James Otis

“ Bob cried in astonishment, pressing forward as if thinking the wrappings, which was all that had been left behind, might give some clew to the whereabouts of the provisions.
“What’s the matter?” Josiah asked from the top of the companion-way, it not having yet been possible for him to descend because of the crowd at the foot of the stairs.
“Matter!” Bob wailed; “why, somebody’s gone an’ stole everything while we was on deck; an’ how they coulder got away is what puzzles me! There ain’t so much as a single peanut left!” ”

“ The tears were too near his eyelids to permit of speech without giving them an opportunity to flow, and he paid no attention to his best clothes as he took Towser in his arms and kissed him again and again.
Every thump of the dog’s tail against his side seemed like a reproach because he was willing to go away even for so short a time; and when, with many a puff and hiss, the steaming engine brought the long train of cars to a standstill, the traveler could not even bid his father adieu.
[Pg 17]
“Be a good boy, Josiah; don’t get into mischief; and I’ll come for you bright and early Saturday.” ”

“ He was happier now than he had been on the Monday morning previous; for, although charmed to a certain degree with the city, he preferred to live in the country, and was decidedly impatient to be at Berry’s Corner again, where there would be no danger of another arrest.
Life in New York no longer had any charms for him. He had seen Bob and Tom at work, and felt certain that next summer when called upon to weed the long rows of carrots, the task would [Pg 229] seem less laborious as compared with theirs, and decidedly more pleasant. ”

“ Then Tom led the way up Chatham Street, and Josiah saw the girl of whom he was at that moment thinking.
“Hello, Sadie, how’s trade?” Bob shouted.
“I haven’t sold a box this mornin’. It seems as if nobody needed matches; an’ I reckon I’ll have to go into the newspaper business, even if the boys are rough.”
“Does she ever make very much?” Josiah asked in a whisper, as they were approaching the child.
“No, an’ I don’t know what she’s goin’ to do when cold weather comes. Tom an’ me help her out as much as we can, an’ some of the other fellers chip in a little; but it’s tough for her just the same. ”

“ The city was so big, the throngs of people on the street so intent on their own business without apparently being able to bestow a thought upon others, and the noise so wearying and bewildering, that it would be very pleasant to stand once more by the side of the long, dusty road which stretched away in the distance, like a yellow ribbon between the green and nodding trees. ”

“ The heavy panting of the engines, the firemen’s hoarse commands, and the running to and fro of people who were pouring from the tenements of the court, made a most terrific din.
Here and there great fiery eyes stared out of the darkness, causing those who passed in front of them to look like shadowy giants, while the network of hose extending in every direction, and from which tiny streams of water were spurting, formed for the country boy a picture which was not less alarming than bewildering. ”

“ Tom asked quickly.
“I didn’t have it, else I should; but since I’ve been livin’ with Mother Hunter there ain’t any chance to get that much money ahead, ’cause she’s allers ’round by the time I’ve earned a nickle. I spoke ’bout it to show he wasn’t frightened of me then.”
“Now don’t get riled,” Bob said soothingly. “You know jest as well as we do, Sadie, that a feller like Bill wouldn’t want to have it told ’round the city that he’d been swellin’ down to Coney Island with a girl, and I can’t blame him.”
“It doesn’t seem to hurt Josiah very much.”
“It’s different with him; he don’t live here.” ”

“ Springing to his feet, it was several seconds before he fully realized where he was; and then the rays of the rising sun falling directly athwart the sleeping girl, served to clear from his mind the bewilderment caused by the sudden outburst.
Mother Hunter was awake, and, if such a thing could be possible, looked even more hideous than when asleep. ”

“ Bob and Tom had stopped to look at some of the other attractions; but Sadie kept very close to the boy from Berry’s Corner, for, since through him she had enjoyed herself as never before, it was but natural she should consider him a particular friend.
“She’s awful big, ain’t she?” Josiah said in what he intended should be a whisper; but the lady referred to had no difficulty in hearing the words, and smiled in a fat way upon the young visitor, in token of appreciation.
“Yes she is, an’ I do wonder how she can get ’round the streets. Ain’t her dress perfectly splendid? ”

“ Oh, dear,” she added with a long-drawn sigh, “it must be nice to have a home like real folks, same’s as Tom an’ Bob have got. They tell me yours beats theirs all out an’ out.”
“Well, I think myself it’s pleasanter,” Josiah replied, not wishing to say anything disparaging of his friends’ home, and yet eager that the Shindle [Pg 175] Farm should be given all the praise it deserved. “You see, there’s more room in the country, an’ folks ain’t packed so close together, besides, a feller can do what he wants to without bein’ afraid of gettin’ lost.” ”

“ Do you s’pose that fat woman [Pg 50] could be all alive, or was she blowed up the way we do toads out our way?”
“She was a truly woman,” Sadie replied. “I used to know where one of them kind of people lived, an’ she was so big she couldn’t hardly get into a hoss car. If you want to see a dime show that’s better’n this one, you oughter go up on the Bowery. All the boys say it’s just gorgeous.”
“When I sell my woodchuck skins I’ll go, an’ you shall come along too. We’ll stay all the afternoon, ’cause Bob an’ Tom’ll be with us, an’ I reckon they’ll want to see it as much as I do.” ”

“ There was no difficulty in finding Sadie.
She was standing where Josiah first saw her, and this time he did not hesitate to approach.
“Say, wouldn’t you like to go out to Berry’s Corner an’ live with father, an’ mother, an’ me?” he cried eagerly, as he halted in front of her, while Tom and Bob pressed close behind to hear every [Pg 244] word of the conversation. “I’m goin’ home to-night, an’ we’ll take you for a week, anyhow; then perhaps mother’ll let you stay a good while longer. It’s ever so much nicer out there than it is in the city.” ”

“ Here, to the disappointment of his hosts, Master Shindle evinced neither surprise nor delight at what he saw.
“Don’t you think it’s great, up here?” Bob asked, after they had walked a long distance in almost perfect silence, save for the crunching of nut-shells as they extracted the meat.
“Yes, oh yes,” Josiah replied. “It’s good enough for a field, I s’pose; but it seems to me they’d make more money to put it in crops, than lay all this land down to grass, an’ I notice they don’t pick the rocks out. ”

“ It was with the greatest reluctance that he drew from his small hoard a dime, and, holding it between his thumb and finger as if unwilling to part with it, asked:—
“What do I get when I give you this?”
“Get? Why you have the chance of seein’ all there is here. What more do you want?” and without further ceremony the alleged collector took the money from Josiah’s fingers, walking rapidly away.
“Look here!” the latter shouted. “S’pose’n somebody else comes ’round collectin’ ten-cent pieces, how’ll they know I’ve paid?” ”

“ The good man wiped his forehead vigorously as if excessively warm, and said in a tone of mingled bewilderment and regret:—
“I wish you hadn’t told me this, Josiah, till you had talked with mother. I was countin’ on seein’ a good bit of the city to-day; but somehow your story has taken all the fun outer me.”
“Why not carry her home with us, father? If [Pg 242] mother isn’t willin’ she needn’t stay any longer’n Tom an’ Bob did, an’ the poor little thing will be jest so much the better for havin’ a chance to live two or three days like decent folks.” ”

“ What do you want to do, Josiah?”
“I’m satisfied jest to walk ’round. There’s no place to go without spendin’ a lot of money.”
“But we’re doin’ the whole figger this time. Tom an’ Bill an’ me can come down any day, while you can’t; so we’ve made up our minds you shall get all that’s goin’, an’ we’ll hold back.”
[Pg 146]
“But I don’t want to do anything of the kind,” and Josiah looked distressed. “There’s no need of spendin’ more money, an’, besides, I wouldn’t go into what you fellers couldn’t share.”
“Don’t mind ’bout us. We’ll look out for ourselves. What do you want to do?” ”

“ Bob said decidedly. “You haven’t earned any money, an’ that old woman’ll jest about break you all to pieces if you don’t give her a cent. I fixed it with mother, an’ you can get along without a reg’lar bed.”
“I guess I can,” Sadie replied promptly. “It’s been so long since I knew how it felt to sleep in [Pg 168] one, that I shouldn’t get on very well if I had a bed all to myself.”
While the three were talking, Tom returned breathless from long running, and was on the point of announcing that their friends did not arrive on the last boat, when he caught a glimpse of those who had been lost. ”

“ There were many pennies in Josiah’s hoard; and after these had been placed in the well-worn calf-skin, and the whole stowed snugly in the inside pocket of his coat, a stranger might have fancied he was slightly deformed; but this, according to the young traveler’s ideas, was rather a pleasing addition, since, if the true nature of the protuberance was discovered, he would be looked upon as a capitalist. ”

“ Farmer Shindle said hesitatingly, “there’ll be plenty of room for you daytimes, an’ I reckon we’ll manage to have all you can eat; but I don’t know as to stowin’ you away at night. We’ll have to talk with mother ’bout that.”
“Don’t you worry for us,” Bill replied without hesitation. “We’ll fix ourselves, an’ all you’ve got [Pg 238] to do is to have the farm right where it was when Tom an’ Bob was out there.”
“Did you invite all these boys to visit with you, Josiah?” the farmer asked in a whisper ”

“ At all events, instead of dismissing the young pleader, as probably would have been done under other circumstances, he condescended to argue with him.
“Do you think when an arrest has been made that we can let the prisoner go, or keep him here, just as we please?”
“What’s to hinder?”
“The station-house is only intended for the reception of prisoners during the night, until they can be taken to court; and when a person is committed, it is necessary for us to show him up in the morning, or get ourselves into trouble.”
“But what’s the sense of keepin’ Josiah when he oughter go home?” ”

“ Sadie whispered when they were comparatively alone. “I never [Pg 46] was in here but twice before, an’ I’d be perfectly happy if I could always eat in such a fine place.”
“You ought to come out to the farm an’ see how mother gets supper,” Josiah said proudly. “We always have clean table-cloths, an’ the dishes ain’t so heavy’s these; though I don’t know but the more they weigh the more they cost,” he added reflectively.
Then he described to her his home at Berry’s Corner; told her of Towser and the pet calf, until once more the sickness for home assailed him. ”

“ Shindle laid down rules governing his conduct during the six days he was to be absent from the farm.
“Don’t run around in the grass and get your feet wet, unless you change your stockings at once; and be sure to do exactly as Mrs. Bartlett tells you. Don’t wade in the brooks; and you must not wear Tom’s mother’s life out bringing home all sorts of wild animals, as you do here. It is very well to have woodchucks, crows, and foxes in the country; but in the city, where there is so much less room to move around, it will be terribly unhandy.”
Josiah promised faithfully to heed these injunctions ”

“ Bob suggested. “If you an’ Tom wanter go off, I’ll stay here an’ wait for ’em; we’ll kinder split the thing up so’s you won’t lose a great deal of the sport.”
“There’s no fun if the whole crowd ain’t together,” Master Foss replied with the air of one who is determined to feel thoroughly miserable, and he seated himself in a martyr-like fashion on the edge of the board walk.
During the next five minutes he allowed his [Pg 154] friends to see how unhappy they had made him, and then began grumbling once more.
“We might jest as well go home, an’ a good deal better’n to set ’round here. ”

“ Bill asked proudly, as he approached Josiah.
“Think of what?”
“This crowd. I reckon your father’ll be ’bout tickled to death when we give three cheers the minute he steps off the cars. Folks’ll think he’s the Governor by the time we get through yellin’.”
“But I don’t b’lieve the people at the station will want you screechin’ ’round there.”
“They’ll have to be mighty smart if they can stop us after we once get started. I’ve figgered the whole thing out, same’s it’s done when a politician [Pg 232] comes inter town, an’ you needn’t be ’fraid but we’ll do it right up in style.” ”

“ Bill’s instructions to his subordinates could hardly be mistaken, so simple and expressive were they.
[Pg 210]
“Keep right on huntin’ till you find ’em, an’ then come down to Dick Murray’s stand where I’ll be waitin’. Don’t let them know you wanter get hold of ’em; but scoot back so’s all hands of us can do the rest of the job. We need the whole crowd, ’cause there ain’t less’n five in their gang.”
Being unacquainted with the city, Josiah was allowed to remain with the leader of the forces; and when the scouts had set out, Bill conducted the boy from Berry’s Corner to the rendezvous. ”

“ Bill said when Tom explained why he could not invite the party into the house.
“But he ain’t thinkin’ of goin’ home till night,” Master Bartlett replied in surprise.
“I know that; but we wanter go down to the ferry with him. You know a lot of us are countin’ on visitin’ his farm next summer, an’ it won’t do any harm if we see the old man.”
“But look here, Bill, you mustn’t foller us [Pg 228] ’round all day, for I don’t b’lieve Mr. Shindle would like it.”
“Oh, we don’t ’low to do that. Jest wanter get ’quainted with the farmer. We’ll take a sneak when you come ’cross the ferry.” ”