces covered 
 with them. Pete Smart's freckles in particular were very brown and 
 all run together, while Dick Reydon's warts little and big num 
 bered just forty-two. As it was spring, and marble time was approach 
 ing, warts on the fingers would be very inconvenient ; so the boys 
 thought it proper to clear them off their hands. To this end a visit 
 to Mr. Grimes on Friendship Street was planned. This wonderful old 
 gentleman cured the worst case of warts in five weeks, and was the 
 friend of all the boys for miles around. 
 
 There was a sort of rivalry in Miss Kamlin's school as to who pos 
 sessed the largest number of warts. A certain amount of every recess 
 was consumed in counting up these excrescences. There were also 
 certain unwritten laws relating to them. It was against these laws, 
 for instance, to count anything which looked like a mole ; so that 
 considerable discussion was often occasioned by one fellow asserting 
 that " That 's a wart," while the others, in not very elegant language, 
 denied the assertion with, " 'T ain't neither. It 's only a darned little 
 mole,", and the thing wouldn't be counted. There was no doubt 
 about Dick's warts, however. He had forty-two good, big fellows. 
 One of the most troublesome of all was what the boys called "a 
 
 3
 
 34 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 seeder," right on the joint of his right thumb, and which came awk 
 wardly in the way when he played marbles. One day in May, after 
 school was dismissed, a wart-meeting was held in 
 the yard. Pete's voice, which was just changing, 
 was heard in a high treble key, gradually sinking 
 into a deep bass, " Le *s go to ol' Grimes' in Frien'- 
 ship Street, an' get our warts cured ! " 
 
 " Come on, fellows ! " cried another urchin. 
 " He on'y charges five cents for ten. I 've got 
 'leven, but I '11 make him throw that one in ! " 
 
 " That ain't a wart," said one of the little boys, 
 inspecting the protuberance. 
 " What is it then, you fool, if it ain't a wart ? " 
 " It 's on'y a freckle ! " 
 
 " Freckle ! Get out ! ' T is a wart too ! Say, Dick, ain't that a 
 wart ? " 
 
 " Le' me see it," 
 replied the umpire, 
 inspecting the ex 
 crescence. 
 
 " Well ! it 's so 
 much like a wart, 
 that if he chalks 
 it, it '11 go, sure." 
 
 " There ! I told 
 you 't was a wart. 
 Come on, fellows ! " The crowd of boys rushed out of the yard like 
 a flock of birds, over to the " wart-killer's," on Friendship Street. 
 Ebenezer Grimes was a top-turner. He occupied a little low-studded
 
 WARTS. "FUS 1 KEEPS." 35 
 
 shop in a two-storied, gambrel-roofed, antediluvian sort of a house, 
 'way down at the bottom of the street, and so near the salt water that 
 one could smell it very plainly whenever the tide came in. 
 
 He turned tops for all the boys in Compton. These playthings, 
 manufactured by Old Grimes, had a local celebrity as being the best 
 " proguers," and the " tastiest sleepers," of any in the neighborhood. 
 Old Grimes was a genial old man, of middle stature, with a crop of 
 short, white hair sticking up all over his head. He had a couple of 
 dark piercing eyes which peeped out through his bushy black eye 
 brows, and his face was always smiling. He had the right sort of dis 
 position to suit the boys, and just the kind of patience to meet the in 
 cessant requirements as to how, and in what shape, their tops were to 
 be manufactured. The old man chewed lots of tobacco. His good- 
 natured mouth was fairly afloat with it ; so much so, that each time 
 he answered a boy's question, and that was every five seconds, he 
 was forced to expel a certain amount of the extract into a wide wooden 
 box filled with top-chippings, which stood in convenient proximity to 
 his work-bench. Tops, half turned and finished ; spears, blunt and 
 sharpened ; pieces of imperfect wood, and wood in the rough ; turn 
 ing-lathes and chisels, planes and oil-cans, glue-pots and the old gen 
 tleman's tin kettle containing his dinner, were all lying together in 
 delightful confusion, as the boys burst into the shop in breathless 
 haste. The ancient turner looked up from his work with a beaming 
 smile, and expelled the usual amount of tobacco juice, in order to be 
 ready to answer the flood of questions which he knew would be show 
 ered upon him. 
 
 " Mr.- Grimes, will you cure our warts ? " 
 
 " How much d' ye charge ? " 
 
 " I 've got ten."
 
 36 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 " An' I 've got thirteen." 
 " An' I 've got twenty-one, and three moles." 
 
 " I 've got forty-two. Say ! how long '11 it take ? This one on my 
 
 thumb hurts like time when I g-o 
 
 o 
 
 to bend it playing marbles." 
 
 " Say, Mr. Grimes, can you cure 
 them?" 
 
 " Is my top done ? " " What 's 
 this big one for ? " "A proguer, 
 I guess." " The spear came out 
 of the last one you made me, Mr. 
 Grimes. Can you put in another ? " 
 " Won't you please look at our 
 warts right off ? We 're in a hurry, 
 for we are all going to ( Turner's 
 Circus' this afternoon." "Don't 
 Al!" (turning to one of his com 
 panions.) "Stop it!" "Get 
 away ! " "I '11 lick you if you don't mind ! " etc. These last ejacu 
 lations came from the different boys, who were "pushing and haul 
 ing," each other ; thus expending their surplus energy. All this time 
 good Old Mr. Grimes stood with his arms akimbo, and a pleased ex 
 pression on his " topy," saw-dusty face, waiting patiently until all the 
 questions were in, before he answered. 
 
 " I reckon I '11 cure your warts, if ye '11 all jes' set down in a row on 
 that 'ar horse, an' keep quiet, an' le' me count 'em." Instantly the 
 whole company became still. As many as could seated themselves in 
 a line on the wooden horse pointed out by the wart-killer. The rest 
 found anchorage on some boards which were piled up near by. By
 
 WARTS. FUS' KEEPS." 37 
 
 direction of Mr. Grimes, they all held up their hands, and in this posi 
 tion they awaited his coming. The old man took a piece of chalk 
 from among the spiders' webs on the window sash, and approached 
 his expectant patients. He solemnly counted the warts on every boy's 
 hand ; touching each one with the chalk. Then he disappeared be 
 hind the old chimney-back where he seemed to register the name of 
 the boy, and the number of warts belonging to each. Not a word 
 was spoken during the solemn proceeding, which lasted some minutes. 
 Then the venerable wart-healer said, " Come back in five weeks an' le' 
 me look at your hands. That 's all." 
 
 He opened the little half door of his shop, and out dashed the boys, 
 first dropping into the old man's palm their wart money. Each boy 
 was fully convinced that a cure had been effected, and that his warts 
 would certainly go away. 
 
 The curious thing about it was that before the five weeks were 
 over, Dick Reydon inspected his hands one morning to count his 
 warts, when lo ! and behold ! they had actually gone, departed, fled 
 to the land of toad-stools and skunk-cabbage. This strange, but true 
 result was sure to happen whenever Old Mr. Grimes chalked the boy's 
 warts, and registered their number on the ancient chimney-back in his 
 shop on Friendship Street. 
 
 The warts were cured none too soon, for the time for the " singing 
 of birds had come," and the time for playing of marbles, too. 
 
 Dick Reydon had just reached his fourteenth year, and his eye was 
 as bright as a star, and his limbs as lithe as a young elm. His full 
 blue eye shot out intelligence, while his Grecian features and firm chin 
 betokened self-reliance and manly courage. Pizarro, his sable friend, 
 had been growing all this time, too. His height was fully equal to 
 that of his young master's. His limbs and small head were models of
 
 38 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 ebony beauty ; while his teeth and jovial countenance were pleasures 
 to behold. Living as he did, in close companionship with Dick Rey- 
 don and his friends, Joshua and Amanda felt a conscious pride in 
 having their son dress and behave as became that position. The con 
 trast between Dick's blonde hair and blue eyes, and Pizarro's sable 
 complexion and crisp locks, was well marked as they came down the 
 street every day together. Both Dick and Peez were adepts at mar 
 bles, but Dick was the better man of the two. 
 
 There was a certain curve and jerk which he gave to his arm, as his 
 " bounder " shot out from between his forefinger and thumb, which 
 
 4 O ' 
 
 visibly impressed all the boys as evidence of his superiority. Still 
 
 there were in the town and among the 
 lower class one or two youths who 
 claimed precedence as better players. 
 The manner of holding a marble now 
 adays is totally different from the an 
 cient method. There was some science 
 about it then, and the game had also 
 a phraseology, peculiarly its own. Both 
 
 science and phraseology, however, have now been supplanted by the 
 subtler mysteries of the " Great National Amusement." 
 
 The attitude of a proficient marble-player, when about to " shoot " 
 from " the mark," was erect, with head slightly bent forward, and 
 depressed towards the right shoulder, eyes to the front. His right 
 hand was raised as high as the eye. After chalking his thumb and 
 breathing on it once or twice to make it stick, the little white marble, 
 streaked with red (they used no agates or glass monsters then), was 
 slowly rolled up to its first joint, by its own action combined with 
 those of the fore and middle fingers. Having been rolled up to the
 
 WARTS. "FUS' KEEPS." 
 
 39 
 
 top of this joint, the wrist was then turned to the right until the palm 
 of the hand was nearly on a plane with the horizon. At this junc 
 ture, the adept ran out the tip of his tongue from 
 between his lips, when, presto ! the marble shot 
 forth on its errand with the speed of lightning. It 
 struck the point aimed at with unerring precision, 
 and sent its antagonist flying in the opposite direc 
 tion, usurping, at the same moment, its position 
 near the ring. Nowadays, boys obtain the largest 
 agate marble they can buy ; and by pinching it be 
 tween the tips of finger and thumb, they manage to 
 pop it, or flop it, or push it at the marbles in the 
 ring, among which it rolls leisurely, jostling from 
 position perhaps two or three of the unfrightened 
 enemy. 
 
 There was a great temptation in Dick Reydon's 
 day to gamble in marbles ; that is, play a game by 
 which dozens and scores of marbles were transferred 
 from one pocket to another in " no time." Boys who habitually 
 played " for keeps," were nothing more nor less than little gamesters, 
 and most of the respectable fathers and mothers in Compton forbade 
 their sons from engaging in the game. " Fus' Keeps " was the bat 
 tle-cry of the professional marble-player, by which he entrapped the 
 innocent and unwary owner to part with all his store. 
 
 " Fus' Keeps," translated into plain English, meant, " I speak for 
 first fire, in a game where all of your marbles that I knock out of the 
 ring, under the rules, belong to me." Having the first fire, and 
 being almost sure to hit the marble aimed at, the challenger went on 
 and on until he had knocked all of them from the ring. A fresh
 
 40 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 supply was put there with the same result ; so when some squeaky 
 toned marble-player from a bevy of boys shrieked out " Fus' Keeps," 
 marked a ring with one of his marbles, and drew a line for " the 
 mark" with the toe of his boot, it meant serious business, and a 
 game where one of the parties was sure to part with some of his 
 property. On such occasions, where the antagonists were evenly 
 matched, the contest for the mastery was watched with the keenest 
 interest by the rest of the boys who were lookers-on. They would 
 stand about the two combatants, espousing one side or the other, 
 and would volunteer all sorts of unsolicited advice and decisions as 
 the play went on. 
 
 The ancient nomenclature, which indicated the rules governing the 
 game, would be entirely incomprehensible to a modern marble-player. 
 Such phrases, for instance, as : 
 
 " Noth'in's now, no coaxin's ! " " Firm' swift past the ring ! " 
 " Anythin's ! " " No brush I " " No lightnin's ! " " Knuckle down, 
 finger rooster ! " " Boost ! " and such like, would be just so much 
 unmeaning jargon to a school-boy of to-day. But in Dick Reydon's 
 time each word was burdened with tremendous importance, and was 
 packed with the most concise significance. The boy who was volu 
 ble enough to utter these mysterious sentences all at once and be 
 fore his antagonist, gained an immense advantage. A professional 
 " Fus' Keeps " player went among the boys, and generally singled 
 out some poor, inexperienced " Molly Coddle " whose pocket was 
 stuffed with a bag of new marbles, and dared him to play. If the 
 wager was accepted, the big bulge caused by the new marbles in the 
 innocent's pocket went down like a bladder of wind, only to swell the 
 greasy bag of his insatiate foe. It was Dick Reydon's fortune one 
 day to watch a professional gamester, of this variety, win the whole
 
 WARTS. "FUS' KEEPS. 1 ' 41 
 
 belongings of a poor little fellow, who was thus " choused out " of all 
 his marble estate ; so that tears stood in his eyes and his lips trembled 
 with ill-concealed emotion. Dick 
 determined, if possible, to avenge 
 his loss ; and to that end, just as 
 the tall lad (whose name was 
 Mike Taggart) was counting- 
 over his profits with a merry 
 twinkle in his bad eye, he ap 
 proached him and said as rapidly as possible, " Fus' Keeps anythin's ! " 
 Mike Taggart looked up from his arithmetical calculation, and, 
 seeing Dick Reydon standing before him, scowled with latent hatred. 
 Dick was what might be called " Captain " among the best boys of 
 Compton, while Mike was clearly a leader at his end of the town. 
 
 Depending on the chances that Dick would miss striking from " the 
 mark " the marbles in the ring at the first fire, thus affording him 
 self another opportunity of adding to his " pile," he gruffly consented 
 to play, and placed in the ring his proportion of the " put up." The 
 boys all stood about, knowing that the tug of war had come. They 
 watched with breathless anxiety as Dick took his position at "the 
 mark," and went through the various operations of chalking, and 
 breathing on his thumb, preparatory to his first and all-important fire. 
 
 Out from between his muscular fingers went the marble. Describ 
 ing a graceful parabolic curve in the air, it impinged itself with won 
 derful accuracy upon the objective body in the ring, sending it to the 
 farther end of the sidewalk, where the game was being played. Then, 
 stooping down, he daintily handled his marble, and after rolling and 
 coaxing it about between his finger and thumb for a moment, cleared 
 the ring 1 in the most dexterous manner of all its contents. 
 
 o
 
 42 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 Again and again was this repeated. Each time Mike's bad fortune 
 or inferior play making him less accurate in his aim, and so less likely 
 to succeed. Losing his temper at last, he poured into the ring all the 
 contents of his bag, and sung out in hoarse tones, " Double or quits, 
 'dang ye ! " prepared himself for the last struggle. Dick's self con 
 trol never forsook him. Working for a good object as will presently 
 appear, he measured every throw that he made with great precision, 
 and had the intense satisfaction at last of " clearing out " Mike Tag- 
 gart's greasy marble-bag, and remaining victor on the field amid the 
 plaudits of the surrounding boys. Taking the great swagging mass 
 which filled up both his pockets, he approached the little boy who had 
 been Taggart's victim, emptied them into his handkerchief, while the 
 little fellow laughed and cried alternately for joy. 
 
 Turning to Mike he said, " When ye want to play i Fus' Keeps ' 
 again, take one of yer size. You knew he could n't play worth a 
 cent ! " 
 
 " Who are you, I 'd like to know ? " cried the disappointed marble- 
 player. " If I don't git even wi' yer, then yer can eat my head, yer 
 bloody 'risterkrat yer ! " 
 
 " Whenever you like," said Dick. " I ain't 'fraid of yer." With 
 that the boy, who it must be observed was alone, amid a crowd of 
 Dick Reydon's sympathizing friends, and with no one to support him, 
 reluctantly, but prudently, moved away. Mike Taggart, if he did 
 play " Fus' Keeps " was no coward.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ROBBING A HAWK'S NEST. 
 
 ITTI all our love for boys we must acknowl 
 edge they are both tyrannical and cruel, and 
 need a good deal of civilizing before they 
 can be utilized by society. This polishing 
 process, however, is gradually performed. 
 The daily experience of life, and the judi 
 cious admonition of level-headed parents, are 
 the best means of attaining this end. On 
 the other hand, it is a melancholy fact that 
 a foolish pair of progenitors will ruin and have ruined some of the 
 very best of children. Mistaken ideas of filial duty, and a delight 
 to exercise parental authority, have addled many an egg, which other 
 wise would have produced a perfect chicken. 
 
 The " spare the rod " method is a milk-and-water way of forming 
 character. In Dick Reydon's time, good old-fashioned correction, ad 
 ministered by muscular parents, was vastly more efficacious than all the 
 modern " sending into corners," and " appeals to the moral sense," 
 and " goings without butter." The genus boy is a sagacious animal. 
 He possesses a keen sense of justice, and sometimes knows better than 
 his father does just when he needs castigation. If he receives it 
 when he deserves it, he feels the justice of it, even amid his squirm- 
 ings and twistings; but when he gets it from an irate or foolish
 
 44 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 parent, who himself is in the wrong instead of his son, then the 
 punishment rankles deep in that boy's memory. He never quite for 
 gives his father. Therefore, ye affectionate parents ! spank your 
 children well, only take care that the punishment be merited and 
 wisely administered. 
 
 Ephraim Reydon was a sensible and kind-hearted father, who loved 
 
 his son ; but once in a while 
 Richard transgressed the laws 
 of order and of right. On such 
 occasions he was sure to receive 
 a good old-fashioned, puritan 
 ical thrashing, which did him a 
 " world of good." The best of 
 it was, that when he grew to 
 man's estate, the memory of his 
 dear father was pleasant to him. 
 He thanked him in his heart for 
 all his kindness, his sagacious 
 counsel, and even for these old- 
 time spankings, never to be forgotten. He felt sure that they had 
 been most beneficial in exorcising from his character all selfishness and 
 effeminacy, and in enabling him to fill the important positions in life, 
 to which he was providentially called, with manliness and integrity. 
 
 The spring and summer when Dick and Peez were in their fourteenth 
 years were memorable ones. Into them were crowded more fun and 
 adventure, more health and growth, than in the whole thirteen others 
 which had gone before. It seemed as if it were impossible for Dick to 
 keep still. When he tried to walk, he ran ; and when he ran, he felt as 
 if his legs were independently alive. They went themselves, and with-
 
 ROBBING A HAWK'S NEST. 
 
 45 
 
 out his volition. Like two great levers of a steam-engine, they never 
 got weary. They seemed to be trying, of themselves, to straddle all 
 the fences and the sheds, and to shin up all the " Liberty-poles " and 
 elm-trees in the neighborhood of Compton. It seemed, too, as if he 
 ran faster after dark than before the sun went down. For, as he was 
 unable to see just when his feet touched the ground, he felt as if he 
 merely skimmed over the surface of the earth like a swallow, tip 
 ping here and there 
 the ends of his toes, 
 to be sure that the 
 green sward was un 
 der him somewhere, 
 and that was all. 
 
 Oh, that happy 
 epoch was indeed 
 Life ! the opposite 
 condition from 
 Death! At this 
 heavenly period, the 
 lucky child bathes in 
 the living waters of 
 youth, which seem 
 eternally to flow on, but which, alas ! are so soon to be changed into 
 stagnant and unhealthy pools by the choking influence of Time. 
 
 The bay of Compton was very beautiful. Opening, as it did, into 
 the ocean, which was thirty miles away, its banks presented a mixture 
 of sea-shore and wooded landscape. The yellow sand bordered its 
 sparkling blue waters, while within a rod or so of the shore grew tall 
 trees and heavy underbrush. The green banks were high and pre-
 
 46 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 cipitous, and the view from them seaward presented a moving pan 
 orama of white sails and flying bunting. Some old " East Indiaman," 
 with its new paint and scraped masts, could often be seen among the 
 sail boats, ploughing through the rippling waves, either seaward on its 
 far journey ; or else, battered and tattered, crawling back to port, home 
 ward bound. 
 
 A lively sea-breeze blew every afternoon from the southwest with 
 refreshing coolness, which rendered Compton a charming spot during 
 the whole summer. Its protected waters were the rendezvous of nu 
 merous sea-fowl, such as wild duck and geese, together with the coot 
 and brant. Sea-gulls and fish-hawks were there, as a matter of course. 
 They lazily careened or floated in mid-air, and went through their 
 various evolutions of diving, and fluttering up again with their prey 
 in their talons. Fish-hawks especially built their nests in the tall oaks 
 and pines which bordered the bay. From these eyried homes they 
 sallied forth in search of food. 
 
 It was an act to boast of, if any Compton boy could exhibit a 
 fish-hawk egg, as a trophy of his audacity in assailing the nest of 
 this plucky bird during the period of incubation. 
 
 Robins' eggs, plovers' eggs, and bobolinks' eggs, were all common 
 enough, and easily enough obtained in Compton, but a brown streaked 
 and spattered specimen from a fish-hawk's nest was seldom seen except 
 in the possession of the most daring of the youthful population. 
 
 In a wooded pasture, situated on a high bluff, overlooking Compton 
 Bay, were several dead pine-trees, where fish-hawks had regularly built 
 their nests for many years. Here they reared their little families with 
 out fear of molestation, except that which might arise from the assaults 
 of their fiercest enemy, man. Even this fear was a very slight one, 
 as nothing but wanton cruelty could warrant such molestation. It
 
 ROBBING A HAWK'S NEST. 
 
 47 
 
 was reserved, however, for a pack of thoughtless, giddy boys to 
 invade their ancient domain, and threaten destruction to their happy 
 homes. 
 
 Prowling around the fields 
 during school - hours, and 
 while Dick and his associates 
 
 r 
 
 were learning their lessons, 
 the black eye of Pizarro Fitts 
 caught sight of two large 
 nests in the tops of a couple 
 of lordly pines, in the 
 wooded pasture above re 
 ferred to. Crouched behind 
 a stone wall, he watched tha 
 male bird as he came wheel 
 ing in from the ocean, bring 
 ing to his sitting mate her 
 breakfast of fish. He noticed 
 how the great nest was built. That it must be three or four feet in 
 diameter, and was composed of sea-weed, grasses, and large sticks. 
 There sat the patient and prospective mother over her eggs, while she 
 accepted with affectionate grace the dainty morsel of mackerel or tau- 
 tog gallantly offered to her. Now Peez Fitts didn't intend to be 
 cruel. Such a thought never occurred to him. His whole attention 
 was occupied with the wild delight, the rare amount of fun, which 
 would result from a daring attempt to climb those trees and secure the 
 coveted eggs. 
 
 Filled with this thought, he ran almost the whole way home, and im 
 patiently waited near the puddle under Miss Kamlin's gate for the mo-
 
 48 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 ment when the morning session should be over. It took but little time 
 to communicate to his associates his new project. They all entered 
 into it with the greatest zest, and forthwith appointed the next Satur 
 day morning as the time when the attack should be made. It may well 
 be supposed that the boys had sundry misgivings regarding the possi 
 ble result of this somewhat hazardous enterprise. Robbing a hawk's 
 nest was no easy matter, so that the excitement and exhilaration exhib 
 ited on the countenances of this youthful band of robbers was very 
 natural. The long line of boys coming through the fields could have 
 been perceived by an enemy a good way off. The heads of the boys 
 first appeared, as one by one they surmounted the stone walls. Then 
 the whole company would be nearly hidden amid the bushes and rocks 
 of an intervening pasture. Again the heads would pop up above a 
 still nearer line of fence ; each moment becoming larger and more 
 distinct, until their suppressed voices could be heard, and their breath 
 ings perceived in the immediate vicinity of the peaceful residence of 
 the hawks. A halt was now ordered, and a conference held as to the 
 best method of procedure. A reconnoissance in force developed the 
 fact of a small grove of oaks, in the midst of which stood two tall, 
 lifeless pine-trees, whose gray and gnarled arms stuck out in all direc 
 tions. On the very tops of these were the hawks' nests. They were 
 very capacious ones ; sufficiently large to accommodate a numerous 
 progeny. In one of these the parent bird sat in fancied security, 
 patiently awaiting the day when her children should appear, while her 
 mate had gone to sea for her dinner. 3 This seemed the propitious 
 moment to make the assault. After much talking, and fifty different 
 propositions, it was finally decided that Peez should be the attacking 
 party ; in fact, that he should climb the tree and thus secure for him 
 self the whole glory of the enterprise. This decision was not because
 
 ROBBING A HAWK'S NEST. 49 
 
 the others were reluctant to go ; indeed, both Dick and Pete Smart 
 could hardly be restrained from immediately commencing the ascent 
 of the tree ; but Peez insisted that being black, the birds could n't 
 see him as plainly as they could the others. He took off his shoes (it 
 must be confessed that in the summer Amanda did not insist upon 
 stockings for her son), he took off his shoes and his jacket ; tied a 
 handkerchief over his face, leaving sufficient space only for breath and 
 eyesight. Then, between his teeth he put a short thick stick, to defend 
 himself from any possible attack of the birds, and prepared to mount. 
 The boys stood in close proximity to the dead tree, suffering the great 
 est anxiety in regard to the result of the undertaking. " Look out 
 for the old birds, Peez ! " cried Dick, in a whisper. " Give them fits, 
 Peez, if they come too near ! " cried Pete, sotto voce. " We '11 be 
 ready with sticks and stones to drive them away, Peez," added Eben 
 Tucker. 
 
 " Never you min' ! " rejoined the stout-hearted Peez. " I gets de 
 eggs I does an' ef Massa Hawk segatiates, I '11 jes' offer him a piece 
 of dis yere hickory. Min' ! " he added, " I goes for de eggs an' de 
 eggs I git. Aunt Hawk an' Uncle Hawk to de contrary, notwid- 
 standin'." Almost before one could think, the gallant Peez had 
 shinned a good portion of his way up the tree, while the boys stood 
 all aghast, with sticks and stones, prepared to drive away any intrud 
 ers. As the black boy gradually reached the end of his ascent, the 
 bird on the nest perceived his approach, and at once gave forth sev 
 eral unearthly shrieks of terror, which reverberated through the air, 
 and floated outward over the bay, in the direction of her absent mate. 
 " Come back ! come back, my love ! " it seemed to lament. " Come 
 back, and protect your home from sacrilege, your little ones from de 
 struction ! " There was no time to be lost, for Peez had now reached 
 
 4
 
 50 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 a point where his head was on a level with the nest. As it appeared 
 above this plane, the old bird, with a scream of despair, with flashing 
 eyes and erected crest, flew at the boy with all fury, striking at him 
 with its beak and talons. Peez plied his hickory stick with effective 
 force, and managed not only to beat her off her roost, but to seize two 
 eggs in his left hand ; and then to prepare himself for a hasty retreat. 
 Again the mother bird flew at the boy, inflicting upon his hand a 
 wound, which drew the blood, compelling him still quicker to hasten 
 his departure. A wild scream of despair in the air now warned him 
 that the male bird had heard the cry of distress, and was hastening 
 back to defend his wife and his children. Quicker than thought, both 
 birds were upon him with beak and talons. Peez plied his stick right 
 and left, whanging them both with many well-directed blows, until he 
 drove them off to a neighboring tree. All this while the boys below 
 
 * 
 
 were in a great pitch of excitement. They threw stones and sticks at 
 the frenzied birds. They shouted and leaped about, doing all in their 
 power to aid their friend. " Come down, Peez ! " " No matter 'bout 
 the old eggs ! " "Comedown!" " They '11 kill you." "' T ain't worth 
 it ! " was echoed on all sides, while the valiant black boy slowly re 
 treated from his risky position. This movement was both awkward 
 and dangerous, encumbered as he was by the eggs in one hand, and 
 his club in the other. Suddenly he was seen to slip and fall. " Heav 
 ens ! Peez 's fallen ! " was the shout which arose from a chorus of 
 boys. "Oh dear!" "What!" "No!" "Yes!" " There he is, f Al 
 lows ! " " He 's caught ! By George ! He 's caught ! by what 
 luck ! by the seat of his trousers, on that lower limb ! " " See him 
 swing 'round and 'round ! " " Goody gracious ! " " What shall we 
 do ? " " How shall we ever get him down ? " 
 
 Sure enough. Poor Peez had lost his hold and had fallen some ten
 
 ROBBING A HAWK'S NEST. 
 
 51 
 
 feet below the nest, but had " brought up " on the point of a stout, 
 lifeless limb ! There he swung by that portion of his ample panta 
 loons, which no pair of pantaloons can do without. His situation 
 was both ridiculous and dangerous. He was suspended in mid-air 
 (some thirty feet from the ground), and in such a manner that he 
 could neither recover himself by hands or feet ; and should he fall, 
 he would certainly be fatally injured. The infuriated birds, too, 
 would wheel about him 
 from their neighboring 
 perch, and strike at him 
 from time to time. Peez's 
 presence of mind, how- 
 ever, never forsook him. 
 He belabored the fiery 
 creatures whenever they 
 dared to approach him, 
 and he still managed to 
 keep a firm hold upon 
 his two ugly brown eggs, 
 which had cost him so 
 much trouble to obtain. 
 The boys were now in 
 great perplexity as to what 
 could be done to relieve 
 their plucky companion from his distressing and awkward position. 
 Dick Reydon, as captain, was at his "wits' end" to decide upon his 
 best course of action. A sudden thought seemed to strike him. 
 " Hold on, Peez, my boy ! Hold on ! " he cried (just as if Peez could 
 hold on, hanging as he was, like a lantern in the wind). " Hold on
 
 52 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 till I come back ! I won't be gone a minute ! " Off Dick scam 
 pered to a stranded boat, which he espied moored to the shore (the 
 tide being out). He unshipped the line in a twinkling, and came 
 rushing back with an air of triumph glancing from his blue eye. 
 
 " I ' ve got it now, Peez ! " 
 just keep quiet till I make 
 a noose in this rope ! Then 
 I '11 climb that oak there, 
 and throw the line over 
 that stout branch, and 
 then if you can catch hold 
 of the noose and slip it 
 round your body, we '11 
 have you off that nasty 
 point in a jiffy." With 
 that Dick Reydon climbed 
 
 the oak, holding the line 
 
 ^ 
 
 between his teeth. Reach 
 ing the big limb, some 
 feet above the point on 
 the pine-tree where Peez 
 hung, he threw it over to 
 the ground. The boys 
 thereupon seized it, and 
 after several attempts suc 
 ceeded in enabling Peez 
 to catch it, and slip the 
 noose under his shoulders and about his waist. " Now wait a bit, till 
 I get down ! " cried Dick, and glided along the trunk of the oak on
 
 ROBBING A HAWK'S NEST. 53 
 
 his downward journey. " Wait a bit ! There now ! When Peez is 
 ready, we '11 just hoist the fellow off that wooden peg, and let him 
 down ! " 
 
 "Ready, Peez?" 
 
 " I 'se ready," replied a voice far up the height. 
 
 " Heave ! " cried the boys. " There she moves ! Steady ! Steady, 
 fellows ! He 's off ! He 's off ! Now let him down gently ! Gently ! 
 There ! There ! " 
 
 " Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Hurrah ! " were the shouts which greeted 
 Peez Fitts as he once more stood on terra firma with the two unbroken 
 eggs in his hand, and a very large rent in the seat of his pantaloons. 
 
 " Are ye hurt much ? " cried the boys. 
 
 " Not much ! " said Peez. " But I reckon I can't set down for a 
 week ; but that 's nothin.' I 'se got de eggs ! I went fer de eggs, 
 an' I got de eggs ! No matter for de hole. I won't catch cold." 
 Peez Fitts' exploit with the fish-hawks made him a hero in Compton, 
 and beloved by all the boys.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FISHING. 
 
 HE headings of this and the following 
 chapter suggest two amusements which 
 occupied a large portion of the leisure 
 time of a school-boy, fifty years ago. 
 The youth of the present day are apt 
 to go into their homes after school- 
 hours, put on their slippers, and read. 
 This is a very commendable proceed 
 ing, but fifty years ago they did n't do so. Instead of it they fished, 
 and ran, and fought each other, until their cheeks were like rubies, 
 their muscles like iron, and their pluck indomitable. Red cheeks, 
 tough sinews, and undaunted courage are three good qualities, and the 
 youth in Ihose days had them to perfection. Besides, these elements 
 of vigor made up somewhat for the absence of the " Rollo Books," and 
 the " Zigzag Journeys," and the almost numberless and valuable works
 
 FISHING. 55 
 
 of adventure which now fill our juvenile libraries. To be sure, they 
 had " The Boy's Own Book," " The French Cabin Boy," " Robinson 
 Crusoe ; " together with the wonderful adventures of " Gulliver " and 
 " Baron Munchausen," but these bore no comparison to the flood of 
 literature written expressly for the young, which surrounds the boy of 
 the period, and fills up most of his attention after school-hours. The 
 boy of fifty years ago was perhaps not so precocious as his modern 
 brother, but he was quite as able-bodied. His brain was sufficiently 
 stimulated, however, to devise means of wearing out his trousers, and 
 trying the patience of all his friends and neighbors. Friday night, 
 after school, was the preparatory time for the coming fishing on Sat 
 urday. Worms must be dug, the tackle unkinked, the bob and sink 
 ers inspected. Shot, cut half in two, were to be jammed by the teeth 
 on the line, and the exact required length of the same, from the bob 
 to the hook, was to be determined by hot argument. These were 
 unique discussions, where all the boys talked at once, but when, 
 strange to say, every boy heard everything every other boy had to 
 say. 
 
 Among fishermen, jointed fishing-poles were seldom used. They 
 were the exception, and not the rule, as nowadays. To be sure, 
 Dick's uncle had one he brought over from England, and Pete Smart's 
 father also owned another which he kept in his closet. Generally, 
 however, the Compton boy of fifty years ago fished with a bamboo pole 
 bought down at John V. James' store. This gentleman was the pow 
 der, shot, and vinegar man, who kept a little shop on " Long Wharf." 
 These poles stood stacked up at the end of a dark narrow alley be 
 tween. two houses in the rear of his shop. Their tapering tops resem 
 bled the forest of masts which was so often seen at the wharves of 
 Compton Harbor, when two of Mr. Reydon's East India ships arrived
 
 56 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 among the sloops and the schooners which usually lay in that vicinity. 
 In this dark bamboo alley the boys met, as it were, " on ' change. " 
 Here the whole piscatorial question was discussed, 
 and the latest intelligence " on bait," " fishing 
 ground," and " line " talked over. " Bull-pout " 
 and " shiner," " pickerel " and " mumma-chog," 
 each had its admirers, each its peculiar hook. 
 Dick Reydon, with Pizarro Fitts, Pete Smart, and 
 Eben Tucker, were, as usual, prominent among 
 the crowd of boys on these occasions. Their 
 voices could be heard above all the rest, always 
 commanding a certain respect, always accorded 
 a certain attention. These piscatorial councils 
 were a good deal like a conference of blackbirds 
 in a field of grain where there is an incessant din 
 of voices mixed with twittering and laughter j 
 and yet all seem to understand each other. 
 
 The boys would select from the tall forest of 
 poles, first this and then that one ; then change 
 again for others as they severally fell short either 
 in taper, flexibility, or balance of the required 
 standard. The purchase of this sort of fishing- 
 pole was a very satisfactory one to the boys, for 
 they got, for once in their lives, the whole worth 
 of the twenty-five cents paid for it : an actual quid pro quo for their 
 quarter of a dollar expended. With these light, tapering masts on 
 their shoulders, this brigade of bottled nerves if I may so denomi 
 nate the crowd of boys left James' shop and rushed up the princi 
 pal street of Compton, all out of step, but all very happy. As the
 
 FISHING. 57 
 
 gloaming set in, and the stars came out, every line had been wound 
 on a piece of bamboo, all ready to be tied to the top of the pole. 
 Every hook was stuck into the cork float to prevent its catching into 
 a fellow's ear, his upper lip, or his eyelid. The worms were all dug, 
 and had drawn themselves down to the bottom of the wet earth, in 
 which they were deposited, while the boys themselves lay dreaming 
 in their beds about the " bites " of the morrow. 
 
 This would be a virtuous world indeed, if everybody in it could lie 
 down on Friday nights as the school-boys do, and like them sleep the 
 sleep of the innocent, and enjoy the waking of the just ; but, alas ! 
 precisely that sort of thing the world can't do, so it turns and twists, 
 and dreams on its uneasy couch, and wakes in the morning jaded and 
 unrefreshed. 
 
 " Le' 's go to Mashapaug ! " 
 
 " Oh, no ! Long Pond 's the best ! " 
 
 " Ho, Long Pond, a good deal ! Can't ketch anythin' there but 
 mummies and roaches no ' bigger 'n a minit '." 
 
 " You can, too ! My brother caught a ' shiner ' as long as that " 
 (measuring with his finger) " las' Saturday, and we had it for break- 
 fas'." 
 
 " One shiner for breakfast ! Whoever heard o' such a thin'. Don't 
 believe it ! " 
 
 " You need n't then, but it 's so ! " 
 
 " Le' 's see yer hook ! " (inspecting the instrument.) " That 's too 
 big fer shiners ! that 's a perch hook. They 'II bite at anythin* 
 though shiners will " 
 
 "Who's goin' to dig the bait?" 
 
 "Peez Fitts." 
 
 " I digs de bait," said Peez, " but what time '11 yer all go ? "
 
 58 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 " Five o'clock." 
 
 " Say, fellers ! Wake me up, will yer, when yer go by ? " 
 
 " All right ! How shall we do it ? Ring the bell ? " 
 
 "No!" said Peez. "That'll wake mudder up. Don't do dat ! 
 I'll tell yer I've jus' thought. I'll tie a string on to my toe, an 5 
 let it out de winder, an' hitch it to de blind, an' when yer cum by ? 
 yer can jes' pull it, not hard yer kno'. It hurts like thunder to 
 pull hard, but jes-s-s, pull it, an' I '11 wake up, an' cum down, an' 
 let yer all in, so we won't wake up de mudder ! " 
 
 " Oh, that 's splendid," said Pete. " Say, Dick, Peez 's goin' to tie 
 a string to his toe, and hang it out the window, and we are going to 
 pull it to wake him up as we go by his house ! " 
 
 " By George ! " said Dick, " that 's fine ! Tie on anything. Peez J 
 That little stuff, ye know, that comes round bundles, '11 do." 
 
 " All right ! " said Peez. " But brin' somethin' to eat, Massa 
 Peter, will yer?" 
 
 " Yes I will, if Dick will." 
 
 " If Peez will fetch some of Amanda's doughnuts along," replied 
 Dick, " I '11 bring ' greenins ' and ' licorish-ball '." 
 
 " Never you min', I '11 do dat same, Massa Dick." 
 
 " Gosh ! that 's tasty," said the little crowd in unison, at the bare 
 idea of their to-morrow's dinner. 
 
 " All right, fellows ! " The squad flew in every direction, and the 
 night, having nothing more to wait for, set in in good earnest. 
 
 When Peez Fitts reached his home that Friday night, his head was 
 so full of Saturday's fishing, about the line, and the pole, and the bait, 
 and the means to be taken to insure his being awakened at the proper 
 hour, that his mother Amanda was forced to repeat her command two
 
 FISHING. 
 
 59 
 
 or three times before he started to go to bed. " Piazzer, chile ! " 
 said Amanda. " Piazzer, g'long to bed. Yer as yaller as a lily, an' 
 yer fader '11 be feared y '11 die 'f yer don' g'long' ; min' ? I tell yer ! " 
 So Peez crawled up the unpainted stairs and prepared to take off 
 his garments for the night. After waiting until Amanda and Joshua 
 were fast asleep, Peez poked about the garret until he found several 
 pieces of twine, of all sizes and colors, which he tied together, calcu- 
 latino- the distance 
 
 O 
 
 from his toe to the 
 lower blind of the 
 lower story window, 
 on the outside of the 
 house. Then he un- 
 dressed himself, 
 dropped the end of 
 the twine out of the 
 window, and carefully 
 
 crawled into bed, dragging after him the string, up through the bed 
 clothes. Then he tied it to his big toe. The cord felt pretty tight at 
 first, and every time he turned over, it got somehow mixed up with his 
 other leg. Thinking it over, it occurred to him that the lower end of 
 the cord ought to be secured to the blind, and not be left floating about 
 in the wind, so he determined to go down stairs and " fix it." With this 
 intention he untied his toe, and attached the twine to the bed-post ; 
 then stole quietly down to the front door, unlocked it as silently as pos 
 sible, so as not to disturb his mother, and went out on the front step, 
 with his little short night-shirt fluttering in the breeze. In recounting 
 it afterwards, Peez said he felt " mighty naked " standing there in the 
 dead of night feeling out in the air after the end of that string. He
 
 60 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 imagined every minute that somebody was going to catch him by the 
 legs ; and by the time he had found and secured the end of the cord 
 to the lower blind, one of his legs was all twisted round the other 
 from sheer nervousness, and his eyes stuck out as " big as saucers." 
 He scampered up the stairs on his cold toes, as nimbly as if a " spook " 
 
 was after him, inserted his big toe in the 
 loop of the string, and lay down shivering 
 on his bed to await the daylight. 
 
 A June sunrise is worth beholding. At 
 half-past four o'clock " Old Sol " pulls aside 
 his eastern bed - curtains, and looks forth 
 upon the morning. You can see his long 
 luminous arms reaching up to the zenith, 
 as he stretches himself, some time before his 
 rubicund visage is actually visible. In the 
 country at that hour one meets scarcely any 
 thing but that far-famed " early bird " after 
 that doomed " worm ; " while in towns, the 
 milk carts are the sole objects in the streets. 
 To be sure, on the fences, a few motionless, staring, yellow-eyed cats 
 look in grim silence on the passer-by ; otherwise, nothing obstructs the 
 vision from top to bottom of the street. Pete Smart, Eben Tucker, 
 Al. Young, and Sim. Brewer were all up at twenty-five minutes past 
 four. Eben emerged from his front door buttoning up his suspend 
 ers, while his neglected locks stuck out as if they had suddenly been 
 frightened from sleep. Away all the boys started for Peez's home, 
 which was right on the road to Mashapaug. Reydon had not yet 
 joined them, so the others, led on by Pete, approached Peez 's home, 
 and on tip-toe searched for the expected toe-line., " Guy ! There 's
 
 FISHING. 
 
 61 
 
 the string tied on t' the blinds, sure 's you 're born," cried Pete, with 
 exultation. " Where ? Where ? " cried the others. " Keep still, 
 boys ! " " Don 't pull till we are all ready, and then give it to him 
 smart ! " " Quiet ! Quiet ! " " Hold on a minute, till I get a good 
 hold ! " " Give us a chance, Eb. ! Don't take all the string to your 
 self !" "Who's-a-takin'-it? There! Is that enough?" "Now! 
 One two three pull ! " Yell from upper story : " H-o-o-old 
 
 on there ! Oh ! Oh ! h ! Ohh ! Don't ! ! ! Don't, d-n't ! 
 
 Stop it ! Stop it ! I'm a-wake ! Oh-h-h ! " 
 
 The twine gave way, or else Peez's toe 
 would have come off. Immediately after, a 
 black head with staring eyes looked out of 
 the upper window. Tears were falling, and 
 yet the good-natured countenance was grin 
 ning all over. "You 'bout kilt me, fel 
 lers ! My toe 's big as a plum ! and all sore 
 where you pulled it. I'll let you in jes' 
 soon as I can fin' my pants. Goody ! How 
 it smarts ! " The head disappeared, but soon the whole form reap 
 peared at the door clothed and ready for a start. " Gosh, boys ! 
 I tell yer, yer near 'bout yanked my toe off ! Which on yer yanked 
 twice ? I can't get my boot on that foot, so I 've got one slipper, 
 an' t' other boot. Come on, I 'se ready ! " Dick's appearance now 
 made the party complete, and the chattering crowd immediately took 
 up its line of march for Mashapaug. Peez went limping along, but 
 carried on his back three of the fellows' fishing-poles, the worms, and 
 the basket of luncheon. 
 
 The road to Mashapaug ran out over the Huxet Pike, and past an 
 old burying-ground, which had been in disuse for a long tune. The
 
 G2 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 fence separating the sacred spot from the highway was broken down, 
 and the old grave-stones were standing up or leaning over at all angles, 
 among the tall grass. Here and there, also, was a tumble-down tomb, 
 whose iron door was rickety, and whose cavernous interior was not al 
 together deserted, some of its ghastly contents still remaining to tell 
 the mournful tale of a past and neglected generation. This spot was 
 always " spooky," and our valiant band of fishermen passed by it with 
 bated breath and sidelong glances. 
 
 " Guy ! Say Pete ! Look at that old tomb ! They say there 's 
 bones left in it ! I '11 dare ye to go in there ! " 
 
 " Hold on ! " cried Dick, " we can't stop now ; wait till this after 
 noon when we come back ! " 
 
 " I bet yer darsn't go in there ! " 
 
 " I darst too," said Dick. 
 
 Eben Tucker spoke up and said, " They say there 's a skeleton in 
 there that jumps up every time you touch it." 
 
 " I don't believe it ; who 's afraid ? " said Peez. 
 
 By this time the boys had stopped and were conversing in a bunch, 
 but at a convenient distance, let it be said, from the door of the 
 mortuary. They suddenly heard a crackling noise in the direction of
 
 FISHING. 63 
 
 the tomb, which made them scamper like mad ; and without more ado 
 the whole procession started again in the direction of the pond, at a 
 " double quick." Oh the balm, the fragrance, the exhilaration of an 
 early June morning ! There is nothing like it. The heavy night- 
 dew keeps down the dust. The sun is not oppressive. The light 
 morning zephyr is filled with life-giving elixir. Boys' legs, too, at that 
 time of day, are like so many india-rubber balls, bounding up and 
 down with every step. 
 
 By town-breakfast-time Dick and his companions had reached the 
 glassy brink of the beautiful pond. One could well imagine that the 
 ripple on its surface, the cheery notes of the chick-a-dee-dee, and the 
 warble of the bobolink were offering to the boys a hearty good morn 
 ing. 
 
 Now and then a kingfisher would skim over the bosom of the 
 water, using its glassy surface for a mirror, in which to make its morn 
 ing toilet, while a yellow-eyed turtle slid off the shady side of a rock, 
 to acquaint the inhabitants beneath the waves of the advent of the 
 new-comers. The poles were soon adjusted, and the company sepa 
 rated, as if by magic, each boy wandering away to some favorite and 
 particular spot which he " knew about," and could be seen, perched, 
 perhaps, on the top of a distant stump overlooking the water, or seated 
 astride a rail-fence, which cooled its posts, knee-deep, beneath the pel 
 lucid flood. For a time all was quiet. The occasional drip of water 
 from the poles, the shout of a boy as he landed his fish, and the mew 
 of the cat-bird in a neighboring thicket, were the only sounds to break 
 the charmed silence. 
 
 " Have you caught any thin' ? " would be echoed, in shrill voice,, 
 across the pond. 
 
 " Two ! " would be echoed back.
 
 -64 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 " What ? " 
 
 " Mummy < and a roach ! " 
 
 " I 've had a bite twice ; took the worm clear off my hook ! " 
 
 " That '& a bull-pout that does that." 
 
 " Gosh ! hold on ! There 's something some thing on my 
 hook. See him, Peez ? See him nibble ? " 
 
 " Keep quiet, fellers ! I '11 have that codger ! " 
 
 " Ha-a-a a ! I 've got him ! A shiner, by thunder, and a big one 
 too. How do yer take him off ? " 
 
 " By George ! Ain't this fun ? " 
 
 " Look at Eb. over there, eatin' up the pie ! " 
 
 " Hey there, Eb. Tucker ! Don't eat up all our dinner ! " 
 
 " Who 's eatin' up all yer dinner ? I jes' looked into the basket to 
 smell of it. There 's too much salt in those doughnuts ! " 
 
 " How could you know there 's too much salt in 'em, if you had n't 
 been eatin' 'em?" 
 
 " I jes' smelt of one of 'em, an' a little piece came off ! " 
 
 "Yes! guess so!" shouted a lot of voices. "Bring the basket 
 over here, an' let 's have a smell then ! " 
 
 All this time Dick Reydon was crawling out on the dead limb of an 
 old fir-tree which hung over the water. He had taken the precaution 
 to secure, before he went, a quantity of bait and five or six doughnuts. 
 With these he felt entirely independent of the rest of the party, and 
 threw his line from right to left without fear of interruption. The 
 bites were frequent. There were nibbles which only stirred the bob a 
 little, and great jerks where the float would go clear under, sending 
 the eddies widening and widening to the farther shore. 
 
 From time to time Dick hauled from its native element specimens of 
 the finny tribe, which at least added to his fun, albeit, they were
 
 FISHING. 
 
 65 
 
 the " smallest fry " in the world. Suddenly he felt something uncom 
 monly heavy at the end of his line. The float bobbed and wriggled, 
 and then went clear under and down into the bottom. Dick's face 
 flushed with excitement. His arms straightened out, and his eyes di 
 lated with expectancy. He jerked the coveted prize, and drew out of 
 the water kicking and pawing the air a large mud-turtle which 
 
 bent his cane pole almost double. The sudden movement, however, 
 was too much for the old fir limb on which he sat ; for, as the turtle 
 came up, the branch went down, carrying poor Dick along with it into 
 the water. There was an immediate cry from all parts of the pond, 
 " Dick 's in ! Dick 's in ! " which was followed by the nimble feet 
 of Peez, who flew at once to his master's assistance, followed by all 
 the other boys. The water was over Dick's head, but he retained his 
 
 5
 
 66 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 5 ft 
 
 presence of mind, and being a good swimmer, kept his head above the 
 surface, and immediately struck out for the shore. This he reached 
 just as his companions arrived with helping poles to aid in his rescue. 
 Peez waded in up to his middle, and took from Dick his rod, which 
 he had never relinquished, and drew to shore the sprawling turtle 
 which now lay helpless on his back endeavoring in vain to turn over. 
 
 Dick was dripping wet from head to foot, so there was nothing for 
 him to do but strip off his clothes and dry them in the warm June 
 sun. This disrobing process was soon performed, and almost before 
 
 one could turn about, 
 ~ [ [ L Dick Reydon was again 
 perched aloft on an 
 other branch " in puris 
 naturalibus," with his 
 fi s h i n g-p o 1 e in one 
 hand, and the other one 
 clinging to a stouter 
 limb for support. His 
 little shirt lay spread 
 out on the shore with 
 stones upon it to keep 
 it from being blown 
 away. His trousers, 
 socks, and other gar 
 ments hung waving in the morning breeze, while he sat complacently 
 on his dangling seat, looking like a young god among the green 
 glades of Olympus. 
 
 " Say, Pete, don't Dick look like a monkey, perched up there naked 
 in the trees ? "
 
 FISHING. 67 
 
 " Yes, he does," replied Pete. " Hello, Dick ! Don't it hurt like 
 everything, sitting on that branch with no trousers on ? Don't you 
 want my hat for a cushion ? " 
 
 " No," replied Dick. " I 'm sitting on a doughnut ! " 
 
 " Ha-ha-ha-boys ! Dick 's sitting on a doughnut for a cushion. 
 Ha-ha-ha ! " 
 
 But it answered perfectly the purpose it was unexpectedly put to, 
 and when Dick descended from the tree, and got into his dry clothes 
 again, he said to Peez, as he buttoned up his waistcoat, " That dough 
 nut was a mighty soft one. I 'm blamed glad you brought 'em, Peez. 
 What did Amanda put in 'em to make 'em so light ? " 
 
 ," I spec' it 's 'east, Mr. Richard ; for dat raises up de emptin's and 
 makes de tings springy," said Peez. 
 
 " It must be ! " replied Dick, for that doughnut was jus' like a 
 spring-board cushion, soft as a " griddle-cake."
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BOY FIGHT. 
 
 i HEN the sun had descended towards his west 
 ern home, the boys found they had eaten up 
 their supply of food. The number of fish ac 
 tually hooked bore no comparison with the 
 amount of fun enjoyed in hooking them ; and 
 after their main-stay, namely their " grub" 
 had given out, and the bait used up, the whole 
 party, by common consent, prepared for their homeward journey. 
 Some were tired out. Others were cross ; while all were commencing 
 to feel hungry again. Peez got ready first, and with bait basket, 
 haversack, and two fishing-poles on shoulder, started on ahead of the 
 rest, merry as a lark, his clear whistle negroes are celebrated 
 whistlers sounding in the gloaming like the notes of a nightingale. 
 By the time he had reached the confines of the old cemetery, he 
 concluded he would perch upon a convenient post, and await the com 
 ing of his companions. 
 
 The " shades of night were falling fast," and twilight was already 
 setting in, when Peez espied a ragged-looking lad coming over a neigh 
 boring fence, who approached and accosted him rather roughly, say 
 ing, " Whar yer goin' to, nig ? " 
 
 " I 'se on my way back to town, paddy. Never you mind ! " 
 " Say, eyeballs ! I stump yer to go into that 'ere tomb there ! "
 
 BO Y FIGHT. 
 
 69 
 
 " Oh, g' 'long, freckles ! I ain't goin' into no tomb." 
 " Ho ! Yer doan' dare ter ! I bet yer a dollar yer ' darsn't ' go 
 into it, an' tech the back, and count five." 
 
 " Show us yer dollar," said Peez, throwing 
 down his poles and his grub-basket. " I ain't 
 agoin' to be stumped ! " 
 
 " Thar it is," said the boy, holding up some 
 thing, which, in the shadows, looked like the coin 
 at stake. So Peez prepared to earn his dollar. 
 He approached the old structure, pulled open 
 the great iron door, then peering in, and 
 up, and around, to satisfy himself 
 that there was nothing to hurt 
 him, he went boldly in, and was 
 soon lost to sight. In a little 
 while " One, two, three, four, five," 
 were heard, being distinctly counted 
 in the darkness beyond. Just as 
 soon as the boy on the outside 
 heard these words, he swung the great door back into place ; got a 
 big stone and wedged it down so that it could not be opened, drove 
 two pegs in the old hinges so that they would not turn, and, with a 
 satanic grin on his face, he scampered off, saying as he went, " Good 
 by, darkey ! Hope yer '11 have a good night's rest ! " 
 
 Peez groped his way gradually back again toward the entrance as 
 best he could, stumbling over some dry bones which lay in his path, 
 and bumping his head against the low brick ceiling of this hideous 
 prison-house. He shook the door with all his might, but it would 
 not yield. He hallooed until he was hoarse. He pounded with his
 
 70 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 fists until they became bruised and lame. He then became frightened 
 lest his companions might go home by another route, and he be left 
 all night, and, for aught he knew, forever, in this charnel-house. 
 His hands were so sore at last that he could pound no 
 longer. His voice was so weak that the sound of it 
 scarcely reached the outside world. In this helpless 
 state lie groped his way aimlessly in the darkness. 
 Tripping, at last, over something in his path, he picked 
 up what proved to be the thigh-bones of some defunct 
 and long forgotten citizen of Compton. With these he 
 thumped on the iron entrance with the Jittle strength 
 which still remained. 
 
 In the mean time the rest of his party were strag 
 gling slowly towards the town, taking it easy. Their 
 feet were heavy with fatigue, and their eyelids with 
 drowsiness ; so they sauntered along, while the bright 
 yellow sunset time gradually faded into the curfew hour. 
 As the foremost boy reached the confines of the 
 cemetery, the faint echoes of poor Peez's thumps with the thigh-bones 
 of the defunct citizen were heard, Bang ! bang ! Rub-a-dub ! bang ! 
 bang ! which made the boys stop and listen. 
 
 " Wha' 's that? " said Pete ; for it was Pete Smart who headed the 
 procession. " Hark, fellows ! Wha' 's that thumping ? Hear it ? 
 Hear it? Guy! It comes from the old tomb, I believe!" With 
 that he cautiously approached the weird locality, now made so famous 
 by the stories of skeletons and ghosts. He stopped within about 
 thirty feet from its entrance to listen, while the rest of the boys filed 
 in the rear of him, with staring eyes and open mouths. 
 
 Bang ! bang ! Rub-a-dub ! Rub-a-dub ! " Le' me out ! Open
 
 BOY FIGHT. 
 
 71 
 
 the door ! Can't breathe ! " Bang ! bang ! came up from the in 
 ner recesses of the haunted spot, chilling the blood of the whole fish 
 ing-party. 
 
 " It 's in the tomb ! Don't you hear ? I know it 's in the tomb ! " 
 said Pete in a hoarse 
 whisper. 
 
 "Who's there? 
 Who is it ? Is there 
 anybody in there ? " 
 
 " Le' me out ! It 's 
 me, Peez Fitts. I 'm 
 shet in ! Quick ! I 
 can't breathe ! " Rub 
 a-dub ! Rub-a-dub ! 
 Bang ! bang ! " Le' 
 me out, 'mos' gone ! " 
 
 "Why, it's Peez 
 
 Fitts in there ! " cried all the company. Then with a shout and a 
 bound all ideas of ghosts and sprites vanishing in an instant 
 they rushed to the grim iron entrance and tried to open it. 
 
 Dick was some distance in the rear, but hearing the tumult, hastened 
 to the front, and now was the foremost boy, tugging at the heavy 
 stone which barred the passage. After rolling away this impediment, 
 they tried to pull open the door, but it would not move. " Hang it ! " 
 cried Dick. " What 's the matter with the old thing ? Hold on, 
 Peez ! We '11 let you out in a jiffy ! There 's something about that 
 plaguy hinge. It won't budge ! Tom ! give us a stone there ! I 
 see what 's the matter. Some chap has gone and stuck a chock into 
 the hinge ! There ! Here it comes ! Out she goes ! Open the door 
 now ! "
 
 72 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 The ponderous iron shutter swung slowly open, and poor Peez, with 
 a countenance of ashen whiteness (if it is a possible thing for a black 
 boy to have), poor Peez staggered out into the twilight more dead 
 than alive. 
 
 "Who shut you hi there ? " inquired Dick Reydon, with an expres 
 sion of vengeance on his fair, handsome face. 
 
 "Mike Taggart," 
 replied Peez. " He 
 came over from the 
 slaughter-houses, and 
 dared me to go into 
 the tomb for a dol- 
 lar; and and 
 when I got in, he 
 shet the door," gasped 
 poor Peez, leaning up 
 against the fence-post 
 for support. " I 'd like to catch Mike Taggart. I 'd wring his thun 
 dering neck for him." 
 
 " Jus' let me catch him ! that 's all ! " answered Dick with a scowl. 
 A hoarse voice here resounded from behind a neighboring stone 
 wall. 
 
 " An' if it 's Mike Taggart that ye want, yez kin hav' 'im, that 's 
 all ! " and with that, a tall, bony, speckled-faced, yellow-haired young 
 ster, the very same lad who won all the marbles away from the little 
 " tommy coddle," jumped over the fence, and strode up to the spot 
 where the boys were collected together, with his hands in his pockets, 
 and his hat tipped over his eye in a very menacing style. 
 
 The language of idle boys along the streets is not always of the
 
 BOY FIGHT. 
 
 73 
 
 most refined nor select character, and nothing but the duty imposed 
 upon us as a faithful biographer warrants our repetition of the bad 
 slang in which this Taggart boy indulged. " Who 's the cus who 
 wants Mike Taggart ? " cried he. 
 
 " I 'm the cus who wants him," answered Dick, while his nostril 
 dilated and a sudden pallor overspread his cheek. 
 
 " Who 're ye lookin' at ? " said Mike, as Dick slowly approached 
 
 linn with a wicked eye. 
 
 " Did }ou shut up Peez Fitts in that 
 tomb there ? " continued Dick with quiv 
 ering lips. 
 
 " None of yer nasty business," replied 
 Mike. 
 
 " I '11 make it my nasty business, then," 
 cried Dick, " and mighty quick, too ! " 
 
 " Ye lay yer dirty finger on me, 'f 
 ye dare, an' I '11 smash yer ugly cocoa- 
 nut for ye, before ye can wink," 
 said Mike, rolling up his sleeves 
 and spitting out a quid of tobacco, 
 with apparent coolness. 
 " You 've near about killed that darkey there," said Dick, taking 
 no notice of Mike's last remark. " That darkey is my friend, and 
 I 'm going to lick you for it ! " 
 
 " Come on ! ye blasted 'risterkrat. I '11 knock the stuffin' out on 
 ye with one hand ; come on ! " 
 
 -The boy was plucky, but he met his match ; for Dick Reydon came 
 of that stock which fought the Indians, and endured the privations of 
 New England winters, for conscience sake.
 
 74 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 up 
 
 " Git away from me," said Mike, as Dick moved slowly nearer 
 and nearer his antagonist. " Git away, I tell ye. Dang ye ! " With 
 that, Mike drew off and struck Dick square on the mouth, which 
 puffed up his lip and turned it purple in an instant. This " opened 
 
 the ball." In both the boys "sailed." 
 They were pretty evenly matched, for 
 what Mike lacked in height, he made 
 in muscle. They both closed with 
 each other with the ferocity of 
 tigers. Mike caught Dick by the 
 hair, and Dick caught Mike by the 
 cheek and ear. They pulled and 
 hauled each other about in fine 
 style. Dick's collar was torn off 
 of him. His nose was skinned and 
 his upper lip was like a cherry ; 
 while Mike's eye got blacked, his 
 
 nose was pounded like a plum-pudding, and his shirt ripped up be- 
 hW. 
 
 The boys stood round the young warriors in great excitement, as 
 they separated for a second to catch breath. Like panthers they 
 eyed each other, watching for . an opportunity to recommence the 
 fray. 
 
 "Oh! don't let 'em fight!" "Haul 'em off!" "Hang it! 
 Let 'em fight ! " " Mike Taggart 's a bully, and Dick owes him 
 a licking ! " " No fair, kicking ! " " Look out, Dick ! Mike 's 
 goin' to kick you." These, and a host of other ejaculations, were 
 bandied about in the little crowd of lookers-on, as the battle recom 
 menced.
 
 BOY FIGHT. 
 
 75 
 
 Mike was all the time muttering between his teeth, " Ah, ye dirty 
 blackguard ! I '11 dare ye to strike me ! I '11 mark yer profile for 
 
 ye-" 
 
 " May be ye will ! " replied Dick. " Take that, and that, and THAT ! " 
 as he got in three consecutive blows, and then closed with his oppo 
 nent like a young athlete. They tugged and swayed in each other's 
 gripe. Their legs wound up together like vines, in vain attempts to 
 throw each other to the ground. Their trouser-legs were pulled up 
 to their knees, while their stockings and bare legs were blended to 
 gether in this mimic tug of war. 
 
 " Go at him, Dick ! " " Give him ginger ! " cried the boys. " Get 
 out of the way, Peez ! " " Don't touch 'em ! " " 'T ain't fair to 'sist 
 either of 'em ! " 
 
 While this conversation was carried on by the howling crowd of 
 boys, the quick respiration of the two fighters showed that their 
 strength was gradually giving out. They swayed to and fro for an 
 instant, then 
 they tottled, 
 and at last both 
 tumbled to the 
 ground, rolling 
 
 over and over 
 
 each other. 
 
 First one was 
 
 on top of the 
 
 other, then in 
 
 turn this one succumbed to a lucky movement of his enemy, only to 
 
 occupy his position. 
 
 At last undecided victory perched upon the banner of Dick Reydon,
 
 76 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 who managed to get his antagonist by the throat with one hand, while 
 with the other he was pommeling the freckled visage of Mike Taggart 
 as rapidly as his departing strength would allow. 
 
 " Le' me up ! " gurgled out Mike. " You 're chokin' of me ! I 've 
 had enough ! " Whereupon the boys pulled their panting companion 
 off from his prostrate foe, and assisted him in regaining his breath, 
 and rearranging his tattered garments. 
 
 The plucky Irish boy slowly arose from the ground, weeping. As 
 he left the battle-field he muttered between his teeth, " I '11 tell my 
 father o' you, Dick Reydon ! an' he '11 give ye the darnedest lickin' 
 ye ever got. Ye see if he don't ! " 
 
 Dick Reydon, pale and trembling, could only ejaculate in a weak 
 
 whisper, " I guess ye '11 shut up 
 Peez Fitts in a tomb again, will 
 ye?" 
 
 By this time Mike had gotten over 
 the fence by which he came when 
 he met Peez Fitts, and which was in 
 the direction of his home by the 
 slaughter-houses. The darkness 
 
 o 
 
 soon shut him out from view, and 
 the only reminder of his recent pres 
 ence was a stone which flew over 
 from the direction in which he had 
 
 retreated, and which came mighty near hitting Pete Smart in the 
 
 head. 
 
 The excitement into which the boys were thrown by this bloody 
 
 encounter did not subside until they had all reached their homes, and 
 
 had gone to their little beds. As for Dick Reydon, he was terribly
 
 BOY FIGHT. 77 
 
 shaken up, and it required many days before he regained his former 
 cheerfulness ; and as for his clothes, they were nearly torn off of him. 
 The result of this fight was that Mike Taggart never shut up Peez 
 Fitts in the old tomb again, as long as he lived.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 LUCY BINGHAM'S PAKTY. 
 
 FTER the fight, affairs jogged along for a 
 while quite smoothly. The boys attended 
 Miss Kamlin's school regularly, a mixture 
 of study and play giving them keen appe 
 tites and good health. In those days, boys 
 went to few " parties," and to fewer public 
 festivals, so that the two sexes seldom mixed 
 together, except at school. Perhaps this was 
 an unfortunate circumstance, as every manly 
 
 youth needs tha benefit to be derived from the society of other boys' 
 
 sisters. It teaches him not only politeness, but a consideration for 
 
 the feelings of others, which, under different circumstances, would be 
 
 sadly neglected. 
 
 Boys are naturally so selfish, greedy, and rough, that these little 
 
 gatherings are especially valuable in " knocking off the corners," so 
 
 to speak, of juvenile brusqueness. 
 
 Dick was no rougher than his companions, but it cannot be. denied 
 
 that he was both boisterous and thoughtless, and needed the refining 
 
 influence of the other sex to keep him within reasonable bounds. 
 
 One day Dick came from school with wet feet, and leaving Peez in 
 
 the kitchen, rushed up to his own room to change his stockings. His 
 
 mother stopped him in the hall and said,
 
 LUCY BINGHAM'S PARTY. 
 
 79 
 
 " Dick ! Here 's an invitation to a party which has just come ! " 
 
 " Where is it, mamma ? " 
 
 " The invitation, or the party ? " asked Mrs. Reydon, in a quizzical 
 tone. 
 
 " Who is it that gives the party, 
 mamma ? " 
 
 " Lucy Bingham, dear. You 
 are invited for next Friday night, 
 at seven o'clock." 
 
 " Well ! I can't help it, mamma, 
 but I don't want to go. I know 
 it 's to be one of those girl parties. 
 I hate 'em. You just sit 'round 
 and play kissing-games, and then 
 go home, that 's all. The best 
 part of it is the supper, but I 
 don't want to go, any way, for they 
 never have anything I like at the 
 Binghams'." 
 
 " Now, Dick," replied his mother, " that 's all nonsense. You must 
 go. You need ladies' society. It gives every boy a sort of polish, 
 which every boy requires, especially when he is growing up as fast 
 as you are ! " 
 
 " What sort of polish, I 'd like to know, mamma, could I get off 
 such girls as Isabella Millbanks or Molly Crane ? They are as demure 
 as two old cats, and only answer, * Yes, please,' and ' No, please,' to 
 everything a fellow says to them." 
 
 " Don't rail against Isabella and Molly, my dear ! for they are charm 
 ing, sweet girls, and their influence over such great hobble-de-hoys as
 
 80 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 you are is the very thing you need. Now, be good, my love, and go 
 like a gentleman, just as your papa used to do when he was a boy." 
 " Oh ! " said Dick, almost petulantly. " Have I got to talk to those 
 tabbies ? What on earth can I say that would interest such 
 things?" 
 
 " Why," replied his mother, smiling, " you must sit beside them 
 like a gentleman, and ask them about their studies, and their dolls, 
 and their games ; and when supper is announced, be polite and offer 
 your arm and escort one of them to the banquet, and help her to all 
 the nice things you think would please her." 
 
 " Let 's see ! girls don't like salads, do they, mamma ? " said Dick. 
 " Yes. I don't see why they should n't ; but you must ask them 
 what they prefer, before helping them. Now, don't be a footy ! You 
 know, Richard, just what to do ; so, g' 'long, and be a good boy, and 
 give your mamma a kiss before you go. There," continued his 
 mother, still detaining him, " that 's lovely ! Here ! wait ! Let me fix 
 
 your collar. I don't see what 
 you do to get your collars so 
 grimy ; you must fairly roll in 
 the dirt ! " 
 
 "We have dirt - fights of 
 course ! and that 's the reason," 
 said Dick ; " an' 't is the best 
 fun ! They say dirt 's healthy, 
 and Peez and I are trying the 
 perscription ! " 
 
 "I suppose you mean pre 
 scription, my dear ! but it comes pretty hard on poor Amanda. She 
 nearly scrubs her fingers off, getting your collars clean ! "
 
 LUCY BINGHAM'S PARTY. 
 
 81 
 
 " Never you mind that, mamma ! Amanda just likes the fun. Peez 
 says she sings every Monday morning while she 's washing, and lets him 
 have all the doughnuts he wants, if he won't stop her. She just goes 
 right on singing and singing, ( Oh, wash me clean, 't is what I need.' ' 
 " Amanda 's got a lovely voice, mamma," still continued Dick. 
 " Peez says it 's a high trible one. Why, mamma, my soiled collars 
 just make Amanda perfe'ly religious ! " 
 
 " Why, Richard Reydon ! You don't know what you are talking 
 about ! You mean that Amanda's singing seems to comfort her while 
 she is washing." 
 
 " Well, don't washing my collars make her 
 sing? And don't her singing give her com 
 fort ? And is n't religion a comfort ? " 
 
 "There, dear!" answered Mrs. Reydon. 
 " Run away and play ; you are certainly the 
 most peculiar child I ever saw." 
 
 Dick's mother turned and went into the 
 library, while her boy rushed up to his room 
 to change his stockings. 
 
 The evening of Lucy Bingham's party was 
 very fine. The little lady was gorgeously at 
 tired in a short cherry-colored silk gown, but 
 toned at the back. A narrow satin sash of the same color was tied 
 about her waist, bow behind. Her hair was braided in two tails, a la 
 Ken wig, and tied at the tips with narrow cherry - colored ribbons. 
 She wore white starched pantalets with deep lace frills on the bottom. 
 She had on low shoes made of morocco. The strings were crossed, 
 sandal fashion, over the instep, and then crossed again around the
 
 82 TWO COMPTON'BGYS. 
 
 ankle, to be tied in front. This method allowed her to exhibit beau 
 tiful open-work silk stockings. A handkerchief was pinned at her 
 belt. Her neck and arms were bare, with puffed short sleeves, edged 
 with lace. The same material ornamented her high low-necked dress. 
 She was a pretty creature, this same Lucy Bingham was ; and she 
 had a tall, older sister who was mistress of ceremonies, and directed 
 the festivities of the evening. 
 
 The candles and the astral lamps were all lighted. The wood fires 
 shot up their merry sparks, and the supper-table was perfect in every 
 arrangement ; so the party began in merry earnest not many minutes 
 afterwards. 
 
 Dick Reydon was sent up-stairs to dress as early as six o'clock. His 
 mother's maid assisted at his toilet, in laying out his clothes on the 
 bed and persuading him to begin. She had a lively time, combing 
 out his matted, curly, amber locks, and getting them into anything 
 like a proper trim for the party. It was as much as she could do to 
 command his attention long enough from a willow whistle he was 
 making to stop and wash his face and hands properly. And it was 
 up-hill work to persuade him to thrust his clean white-stockinged feet 
 into his Sunday trousers while she was brushing his best jacket. After 
 much labor, Dick managed to work his way fairly inside of these ha 
 biliments, and was what he called " buttoned home." He then pre 
 sented a smart and comely appearance. His new claret-colored suit, 
 with its row of brass buttons down the front of his jacket, and a row 
 of the same glittering spheres on each sleeve, was most imposing. A 
 deep white collar trimmed with a crimped ruffle furnished a very proper 
 setting for his fair round neck and face ; while his low patent-leather 
 pumps, and the tip of the whitest of handkerchiefs peeping out of his 
 breast-pocket, gave him the appearance of having just stepped from a 
 bandbox. Dick was a handsome boy.
 
 LUCY BINGHAM'S PARTY. 
 
 83 
 
 When he presented himself in the library, his mother asked the 
 usual question which all mothers ask their sons when they are going 
 out to parties : if he " had a clean handkerchief ! " She impressed 
 upon him the necessity of being a gentleman, and to 
 speak to Lucy Bingham's mother the moment he en 
 tered the room. He was to be very polite to his lady 
 partner, whoever she might be, and was not to help 
 himself at supper until all the young ladies were at 
 tended to. 
 
 With these instructions ringing in his ears Dick 
 Reydon entered Mrs. Bingham's parlor and walked 
 straight up to Mrs. Bingham, whom he accosted with 
 a simplicity of manner and an air of good breed 
 ing "which did honor to the home-training at Reydon 
 House. 
 
 A girl's party is, in school - boys' parlance, " no 
 great shakes anyway" .and this one was no exception 
 to the general rule. The girls were all huddled up 
 together on one side of the room, while the boys swarmed like bees on 
 the other side. 
 
 It required all the talent which Lucy Bingham's tall older sister pos 
 sessed to bring about any sort of commingling of the sexes. She pro 
 posed " Copenhagen," and " Button, button, who 's got the button ? " 
 with scant success. The spark of merriment, for some reason, would 
 not fly to the tinder of delight, and so a profound silence reigned 
 everywhere. From time to time the boys giggled and snickered in 
 subdued squeaks on their side, while the girls in their corner chewed 
 the ends of their handkerchiefs or tied them into all sorts of knots, 
 and stuck out their white-stockinged feet from the big chairs into 
 which they were all crammed.
 
 84 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 Just at this time one boy stole another boy's handkerchief, where 
 upon the owner immediately seized the thief to recover his property. 
 Then commenced a tussle, which began with smiles, but soon passed 
 beyond the limits of good nature, and assumed a bellicose character. 
 
 The natural desire of man is to appear the hero in the eyes of the 
 opposite sex, and this impulse exhibited itself in this handkerchief 
 encounter. As neither boy could afford to give up to the other, 
 while the girls were looking on, the result was that the theft of the 
 
 handkerchief became the signal for a real scratch and hair-pulling fisti 
 cuff. It ended in one boy's collar being completely torn off, and the 
 thief getting his face scratched finely before he consented to surren 
 der the stolen " wiper," and order could be restored. 
 
 " Come, boys ! " said Lucy Bingham's tall slim sister, " that 's not 
 pretty! I never heard of such conduct at a party! You've made 
 Molly Duckling cry, and want to go home. Come now, we must 
 play something ! Get up ! Form a ring ! We 're going to have, 
 ' Here I bake, and here I brew ! ' Come on ! It 's a splendid game ! 
 You '11 all like it. Get up, Tommy ! Dick Reydon, take Lucy and 
 stand there; and you, Peter, go over to the other side with Molly. 
 Now let 's begin. Who '11 be ' it ' ? I '11 be < it ' to show you how."
 
 LUCY BINGHAM'S PARTY. 85 
 
 This last frantic effort of the tall sister had the desired effect. The 
 spark fell into the tinder, and the whole room was ablaze with sudden 
 merriment. 
 
 " Here I bake, and here I brew ; 
 Here I make my wedding cake ; 
 And here I must go through ! " 
 
 After repeating these familiar lines, the tall slim Miss Bingham at 
 tempted to break the circle at two or three points, but at last, bearing 
 the weight of her whole thin body on the clasped hands of Dick Rey- 
 don and Lucy Bingham, they broke, of course ; whereupon Richard re 
 ceived a chaste salute on the cheek from the attenuated sister, and took 
 her place in the middle of the circle. " Here I bake, and here I brew," 
 was one of those "kissing games" which were so distasteful to Dick, 
 but finding himself " it " in the middle of the ring, he determined to 
 acquit himself as became a Reydon. Every little girl, fearing lest she 
 might be the next unfortunate one of the company to go in the centre, 
 blushed deeply, as handsome Richard's eye wandered over the giggling 
 circle, first on this side and then on that. A good deal of a certain 
 kind of manoeuvring had to be gone through with before he quite 
 made up his mind where he " must go through." When at last he 
 decided, and broke down the white-handed barrier in front, he was 
 forced to battle for his kiss from Molly Crane, who buried her brown 
 head in her apron, and avoided, with feats of rarest agility, Dick's 
 frantic efforts to obtain the coveted prize. In some of these encoun 
 ters it took an " uncommon smart " boy to come off conqueror. 
 
 The little fairies were so dexterously sinuous and so lithely evasive, 
 that they often wearied out the round-faced and good-natured hobble- 
 de-hoy who battled with them, and forced him to give up the trial 
 from sheer exhaustion. There was one little bit of a girl, however,
 
 86 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 who was always at a disadvantage in these " kissing games." Her 
 name was Ellen Shaw. This little creature had a chronic stiff neck, 
 and used always to wear about it a bit of flannel, so that when she was 
 a member of the circle, the boys found her easy prey ; as her delicate 
 
 cheek, that rose - tinted fortress, was 
 chronically fixed in one position, and 
 could easily be taken by an enemy 
 without recourse to strategic opera 
 tions. 
 
 After this game the thirsty boys 
 must need go out for water. They had 
 long ago consumed all that Mrs. Bing- 
 ham's largest pitcher contained, so 
 that a " run " was made upon her well 
 in the yard. The room was vacant, 
 as if by magic, while the young males slaked their thirst. 
 
 Next came dancing. As Dick stood up in the quadrille with Molly 
 Crane he was conscious that he had nothing whatever to say to her, 
 It was exactly as he had told his mother it would be. 
 " Do you like to dance," said Richard. 
 " Yes, please." 
 " Am I on the right side ? " 
 " Yes, please." 
 
 " I hope you won't be mad if I forget the figures ! " 
 " I sha'n't care." 
 
 Here the piano struck up " First lady forward. Right hand across. 
 Cross over. Balancez." 
 
 Of course Dick immediately got himself and everybody else mixed 
 up. He gave his left hand instead of his right, and so found him-
 
 LUCY BINGHAM'S PARTY. 
 
 87 
 
 self feeling out into the air for somebody who was n't there. Little 
 Molly Crane blushed and smiled in a very lady - like manner, and 
 quietly said to Dick, with the wisdom of a girl of eighteen, " Right 
 hand, please ! Now turn me, not Maria ! Here I am, please, 'way 
 over here ! " as Richard held out both hands to the wrong girl. 
 After the " figure " was finished, and he had safely reached his place 
 
 again, he was in high dudgeon with himself. What piqued him 
 most was, that little Molly had acted so much like a lady, in spite of 
 all his mistakes and gaucheries. The fact that it was he who had made 
 the blunders, and not she, kept constantly troubling him. But Dick 
 Reydon was a splendid fellow, and his anger lasted only a moment. 
 He soon smiled and said, " Pray, forgive me. I 'm such a nin', I 
 should think you would hate to dance with me ! " 
 
 " T don't mind a bit," replied little Molly. " My brother made 
 seven mistakes once in one figure, and I did n't mind ; but when we 
 waltz together he always steps on my toes, and it hurts dreadful."
 
 88 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 " I 'm as awkward as an old horse," answered Dick. 
 
 " Why don't you take lessons ? " asked Molly. " You hop too much." 
 
 " I just hate dancing, any way ! " 
 
 " I just love it ! " 
 
 " Grand right and left ! " sang out the " colored lady " who pre 
 sided at the piano. Dick started on the " grand rounds " again, turn 
 ing this little creature when he should have turned that one; and 
 twirling that diminutive fairy when he should have gyrated with this 
 little elf. " It all came to him," however, before he got back to his 
 position and the rest of the dance was really quite jolly. He thought 
 Molly Crane was the nicest girl he ever met, as he escorted her, blush 
 ing and panting, back to her seat. 
 
 Another attack of thirst here seized upon the boys, and they all 
 flocked to the poor water pitcher again for relief. The quantity of 
 cold fluid which twenty or thirty boys and girls can drink within a 
 given number of minutes would astonish a person unacquainted with 
 the elastic qualities of the youthful stomach. 
 
 No one knows how long this operation would have continued had 
 not supper been announced. Lucy Bingham's elder slim sister was 
 becoming now quite weary with her exertions, in carrying out the 
 order of exercises of her younger sister's party. She hailed this an 
 nouncement with delight, as being the grand finale of the occasion. 
 Some of the youngest girls were by this time getting tired out. The 
 smallest one of all had already gone to sleep with her thumb in her 
 mouth, while other larger ones were wan and hoarse from continual 
 exercise and uninterrupted screams. It makes no difference how often 
 children fsed, they instantly become ravenous again the process of 
 digestion, at that age, is a wonderful gastronomic accomplishment, and 
 is performed like lightning. The little company entered the supper
 
 LUCY BINGHAM'S PARTY. 
 
 room half astonished, but yet delighted with the appetizing odor of 
 the good things spread out before them. 
 
 Five girls squeezed into one chair. Several sat motionless with 
 mouths open, waiting, like little birds, to be fed. The boys were not 
 quite so shy. One in particular Tommy Tucker, the fat boy 
 edged up to the banquet with no thought of helping any one but him 
 self. He was a very impolite boy ; and his fatness was no excuse for 
 him. This youngster, whom the other boys called " lummux," wad 
 dled up to the table and 
 commenced eating with 
 fearful rapacity. It was a 
 funny sight to look at him, 
 although it was one which 
 no well - bred boy would 
 ever imitate. He rested 
 his fat stomach up against 
 the table - cloth, straddled 
 his feet apart to keep him 
 self steady, unbuttoned his 
 jacket so that he could eat 
 more, and then began to 
 fill his mouth with any 
 thing and everything he could lay his hand upon. He was built like 
 a doughnut. His short jacket and tight trousers showed all the 
 bulges and the rotundities of his figure, so that if a seam in his 
 jacket had given way, by any chance, he would have gone off like a 
 cracker. Drops of perspiration stood upon his upper lip as he made 
 way with blanc-mange and whips, almonds and raisins, lemonade and 
 cake, chicken salad and figs.
 
 90 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 Meanwhile Dick Reydon obeyed the instructions of his mother, and 
 behaved himself like a gentleman. He helped his fair companion to 
 what she chose to take, and at the end of the banquet carried her 
 orange and her nuts, which were done up in her handkerchief, back 
 into the drawing-room. He knew that Peez, his faithful Peez, must 
 be somewhere around 011 the outside of the house, waiting for him. 
 He was sure that this was so because Peez always followed his young 
 master, sooner or later, wherever he went, in order to accompany him 
 home. 
 
 Dick went furtively to Mrs. Bingham's front door, and looked out. 
 Sure enough, there was Peez perched up (as was his custom) on a 
 neighboring post, waiting for him in the moonlight. 
 
 " Peez ! " whispered Dick. " Is that you ? " 
 
 " Yes, Mas' Dick. I 's here ; don't ye see de white of my eye ? " 
 
 " Are n't you hungry ? Hold on, and I '11 bring you out some 
 thing ! " 
 
 " Well ! dis yere stone post has given me a sort of a-kind-of-a-ap- 
 petite," replied Peez. 
 
 Dick disappeared, and going back quickly to the supper table again, 
 he filled his pockets with figs and raisins, an orange and a cake, and 
 flew back to the front door. " Here, Peez, come quick. Here 's 
 something for you. Be quiet ; there take it. We '11 be through in 
 a minute ! " 
 
 While Peez was pocketing the acceptable feast, his great black eyes 
 were roaming about in the moonlight with a strange fire, and the cor 
 ners of his mouth were twitching with good-natured mischief. 
 
 " Say, Massa Dick," said Peez, " I 've got an ole cat out here, under 
 that basket, an' we '11 have some fun with him ! It 's a Thomas cat^ 
 an old waker. He 's dangerous he is ; but I 've got him ! "
 
 LUCY BINGHAM'S PARTY. 
 
 91 
 
 " Where is he ? " cried Dick, smothering his laughter and peering 
 out of the door with no hat on. " Let 's see him ! " 
 
 " Right on the steps there, where you is now. Look out you don't 
 tread on de basket," added Peez with a grin, as Dick trod cautiously 
 about in the semi-darkness, lest he might do just what Peez really 
 wanted him to do, namely : overset the basket and let the old cat out. 
 
 An unlucky step jostled the animal's place of imprisonment, and 
 forth he sprang with an unearthly yell, past Dick, through the open 
 front door of Mrs. Bing- 
 ham's house, and up the 
 front stairs to the garret. 
 At this juncture, Peez 
 jumped off his post, and 
 forgetting that he had no 
 invitation, followed Dick 
 into the house, while his 
 eyes were as big as saucers 
 and his mouth stretched 
 from ear to ear. Dick 
 Reydon soon communi 
 cated the news to the party 
 assembled, that a strange 
 
 ' o 
 
 Thomas cat had just 
 
 rushed up the front stairs. With one great shout, all the boys started 
 
 up after him, at this announcement. 
 
 "Where's he gone?" Which way did he take?" "There he 
 is ! " " No ! that 's an old hat ! " " Look out ! He 's gone under 
 the bed ! " " M-e-a-o-o-o-w ! M-e-a-o-o-w ! " "I hear him ! " " Look 
 out ! He 's mad ! He '11 scratch yer eyes out ! " The whole army
 
 92 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 IS 
 
 of boys with canes and broomsticks, followed by the trembling girls, 
 raced from one room to another, until the hiding-place of the poor 
 frightened animal was discovered, and he was dislodged. " There he 
 sang out a dozen voices ; " catch him ! catch him ! " Down 
 
 rushed the Thomas cat, with tail 
 like a wire bottle-washer, and eyes 
 glaring like a demon's. 
 
 Down followed the boys, with 
 the noise of an avalanche, after 
 him. Into the drawing-room, over 
 the centre-table, under the piano, 
 up the stairs and down again. 
 " There he is ! " Get out ! Get 
 out!" "M-e-a-o-w! M-e-a-o-w!" 
 " Open the front door." " S-c-c-a- 
 a-t-t-t, sc-a-t-t-t-t ! ! ! bang ! fizz ! 
 bang ! " " Where is he ? Where 
 is he ? " 
 
 The excited company stood 
 paralyzed, as the maddened 
 creature leaped on to Tommy 
 Tucker, the fat boy, scratched 
 his fat face in passing, and fled 
 like a black shadow into the 
 open moonlight. 
 
 The boys rested on their canes and broomsticks all out of breath 
 with the laughter and the exertion, while the girls were in the wildest 
 excitement. This incident was the wind-up to Lucy Bingham's party, 
 which her tall slim sister thought was, perhaps, the only thing which 
 would ever have brought the festival to an end.
 
 LUCY BINGHAM'S PARTY. 93 
 
 The house was finally quiet, and in talking the party over, Lucy told 
 her mamma that she thought even the old cat had contributed to 
 make it more of a success. 
 
 The ancient servant who put away the best china and the silver 
 spoons into their appropriate drawers remarked that he was thankful 
 to that old Tom who scratched Tommy Tucker's face, and stopped 
 his eating ; for " otherwise," said he, " he would have gone on till 
 doomsday." 
 
 So you see there are many ways in which a cat can be made useful 
 in a family.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 HAPS AND MISHAPS. 
 
 T is all very well for people to say there is no 
 .truth in the expression, " That 's just my luck," 
 and they give as a reason for their opinion 
 that everything happens according to 
 fixed law ; and therefore there is no luck 
 about it. But as these individuals 
 can't prove the inviolability of 
 their assertion, we certainly have 
 as good a right as they to persist 
 in saying that there is a good 
 deal of truth in the remark. For instance, boys get up on a certain 
 morning, and everything commences to go wrong, just as soon as they 
 get out of bed ; and continues to do so just as long as it wants to, 
 when suddenly it whisks about again, and commences to go right, just 
 as if nothing unusual or disagreeable had happened at all. Old people 
 think that these small contretemps of childhood ought not to trouble 
 children, but we can tell them that it is just these minor trials which 
 constitute the major portion of child-life ; and so to them they become 
 of great importance, quite as much so as many about which grown 
 folks make so much fuss. Dick Reydon had been unlucky in this way 
 for a number of days prior to the first of July, when this chapter 
 opens. He told Peez that everything happened " wrong end foremost "
 
 HAPS AND MISHAPS. 
 
 95 
 
 that week. In the first place, every time he arrayed himself for bed 
 at night he invariably got his night-gown on back side in front, and 
 
 was forced to whirl the old thing round to 
 its correct position before he could button 
 it. This happened so constantly that he 
 tried, with his eyes shut, to discover whether 
 it really happened by chance; 
 but unless he was very particu 
 lar to look before-hand, he was 
 sure to find the back of his 
 collar under his chin, and the 
 front button behind his ear. 
 Then, one day, he left his knife 
 in his other trousers' pocket, and ran 
 back in a great hurry to get it. 
 There the trousers hung on the 
 hook in his closet, so he turned them 
 over, to be certain that he should put his hand into the right place, 
 but, lo and behold ! when his hand went in it was the " other " pocket 
 after all. " Of course, it 's the wrong one," muttered Dick. " It 's al 
 ways the other pocket, if a fellow 's in a hurry ! " Added to these 
 sad trials, Dick's father had given him a bright quarter of a dollar, 
 as a reward for getting to the head of his class. In his delight he 
 amused himself in the dining-room by seeing how far he could toss 
 his treasure in the air and catch it. At last, by an unlucky cast, it 
 lodged in the crack which always can be found just between the man 
 tel-shelf and the wall, left there, perhaps, by the carpenter, expressly 
 to hide quarters of dollars in. Away it tumbled, down, down into an 
 unreachable spot, where neither poker nor yard-stick could touch it.
 
 96 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 " Just my luck/' said Dick, with compressed lips and elevated eye 
 brows. " There 's my night-gown and my jack-knife, and then, here J s 
 this plaguy old crack behind the mantel-piece. They've spoiled all 
 my fun." Poor Dick ! The truth, perhaps, may have been that he 
 himself was in ill -humor, and that all this misfortune did not lie 
 entirely in the provoking score of chance. . We must acknowledge, 
 however, that these things are very vexatious to the youthful spirit. 
 There was one more matter which must be related, although it was not 
 quite to Dick Reydon's credit. But as it was a portion of the hap 
 penings of this unlucky week, as faith 
 ful chroniclers we must not omit it. 
 
 The evening after Mrs. Reydon's 
 last small party, Dick and Peez were 
 prowling about (like very bad boys) in 
 the best pantry, where all the " good 
 things" left over from dinner and 
 supper parties were always put away. 
 It was quite dark, and the boys, con 
 scious of doing wrong, were afraid of 
 being detected in their raid, so they 
 stealthily entered the closet on tip-toe. Peez immediately espied what 
 appeared to be a large piece of blanc-mange, in a saucer on the sec 
 ond shelf. It was just too high for him to reach unless he got up on 
 a step-ladder kept there for the servants' use, in putting away and 
 taking down Mrs. Reydon's Nankin china. 
 
 The boys were dreadfully afraid of being caught, so they rushed up 
 the steps in tremendous haste, and crammed their mouths full of the 
 beautiful white substance. A loud noise in the front hall just then 
 made them swallow a considerable quantity of it, and scamper off out
 
 HAPS AND MISHAPS. 97 
 
 of the closet and up the back stairs like a couple of mice. An in 
 stant afterwards revealed to them the fact that what they thought was 
 blanc-mange was nothing but a lump of rancid mutton-tallow, which 
 had gotten into this closet, and had been left there by some mistake. 
 Such contortions and grimaces which then commenced never were seen 
 before. Their mouths were full of the dreadful stuff, even their 
 back teeth being covered with it half an inch thick. Both boys 
 rushed to Dick's room, while their stomachs were turning over and 
 over with deadly nausea. 
 
 " Ugh ! ugh ! " groaned Dick. " Peeg ! wer gig ik ? " 
 
 "I go go marga Dig ! " replied Peez, with his own mouth 
 as full as his master's was. 
 
 " Ugh ! " continued Dick, who by this time had removed a portion 
 of the tallow " tage gyer figger Peeg ang coop ou 
 my teeh ! " opening his mouth at the same time as wide as a horse- 
 collar. Peez poked his long black finger in and picked out what 
 remained of the vile compound, from his great white double teeth. 
 " Don't say a word about it, Peez ! " said Dick, after he had given his 
 teeth a good brushing. " Don't tell mamma ! for she '11 spank me 
 first, and then laugh at me afterwards." 
 
 Everybody can see that these boys were very naughty, and that they 
 got well punished for their wickedness. It was such a good joke, 
 however, that, when it was all over, both of them sat down in the 
 room with their door shut, so that nobody could hear, and then 
 laughed and laughed over it, until their mouths were all stretched 
 apart, and they were " as weak as rats." 
 
 We must relate still another misfortune which happened to Dick 
 that wonderful week, and which put the cap-stone on his ill luck. All 
 boys are forever " collecting " something. In the present day it is
 
 98 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 coins or stamps. In Dick Reydon's time it was what he called " The 
 Animals of New England." His ideai\was to begin at the " small end 
 and work up," that is, take the animals easiest to get hold of first, 
 
 and gradually to increase his collection 
 by the addition of the larger speci 
 mens. 
 
 With this idea, Dick and Peez had 
 gotten together a small, but interesting 
 variety of the " Animals of New Eng 
 land," which was slowly being enlarged 
 every day. The menagerie consisted 
 of one bat, one mole, a large " night- 
 walker," or Easter-worm, a flea, and a 
 sober-looking mud-turtle. 
 
 Some people might consider this a poor 
 collection, but we can tell them that the 
 great Barnum himself had to begin. 
 His menagerie was n't born in a day. 
 First he got a tiger here ; and then a fat 
 woman there ; and a mermaid somewhere 
 else. So gradually but surely he col 
 lected what to-day is the " greatest show 
 on earth." Dick Reydon did n't know 
 anything about Barnum, but it seems 
 that he intuitively made use of the same 
 method as the great showman himself did to form his collection of 
 curiosities. 
 
 These he put all together in one box, with holes bored in the top 
 for the specimens to breathe through.
 
 HAPS AND MISHAPS. 
 
 99 
 
 The mole was in a corner, in a place fenced off, and called a 
 meadow, so that the animal, being a meadow-mole, might feel at 
 home there. The bat was left to fly around and around in its fa 
 vorite aimless manner to its heart's content, in order that it might 
 not feel homesick. 
 
 The " night- walker " or Easter-worm was hid in a tin box, filled with 
 the same earth in which the animal was found, as Dick thought it 
 would thrive better in its native earth. The flea, caught by Peez 
 from off the coach-dog, was wrapped in brown paper in company 
 with a few canine hairs for the specimen to run through. 
 
 The turtle, tied by its legs, occupied a marsh of mud and grass in 
 the farther corner of the box. A painting of the pond out of which 
 it was taken, and hastily sketched by Dick, was tacked up just before 
 its eyes, so it could " make believe " it was in its native element and 
 feel contented. Richard put bread in the box, before the nose or the 
 tail of the mole, for he could n't tell which was which, they looked so 
 much alike. Then bread was also furnished the turtle. It was crum 
 bled about its marsh of mud and grass, and the rest quite a large 
 piece left on top of its shell for to-morrow. How to feed the bat ? 
 the flea, and the worm was a puzzler to both Dick and Peez. As the 
 bat had never " lighted " since they caught him, but kept on whiz 
 zing about, first against this end of the box, and then bang against
 
 100 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 that, in a most idiotic manner, it seemed an impossible thing to ac 
 complish. At last, however, they decided that dust was about as good 
 food for bats as anything; so they got handfuls of this stuff from 
 the barn chamber, and from time to time threw it into the box for 
 the bat's benefit. As to the flea and the Easter-worm, they left them 
 in the care of a merciful Providence ; knowing how difficult it was to 
 kill either specimen of these creatures. The box containing this col 
 lection of the animals of New England was kept in the barn-yard, 
 
 just at the left of the 
 greenhouse, and Dick and 
 Peez used to visit it every 
 day. One afternoon in 
 the latter portion of this 
 unlucky week, the two pro 
 prietors of the menagerie 
 approached the box for 
 the daily inspection. The 
 lid was cautiously opened, 
 when presto whiz 
 out flew the bat, bang into 
 Peez's eyes, and then, 
 like an ill-omened thing that it was, it sailed away out of sight on 
 its black, ungainly wings. 
 
 " By George ! " cried Dick. " There goes the bat ! Catch him, 
 Peez ! Catch him ! Thunder ! He 's gone. Where 's the mole ? " 
 Where was the mole, to be sure ? The mole had escaped from his 
 imitation meadow, through a crack in the box, and was no more. 
 
 " Hang it. Now the mole 's gone ! " exclaimed Dick with tears in 
 his eyes. " Look out for the Easty ! See if he 's in the box, Peez ! "
 
 HAPS AND MISHAPS. 101 
 
 Peez looked, stuck his finger down in the wet earth. " No Easty 
 here, Massa Dick ! " 
 
 " What ! " screamed Dick. " No Easty there ? What 's got into 
 'em all ? Are they all going to leave us, Peez ? They must feel in 
 sulted to be cooped up in that old soap-box ! I see him," continued 
 Dick. " There he goes ; I see just the end of his tail in the ground 
 there. Go for him, Peez, go for him ! " 
 
 Peez " went " for him, and catching hold of the tip end of his tail 
 held on to it until the worm broke in two pieces. Peez held aloft this 
 tail-piece, exclaiming, " I 've got de tail, Massa Dick ! She 's good 
 yet ! She '11 grow jes' large in a week as she was afore." 
 
 In despair, Dick said, " No ! Let her end go and join the rest of 
 her in the ground if she wants to. Farewell to all of 'em, say I ! 
 Who cares for a dirty old bat, or a footy little mole ? A feller can 
 get any quantity of 'em over in Tiff's Woods ! I hope the flea is all 
 right ! Undo him carefully, Peez, and see. I see the turtle. He 's 
 safe at any rate ! " Peez undid the paper containing the flea. 
 
 " There he is, Massa Dick, as lively as a What ! There ! He 's 
 jumped out on my wrist, and away. Golly ! He 's gone, as I 'm a 
 darkey ! He 's a hankerin' for that coach-dog agin, sure 's yer born ! " 
 
 " By George ! the turtle is dead," groaned Dick. " There he is all 
 shrunk up inside his shell ! There was n't air enough in the box, 
 Peez. There was n't air enough. Goodness ! " he went on, " we Ve 
 gone and sold all the tickets, and now we 've just got to return all 
 the money. I hate the animals of New England ! I don't believe 
 there ever could be a collection of them, anyway. I 'm going to put 
 in for a candy-lottery. Let 's get up a candy-lottery, Peez ; fifty 
 sticks the highest prize. I know where you can buy two sticks for a 
 cent ! "
 
 102 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 " All right ! " replied Peez. " I '11 commence to cut the tickets out 
 of bits of Bristol-board to-night, an' we '11 draw her to-morrow." 
 
 Possessed with this new idea, boy-like, the old one was immediately 
 forgotten, and both Dick and Peez rushed up into the barn chamber 
 and lay on the hay to think over the details of the lottery. When 
 the horses below heard the tramping of the boys overhead, they com 
 menced to neigh and to paw, thinking that Joshua, the coachman, 
 
 was preparing their dinner. Naturally enough, this noise suggested 
 to the boys the idea of cutting up the hay in the cutter, and thus 
 help on Joshua's work. Peez fed the machine from the mow, while 
 Dick turned the crank. Things went on smoothly for a while, and 
 the mound of chopped up hay grew larger and larger every minute. 
 By some carelessness, however, Peez inadvertently got the two fingers 
 of his left hand under the cruel knives, when in a jiffy off they
 
 HAPS AND MISHAPS. 103 
 
 flew in among the hay, and down tumbled the poor black boy, groan 
 ing with pain and covered with blood. Dick rushed at once to his as 
 sistance, staunched the wound as best he could, and then tied up the 
 maimed hand with his own handkerchief, comforting him thus : 
 
 " Poor Peez ! Poor fellow ! Are ye faint, boy ? 'T is n't any 
 thing ! I '11 find your fingers ! Come on now. Lean on me, an' 
 we '11 go straight home, if you can walk ! Poor Peezy ! never 
 mind your fingers, I '11 come back for them ! " Peez moaned with 
 pain, but after his hand was bound up, he was able, with the assist 
 ance of his friend, to stagger down the stairs, and so slowly to ap 
 proach Amanda's house. The agitated mother, who had heard his 
 groans, was awaiting her wounded son at the entrance of his home, 
 and now rent the air with such ejaculations as, 
 
 " Piazzer, Piazzer, my chile, my chile ! Come to yer ole mudder ! 
 You dordy-bessum ! It '11 be all well to-morrow ! " " Massa Richard, 
 how was it did ? Am both his fingers off an' lost in de hay ? What 
 a pity, what a pity ! " 
 
 She laid him on the spare bed, and took off his clothes with the 
 tenderest care, while she waited for Doctor Toulou to come. After 
 Dick saw poor Peez well cared for, and heard the surgeon say that he 
 would recover from his accident with no other detriment than the loss 
 of his two fingers, he hurried back to the barn chamber, in search of 
 the lost digits. After looking around and under the hay-cutter, and 
 pulling over the mow, he at last espied the missing members, pale 
 and cold, lying together by themselves, as if they were asleep. They 
 really presented a pitiful sight. He took them both up tenderly, and 
 wrapping them carefully in a newspaper, returned with a sad counte 
 nance to Peez's home as fast as possible. Amanda appeared at the door 
 with one of her best china saucers, in which she received the two little
 
 104 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 finger bodies. These she carried into the house, and left in the closet, 
 where it was cool. 
 
 Negroes are very superstitious in regard to everything belonging to 
 the dead. In common with many other people, they have a hideous 
 fancy for preserving some ghastly memorial appertaining to the last 
 rites of their departed ones. They like to have such mournful re 
 minders even hanging on the walls of their parlors, or laid on the 
 centre-table in their " keeping rooms." Some such sentiment as this 
 possessed Amanda. She desired to retain, as long as possible, the 
 poor lifeless fingers, which were once " part and parcel " of her " chile 
 Piazzer." From time to time she would make visits to this closet, 
 and look at these dead fragments, shedding tears of bitter regret. 
 
 The boys, who were so fond of Peez, were all pained to hear of 
 his accident. They knew that Dick had found the fingers in the hay, 
 and that Amanda had preserved them in a saucer in her closet, so 
 there was a constant " stream " of urchins knocking at Peez's door to
 
 HAPS AND MISHAPS. 
 
 105 
 
 inquire for his health. Amanda always responded to these knocks with 
 beaming alacrity, whereupon the boys would say, " Please, Amanda, 
 let us see Peez's fingers?" to which she would reply, "Pass in 
 chil'uns, but don 't touch 'em, and don't speak above a whisper, you 
 might disturb 'em ! " 
 
 Slowly but surely Peez recovered. The " stumps " healed finely, 
 and when he appeared on the play-ground, loud shouts of joy went up 
 from the assembled crowd. Peez absolutely got weary of exhibiting 
 his " stumps " to different boys. They even came from neighboring 
 towns to see the hay-cutter, which performed the bloody deed, and the 
 black boy who had to suffer dismemberment. 
 
 Amanda buried the fingers at last in her garden among the holly 
 hocks and the sun-flowers, and erected a little sign to mark the spot, 
 on which, at her dictation, Dick printed these words : " Here lies 
 Peez's fingers, aged fourteen years, two months, and twenty days."
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A DRIVE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 UTUMN was now fast approaching, with 
 its cool nights and mornings. Vegetation 
 in Compton had reached a point where 
 growth was stopped, and a brief space 
 given it to delight the world with 
 its dying glories. During the 
 warm season it was the custom for 
 most of its inhabitants to remain 
 in Compton. It was not the fash 
 ion, as it is nowadays, to gad about 
 
 from one watering-place to another, just as soon as the sun became a 
 trifle hotter than usual. Everybody there found his home the most 
 comfortable spot to keep cool in. A few of the richest people, it is 
 true, in the month of August, took their family carriages and horses 
 and went jogging off to Saratoga Springs, with trunks slung under 
 the hinder axle. But this was an exception, not the rule. Besides, 
 Compton was so nearly a country-place, that all that was needed for 
 an individual desiring to get among stone walls and hay-stacks was to 
 turn up one street and down another. The boys of Compton managed 
 to bear the heat famously. One favorite way of resisting it was to go 
 in to swim every night over at " Tiff's Woods." Here they luxuriated 
 in the cool waves of the Woonasquatucket, as they flowed lazily to=
 
 A DRIVE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 107 
 
 ward Compton Bay. Here they leisurely undressed themselves under 
 the shadow of the old oaks along the river banks. Here they dove 
 off each other's shoulders after white clam shells, or, like frogs, swam 
 under water. Thus in its refreshing tide they disported for hours, 
 
 pawing the waves dog-fashion, churn 
 ing them into foam like a river steam 
 boat, or showing off to their compan 
 ions on the banks the wonders of the 
 "cart-wheel" and the length of time 
 they could remain on the bottom. 
 Sputtering and floundering, 
 giiSS these merry fellows reached 
 the pebbly shore. The 
 banks were steep, 
 and the pointed 
 stones often cut and 
 bruised their white 
 and delicate feet. 
 But what did they care for such trifles ? A glorious bath at " Tiff's 
 Woods " was worth all the cuts and bruises they ever got in obtain 
 ing it. 
 
 If perchance they forgot to fetch towels, they gladly chased each 
 other dry, up and down the green glade in the vicinity. This was 
 royal sport ; but when the mercury commenced to descend in the 
 tube, and the water ceased to be, as the boys expressed it, " as warm 
 as puddin'," and became " as cold as thunder," this fun had to be sus 
 pended. 
 
 Dick Reydon, Peez Fitts, Pete Smart, and the other " fellers " had 
 splendid times all that summer. As the season approached for the
 
 108 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 long vacation to wind up, and school to begin once more, they 
 
 did n't relish the prospect at all. The leather " suckers " * were now 
 
 laid aside for " Hare and 
 Hounds," and "Blank 
 Blank Bladder." This lat 
 ter game resembled several 
 modern ones which have ap 
 peared under different titles. 
 It was comparatively a new 
 sport in Compton at the 
 -_ time Dick and Peez went to 
 school, so the boys entered 
 into it with great spirit. 
 Like all other games, before 
 
 beginning to play, the first thing to be done was to decide who was 
 
 to be " IT," as the boy was called, last counted out. 
 
 This important point was, as usual, settled by the boys getting all in 
 
 a bunch, and one of them repeating some such cabalistic words as, 
 
 " Haly, maly, tippery, tig, 
 Tine, tone, tonibo, nig. 
 Goat, throat, country note, 
 Tine, tone, tiz." 
 
 Or, perhaps, this one, 
 
 "H-E-Ray-Or-Rig-Hi-Van-Or-Rack-Ger-U-Egor." 
 
 Or, sometimes, this beauty : 
 
 " Mamy, meeny, mony, my. 
 Barsa, lony, fony, thigh, 
 
 1 Suckers were round pieces of leather with long strings through the middle, and then 
 soaked in water. They were used by boys for sucking up stones, bricks, and other heavy 
 things.
 
 A DRIVE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 109 
 
 Where, there, yeller hair, 
 O, U, blubber, out. 
 Whing, whang, whoggle." 
 
 After " IT " had been chosen, he was to go out from goal, or 
 " gool " as it was then always termed, and hide himself. The rest of 
 the boys remained at base long enough to count a hundred. Then 
 they all started in every direction to discover " IT 's " hiding-place. 
 As soon as this was espied, the finder screamed out " Rat-tail, Rat- 
 tail," at the top of his lungs, and 
 then " put for home." The others 
 of the party, who had wandered 
 away in the neighboring back 
 yards and down the off alleys 
 after the hider, hearing this sig 
 nificant word, also " went for 
 gool " as " tight " as they could, 
 chased, of course, by the detected 
 " IT " in hot haste behind. Those 
 of the party he caught before 
 " gool " was reached joined with 
 him when he next went forth to hide. There was lots of fun in the 
 frantic endeavors of " IT " to " tag " the boys before they touched 
 " gool." Some of the " fellers " exhibited rare skill in dodging their 
 enemy on such occasions. When the game was reduced to nearly all 
 " ITS," and with but one or two " Rat-tailers," it became a most ex 
 citing contest. The youngster, then, whose legs were nimble enough 
 to elude his pursuers, or was lithe enough to dodge in and under, over 
 and around the eager army of assailants advancing upon him from 
 every side, and reach home safely, was naturally the hero of the play-
 
 110 
 
 TWO* COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 ground. This with other sports occupied the time of Dick and his 
 friends until the leaves began to fall. 
 
 One bland afternoon in October, when the foliage was decked in 
 all the hues of the rainbow, and the autumnal rains had laid the 
 dust, Dick persuaded his father to allow Joshua, the coachman, to 
 hitch the bay work -horses in the big lumber -wagon and take the 
 boys to drive. There were Pete Smart and Eben Tucker, Eph. 
 Bowen And Al. Gould, Simeon Brewer and Joe Hodges, who, with 
 Dick and Peez on the front seat next to Joshua, made quite a 
 
 wagon-load. The boys had provided themselves against the pangs 
 of hunger, with apples and stick licorice, Mr. Cory's cookies and 
 sugar jumbles. So all danger from starvation was removed. Be 
 sides articles of food, several of them had slings made out of the 
 crotches of apple-boughs. These weapons for killing birds and wound 
 ing cats, as every boy knows, were arranged with bits of india-rubber
 
 A DRIVE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. Ill 
 
 tied to a leather pad to hold the pebble ; the whole being secured 
 to the crotch by stout strings, as in the design below. With these 
 implements of worriment they sallied out from Compton to " pepper " 
 the cats and the birds. Like all other youth, Dick and his companions 
 were filled with that boyish thoughtlessness whose only object is to 
 have fun, regardless of consequences. 
 
 The wagon rolled over Compton bridge, turned up President Street, 
 then to the left over Useful Avenue, as far 
 as Riot Hill. Here it turned to the right 
 again, and after ascending a small eminence, 
 found itself in the region of farm-houses and 
 green fields. The road, which was liberally 
 dotted with neat farm-houses and fertile 
 meadows, then led away towards the neigh 
 boring village of Tuxet. The boys were all 
 merry and brimful of mischief. First, they 
 played " Traveller's Whist," and before those on the left side of the 
 wagon had scored a single one, those on the right had already raised 
 their list to twenty-three, by counting a black cat sitting in the win 
 dow, ten, and a white horse in the fields, five. 
 
 There was the usual altercation, of course, in regard to which side 
 had the right to count the hens and chickens which were first per 
 ceived by the boys on the left, but which had provokingly scampered 
 over, just in front of the horses' heads, and ranged themselves on the 
 right of the road in time to be claimed by the right-hand party. 
 These little disputes, however, were all amicably settled, and when 
 the game ended, the " right-handers " led the other side by fifty. By 
 this time all the cookies and sugar jumbles had been eaten up, and 
 each boy had a large piece of stick licorice in the corner of his mouth,
 
 112 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 which looked, when removed from time to time, like a diminutive tree ? 
 the " chew " part representing the foliage and branches. Terrible 
 thirst now set in. The boys all " piled " out for a drink of water 
 from an old well just under an ancient spreading elm, in whose 
 branches hung a forgotten scythe, and within whose shade an anti 
 quated grin'-stone, with its crooked crank, was left. Every boy knows 
 how much better water tastes when drunk from a dripping bucket 
 brought up from the sparkling depths below, by the graceful, old- 
 fashioned well-sweep, than when obtained in any other way. One after 
 another, each of Dick's companions took his place at the overflowing 
 vessel, where, with both hands resting on the brim, with body bent 
 forward and feet spread apart so as to avoid the escaping stream, he 
 buried his jolly face to the nostrils in the cool, crystal nectar, and 
 slaked his thirst. Ice-water is " nothing " to this sort. It goes to 
 the " right spot," and, in the words of a Compton poet, 
 
 "Beats that conveyed to the lips in golden chalice, 
 Or drunk from jeweled brim." 
 
 The young occupants of the lumber-wagon drank quarts of this 
 cooling beverage 
 
 " Beneath the shadow of the ancestral elm ; " 
 
 then, climbing again to their places, told Joshua to whip up the bays 
 once more. It was the slings' turn now to come into use. Pete 
 Smart was the first one who let fly a pebble, which struck a black cat 
 on the tail just as she was disappearing over a fence. Away she shot 
 like a flash of black lightning, with a " me-o-w," and a scamper, not 
 knowing what had hit her. " Guy ! see her l marvel ! ' " screamed out 
 Al. Young, while the rest shook with laughter. Next, the thought 
 less boys aimed at a little chipping-bird. Luckily, this shot missed its 
 mark, or " little Chippy " would have been killed. Again these wicked
 
 A DRIVE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 113 
 
 \ 
 
 chaps struck an old farm-dog and made him go yelping into the barn, 
 while a man with a pitch-fork and a straw hat shook his fist at the 
 mischievous crew as it passed along. Dick 
 Reydon was as thoughtless as the rest of 
 his companions. In his quiet, sober mo 
 ments he would n't hurt a fly, but now, ex 
 hilarated by the excitement caused by aim 
 ing something at something else, and then 
 actually hitting that " something else," he 
 "lost his head," as the saying is, and be 
 came perfectly wild. As each little pebble 
 went whizzing through the air on its mur 
 derous errand, he rollicked and rolled about 
 as if he would split. It is charitable to believe that it is thought 
 lessness, and not wanton cruelty, which makes boys the tyrants and 
 butchers they undoubtedly are. 
 One little crime leads very 
 easily to a larger one, and our 
 young rascals got weary of 
 shooting at cats and dogs, and 
 now turned their attention to 
 higher games. Dick espied an 
 old gray-headed farmer with his 
 back turned towards them, in 
 tently engaged in cleaning and 
 greasing a wagon- wheel. The 
 opportunity was too good a one 
 to let slip. "Look, fellers!" 
 .said Dick, " see me ' pap ' that old chap bent over the wheel there !
 
 114 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 " Ping ! " went the sling, and before one could say " fish-hooks " the 
 pebble had struck the old gentleman (as he stood crooked over the 
 wheel), right on the back of his trousers, where they were so tight. 
 He almost leapt into the air with pain, and rubbed the aggrieved spot 
 like "all possessed," at the same time screwing up his face into all 
 sorts of contortions. The boys crammed their handkerchiefs into 
 their mouths and nearly rolled off their seats with laughter. " Drive 
 on, Joshua ! Drive on ! " " Whip up ! Whip up ! I tell ye," they 
 cried, as they caught sight of another man who rushed to the road 
 bare-headed, and called after them to stop, interspersing his harangue 
 with all manner of vile epithets. 
 
 Joshua gave the bays the rein, and they rushed " lickity-cut " to 
 wards Tuxet. The boys kept looking back to watch what would next 
 turn up. " There he goes into the barn ! " cried Eben. " Thunder ! 
 so he does ! " replied Peez. " See ! He 's a frowin' de saddle on de 
 ole horse. I '11 bet he 's goin' for to chase us. Guy ! " added the 
 black boy, with glaring eyeballs, " we '11 have to lick it ! " And " lick 
 it " they did. Away went the lash and away went the bays, and away 
 rumbled the wagon. On rushed the horseman to cut it off, over the 
 fences and across the fields. As they turned on to the main road 
 where it goes into Tuxet, they met the man right in their front throw 
 ing up his arms and hallooing like " all mad." " Stop them ! Stop 
 the rascals," cried he. " I '11 have the whole lot o' ye arrested for 
 'sault and batt'ry." 
 
 A crowd here commenced to collect very rapidly, which forced 
 Joshua to rein up the bays, and before one could count ten, a man 
 with a silver plate on his breast, who called himself a constable, had 
 arrested the whole party, and ordered it to come with him. He led 
 the way towards the " watch - house," followed by Joshua and his
 
 A DRIVE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 115 
 
 Y/agon-load of boys, a sorrowful lot. Peez Fitts, watching his chance, 
 let himself quietly drop from the tail-end of the wagon, and escaping 
 observation for the moment be 
 hind a pile of stones, scampered 
 across country in the direction 
 of Compton, to acquaint Dick's 
 father of the calamity. 
 
 While Joshua and his discon 
 solate boys are being escorted 
 to the " watch-house " to wait 
 there until they can be arraigned 
 before old Justice Miller, who 
 held a police court in Tuxet 
 every week, let us follow the 
 flying footsteps of Peez Fitts, 
 as he "scuds" on his journey 
 towards Compton and Reydon House. 
 
 He knew a way across lots which shortened the distance to Compton 
 fully a mile, and in this direction he scampered. It was a fine sight 
 to watch that bright -eyed, clean-limbed black boy, as he lightly 
 vaulted the stone walls one after another, and sped on his mission 
 through farm-yards and hay-fields. Once or twice the old dogs who 
 guard so faithfully every country home would catch a glimpse of 
 Peez as he flitted under the apple-trees, but they soon substituted for 
 ominous growls a friendly wag of the tail, when they recognized the 
 kind-hearted Peez, who so often roamed in their neighborhood. 
 
 When Dick's friend and companion reached Reydon House, he was 
 breathless with his exertions, and covered with the mud of sundry bogs, 
 through which he had floundered. He went straight into the little
 
 116 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 front room where Mr. and Mrs. Reydon were quietly sitting, and said, 
 with his great black eyes rolling in their white surroundings, 
 
 " Golly ! Massa Reydon ! Dick let fly a pebble, an' i papped ' an 
 
 old cove on the back of 
 his trousers an' made him 
 gr jump like a hoppergrass, 
 an' another chap frew 
 de saddle on de horse 
 an' come for us, an' 
 father Joshua he plied 
 de gad, but 't wan't no 
 use, for the man he cut 
 'cross lots, lickity-split, 
 an' fo' we knowed it, he 
 come junk up, jes' in 
 front, an' dere we all 
 were in a mess, an' de 
 crowd collec' on eb'ry side an' surroun' us, an' dey took de whole kit 
 an' boodle of 'em to de ( Watch Up,' an' I squirled out de tail ob 
 de wagon, an' kited for here, an' here I am ; an' so Massa Reydon 
 come on an' free de boys from de jail, where dey '11 rot if you don' 
 do somethin' right off." 
 
 " Stop ! Stop, I say ! " said Mr. Reydon. " Stop, Pizarro ! Are 
 you crazy? Answer my questions and say nothing until I ask 
 you." 
 
 " Yes, Massa Reydon, I '11 respec' yer injunction," said the breath 
 less Peez. 
 
 " Where are Joshua and the boys ? " asked Mr. Reydon. 
 " In Tuxet calaboose."
 
 A DRIVE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 117 
 
 " What for ? " said Mr. Reydon. 
 
 " ' Cause one of de boys ' papped ' a man with a pebble." 
 
 "Did it hurt him? " continued Mr. Reydon. 
 
 " He squirmed consid'able," answered Peez, with a smile. 
 
 "Who stopped the wagon ? " 
 
 " A feller on horseback who headed us off, an' told the watchman." 
 
 " What made the boys fire the pebble ? " 
 
 " Fun, Massa Reydon Simon-pure fun." 
 
 " Who flung the pebble ?" 
 
 " A boy." 
 
 " What boy ? Was it Dick ? " asked Mr. Reydon. 
 
 " Don' hurt him, Massa Reydon," said Peez. " He did n't mean to. 
 It slipped out of his han' when he was a handlin' of it." 
 
 " If Dick threw the pebble I know he will acknowledge it. My son 
 is as brave as he is truthful. Come," added Mr. Reydon, " let 's go to 
 them. I think I can arrange the matter without much trouble." 
 
 Peez and Dick's father quickly put old gray Prince in the yellow 
 chaise, and, perched up in the high seat beside his master, their equi-
 
 118 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 page rolled out of the cobble-stone stable-yard, and was soon on the 
 road to Tuxet, at a spanking gait. 
 
 When the two-wheeled vehicle turned up the alley which led to Jus 
 tice Miller's office, its occupants concluded, by the crowd assembled 
 there, that the boys had probably been brought before the magistrate, 
 and the trial for " 'sault and batt'ry " was about to begin. 
 
 After tying Prince to a neighboring fence, Mr. Reydon pushed his 
 way through the motley group which blocked up the entrance of the 
 court-room. 
 
 Closely followed by Peez, he soon found himself in the midst of a 
 curious assembly.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE TRIAL. 
 
 R. REYDON and Peez found themselves in a low- 
 studded, whitewashed room, some eighteen feet 
 square. Around its walls was to be seen 
 a dingy streak, made by the greasy heads 
 of the audience which filled the apart 
 ment on court-days. This motley assem 
 bly occupied a row of unpainted benches, 
 ranged close against these discolored sides. 
 
 An iron stove for burning wood stood in one corner, supported on 
 four bricks, to keep 
 it from burning the 
 floor ; while a rick 
 ety stove-pipe im 
 perfectly conveyed 
 the smoke to the 
 chimney in an op 
 posite corner. 
 
 Justice Miller was 
 a slight, short, gray- 
 haired old fellow, 
 with round shoul 
 ders and sunken stomach. He wore gray clothes, which, with his dry,
 
 120 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 gray hair and long, shaggy, gray eyebrows, gave him the appearance 
 of having just emerged from a meal barrel. He held a police court 
 every week in this apartment, which was a portion of the building 
 where drunken men and other persons committing mischief were con 
 fined. Squire Miller or, as some of his fellow citizens styled him, 
 " Jedge Miller " sat in a straight, high-backed chair, and behind a 
 long wooden desk, upon which were placed a broken-nosed pitcher and 
 a tin cup. Beside him stood a rotund individual with a very round, 
 almost bald head, and a correspondingly large " corporation." He 
 looked something like a nine-pin. The sparse amount of hair he pos- 
 . sessed was carefully gathered from behind his ears and other parts ad 
 jacent ; and by means of bear's grease and coaxing, was trained up like 
 
 a vine, as far as the top of his cranium, 
 where it rested in a little bunch, held to 
 gether by a pin. This bunch afforded a 
 hiding - place for a large and flourishing 
 wen, which sat like a small bowlder on the 
 summit of his head. This person's name 
 was Gardiner. He was the only constable 
 in Tuxet, and was, moreover, the obnoxious 
 individual who had arrested Dick and his 
 companions on complaint of the man on 
 horseback. Joshua and all the boys were 
 stationed in a line just at the right of Mr. 
 
 Gardiner, and at a convenient distance from his eagle eye. The audi 
 ence was rather a peculiar one ; composed, for the most part, of per 
 sons in shirt-sleeves and overalls, these latter garments being tucked 
 into the boots of their owners. Hoeing corn and potatoes during the 
 summer just passed had given to each countenance a coating of tan
 
 THE TRIAL. 121 
 
 and freckles of the most aggressive variety ; while the hair whether 
 tow or mop was bleached to the dryness of hay by the rays of the 
 sun. There were a good number of farmers' dogs in the court-room. 
 These creatures sat between their masters' legs, or were crouched up 
 behind them in round bunches. A country dog is a peculiar animal. 
 He is generally what is called a " yaller " dog, with rough, brown coat, 
 dangerous brown eyes, and big yellow spots over each of them. Some 
 of these creatures possessed stump tails ; some had tails that curled 
 over their backs ; while others looked as if these appendages had been 
 broken in the middle. They all, however, smelt very strongly of 
 " skunk." There were ominous growls and yelps from time to time as 
 two strange curs met each other face to face, or were summarily 
 " squelched " by their rough owners. A large square, open spit-box 
 filled with sand and tobacco quids, stood in the middle of the court 
 room for general accommodation, while the sanded floor gave evidence 
 of many years' wear, with its knots and cross-grained portions rising^ 
 up like bumps. 
 
 There was a look of surprise on every face as Mr. Reydon and Peez 
 entered the apartment, and took seats near the door. The boys were 
 delighted to see a friendly face. When they were first arrested some 
 of them were quite frightened. The show of authority exhibited by 
 the fat constable, in serving the warrant upon them, and the general 
 bustle and newness of the situation, all contributed to alarm them. 
 Eben Tucker feared lest they might all be hung on the gallows by the 
 neck ; though he did n't exactly know what they had done to merit 
 capital punishment. 
 
 Dick had missed Peez soon after their arrest, but concluded that the 
 good fellow had escaped to Reydon House to notify his father of the 
 dilemma in which they were placed. When, therefore, Mr. Reydon
 
 122 
 
 TWO COMPTON SOYS. 
 
 and the black boy entered the court-room, there was a great load of 
 anxiety taken from the boys' minds. They felt that now they would 
 be certain to receive fair play, and escape with their necks at least. 
 In those days the justice of a police court acted as judge, jury, and 
 prosecuting attorney as well ; and perhaps quite as much real justice 
 was served out to criminals then, as there is nowadays with a judge, 
 jury, and three or four lawyers on each side, all added together. 
 
 Mr. Justice Miller looked askance at Mr. Reydon as he entered and 
 took his seat. Then, putting on an expression of mock dignity, he 
 called up the case of the " Town vs. Joshua Fitts, Richard Reydon, 
 Peter Smart, et al. for 'sault and battery." 
 
 " Stand up, boys ! " said Mr. Justice Miller, as he knitted together 
 his gray eyebrows and wiped his nose with his red bandanna. 
 
 " Boys ! you are charged, in this warrant, by Zedekiah Jillson, that 
 on the thirteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thou 
 sand eight hundred and thirty three, you did feloniously, maliciously, 
 and with malice aforethought, etc., etc., etc., etc., let and discharge 
 and project, etc., etc., etc., a pebble, rock, stone, bowlder, or other hurt 
 ful substance, sharp or otherwise, etc., etc., etc., etc., hm h-m ;
 
 THE TRIAL. 123 
 
 and did with said hm hm hit, strike, maul, inflict injury, may 
 hem, fracture or otherwise hm, hm on Zedekiah Jillson, of and 
 belonging to Tuxet aforesaid, on the spine of his back, spinal column, 
 backbone, or whatever else the dorsal structure of said Zedekiah may 
 be, or has been called ; much to said Zedekiah's detriment, hurt, and 
 injury be the same more or less hm, hm, hm ; the said Zedekiah, 
 aforesaid, being at the time bent over a wheel or whatever the instru 
 ment may be called which goes on the hinder axle of a cart, and goes 
 round and round on said axle and was greasing the same in order 
 that said wheel or whatever said hm, hm, hm ; the said Zede 
 kiah offering no sort of provocation, insult, etc., hm, hm, hm to 
 cause said unprovoked assault, hm hm. W hat do you say, boys ! 
 Are you guilty or not guilty ? " 
 
 The boys stood up in obedience to the judge's commands, and feel 
 ing perfectly sure that they had never committed such a list of dread 
 ful crimes as had just been read to them, answered with a shout, 
 
 " Not guilty ! " 
 
 " We '11 see whether you 're guilty, my young rapscallions. I '11 call 
 Zedekiah Jillson, and we '11 hear him tell his story." 
 
 " Zedekiah Jillson, take the witness stand, and hold up your right 
 hand ! " 
 
 Whereupon there arose from among the audience, with some diffi 
 culty, an old man about seventy years of age. He was considerably 
 bent over with rheumatism, and walked with difficulty, leaning on 
 a cane. On being sworn, he stated to the Court that he had just got 
 ten out from a long " spell of rheumatiz," and was hobbling about the 
 yard in the sun, trying, as he said, " to limber up his j'ints a leetle, so 
 as to do chores an' sich like, while Ahab, that 's my son-in-law," said 
 Zedekiah, " while Ahab milked, and fed the pigs, and did the gen'ral 
 bossinV
 
 124 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 He then went on to say that the old cart needed greasing, and 
 so he got the " jack " and " h'isted " the nigh hind-wheel, and was 
 " a-greasin' it," when a big stone " come " and hit him on the spine 
 of his back, and paralyzed him, and " set him all back," and " fetched 
 on his rheumatiz agin," so that it would be months " afore he could 
 lay a hand to anythin'." 
 
 " Who fired the stone at you ? " asked the Judge. 
 
 " One o' them young wretches ! " replied Mr. Jillson, rubbing at 
 the same time the sore spot on his back, which seemed to pain him sud 
 denly. 
 
 " Which one ? " inquired the Squire. 
 
 " Dunno, an' doan' care, so long's 'twas one on 'em ! " 
 
 " How do you know, Mr. Jillson, that it was one of these boys. 
 Could n't the stone have been thrown by somebody else ? " 
 
 " Why, bless your heart, Jedge, there ain't no ' could n't ' about ito 
 I know it was one on 'em, that 's all ! " 
 
 " If your back was away from the road, Mr. Jillson, when the stone 
 was fired, and you only turned about when the missile hit you, it would 
 seem to be impossible to tell who slung the stone," suggested the Judge. 
 
 " It was n't impossible for all that, Jedge, for there the rascals were 
 right afore my eyes, a-grinnin' an' a-laughin' at what they 'd done, as 
 if they were mad." 
 
 " You may step down, Mr. Jillson," said Squire Miller, " and let 
 Ahab Minor take the stand." 
 
 Ahab was the impetuous individual who had followed the boys on 
 horseback, and who finally confronted them at the " Four Corners," 
 and had caused their arrest. Ahab was a very choleric person. A 
 slight impediment of speech caused him to clear his throat before com 
 mencing a sentence. Even if it were but to answer " yes," or " no," 
 he was forced to " hem " first.
 
 THE TRIAL. 
 
 125 
 
 His testimony was a little more to the point. He swore that the 
 stone came from a cart-load of rollicking boys, and that these boys be 
 fore him were the very individuals themselves ; and, moreover, that 
 he saw one of them fire it. 
 
 " Which one, Mr. Minor ? " asked the Judge. 
 
 " Hem ! Which one ? " replied the witness, first repeating the 
 question. " Why hem it was a feller with a 
 jacket on hem. He stood next to the darkey." 
 
 " Can you point out the boy ? " 
 
 " Hem That looks like the little cuss 
 hem." (Pointing to Pete Smart.) 
 
 " You say," repeated the Judge, " that the 
 person who fired, projected, or slung the stone 
 at the aforesaid, was standing next to a colored 
 boy. Now, do you see any colored person here 
 
 that resembles that boy ? " 
 
 * 
 
 " Hem, no, your Honor ! He must 've 'scaped. 
 Hem there was one, sure, for I see him as 
 plain as I see Mr. Gardiner's hem top of Mr. 
 Gardiner's head." (Here Mr. Gardiner scowled, 
 and the audience tittered.) All eyes were now 
 directed towards Peez Fitts, who was the only col 
 ored individual in the court-room. He sat with Mr. Reydon, watching 
 the progress of the trial. 
 
 " Thar he is," ejaculated Mr. Minor, catching sight of Peez. 
 " Hem m, sure as shootin' thai* stands the darkey looking as in 
 nocent as a 'skeeter." 
 
 " Possibly," said the Judge, thinking aloud, " possibly this colored 
 person may throw important light on the case, and, since by some
 
 126 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 oversight his name is not included in the indictment, we will make 
 him a witness for the Town, and call him to the stand." 
 
 Mr. Minor vacated the witness-box, and took his seat, hemming 
 and perspiring with excitement. 
 
 " Call the black boy to the stand," said Judge Miller to Mr. 
 Gardiner (the fat constable with the wen). 
 
 " You ! " said Mr. Gardiner, not knowing Peez's name. " Here ! 
 
 you ! black boy ! 
 
 Say! 
 
 Come to the witness- 
 
 */ 
 
 box and be sworn ! The Jedge calls for ye ! " 
 At this, Peez Fitts arose with a look of as 
 tonishment on his fine ebony face. Turning 
 towards Mr. Reydon an instant, who nodded 
 to him to obey the summons, he followed the 
 officer, and mounted to the position so lately 
 occupied by Mr. Ahab Minor. Peez was a gal 
 lant fellow. He hardly knew what fear was, 
 and his love for his young master was un 
 bounded. Besides, he had n't forgiven the 
 Judge or the parties to this complaint for the 
 uncomplimentary epithets heaped upon him 
 and his companions. He felt especially nettled 
 also to be compelled to take the stand as a 
 witness for the Town, and against all "the 
 boys." A look of defiance in his set mouth and clenched fist made it 
 evident that the " Jedge " would get little benefit from his testimony. 
 
 Peez held up his right hand, and was sworn according to law. 
 
 " What 's your name ? " asked the Justice, in a pie-crusty way. 
 
 " Peez." 
 
 " Peez what ? " continued his questioner.
 
 THE TRIAL. 127 
 
 " No, sir ! " replied Peez. 
 
 " No what ? " insisted the Judge. 
 
 " No ' what ' to my name, sir," said Peez. 
 
 " Is Peez all the name you 've got then ? Hain't you got no other ? 
 Gome, answer up quick ! " said the Judge, getting mad. 
 
 " 'Most all my name, sir ! " 
 
 " Well ! give us the rest on it. Hurry up ! " 
 
 " Arro is de rest, sir," said Peez. 
 
 " Arrer ! Arrer ! What a name," said Mr. Miller. " I s'pose 
 everybody 's got to have some sort of a handle, but it 'pears to me 
 Peez Arrer is one of the poorest I ever see. Well ! Mr. Peez Arrer, 
 where do you live?" 
 
 " With my mudder ! " 
 
 " Where does your mother live ? " 
 
 " With my fader." (Here the boys chuckled, and Joshua's eyes 
 squinted 'way up.) 
 
 " In what city, town, hamlet, county, or state ? " thundered Justice 
 Miller. " I will find out where you live, sir, or I '11 put you in the 
 watch-house." By this time the whole audience were in a great state 
 of excitement and laughter, watching the ingenuity of the black boy 
 in parrying the " Jedge's " interrogatories. 
 
 "Come, sir! What city?" 
 
 " No city, sir ! " said Peez. 
 
 " Well, what town then, sir ? " 
 
 " Town of Compton, sir." 
 
 " Town of Compton ! " repeated the Judge. " Your name then is 
 Peez Arrer, and you live with your mother in the town of Compton. 
 Is that correct ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ! " said Peez.
 
 128 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 " Well, now we 've got so far. I guess we '11 try and git a leetle 
 further." 
 
 " Was you one of the boys in that cart ? " continued the Judge. 
 " What cart ? " answered Peez. " I don 't see any ! " (Here the 
 audience laughed again, but were hushed by Mr. Gardiner.) 
 
 " The cart in which these 'ere boys were arrested for slinging a 
 stone, rock, bowlder, or otherwise, be the same more or less, at Zede- 
 kiah Jillson aforesaid. Come, sir, was you in that 'are cart ? " 
 " We don't call it a cart, sir ! " 
 " What do you call it, then ? " 
 " De lumber-wagon, Massa Judge ! " 
 
 " Lumber-wagon or cart, it 's all the 
 same. Was you one of the boys in 
 that lumber-wagon ? " 
 " When, sir ? " 
 
 " When the stone was slung which 
 hit the aforesaid Jillson, I tell ye ! " 
 
 "I wasn't entirely in de wagon, 
 Judge ! " 
 
 " Was you partly in it, then ? " 
 bawled the officer. 
 
 " De right arm, de right leg, and 
 certain parts of de body were hanging 
 'way over de side of dat wagon, at de time." 
 
 " Ah ! you tiresome scamp ! You SHALL answer me correctly, and I 
 
 will git out of you whatever you do know about this case, if it takes 
 
 a week to dig it out ! " Fixing his gray eye on Peez, with a steady 
 
 glare and with forefinger extended, the Judge continued slowly : 
 
 " Did you know of any boy in that cart or wagon, sling-
 
 THE TRIAL. 129 
 
 ing a stone or anything else at anybody or anything ? Come, sir ! 
 You 're on oath, remember ! Any stone, bowlder, rock, etc." 
 
 " Yes, Massa Judge, I do know." 
 
 " Ah, we 're getting at it at last ! Now, who was that boy ? " 
 
 " I was that boy, Massa Judge ! " (Here the other boys opened 
 their eyes with astonishment.) 
 
 " You was the boy, hey ? Well, what did you fire at, sir ? " 
 
 " A chippy, Massa Judge," replied Peez. 
 
 " A chippy ! " roared Justice Miller. " A chippy ! Do you call that 
 poor old man there a chippy, sir ? " 
 
 " No, sir ! I never slung anythin' at ole Jillson. A chippy 's a 
 bird, sir ! " 
 
 " A bird, is it ? Never mind. Can you solemnly swear that you 
 did not sling a stone, pebble, rock, or otherwise, at the said Zedekiah, 
 as he was greasing, anointing, gudgeonizing, or whatever else the 
 process is called the hinder wheel of his cart or wagon aforesaid, 
 hey?" 
 
 " No, I never did it, Judge. An I ain't on trial, an' I 's not bound 
 to answer anythin' to criminate myself, neither," replied Peez in a huff. 
 
 The Judge was quite nonplussed by this rejoinder, for the black 
 boy was indeed not on trial, and the question was clearly improper. 
 
 " P'raps you 're right," said his Honor, desiring to slur over this 
 little episode as quickly as possible. " Now answer me. Did you see 
 that boy" pointing at Pete Smart " sling, shy, or project any 
 thing at Zedekiah Jillson ? " 
 
 " No, I never, Massa Judge." 
 
 " Sure ? " continued the Judge. 
 
 " Dead, Massa Judge ; dead sure ! " 
 
 " What did you see, then ; for Heaven's sake, tell us something 
 
 9
 
 130 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 about what you do know. You are keeping the whole Court waiting 
 and subjecting yourself to a heavy fine ! " 
 
 " Never you mind, Massa Judge. I tells a heap about what I see." 
 " Well, go on and teU it ! " Peez straightened up and said : 
 " I was leaning and hanging out of de wagon as I described, an' I 
 reached, so fashion (clutching the air), for a doughnut which Massa 
 Pete had in his hand, when one of de boys saw a ( chip ' a scootin' 
 along the top of de stone wall, an' ' let fly ' at it. Then another 
 one, he i let fly ' at it, and then Al. Young he ' let fly,' an' I was 
 jus' crammin' in the doughnut when I heard some of the boys sing 
 out, ' He 's comin' for us ! ' an' away my f that is, the man who 
 drove de wagon away he plied de whip, an' then all of a sudden, 
 we were ( fetched up standin' ' by this crazy chap here (at this point 
 Mr. Ahab Minor glared at Peez), who was a chasing us on horseback 
 as if we had done something wrong. He swung up his arms an' 
 stopped de team, an' when I saw there was goin' to be trouble about 
 that ' chippy,' away I ' streaked it,' out de tail of de wa^on and across 
 de fields, for I did n't know but that I might be hung up at de lamp 
 post for that i chippy,' an' that 's all I have to say about firing de 
 stone at ole Jillson." 
 
 The patience of the Court was now nearly exhausted. He was un 
 able to obtain any direct proof which could fasten the crime on any 
 particular one of the defendants in this case. The old man Jillson'a 
 testimony amounted to nothing. His back was turned to his enemy 
 when the stone was slung at him, rendering it impossible to kn<yw 
 who the culprit was. 
 
 Abner Minor's evidence was a little more definite. He clearly 
 proved that some one in the wagon threw the stone at the old man ; 
 who that somebody was, was not so clear. He thought it was Pete
 
 THE TRIAL. 131 
 
 Smart, but his testimony on this point was only a surmise. As to the 
 evidence of Peez Fitts, it was as he meant it should be of the 
 most irrelevant character. The Judge could make neither " head nor 
 tail " out of any of it, and so the case remained unproven. There 
 was little doubt in the minds of every one that the old man was hit by 
 a stone slung at him by some one of the boys who had been arrested, 
 and were now in the court-room, but there were so few witnesses of 
 the act that no evidence adduced before the Court had been able to 
 fasten it upon any particular individual. For these reasons Mr. Jus 
 tice Miller leaned his unshaven chin upon his bony hand and cogitated 
 for some minutes. He was trying to decide whether he would better 
 dismiss the case and allow the youngsters to go unpunished, or con 
 clude that the evidence was such as that a circumstantial case was 
 proven, and then allow the boys to depart with a reprimand and a 
 light fine. He felt the presence of Mr. Reydon in the court-room, 
 who had remained quietly watching the progress of the trial. He 
 knew that he*was a man of influence in Compton, and that one of the 
 defendants was his son. He was aware that anything like injustice 
 on his part, in the conduct of this case, would act against his own po 
 litical prospects in the village of Tuxet, which was so near a neighbor 
 to its bigger sister, Compton. He therefore felt it incumbent to pro 
 ceed with great circumspection. 
 
 Mr. Reydon himself sat intently watching the proceedings. He 
 was so just a man that he determined to say nothing, but allow the 
 case to go on ; and if it was proven that his son or any of the other 
 boys had wilfully been guilty of the crime charged, they should receive 
 its merited punishment ; deeming that it would be a profitable lesson 
 to them. He meant, if possible, to save them from the mortification 
 and degradation of incarceration, and stood prepared, when the time
 
 132 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 arrived, to interfere in their behalf. Matters were in this position 
 when a little movement over in the quarter of the room where the boys 
 were stationed attracted the attention of the audience. It soon be 
 came evident that Dick Reydon was endeavoring to rise from his seat 
 and address the Judge. The boys vainly sought to prevent him, but 
 he extricated himself from their grasp, and gaining his feet, spoke as 
 
 follows, to the astonishment of all his 
 hearers. 
 
 " Sir ! I 'm not afraid to acknowl 
 edge that I slung the stone at the old 
 gentleman there. Pete Smart had 
 nothing to do with it. It was I who 
 did it, and if any one is to be pun 
 ished, I am the boy, and nobody else. 
 We were all in fun. I didn't think 
 I could hit him, and did n't believe it 
 would hurt him much if I did. I am 
 very sorry for it, and I hope he will 
 
 soon get well. That 's all I have to 
 
 ? 
 say. 
 
 The effect of Dick's little speech was 
 electrifying. His manliness in getting up and acknowledging the act, 
 in order to prevent suspicions from resting upon any of his compan 
 ions, was fully appreciated by the whole audience ; and by none more 
 keenly than the stout young farmers whose sense of justice and bluff 
 manliness are proverbial. A loud shout of applause, accompanied by 
 stamping of boot-heels, followed the delivery of this heroic avowal, 
 and it was several minutes before order could be restored by the fat 
 constable with the wen. 
 
 v
 
 THE TRIAL. 133 
 
 Mr. Justice Miller then straightened up his shirt-collar, pulled his 
 long waistcoat over his shrunken stomach, and protruded both his 
 great lips to indicate that the Court was about to deliver its opinion. 
 
 " The evidence in this case," said his Honor, " is not so positive and 
 indisputable as it might, could, would, or should have been. In fact, 
 it is very vague and inconclusive. There is, however, enough of it 
 to prove that some kind of missile was discharged at the complainant 
 from some engine, man-trap, gin, or whatever the instrument may be 
 called, in the hands of some one of the occupants of the cart or 
 wagon, who are the defendants in this case. Who that particular oc 
 cupant was is not so clearly shown by the evidence before the Court. 
 And although the Court is morally sure that the guilty party is among 
 the defendants here collected, yet the Court is unable to fasten the 
 guilt upon any particular culprit." 
 
 It therefore seemed as though the case must be dismissed. 
 
 " It was this state of affairs which caused the Court to pause a mo 
 ment before delivering its opinion, when the unexpected and unusual 
 occurrence took place which cleared the case of all its doubt, and left 
 the duty of the Court clear and certain. The frank confession of one 
 of the young defendants has settled the question. He states to the 
 Court that he fired the dreaded rock from his battering-ram, engine, 
 man-trap, or otherwise, and inflicted the injury upon our poor and aged 
 friend, the complainant aforesaid. It is not the duty of this Court to 
 arg'fy upon the conduct of the young defendant, but simply to state 
 the law in such case and declare judgment. As Richard Lyon Reydon, 
 one ,of the defendants in this case, has acknowledged that he was the 
 individual who inflicted the alleged injury upon the complainant, and 
 that he alone is guilty of the charge the judgment of this Court is, 
 that the said Richard Is alone guilty of it, and must receive the pun-
 
 134 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 ishment made and provided for such case, which is : That he be fined, 
 mulcted, and sentenced to pay into this Court the sum of five dollars 
 for this infraction of the peace and welfare of the Town of Tuxet. 
 Together with such costs as have legally accrued in these proceed 
 ings. The rest of the defendants are dismissed." 
 
 Mr. Reydon here arose and addressed the Court. 
 
 " May it please your Honor, I desire, with your permission, to 
 say a few words in relation to the case just decided. I do not quar 
 rel with the judgment which your Honor has been pleased to pass 
 upon my son, as one of the defendants in this case. I shall cheerfully 
 pay the fine imposed, together with the costs which have accumulated. 
 I was determined not to interfere in any manner, if it was proven that 
 either my son or any of his young companions were guilty of this 
 charge. Your Honor, in common with us all, must be convinced that 
 this accident was the natural result of the thoughtlessness of boys in 
 the exuberance of health and spirits ; and was not an act of malice or 
 desire to injure any one. I know all of them well, and can bear wit 
 ness to their brave and kindly natures. They should, however, be 
 taught the lesson that even thoughtlessness cannot atone for the injury 
 which may result to others who are aged and infirm. I wish, however, 
 here, before your Honor, and in presence of this audience, to bear wit 
 ness to the gallant conduct and heroic manliness of my son, v/ho, in 
 order to shield his companions from unjust suspicion, courageously ac 
 knowledged, before this honorable Court and this assembly, that he 
 alone was guilty, and avowed himself ready to bear whatever punish 
 ment should be meted out to him. Such conduct in one so young- 
 will bear good fruit in maturity. The aged complainant deserves our 
 sympathy and pity. I shall make it my pleasant duty to see that his 
 condition ^.s made as comfortable as possible, and I trust that he will
 
 THE TRIAL. 
 
 135 
 
 C- 
 
 forgive the author of his injury, and come to me whenever he is in 
 trouble or necessity. I thank your Honor for listening so patiently." 
 
 When Mr. Reydon finished, another shout arose from the audience 
 which made the old walls 
 ring merrily. He then 
 walked to the Judge's 
 desk and paid the fine 
 and required costs, with 
 a smile upon his face. 
 The Court broke up, and 
 Joshua and the boys, 
 Mr. Reydon and Peez, 
 walked out of the court 
 room, to the road-side, 
 followed by an enthusias 
 tic crowd. " The bays " 
 were standing near, all 
 ready to start back to 
 Compton. Dick and his 
 friends "piled" into 
 their seats, while Mr. 
 Reydon turned Prince's 
 head and the old yellow 
 chaise once more towards 
 
 home. As they whirled away, the crowd sent up " three cheers for 
 Dick Reydon and his father ! " and three more for " ( Peez Arrer,' the 
 smartest darkey in the world." The sound of this pleasing recogni 
 tion of their gallant conduct rang in the ears of the thankful prisoners, 
 until they turned down the cross-roads and into the avenue which led 
 directly to Compton and liberty. 

 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 A CRISIS. 
 
 ; T is important to recount in this chapter that as Dick 
 and Peez grew in years and stature, the circumstances 
 also which surrounded them altered in the same 
 proportion. 
 
 The autumn when they both became fifteen, 
 or rather were in their sixteenth year, found 
 them no longer the same boys that presented 
 themselves to us when this veritable history first 
 opened. Dick was altogether too large to re 
 main any longer in Miss Kamlin's school. It was important now that 
 he should leave a woman's tutelage, and come under the supervision of 
 a man, and one who had great strength of character. About that 
 time there came to Compton a scholarly-looking person, by the name 
 of Henly. He was possessed of a good education, and, what was bet 
 ter, he seemed able to impart his knowledge to others. He wore gold 
 spectacles, and was not in very robust health. His grave, scholarly de 
 meanor, however, impressed his pupils with the idea of a latent power 
 within him, and so he ruled them easily by the force of his personality, 
 which is oftentimes more potent than the birch or ruler. 
 
 Mr. Henly had a novel idea of a school. He conceived the notion 
 that his scholars would more easily acquire knowledge, and his school 
 would be more efficient, if two pupils occupied a study-room together,
 
 A CRISIS. 
 
 137 
 
 and remained during study hours separate from the rest of their com 
 panions. To this end he, with the aid of his patrons, built in Comp- 
 ton a brick edifice, circular in form, and capable of holding fifteen 
 little rooms, and a general recitation-room inside of all these. In the 
 centre of this latter apart 
 ment was a raised plat 
 form, where Mr. Henly 
 sat, and from which posi 
 tion also he inspected his 
 scholars, and heard them 
 recite their lessons. 
 
 Each alcove was pro 
 vided with a large glass 
 transom over the door,, 
 which could be opened 
 and shut by Henly at will. 
 A series of cords running 
 from each of these open 
 ings and meeting at one common point, put within the schoolmaster's 
 reach the power of hearing and seeing everything that went on within 
 each little chamber. This novel arrangement had its faults as well as 
 its virtues. While the master was on the alert, he could observe with 
 great ease all that transpired ; whereas, should his vigilance lag, it left 
 a large loop-hole for all manner of pranks and shirking. 
 
 Mr. Henly, as was remarked, was a good teacher. It was in his 
 school that Dick made considerable progress in other branches of 
 knowledge than merely reading, writing, and arithmetic. Here he read 
 " Caesar's Commentaries," and here he translated the five books of Vir 
 gil. Here he mastered Euclid and Algebra, as far as equations of the
 
 138 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 fourth degree. He read the New Testament in Latin, and commenced 
 Greek. Fifty years ago boys didn't " do " so much of the " classics" 
 as they pretend to do nowadays, but they were pretty conversant with 
 the length of road they did travel. Dick also accomplished a fair 
 amount of wholesome reading, so that as he neared his sixteenth year, 
 he had become a more serious person than when we first met him. His 
 wavy light hair curled naturally over his Grecian forehead. His gray 
 ish blue eyes had gained immensely in expression. His tall, wiry figure 
 was erect with innate vitality, and his curved mouth, with its red, pout 
 ing under lip, gave him the air of a person of much decision. Peez 
 Fitts, basking as it were in the sunshine of Dick's society, seemed to 
 imbibe many of the traits possessed by his companion and master. He 
 w r as a fine specimen of his race, in spite of the loss of his two fingers. 
 He was naturally clever, and had an observing mind. He went to 
 school, where he quickly learned to read and write. With these ac 
 quisitions he advanced in other directions of learning quite rapidly. 
 Every one of Dick's books was eagerly devoured by Peez. Every 
 lesson in good breeding and conduct taught Dick soon became the 
 property of Peez by some wonderful process of intuition; so that 
 whether it was a question of propriety, or one which related to dis 
 cretion or judgment, Peez Fitts was on an equal footing with his more 
 fortunate friend. These particulars should be borne in mind by the 
 reader in order more readily to understand what follows. Those im 
 portant questions, namely : what was best to be done with Dick, 
 whether he should go to college - - Yale or Harvard ; or whether it 
 would be better to send him out to Canton, to enter the house of Rey- 
 don & Company, grow up in its service, and become a partner, and so 
 gradually to take his father's position as he became old and disabled, 
 were all steadily pressing themselves upon the attention of Dick's 
 parents, and demanding a solution.
 
 A CRISIS. 139 
 
 Pete Smart had entered college. Eben Tucker had gone into the 
 dry goods jobbing trade, while some of the other boys were commenc 
 ing new departures in their lives. Independently of his parents, Dick 
 himself also conned the subject over in his mind in order to decide, 
 if possible, what he himself preferred to do. The adventure which 
 befell the boys at Tuxet, and the experience through which they passed 
 when they were brought before Justice Miller, produced a lasting im 
 pression upon all the participants in that escapade. And although a 
 year had passed since the events narrated in the last chapter, they 
 were yet fresh in their minds. 
 
 " Dick, how would you like to go to Canton ? " asked his father one 
 morning, as his son entered the breakfast-room. 
 
 " I would like, sir, on some accounts, to go very much," replied Dick. 
 
 " Come, then, my son ! let us hear the pros and cons as they appear 
 to you ! " 
 
 " I have a pride, sir, in belonging to the house of Reydon & 
 Company, where my father is so important a member. I would like 
 also to make money, and be independent of everybody. Besides, it 
 is n't every boy who has the chance of getting ahead as I have, and I 
 think I ought to take advantage of it." 
 
 " Well, Dick, these are very good reasons indeed for your going. 
 Now, what have you to advance against the idea ? " 
 
 " The principal objections to going, sir, are that I would like to 
 enter college and be there while Pete is. I dislike to be absent so 
 many years from home. And then I have a great notion of becoming 
 a lawyer, and getting at the head of my profession." 
 
 " All these are sensible and weighty considerations Dick," replied 
 his father," and you do well, conscientiously to weigh them in your
 
 140 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 judgment before final decision ; but there is time for this during the 
 coming winter. By spring-time we shall all be ready to adopt what 
 ever seems to be the better plan." In this way the matter was left. 
 Meanwhile, Dick remained at Mr. Henly's school, and increased in 
 strength, both of body and character. 
 
 The law was off in regard to shooting game. The season was slowly 
 sweeping on towards Thanksgiving and roast turkey, and Amanda 
 was busy preparing mince pies for Reydon House, in her snug and 
 warm kitchen. 
 
 One morning after breakfast Dick opened her door, and poking in 
 his head inquired after Peez. 
 
 There stood the old cook with bare arms and bandanna-covered 
 head, making pastry for forthcoming pies. 
 
 It was an interesting process to watch her while engaged in this im 
 portant operation. After rubbing 
 her rolling-pin with flour, she would 
 flatten out the dough on the board, 
 and with a broken knife put little 
 dabs of the best butter all over its 
 surface. Then the whole quantity 
 would be doubled up on itself, cut 
 into big portions, and again put to 
 gether, the process of buttering and 
 rolling being repeated ad injini- 
 tum, as it seemed to Richard, as he 
 stood there looking at it. All this 
 was necessary, in order that when 
 the pastry came out of the old-fashioned oven, it should not only be 
 brown and savory smelling, but present the appearance of an infinite
 
 A CRISIS. 141 
 
 number of delicate layers put together. After having laid over each 
 pie the thinnest coverlet of this paste, Amanda gracefully held the 
 plate aloft in her left hand, and with a knife in the other, she cut off 
 and off the over-hanging portions, whirling the plate around mean 
 while, until this superfluous mass fell over her arm like a white collar. 
 
 Richard was so impressed with this sight, and Amanda was so ab 
 sorbed in her work, that it was a minute or so before he repeated his 
 question in regard to the whereabouts of Peez. 
 
 " Oh, Massa Richard ! is dat you ? Walk in and see de pies. 
 There ! take a taste out of de jar of meat from de iron spoon. 
 Say ! " she continued, " What she needs cider, bran'y, or allspice ? 
 I jes' put de bran'y an' de fruit to it dis time, to please yer 
 fader." 
 
 Dick approached the immense brown earthen jar containing that 
 most delicious of all mixtures, the prepared meat for mince pies, and 
 took out a good big mouthful of it in the old iron spoon. 
 
 " Guy, Amanda ! That 's num-num ! It needs nothing at all. I 
 must have a hot piece when they are all cooked ! but where 's Peez, I 
 say?" 
 
 " Lor, Massa Richard. I los' my mem'ry. Peez is readin' de book 
 you loan' him. I '11 call him to oust ! Piazzer ! Piazzer ! " cried his 
 mother at the foot of the stair-case. " Here 's Massa Richard callin' 
 for ye ! " 
 
 Soon afterwards Peez appeared with one of Sir Walter Scott's 
 novels in his hand, which he had been devouring. 
 
 The object of Dick's call that morning was to make preparations 
 for shooting woodcock. He possessed a fine English shot-gun, manu 
 factured by the celebrated " Manton," which had been presented to 
 him by his father, together with all the paraphernalia which accompa-
 
 142 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 nies such an acquisition. Thus he was in a position to bring home a 
 " full bag." Peez set himself to work cleaning the fowling-piece, and 
 also oiling up the old " shooting-iron " belonging to his father Joshua. 
 This was an ancient weapon, once the property of a captain in the 
 Candace, a veteran East India ship, owned by Mr. Reydon. It had 
 been kept in the cabin of that vessel against some possible mutiny 
 which never occurred. In time it was taken out of its hiding-place, 
 and found its way into the hands of Joshua Fitts, Mr. Reydon's coach 
 man, one of the most harmless and un-murderous of men. 
 
 The shot-pouches, with number eight shot for woodcock ; the pow 
 der flasks, rilled to their fullest extent ; and a plentiful supply of 
 wads (which Dick had spent hours in cutting out of thick cardboard), 
 were all made ready for to-morrow's sport. 
 
 There was a large tract of country, covered with underbrush and 
 wood, about eight miles from Compton, where the initiated hunter 
 could have a fair chance for sport. 
 
 Dick did not pretend to be an experienced sportsman. He took 
 pride, however, in knowing something about the matter, and his aim 
 was to do the " proper thing " when he attempted it at all. He was a 
 stout boy, with a quick eye and steady nerves. These two qualities 
 enable even a tyro to bring down his bird with a good deal of surety. 
 
 Early on the morning following that in which Dick had proposed 
 the excursion, the two young men arose early, and were out at the 
 stable putting Old Prince in the yellow chaise. Prince was a gray 
 horse, with dapple spots on his flanks. He had a black muzzle, the 
 same colored mane and tail, and black points. If occasion required, 
 Prince could dash over the roads and make his ten miles within 
 the hour, and was a most valuable servant in the Reydon family. 
 Prince looked round with astonishment at being taken from his
 
 A CRISIS. 
 
 143 
 
 warm and snug quarters at so early an hour. He drew a long breath 
 as the boys threw the harness over his back, champed his bits a mo 
 ment as if to get them in the right position in his mouth, and whisked 
 his tail, as much from habit as from any annoying fly it being too 
 late in the season for these bothers. He then stood motionless in the 
 shafts while the guns and the " kit " were stowed away in the chaise 
 and in the box under the seat. In the bottom of the vehicle lay Old 
 Hal, the dog. He was the faithful companion of the boys whenever 
 
 they went off for any fun. This intelligent old creature was part collie 
 and part English terrier. He did n't pretend to be a sporting dog, but 
 he did pretend to kill a woodchuck in just three minutes. He could 
 point a bird as well as many a pure-blooded setter, and retrieve the 
 game after it was shot, without injuring a feather. 
 
 The good fellow, too, would " charge " beautifully, after he had 
 " flushed " a bird, and wait for the order to " fetch" as well as if his 
 pedigree was as long as your arm.
 
 144 TWO COM P TON BOYS. 
 
 Old Hal lay with his rough nose resting on his crossed paws, wait- 
 ing for Dick and Peez to mount and be off. 
 
 Prince with the yellow chaise at last trotted out through the wide 
 gateway, and over the clattering cohble-stones with which the court 
 yard was paved. They took a westerly direction, and passing by the 
 slaughter-house, the home of Mike Taggart, skirted along the road on 
 which the still decaying old tomb, never to be forgotten, was 
 situated ; and so on, away out into the sparsely-settled and wooded 
 country of Cituate Hill. 
 
 The boys finally stopped at a pair of bars, whence a rocky pathway 
 led over a little brook, and then up through thick underbrush to a 
 tangled thicket of young oaks and chestnuts. There was a low, one- 
 story gambrel-roofed red house near these bars, at the door of which 
 appeared the kindly face of an old woman, and another younger per 
 son with a baby in her arms. The boys seemed to be acquainted with 
 these people, if one could judge from the familiar conversation which 
 passed between them. After securely tying Prince, Dick and Peez 
 unloaded the chaise, shouldered their guns, whistled to the dog, and 
 disappeared behind a thicket of alders, which grew on the other side of 
 the bars. 
 
 They crossed the little brook which rippled just in front of them. 
 The late October sun came slanting through the trees with its yellow 
 light, and the falling leaves crushed under their feet with a lively 
 crackle. 
 
 With guns resting in the hollow' of their left arms, or carried easily 
 in their right, and with finger on trigger, the two boys strode care 
 fully forward, ears and eyes wide open to take advantage of any enemy 
 which Old Hal might start up. 
 
 In this way they gradually worked their way three or four miles
 
 A CRISIS. 
 
 145 
 
 through the thick woods which surrounded them on every side. Sud 
 denly the dog struck some sort of a scent. He sprang ahead with 
 great energy, and leaping over the dead trunks of trees and tan 
 gled briers, commenced digging among the rocks and stones which 
 lay in great heaps around. 
 The boys knew at once that 
 it was some other creature 
 than a woodcock which had 
 so excited Old Hal's atten 
 tion. So they rushed to the 
 spot where the dog was bark 
 ing and tearing away the 
 turf with his teeth and paws. 
 Sure enough, a huge wood- 
 chuck was heard chattering 
 inside his retreat, betokening 
 defiance and fight, when he 
 should finally be unearthed. 
 The dog scratched up the 
 earth and barked away, while 
 the boys encouraged his ef 
 forts by removing the larger stones which served as cover from his 
 cruel enemy. 
 
 There is something vindictive in the chase by boys of an innocent 
 animal like the woodchuck. The excuse they give is that these crea 
 tures ruin the vegetables and small truck of a farmer's garden. This 
 we suppose to be true ; yet it is a poor reason why they should be 
 hounded to death in the depths of a wood, and so many miles away 
 from any man's garden or field. The moral aspect of this question is 
 
 10
 
 146 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 entirely overlooked in the excitement which is sure to arise when a 
 dog has tracked a woodchuck to his hole, or headed him off so that 
 he retreats to a pile of rocks. Then it is that the excitement of the 
 chase supplants any feeling of humanity which might sway a person in 
 his calmer moments, and everything is surrendered to the impulse of 
 the occasion. The boys aided the dog's efforts to dislodge the little 
 animal, as if their lives depended upon it, and it was not long before 
 Old Hal had reached and " tackled " his foe. It took but a few ter 
 rific shakes in the dog's power 
 ful iaws, and the back of the 
 animal was broken, and it lay 
 dead at the feet of its enemies. 
 There was nothing more to be 
 done than to secure their prize 
 as best they could. This was 
 accomplished by suspending it 
 by the tail to the limb of a tree. 
 Here it was proposed to leave it, 
 so as to take it home on their 
 return to the chaise. 
 
 Accordingly, Dick secured the 
 woodchuck to the overhanging 
 branch of a spreading maple, 
 and left him dangling in the air. 
 The effect upon the boys of this incident which was the first of 
 the day naturally exhibited itself in their quickened step and excited 
 conversation. The dog kept a little in advance, sniffing from side to 
 side, and continually wagging his tail like any well-bred animal ; 
 while the boys stepped cautiously behind, with expectant tread.
 
 A CRISIS. 147 
 
 " Look, Massa Dick ! " said Peez. " Hal 's a pointin' somethin', 
 sure ! " There stood the mongrel, with his forepaw up, and trembling 
 all over as if he was standing for his portrait. They quietly moved 
 on, one pace at a time, while the dog also advanced with the same 
 caution. 
 
 All at once, " Whir-r-r ! Whir-r-r ! " was heard in their front, 
 and a brace of splendid woodcock took wing with a great flurry, and 
 skimmed through the trees like a flash. Bang ! Bang ! went both 
 the guns, almost instantaneously, while one of the birds fell headlong 
 in a neighboring thicket, and the other continued his flight out of the 
 reach of harm. 
 
 " Gosh ! you 've got him, Massa Dick," cried Peez. " Fetch him, 
 Hal ! Go for him, boy ! " and the old dog bounded forward like a 
 veteran, and soon after emerged from the thick brush with a long- 
 billed beauty held lightly in his teeth. In this manner the day wore 
 on, the young sportsmen having succeeded in shooting four woodcock 
 and a brace of quail. It was now time for luncheon. The exercise of 
 the morning had made both of Dick's cheeks burn with a crimson 
 glow, while Peez's countenance also was undoubtedly in the same 
 wholesome condition, if one could but look under his black skin. 
 
 The boys chose the trunk of an immense chestnut which had fallen 
 across their path, for their dinner-table. Here they unfolded the tiny 
 parcel which Amanda had prepared, and never before did cold corn- 
 beef and bread and butter taste better. From time to time they 
 treated the old dog with some delicate morsels, so that, after their 
 half-hour's rest, the whole party felt entirely refreshed. 
 
 It was two o'clock, and it was tune to think of returning. They 
 were on an elevated and thickly-wooded plateau, some two miles from 
 where they had left Prince and the yellow chaise. The path, down
 
 148 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 which they were to retrace their steps, was entangled and rough ; and 
 several stone walls and awkward rail-fences were to be encountered be 
 fore they could reach the bars. Each of the boys loaded his gun, to 
 be ready for any game he might encounter ; and so they turned their 
 faces once more in the direction of the little house by the roadside. 
 ^ Dick walked a bit in front of 
 
 the dog, followed closely by 
 Peez, who carried on his back 
 some extra weight in the shape 
 of a shot -pouch and a spare 
 powder-flask. 
 
 They had successfully accom 
 plished two thirds of their jour 
 ney, when there occurred a most 
 distressing accident, the result 
 of which was, not only to de 
 finitely settle the vexed question 
 of Dick's choice of profession ; 
 but also to completely change 
 the whole aspect of life at Rey- 
 don House. They had reached the spot where the woodchuck hung 
 suspended from the tree. Dick, being in advance, detached him from 
 the limb, and went on towards the last rail-fence, where both the boys 
 paused a moment. Peez got over first, so as to take from Dick the 
 different articles which constituted their luggage. The woodchuck 
 was safely landed first. Then came the birds and the ammunition. 
 After these, Dick's valuable gun was poked over to Peez, who carefully 
 received and deposited it in a safe place. 
 
 " There, Peez, now take your old shooting-iron," said Dick, hand-
 
 A CRISIS. 
 
 149 
 
 ing up the ancient fowling-piece. " I '11 buy you a new one, some 
 day." 
 
 " Oh, Massa Dick, she 's good yet. I killed the most birds with 
 her, any how ; did n't I ? " 
 
 " That 's so ! " said Dick. " Take care she 's loaded, you know ! " 
 Peez took the gun by the muzzle and began pulling it through the 
 rails and tangled brush without much care. The hammer got caught, 
 and by some unlucky accident exploded the cap, discharging the whole 
 
 contents into the chest 
 
 [i ' < ' 
 
 and shoulders of poor 
 Peez, who was thrown 
 by the concussion sev 
 eral feet, and lay on his 
 back bleeding and ap 
 parently lifeless. Noth 
 ing could have been 
 more unfortunate. The 
 boys were yet a good 
 half mile from the road. 
 The path, although down 
 hill, was strewed with 
 rocks and fallen trees. 
 Peez was utterly helpless, 
 and, for aught Dick 
 knew, was dead, and there was no way either of obtaining relief foi* 
 him, or of conveying him to a spot where he could be cared for. All 
 these facts presented themselves to Dick the instant the shot was 
 fired. He leapt over the fence like a fairy, and ran to the spot where 
 Peez lay bleeding and moaning. The line of the shot seemed to have
 
 150 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 been at an angle with the body, and had torn away the shoulder, and 
 partly lodged itself in the right breast. If it had taken effect full 
 in front, it must have killed the boy outright. Dick knelt down and 
 placed his hand on Peez's heart to ascertain if it were throbbing. 
 This he found to be the case, but his eyes were half closed, and his 
 whole body was convulsed from time to time. 
 
 Blood was oozing from his wounds, and altogether Dick was at his 
 wits' end to know what to do. 
 
 " Are you dead, Peez ? Open your eyes, boy ! Tell me if you 
 know me ! " Dick would ejaculate from time to time, while he carefully 
 undid his clothing in order to discover the extent of his injuries. 
 When the breast and shoulder were laid bare, they presented a sicken 
 ing appearance. A great portion of the muscle was a mass of gore, 
 while ugly wounds in the chest suggested the grievous and desperate 
 condition of the poor black boy. 
 
 Dick first endeavored to staunch the flowing of the blood with his 
 handkerchief, but this was not sufficient. He then had no other re 
 source but to tear the lining from his coat, and with this, and Peez's 
 *-own handkerchief, he managed to arrest the hemorrhage in some de 
 gree. All this while Peez gave but few signs of life. A low groan 
 from time to time, and a convulsive shudder, were the only symptoms 
 that life was still in him. Dick hallooed for help, but it was an use 
 less task, situated, as they were, in such dense woods. 
 
 What was to be done ? It would not do to leave Peez in this help 
 less condition and go for assistance, because he might die before his 
 return. This was indeed a sorry plight for poor Dick, who, as he went 
 about, was unable to refrain from tears, out of apprehension for his 
 poor comrade's safety. 
 
 " What can I do ? " he repeated to himself. " I can't and won't
 
 A CRISIS. 
 
 161 
 
 leave poor Peez here. I '11 get him to the little cottage, if I die. I '11 
 just shoulder him down to the bars. It 's too bad that I 'in all alone 
 here, but I '11 do it, you see if I don't ! " Talking thus to this imag 
 inary person, which seemed to give him a strange sort of comfort, 
 Dick raised his wounded friend in his strong and youthful arms 
 and dragged his almost life 
 less body over the bowlders, 
 and mounds of decaying 
 vegetation, down towards the 
 little red house near the bars. 
 The dead weight upon Dick's 
 back became intolerable. 
 Nearly breathless, he man 
 aged at last to reach the crys 
 tal brook with his quivering 
 load. He could go no farther. 
 He laid poor Peez on its 
 brink, and rushing away into 
 the stream brought up in his 
 cap a quantity of its cooling 
 waters. With this he bathed 
 the black boy's fevered brow, 
 and moistened his parched lips. Peez opened his eyes after this re 
 freshment, and managed to articulate, " Thank you, Massa Dick." 
 
 " Wait here," cried Dick, as if the boy could move a muscle. " Don't 
 move, my boy ! I '11 return in a minute ! I must call somebody ! 
 Don't worry, Peez. I 'm coming right back ! " With that Dick ran, 
 we could almost say flew, towards the farm-house for assistance. 
 
 His agonizing tale brought to his aid the young farmer, who was
 
 152 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 closely followed by his kind-hearted wife and her sympathizing mother. 
 By their cooperation Peez was carried tenderly into the kitchen of the 
 cottage, and laid on the lounge just under the front windows, where 
 the blue lilacs and the yellow sunflowers were peeking in at him from 
 the outside. There the wounded boy lay, with his head resting on a 
 pillow, breathing heavily. 
 
 The young farmer consented to drive to Compton for a physician. 
 Meanwhile Dick stationed himself at the head of the couch, and ad 
 ministered to Peez soothing palliatives, and spoonfuls of brandy a*nd 
 water from time to time. The flow of blood was partially arrested, 
 or else the boy might have bled to death. But the case was so critical 
 a one, that everybody in the little kitchen who stood about the couch 
 of Peez feared that the physician would come too late. Dr. Possett 
 at length arrived, in company with Mr. Reydon, who had learned of 
 the accident, and hastened to the spot. It was first reported that 
 Dick was the sufferer, but the young farmer set the father's mind at 
 rest on that point. Yet he was greatly distressed to find that Dick's 
 companion, and Joshua's son, was in such grievous straits. 
 
 " What was the extent of the injury ? " was a serious question for 
 the Doctor to answer. It was found impossible to move the wounded 
 boy that night, so, as Dick refused to leave him, Mr. Reydon at last 
 decided to return to Compton, and then come back again in the morn 
 ing with an easy carriage, to be ready to transport the unfortunate 
 boy, if it were possible, to his own home. 
 
 The Doctor thought at first his arm must be amputated, and feared 
 also that as so many shot had penetrated the chest, some might even 
 have entered the cavity of the chest itself. Of this he could not be 
 sure until the swelling of the parts had somewhat subsided, and the 
 state of the patient was such as would make a more thorough examina 
 tion feasible.
 
 A CRISIS. 
 
 153 
 
 The surgeon dressed his shattered limb, and took from his breast 
 eight or ten shot, which could be reached with his probe. He found 
 no great artery severed, but several large veins had been terribly lacer 
 ated. Bandaged and bathed, with camphor to his nose and hot bottles 
 to his feet, the night closed in with the chances of Peez' living rather 
 poor. He had, however, returned to partial consciousness. The tall 
 clock in the corner of the kitchen went steadily on " tick-tacking," 
 while Dick and Dr. Possett watched the wounded boy, performing the 
 offices of nurse and surgeon, and anxiously awaiting the morning light. 
 At one time during 
 the night Dick felt ^ 
 
 sure that Peez was dy- 
 i n g , On awakening 
 from sleep he found 
 him in a terrible con 
 dition. His wounds 
 had broken out afresh. 
 A wan and death-like 
 pallor shrouded his 
 dark features. His 
 nostrils were distend 
 ed, and his puise was 
 extremely weak. Dick was frightened, and summoned Dr. Possett to 
 the couch. 
 
 " I fear Peez is dying," said the Doctor. 
 
 " Oh, Doctor, don't say so ! It can't be. My old playmate. 
 I can't let him die ! " 
 
 " Hold the hartshorn to his nose, while I try and staunch the blood/' 
 continued Dr. Possett.
 
 154 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 Dick obeyed, while the surgeon undid the bandages preparatory to 
 a new dressing. 
 
 It was an anxious half hour, during which the operation of binding 
 up the wounds went on. A single candle shed a sickly glow over the 
 head and shoulders of poor Peez, while the Doctor and Dick Reydon 
 bent over him. They had the satisfaction at length to see the boy 
 open his eyes, and a feeble smile illumined his friendly face as he 
 recognized Dick beside his pillow.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 UNRISE found the young sufferer in a piti 
 able condition. The day succeeding such 
 an accident as befell Peez Fitts is always a 
 most distressing one. Perfect consciousness 
 generally returns, and with it a realization 
 of lassitude, stiffness, and all the painful 
 helplessness attendant upon a grievous in 
 jury. Peez could scarcely raise his head from the pillow ; and for 
 fear of a fresh hemorrhage, his removal to Compton was considered 
 imprudent. 
 
 On the third day, however, the physician decided to make the at 
 tempt. To that 
 end the old fam 
 ily carriage of Mr. 
 Reydon was sent 
 for by Dick. A 
 mattr ess was 
 placed across the 
 seats of this, 
 upon which the 
 wounded boy lay. 
 Dick entered and
 
 156 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 sat beside him, while Joshua, his father (winking his eyes from time 
 to time, to rid them of big tears which would gather there), carefully 
 drove his precious load. It took two good hours for the carriage 
 to reach Amanda's little house. The best room was well aired, and a 
 fire put on the hearth to take off the chill. The checked counter 
 pane of the bed was carefully thrown back over the foot-board, and 
 poor Peez was at length safely deposited in the arms of Amanda, his 
 mother. 
 
 We will not dwell too long on the circumstances of this unfortunate 
 accident. It proved, however, to be the turning-point in the fortunes 
 of Dick Reydon. In the first place, Peez's condition was so delicate 
 and precarious that it took months before it was certain that he would 
 live. Inflammation of the lungs, attacks of erysipelas, and a sort 
 of slow fever, alternately threatened his existence. The connection 
 between these two boys was so unique, and their relations together so 
 peculiar, that the case must be judged on its own merits, and not 
 according to the general rules governing such matters. Nowadays, 
 and in large cities, such rather unnatural intimacies are impossible ; 
 but in towns like Compton, fifty years ago, they were not only pos 
 sible, but common. If circumstances had not been such as to have 
 constantly thrown the two youths together ; if Peez had not been 
 the son of Joshua, and Joshua had not been Mr. Reydon's coachman, 
 why then there would have been no lasting friendship between them, 
 and therefore no history to relate ; but the facts being as they were, 
 the story we are narrating follows as a matter of course. 
 
 As spring approached, it found Dr. Possett calling one day at Rey 
 don House, on Dick's mother. In the course of their conversation, 
 she asked the Doctor concerning Amanda's son.
 
 CONCLUSION. 157 
 
 " He is in a very critical condition, Mrs. Reydon," replied Dr. Pos- 
 sett. " If he had the means, I should certainly advise his taking a 
 sea-voyage, as the only thing I can see which may restore him to per 
 fect health. I presume, however, that such a course would be out of 
 the question on the score of expense ; so the poor fellow will have to 
 take his chances." 
 
 s 
 
 " It is very strange, Doctor," observed Mrs. Reydon, " the wonder 
 ful affection which our Dick has for Peez." 
 
 " I never saw anything like it," replied the Doctor. 
 
 " Ever since they were the smallest children, this intimacy has been 
 going on," said Mrs. Reydon. " But he is a fine boy, and I don't 
 know that I have the least objection to it. You know, Doctor, he is 
 the son of our coachman, and his mother, Amanda, is one of the best 
 of women, and has been our cook for the past fifteen years." 
 
 " Yes, I know it," answered Doctor Possett. " My son has told me 
 often how popular the black boy was among the youth of Compton ; 
 and also of his bravery and good conduct on several trying occasions." 
 
 " I mean to talk with Mr. Reydon, Doctor, and see if something 
 can't be done for poor Peez, if only for Dick's sake." 
 
 " A sea-voyage is the only thing which will save his life, mad'm," 
 said the Doctor, as he bade Mrs. Reydon good-morning, and got into 
 his C-spring chaise. 
 
 Dick found out what the physician had told his mother, which set 
 him to thinking very seriously about his own prospects. 
 
 The next morning, after breakfast, just as Mr. Reydon was pulling 
 on his well-blacked boots, which Joshua had brought from the kitchen 
 and placed on the rug before the fender, Dick lingered in the room, 
 and at last said, " Father, I 've decided at last what I want to do." 
 
 " Ah, my son ! " said Mr. Reydon, looking up rather astonished,
 
 158 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 while his fingers dallied in the straps, and his right foot was all ready 
 to be thrust into his boot. " What is your decision ? " 
 " I have decided to go to Canton, sir ! " 
 
 Mr. Reydon's eye lighted up with ill-concealed gratification at this 
 
 announcement, because he se 
 cretly desired his only son to 
 succeed him in his East India 
 business ; yet he determined 
 to allow matters to take their 
 course, and abide by whatever 
 Dick at last determined upon. 
 " This is a great and impor 
 tant move, the greatest of 
 your life," replied his father. 
 " Go and tell your mother 
 about it ! " 
 
 Mrs. Reydon had long feared 
 that this would be the ulti 
 mate result of Dick's cogita 
 tions, and so had nerved her 
 self to bear the announcement whenever he should make it. 
 
 All his mother did, when Dick ran up-stairs and told her his deci 
 sion, was to fold him gently in her arms and say, amid her sobbing, 
 " God bless you, my dear boy. I shall never stand in the way of what 
 is considered to be for your best good." 
 
 After this, the subject was freely talked about as a natural and in 
 evitable event. Dick was to start for Canton in the spring, in the Ann 
 and Hope, Captain Towers, which would sail from India Point, on 
 the first of April. He told his father that Peez must go with him.
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 159 
 
 Said he, " I can never leave Compton and all I hold so dear, without 
 my old playmate, Peez ! It will not only make me contented, but will, 
 I am sure, completely restore Peez to health again." This then was 
 also settled, and the time between the New Year and the date of sail 
 ing was taken up in the necessary preparations for so long and event 
 ful a separation. 
 
 When leaving home, every boy, who has an affectionate mother, will 
 remember how untiring she was in her exertions to make him comfort 
 able ; how early she arose, and 
 how late she went to bed, in 
 her anxiety to neglect nothing 
 which might add to her son's 
 comfort. Dick's mother was 
 one of the most loving, old- 
 fashioned, and devoted of 
 parents. From day to day 
 she, with her maid, quietly 
 gathered together a heap of 
 articles which Dick might 
 find both necessary and com 
 fortable in his foreign resi 
 dence. 
 
 Double sets of under-cloth 
 ing marked with his initials, R. L. R., and dozens of socks and woollen 
 mittens, if it should be cold in China. Besides all these, a little 
 calico bag, containing oceans of needles and pins, tape and buttons, 
 thread and bees-wax, a thimble and a pair of scissors, an emery bag 
 and a pincushion. This convenient reticule was a peculiarly thought 
 ful and mother-like present. Whenever Dick made use of it in the far-
 
 160 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 off chamber of his Eastern home, tears would fill his eyes at thought 
 of the donor. 
 
 A solid leather trunk was purchased in New York, which was just 
 fitted to go under the berth in his little cabin in the Ann and Hope. 
 Peez sat up now every day, and already exhibited signs of ultimate re 
 covery. He counted the hours when, as Dick's body-servant, he might 
 be of service in his final preparations. There were no ocean steamers 
 when Dick Reydon went to Canton. Every journey by sea was made 
 in sailing-vessels, and voyages, which now are accomplished in forty 
 days, then occupied more than three times that number. Besides, there 
 was comparatively so little foreign traveling then, that the fact of a 
 young man's starting off for Canton was a great event in Compton. 
 
 All sorts of good people called upon Mrs. Reydon with recipes for 
 sea-sickness, and medicine suitable for an East Indian climate. One 
 old lady brought a small bag of camphor, which was to be hung 
 around Dick's neck to ward off the cholera ; another left a strip of 
 red flannel, to be wrapped about his body as a preventive against Afri 
 can fever ; and, finally, a neighbor's child left at the door a piece of 
 alum in a paper for " Mr. Richard, when he had canker." 
 
 All these offerings were tender expressions of regard, which the 
 friends and townspeople in Compton felt for Dick Reydon. 
 
 The list of people, upon whom he was to call before he sailed, began 
 to assume alarming proportions. 
 
 The Ann and Hope was one of those old-fashioned, bulging, slow- 
 sailing crafts, of great carrying capacity, which ploughed the ocean 
 fifty or sixty years ago. Speed was not so much an element of 
 mercantile success in those days. The old East Indiaman of half a 
 century ago took her own time to get home, but when she did arrive,
 
 CONCLUSION. 161 
 
 she brought a big cargo of teas and preserves, worth a fortune to 
 her owners. 
 
 One day Dick and his father went down to India Wharf to in 
 spect the ship. She was in all the hurry and turmoil of cleaning and 
 painting. Decks were being caulked, masts scraped, and ship-carpen 
 ters, as thick as flies, were all over her decks and cabins. The state 
 rooms where the two boys were to live for so many weeks and months 
 opened out of the cabin. Dick had one to himself, while Peez was to 
 sleep in an adjoining apartment. To be sure, these rooms were not large 
 enough to " swing a cat," as the expression is, still, they were the 
 best the ship afforded, and * of course they were forced to be contented 
 with them. The odor of bilge-water and tar pervaded the whole 
 atmosphere, while the cabin itself, where their meals were to be taken, 
 seemed to be no larger than Dick's mother's pantry. The prospect 
 was somewhat depressing, but Mr. Reydon laughingly told his son that 
 before he reached Canton he would think it a palace. After this first 
 visit to the ship, Dick repeated it often, until he conceived quite an af 
 fection for her, and looked forward to his coming experience with a 
 degree of delight. The day of their departure was fast drawing near. 
 The ship was hauled out from the pier where she had lain so long, 
 and was anchored in deeper water and over the bar. 
 
 The evening before the day when the heir of Reydon House was to 
 leave for Canton was occupied, as all such evenings are, in packing 
 trunks, bidding good-by to calling friends, and in disjointed conversa 
 tion. First, his mother would, perhaps, ask him if she should pack in 
 his trunk the old pair of shoes which had lain so long in his ward 
 robe. ' Then somebody would call him down-stairs to kiss him farewell 
 and present him with a pincushion. Then some little boy would ring 
 at the door and ask Dick to send him home some Chinese fire-crackers 
 11
 
 162 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 and dragon kites. And, finally, his father would button-hole him and 
 impress upon him the necessity of communicating with Messrs. Kuhner 
 and Bowles, Reydon & Co.'s bankers, the moment the ship anchored at 
 Whampoa. 
 
 It was arranged that Dick was to enter the house of Reydon and 
 Company in Canton as a clerk. He was to be advanced from time to 
 time, as he showed capacity, until he reached the age and experience 
 which would entitle him to become a partner of the house. This 
 arrangement had been made by Mr. Reydon with his correspondents, 
 and sent out by the mail which preceded the sailing of the Ann and 
 Hope. All things were thus fully prepared', and the sun arose on the 
 
 first of April of that year, which was to usher in a day of marked 
 importance to the Reydon household. 
 
 The breakfast that morning was a frugal one; the heart of each 
 member of the family was so full that the calls of hunger were un 
 noticed. Joshua had taken the boys' luggage to the ship the day be 
 fore, so that nothing remained to be transported but the parties most 
 interested. Mrs. Reydon clasped her son to her bosom, and wept in 
 silent grief. Putting into his hand a small Bible, she tore herself away
 
 CONCLUSION. 163 
 
 and fled to her chamber. Mr. Reydon, unable from his emotion to 
 articulate a word, put on his over-coat and beckoned to his son to 
 enter the carriage. Poor Peez was already in his place, covered with 
 shawls and lap-robes. He was slowly convalescing, and by express 
 command of Mr. Reydon, drove down to the ship in the family 
 carriage. The wharf at India Point was reached. Joshua, with the 
 aid of sailors, carried Peez in his arms down the stairs, and placed 
 him in the little boat which was to convey them to the ship, and which 
 now lay tossing up and down on the uneasy waves. 
 
 Mr. Reydon silently took his position beside the young men. Two 
 stalwart tars rowed them out into the stream, and down to the huge, 
 black leviathan which lay riding at anchor off the Point. It was a 
 matter of some difficulty for Peez, weak as he was, to mount the 
 ladder and climb over the bulwarks. He was soon, however, stowed 
 away in his bunk, while Dick ascended to the deck and took his father 
 in his arms for the last time for many years. As he watched the little 
 boat containing what he held so dear recede farther and farther from 
 the ship, he buried his face in his handkerchief, and went down to 
 the cabin overcome with grief. 
 
 Many months elapsed before the family in Compton received any 
 tidings from Dick Reydon. A welcome letter at length arrived, giv 
 ing most cheering news of the two youthful travelers. This epistle, 
 among other things, conveyed the pleasing intelligence that no sooner 
 had Peez gotten fairly out to sea than he began to gain strength. He 
 was on deck before a week was over, and when he arrived at Wham- 
 poa, lie seemed as hale and hearty as ever. 
 
 In regard to himself, Dick wrote that he was perfectly well during 
 the entire passage ; that when he arrived in Canton he was hospitably
 
 164 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 entertained by Mr. Redburn, the principal of the house out there ; 
 and was immediately assigned a position in the company's office, the 
 duties of which were interesting to him and easily performed. He 
 said that everybody liked Peez. The Chinese, who were unused to the 
 sight of a negro, thought he must be a wizard of some kind. The 
 company already made use of his services. He was therefore under 
 good pay, with a chance of promotion. He attended to all of Dick's 
 wants, knew as much about Dick's duties as he did himself, and was 
 promised the situation of confidential clerk in the near future. All 
 these tidings from Dick were most acceptable to the lonely parents at 
 home, as they sat together in the little sitting-room, whose walls were 
 papered with pictures of Chinese fishermen and tea-merchants, busied 
 in the various operations of their professions. 
 
 As months and years passed away, their old hearts were cheered by 
 news of the regular advancement of their son, and at last of his ad 
 mission as junior partner in the house of Reydon and Company. 
 
 Old Mr. Reydon's heart was full when this intelligence first reached 
 him, for now he was assured that the house and business in which he 
 took so much pride, and which had come down to him from his father, 
 would be carried on to still greater mercantile triumphs under the 
 direction of his clever and accomplished son. 
 
 Dick's parents thanked Heaven that they were permitted to rear so 
 fine a specimen of manhood, and one who promised to grace the so 
 ciety in which he moved. 
 
 Joshua and Amanda, too, were equally exultant as the good news of 
 their own son reached them. " Because," Amanda said, " she knew 
 that whatever helped Massa Richard would sartainly light on Piazzer 
 too ! "
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 165 
 
 Ten years had passed away since the events last narrated. Affairs 
 in Compton had altered a good deal. Its population had increased, and 
 the boys of sixteen years old had become men. Mr. and Mrs. Reydon 
 were also ten years nearer old age than when Dick and Peez sailed for 
 Canton in the Ann and Hope. The business of the house of Reydon 
 and Company, both in Canton and in America, continued to prosper. 
 
 Mr. Reydon was anxiously looking for the day when he should wel 
 come his only son home once more, as a man and his partner in 
 business. 
 
 One beautiful morning in early June when the leaves and the birds 
 were in their best array, the small steamer, which ran on Compton 
 River, came sailing up the bay. On her upper deck stood two stran 
 gers, who were scanning, with much curiosity, everything on the 
 shores. One of these individuals was a tall, erect young man, of 
 seven-and-twenty. He was enveloped in a cloak, and had a slouched
 
 166 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 hat on his head. The other was a fine-looking negro of about the 
 same age. The two men conversed together in familiar conversation. 
 As the little steamer approached nearer and nearer to Compton, they 
 both were visibly affected by the sights which greeted them on either 
 shore. 
 
 " See ! " said one of them, pointing to some decayed and leafless 
 trunks. " There are the very trees, Master Kichard, where I hung 
 when we went hawk-nesting. It seems but yesterday when all this 
 occurred, and there are the spires in the dear old town ! " 
 
 It was indeed Dick Reydon and Peez Fitts who were returning after 
 their ten years' absence from home and country. These years had 
 sobered both of them, but there was still the same light dancing in 
 their eyes as of yore, and the same amount of energy lay quietly 
 within, ready to manifest itself if occasion required. 
 
 The steamer at length touched the wharf, and instantly Dick lay 
 sobbing like a child in the arms of his father, while Joshua and 
 Amanda covered their own son with a thousand kisses. 
 
 Oh, happiest of all moments ! that of reaching home after a long 
 absence, to find the nearest and the dearest alive and well ! 
 
 Dick Reydon's arrival in Compton was known to everybody that day 
 before the sun went down. The parlors of Reydon House swarmed 
 with old friends and relations, to greet the wanderers. Wine flowed 
 on this occasion as it never did before, Mr. Reydon's cellars giving 
 forth their richest treasures of sherry and Madeira with lavish hospi 
 tality. 
 
 Before bidding farewell to the dear friends whom we have seen grow 
 up from boys to men, we feel impelled to say a few words concerning
 
 CONCLUSION. 167 
 
 several other characters who have appeared from time to time in these 
 pages. 
 
 Pete Smart had graduated from Harvard College many years before. 
 He had taken a high position in his class ; had become practicing at 
 torney in a neighboring city, with good promise of distinction. Eben 
 Tucker was a large jobber in dry goods. He was married, and his 
 children were already old enough to clamber upon his knees and " rum 
 ple up " his shaggy locks. Of Dick's other companions at Miss Kam- 
 lin's school, only one Dan Kaf ee had died. Many others were 
 either mothers and fathers of families or held lucrative positions in 
 different parts of our great country. Mike Taggart, Dick's former 
 antagonist, had grown up into an able-bodied and good-hearted fellow. 
 Dick had taken pleasure in securing for him the position of porter in 
 the great house of Reydon and Company, and there was nothing that 
 Mike would n't do for him in return for his magnanimity. 
 
 One day, not long after their arrival, there was a grand dinner at 
 Reydon House. Dick sat at his father's right hand, with Peez Fitts 
 behind his chair. Among the guests were Pete Smart and Eben 
 Tucker. His old friend, Miss Lucy Bingham, the prettiest girl in 
 Compton, was also one of the merry company. They had a royal 
 time, living over again those old days when they all went to Miss 
 Kamlin's school, and indulged in uproarious bursts of laughter, re 
 counting the various exploits of that never-to-be-forgotten era, es 
 pecially the grand trial at Tuxet before Mr. Justice Miller. After the 
 cloth was removed, and before the ladies left the table, Pete Smart 
 arose from his seat, and, with a beaming countenance, said : 
 
 " Ladies and Gentlemen : With Mr. Reydon's kind permission, I 
 am about to propose a toast, in which I feel sure all the glad friends
 
 168 
 
 TWO COMPTON BOYS. 
 
 before me will join. It is a great privilege to have been the life-Ion <> 
 friend of the gentleman who has lately returned to his native land, 
 and in whose honor this dinner is given. During all these years I can 
 truly say what, unhappily, we cannot assert of all our friends in this 
 world, that I never knew him to do a mean, ungenerous, or unmanly 
 
 act. As a boy, he was ever 
 courageous and self-sacrific 
 ing ; and now that he has 
 returned to his home as a 
 man, I am certain that he 
 will give farther proof of 
 'these great qualities. To 
 say that he is a Compton 
 boy is saying a great deal, 
 and we all justly feel proud 
 of him. 
 
 " I find it impossible, how 
 ever, to give this toast, un 
 less I couple with our hon 
 ored guest another Compton 
 boy, who is his dear friend, 
 and, I am proud to say, mine as well. I refer to Peez Fitts, whose 
 name is only another synonym for fidelity and trustfulness. (Ap 
 plause.) Never ill-tempered, never cowardly, and always to be de 
 pended upon, we cannot forget him. (Here Peez, who was still 
 standing behind Dick's chair, bent his head with emotion.) 
 
 " Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, I express all I desire to say when 
 I give you as my toast, ' Our Two Compton Boys ; may they reap the 
 reward of their virtues.' "
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 169 
 
 (Shouts, clapping of hands, and clinking of glasses.) 
 
 And here we take leave of both our heroes. Time has already 
 whitened their locks, and laid his heavy hand upon their stalwart 
 forms ; but the hearts of both beat as fresh and as young as ever, and 
 both are as free from everything mean and sordid as they were at 
 that merry period when Dick went to Miss Kamlin's school, and Peez 
 waited outside for his little master. 
 
 The house of Reydon and Company continues its prosperous career. 
 Already another generation of Dicks have entered the partnership, and 
 a fresh crop of Feezes stand at their elbows ready to do their bidding. 
 
 And so it ever happens that fortune, influence, and lasting success 
 wait upon a truthful and courageous life.
 
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 Odd, or Even? $1.50. 
 
 Mrs. Whitney always writes with a purpose, and her 
 works go right down to the innermost soul cf all earnest 
 readers; and they can ? t help feeling strengthened and in 
 vigorated, and their souls called to duty as by the sound of 
 a trumpet. There is a breezy, hearty way with her, that 
 suggests the capable, clear-sighted, energetic woman ; and 
 her stories are of the highest and best order of fiction. 
 Louisville Courier-Journal. 
 
 Such books as hers should be in every household, to be 
 read, loaned, reread and reloaned, so long as the leaves and 
 covers will hold together, not holiday volumes for elegant 
 quiet, but stirring and aggressive works, with a " mission," 
 which is to make the world better than they find it. Bos 
 ton Commonwealth. 
 
 Mrs Whitney has succeeded in domesticating herself in 
 a great number of American homes. The purity, sweetness, 
 shrewdness, tenderness, humor, the elevated but still homely 
 Christian faith, which find expression in her writings, en 
 dear her to thousands. E. P. WHIPPLK. 
 
 J. G. WHITTIER. 
 Child Life. A Collection of Poems, 
 
 selected and edited, with an introduction, by 
 J. G, Whittier. Illustrated. Full gilt, $2.25. 
 
 Child-Life in Prose. Selected by J. 
 
 G. Whittier. Illustrated. Full gilt, $2 25. 
 
 These two books would constitute a library for any family 
 of children, the value of which they would never cease to 
 acknowledge. Parents who are forming little libraries for 
 their households will do well to begin with these, even if 
 their means forbid buying any others at present. Boston 
 A dvertiser. 
 
 For sale by all Booksellers. Sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt of price by the Publishers, 
 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO., BOSTON, MASS.
 
 THE BODLEY BOOKS. 
 
 THIS series of books consists of five volumes, each independent of the others, but since the 
 characters are the same in all there is a natural connection between them, and the order of 
 their appearance indicates also the gradual growth of the children who make up the younger 
 members of the Bodley Family. The series is as follows : 
 
 I. DOINGS OF THE BODLEY FAMILY IN TOWN AND COUNTRY. 
 
 This contains some of the doings of Nathiin, Philippa, and Lucy Bodley, their father and 
 mother, the hired man Martin, and Nathan's Cousin Ned, upon their removal from Boston 
 to Roxbury. It introduces, also, Nathan's pig, the dog Neptune, Lucy's kitten, Lucy's doll, 
 Mr. Bottom the horse, chickens, mice; it, has stories told to the children by their parents, 
 by Martin, and by each other. Martin's brother Hen is referred to occasionally. 
 
 II. THE BODLEY S TELLING STORIES. 
 
 In this book Nathan's cousin, Ned Adams, a young oolk'giau, is shown as much of the 
 time living with his cousins, and Nurse Young becomes a part of the family. The children 
 are entertained with a good many stories, especially from American history; they have a 
 Mother Goose party, and go on a journey to Cape Cod. Hen remains in the background. 
 
 III. THE BODLEY 'S ON WHEELS. 
 
 The family enter a carryall and drive, accompanied by Ned on horseback, along the coast 
 of Massachusetts Bay from Boston to Gloucester, and thence, through Ipswich and Rowley, 
 to Newburyport, and so home again. Their drive leads them through historic places and by 
 spots made famous in poetry and legend. On their arrival home they find Martin's brother 
 Hen in the barn, just back from a long voyage. 
 
 IV. THE BODLEY S AFOOT. 
 
 Hen entertains the children with yarns, and, Ned Adams suddenly appearing, it is pro 
 posed that he and Nathan should take a walk to New York. They set out by Dedham and 
 the old road to Hartford, through Pomfret ; but at Hartford, where they stay a few days 
 with some old relatives, they are joined by Mrs. Bodley, Phippy, and Lucy, who go down 
 the Connecticut River with them to Saybrook, and then go back to Boston, leaving the boys 
 to continue their walk to New York. They are stopped, however, at New Haven, by a dis 
 patch from Mr. Bodley, which brings them back at once by rail. 
 
 V. MR. BODLEY ABROAD. 
 
 The reason of the dispatch is that Mr. Bodley is unexpectedly called to Europe, and in 
 this final volume of the series he goes abroad, while the rest of the family at first go for a 
 fortnight to Cape Cod, and then return to Roxbury. Mr. Bodley does not return till Thanks 
 giving time, but he writes letters home, and, after he returns, tells stories of Europe. The 
 children, besides, have their own journeys and adventures, so that Europe and America ap-
 
 pear in equal proportions. Mrs. Bodley, who stays at home, has been to Europe before, so 
 that she is able to enlarge on what Mr. Bodley writes home, and Hen, who has gone off on a 
 voyage, stumbles upon Mr. Bodley abroad, and comes back before him with fresh yarns. 
 
 The time of the five stories is about 1848-1852. 
 
 A NEW BODLEY SEEIES. 
 
 \ 
 
 It was intimated at the close of Mr. Bodley Abroad that the children might themselves go 
 to Europe when they had grown up. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that thirty years 
 after the days when they were Bodley children they had children of their own, and thus a 
 new series of adventures and stories have begun. Nathan and Phippy Bodley, having married 
 & sister and brother, are now the heads of families themselves, and a new career opens in 
 
 J. THE BODLEY GRANDCHILDREN 
 
 AND THEIR JOURNEY IN HOLLAND, 
 
 the first volume of the second series. In this volume the two families, with the grand 
 children, start from New York, after first making themselves acquainted with the doings of 
 their Dutch ancestors there in the days of New Amsterdam, and spend several weeks in 
 Holland, seeing sights, taking an object lesson in history, and especially making the connection 
 between American history and Dutch history. They are Americans visiting Europe not 
 merely for the pleasure of travel, but for the purpose of tracing back the footprints of their 
 ancestors. 
 
 II. THE ENGLISH BODLEY FAMILY. 
 
 After a summer spent in Holland, the grandchildren and their parents go to England with 
 their appetite whetted for new feasts in historic fields. By a singular chance they fall in with 
 an English family bearing the name of Bodley. Their long-lost ancestors have been found, 
 and the descendants of these ancestors, though very distant cousins, prove to be hospitable 
 and friendly. The autumn is spent in historic pilgrimages, and the connection between 
 English and American life, as discovered by youngsters of both nations, gives an interna 
 tional character to the story. 
 
 The time is the summer and autumn of 1881. 
 
 m. THE VIKING BODLEYS. 
 
 The family party, with the exception of their Cousin Ned, after a winter spent in Italy, 
 return to England and cross the North Sea to Christiania. They go as far north in Norway 
 as anybody can go, and then return after having done their best to discover their Viking an 
 cestors among the fjords of Norway. From Christiania they go to Copenhagen, visit the 
 haunts of Andersen and enjoy Denmark. They have now, after seeing Scandinavia, got at 
 the earliest European life which was connected with America, and they return home, never 
 a^ain to set forth on their rambling journeys. This is the last of the Bodleys.
 
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