James Otis

“ Gladys cried as she tossed the tiny dog in the air while he gave vent to an imitation growl. “Aunt Hannah and I have arranged it without so much as asking your permission. You two are to live here; Snip’s work is to enjoy himself with me, while you’re to make a garden, the like of which won’t be seen this side of New York. What do you think of settling down to being a farmer?”
“I’d like it mighty well, but it can’t be done.” And Seth gazed out through the open door, not daring to meet Miss Gladys’ startled gaze. ”

“ Then Seth stole softly into the shop, as if fearing to awaken the suspicion of the proprietor by a bold approach, and once inside, gazed quickly around.
Two or three early, unwholesome-looking apples and a jar of ginger cakes made up the list of eatables, and his decision was quickly made.
23“How many of them cakes will you sell for five cents?” he asked timidly of the slovenly woman who was embroidering an odd green flower on a small square of soiled and faded red silk. ”

“ Then Gladys’ voice was heard in the distance as she urged Snip on in his pursuit of a butterfly, and Aunt Hannah went quickly into the dwelling, leaving Seth gazing after her wistfully as he muttered:
“I never believed there was such a good woman in this world!” ”

“ The birds gathered on the branches above the heads of the sleepers, gazing down curiously and with many an inquiring twitter, as if asking whether this boy was one who would do them a mischief if it lay in his power, and the butterflies flaunted their gaudy wings within an inch of Snip’s eyes ”

“ Seth took up his station in the kitchen when other neighbors arrived, summoned most likely by Mr. Dean, and here Gladys joined him after what had seemed to the boy a very long time.
“How is she?” he asked when the girl came softly into the room as if thinking he might be asleep.
“Her hands and arms are burned very badly. Why, Seth, there are blisters as big as my hand, and Mrs. Dean says she suffers terribly; but the dear old woman hasn’t made the least little complaint.” ”

“ Then, speaking hurriedly lest she should interrupt him in what was an exceedingly difficult task, Seth told of the advertisement, of the counterfeit money he had unwittingly passed, and of his flight, aided by Teddy and Tim.
“I didn’t mean to do it,” he concluded, amid his sobs; “but I reckon I’d tried to get rid of it some time, ’cause I couldn’t afford to lose so much money. Of course they’ll put me in jail, if the detectives catch me, an’ if I should be locked up for ever so many years, won’t you let Gladys take care of poor little Snippey?” ”

“ Just then Snip was of far more importance in the eyes of Aunt Hannah’s niece than was his master, and after a hasty “good-morning” she ran away with the dog at her heels for the accustomed exercise before breakfast.
“Come in an’ wash your face, my dear. Breakfast will be cooked by the time you are ready to eat it, and such work as you are doing may as well be left until a more convenient season.”
Seth felt forced to obey this summons promptly; but he did not dare meet the little woman’s glance. ”

“ You mustn’t touch that animal, for nobody knows whether he may not be ferocious.”
The warning came too late. Gladys already had Snip in her arms, and as the little fellow struggled to lick her cheek in token of his desire to be on friendly terms, she said laughingly:
“You poor, foolish Aunt Hannah! To think that a mite of a dog like this one could ever be ferocious! Isn’t he a perfect beauty? I never saw such a dear!” ”

“ He had fully decided to tell all his story to the little woman who had been so kind to him, and was resolved that the unpleasant task should be accomplished at the earliest opportunity.
It was nearly noon; the good neighbors were at their own homes for a brief visit, and Gladys came from the foreroom, where she had been reading the daily paper aloud, saying to Seth:
“Aunt Hannah thinks I ought to run out of doors a little while because I have stayed in the house so long. There isn’t the least bit of need; but I must go, else she’ll worry herself sick. ”

“ With the first light of dawn he set about effacing so far as might be possible all traces of fire from the kitchen, and was washing the floor when Mrs. Dean came out from the foreroom.
“Well, I do declare!” she exclaimed in surprise. “Hannah Morse said you was a handy boy ’round the house, but this is a little more’n I expected. I wish my William could take a few lessons from you.”
“I didn’t count on gettin’ the floor very clean,” Seth replied modestly, but secretly delighted with the unequivocal praise. “If the oil and smut is taken off it’ll be easier to put things into shape.” ”

“ Seth cried sharply. “Don’t I tell you we two are the only friends each other’s got! I’d a good deal rather get along without things than let him go hungry, ’cause he wouldn’t know why I couldn’t feed him.”
“A dog is only a dog, an’ that’s all you can make out of it. I ain’t countin’ but that Snip is better’n the general run, ’cause, as Teddy Dixon says, he’s blooded; but just the same it don’t stand to reason you should treat him like he was as good as you.”
4“He’s a heap better’n I am, Tim Chandler! Snip never did a mean thing in his life, an’ he’s the same as a whole family to me.” ”

“ No light could be seen from the building; it was as if the place had been deserted, and such a state of affairs seemed more promising to Seth than any he had seen.
“If the people are at home, an’ we ask them to let us stay all night, we’ll be driven away; so s’pose we creep in there, an’ at the first show of mornin’ we’ll be off. It can’t do any harm for us to sleep in a barn when the folks don’t know it.” ”

“ It was Aunt Hannah who said, evidently in reply to a suggestion from Gladys:
“It is a pity and a shame to see a child like that poor little lame boy wandering about the country trying to find work, when he isn’t fitted for anything of the kind. ”

“ We can’t put the fire out with water; but I’ll soon smother it.”
“You needn’t bother about me, my child; but attend to the house! It would be dreadful if we should lose the dear old home!”
“I’ll get the best of this business in a jiffy; but it won’t do to give you a chance of bein’ burned.”
“There is no fire here now.” And Aunt Hannah 85threw back the rugs, despite Seth’s hold upon them, to show that the flames were really quenched. “For mercy’s sake, save the house! It’s the only home I ever knew, an’ my heart would be wellnigh broken if I lost it!” ”

“ Several days ago the gentlemen were notified by a professional brother in San Francisco that a client of his, lately deceased, had bequeathed to one Seth Barrows the sum of five thousand dollars. All the information that could be given concerning the heir was that he had been living with a certain family in Jersey City, and was now believed to be selling newspapers in this city. His age was stated as about eleven years, and he owed his good fortune to the fact that the dead man was his uncle.
“It is not a simple matter to find any particular street merchant in New York City ”

“ The poor little duffer don’t have much fun down at Mother Hyde’s while I’m workin’.”
“You might sell him for a pile of money, Limpy, an’ he’s a heap of bother for you,” the new-comer said reflectively, as he stroked the dog’s long, silken hair. “Teddy Dixon says he’s got good blood in him——”
“Look here, Tim, do you think I’d sell Snip, no 3matter how much money I might get for him? Why, he’s the only relation I’ve got in all this world!” and the boy buried his face in the dog’s white hair. ”

“ Crouching by the window, after having dressed himself, he gazed out over the broad fields that were bathed by the moonlight, and pictured to himself the 72pleasure of viewing them night after night with the knowledge that they formed a portion of his home. And then, such a revery being almost painful, he nerved himself for what was to be done by taking Snip in his arms. The dog was sleeping soundly, and Seth whispered in a voice which was far from being steady:
“It’s too bad, old man; but we can’t help ourselves. You’ll be sorry not to see Gladys when you wake ”

“ Where can Snip an’ I go? We’ve got to earn our livin’, an’ I don’t see how it’s to be done if we’re bound to hide all the time.”
“That’s easy enough,” and Tim spoke hopefully. “The city is a fool alongside the country, an’ I’m countin’ on your havin’ a reg’lar snap after you get settled down. When we land, you’re to strike right out, an’ keep on goin’ till you’re where there’s nothin’ but farms with milk, an’ pie, an’ stuff to eat layin’ ’round loose for the first feller what comes to pick ’em up. ”

“ Of course he wasn’t mine at first; but I’d like to see the chump who’d dare to say he belonged to anybody else! If you didn’t own any more of a home than you could earn sellin’ papers, an’ if nobody cared the least little bit whether you was cold or hungry, you’d think it was mighty fine to have a chum like Snip. You ought’er see him when I come in after he’s been shut up in the room all the forenoon! It seems like he’d jump out of his skin, he’s so glad to see 5me! I tell you, Tim, Snip loves me just like I was his mother! ”

“ As he ceased reading, Master Smith looked at his companions with a certain gleam of triumph in his eyes; but this expression quickly changed to one of severe reproof as he met Seth’s bewildered gaze.
“Sellin’ papers is good enough for me, though it ain’t a business that brings in any too much money,” he said sharply. “But I don’t keep a fancy dog, so the cost of livin’ ain’t so high.”
8“What does it mean?” Seth asked in a low tone, as he gazed alternately at Tim and Pip.
“Mean?” the latter replied scornfully. “I reckon you can answer that better’n we could. ”

“ Oh, you mean Snip? Why, he couldn’t harm anybody if he tried, an’, besides, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. He always barks when strange folks come near where I am, so’s to make me think he’s a watch-dog. Do you own this barn?”
“Yes—that is to say, it has always belonged to the Morses, an’ there are none left now except Gladys an’ me.” ”

“ A feller who would bother a good woman like Aunt Hannah deserves to be kicked. She’s made up her mind to give me a chance jest ’cause she thinks it’s something that ought’er be done; but I ain’t goin’ to play mean with her. ”

“ I s’pose they’re a good deal like dogs—all right after a feller gets acquainted with ’em.”
“Some cows are ugly, I suppose,” Gladys replied reflectively, taking Snip once more in her arms as 44the little fellow hung back in alarm when White-Face stopped to gather a tempting bunch of clover; “but Aunt Hannah has had this one ever since she was a calf, and we two are great friends. She’s a real well-behaved cow, an’ never makes any trouble about going into pasture. There, she’s in now, and all we’ve got to do is to put up the bars. By the time we get back breakfast will be ready. ”

“ I had pretty good clothes then, an’ didn’t have to work, ’cause I was too small.”
“Well,” the little woman said with a sigh, as if the exertion of talking had wearied her, “I don’t pretend to be able to straighten out the snarl; but I’m certain you are the boy spoken of in the newspaper story, for it isn’t reasonable to suppose that two lads of the same age have lately run away from New York because of an advertisement. The money must be yours, my dear, and instead of being a 106homeless wanderer, you’re quite a wealthy gentleman.” ”

“ Seth said, in a tone of faint remonstrance.
“It can’t be helped,” Teddy replied firmly, urging the hunted boy to a faster pace. “We ain’t goin’ to stand by an’ see you lugged off to jail while there’s a show of our doin’ anything. Keep your eye on Snip so’s he won’t bark, an’ we’ll look after the rest of the business.”
Even if Seth had been averse to running away from the possible danger which threatened, he would have been forced to continue the flight so lately 15begun, because of the energy displayed by his friends. ”