Sophie May

“ After this rebuke from Seth, Willy could not very well go on with his confessions; the heart was gone out of him, and he curled up, limp and quiet, like a caterpillar again.
"Meant to run away—did you?" went on Seth, who ought to have known better [Pg 213] than to pursue the subject; "to run away like a little dirty vagabond! You've nearly killed mother, I wish you to understand. You'll get a severe thrashing for this. I shall tell father not to show you any mercy."
"Come, now, don't kick a fellow when he's down," said Stephen. "Willy will be ashamed enough of this." ”

“ He thinks more of his country than you do; twice more, and risk it."
"That's so," cried Joshua Potter. "Fred says if there's another war, he won't go; he never'll stand up for a mark to be shot at, at eleven dollars a month!"
"O, for shame!" exclaimed the captain.
"Now you hush up," said Fred, reddening. "I was only in fun—of course I was! You needn't say anything, Will Parlin; a boy that has a Tory drum!"
"It's a good Whig drum as ever lived!" returned Willy. "But come, now, boys; will we have Jock Winter?"
It was a vote; and the Never-Give-Ups went over the river in a body to invite him. ”

“ There are some boys who pass off finely before strangers, because they are not in the least bashful, and have a knack of putting on any manner they choose; and Fred was one of these. Willy, a far nobler boy, was naturally timid before his betters; but even if he had been as bold as Fred, his conscience would never have let him say and do such untrue things. ”

“ Bad heart, though, or I wouldn't be so bad myself.
"Well, it's no use to think about badness or goodness now," said Willy, flinging another handful of grass into the road. "What'll I do? That's the question.
"You see, now, folks have such a poor opinion of boys," added he, his thoughts spinning round the same circle again. "Most wish I was a girl. O, my stars, what an idea!"
And completely disgusted with himself, he jumped up and turned a somerset.
"Better be whipped three times a day than be a girl! ”

“ The horse was old Dolly; and what if one of the men in the wagon should be his father?
No, it was only Seth and Stephen; but Seth was almost as much to be dreaded as Mr. Parlin himself. [Pg 210]
"You here, you young rogue?" called out Stephen, in a tone between laughing and scolding, for he would not have Willy suspect how relieved they were at finding him. "You here? And where's Fred?"
"Up to Harlow, to Mr. Diah's," replied Willy, and coolly climbed into the wagon.
"Better wait for an invitation. How do you know we shall let you ride?" said Stephen, turning the horse's head towards home. ”

“ Fred wouldn't care if I did; be glad, I s'pose. But, then, there's bears. Ugh! Pshaw! who's afraid of bears? And then there's mother—O, I didn't mean to think about mother!"
Willy sighed, but soon roused himself.
"Well, what'll I do? O, wasn't that a real poor breakfast the woman gave us? Don't see how I swallowed it! Makes me sick to think of it. Didn't taste much like mother's breakfasts! I don't want to go where I'll have to drink molasses in my coffee, and eat fatty potatoes too.
"And who'd take a little boy like me? Folks laugh at little boys—think they don't know a thing. ”

“ His mother had snipped his dark locks so they needn't look so much like a girl's; and then with his brown fur hat on, which his grandfather Cheever had sent from Boston, he looked in the glass and smiled at himself.
Do you wonder he smiled?
He had bright black eyes, red cheeks, and a rich, dark skin. He was a handsome little creature; but when he was tanned, his brother Stephen called him a "Pawnee Indian," which was a heavy joke, and sank deeper into Willy's tender soul than Stephen suspected. ”

“ He had merely ordered his colored servant, Pompey, to put a barrel of cider on the wheelbarrow, and take it to the muster-ground. Whether Pompey and Fred had selected this one for its age I cannot tell, but the boys all declared it was "as hard as a stone wall."
Dr. Hilton, who seemed to be everywhere at once, heard them say that, and exclaimed,—
"Then I wouldn't drink any more of it, boys. Hard cider does make anybody dreadful cross. Better let it alone." ”

“ It was very exciting,—I know that. There were plumes dancing, flags waving, cannons firing, men marching, boys screaming, dogs barking; and women looking on in their Sunday bonnets.
The "Sharp-shooters" and the "String Beans" were there from Cross Lots; the Artillery from Harlow; the "Pioneers," in calico frocks, with wooden axes, from Camden; and all the infantry and cavalry from the whole country round about.
Seth Parlin belonged to the cavalry, or "troop," and made a fine figure on horseback. Willy secretly wondered if he would look as well when he grew up. ”

“ Pompous boys are often mean-spirited and cowardly; they will browbeat those who are afraid of them; but those who look down on them and despise them, they hold in the highest esteem. Willy had never scrupled to tell Fred just what he thought of his conduct; and for that very reason Fred liked him better than any other boy in town.
But the Never-Give-Ups were growing decidedly noisy. After they learned that the cider was their own, they must drink more of it, whether they wanted it or not. ”

“ True, Fred could not play on it at all, and had to give it up to Willy; but it belonged to him all the same.
"Something's the matter with my lungs," said Fred, coughing; "and that's why those little holes plague me so; it's too hard work to blow 'em."
The boys looked at one another with wise nods and smiles. They did not like Fred very well; but he was always pushing himself forward: and when a boy has a great deal of self-esteem, and a brave suit [Pg 122] of clothes right from Boston, how are you going to help yourselves, pray? So Fred was captain, and Willy only a fifer. ”

“ She was a "business woman," and had many cares on her mind, but always found time to kiss and pet her children more than most people did, and much more [Pg 74] than Siller Noonin thought was really necessary.
"But, then," as Siller said, "their father never makes anything of them at all; so I suppose their mother feels obliged to do more than her part of the kissing."
"Mother, mother! what is it that is too true? How can anything be too true?" asked Willy, dancing across the hearth, and almost upsetting the dripping-pan in which Liddy had just made the gravy. ”

“ While the captain and the private were shooting sharp words back and forth, and Fred was busy drawing cider, Isaac Lovejoy, the rogue of the company, was very busy with his own mischief.
"Look here, Fred," said Joshua Potter, going up to the stall with a twinkle in his eye; "they don't ask but three cents a [Pg 141] mug, round at the other end of the barrel!"
"What do you mean by that?" cried the young cider merchant, looking up just in time to see Isaac Lovejoy marching off with the pitcher he had been filling from a hole in the barrel made with his jack-knife.
"Stop thief! Stop thief!" ”

“ You may talk about father as much as you've a mind to," said Willy, scowling; "for he no business to whip me so. He thinks boys are pretty near fools."
"That's just what my father thinks," returned Fred.
Whereupon the two boys were friends again, having got back to their one point of agreement.
"If I had a boy I wouldn't treat him [Pg 165] so,—now I tell you," said Willy, clinching his little fists. "I'd let him have a good time when he's young." ”

“ Children are not, as a general rule, very deeply concerned about the future. Birds of the air may have some idea where to-morrow's dinner is coming from; but these boys neither knew nor cared.
"First rate," remarked Fred, as the last doughnut disappeared. "But I don't know about going to sea. It's plaguy tough work climbing ropes, they say, and I heard of a [Pg 169] boy that got whipped so hard he jumped overboard."
"Let's not go, then," cried Willy.
"Catch me!" said Fred. "I've been thinking of the lumb'ring business. They make money fast as you can wink up there to the Forks." ”

“ Parlin; but somehow she couldn't; for her little Isaac was not half as good as Willy, though he hadn't been kissed much since he was big enough to go to school.
"Willy's grandpa Cheever has sent him a splendid present," said Mrs. Parlin; "it is a drum. His birthday will come next Wednesday; but when I saw him marching off with Freddy's flageolet under his arm, I really longed to give him the drum to-day."
"I dare say you did," said Mrs. Lyman, warmly. "We mothers enjoy our children's presents more than they enjoy them themselves." ”

“ But the moment Willy was promoted, and before they began to march, he "took the stump," and made a stirring speech in favor of Jock Winter.
"Now see here, boys," said he, leaning on his wooden gun, and looking around [Pg 131] him persuasively. "'All men are born free and equal.' I s'pose you know that? It's put down so in the Declaration of Independence!"
"O, yes! Ay! Ay!"
"Well, Jock Winter was born as free and equal as any of us; he wasn't born a hunchback. But see here: wouldn't you be a hunchback yourself, s'posing your father had let you fall down stairs when you was a baby? ”

“ Mr. Parlin had found, on going to his money-drawer, that he had lost ninety dollars.
"Strange!" said he; "I remember it was there all safe at six o'clock; for I saw it with my own eyes. It was spread in an old singing-book; and the singing-book is gone too." [Pg 36]
"Could anybody have taken it?" said Love. "Who was here last night?"
"O, I never leave a man alone in the bar-room," replied her father; "at any rate I didn't last night."
"Caleb would attend to that," said Mrs. Parlin; "he is more particular than you are, I think."
Willy looked up, with his black eyes full of questions. ”

“ Half of his mind was sleepy, and half of it very wide awake indeed. There was something so inspiring in Fred's confident tone. Rather misty his plans might be as yet; but hadn't Willy heard, ever since he could remember, that people were sure to succeed if they were only "up and doing?"
"Come, let's start," said he, rising eagerly, as the bell rang for nine. "If we are [Pg 172] going to the Forks we must go to Harlow first; I know that much."
And turning the corner at the left, the two wise little pilgrims set out upon their travels,—
"Strange countries for to see." ”

“ It was hard enough to lose [Pg 91] the medal; Willy thought a whipping would be more than he could bear, for it was always given with a horsewhip out in the barn; and the unlucky boy could never help envying the cows, as they looked on, chewing their cuds with such an air of content and unconcern. Cows never were punished, nor sheep either. Good times they had—that's a fact. Sheep wouldn't mind a real heavy horse-whipping, they were done up so in wool; but when a little boy had to take off his jacket, why, there wasn't much over his skin to keep off the smart. ”

“ When he reached Cross Lots it was the middle of the afternoon. He went up to the stump near the mill, where he and Freddy had sat the night before; and, as he seated himself, he thought with a pang of that pocket full of doughnuts, so freely made way with.
He had eighteen cents in his wallet; but what good did it do, when there was no [Pg 209] store at hand where a body could buy so much as a sheet of gingerbread? He was starving in the midst of plenty, like that unfortunate man whose touch turned all the food he put in his mouth into gold. ”

“ His father would have shaken his head, and said, Willy was a "singular child; there was no regulation to him." Seth would have told you he was "impudent." Stephen would have called him "a cry-baby," and Caleb, "the laziest little chap he ever came across;" though "grandf'ther Cheever" thought him "very bright and stirring." Love would have said, "He is so affectionate!" [Pg 16] which his father very much doubted. Lydia might possibly have called him a "rogue," because he would spy out her doughnuts and pies, no matter where she hid them away for safe keeping. ”

“ Willy was afraid to go to bed alone, which is hardly to be wondered at; for he had a strange and dreadful habit of walking in his sleep. Such habits are not as common now as they were in old times, I believe. Whether Willy's walks had anything to do with the cider and doughnuts, which were sometimes given him in the evening, unknown [Pg 19] to his mother, I cannot say; but Mrs. Parlin was never sure, when she "tucked" him into his trundle-bed, that he would spend the night there. Quite as likely he would go wandering about the house ”

“ There was nobody left in the bar-room now but himself and the sleeping Willy.
"Guess I'll take a look at the drawer, and see that the money is all right," said careful Caleb, stepping inside the bar, which had a long wooden grate, and looked somewhat like an enormous bird-cage, with the roof off. "Mr. Parlin is a very careless [Pg 33] man," said Caleb, drawing a key from its hiding-place in an account-book; "he's dreadful free and easy about money. ”