Walter Aimwell

“ I care a good deal more for the poor hens than I do for the money,” replied Clinton.
“That’s right!” said his father; “you’ve made considerable profit out of your poultry, and you must expect to meet with some losses, once in a while. Losses are inseparable from business; and the wisest way is to make the best of them when we can’t avoid them. If a man meets with nothing but prosperity, he is apt to grow reckless in his management, and oppressive towards others; or he becomes wholly absorbed with the world, and forgets that there is a God or a future life. ”

“ I shouldn’t like to live quite so near the bears as that,” said Whistler.
“I should want something more than a club, if I had got to meet one,” said Clinton.
“But I shouldn’t be afraid to meet a fox, or a wild-cat, or a ’coon, in the woods,—should you?” added Whistler.
“I shouldn’t want any better fun than to meet a ’coon or a fox,” replied Clinton; “but if I had got to tackle a wild-cat, I should want to be pretty well armed. It isn’t every man that can ‘whip his weight in wild-cats,’ as they say out west.” ”

“ Such is the homage which man and beast ever pay to the railroad train, the novelty and wonder of which are scarcely diminished by our familiarity with it.
It was late in the evening when our young travellers reached their journey’s end. Ella’s brother, Ralph, was waiting their arrival at the dépôt, and his fair young face lit up with joy when he saw his sister and Whistler descend from the train. As Ella was encumbered with a trunk, he procured a place for her and her baggage in a coach, and then walked, with the other boys, towards the quarter of the city in which both families resided. ”

“ The sight of him stirred up the sense of injury which was still rankling in Clinton’s heart, and he tried to avoid him. Mr. Walker, however, was now as calm as a summer’s day, and seemed to have entirely forgotten the character of that interview. Familiarly slapping the boy on the back, he said:
“Clinty, they say you composed that dialogue; is that a fact?”
“Willie and I wrote it, together,” replied Clinton.
“Well, it was a capital hit; every body says so. Your speaking was good, too; you’ve covered yourselves with glory, both of you,” said Mr. Walker. ”

“ Davenport. “But have you learned to pronounce the words yourself? If you have, you have learned something worth knowing.”
“I don’t know,” replied Whistler, with some hesitation.
“The item of knowledge you have picked up to-day,” continued his father, “will not be of much benefit to you, unless you make a practical use of it. Your teacher, I suppose, wished to teach you the duty of confessing your errors. That is one of the hardest things a man ever has to do. It takes a brave man to confess that he has done wrong, or has embraced wrong opinions.” ”

“ A VACATION JOURNEY. THE steamer’s bell is pealing forth its last call. The huge, hot engine, as if impatient of delay, seems hissing at every joint, while the dark clouds that roll up from its smoke-pipes tell of the activity of the sweltering firemen below. The hawser is cast off. A tardy passenger or two are hurried over the gangway, and their baggage sent after them with more celerity than care. A carriage, driven at a furious rate, is coming down the wharf, and a man’s head and arm are thrust out of 18the window,—the arm “sawing the air” in a most vehement manner. ”

“ Davenport, “let me tell you one thing. With you, mercantile life is all romance, just as farming is to your cousin. On the other hand, farming is real to you, while Whistler has had a chance to observe something of the dark side of mercantile and professional life. When you think of being a merchant, you think only of fine ships, and great warehouses, and sumptuous dwellings, and the portly and dignified men who rule on ’change. ”

“ Again there was a prompt and hearty “Aye!”
“Yes, I think there can be but one side to that question,” continued the teacher. “A boy who has had no opportunity to study, ought not to be blamed for his ignorance; and one who studies diligently, should not be laughed at if he does not happen to know everything. These are not dunces. The real dunce is the scholar who has the ability and the opportunity to learn, but who will not exercise the one or improve the other, and so remains ignorant. ”

“ Indeed, without a good character, all other gifts and acquirements only make a man the more dangerous. And character, you know, is formed by little and little. It is the result of a great multitude of little thoughts, and acts, and emotions, all spun together into a complete fabric. Did you ever go into a ropewalk, Clinton?”
“Yes, sir; Willie and I went through the ropewalk in the Navy Yard,” replied Clinton.
“Well,” resumed his uncle, “the process of making character is something like making a cable. ”

“ After resting themselves, the boys, suddenly remembering that they had started in quest of strawberries, concluded to go down to the foot of the hill on the side opposite to the one they ascended, where Clinton thought they should find some berries. They had not proceeded far, when the sharp crack of a musket was heard not far off.
“Halloo! somebody’s gunning about here! I wonder who it can be?” said Clinton.
“Are there many houses over this way?” inquired Whistler.
“No; there isn’t one nearer than our house,” replied Clinton. ”

“ He could explain the uses of the lungs; he could name the gases of which air is composed; he knew that a pair of human lungs need a hogshead of fresh air every hour, to sustain health; and yet it did not occur to him that a kitten would suffer, and perhaps die, if shut up in a box but little larger than itself, and nearly air-tight.
“Well, it can’t be helped now; but be more careful hereafter,” added Mr. Davenport.
“Had I better tell Sissy the kitten is dead, or would you say nothing about it to her?” inquired Whistler. ”

“ You might as well try to drown a man who was born to be hung, as try to make a farmer of a man that was born to ‘plough the sea.’ But the great body of men do not have these particular talents. They are about as well fitted for one common employment as for another, and so they decide on the one that they consider the most easy, profitable, and genteel; and it is just here that they oftentimes make their great mistake. Are you going to sleep over my lecture, Clinton? ”

“ THE ACCIDENT. “YOU will have to amuse yourself indoors to-day,” said Clinton to his cousin, the next morning, as he looked out of the window, soon after the accustomed triple rap had aroused him from his slumbers. The rain was falling fast, and the direction of the wind betokened a storm rather than a shower. Whistler was somewhat disappointed, as he and Clinton had planned a ride; but he concluded to make the best of it, and find such amusement as he could in the barn, the shop, and the house. ”

“ It is here that the heaviest guns are designed to be placed, in the open air. Large square stones are set for the guns to rest upon, and semi-circular ones for the gun carriages to traverse. There is also a wall, behind which the men can hide.
On descending from the parapet, the officer unlocked a door, and, through a rather gloomy passage, led them into the interior of the fortress. Here they wandered for a quarter of an hour through a labyrinth of massive masonry, gazing with wonder at the solid walls, the arched stone roof, and the long series of rooms connected by doors. ”

“ Each leaf looks as if it were made up of five little ones.”
“Well, the leaves of the poison ivy have only three in a cluster; and that is the way I tell the difference between them. When the leaves grow in threes, look out; but when they are in fives, there’s no danger.”
“I must try to remember that,” said Whistler, repeating to himself the last remark of Clinton. “Let me see,—how can I fix that in my mind, so that I shall know ‘which is which,’ as they say? Now, I have it! If the leaf has five fingers, like my hand, I can handle it; if it hasn’t, I must not touch it.” ”

“ I never can go through that horrid place!” she exclaimed. “I should be frightened out of my wits!”
“O, no, you won’t,” said Clinton. “There’s a good path all the way through, and nothing will hurt you. You follow right behind me, and I’ll help you over the bad places.”
Ella still stood in doubt, while Whistler in his eagerness was following the faint track, forgetful of his companions. Emily and Harriet assured their cousin that they had often crossed the swamp; and, with a little further encouragement from Clinton, she set forward,—not, however, without some misgivings. ”

“ Hugh Miller is one of the most remarkable men of the age. Having risen from the humble walks of life, and from the employment of a stone-cutter, to the highest rank among scientific men, everything relating to his history possesses an interest which belongs to that of few living men. ”

“ Strawberries grow wild in that part of the country. Ella and Whistler, to whom this fruit was known only as a dear-bought luxury, thought it must be fine to eat the berries fresh from the vines, with no fear of coming to the bottom of the box, and no two-shillings-per-quart drawback upon the indulgence. ”

“ I can’t do anything with only one hand!” exclaimed Whistler, somewhat impatiently, as he was at work in the shop one morning with Clinton. He was nailing two pieces of wood together, for some purpose or other; but the nail split them both, and rendered them useless.
“You didn’t drive the nail in right, that’s the trouble,” said Clinton, after glancing at the pieces. “If you had turned it round the other way it wouldn’t have split. You have set the wide part of the nail across the grain of the wood, and it acts just like a wedge. Don’t you see how the nail widens towards the head? ”

“ These, with Clinton, constituted the whole family. The young stranger soon felt quite at home in their society. He was much pleased with his cousins at first sight, for he had never seen either of them before. Annie, who was about seven years old, was a beautiful child, with golden curls and fair blue eyes, and a face full of gentleness and affection. She seemed to be the pet of the household. Clinton, though but a month or two older than Whistler, was a stouter and taller boy, and his browned skin and hardened hands told that he was not unacquainted with labor and out-door exposure. ”

“ Clinton looked perplexed. Sight-seeing was one of the principal objects of his visit to the city; and a pretty kind of sight-seeing that would be, he thought, if he could not look at anything, nor evince any surprise or pleasure, for fear of violating the cold proprieties of city manners. Whistler also shared in his perplexity; but, believing there was a “catch” somewhere in his father’s advice, he said:
“Father isn’t in earnest; he doesn’t mean what he says, I know.” ”

“ Tom Walker never could have done such a thing as that,” said Mrs. Davenport.
“Well, I’m sorry it has happened,” said the doctor, as he arose to depart, “not only on Mr. Walker’s account, but because it diminishes the security of the whole community. There is no safety for any of us, when such villains are prowling around. Good-by, Willie; I’ll call to see how you are getting along, in a day or two. Good-day, all.”
Soon after the doctor departed, Clinton and his father rode over to Mr. Walker’s to see the ruins, and to tender their sympathies to the sufferers. ”

“ A taxidermist is one who is skilled in preparing and preserving the skins of birds, or other animals, so as to represent their natural appearance.
After walking an hour or more about the business portion of the city, examining the sights in a leisurely way, Clinton suddenly found himself approaching the beautiful Common, of which Boston is justly proud. ”