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JACK HAZARD AND HIS FORTUNES.
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JAMES B. OSGOOD & CO., Boston.








DOING HI1S BEST.
BY
J. T. TROWBRIDGE,
AUTHOR OF "JACK HAZARD AND HIS FORTUNES," "A CHANCE FOR HIMSELF,"
"LAWRENCE'S ADVENTURES," ETC.


WITH ILL USTRA TIONS.


BOSTON:
JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY,
LATz TicKNoR. & FIELDS, AND FIELDS, OSGOOD, & CO.
1873.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year l1S73,
BY JAMES RI. OSGOOD & CO.,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
UNIVERSITY PRESS: WELCH, BIGELOW, & CO.,
CAMBRIDGE.




CONTENTS.
CHAPTER                                        PAGE
I., A SCHOOL-HOUSE THIRTY YEARS AGO..   7
II. JACK'S FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL...    17
III. "STEP HEN" TREADWELL AND THE BIG BOYS    26
IV. How BYRON DINKS KEPT SCHOOL..       33
V. A NEW " TIE " BETWEEN JACK AND PHIN.      43
VI. HOW JACK GOT INTO A FIGHT..       50
VII. MASTER DINKS TAKES A HAND...     55
VIII. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING..       63
IX. IN THE EVENING....             69
X. JACK'S GOOD FORTUNE....      76
XI. THE ADVENTURE AT THE VILLAGE TAVERN       82
XII. THE BEST-NATURED MAN IN THE WORLD.   89
XIII. ANNIE FELTON'S HOMIE.                 96
XIV. MOSES BRINGS GOOD NEWS..    102
XV. GOOD-NATURED JOHN WILKINS ONCE MORE       109
XVI. THE STRANGE VISITOR.. 118
XVII. PERCY LANMAN'S SCHOOL.                  123
XVIII. THE BOYS GO INTO BUSINESS..128




iv                  CONTENTS.
XIX. THE SUGAR-BUSH..... 132
XX. THE GREAT SCHEME....    141
XXI. THE CARAVAN.. 147
XXII. BREAKING THE COLT...       153
XXIII. GOING TO THE MENAGERIE...158
XXIV. IN THE TENT.....    165
XXV. THE PIPKINS RIDE THE YOUNG ELEPHANT  172
XXVI. How PHIN SAW THE "ZEBRAY"..180
XXVII. EXTRA PERFORMANCE BY THE OLD ELEPHANT 184
XXVIII. THE CATASTROPHE.. 186
XXIX. AN ELEPHANT HUNT, AND WHAT FOLLOWED  192
XXX. PHIN'S PROGRESS.. 200
XXXI. BUSINESS PROSPECTS..       207
XXXI. THE RACCOON HUNT.....213
XXXIII. THE 'COON THAT LION TREED..   219
XXXIV. PHIN'S REVENGE..             223
XXXV. HOW PHIN AND LION WERE WELCOMED      228
XXXVI. DR. LAMONT'S LITTLE GAME.         234
XXXVII. WHY PHIN WAS LATE.                  240
XXXVIII. DISCOVERY.....     246
XXXIX. MR. CHATFORD EXPLAINS.           251
XL. ANOTHER LITTLE SECRET..         257
XLI. JACK'S JOURNEY..   264
XLII. WHO WON AT LAST... 273




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
THE OLD ELEPHANT'S EXTRA PERFORMANCE  Frontispiece.
SNAPPING THE WHIP..          28
HOW STEP HEN HELPED..        30
MASTER DINKS'S SCHOOL.        40
THE BATTLE..53
RATHER ROUGH..60
"TAKE HIM OFF!"..            87
"JEST A GOOD-NATERED THICK, YE KNOW"  110
A RECOGNITION..116
GATHERING THE SAP..          134
" SUGARING OFF "IN THE WOODS.138
BREAKING THE COLT.          155
THE 'LECTRICAL 'LixiR MAN..  162
THE YOUNG ELEPHANT'S AGUE-FIT.1 78
THE ELEPHANT HUNT..          194
CAUGHT..                      205
JACK AND SNOWFOOT..          211
THE 'COON THAT LION TREED..  222
THE PRINCE IN HIS CASTLE..   20`
THE DOCTOR'S LITTLE GAME..   23 6
JACK SETS OUT ON HIS5 JOURNEY.. 266
"WHY DON'T YOU HITCH UP, PHIN?"  278




I




DOING HIS BEST.
-4 —t —
CHAPTER I.
A SCHOOL-HOUSE THIRTY YEARS AGO.
~              I EACON    CHATFORD
1             reached up to the old-fashioned clock-case, opened it,
and took out a key
"Here, boys!" he cried
lis '               to the youngsters in the
kitchen, "which of you is
going to unlock the school/        \ Ihouse and build a good
fire for the master this
-morning?       I guess you
are the lad, Phineas!"
"Let the master build
his own fires," muttered
Phineas.  "Masters   always have done it in our
deestrict, and they will, for
"I '11 do it," said one of
his companions, stepping forward.
"I '11 go too, if Jack does! " and Phineas sprang to




8


DOING HIS BEST.


get possession of the key. A scuffle ensued, for it was
already in Jack's hand, and he was not inclined to
give it up.
"There, there, boys!" said the deacon, "it's nothing you need quarrel about. Both go, if you want
to. The school-house may need brushing up a little,
for though it was left in good order when Annie's
school closed, some roguish boys have been in at one
of the windows since. I meant to have it seen to,
but forgot all about it."
"The day you've looked forward to so long, Jack,
has come at last," said Mrs. Chatford, smiling. "I
wish Phineas was half as eager for school as you are."
" Maybe I should n't care any more about it than
he does, if I had had as much of it," said Jack. "I' ve
a good deal of lost time to make up."
"You've been making it up pretty well since you
came to live with us, I should think, by Annie's account. She says you can do as hard sums as Phineas
can, - and I know you can read as well."
"Ho!" sneered Phineas, enviously; "guess you
don't know! You have n't heard me read as well as
I can; and as for ciphering, - I can cipher him into
the middle of next week! I can cipher his legs off!"
"I hope you won't try," replied Jack; " I've no
legs to spare!"
"Phin's great at bragging," said the elder son,
Moses, good-naturedly. "But if he don't take care,
before winter's over he won't be in sight of Jack's
coat-tails, in ciphering or anything else."




A SCHOOL-HOUSE THIRTY YEARS AGO.


9


Plhin, not knowing what else to say, fell back upon
a celebrated blunder of Jack's, asking derisively,
"Read the Bible much lately, Jack?   Say! do ye
remember Joseph's 'coat of many collars'? 0 Jack!"
Jack paid no attention to this taunt; but, hastily
changing his coat and vest, combing his hair, and
taking his books and slate under his arm, he started
for the school-house, accompanied by Phin.
"There comes old Lion!" cried Phin. "Don't
send him back! I tell you! le's make him lie down
under our seat, and then, if the master goes to lick
us, set hi  on!"
But Jack did not seem to regard this lively idea as
altogether practicable. Calling the dog to his side,
he began to reason with him.
"See here, old fellow! you 're a mighty knowing
dog, but you're not quite up to the spelling-book; do
you think you are? Did n't know we were going to
school, did you? 'T would make the children laugh
and play, to see a dog at school. Don't be silly.
Good by!"
"I believe lie understands you! " said Phin. Indeed, the dog, after standin(g for some time and watchdeed-)     n)- "3
ing the boys as they went down the road, turned
about and trotted hoinewards, like the reasonable
dog he was. "I 'll be inside the school-house first,"
then said Plin. " Bet my knife against yours."
" 0, pshawT! you know I can run faster than you
can. I don't want to get your knife away from you,"
said Jack.
1




10


DOING HIS BEST.


But Phin insisted. "Come, you don't dare take
me up!" He spoke so confidently, that Jack,
never suspecting the treachery that might lurk behind the wager, accepted it; and at the word " Now!"
from Phin, they started. Jack soon outstripped him;
and Phin, laughing, fell into a slow walk.
"I '11 have a good fire by the time you get there!"
cried Jack from a distance of several rods, and felt in
his pocket for the key. Not finding it, he explored
his other pockets. "Hullo, Phin! have you seen the
key?"
" I saw you put it in your pocket; and now, if you
have lost it- "
"You've got it, you rogue!"
Phin laughed. "Now who '11 be in the schoolhouse first? 0 Jack! What do you say now?"
"I say you 're a first-class pickpocket.  Never
mind. I will win the bet now!"
" You can't get in without the key!"
" See if I can't! "
"Hold on!" shouted Phin, as Jack began to run
again. "I '11 go back home! I '11 throw the key
into the ditch, if you don't wait for me!"
Deaf to these boyish threats, Jack kept on running,
and soon reached the old red brick school-house at
the corners. It stood a little back from  the two
roads which there crossed each other; but there was
no fence, no yard about it, only a strip of hard-trodden
ground before the door, in the angle formed by the
two streets. The roadside was the play-ground. Not




A SCHOOL-HOUSE THIRTY YEARS AGO.


11


a shade tree was near. Behind the school-house was
a field, enclosed by a zigzag fence. This came up to
opposite corners of the house, the brick walls of
which completed the enclosure, and made a saving
of rails.
Jack tried the padlock on the door, and, finding that
it could not be opened without a key, took a convenient rail from the fence, and put it up to one of the
windows. These were placed high, to prevent schoolchildren within from looking out, and rogues without
from getting in. He climbed up the rail, and found
that the window-fastenings had already been forced,
as Mr. Chatford conjectured. He raised the sash,
and, entering head foremost, let himself down by his
hands upon a broad desk or counter within.
"0, that ain't fair!" cried Phin, coming around the
corner just in time to see the pair of legs disappear;
"breaking into a winder! I should think you 'd tried
that once too often a'ready! Got took up for it, any
way. I bet I 'd be in the door first; and here I am!
I'll take that knife, if you please," added Master
Chatford, confidently putting out his hand as he came
in through the entry.
"You thought I was going to call on you for your
knife, and said that to get the start of me," laughed
Jack. "But I don't want your knife."
" Do you know, that's Squire Peternot's lot behind
the school-house, and it's his rail you took? Better
look out for the old man; he 's got a grudge against
you!" said Phin.




12


DOING HIS BEST.


" I was just going to put the rail back andl bring in
my books," said Jack.
"Put 'em on this desk, and hurry, or some other
fellers '11 be here. This is the boys' side, and these
are the best seats in the house, - close to tile door;
calln cut out first when school's dismissed."
Jack was not anxious to share that privilege with
Phin; indeed, he would have preferred nIot to sit with
that young gentlemlan in school. But Phin, notwithstandling his taunts and sneers, had a vast respect for
Jack's courage and prowess, and determined to make
him his champion that winter against the oppression
of the big boys. So, while Jack wAas preparing to
kindle a fire in the great oblong stove that stood on a
broad brick hearth in the centre of the room, Phin
placed the books on a shelf under the counter, and,
to establish still more securely their claim to the spot,
set up his slate, on lwhich he had written, in a coarse,
uneven hand, this notice to all whom it might concern:



A SCHOOL-HOUSE THIRTY YEARS AGO.


13


The counter extended about three sides of the room,
sloping from a level strip against the wall, and jutting
over a bench of heavy plank. The strip was just
wide enough to hold inkstands and books, while the
counter was designed for a writing-desk. The narrow
edge of it also served as the back to the pupils' seats
when their faces were turned towards the centre of
the room. When one wished to turn the other way,
he lifted his legs, made a pivot of his spinal column,
whirled about on the bench, to which his trousers
assisted in giving a notable polish, dropped his lower
extremities under the counter, and was supposed to
be absorbed in his studies with his face towards the
wall.
Before the bench was a narrow aisle, just wide
enough for a file of pupils to pass through; and still
inside of that was a low bench for the smaller ones,
extending, like the other, about three sides of the
room, except where a passage was cut through it
midway, for the use of those occupying the seats
behind it. This low bench had a back to it, very convenient for the big boys behind to rest their feet
upon, - too much so sometimes for the satisfaction
of the little ones, who did not like the feeling of
muddy boot-soles and square toes against their sides
and shoulders. It was considered a point of discipline
in those days not to permit the big boys to annoy the
small ones in that way.
All this wood-work was of soft pine, which offered
tempting facilities to youthful artists for practice with




14


DOING HIS BEST.


their jack-knives. There was hardly a square foot
of bench or counter in which some ingenious blade
had not hollowed out an imaginary canoe, or carved
coarse images of tomahawks, horses, and canal-boats,
-not to mention fox-and-geese boards, and many
a hack and cut made in the mere effervescence of
youthful spirits, without apparent artistic design.
The foundations of the house having yielded a little,
the end walls were diversified by two surprising cracks,
running in irregular lines from top to bottom. These
had been filled with mortar, making the red brick-work
look as if severed by streaks of dingy gray lightning;
and the house had been kept from tumbling by two
iron rods passed crosswise through it and made fast
outside the walls. The rods served also to encourage
in the pupils the performance of gymnastic feats; and
Phin told Jack that often, in the absence of the master, he had seen a dozen or twenty boys hanging and
swinging from them like so many monkeys.
The boys could at first discover very few marks of
mischief done by the rogues who had forced the window-fastenings. The master's table was placed legs
upward on the stove; and on the blackboard was
scrawled this imperfectly spelled and recklessly
punctuated sentence: " Multiply cation, Is, vexasion
devizon Is, as, Bad, the, rule of, 3 It, pusles Me, and,
practis, Makes, Me, Mad."
And now, Jack having succeeded in starting a fire
in the stove, a more serious piece of mischief was
discovered. The smoke poured out into the room,




A SCHOOL-HOUSE THIRTY YEARS AGO.


15


and, looking up, he saw that an elbow of the pipe was
wanting. Search was made for it with tearful eyes in
vain, until Phin suggested that it must be "up garret."
Over one corner of the room was a scuttle, the lid
of which was imperfectly closed; and Jack, convinced
that the missing elbow was there, made a spring for
it. From the counter he swung himself upon the
iron rod, and from the iron rod he managed to reach
the opening above it.
"It's dark as Egypt up here!" he cried, pushing
back the lid, and thrusting his head into the hole.
Getting his feet upon the rod, he stood up, with the
upper half of his body in the black attic, and felt
all about as far as his hands could reach. Soon Phin
heard something rattle; and then Jack cried, "Here
it is! catch it! "
Down came the elbow, and after it the old schoolhouse broom. "Here's something else," said Jack,
"I don't know what. Look!"
" It 's the old iron basin they keep water in on the
stove," said Phin. "The shovel and poker must be
up there too; I don't see them anywhere."
Shovel and poker were both found; and at last
Jack, with dusty coat and tumbled hair, dropped
from the rod.
"I never should have thought of looking up there
for anything," he said.
"Nor I," said Phin; "but one noon two winters
ago, some fellers threw  the master's hat up there
o~




16                DOING IS BEST.
while he was talking with the girls in the entry. He
did n't miss it till school was out at night, when all
the scholars had gone home; he looked and looked
for it, and finally went to his boarding-place with his
red silk handkerchief tied over his head. He came
to the school-house next mlorning, with three big
hickory whips on his shoulder; and there was his
hat on the table, just where he had left it! It was
all a mystery to him, and would have been to this
day, I suppose, if he had n't licked the truth out of
the fellers that looked guilty."




JACK'S FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL.


17


CHAPTER II.
JACK'S FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL.
WHILE Phin was telling this story, Jack had placed
the table under the opening in the stove-pipe, got
upon it, and restored the elbow. Just as he was
getting down, half a dozen boys with books and slates
under their arms came stamping and shouting into
the room.
"Hullo!" said one of them, making a rush for the
seats Phin had chosen, "I guess not!"
" Not what, Lon Gannett?" demanded Phin.
"I guess Phin Chatford and Jack Hazard don't
o-c-k-e-p-y this seat! Me and Rant come early a purpose to git it, did n't we, Rant? "
"So did we. Come!" screamed Phin, "let our
books be!- Jack! Jack! don't let him!"
"Look here, young man!" said Jack, "what right
have you to that seat?"
" I 've as much right to it as you have," muttered
Lon; "who be you?"
"It seems I 'm a foolish sort of fellow," replied
Jack. "I was so green as to believe Phin when he
said there was honor among the boys here, and that
if one laid claim to a seat by putting his books in it,
the others would respect that claim. I don't care
anything about the seat."
B




18


DOING HIS BEST.


"Nor I," said Lon. "Come, Rant, le's go over in
the corner here."
"Don't touch any of my things again!" said Phin,
threateningly, replacing his books; " if you do you '11
ketch it!"
"Yes, you feel perty smart now you've got another boy to back ye!" said Lon. "Say! is it true
the trustees have hired that Dinks feller, Peternot's
nephew, to teach the school? He's no great shakes!"
" He '11 makes shakes of you 'fore the winter's out,"
said Phin, inclined to defend his father's choice of a
teacher. "Anyhow, he's the best that offered himself."
More boys came in, with more stamping and shouting; then the girls began to arrive; and soon the
school-room was pretty well filled with pupils, talking, laughing, drumming on the stove-pipe, throwing
caps, opening and shutting the windows, playing tag,
and making miscellaneous confusion. All at once there
was a hush. A young man with a complacent smile
and a good many pimples on his face, a large breastpin in his shirt, and a heavy ruler in his hand, had
entered unobserved. This was Mr. Byron Dinks, the
new master.
The boys seemed to feel a sudden need of fresh
air, and rushed out to enjoy it. Gathering in a group
a few rods from the school-house, the largest among
them held a council.
"See that big ruler? " said one. "I should n't like
to get it over my head!"




JACK'S FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL


19


"Who 's afraid?" said another. "I could twist that
out of his hand quicker 'n lightnin', and lay it over
his own head! He 'd better not begin savage with
us!
"You 'd better be careful how you begin with
him," said Moses Chatford, who had just arrived.
"Boys can just as well have a pleasant school as a
hard one, if they try. Where's Jack?"
" He went over to Sellick's to wash his hands, after
mending the stove-pipe," said Phin. " There he comes.
Hullo! what ye laughing at, Jack?"
"At one of Sellick's stories," said Jack, coming up.
"About the rods that hold the school-house together.
He says the iron expands in hot weather, or when
there's a hot fire in the stove, and then the cracks
open a little; then the cold tightens them up again."
" That's a philosophical fact," said Moses. "Nothing to laugh at."
"But hear the rest of it. He says he used to go
to school in just such a school-house. A master
taught there once who couldn't govern the school;
the children behaved so they drove him almost distracted, and he determined to quit, but he meant to
have his revenge first. So one cold day he shut all
the windows and the outside door, and built up a
rousing fire, and by heating the rods opened the cracks;
then he made all the children put their fingers in the
cracks; - they thought it fun! But all of a sudden
he let the cold air in, and all the fingers got pinched,
and all the children were caught! Then he took his




20


DOING HIS BEST.


hat and overcoat and nobody ever saw him again.
The children screamed all together so loud they were
heard all over town, and everybody came running,
and every parent caught every child by the legs and
pulled, but the cracks nipped so close not a finger
could be pulled out; and as nobody understood the
philosophical fact about expanding the rods by making a big fire, the house had to be taken to pieces to
save the children! But I can't tell the story as he
did," added Jack.
"One of Sellick's big lies," said Lon Gannett.
"Hullo! there's the ruler!"
" Iap -rap - rap-rap-rap!" went the ruler on
the side of the door-post; at which signal the boys
went straggling in to their seats.
"A little less noise!" cried the new master, rapping
sharply on the table. "Take your seats! School
has begun!"
The forenoon was mostly taken up in arranging
classes. This was no easy task, as the school contained pupils of every age and degree, from the sixyear-old learning his letters, up to the big girl and
boy of seventeen and eighteen studying the "back
part of the 'rithm'tic" and natural philosophy. To
add to the teacher's perplexity, pupils who should
have been in the same class had in many cases
brought different books, which" their folks " expected
them to use, in order to save the expense of new ones.
"Who's brought g'ographies?" said Mr. Byron




JACK'S FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL.


21


Dinks. "Hush! we must have less noise!" Rap,
rap! on the table. " All them that intend to study
g'ography this winter will step out into the middle of
the floor."
About a dozen boys and girls of various ages obeyed
this summons, and arranged themselves in a line,
toeing a crack before the stove. Some were bright
and alert, others were dull looking, careless, and
slouching. A few had complete books and atlases,
some had torn books, and some had no books at all.
"Olney's, - that's right," said the master, begining with one of the large girls. "How far have you
studied?"
"I 've been through it once," she replied with a
simper.
" You '11 go into the first class. - See here, you little
shaver! "- turning sharply on a very small boy behind him, -" if you don't keep still I '11 put you into
the stove! head first! - Olney's, - all got Olney's?
What's this? You'll have to get a new one; you
can't expect to get along with a piece of a book."
"There's only twenty-one pages of my book gone,"
said the pupil thus addressed. "Our folks said I
needn't begin to study it till the others got up to
page twenty-two, then I could pitch in."
"You've no book at all," said the master, passing
on to another.
"Ma said she guessed mabby I could look over
with some other boy till she could get money to buy
one," was the answer, with a hanging head.




22


DOING HIS BEST.


" So, you're coming to school, are ye?" said Mr.
Dinks, with a sarcastic smile, arriving at Jack. "I
hope you will try to behave yourself."
Jack made no reply, but turned fiery red at this
insinuating remark.
"'Moses Chatford,' " said Byron, reading the name
written on the fly-leaf of Jack's geograpy. " You're
going to use his book, are you?"
"He don't study g'ography this winter," said Jack.
"Well, how much have you ever studied it?"
"I never studied it at all in school."
"What did you study last winter?"
"I did n't go to sclool last winter."
" Well, the wTinter before? "
"I did n't go to school then, either."
"When did you go to school?" demanded Mr.
Dinks in a loud voice.
Jack felt all eyes fixed upon him, while he stammered, "Four winters ago."
"How much have you ever been to school in your
life? "
"About seven weeks."
"How happens it you never went any more?
Where was ye brought up?"
"I never had much chance for schooling," said
Jack, his spirit rising; "and when I might have gone
to school a little more, the master imposed upon me
because I was ignorant, and that discouraged me."
Jack looked so straight into Byron's eyes as he said
this, that that gentleman changed color in his turn.




JACK'S FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL.


23


"Hush, I say!" as a titter ran round the room.
"Can you read?"
"A little."
"Let me hear you. Begin there."
Jack was inclined to dash the book back into the
master's face, when he saw the lesson that was given
him. But checking the ugly impulse, he read: " B, a,
ba; b,e, be; b, i, bi; b,o, bo; b,u, bu; b, y, by. C,a,
ca; c, e, ce; c, i, ci; c,, co; c,u, cu; c,y, cy."
"That will do," said the master, smiling, while the
whole school laughed. "You read very well. Try
this paragraph in your g'ography; see if you can read
that."
Jack had been afraid that he would be afraid to
read before large boys and girls who had been to
school all their lives; but now he feared nothing;
he felt angrily defiant of everybody. He took the
book, and read the paragraph through very much as
he would have sawed a stick of wood to order; acquitting himself so much better, on the whole, than
was expected, that the laughing ceased, and the master looked rather chagrined.
" If you have never been to school, where have you
learned so much? "
" At Mr. Chatford's, this last summer," said Jack.
"MIiss Felton gave me private lessons; and Moses
has helped me a good deal."
"So have I," spoke up Phineas. "I've showed
him about his sums."
" You can put him in almost any class, and he '11




24


DOING HIS BEST.


do, he '11 come along," said Moses from his seat. " Ie
knows about as much as any boy of his age; and he
can learn as fast as anybody I ever saw."
At this moment, the "little shaver" on the front
seat, who had made a disturbance before, being at his
mischief again, the master suddenly pounced upon
him.
"I told you I'd put you in the stove!" Clutching
him by the arm with one hand, he threw open the
stove-door with the other, exposing a bed of burning
coals. "Now you go!"
The child screamed and struggled in a paroxysm
of fear, while some of the other children laughed,
knowing of course that the master would not execute
so horrible a threat. He seemed for a moment intent
on stuffing the little fellow into the fire; then, relenting, he said, " Will you keep still, if I '11 let you go?
- What are you laughing at?" turning to another
little boy.
"You would n't put him in! you would n't dare
to," said the latter, with a knowing smile.
"I wouldn't, hey? You'll sing another tune
when I've burnt all the hair off your head I" And,
catching up the second boy, Byron swung him in the
air, then brought him down head foremost to the very
mouth of the stove. The youngster's wisdom forsook
him at sight of the glowing coals, and he too began
to struggle and scream with all his might. Having
established the discipline of the little ones in this
humane and pleasant manner, the master dropped




JACK'S FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL.


25


his second victim, with a warning to take care how
he behaved, or his hair would surely get a scorching, and then proceeded with the organization of his
classes.
The interruption had diverted attention from Jack,
who was glad enough to sink again into obscurity.


2




26


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER III.
"STEP HEN" TREADWELL AND THE BIG BOYS.
THUS the winter school began. There were twentyfive scholars the first day, but this number was increased to about forty in the course of two or three
weeks. Lastly some very large boys, who had been
kept at home as long as they could work to any advantage on the farm, dropped in one by one, and took
the lead in the out-door sports of the school, if not in
the walks of learning.
Jack was placed in the lower classes; and there
existed a good deal of prejudice against him at first,
on account of his early life on the canal. He was no
favorite with the master, for obvious reasons. Byron
was evidently resolved to see no good in the lad who
had had the famous quarrel with his uncle, Squire
Peternot, and come off victorious.* But Jack, though
as fond of fun as any boy, had a motive in going to
school which was shared by few. The feeling that
he must make up for lost time stimulated his industry; and, being naturally quick to learn, he made
rapid advancement, in spite of the master's contempt
and neglect.
* See "A Chance for Himself; or, Jack Hazard and his
Treasure."




" STEP HEN " TREADWELL AND THE BIG BOYS.  27


Out of doors, he was from the first an interesting
character. His celebrated escape from Constable
Sellick had established his reputation as a lad of
spirit, whom it might not be safe to insult. He was
regarded with curiosity by the girls, and with admiration tempered by dislike on the part of boys who
envied him the fame of that exploit. He made no
attempt to court the favor of any one, but minded
his own business, and was always good-natured,
modest, and independent. The Chatford boys, the
Welby boys, and a few others who knew him, accepted him as a companion and playfellow, and the
heartiness with which he entered into all their games
soon conquered the prejudice of the rest.
A favorite sport, after the arrival of the big boys,
was "snapping the whip."  The "whip" was composed of as many boys as could be prevailed upon to
clasp hands in a line, with the largest and strongest
at one end, and the smallest at the other, for a " snapper." When all was ready, the leaders set out to run,
each dragging the next in size after him; then when
the whole line was in rapid motion, it was brought
up with a wide sweep and a short turn, which was
sure to break it in some weak part, and send the little
ones flying away, heels over head, into some burying
snowdrift. For the end of the " snapper" Step Hen
Treadwell was a popular choice; and it was always
great fun to see the vast and ever-increasing strides
taken by his very short legs as the whip came round,
and then his spreading arms, bulging cheeks, and star



28


DOING HIS BEST.




SNAPPING THE WHIP.


ing eyes, and flying hair, as he spun off into space,
and rolled, a helpless heap, in the snow.
Step Hen was a comical little fellow, about twelve
years old, whose droll figure (he was very short and
" chunky"), clumsy and blundering ways, and woful
want of spirit, had made him the butt of the school.
His real name was not Step Hen, of course. It was
Stephen. But once, having had the ill fortune to
meet with it in his reading lesson, with his fatal facility for blundering he pronounced it just as it was
spelled, and became from that day " Step Hen" to




" STEP HEN " TREADWELL AND THE BIG BOYS.  29


his delighted school-fellows. New-comers, thinking
theonickname bore some humorous reference to his
peculiar style of walking, adopted it at once; and it
bid fair to stick to him through life.
Step Hen was often hurt, both in body and mind,
by the rough usage of the big boys; but he was so
spiritless that a little coaxing or urging could nearly
always prevail upon him to join again in their games,
almost before his aches were over.
One day some boys bent down a stout little hickory-tree which grew in a corner of the fence near the
school-house, and then cried, "Step Hen! Step
Hen! Come and help us! we can't hold it!"
Step Hen felt flattered at being called upon to render his powerful assistance. He ran and caught hold
of the bent-down top, throwing his whole weight
upon it as if he had been a young giant. Then all
the other boys, yelling, "Hold on, Step Hen! hold
tight, Step Hen!" suddenly let go. Up went the
sapling, and up went Step Hen with it, twelve feet
or more into the air, when he was flung off more violently than he was ever snapped from any whip.
Whirling over and over, down he came sprawling
upon all fours, in the midst of shrieks of laughter,
which suddenly ceased when it was found that he lay
perfectly still where he had fallen, his head having
struck the frozen ground.
"Did n't hurt ye much, did it?" said Lon Gannett,
hastily running to him and lifting him up. "Say!
guess ye ain't hurt, be ye?" For the boys seemed




30


DOING HIS BEST.


to think that if they could convince him soon enough
that he was uninjured, Step Hen would come up all
right.
But Step Hen's head dropped helplessly on one
side in a way frightfully suggestive of a broken neck.
The boys, terrified, all started to run, just as Jack
came rushing to the spot.
"WVater! bring some water!" cried Jack, as lie
raised poor Step Hen to a sitting posture, and supported the drooping head.
"Water! water I" echoed the frightened boys.
"That '11 bring him to," said one. " He ain't killed,"
said another. " Only stunted," said a third.
Rant Hildreth and Tip Tarbox came running with
the school-house pail, slopping its contents by the
way.
"Just a little! On his face!" said Jack.
But the boys, in their excitement,- thinking perhaps that if a little water would be good, a large quantity would be very good, - lifted the pail and dashed
what was left of its contents over both Step Hen and
Jack.
Step Hen gasped, opened his eyes, and spluttered,
"Y-y-you let the tree up too quick!"
"We could n't hold it," said Lon. "It got the
better of us. Hurt?"
"No, I ain't hurt," said Step Hen, faintly. "Only,
-I don't know, - my hand aches."
"You should 'a' hild on," said Rant. "We told ye
to hold on. Then ye would n't 'a' fell."




I —,


--   1
-===  =-     I
=EE
iE 

i
-i


HOW STEP HEN "HELPFD.     Paoe 30.


IIIJ 0" I
V,,




1




"STEP HEN" TREADWELL AND THE BIG BOYS.  31


"Could n't hold on," said Step Hen. "Tree went
up with such a jerk!"
" They 're fooling you; they let it go on purpose,"
said Jack. "And it's what I call a mean trick."
"You do, hey!" sneered Lon.
"Yes!" exclaimed Jack, indignantly. "You big
fellows are always imposing on this little chap. Why
can't ye let him alone?"
"We '11 take you, next time," said Lon, with a
laugh; at which his companions, who had looked
seriously alarmed and abashed until now, rallied, and
exclaimed, "Yes! if he don't like it, we can take
him!"
"No danger! " replied Jack, hotly. "Bullies like
you never touch a fellow who has spunk enough to
defend himself."
"Better look out what you say, or you '11 get a rap
on the nose," said Lon, with a surly grin. " Guess
I've heard a canal-driver talk 'fore to-day; and I've
sent a stun at the head of more'n one of your sort of
blackguards!"
" Come away, Jack," said Moses, who had arrived in
time to hear the angry debate, without learning how
it commenced. "You '11 get into a scrape."
" You would n't have me leave this boy, would you?
They've nearly killed him, swinging him from that
tree; they thought he was dead. I'm going to stand
by him; I give 'em notice that I'm going to stand
by this little chap after this, and any one that lays
hands on him will have to lay hands on me!"




32              DOING HIS BEST.
And Jack, having put Step Hen's cap on and
brushed the dirt from his back, helped him into the
school-house and set him in a chair by the stove
where his clothes would dry. Lon and his friends
meanwhile stood in a group by the fence, talking in
low tones, whittling the rails, kicking the frozen
ground, and casting now and then evil glances towards
the door.




HOW BYRON DINKS KEPT SCHOOL.


33


CHAPTER IV.
HOW BYRON DINKS KEPT SCHOOL.
WHEN, on that first Monday morning, Byron
Dinks set out, ruler in hand, to take control of the
district school, his old uncle, Squire Peternot, had
said to him, " I would n't have ye fail this winter,
Byron, for any consideration. Remember, you're in
my own deestrict, and 't was through me ye got the
app'intment. Your edecation 's good enough; but
edecation ain't everything. 'T ain't so much matter
how or what ye teach, as how ye govern. Must n't
let the scholars run over ye, whatever else ye do.
Ye must punish, and let 'em know ye ain't afraid to
punish. That's my fust and last piece of advice to
you."
Byron, for once in his life, had taken his uncle's
advice to heart. If the necessity of much using the
rod is an evidence of weakness in a master, then
1)inks was weak enough; though he flattered himself that by his severity lie was showing his strength.
TWe have seen how he began the discipline of the
little ones; from which beginning he went on to
worse and worse extremes. He made use of about
all the means of punishment with which he was acquaillted, and then invented new, until the aspect of
his school-room at almost any hour of the day would


2


c




34


DOING HIS BEST.


have been curious to behold. If we would witness a
style of school-keeping which prevailed in Western
New York and elsewhere thirty years ago, but which,
we are glad to believe, is fast going out of fashion,
let us look in upon Byron in his little domain.
It is a bright December morning, and school has
just been called. The boys and girls, who were
crowding about the stove when the ruler rapped,
now range themselves on opposite sides of the room
in double rows.
" Rap! " goes the ruler. "Samuel Narmore! whispering?"
"Didn't know school had begun," stammers the
culprit.
"What was you saying to Moses Chatford?"
"Not much of anything," - with a sheepish grin.
" Not much of anything!" - sarcastically. " Very
important you should break the rules aginst whispering, to communicate not much of anything. What
did he say to you, Moses?"
"I don't like to tell," says Moses.
"You must tell! I command you!"
" He said it was n't quite nine o'clock yet."
"What else?  You would n't have had any objection to saying that. Out with the rest."
"He said," - Moses hesitates, repressing a smile,
-"lhe said you called school before the time so as to
get the crowd away from the stove and have a chance
there yourself."
As Moses concludes his explanation, the smile ex



HOW BYRON DINKS KEPT SCHOOL.


35


pands into a pretty broad one, and an audible giggle
runs around the school-room.
"Samuel Narmore," says the master, trying to
maintain his cool and sarcastic manner, but making
rather ghastly work of it, "go and hold down that
nail in the floor; I see there's danger of its coming
out."
What Samuel is really required to do is to stoop
over, crooking his knees as little as possible, and
place the tip of his finger on the head of a nail,
which shines from the polish imparted to it by numerous shoe-soles and many an unfortunate previous
finger. The posture is a peculiarly awkward one to
Samuel, who is tall and ungainly. His legs do not
conform to the master's idea of straightness; who, to
help the matter, gives a resounding slap with his
ruler upon that part which the pupil's attitude elevates into undue prominence.
A howl from Samuel, who pitches forward upon
one hand, while he puts up the other, either to defend or soothe the injured spot.
" You hain't got your book," then says the master.
"Moses, hand his book. Here, take this and look
over your reading lesson so you won't miss a word.
Must n't neglect business for pleasure. Reuben and
Amos, I'11 hear you read.  All study; no looking
off from books."
Reuben and Amos, two little ones learning their
letters, come and stand by the master's side as he sits
in his chair by the stove. He points to the page,




36


DOING HIS BEST.


while he watches the school. Suddenly the ruler is
let fly at a youngster whose eyes are seen to wander
from his book. It strikes him on the knee, and falls
clattering to the floor.
"Herbert Cone, bring me that ruler!"  The ruler
is brought by a limping and trembling wretch.
"Hold out your hand."  The reluctant hand is extended; a blow and a yell. "Take your seat and
mind your book," says Mr. Byron Dinks.
By this time the young man who is combining
business with pleasure by holding the nail in the
floor while he studies his lesson, shows violent symptoms of weakening. Now his tortured finger gives
way, and for one desperate instant he rests his weight
upon the knuckles of his hand. Now his excruciated
legs succumb, and for one blissful moment of forgetfulness he sits upon his heels. Again, attempting
to straighten, he quite overdoes the thing, and lifts
his finger so far that the nail might come out of the
floor, for anything he has to do with holding it down.
All this time he dares not glance at the master,
but keeps his eyes on his book, held in his other
hand.
"Tip Tarbox is lookin' off," says a squeaking voice
from the girls' side of the house.
"How do you know, Laury?" asks the schoolmaster.
"I seen him," says Laura.
"How could you see him     without looking off
yourself? "




HOW BYRON DINKS KEPT SCHOOL.


37


"I jest looked one eye off," is the maiden's amusing explanation.
"Jest looked one eye off, and kep' the other on
your book, did ye? Well, let me see you keep one
eye on your book and look at him with the other."
More than one eye, and more than one pair of eyes,
involuntarily turn to see Laura perform this interesting feat. The result is not wholly satisfactory. She
looks up with both eyes, and down with both, and
winks and twists, and blushes violently, and at last
whimpers, "I thought I did."
"Thought you did! Well, you appear so much
interested in his affairs, you may go over and set
with him till recess. Take down your apron! Start,
if you don't want help from me!"
Help from the master under such circumstances
not being thought desirable, Laura drops her apron,
but puts up her elbow in its place, to hide her shame,
and with a bashful, sidelong gait goes over to sit
with the boys.
Seeing nearly all eyes off their books by this
time, Master Dinks relaxes the rigidity of his rule,
the more readily as he would not like to punish
some of the large girls.
"Tip 's a ticklin' me!" cries Laura.
"O, I ain't!" says Tip, earnestly. "I was jest
p'intin' my finger at her to shame her."
"'Tend to your lessons, both of ye," says the master, "or I'll do some ticklin' ye won't like."  Then
to the little ones learning their letters: "Can't tell




38


DOING HIS BEST.


what letter that is, after I 've told you fifty times!"
And, holding a turkey-quill by the feather-end, he
applies the quill part smartly to the heads of the unhappy urchins. "There! now go and set on the
stove-hearth until you can remember that the letter
which looks like a snake climbing a pole is R."
"Laury 's a hittin' me! " cries Tip Tarbox.
" He pinched me!" squeaks Laura.
"Come here, both of ye!" says Byron, with a sinister smile. As the culprits tremblingly approach, not
knowing what fate awaits them, he opens his tabledrawer, and tells them to put their heads in. "Here,
turn your face towards your dear friend Laury; Laury,
turn your lovely countenance towards Edward. Now,
don't let me hear from you agin till I come and take
your heads out." So saying, he closes the drawer upon
their necks, ties their hands lehind them, and leaves
them, standing and stooping in that ridiculous posture,
viewing each other's charms of feature by the light
that comes in through the opening.
"Phin Chatford 's a cuttin' the bench! " says a small
voice from the front seat; among the occupants of
which the opinion prevails, that, if punishment is a
good thing, it must be a virtue in them to bring each
other and their elders to grief.
"Phineas Chatford, bring me your knife!" says
the master.
"'T ain't my knife, it 's Jack's."
"Jack should keep his knife in his pocket," says
the master, confiscating the same. As he has long




HOW BYRON DINKS KEPT SCHOOL.


39


been watching for a chance to show his spite against
Jack, and as Phin is a son of one of the trustees, this
seems, to the mind of Byron, a very satisfactory settlement of the matter.
Jack, however, takes a different view   of it.
"He said he wanted my knife to sharpen a pencil
with."
" 0, you keep a knife to lend, do ye? Then I'11
borrow it!"
"I don't object to lending it to fellows that will
give it back to me," says Jack.
"Sassy! " cries Byron, sharply. "Call me a feller,
do ye?"
" I was speaking of the boys," answers Jack; "and
I said fellows, not fellers."  He is sure of that, the
correct pronunciation of that word being one of the
many things which his dear friend Annie Felton has
taught him.
"You may go and set on nothing aginst the door,"
is the master's sentence, Jack hardly knows for
what.
It is his first punishment, and his hot heart rebels
against it. For a moment he hesitates, his eyes blazing with a fiery sense of the injustice done him. But
something within him whispers, " Obey!"  Book in
hand, he marches to the door, which is closed and
latched, and takes a sitting posture with his back
against it, but with no other support,-a painful
and humiliating position.  Since he became the
champion of Step Hen Treadwell, lie has enemies in




40


DOING HIS BEST.


I _  -


MASTER DINKS'S SCHOOL.




school, who are delighted to see him "in a fix "; but,
strangely enough, no one enjoys his disgrace more
than Phin Chatford.
Master Dinks, walking about the school-room, now
takes occasion, as lie passes in the rear of young larmore, to hit him smartly with his ruler, saying at the
same time, "Take your seat! wilat are you here for?
You ain't worth a cent to hold down a nail. -Primer
class take their l)laces. Toe the mark! Remember




HOW BYRON DINKS KEPT SCHOOL.


41


the turkey-quill!" which simple instrument of petty
torture he warningly waves in the air.
While the primer class is preparing to recite, Byron
turns to the urchins on the stove-hearth, and, pointing out to them a capital R, asks, " Now can you
tell me what letter that is? "
" Snake climbin' a pole!" is the prompt reply.
The turkey-quill is raised, but, luckily for the
urchins, there is that in their answer which sets Mr.
Dinks and the whole school to laughing, and they get
off with a light punishment as they are sent to their
seats.
The trials of the primer class are interrupted by a
terrible crash, which causes the schoolmaster almost
to "jump out of his boots," as Phin afterwards declares. He turns, and sees a ludicrous sight, at which
the school breaks forth into a roar.
The authors of this diversion are Laura and Tip,
who have carried on hostilities even after their heads
have been shut in the table-drawer. First Laura
made faces at Tip. Tip returned the compliment.
Then Laura made a worse face. Tip beat that, and
had a good deal of lip to spare. If her hands had
been at liberty, Laura would now have given him a
taste of her nails, and perhaps have relieved him of a
flaxen lock or two. As it was, she had but one effective weapon left: SHE SPIT IN HIS FACE!
Human nature in the shape of a boy nine years
old never could stand that. Tip flew at her, with intent to bite her nose; and the result was that Tip,




42               DOING HIS BEST.
Laura, table-drawer, table, a pile of books, the master's hat, two apples, and an inkstand all rolled on
the floor together.
Jack, from his seat on nothing against the door,
springs to right the table and pick up the hat and
books, and is afterwards allowed to return to his
seat - not on nothing, but on something - unquestioned.
Tip and Laura pick themselves up, and are immediately seized by the master, who knocks their mischievous heads together in lively fashion. They are
then sent snivelling to their seats.




A NEW " TIE" BETWEEN JACK AND PHIN.


43


CHAPTER V.
A NEW " TIE" BETWEEN JACK AND PHIN.
THE effect of Jack's first punishment in school was
not wholesome. "If I am to be punished for nothing," thought he, "what's the use of my trying so
hard to behave well?"  For it was not so much
the fear of penalty which had kept him hitherto in
the strait path of discipline, as a certain pride he felt
in being a good scholar. That pride was broken
down; a public disgrace had been the reward of all
his devotion to his studies and his conscientious
regard for the rules. He had not a saintly disposition; he was a boy, with all a boy's weaknesses and
passions; and I am sorry to say that this injustice
left in his heart a burning sense of resentment against
Master Dinks.
"Jack Hazard, are you whispering?" said the
master, after recess, that very forenoon.
" Yes, sir," said Jack, promptly.
" What was you saying?"
"I said 'I thought so.'"
"Thought what?"
"That is all I said,-'I thought so': just those
words."
"Thought what?" the master again demanded,
very angrily.




44


DOING HIS BEST.


"That what Phin said was so."
"No nicknames in    school!" exclaimed Byron.
"His namle is Phineas. You know    that, and you
know the rule."
"Yes, sir; but you just called me Jack, and my
real name is John."
"Conme here, you sass-box!" cried Mlr. Dinks,
seizing his ruler. Jack marched straight up to him,
and looked him in the face. "Tell me now what
Phineas said to you, this instant, before I thrash you
within an inch of your life!"
"If I must," replied Jack; "he asked me if I
did n't think you showed partiality to the big girls,
and I said, 'Yes, I thought so.' That was all."
Sensation in the school-room.  Mr. Dinks turned
furiously to Phin. " Step out here!"
Phin did not stir, but looked all about him, as if
anxious to discover the person thus addressed. He
also appeared much concerned for that person's present comfort and safety.
" Phineas Chatford!"  And the master hurled his
ruler.
" 0, speak to me?" faltered Phin, starting up with
a wild look.
"Fetch me that ruler!" cried Dinks, while all the
school looked breathlessly on, expecting to witness a
trag'edy.
But it took Phin some time to find the oaken miissile, which had fallen under the smlall boys' bench;
and by the time le brought it the master had cooled




A NEW "TIE" BETWEEN JACK AND PHIN.    45
enough to remember that young Chatford was a son
of one of the trustees. It is impossible to say what
a blistering of hands both youngsters might have received, but for this timely recollection. As it was,
however, it would not do to let them off without
" making an example of them "; for they had not only
broken the rule against whispering, but had made
him the subject of disparaging remarks.
"You think I am partial, do you?" said he, regarding the two boys with angry eyes, while he held
the ruler behind him as if fearful he might be tempted
to use it.
" I did n't say so," whimpered Phin. At that Jack
gave such a start, and turned and looked at him with
such astonishment and indignation, that the prevaricating youngster suddenly remembered the unhappy
consequences of another lie of his, and added quickly,
"I - I said - I thought Smith Marston was partial
to the big girls, and he misunderstood me to say the
master."
A stranger in the school-room would have been
able, at that moment, to select the said Smith Marston from among his companions as unerringly as Joan
of Arc discerned her king. It could have been no
other than the tall, red-haired, and very red-faced
youth, upon whom all eyes were just then turned
with visible pleasure.
"Silence!" cried Byron, as a rustle and titter circulated among the pupils. "Whatever you said, it
was whispering. Give me your thumbs!"




46


DOING HIS BEST.


A stout piece of twine hung over a spike in the
wall above the blackboard. One end of this cord he
tied by a running noose to Jack's right thumb, which
he then drew up high above the lad's head. He then
prepared a similar noose at the other end, and made
Phin reach up and put his left thumb through it.
The second noose was then drawn tight; and there
the boys stood before the blackboard, facing the
school, with their upstretched hands hung by the
thumbs.
The pain was not very great at first, but it soon
became tiresome business holding the arms in this
way; and when they were suffered to droop, the
cord cut.
Phin had recovered from his terror on finding that
he was to escape the ruler; and he underwent the
first part of his punishment with smiling equanimity.
Jack looked stern and determined: he was thinking
that, if he ever got big enough, he would seek out
Mr. Byron Dinks, and give him a sound drubbing.
Many a boy has cherished such feelings of revenge
against his master; but I never knew of but one case
in which the vengeance was actually executed in
later years. A gentleman was once promenading the
streets of a certain village in company with some
ladies, when a second gentleman stepped up and accosted him: "Your name is Swan. My name is
Dixon. You taught school at Ladd's Crossing one
winter; I went to school to you, and you licked me
unmercifully for a little fault. I always said I would




A NEW "TIE" BETWEEN JACK AND PHIN.  47


pay you, and I am here to do it." So saying, Dixon
beat Swan smartly over the shoulders with a stout
cane, twirled him about, pitched him into a mudpuddle, and walked off. Many a lad has done just
this thing in imagination; but the school-boy wrath
of the most of us, it is to be hoped, cools beneath
the falling snows of time, until, like Jack, we remember -our wrongs with a smile, and take our
revenge in a jest. I have heard our hero many a
time relate his trials under Master Dinks; but the
brier of that rough experience bears to-day only a
laughing rose.
"You got me punished!" muttered Phin, resentfully, when the master's back was turned.
" I could n't help it," answered Jack.
"'T was real mean!" said Phin.
" Almost as mean as trying to get out of the scrape
by lying," retorted Jack.
"Come! don't pull so hard! I '11 give your thumb
a jerk!"
But Phin soon found that the jerk was as painful
to his own thumb as to Jack's.
"That's right," whispered Jack. "Keep up that
motion, and the nail will saw the string in two." A
proposal which pleased Phineas.
" Nancy Beman and Sally Buel's whisperin'!" said
a half-grown girl on the front seat.
"And you are talking out loud!" cried the master.
Nancy Beman and Sally Buel being two of the girls
towards whom he was charged with showing partial



48


DOING HIS BEST.


ity, the manner in which he now passed over their
fault, and wreaked his wrath upon the spirit of taletelling, which he commonly encouraged, did not pass
unnoticed.  "Come here, Mariar!   I 've seen ye
playing and whispering half the forenoon," he added,
to justify his severity. "Stand here, and hold out
these books."
"Mariar," stationed by the table, extended her arm
horizontally at full length, supporting on her hand a
pile of three books. "Now, don't ye crook yer arm,
or let the books slip off!"  But even while Byron
spoke, down went one of the books to the floor. He
replaced it, giving her arm a smart rap. "Put down
your other hand! Take your knuckles out of your
eyes! Now mind what you're about!"
But to keep the arm straight, in a horizontal position, with a weight of books in the hand, is not
simply a hard thing for a girl of twelve; it is an impossible thing for any person to do for many minutes
at a time. The arm will crook, or the hand will rise
or sink, to gain some respite for the aching muscles.
Byron was probably aware of this, and perhaps his
heart relented towards " Mariar," for he soon perllitted her to keep her arm in any attitude she chose,
provided the books did not fall.
In the mean time Jack and Phin, by keeping up a
constant friction on the string when the master's back
was turned, had at last sawed it in two. They had
been standing for some minutes with their hands at
their sides, when he chanced to see them.




A NEW "TIE" BETWEEN JACK AND PHIN.     49
"String's come in two," said Phin, innocently,
looking as if he would regard it as a great favor if
some benevolent person would replace it.
"Second class in 'rithm'tic," said Master Dinks.
"You may take your places," - to Jack and Phin,
who made haste to slip the loops off their thumbs
and run.
8




50


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER VI.
HOW JACK GOT INTO A FIGHT.
IN consequence of these and other punishments
received, Jack soon lost not only much of his own
self-respect as a scholar, but his influence among the
other boys began to decline.
For a long time nobody had dared lay rude hands
on Step Hen Treadwell while Jack was near. But
now one noontime, coming out of the school-house,
he saw a cap flying in the air from hand to hand
over a mob of boys, while one bareheaded, chubby
fellow pursued it, screaming, "Give it up! give me
my cap!" That little fellow was Step Hen.
Jack rushed into the midst of the crowd, and made
a lunge for the cap as it fell to the ground. Lon
Gannett rushed for it at the same time, and succeeded
in seizing it first. He was about to throw it, when
Jack grasped his wrist.
"Don't ye throw that cap 1"
"You jest le' go my arm, you offscourin' of the
tow-path " said Lon, struggling to get away.
"Don't ye throw that cap! " Jack repeated, warningly, holding fast.
"I'11 throw it, for all you!" said Lon, trying to
take it in his other hand. "Come! I've been




HOW JACK GOT INTO A FIGHT.


51


bullied by you long enough. You begun to put
upon me the fust day of school."
" Mind your own business, and don't try to bully
smaller boys, and nobody will trouble you, at least I
won't," said Jack. "But I gave notice some time
ago that I was going to stand by this little shaver;
and now if you run over him, you run over me;
that's all. Drop that cap!"
Jack was so determined and so cool, and at the
same time he gave Lon's wrist such a wrench, that
somehow the cap was let fall; and Step Hen snatched
it from the ground.
"0 Lon! 0 Lon! give up so!" cried half a dozen
voices, - one being that of Phin Chatford.
"I hain't gi'n up!" said Lon. "He took advantage of me. Come!" bristling up to Jack. "Ye
want to fight?"
"Not particularly," replied Jack. "Anything to
accommodate ye, though."
" Hit me, if ye dare!"
"I don't know what I should hit ye for, if I do
dare. You've dropped the cap; that's all I asked."
Lon looked around till he found a small chip,
which he placed on his shoulder, and then sidled
fiercely up to Jack.
"You don't da's to knock that chip off my shoulder!" he said, tauntingly.
" I've nothing to do with your shoulder: you may
put a pile of chips on it, if you like; I sha' n't take
the trouble to knock 'em off."




52


DOING HIS BEST.


"Come! le' me see ye touch it! You're afraid!
you 're afraid!" cried Lon. "I dare ye! "
"Look here!" said Jack. "I did n't come out to
fight. I don't believe in fighting, unless it's in selfdefence or to defend somebody else. Keep out of my
way, and let Step Hen alone, and I'11 give ye a wide
berth."  And he walked off.
"Why did n't ye pitch into him?" said one of
Lon's mates. "You 're bigger 'n he is; you can handle him."
"I did n't want to begin it. I dared him to knock
the chip off my shoulder; if he had done it, I'd have
showed ye! Who was it said I give in to him?
You're the feller! " And Lon, feeling the necessity
of airing his courage, marched up to Phin Chatford.
" Oh! I ain't! I did n't!" screamed Phin.
"You did! You said I was afraid of him. I '11 let
ye know who 's afraid!"
"Help! help! Jack! help!" yelled Phineas, running towards the school-house with Lon at his heels.
" What's tTle row? " asked Jack.
Just as he was entering the door Phin dodged past
him, screaming, "He's going to lick me! don't let
him!" And, darting into the corner of the entry, behind the door, he pulled the door back against the
wall to cover him. Lon grasped the door, and was
about to wrench it from Phin's hold, when Jack
planted his foot against it.
"Take away your foot!" said Lon.
"MIy  foot is n't in your way," Jack replied.




53


HOW JACK GOT INTO A FIGHT.


THEE BATTLE.
"There's plenty of room for you to pass in and out.
I'mn standing here just now."
' You care in my way!" snarled Lon.  "I want to
git behind this door!"
", What do you want to get behind the door for?"
-\-,Vhat do YOU'ant to,None of your business                  "but I"
"That is n't a very civil reply," said Jak, "b
suppose it's all I could expect from you. See here
leave my foot alone till I give you



54


DOING HIS BEST.


"A bit of advice," he would have added; but at
that instant Lon, seizing his leg, lifted it, and with
all his force pushed Jack against the wall.
The proffered bit of advice was lost in the confusion that followed. The battle had begun. A score
of pupils crowded to witness it, boys and girls hurryincg and shouting and screaming, some rushing in from
without, and some rushing out from within, filling the
two doorways, and even thronging the entry in which
the combat took place.
And now I wish it were my privilege to describe a
gentlemanly set-to (if such a thing, without gloves,
can ever be called gentlemanly) between our hero
and his antagonist, - a few handsome rounds, with
seconds, and according to the rules of the ring. But
we cannot have that satisfaction for a very good
reason, —nothing of the kind took place. We have
read of such contests between school-boys of fourteen
and fifteen; but who of us ever really saw one?
Lon and Jack fought, as we shall see, not like
" gentlemen," but, after the manner of most schoolboys, like a couple of young savages.




MASTER DINKS TAKES A HAND.


55


CHAPTER VII.
MASTER DINKS TAKES A HAND.
FIRST, Lon tackled Jack. To save himself from
falling, Jack clutched Lon by the collar.
Lon, lifting Jack's leg, at the same time butted his
head into Jack's stomach. Jack responded by bearing heavily down on Lon, with one arm clasped under
his breast and the other tightening across his throat.
Lon bit Jack's arm, the furious teeth finding flesh
through coat and shirt-sleeve. Jack thereupon en-'
tangled four or five fingers in Lon's hair, took a twist
or two, and bereft the parent scalp of a handful.
Howls from Lon. "Let go, then!" from Jack.
The thing was growing serious. Phin came out
from behind the door, and with pale and excited
features looked wildly upon the combat he had caused.
The girls shrieked; the boys prompted and cheered.
"Now 's your chance, Jack!"  "Throw him over
your shoulder, Lon!" " Pelt him in the chops, Jack!"
" Flop him,- now's your time to pay off old scores!"
"Hands off! fair play!"
"Stop them! stop them! Jack will get hurt!"
cried a piercing voice. " 0, don't let them fight any
more!" It was the voice of Phin's little sister Kate,
who ran back into the school-room, shrieking with
fear and distress.




56


DOING HIS BEST.


The combatants in their struggle had staggered
back and forth two or three times across the entry,
when both fell together over a pile of wood at the
end of it. They rolled off, and Lon came uppermost.
Jack "turned" Lon. Lon " turned" Jack.
Jack, being under, managed to draw up one foot
under Lon's breast; the crooked leg suddenly straightened, and away went Lon, over backwards. Both
sprang to their feet, and clinched again. The struggle
that ensued was too confused to be described with
any accuracy of detail. They struck, they kicked,
they pulled hair, they tore each other's clothes, they
tumbled and rolled and turned each other, and at
last tumbled out at the door.
That was the last tumble. Jack was uppermost.
He had Lon down, and was choking him to make
him say he would give up and behave himself in
future; and Lon was gasping and sputtering, "Help,
Jim! Ase, pull him off!" when up walked Master Dinks.
" What are you doing here?"  And he seized Jack
by the shoulder.
" Nothing, only fighting a little," said Jack.
"I '11 give you fighting enough!" said Master
Dinks. "Get up and go into the house."
Jack jumped quickly to his feet, followed more
slowly by Lon, who went limping after him into the
school-room.
" Stand out there in the middle of the floor till I'm
ready to settle with you," said Byron.




MASTER DINKS TAKES A HAND.


57


And there they stood after the school had been
called to order, a sad and yet ludicrous spectacle.
Both were covered with dust from head to foot; their
hair wildly tumbled, their clothes torn, their faces
scratched and smeared with dust and blood. Poor
Jack felt himself disgraced forever; he hung his head,
and shed tears of shame and despair.
He had plenty of time for reflection before the
threatened settlement came. Dinks kept the culprits
standing there at least an hour, in their wretched
plight, before he deigned to notice them.  Jack
meanwhile tried to comfort himself with the thought
that he had acted in defence of Step Hen and Phineas; that he had not wanted to fight, but had waited
till he was actually attacked. Yet he could not help
asking himself, " Was n't I a fool to interfere? Why
should I get myself into a scrape by trying to protect them? Little thanks will I get for my pains,
especially from Phin! He's grinning now in his seat.
iWhy didn't I let Lon thrash him?"   Then something would rise up from the depths of his heart,
calm and strong and sweet as the voice of conscience
itself, whispering, "Perhaps you did n't take the
wisest course, but you meant well. It would have
been the part of a coward to stand by and see the
strong tyrannize over the weak."  Then that voice
would be silent, and his doubts would return; until
poor Jack was hardly able to distinguish right from
wrong, or generous self-devotion from reckless folly.
I suppose Master Dinks had all this time been
3*




58


DOING HIS BEST.


considering how he should deal with so heinous a
crime. At last he took a knife from his pocket (it
happened to be Jack's knife), and said, " Who will go
up into the woods and cut me four good whips? "
" I will!" "I will!" and at least half a dozen boys
sprang to their feet.
"Smith Marston, you may go."
Smith was accordingly despatched with the knife,
and the offenders were again left to their reflections.
"Lay them on the table," said Byron, when the
whips came. "Boys may go out, —all but the two
on the floor."
The sight of the whips had called up a stubborn
and desperate spirit in Jack. "Let him lick me! I
can stand it," thought he. "'T won't be the first time
I 've been punished for nothing. I've tried to do my
best, but it's just the same, whether I do right or
wrong."
He had noticed that Smith deposited the knife
with the whips; and now, pretending to step aside
in order to let the boys pass him on their way out, he
quietly moved over to the side of the table. A few
moments later, he leaned carelessly on the table, covering the knife with his hand. When he removed
his hand the knife was gone.
The boys were called in, and the girls had their
recess. Then Master Dinks took the four whips, and
seasoned one after the other in the fire, passing
them quickly over the glowing coals. This process
was perhaps designed quite as much to terrify the




MASTER DINKS TAKES A HAND.


59


culprits, and to impress the other scholars with the
awfulness of what might at any time overtake them,
as to toughen the supple birch. The whips were then
laid on the table again, and the girls were called in.
"Now for that settlement," said Master Dinks.
" When boys fight, I believe in giving them enough
of it. Off with your coats."
The coats were reluctantly laid aside. Byron inspected the whips, trying their strength and elasticity,
and switching the air.
" Which of ye began it?"
"He did!" cried Jack, with swelling heart. He
was going on to explain just how the thing occurred,
when the master stopped him.
"Never mind about that. It takes two to make a
bargain, and it takes two to get into a fight. Take
these whips." He placed one in the hand of each
boy, and made them face each other. " You say 'Lonzo began it.. So 'Lonzo may strike first. Then you
may strike. I'11 keep tally. If you don't do the
business up thoroughly for each other, I may have to
take a hand. 'Lonzo, begin; and don't be dainty."
Lon gave Jack a gentle stroke over the shoulder,
which Jack repaid as gently. The lookers-on giggled,
and even the actors in the little drama had to laugh.
"Harder than that " said the master. "I '11 show
you!"  And he gave each a stinging cut across the
back.
Lon had not dared strike a hard blow before, being pretty sure of getting as good as he gave. In




60


DOING HIS BEST.


l4


1. -


P      I ---       — "q


RATHER ROUGH.
the rage kindled by the master's birch, however, he
ventured a more vigorous stroke. Jack returned it
wvith interest. That warned Lon to hit more lightly.
But now   the master's whip struck in, playing so
lively an accompaniment to their duet, that each,
driven to desperation, furiously avenged his smart on
the shoulders and head and ears of his antagonist.
Thus the spirit of fight, instead of being subdued,




MASTER DINKS TAKES A HAND.


61


was so inflamed in them that when their whips were
used up they would have gone at each other with
their fists, if the master had not stopped them.
" I '11 finish up for you, if you have n't had enough."
And he gave each a final polishing off with a fresh
whip. "Now you may put on your coats. I hope
you've had fighting enough to satisfy you for one
while. Those were pretty good whips, Smith. What
did you do with the knife?"
"I laid it on the table with the whips," said the
red-haired Smith.
"There's no knife here. Has anybody taken that
knife?"
"I seen Jack Hazard take somethin' off f'm the
table and put it in his trouse's pocket," said the telltale Laura.
" Have you that knife, Hazard?"
" It's my knife; I saw it lying there, and I took it."
" Give it to me."
Jack hesitated: his eyes blazed like fire through
his tears.  Dinks seized his ruler.  Then Jack,
though with rage and rebellion in his soul, handed
out the knife.
"You would have got this back again in good time
if you had n't taken it," observed the master, turning
it in his hand, and finally laying it again upon the
table. "You are a bad boy; not conquered yet, I
see. You will stay with me after school to-night.
Now go to your seats."
To reach their seats it was necessary to pass the




62


DOING HIS BEST.


master; and they knew pretty well what he had stationed himself in their way for. Lon went first; and
just as he passed Dinks gave him a kick in the rear.
Jack followed. A multitude of wild thoughts seemed
to rush through his soul in an instant of time, - all
his wrongs, his disgrace and shame, and the threatened penalty still awaiting him.  He had often
thought, in calmer moments, that he could never bear
a kick from the master, who had a habit of dismissing offenders in that way; and now his heart was
full.
He passed on, however. Up went the Dinks foot,
to administer the parting kick; when, quick as a
flash, Jack whirled, caught the uplifted leg in the
very act, and overthrew the master with a great
downfall and a mighty crash. He then darted to the
table, where he took his knife; then to the entry,
where he got his cap; then out at the door like a
deer.




AN UNEXPECTED MEETING.


63


CHAPTER VIII.
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING.
MASTER BYRON DINKS, falling in a ridiculous attitude, sprawled helplessly on his back for a moment,
with his legs on the stove-hearth and his head under
the table; then scrambled upon his feet, and looked
confusedly around for his escaped pupil and his ruler.
"He run out!" squeaked the telltale Laura.
That was evident enough; and Master Dinks,
grasping his ruler, but without waiting to put on his
hat or part his hair, ran out too.
Now Jack might easily have got away, for he was
a lively lad on his legs, and it is not probable that
Master Dinks would have ventured upon a long race.
But just as Jack in his strange plight and headlong
hurry leaped out at the door, a lady and a gentleman
in' a sleigh drove up to it.
"Jack!" said the lady, putting aside her veil, and
showing a sweet face full of surprise and anxiety.
Jack stopped, stared wildly, and, after some hesitation, staggered up to the sleigh. " 0 Miss Felton! "
he began; when a consciousness of his wretched situation overcame him, and his pent-up feelings broke
forth in a sob.
Annie, astonished at his disordered clothes, his
smeared and swollen features, and his bursting pas



64


DOING HIS BEST.


sion, began soothingly to question him, while she
softly put back his straggling hair under his cap.
Before he could get voice to answer, out rushed, with
brandished ruler and flying hair, Master Byron Dinks.
One avenging hand had already seized Jack's collar, while the other bore aloft the oaken weapon,
when the gentlest voice in the world said, "2Mr.
Dinks!"
"I- I beg your pardon, Miss Felton! I was n't
aware- " stammered the schoolmaster, overwhelmed
with embarrassment.
" This is my brother, Mr. Dinks," said Annie. The
brother, a big, burly fellow in buffalo-skin coat and
cap, looked out with a merry twinkle from the depths
of his enveloping fur, and saluted Byron. " We are
going to visit Aunt Chatford," Annie added; "and I
thought you would be kind enough to let Cousin
Kate ride home with us."
" Cer-cer-tainly," gasped poor Mr. Dinks, hardly
knowing what to say or how to act. For, if the truth
must be told, he was an ardent admirer of Miss Felton, whose good opinion he prized more than that of
any one else in the world; and he could not help
feeling that he was in a ludicrous position. "W-wwon't ye come in? "
Miss Felton declined the invitation with thanks,
but said that she hoped to visit the school before
long. "I have taught here, you know," said she,
"and I feel a deep interest in my pupils. What is
the trouble with Jack? He never went to school




AN UNEXPECTED MEETING.


65


to me, but he has been my private pupil; and I always found him so docile and good a boy, I am
amazed that he should ever have any trouble with his
teacher."
"I've found him the worst boy in school!" exclaimed Byron. "I punished him this afternoon for
fighting; when he flew at me like a tiger, pushed me
back against the table, and ran out of school. Go
back and take your place, sir, and I '11 settle with you
to-night."
Byron's hand had slipped from Jack's shoulder,
when he found himself confronted by Annie Felton;
but he now attempted once more to take the lad into
custody. Jack sprang round the sleigh.
"He's told one side of the story, but there's another side! He never asked how I came to fight;
and after he had abused me all I could bear, he went
to kick me. I ketched his leg, and capsized him."
And Jack laughed nervously at the recollection.
" Caught, not ketched," said Annie, with a smile.
" I should say you served him right," remarked the
big brother, with a look of mingled fun and contempt
at Mr. Dinks.
"I - was sure any reasonable man would say so,"
began Mr. Dinks, uneasily. "For I-"
"I mean, that he served you right," the big brother
pleasantly explained.  "A master who kicks his
scholars is n't fit to be in a school-room, and I don't
blame him for running out. Hop into the sleigh,
Jack, and ride home with us."




66


DOING HIS BEST.


Out of pity for Mr. Dinks, who turned red and
sallow in streaks at this speech, Annie said, " Forrest,
you are too bad! Excuse my brother, Mr. Dinks; he
does n't mean  "
"Yes, he does," interrupted the big brother. "Is
there anything in the school-house you want, Jack?"
"Yes, my books."
"Go in and get 'em. We '11 wait for you."
Jack's heart leaped with joy at these friendly
words from the brother of his best and dearest friend;
and I am afraid he enjoyed a little too keenly the
proud triumph of marching back into the school-room,
coolly gathering up his books in sight of the wondering pupils, and marching out again, past the glaring
eyes and trembling ruler of Master Dinks, who hungered for a good blow, at him, but refrained from indulging in that luxury out of respect to the lady and
her big brother outside.
"Katie," said Byron in a half-choked voice, "your
cousin, Miss Felton, is waiting for you in a sleigh;
you can go homle."
"May I go too?" cried Phineas, springing to his
feet. "Our folks said I might be dismissed."
"Go along!" said the master, crossly. Rap, rap!
"The school must come to order!" Just then a
wad of chewed paper, commonly called a "spit-ball,"
struck him on the pimpled forehead, and stuck. He
started back, put up his hand, and demanded, " Who
throwed that?" - in. the confusion of the moment
relapsing into the idiom of his boyhood.




AN UNEXPECTED MEETING.


67


"Rant Hildreth did,- I seen him!" was piped
from the front seat.
"Randolph Hildreth, come here!"
"I meant to shoot it at the stove-pipe, and it
slipped," was Rant's anxious explanation, as he
obeyed. "All the boys was throwin', when you was
out, an' some o' the gals tu!"
Jack did not wait to hear the result of the inquiry
into these disorders, but hastened, books and slate in
hand, to rejoin his friends in the sleigh. Phin, already there, leaped in, and occupied the place offered
to Jack.
" Come! we can make room for you too," said Annie, noticing Jack's disappointed look.
" I don't believe there'll be any room after Kate
gets in," said Phin.
"In that case you'll have to get out and hang on
behind," said Forrest Felton, "for I have already asked
Jack to ride with us."
"Don't mind me; I can walk. Here, Kate!"
And Jack helped the child into the sleigh, pulling
the buffalo-robe up over her. "Go ahead!"
" Let me take your books, if you walk," said Annie;
and, as she insisted, he gave them to her. " Phineas,"
she added, as they rode on, "it was hardly fair in you
to crowd Jack out after we had invited him."
"0, he can walk!" replied Phin, with a careless
laugh.
They reached the Chatford house; and, almost
before the greetings between the visitors and their




68


DOING HIS BEST.


relatives were over, Phin cried, " What do ye think's
the news? Jack got a fighting to-day with Lon Gannett, and the master made 'em lick jackets before the
whole school, and then he went to kick Jack as he
was taking his seat, and Jack got hold of his leg and
upset him under the table; and Jack's turned out of
school, and here's his books!"
"Is this so?" exclaimed Mrs. Chatford in great
astonishment. "It can't be true!"
"Yes, it is, every word of it! " crowed Phineas, as
if it had been the best news in the world.
" 0 Phin! how can you speak so?" remonstrated
little Kate. "You know it was by trying to keep
Lon Gannett from fighting you that poor Jack got
into trouble; and you ought to be more sorry than
any one else."
"Huh! I was n't afraid of Lon Gannett! I can
lick Lon Gannett with my little finger i"  And Phin
went on to brag.




IN THE EVENING.


69


CHAPTER IX.
IN THE EVENING.
IN the mean while Jack trudged along the slippery
sleigh-track with a heavy heart. To be thus left behind was a grievous disappointment to him; not that
he cared so much for the ride, but he needed the
friendly presence and support of Annie and her
good brother. His passion, and the glow of triumph
which Forrest's kind words inspired, had had time to
cool; and he began to consider the results of the
day's bad business.
"Of course," said he, "it's the end of my going to
school, -and this after all my hopes and plans!
when I meant to be doing my best!"  He knew well
that, even if he wished, he could never return to the
scene of Master Dinks's tyranny except at the cost of
some terrible punishment and humiliation. Still he
could not bring himself altogether to regret what he
had done. "That last kick was too much! I never
could stand that!"
On reaching home, he quietly washed and brushed
himself, then took the milk-pails from the pantry and
went out to do the evening's chores. He watered the
horses, he fed the swine, he foddered and milked the
cows; and by the time he came in to supper, carrying his two brimming pails of milk, his heart, though




70


DOING HIS BEST.


by no means free from trouble, was resolved and
strong.
The Chatford family were so busy and so happy in
the reception and entertainment of their guests, that
Jack's unfortunate adventure seemed to have been
forgotten; no mention was made of it during supper,
and it was not until the whole family were gathered
in the evening around the sitting-room fire, that Mr.
Chatford said, "Well, Jack, what's the news with you
to-day?"
Jack started, his heart gave a sudden jump, and his
color changed.
" Not very good news," he replied, forcing a smile.
" So I hear. How happens it you can't get along
any better at school?"
" I don't believe it's all my fault. I did my very
best until the master began to punish me for things
I was n't to blame for; then I got discouraged."
Jack paused to catch breath, and gather strength
from Annie's gentle eyes fixed upon him, and her
brother Forrest's pleasant smile, and Mrs. Chatford's
anxious, motherly look; and then went on:"He seemed to have a spite against me from the
first; and I happened to be one of those he thought
he could abuse as he pleased, and nobody would interfere. Children of parents well off, especially children of the trustees, hardly ever get punished; but
we poor fellows have to take it!"
"It's very easy," said Mr. Chatford, gravely, "to
accuse a teacher of partiality. But even if what you




IN THE EVENING.


71


say is true, is that any excuse for your conduct? I
am one of the trustees of the school; you are a member of my family; and if I pass over this affair, it
will look as if I upheld you in your resistance to the
master's authority. Are you prepared to go back in
the morning and ask his pardon? "
"No, sir!" answered Jack, with a swelling bosom.
"I have made up my mind; I never can do that!"
" You prefer to lose your schooling?"
" Yes, sir, if I must. It will be no use for me to
go to Master Dinks's school any more."
Jack's voice faltered, and it was a great relief to
him to hear Forrest Felton, in his cheery tone, speak
up:"Do you think, Uncle Chatford, that a master who
makes a practice of kicking his scholars is to be tolerated?"
"But does he make a practice of it?" said the cautious deacon.
"Ask Moses!" cried Jack, vehemently.
"Of course he does," said Moses. "Not a day
passes but he gives the toe of his boot to one or two."
Then Jack blazed up. "I had borne all I could!
I turned on him, - I caught his leg and threw him
over! And I would do it again!"
"'T was the neatest thing I ever saw," said Moses,
laughing; "and I never was so tickled in my life.
Dinks got just what he deserved; that's what every
one thought."
"Reminds me of a sarcumstance happened when I




72


DOING HIS BEST.


was a youngster and went to school to a man by the
name o' Colt," said Mr. Pipkin, the hired man, from
his corner. "He used to kick. One day he kicked
one o' the Ryder boys, - Dan; sassy feller; spunky
as a bull pup. Dan wheeled about an' looked him
square in the face. 'Kick when you're a Colt,' says
he,' what'11 ye do when you 're an old hoss?' The
master was so took back he never said a word, by
hokey! but jes' let him take his seat. We made a
joke on't, an' said the Colt had got his Ryder that
time!"
"I think if I had been the Colt, that Ryder would
have got thrown," said the deacon. "A master must
maintain his authority."
" Father never will hear anything against a teacher,"
remarked Moses.
"Well, well! I believe in discipline," replied Mr.
Chatford.
"That's just it; and you're so afraid of saying a
word that might encourage rebellious notions in us
boys, that I believe you'd let a master cut the little
shavers' ears off before you would even give us a hint
of what you thought of it. I wish you could just
look into Dinks's school, some days! Talk about
discipline! he has no more discipline than a butting
calf."
"Did Rant Hildreth get licked for throwing the
spit-ball this afternoon?" asked Phineas. "Took
the master square in the forehead, and stuck!" he
explained to Mr. Pipkin, with a giggle.




IN THE EVENING.


73


" No; Rant told of others who had been throwing
spit-balls, and they told of more, till by and by
Dinks had a row of about eight fellows and three
girls on the floor. He was going to ferule 'em all,
till it came out that Nancy Beman had thrown spitballs across to the boys half a dozen times to-day.
Of course he could n't think of punishing her; so he
let 'em all take their seats. He didn't kick 'em;
he's cured of kicking for one while, I guess!"
"It seems you gave the master one good lesson,
for the many he had given you," Forrest Felton said
to Jack. "The school ought to pass you a vote of
thanks."
"Don't talk in that way, Forrest," said the deacon.
"Dinks ain't the worst teacher that ever was."
"You should have seen Dinks give Step Hen Treadwell a lesson in addition the other day," said Moses.
"Step Hen is a stupid fellow at figures; and for some
blunder of his the master sent him to the blackboard
and told him to add up six'ciphers. He took the
chalk, frightened half to death, and wrote down a
column of six naughts, drew a line under 'em, and
went to adding 'em  up. ' Quicker'n that!' says
Dinks, hitting him a crack with the ruler. 'How
many does it make?' 'Six!' bellows Step Hen;
and he hurries to write it down. 'No, it don't!'
Crack with the ruler! Step Hen howls out,' Makes
one!' rubs out the six and writes down one. 'No, it
don't!' Crack, crack, crack I 'Add 'em up again!'
Step Hen was so confused by that time that he
4




74


DOING HIS BEST.


couldn't have told how many one and one made.
He yelled, and rubbed his smarting legs, and concluded that six ciphers added together made five.
Then he thought perhaps they made four. Then
three. Then two. Then he did n't know how many
they did make. Of course he got a licking for every
blunder, and an extra licking because he did n't know.
It was getting so bad I thought the big boys ought to
interfere; and I was trying to make up my mind to
speak, when Dinks, to humiliate Step Hen, called up
our little Kate, and told her to show him how to do
the sum. Tell him about it, Kate."
"I felt so bad for the poor boy!" said Kate, all
aglow with the recollection of the scene. "I should
have been frightened myself if I had n't had so much
pity for him. So I said,' Six ciphers stand for six
nothings, don't they? Now he don't want you to
tell how many ciphers there are, but how much they
make, added up.' He kept whimpering,' he did n't
know.' So I said,' You know well enough, only you
don't think. Suppose,' I said, 'there are six of us
boys and girls; and he asks how much money we
have. I have nothing, you have nothing, and so with
all of us.' 'O, I know now!' says he. ' Six nothings make - nothing!' And he turned round to the
board, and added up his six ciphers, and put a cipher
under them, - and 0, how glad I was!" cried little.
Kate, clapping her hands again with joy at her success.
"Why, Kate!" said Annie Felton, delighted, "you
are a regular little schoolma'am! But" — her face




IN THE EVENING.


75


saddened immediately -" I am so sorry for - Step
Hen, as you call him! Stephen Treadwell is one of
the best little boys in the world. And not so stupid,
either; though I found it sometimes took a good deal
of explanation to make him understand things. Mr.
Dinks must be a very poor teacher, as well as a cruelhearted man."
" Don't say it before the boys, if you do think so,"
interposed the deacon.
"After what has happened to-day," she replied
with spirit, "I think the truth may be spoken even
before them. For my part, I should like to hear
Jack's story. I trust him, and you trust him; we all
know Jack by this time."
" Yes, I believe Jack is a truthful boy, and means
well, whatever mistakes he may have made," added
the deacon, discreetly. "Come, boy! let's hear what
you have to say for yourself."




76


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER X.
JACK'S GOOD FORTUNE.
TEARS of joy and gratitude sprang to Jack's eyes,
and he poured forth the whole story of his troubles
in school, as it is known to the reader. It was warmly corroborated by Moses and Kate, and less willingly
by Phineas.
"Good for you, Jack!" exclaimed Mrs. Pipkin,
over her work by the table. " I'm glad you whipped
the Gannett boy, and I'11 mend your clothes for you.
I'm glad you come up with the master; and I hope
he '11 get turned out of school."
"There are always two sides to a story," said the
deacon, warily.
"   uncle!" said Annie Felton, "you must acknowledge that Jack has done as nearly right as ever
a spirited boy of his age could be expected to do, under such circumstances."
"I did n't know you approved of fighting," said
Phineas, with a grin of malice and envy,- for he
never could bear to hear Jack praised.
"I 'm ashamed of that brother of mine! " exclaimed
Moses, in great disgust. "To fling out about Jack's
fighting, as I've heard him do half a dozen times,
when 'twas by defending him that Jack got into
trouble at last!"




JACK'S GOOD FORTUNE.


77


"I don't approve of fighting," said Annie; "and
it's awful to think of our Jack's pounding heads and
pulling hair with that Gannett boy!  Of course I
wish he had had character enough to get along, and
take care of himself and the smaller and more timid
boys, without striking a blow."
", I was n't timid!" said Phineas; "but our
folks have always told me not to fight, and I remembered that."
"It's the lad's principles," said Forrest, in his dry
way. "No doubt he'd be a perfect lion among the
boys, if his pa and ma had n't taught him that 'little
children should not let their angry passions rise.'"
"We've interrupted Annie," said Moses. "I'd
like to hear what she was going to say, - for instance,
about this very affair of Jack's. I suppose if he had
been as wise and cool and strong-minded as maybe
we can imagine a boy to be, but as no boy that I
know is, then he might have done what he undertook
without fighting. But for my part, I can't always do
it, old as I am; and I 'm ashamed to say I've stood
'by and seen the little fellows imposed upon by the
big ones, when I ought to have stopped it, but did n't,
because I was afraid of getting myself into a scrape.
Now, what should a fellow do?"
" Do what Jack did, I say! " cried Forrest. " AWhatever we may preach, we all think better of him to-night
for thrashing the Gannett chap and pitching into the
schoolmaster. Annie agrees with me, I know she
does; and so does Uncle Chatford."




78


DOING HIS BEST.


"Fie, fie!" said the deacon, frowning to cover a
smile, while he fidgeted uneasily in his chair.
"No," Annie hastened to say, "I don't counsel
boys to fight.  But I am  glad"- and her eyes
beamed beautifully on Jack- "that our dear boy here
has so much will and spirit. They will prove splendid qualities in his character; but he must learn to
control them."
"It's bad! it's bad, every way!" said the deacon.
"Say nothing about the discipline of the school- "
"That, it seems, can't be much worse than it was
before," Forrest suggested.
"Well, I don't claim that we have the best master
that ever was. But a poor school is better than none;
and now Jack is without any."
" I've thought "- Jack hesitated -" that I might
perhaps you could arrange it so I could go over to
the Basin: they've a good school there."
"Just what I thought you would want to do;
but," said the deacon, "I set my foot down against
that at once! We won't have the unruly boys from
the Basin, after they're turned out there, coming over
to our school; and I sha' n't favor any from our district going over there."
"Then," said Annie, seeing how crestfallen Jack
looked, " I see but one thing for you to do, in order
not to lose your schooling."
"Wlhat is that?" he asked, eagerly.
Forrest spoke for his sister. "Go home with us
to-morrow. We can get you into our school."




JACK'S GOOD FORTUNE.


79


" And live with you?" cried Jack, in delighted astonishment.
"Of course," said Annie; " Forrest and I have been
talking it over."
"That would never answer," interposed Mrs. Chatford. "You have nothing for Jack to do; he could n't
work to pay for his board, as he does here."
" And besides," added the deacon, "there may be a
change,- it is just possible Mr. Dinks may resign."
"Or get turned out," struck in Moses. "I should n't
wonder!"
"Very well," said Annie; " Jack has been promised a visit to our house for a long time. He shall
go home with us, and while we are waiting to see
what he had better do, I'11 give him private lessons,
so that he shall not fall behind in his studies. What
do you say to that, Jack?"
"Oh!" was all the overjoyed youngster could articulate, before Phineas put in," Now, I say that ain't fair! If anybody goes home
with you to make a visit, I 'm going! Jack ain't your
relation! why should you think so much of him? "
"If liking went with relationship," laughed Forrest,
"dear Phineas, how we should adore you! As it is,
we don't object to your making us as long a visit as
your folks will allow at any other time. But this
time Jack is going. That is, if he agrees to it."
"Oh!" Jack said again, his heart almost too full
for words. "It is too much! If Mr. Chatford will
let me!"




80


DOING HIS BEST.


"I don't know," said the deacon, trying to conceal
his satisfaction at the boy's good fortune. "I don't'
like to have you give up your studies just now; and
Annie is very kind; - yes, I suppose I shall let you
go, though I must say it looks to me very much like
a premium for pitching into the master! Phineas,
see who's at the door."
The sound of a foot on the scraper was followed by
a knock; and as Phin stood in the entry, holding the
door open, a young man stamped the snow from his
feet, and walked in. He had a rather short, stocky
figure, and his bright, genial face was slightly pockmarked.
"Percy Lanman!" cried the deacon.     "Walk
along! Here's somebody you know, - our niece,
Annie. And somebody you don't know,-her brother
Forrest."
"Yes, I've met him too," said Percy, shaking
hands all round. "In one of my excursions I got as
far as their house. Ah, Jack, how are you?"
Jack was very well, and of course delighted to see
his friend, - for he felt himself under peculiar obligations to this young man. Yet he thought it strange
that Percy should have paid a visit to the Feltons
without the Chatfords even hearing of it; and stranger
still, perhaps, that he should happen to drop in this
very evening, to call on the family, for the first time
since Annie closed her summer school.
The circumstance puzzled Jack a good deal; and
after he got to bed that night he lay thinking of it,




JACK'S GOOD FORTUNE.


81


and of the day's adventures, and of to-morrow's journey, until his mind floated off in a dream in which a
thousand things mingled confusedly together. Now
he was running out of the school-house carrying the
master's leg, which he had pulled off in a scuffle.
Then Constable Sellick was chasing him, and calling
upon him to " stop thief!"  Then he was taken before Judge Garty, and Master Dinks appeared on two
good legs of his own to swear to the missing member.
The Judge entered into an argument to show that
if Jack regarded it as "booty," he was guilty, but
that if he claimed it as a " leg-acy " he was innocent;
which was cut short by Jack running out of court,
and riding off in a cutter with Annie Felton. Then
he was not riding, but walking along a lonely road,
crying bitterly, while Annie rode gayly on before with
Percy Lanman. They stopped for him, but he wanted
to ask his dog Lion what he was burying; and just
as Lion answered, "Squire Peternot's lame leg," he
awoke.


F




82


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XI.
THE ADVENTURE AT TIlE VILLAGE TAVERN.
IN the afternoon of the next day Forrest and Annie
Felton set out to return home, taking Jack with them.
The good-byes were said while the sleigh stood at the
door.
" We shall miss ye 'bout the chores, Jack," said
Mr. Pipkin, handing the reins to Forrest, then pulling
up the buffalo-robe over the travellers.
"I would n't be in a hurry to get into a school
over there, boy," was the deacon's last word, "forbetween ourselves -I think there'11 be a change
here soon. Say nothing about it," he whispered;
"but it's my impression there 'll be a change."
Mrs. Chatford kissed him as if he had been her
own son; and Jack cried, " Good by, all! Good by,
Lion! Get down, you fellow! what are you thinking about?"
" O, do let him go too! " said Annie. "lWhy not?
He saved my life once, you know; and mother will
be so glad to see him!"
"To be sure!" cried Forrest. "Jack and Lion are
one. We can't think of inviting the boy without the
dog."
Lion looked as if he understood every word of this
conversation, and his tail wagged with joy.




THE ADVENTURE AT THE VILLAGE TAVERN.


83


Nothing else was wanting to complete Jack's happiness; and he said, with an inquiring look, "If
the folks are willing? " Mrs. Chatford said, " Why, yes,
if Annie wishes it, - though Phineas will be more
vexed than ever when he finds Lion gone too."
The deacon also consented, although he regarded
Lion as " one of the family "; while Mrs. Pipkin declared, " You're very welcome, for my part! You '11
find that dog eats as much as a man; and when
you've stepped over and around him, lying by the
fire, as many times as I have, you'll be easily consoled for the loss of him."
"Her heart is better than her tongue," said Jack,
as they rode away. "She thinks as much of Lion as
any of us, and you should hear her stand up for him
when he is abused by anybody else!"
" There's your school-house," said Forrest, as they
approached that cracked temple of learning. "Don't
you want to stop and bid Master Dinks good by?"
"I 'm afraid the interview would be too affecting!"
said Jack. " I 've shed tears enough, parting with
him once."
"Do you think you can bear the separation?"
asked Forrest.
"I don't think I shall break my heart," replied
Jack.
As he spoke, they turned the corner; and just at
that moment a chorus of shouts and a wild troop of
boys burst out of the school-house. The door was
open when the sleigh passed; and, looking in, Jack




84


DOING HIS BEST.


could see Master Dinks, ruler in hand, walking across
the room. As the travellers had already said good
by to Moses and Phineas, they were not going to
stop; but Phin came running after them.
"You sha' n't take Lion!"  And the exasperated
youth, throwing his arms about the dog's neck, endeavored to hold him.
"There's Lon Gannett, the fellow I fought, scowling there by the wood-pile. He has got one black
eye, any way!" said Jack.
He was quite willing the boys should see him riding away with such companions; and, cracking the
whip, which Forrest had intrusted to him, he called,
"Come, Lion!" The dog gave a bound, and ran after
the sleigh, leaving poor Phineas tumbled in the snow.
The weather was fine, the sleighing excellent, and
Jack, sitting by Annie's side, wrapped up in the same
buffalo-robe, while Forrest, in a buffalo-skin suit of
his own, sat on the movable seat before them, - following the jingling sleigh-bells, while Lion trotted
behind, -was just then the happiest boy in the
world. The day was one of the shortest of the year,
and the early winter night began to close in upon
them some time before the end of their journey was
reached. As they were passing through a village,
Forrest said, "I am going to leave you at the tavern,
while I look up a man I want to see."
As they stopped at the door of the public house,
Jack asked, " What will you do with the horse,take him with you?"




THE ADVENTURE AT THE VILLAGE TAVERN.


85


"No, put him  under the shed. He will be all
right with the blanket thrown over him. I shall be
back in about half an hour." Jack offered to take care
of the horse. "Very well. Be sure and hitch him
fast," said Forrest, " or he may get home before us."
So, while he went off on business, and Annie seated
herself by the parlor fire, Jack took the horse to the
shed. Having hitched and blanketed him, he called
Lion.
"Here, poor fellow! are you cold too? Come in
and warm your nose." And he returned to the tavern, followed by the dog.
As he went in he noticed, on the steps, the figure
of a man who had been standing there when he
parted from Forrest Felton. He stood with his hands
in his pockets, and was humming a careless air, when
Lion began to snuff and growl.
"Quit!" said Jack, cuffing the dog, to teach him
better manners. "Go in there!"
"Good evening," said the man, in a wonderfully
friendly voice. "About how far do ye make it to
Harte's Mills?"
"It may be three miles," answered Jack. "We
passed there about half an hour ago."
"Thank ye, sir! Cool evenin'." And, still with his
hands in his pockets, beginning to hum again, the
polite stranger sauntered slowly away.
Jack and Lion entered the parlor where Miss Felton was waiting. No sooner, however, was Lion in
the room than he wanted to get out again.




86


DOING HIS BEST.


"He knows he has no business here," suggested
Annie. "You had better take him to the bar-room."
So Jack took Lion to the bar-room, and tried to
make him lie down in the chimney-corner. The dog
was still uneasy, and his master had to cuff his ears
once more to make him   mind. "Now, lie there!
don't you stir till I tell you to!"
Jack returned to the parlor, where he had been
seated with Annie by the fire not more than five
minutes, when the bar-keeper burst in.
"You 'd better come out and see to your dog!"
"WAhat's the matter with my dog?" cried Jack,
jumpin to his feet.
"You '11 see! I believe he has killed a man! "
Jack, in great alarm, sprang to the bar-room in advance of the messenger; but no dog', and no man,
was there. The place, which had held half a dozen
loungers five minutes before, was empty. As he
stood looking around in no little fright and bewilderment, a sound of excited voices came to his ear
through the outer door, which was open; and out he
ran to the shed. There he came suddenly upon a
group of spectators, half illumined by the rays of a
lantern.
"Thle man's all right, and the dog's all right!"
somebody was saying in a loud voice. "Let 'em
alone i"
" For mercy's sake, friends, help!" pleaded another
voice, which seemed to come from a distant corner.
At the same time a dog's growls were audible.




THE ADVENTURE AT THE VILLAGE TAVERN.  87


"TAKE HIMI OFF!"
Jack rushed in, and saw by the light of the lantern
a man clinging to the empty manger, while Lion was
clinging to him.
"Here's the boy! Is this your dog?" cried two
or three voices.
"Yes! but where — where 's the horse and cutter?"
"There's no boss and cutter, sure enough," said




88


DOING HIS BEST.


the bar-keeper. "Here's the blanket on the ground.
Have ye seen the hoss, Jim?"
" No," said the man with the lantern. "I was in
the barn looking after my hosses, when I heard a row
and run around here and found this 'ere dog a tacklin' the man. I believe I did see a hoss'n' cutter
jest goin' up the street. Might 'a' been yourn."
" It was 1 " cried Jack.
"That's it! I thought the feller was stealin'
suthin."
"Take him off!" said the man by the manger.
"I'11 explain everything!"
Jack made haste to pull Lion away, which was
no easy matter; when, behold! the man, stepping
forth in the full light of the lantern, turned out to be
the same polite stranger he had met on the steps.
"So you didn't keep on to Harte's Mills!" exclaimed Jack.
" No," said the man, brushing his clothes. "I wish
I had! This is what I get for trying to do a man a
service! I heard a noise under the shed here, and saw
the hoss you had just hitched backin' out. I sprung
to stop him, when this dog stopped.me!"
"lie stopped you at the right time i" said Jack.
"Hold the thief, some of you! I '11 chase the horse.
Come, Lion!"




THE BEST-NATURED MAN IN THE WORLD.  89


CHAPTER XII.
THE BEST-NATURED MAN IN THE WORLD.
THE boy and the dog had run but a little way in
pursuit of the missing horse and cutter, when they
met a sleigh coming. Jack stood in the snow on the
side of the road, and waited to hail the driver as he
passed.
"Have you seen —" he began; when -the driver,
pulling rein, exclaimed, " That you, Jack! You're a
smart fellow to take care of a horse! I told you he
would be in a hurry to get home, if he had the chance.
By good luck he was stopped out here, or we should
be in a pretty predicament!"
"All right!" cried Jack, breathlessly, tumbling
into the sleigh. "It's all owing to Lion!"
"That the horse got away? " said Forrest.
"No,- that the thief that was stealing him got
caught." And Jack hurriedly told what had happened. "The man had unhitched him, and backed
the cutter around, and was just getting into it, I suppose, when Lion grabbed him."  The halter had, in
fact, been found tied into one of the rings of the harness, - a circumstance which did not tend to corroborate the man's story.
"Forgive me for blaming you, Jack," said Forrest,




90


DOING HIS BEST.


frankly. "I confess, when I found the horse had
got away, I was vexed."
" I don't wonder!" said Jack. "The fellow must
have heard what you said when you left me, for he
was standing on the steps. There he is! they're
taking him into the bar-room!"
Forrest gave the reins to the hostler, and, jumping
from the sleigh, ran into the tavern, followed by Jack
and Lion.
"That's the knowin'est dog ever I see!" the bartender was saying to the excited bystanders. "The
boy made him lay down in the corner; but he was
uneasy, -.he knew suthin' was n't right; he got up
and scratched and whined at the door, and I let him
out. Next minute we heard the hollerin'. Don't
appear't he bit the man, either; only tore his clo'es
a little."
The man, in the mean while, was protesting his innocence, and enlarging upon the story he had already
told, adding many plausible details. He was a person about forty years of age, rather seedy in his attire,
and with a great rent in the lapel of his overcoat,
where Lion had seized him. He had a thin, shrewd
face, and a persuasive smile which reminded Jack of
somebody he had seen.
"If you just took hold of the horse to lead him
back where he had been hitched," said Forrest, " how
h;appens it that his halter-strap is found tied in the
ring "
"It was under his feet," replied the man, glibly,




THE BEST-NATURED MAN IN THE WORLD.  91


"and I slipped it through the ring before I thought
much about it. I may have taken a knot in it, from
habit, -I don't remember; it would have been like
me; I am used to hosses. I was leadin' him back
with my hand on the bridle, when the dog flew at
me. I've often declared I never would go out of my
way to do another man a service; for this is just the
way of it." The fellow looked ruefully at his torn
garment. "But I suppose I shall do just so again; for
I'm too good-natered altogether. I never can learn
a lesson. Only a few days ago, as I was goin' down
Broadway, I saw a hat a comin' towards me, before a
high wind, chased by a bareheaded cove, who did n't
seem likely to ketch it. Of course I sprung to stop
it for him, for I'm the best-natered man in the
world; but in stoopin' for it I lost my own, and away
it went in the wind. That was a fix. Bareheaded
cove comin' - slow; my hat goin' fast. I could n't
put down his hat again, could I? and if I waited to
give it to him, what would become of mine? So I
hild his hat in my hand while I chased mine. For
what else could I do? I put it to you, gentlemen,
what else?" repeated the man, with the most candid
and innocent air, as if he had been addressing a jury.
Somebody replying that, according to his own account of the affair, it seemed a very natural thing to
do, he smiled his thanks for the concession, and proceeded: " To be sure the most nat'ral thing. But
what was the result? Bareheaded cove abused me
for runnin' off with his hat! accused me of meanin'




92


DOING HIS BEST.


to steal it! Whereas I was as guiltless of any designs upon his property as I am of wishin' to steal
this gentleman's hoss and sleigh. I ought to have
let his hat slide; that's the truth about it. I ought n't
to have interfered with the hoss's runnin' away; I
own everything. I have a fault, gentlemen; incurable, I'm afraid. I'm too good-natered by half."
" What is your name?" demanded Forrest.
"Wilkins; John Wilkins, all the world over;
Good-natered John Wilkins, if you please; for that's
my name, and that's my nater."
" AVell, Mr. WAilkins," said Forrest, "here's half a
dollar to get your coat mended with. And let me
give you a piece of advice: don't be quite so goodnatlurd in future. Your manner of stopping runaway hats and horses is liable to be misunderstood.
I would also strongly advise you to leave this part of
the country at your earliest convenience; for I will
frankly say, men of your disposition are not appreciated here."
"Thanks," said Good-natured John Wilkins, with
his blandest smile, glancing at the money as he put
it in his pocket.
"Be these your cards?" said the hostler, coming
in with his lantern. "I found 'em under the shed."
" I think they are my property. Thanks! I had a
pack about me. Nice for a winter evening, - a pleasant amusement for good-natered people, when fortune
throws 'em together and night overtakes 'em at a village
tavern. Whist, high-low, poker, - almost anything




THE BEST-NATURED MAN IN THE WORLD.


93


to accommodate ye, gentlemen, if ye like to take a
hand. I'm the best-natered man in the world!"
There seemed to be, however, a prejudice existing
against Mr. Wilkins in the minds of the company;
and, seeing that his proposal was not likely to prove
popular, he asked if there was a tailor near who could
be got to mend his coat. He was starting to find one,
as directed, when Lion, growling fiercely, sprang after
him.
"Call back your dog!" cried he, giving signs of
fear. Jack collared Lion. "Strange he should take
such a dislike to me!" added Wilkins, with a sickly
smile on his pale face, which once more reminded
the boy of somebody or something.
"He did n't like you when he first saw you on the
steps," said Jack.
" True; and that shows," Wilkins explained, in his
most plausible manner, "that it was n't my mistake
with the boss that excited him ag'inst me."
" I believe he has seen you before," answered Jack;
"and I'm not sure but that I have! "
" Very likely; try to remember; I should be happy
to find in you an old friend! Name?"
" Hazard; Jack Hazard, all the world over," laughed
Jack, as he parodied the man's words.
"Hazard; Jack Hazard!" Wilkins touched his
forehead. " The name finds no response in my memory.  And I don't remember your face, though I
may have seen the dog. A friend of mine had such
a dog once."




94


DOING HIS BEST.


"Was his name Peternot?" inquired Jack, eagerly.
"Peternot was his name, - Paul Peternot; a wild
fellow, but good-natered. I love good-natered folks,
and so I loved Paul, with all his faults. Did you
know Paul? "
" I knew of him  His father is old Squire Peternot. Paul got into bad habits, ran away from home,
became a gambler and a drunkard,- set his bed afire
one night, and was burned to death, at Wiley's Basin.
His dog was dreadfully scorched, trying to get him
out of his room. I found the poor fellow afterwards,
took care of him, and have had him ever since."
"This, then, is the dog!" said Wilkins, nervously.
"That accounts for his dislike of me. I - I quarrelled with Paul once; for the best friends will quarrel sometimes, 'specially where one is addicted to
bad habits, as Paul was."
"Were you with him at Wiley's Basin?" Jack demanded, looking Wilkins full in the face.
"I met him at Wiley's Basin, after I had been
some time separated from  him," replied Wilkins,
rather hesitatingly. "He invited me to drink a glass
and play a game, and I was - I own the fault- too
good-natered to refuse. But when I saw him inclined
to go to excess, I remonstrated, - I tried to prevent
him; he grew violent, and his dog seized me by the
leg. I then left him, and never saw him afterwards;
for that very night the unfortunate affair occurred.
Ah," said Good-natured John Wilkins, with a sigh,
"if Paul would only have listened to me e"




THE BEST-NATURED MAN IN THE WORLD.


95


He then withdrew, expressing a hope that he might
meet Jack again after he had paid a visit to the tailor.
And now Forrest Felton, who had been in the parlor with his sister during this conversation, returned
to the bar-room.
"Has the rascal gone?" he asked.
"Yes," said the bar-tender. "Why did you give
him money? Did you believe his story? "
" Not a word of it," replied Forrest. "But I had
my reasons. Come, Jack; we must be moving on
now."
Soon the travellers were once more on their way;
and you may be sure that in their lively discussion
of the evening's adventure Lion's singular part in it
was duly admired and praised. It had been Forrest's
opinion at first that the dog's uneasiness in the tavern was occasioned by an instinctive knowledge that
Wilkins intended to steal the horse; but after Jack
related what he had learned about the man, all agreed
that Lion must have been actuated by some old grudge
against the friend of his former master.




96


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XIII.
ANNIE FELTON'S HOME.
ALL at once Forrest cried, "Here we are!" and
drove up to the side door of a small cottage on the
outskirts of the next village.
He went on to the barn with the horse, while Jack
entered the house with Annie. She showed him into
a comfortable sitting-room, where a bright wood-fire
was burning and a supper-table was set; and there
she introduced him to her mother, - an older sister of
Mrs. Chatford's, whom she much resembled, - and
her father, a tall, spare, white-headed man in spectacles, who sat reading a newspaper by the fire.
"And this," said she, " is Lion, our Lion," - for the
dog had entered with them. "I have brought him
in to show him to you and give him some supper;
then he is going to be a good dog and sleep in the
barn."
The old couple received Jack with great kindness,
and patted and flattered the dog. "For we have
heard not a little about you both," said Mrs. Felton,
smiling under her gray hair and white cap-border;
"Annie is never tired of talking about you."
Jack was all aglow with pleasure.
"And now," said Annie, "you must hear of Lion's




ANNIE FELTON'S HOME.


97


last exploit, —something that happened this very
evening."
"Wait a moment," said Mrs. Felton. And, turning
to her husband, she added, "Had n't you better take
a lantern to the barn, and help Forrest about the
horse?"
" He is old enough to take care of his own horse,"
replied Mr. Felton, good-naturedly. " It is n't dark."
"Let me take the lantern out to him!" cried Jack.
" If you will, -I know it will be a help," replied
Mrs. Felton; and Jack perceived, by the tones of her
voice and the expression of her face, how fond she
was of that big son of hers. " His father says I am
inclined to baby him, but I don't know,-he is an
only son, if he is big!"  And, having lighted the
lantern for Jack, she brought a pair of slippers to the
fire and left them warming for her son's feet.
During Jack's absence, Annie related all she knew
of the adventure at the tavern, including an important fact unknown to the boy himself. On his return with Forrest she went to her own chamber; and
the parents, with rather anxious faces, Jack observed,
followed Forrest into an adjoining room, where he
went to hang his coat away. The door was but partly
closed, and presently Jack, left alone with' Lion by
the fire, heard low voices. " Annie says- that man
-are you quite sure?" Mrs. Felton whispered.
"Yes, I knew the rascal almost at first sight," replied Forrest. And he added, in answer to another
question which Jack did not understand, "No,. he


5


G




98


DOING HIS BEST.


did n't appear to; I have changed more in nine years
than he has."
" I had hoped the fellow would never show his face
in this part of the country again!" said Mr. Felton.
"It will be a terrible trouble to your Uncle Chatford's
folks if they- "  The rest was lost to Jack.
"Annie and I both thought-" It was Forrest's
voice, which also sank so low as to be quite indistinct.
"That's right!" said his mother. " It might lead
to - The secret has been well kept till now - Not
even Moses -"
Jack now became sensible that he was overhearing
parts of a conversation not intended for his ears; and
though his curiosity was intensely excited, he felt
that it would not be right for him longer to keep still
and listen. So, leaning over the hearth where Lion
lay, he began to pet him and talk to him; in which
innocent occupation he was engaged when Annie
reappeared,
The family were soon gathered around the suppertable, when the cloud of trouble by which the old
couple's faces were at first overcast gradually passed
away. And now Jack was charmed by the easy
and familiar intercourse which took place between
his new friends. They chatted gayly together, and
even joked each other in a delicate way, appearing more like pleasant companions than like parents
and children. The old man's quiet, dry remarks,
uttered with a humorous twinkle of the eye;. Mrs.
Felton's genial talk, which seemed to flow from her




ANNIE FELTON'S HOME.


99


very heart; Forrest's hearty, deep-chested laugh; and,
above all, the silvery sweetness of Annie's voice, and
the grace and gentleness of all her words and ways,
-filled Jack with a sort of wondering delight.
"Oh!" thought he, "am I that miserable little
swearing canal-boat driver of less than a year ago?
What company I kept and had pleasure in then!
And now! - 0, I don't believe there is anywhere in
the world so beautiful a family as this!"
And what had he done to merit his good fortune?
Nothing, he thought; it was all owing to the kindness
of his friends, - to her more than all! And his eyes
grew misty with grateful tears as he fixed them on
the dear, sweet face of Annie Felton.
He had the "spare room" in the house that night,
a great honor. He had never been treated so well
in all his life. At Mr. Chatford's he was a boy with
the boys; here he was entertained as a guest.
After he got to bed, as he lay thinking of Mrs.
Pipkin's sharp tongue and Phin's unlovely disposition, he could nor help wishing that his home was
here with Annie and her friends.
" But that is mean in me!" he said to himself,
checking these thoughts. "After all the Chatfords
have done for me - they are so good - and dear little Kate - no, no! I won't be dissatisfied; that
would be more than foolish in me, - it would be wicked! I'11 put up with the few disagreeable things I
have to endure there, and be thankful for these privileges!" And his heart seemed cradled in a sea of




100


DOING HIS BEST.


bliss as, with Annie's beautiful image in his mind,
he went to sleep.
Thus began the boy's brief visit to this charming
family. His stay with them was too eventless to be
dwelt upon, and I fear many lads would have found
it tame; but to him it was of itself a great event,one that was sure to have an influence upon all his
after life.
Mr. Felton was a farmer who, finding old age coming upon him, had wisely given up hard work and
the care of his land, and retired to the quiet life of
the village. There he kept his horse, his cow, and
his garden; and, without being rich, was able to live
in ease and comfort. He was full of experience,
which, though a rather silent man, he took pleasure
in imparting to good listeners, - and Jack was one.
His son Forrest practised surveying in summer
and taught village singing-schools in winter; and by
him Jack was inspired with the ambition to leamr
both singing and surveying. He began those studies
at once, with books which Forrest loaned him; and
at the same time got from Annie some knowledge of
the meaning of English grammar, concerning which
all Master Dinks's instruction had failed to give him
any distinct idea.
But, after all, the best result of the visit was the
interior culture Jack received from being in the presence and breathing the atmosphere of those superior
persons. His pure and enthusiastic devotion to Annie made him keenly susceptible to their influence;




ANNIE FELTON'S HOME.          101
and all the strings of his heart became attuned to the
harmony of their lives.
He made a few acquaintances in the village, coasted,
snow-balled, skated on the frozen creek, and had a
few sleigh-rides with Annie and her brother. And
so the days flew by on joyous wings, until his stay
was cut short by the arrival of another visitor. This
was Moses Chatford.




102


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XIV.
MOSES BRINGS GOOD NEWS.
MOSES had come to take Jack home; and he had
brought some interesting news. This he crowded
into a single jubilant sentence, as he jumped from the
sleigh, and afterwards related circumstantially as he
sat with the family about the evening fire.
"I tell ye, we had great doings at school after you
left, Jack! Things grew worse and worse till last
Wednesday, when the big row came."
"What began it?"
" Why, you remember, when there happened to be
no wood in the school-house, Dinks would tell some
of the boys, at recess, to bring in some."
"Yes; and sometimes they would bring in a little,
and sometimes a good deal; then sometimes they
would forget all about it, and Dinks would have no
dry wood for his fire the next morning."
"Well, Tuesday forenoon, he said to the boys, as
we were going out, 'Some of you bring in some wood
when you come in.' Now somebody's business is nobody's business; and not a boy carried in a stick except
Step Hen Treadwell, - he took in two little sticks,
and got well laughed at when lie laid them down.
Dinks was wrathy; and in the afternoon he said,
'Now every one of you bring in an armful of wood,




MOSES BRINGS GOOD NEWS.


103


after recess! I '11 see,' says he,'if we can't have wood
enough in the school-room to last one day!'
"So we thought we would give him enough. I
started the thing, without knowing how it was coming out; I went to the wood-pile, and filled my arms
as well as I could, then got the other boys to load
me up to the chin. I went staggering in, and threw
down my contribution by the stove. Dinks was
tickled. 'There!' says he; 'that's the way! We
should have wood enough, if we had a few boys like
Moses Chatford!' Then in came Smith Marston,
his red head almost hidden behind a small mountain
of wood. 'Ha! there's another smart boy!' says
Dinks. 'You needn't load up quite so heavy next
time, boys; but I'm glad to see you ain't afraid of
using your muscles.' Then in came two more tremendous loads; and still they kept coming; crash,
crash, down on the floor by the stove. Dinks's praises
of smart boys grew fainter and fainter, and finally
stopped; he looked red as fire, and finally cried out,
'There! there! I didn't tell you to bring in the
whole wood-pile! That will do! Tell the other boys
that will do!'
"But somehow the word did n't get to the other
boys, and the wood kept coming, till you never saw
such a sight! the stove was almost covered up.
Dinks was mad as fury. He picked out five boys,
who had stayed to heap up the other boys' arms, and
came in last, all loaded to the chin. He called over
their names.




104


DOING HIS BEST.


"' Samuel Narmore,'Lonzo Gannett, Randolph Hildreth, Jeremiah Mason, 'Liphalet Buel,' says he, rapping on the table, while they brushed the dirt and
snow from their coats, 'after school, you can each of
you have the privilege of carrying out a handful of
wood; and as much as you brought in. Remember '
"Jerry Mason and Liphe Buel," Moses explained
toq his relatives, "are the biggest boys in school; they
had never been punished by Dinks, and they did n't
believe he would dare lay hands on them. They just
smiled, and whispered among themselves, 'He has no
control over us after school hours; he can't set us to
carrying out wood.' So, when school was out, they
walked past the wood-pile, and walked off, independent as could be. Of course the other three boys followed their example.
" Dinks called after 'em. ' Boys!' says he, 'come
back and carry out that wood, or I '11 give you a kind
of wood you won't like so well, to-morrow morning!'
But they paid no attention to him.
"Well, the next morning Dinks came to school,
bringing with him six splendid hickory whips, - one
apiece for the five boys, and an extra one. The culprits came in together, looking remarkably cheerful.
It turned out that they had agreed among themselves
not to take off their coats for Master Dinks, and not
to hold out their hands to be feruled; and to arm
themselves against the hickory whips, they had each
put on several shirts and an extra pair or two of
trousers.




MOSES BRINGS GOOD NEWS.


105


"Dinks began the business of the day by taking
down his whips and calling the five fellows to 'stand
out in the middle of the floor.' Out they marched,
grinning hard to keep their spirits up. Dinks began
to season his whips in the fire. 'Off with your coats,
boys!' says he. Not a boy stirred. 'Your coats, I
say!'
"'Excuse me,' says Jerry Mason, with his head on
one side, and his hand on his hip, 'but I've been
taught at home that 't ain't perlite to take off my
coat in company. I'd rather be excused.'
"'Same with me,' says Liphe Buel.
"'I got on a ragged shirt,' says Rant Hildreth, ' an'
marm told me not to let anybody see it.' As he had
bragged to us that he meant to make this excuse, we
all laughed.
"Dinks stamped with his foot. 'Silence!' says
he. I suppose by that time he had found out that to
get those five coats off was a rather big job, and that
he had better shirk it. So he says, 'Very well, you
can be punished with your coats on, if you prefer,
but you '11 be whipped all the harder.' They only
smiled. Then he began and used up several whips
on them, principally about the legs; and they smiled
all the while. They laughed as they took their seats,
and Pant Hildreth muttered something out loud.
"'What did he say?' Dinks asked. Phin up and
told: 'He said it did n't hurt him a bit, for he has
got on three pair o' trousers! so have they all,they've all got on two or three pair!'
5*




106


DOING HIS BEST.


"' Come back here, every one of you ' says Dinks;
and they all marched back, looking a little more
sober than before. He grabbed his ruler. 'Hold
out your hand!' says he to Rant.
"'I 'e been licked once for what you 'd no right
to lick me for at all,' says Rant, 'and I won't hold
out my hand!' At that the master began to beat
him  over the elbows and ears. pant dodged and
parried the blows for a while, till they came too
thick and heavy for him; his extra shirts and three
pair of trousers did n't protect his skull; then, remembering, I suppose, Jack's illustrious example, lie
started to run out of school. Pinks started after him,
and caught him by the coat-tail. We heard an awful
rip! Rant got away, but his coat-tail did n't! Dinks
brought in the trophy, brandishing it like a black
flag, and laid it on the table. He then began on Lon
Gannett, and was knocking him over the head in the
same way, when Rant came to the door, howling
like an Indian: 'Give ine my coat-tail! give me
back my coat-tail, or I '11 send this club at your
head '
"In came the club; it hit the basin on the stove,
and knocked the hot water all over Dinks and Lon
Gannett and Sam   Narmiore.  Then Jerry Mason
spoke up: ' See here, Master! I guess it's about time
to stop this thing. It's dangerous knocking a boy
over the head that way; and I would n't tear off any
more coat-tails, if I was you. - Liphe, what do you
think?'




MOSES BRINGS GOOD NEWS.


107 -

- "' I'm o' the same opinion,' says Liphe. 'Then
le's's stop it,' says Jerry. 'Agreed,' says Liphe.
" Dinks had already stopped. But he was too late.
The fellows took him, dragged him to the blackboard,
tied up his thumbs with one of his own cords as high
as he could reach, and left him roaring for help.
"'School's dismissed for the rest of this winter!'
says Jerry Mason; and he and the rest went to getting their books together. Rant Hildreth took his
coat-tail and put it in his pocket. There was a terrible uproar. I went and cut down the master, and
he tried to restore order. But it was no use. He
talked a little while with two or three of the big girls,
who took his part, then grabbed his ruler and dictionary and other private property, and went up to Squire
Peternot's.  I waited till all the rest were gone, then
locked up the school-house and carried home the key.
" Well, there was a heavy after-clap; old Peternot
wanted his nephew to go on with the school, and
came over with him to see father about it. There
was a meeting of the trustees at our house that night,
and there was a lively time. I was called as a witness. You should have been there, Jack, to hear the
old man rave and thump the floor with his cane!
But father can be as set as anybody, when his mind
is once made up; and, to tell you the truth, his mind
was made up about Dinks's style of school-keeping
before you came away, only he was careful not to say
so before us boys.
"Well, Dinks was dismissed, and the next day




108            DOING HIS BEST.
father rode over to the Basin and hired the new master. It seemed he had already had some talk with
him on the subject, and knew what he was about.
So school will begin again next Monday, Jack; and
your friend, Percy Lanman, is to be the master."




GOOD-NATURED JOHN WILKINS ONCE MORE. 109


CHAPTER XV.
GOOD-NATURED JOHN WILKINS ONCE MORE.
THIS good news reconciled Jack to the necessity of
cutting short his visit and returning home with
Moses; though when the time came for bidding his
friends farewell, the next morning, it required some
stoutness of heart to keep back his tears. He had
spent the happiest week of his life in the house he
was leaving; and when would ever such bliss be his
again?
It was Saturday. They had the day before them;
and the boys, to gratify a natural curiosity, stopped
in the village where Jack had made the acquaintance
of Mr. John Wilkins, to see if they could learn anything more of that good-natured man. The bartender said he had heard the fellow played a queer
game on the tailor who mended his coat; and so the
boys paid the tailor a visit.
" Yes, he did indeed!" said that worthy man, on
being questioned as to the fact. "The way on't was
this. I charged him half a dollar for the job, and
give him his supper besides. I thought I ought to
have another shillin', but he said if I would take fifty
cents, he would show me a curi's thing to do with a
hat. As he seemed such a drea'ful good-natered man,
- he called himself so, and he was so, - I could n't




110


110         DOI-NG HIS BEST.


stand out about the od~d shillin'; besides, T don't
believe hie had another cent. So, when lie paid
mne, he took my hat, - to be perfectly flair, he said; I
might think 't wa'n't cquite fair if hie nsed hisn, - then
laid the half-dollar down on the counter, told mie to
\watch sharp, and put the hat over it. 'Now,' says
hie, 'you 're sure you know where the mioney is.'   I
rather guess I do, says I, ' since I 'ye seen it with
my own eyes go unuder the hat.' 'You 're sure it 's!- -. I11 iL


" JEST A GOOD-N-ATERED TRICK, YE KCNOW.'"




GOOD-NATURED JOHN WILKINS ONCE MORE. 111


under the hat?' says he. 'Sure as I be of anything
in this world,' says I. 'Of course,' says he; 'you 'd
be willin', I s'pose, to bet a considerable sum on't?'
'I '11 bet a thousan' dollars,' says I. 'Don't bet any
foolish sum,' says he, 'but jest bet what money you
can lay down. Jest a good-natered trick, ye know,'
says he. So I took what change I had out of the
till, - about a dollar and seventy-five cents; he lifted
up his hat,-there was the half-dollar, for I watched
sharp; he put all in a neat little pile together, one
piece top o' t' other, an' then put the hat over 'em again.
'Now,' says he, 'you bet what money there is, that
it's under the hat?' 'Sartin, I do,' says I. ' Now,
watch sharp,' says he,' for the curi's thing's to come.
Now,' says he, 'lift the hat.' I lifted it, and was
never so amazed in all my life. There wa' n't no
money under it! ' Sartin not,' says he, 'for it's in
my pocket. I believe, my friend,' says he, 'you 're
lost the bet. I wish ye a very good evenin'!' An',
'fore I could scratch my stupid pate twice, the rogue
was gone."
The boys could not help laughing at the tailor's
simple story; and as they rode on, they had a good
deal of talk about the good-natured Mr. Wilkins.
Jack was tempted to relate what he had overheard of
Forrest's conversation with his parents, that first
night at Mr. Felton's house; but he thought that he
had no right to speak'of it.
The boys reached home about noon; and Moses,
entering the house before Jack, came upon a curious




112


DOING HIS BEST.


scene. Phin, sitting upright in a chair, was rrinning
with delight while a travelling phrenologist fingered
In                   r n     n ---- n
his skull and described his brilliant and amiable traits
of character. The science the stranger professed was
new in those days; and the idea of a person's talents
and disposition being indicated by the "bumps " on
his head appeared to many people a simple absurdity.
The deacon, however, had kindly permitted the experiment, and had soon laid aside his newspaper to
listen more attentively than lie had ever expected to
do to "such nonsense."  Mrs. Chatford had dropped
her sewing; little Kate stood by her side. Mlr. Pipkin, tipped back in his chair against the chimney,
sat with open-mouthed wonder, making an extraordinary display of frontal ivory; while Mrs. Pipkin, halfway between the kitchen and the dinner-table, paused
with a dish of steaming vegetables in her hands.
"Dr. Doyley, Moses," said the deacon, introducing
his son. "Be quiet," he added with a smile, "and
you '11 hear something."
"Phrenology?" suggested Moses.
"That's the name on't, I believe," said Mr. Pipkin; "though I don't see why they should call it
f/cc-knowledgy, long 's we're expected to pay twentyfive cents apiece for havin' our bumps felt on."
Dr. Doyley smiled indulgently. He was a rather
slight man, dressed in a once genteel but now rather
threadbare coat, buttoned tight across his chest, concealing every vestige of linen (if there was any to
conceal), except a pompous shirt-collar. His hair




GOOD-NATURED JOHN WILKINS ONCE MORE. 113


was stuck straight up on his forehead; which, in addition to a pair of large-bowed spectacles, made him
look —as Mr. Pipkin observed-"wise as any old
owl."
"Approbativeness -very large," he was saying.
"This boy is fond of praise, and he never can be comf'table in his mind a minute while he sees another
boy a gittin' more 'n he does."
" By hokey! that's a fact," cried Mr. Pipkin.
"But that's a good trait, properly directed," said
the man of science. " Gives one the desire to rise in
the world; to be as big and as smart as anybody.
And he '11 rise, too, this boy will; I find it in his
bumps. He won't git his livin' by hard work, neither; he's got talents, he's got great talents, for
makin' his way."
"Where do you find 'em?" Phin inquired, immensely flattered.
"Here,- all about here," replied Dr. Doyley, his
nimble fingers playing a lively tattoo all over the boy's
cranium. "Perceptive faculties - large; knowledge
of human nater - very large; suavity,- he can be
polite as a basket o' chips, if he takes a notion."
"That's when he sees it for his interest to be,"
said Moses. "How about conscience?"
"Conscientiousness - not remarkably developed,
but fair; 't will do; enough for all practical purposes.
There's such a thing as a man's havin' too much
conscience; it prevents him from risin' in the world.
Acquisitiveness, - the boy has large acquisitiveness,
H




114


DOING HIS BEST.


but that is a good trait, too, properly directed.  Without that, lle would never accumulate the lalrge fortin
he is sure to do afore he has lived many years."
" Come, come! " saidl the deacon, with a frown;
"I'd rathler you would n't put such notions into the
boy's head."
"I'm only sayin' what I find in his head.  If the
notions ain't there already, they'll be there soon
enough; lie has only to follow his genius;; -he'll
rise, he'll nmake his way; it's his nater."
"Talkin' al)out nater," said Mr. Pipkin, " who does
he take alter?"
The phrenologist looked first at Mr. Chatford, then
at MIrs. Chatford and Kate, and finally at Mloses.
Then he stepped lightly and airily, and fingcered the
heads of each.
"That young man," said he, pointing at Moses,
"has both his parents' traits in about equal proportion; p'r'aps a little more his father's than his mother's.  The little girl has got most maother in ]her.
But here"     returning to Phineas -  " is somethin'
extraordinary.  I can't find that this boy talkes after
either parent.  I'd venter to bet a trifle that his
friends often hear it remarked that lie 's an odd ole,
not like any of the rest of the family."
Mr. Chatford's newspaper dropped front his lap to
the floor. The incredulity whlich at first lurked in
lis smile had nlow quite vanished, and ]his couitenance appeared full of astonlisnmeilt and soniething
like apprehension.  Mrs. Chatford turned pale, while




GOOD-NATURED JOHN WILKINS ONCE MORE. 115


she kept her eyes on the man of science with a most
searching look. Mrs. Pipkin nodded, with a sarcastic tightening of the lips; while her husband exclaimed, " 3y hokey! you've hit the mark this time,
if you never did afore!"
"I sometimes hit the mark," said the learned doctor; "and if you'll allow me presently to examine
your head, - only twenty-five cents; fifty cents for a
written chart,- I may surprise you more yit. I can
describe your traits of character; tell you what sort
of a career you are fitted for, and what sort of a person you ought to marry."
" My husband is a married man," said Mrs. Pipkin,
sharply, pausing again between the kitchen and the
table, "and don't need any advice on that subject."
Dr. Doyley bowed politely. "Yit it might be a
satisfaction to be told that he's made a wise choice;
that science itself could n't 'a' guided him better in
the selection of a companion,-for I can see so much
without goin' near your heads." (Smiles from Mrs.
Pipkin, and a very broad one from Mr. Pipkin.)  "A
good-natered man, -p'r'aps too good-natered; that's
like me," said the phrenologist, glancing about the
room, - "I'm too good-natered for my own interest,
and - "
Just then a new face entered the door, and the
quick eye of the man of science fell upon Jack. lie
hesitated a moment, but rallied immediately, and was
going on, when Lion bounced into the room. With a
terrific snarl he sprang at the doctor, who in sudden




116


DOING HIS BEST.


i           1 r
I                                            I


A RECOGNITION.


alarm ran backwards towards the chimney, and sat
down very unceremoniously in Mr. Pipkin's lap.
"Take him off! take him off! " he shrieked, hugging Mr. Pipkin in a frenzy of fear, while the chair
slid from under them, and both rolled on the hearth
together.
Jack with cuffs and threats sent the dog back, and
the stranger leaped nimbly to his feet. He was imitated, though rather more clumsily, by Mr. Pipkin,




GOOD-NATURED JOHN WILKINS ONCE MORE. 117
grumbling and brushing the ashes from his coattails.
"Ah, my young friend!" said the phrenologist,
recovering his lost self-possession, together with his
spectacles, which had dropped upon the hearth, "I
believe we have met before!"
"I should think so!" cried Jack. "Now your
spectacles are off, you look like good-natered John
Wilkins!"
" And I know you!" exclaimed Mr. Chatford, advancing with his right hand angrily clinched. "John
Wilkins! Dr. Doyley!" he repeated; "I know another name for you! How dare you enter my house
in this way, you miserable scoundrel? "
And the usually mild deacon seized the "bestnatured man in the world" by the coat-collar.




118


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XVI.
THE STRANGE VISITOR.
THE violence of this action so excited Lion again,
that, in spite of all Jack's efforts to hold him, he
would have sprung at the man's throat, had not the
deacon himself, after an instant's reflection, withdrawn
his hand and driven back the dog.
"Why," said Dr. Doyley, - or John Wilkins, or
whatever his name may have been, - quickly regaining his equanimity, "in answer to your remarkable question, this is the way I commonly enter
houses, since I've taken up the profession of a phrenologist."
"How long have you followed that?" demanded
the deacon.
"Not very long, I confess. It's a new science,
and I am new in it. But I've made some good hits
in the case of your son here."  And the doctor managed to convey a peculiar meaning in his tone and
look as he waved his hand towards Phineas. "That
you know better than anybody. No harm done, sure.
Bright boy, and I take an interest in him. You can't
help that. And if you have the boy's interest at
heart, - well, to say the least, you'll invite me to
dinner," he added, with a grimace meant for a smile.
"I '11 invite you to walk out of that door, and




THE STRANGE VISITOR.


119


never darken it with your shadow again! You impostor!"
Wilkins stepped back and quietly laid his hand on
Phin's shoulder. "If that's your game," said he,
"very well! I'm the best-natered man in the world,
but-"
" 0 husband! deacon!" exclaimed Mrs. Chatford,
clasping the good man's arm, to restrain him. "Consider!"
"After his promise to me!" said the deacon.
" I hain't forgot that promise," said Wilkins, glancing from the deacon to the dog, with no little anxiety in his smile,- for Jack stood ready to launch
that growling thunderbolt at any moment. "And I
shall keep it, unless you force me to break it in selfdefence."
"But here you are in my house! Is that keeping
your promise?"
"A nat'ral curiosity; ye can't blame me for that."
"It was natural; you 'll allow so much;" said Mrs.
Chatford, still restraining her husband. "Hear to
reason! Let him stay to dinner, if he will; you never
denied any man a dinner yet."
"How can I trust him a minute?" said the deacon, with huge dissatisfaction in his face. "Even
the dog scents his villany! Where have you ever
met this man, Jack?"
Jack, who had been eagerly watching for an opportunity to put in a word, related briefly the adventure
at the village tavern. "It seemed to me then I had




120


DOING HIS BEST.


seen him before, though I can't tell where; Lion had,
anyway. He was with Paul Peternot, at Wiley's
Basin; and the dog seems to connect him somehow
with the cause of his master's death."
"It is my fate to be misunderstood," said the doctor, with a deprecating wave of the hand and a sad
smile. "'Thus ever from my childhood's hour,' as
Shakespeare says. I try to save my friend, and git
the ill-will of his dog. I stop a runaway boss, and
am accused of stealin'. I enter this house on an urrant of love" (I suppose he meant errand), "and I 'm
suspected of treachery. Things that seem dark in the
past "- bowing to the deacon -" miglht be as easily
explained. I have a bad fault, a bad fault! I say to
myself a dozen times a day, 'Don't be so obligin'!
Do lold up a little! You're too etarnally good-natered!' I say, and that's the fact."
He stepped and took his hat from the bureau, his
overcoat from a chair, and a small and very lean looking valise from the floor.
"Sir," bowing to the deacon, "your very humble
servant. Madam, the same to you. I cut the Gordian knot of the present diffikilty by withdrawin', -
amicably withdrawin'. I might be vindictive, but I
prefer to be generous. For the sake of some one who
shall be nameless" -a very profound and significant bow -"I smother my resentment, and take
everything in good part. I waive the question of
dinner, and - adieu!"
And, having patted Phineas fondly on the shoul



THE STRANGE VISITOR.


121


der, he bowed very low to the rest, smiled ironically,
put on his hat with an ornate flourish (he had already
put on his overcoat), and departed, - very much
stared at by all, and growled at not a little by Lion.
Phin was the first to speak. "Father! where did
you ever see that man before?"
"No matter," replied the deacon, frowning darkly,
and appearing much agitated. "I had some dealings
with him years ago. I can't explain now; maybe I
will some time, when you get old enough to understand."
"Is his name Doyley? " Phin persisted.
"No more than it is Wilkins. Now, don't ask any
more questions. He's a slippery, oily-tongued, unconscionable knave! though I think he must have
been hard up when he took the risk of stealing Forrest's horse and cutter."
" Did he ever see me before?"
"No, no! Or if he ever did, it was before we
moved into this town.   He was never here before."
"We 've lived here ever since I was a baby," Phin
urged. "Then how could he know so much about
me? There must be something in phrenology."
"Maybe there is. Now, let me never hear this
subject mentioned again!" said the deacon, sternly.
" Is dinner ready? Come, let's sit down. Jack, you
have n't told us about your visit yet. How do you
like the idea of Percy Lanman for a schoolmaster?"
6




122             DOING HIS BEST.
So the conversation was turned to other subjects;
and, though the family's strange visitor was a good
deal talked of in whispers, and Phin teased his mother
about him till he got his ears boxed, nobody ventured again to speak of him in the presence of the
deacon.




PERCY LANMAN'S SCHOOL.


123


CHAPTER XVIL
PERCY LANMAN'S SCHOOL.
ON the following Monday Jack returned to school
with higher hopes and brighter prospects than ever.
By his battle with Lon Gannett, and his little affair
with Master Dinks, he had won a reputation which
made him the most popular boy in school. Those
who had formerly been his enemies now sought
his friendship; while the better class of pupils, who
as a rule despised fighting and condemned resistance
to lawful authority, could not but admire the lad who
had shown so much spirit in his own defence, and
so much generosity and courage in the defence of
others.
Poor little Step Hen Treadwell lived in peace after
that, and there was very little tyranny exercised over
the small boys during the rest of the winter. This
better state of things, however, was owing in part to
the influence of the new teacher.
Percy Lanman reopened the school, which had
been closed in the irregular manner described by
Moses, on very different principles from those
which had actuated the unsuccessful Dinks. Quiet,
energetic, pleasant, prompt, his presence in the schoolroom brought with it a new atmosphere. The very




124


DOING HIS BEST.


sight of him was a delight to Jack's eyes; the sound
of his voice kindled love and ambition in his heart.
"Young ladies and gentlemen, and boys and girls,"
said Percy, in calling the school to order the first
morning, "I hope we all understand what we are
here for. It is not for play; it is not to have some
fun. Though play and fun are good things in their
way, and I hope to enjoy them with you in the right
time and place, our chief business in this room, during school-hours, is STUDY. I am here to help you;
and I shall help you in every way I can. In return,
you must help me. You will help me, and so help
each other, by being cheerful, quiet, orderly, industrious. Now, let all who are willing to help in this way
hold up their hands."
Every hand in school was raised.
"It is a vote!" said the new master, with a smile
that seemed to light up the whole school like sunshine. "All agreed! Now we have no time to waste
in words; only a part of the winter is left us, and we
must make the most of it."
So the school began. It was not until an hour
later that a needful word was said about discipline.
The new teacher could not break up old habits in his
pupils and bring order out of chaos in a minute.
Suddenly he rapped with his ruler.
"Some of you, I see, are forgetting our agreement.
This won't do. I am here to teach you; but to do
that, I must have order. It is a shameful thing, to
both teacher and pupils, if he is obliged to threaten




PERCY LANMAN'S SCHOOL.


125


and whip them, as if they were dumb beasts that
could not listen to reason; and if anything of that
kind is necessary this winter, it will not be my fault.
But, as I said, we are going to have order in this
school-room, whatever else happens. I know you all
agree with me, that that is right. If any think differently, let them hold up their hands. Not a hand!
Very well! now we understand what must be."
This was spoken in so resolute a manner, that even
those who were not governed altogether by reason
felt their rude natures touched by the determined
spirit of the new master. He had little trouble after
that. There were two or three unruly boys whose
offences required prompt and summary treatment,
and that they got; but in every case of the kind the
public opinion of the school was on the teacher's side.
Sometimes at noon Percy would go out and join in
the big boys' sports. He went so far one day as to
offer to wrestle with Jerry Mason, who had thrown
every one he had taken hold of, -" Provided," said
Percy, in his pleasant way, "you '11 agree not to give
me a hard fall." So the master and the champion
wrestler took hold of each other; while a ring of interested spectators looked on, expecting to see "Jerry
fling the master": for Jerry was the larger of the two.
But Jerry put forth his strength in vain. Percy,
lithe, athletic, alert, stuck to the ground as if his feet
had been magnets on a floor of steel. Jerry lifted,
and tripped, and tried all his favorite locks and
turns; until at last Percy said, laughingly, " Now I '11




126


DOING HIS BEST.


show you a trick; look out for yourself!"  And the
next moment Jerry was laid flat on his back, without
knowing precisely how he came there.
Jack was almost beside himself with joy at this
result; and, indeed, all who witnessed it were greatly
excited and pleased, with the single exception, perhaps, of -Phineas Chatford.
" Huh!" sneered that envious youngster, " I don't
see why you should all make so much of the master
for that little thing! He never 'd have dared to
wrestle with one of his big boys if he had n't known
he could fling him."
Notwithstanding his familiarity with the scholars,
Percy never lost their respect. Heartily as he entered into their games, the moment school was called
his whole manner showed them that the hour of
sport was over, and serious business begun.
His manner of teaching was no less admirable than
his style of discipline. Jack was a favorite pupil,
and the progress he made was so rapid, that before
the winter was over he was in advance of Phineas in
all their studies; which circumstance served greatly
to embitter Phin against his rival.
"It's your own fault," said Moses one day, when
Phin was charging it all to the master's partiality.
"Jack goes into things in earnest; he is doing his
best; while you shirk hard work, and just do what
you think will make a good show. Talk about ciphering Jack's legs off! I told you, the first day of school,
just how it would be."




PERCY LANMAN'S SCHOOL.


127


"I don't care!" muttered Phin. "I could have
kept ahead of him if I had tried. But I ain't going
to get my living by hard work,- so that phrenologist said, and, abuse him as much as you've a mind
to, he knew what he was talking about. I've got
talents; I shall rise in the world without going crazy
over cube root and syntax."
"The best thing you can do is to forget what that
humbug told you," said Moses. "It's making a fool
of you."
"Humbug!" retorted Phin; "I asked the master
if there was anything in phrenology, and he said
there was."
"I heard just what he said," replied Moses.
"'There's something in it, no doubt,' says he,' but
as a science it is still in its infancy, and it is n't safe
to rely too much upon it.' Anyhow," added Moses,
"even if it was the most perfect science in the world,
that would n't make your great Dr. Doyley anything
but a quack and a knave."
" I don't see what he has done so much out of the
way," retorted Phineas. " He explained everything,
or said he could explain; and I liked him!"
The two brothers had frequent arguments regarding the merits of the said Doyley, which usually
ended in this way, much to the disgust of Moses.
Jack worked hard about the farm-yard and woodshed, before and after school; and towards the last of
the term a new affair began to occupy his time on
Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.




128


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XVIII.
THE BOYS GO INTO BUSINESS.
ONE day Mr. Treadwell, the father of Step Hen,
driving by the school-house at the time of the boys'
recess, stopped and beckoned to Jack. He was an
eccentric old man; all his ways were what the country folks termed "odd."  He had his nickname as
well as his son. At a public school-meeting he was
once nominated for the office of trustee; but, thinking it would be better filled by some person living
nearer the centre of the district, lie arose, and declined the honor in these words: " I must beg to
be excused, I live so scattterig!" He was " Old Scattering" ever afterwards.
This was the man who stood up in his sleigh
and beckoned violently, screaming, "You, sir! you
Hazard boy! come here!"    Jack ran up to him,
thinking something dreadful was the matter; but his
mind was soon put to rest by the old man saying, " I
want to shake hands with you!" (he put out a thick
leather mitten,) "and thank you for your dutiful behavior to my son! You've been a friend to my
Stephen, and I thank you!"
The old man's voice choked, and tears of emotion
filled his eyes. Jack at the same time observed that
his eyes were very red, his nose unnaturally large and




THE BOYS GO INTO BUSINESS.


129


spongy, and his cheeks full of inflamed little veins.
The truth is, Old Scattering was accustomed to drink
rather too much hard cider.
"Stephen is a good little fellow," replied Jack,
" and he seems to be getting along very well lately."
"All owing to you; your noble conduct!" the old
man declared. "I wish I could recompensate you.
I tell ye what I'11 do, - you shall come over and eat
supper with us some time, and spend the night with
Stephen, and I '1 make the old woman fry some of
her prime doughnuts!"
Jack laughingly replied that he did n't want any
reward; though he had no doubt he should enjoy the
visit and the doughnuts. "But there's one thing
I've been wishing to speak to you about," he said.
" Name it, and I am your debtor!"
"It is only this. Aunt Patsy has some sugarmaples which she says I may tap this spring, if I like,
and will give her a share of the sugar. I've talked
with Moses Chatford about it, and he would like to
go in with me, and his folks are willing, and there's
only one thing in the way, -we 've no sap-buckets.
Stephen says you have some in your shed, which you
have n't used for a year or two; and I thought  "
"You thought right!" interrupted the old man,
emphatically. " Most happy! The buckets are yours.
And, noreover, my woods jine Aunt Patsy's, on
t' other side; I've some prime maples; and there's
an old hut, and an arch for b'ilin'; all at your sarvice!"
6*                       I




130(


DOING HIS BEST.


"That will be grand!" cried Jack.
" Most happy!" repeated the old man, once more
offering Jack the thick mitten to shake. "Only my
old woman'11 expect a share of the sugar, - whatever Mr. Chatford says will be right; for we all know
the deacon. At your sarvice; and most happy!"
Jack carried the good news to Moses, and the two
consulted Mr. Chatford about the matter that evening.
"Well, I don't know," said the cautious deacon;
"a couple of boys, -I don't suppose you can do
much. But try it if you like; there'll11 be a chance
for you to learn something, anyway."
"Now, see here! " Phineas protested; "if Jack and
Moses are going into sugar-mnaking, I am too!"
"I don't suppose they will object, provided you do
your share of the work," said his father.
"But you know he won't," said Moses. "He'll
just pretend to, and then shirk. I know him too
well!"
Phin appeared to feel greatly outraged at this view
taken of his character, and said so much, that finally, at
Jack's request, he was taken into the " company."
And now the boys were full of business. Every
Wednesday and Saturday afternoon found them in
Mr. Treadwell's loft repairing the old sap-buckets
and " spiles" (wooden spouts for taking the sap from
the trees), whittling new spiles, and making other
preparations for the sugar season. As Moses had ex-'
pected, he and Jack were left to do about all the worlk,




THE BOYS GO INTO BUSINESS.


131


while the third partner sat by, pottering a little at
one thing and then another, as he soon tired of each,
and filling up the time with talk.
The buckets ready, the boys went to the woods,
where the snow, dotted here and there with squirrels'
and rabbits' tracks, still covered the ground; and had
plenty to do putting the stone arch and old hut in
repair, and cleaning out a huge sap-trough, to be used
as a reservoir for the precious fluid when it was
brought to the camp. Then the mild days came,
when the sap began to mount vigorously in the great
trunks, and it was time for these to be tapped.
Jack was sorry to be obliged to leave school a few
days before the term closed; but he resolved to make
up for the loss by studying all the harder at " odd
spells " during the spring and summer. And now he
plunged with all the ardor of his young heart into the
business he had undertaken.




132


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XIX.
TIlE SUGAR-BUSH.
DEACON CIIATFORD and Mr. Pipkin went over and
helped the boys tap the trees. It was a beautiful
day; the stillness of the woods was broken only by
the chattering of a squirrel or two, and the tinkling
snap of the ice on the high limbs as, touched by the
morning sun, it came rattling to the ground. Then
followed the sounds of cheery voices and ringing
axes; and the day's work was begun.
It was a new business to Jack; and the wild
beauty of the leafless woods, the delight of youthful
spirits in a novel enterprise, and the hope of honest
gain, made him very happy. He was quick to learn;
and in an hour or two he knew all that even the wise
Mr. Pipkin knew about tapping trees.
Just a slanting gash was made in the trunk with
an axe; below the lower corner of this a spile was
driven into a curved cut made for it by a gouge,
and under the spile, which formed a sloping channel
for the sap, a bucket was set. Some of the largest of
the maples were tapped in three or four places. After
the sun had got well up, the sap almost spirted from
the trees at the first cut, and made a merry drumming
as it dropped upon the bottoms of the empty buckets.
These had been soaking in rain-water for a few days,




THE SUGAR-BUSH.


133


and scarcely any of them leaked. All the pails and
pans and bowls which could be spared from the house
were also put to use; and to these were afterwards
added a number of sap-troughs that Mr. Pipkin hollowed with an axe out of short, thick slabs, into
which the trunks of two or three small basswoods
were cut up.
The great kettles for the arch were brought down
from Mr. Treadwell's house on a stone-boat, or drag,
drawn by one horse; and in the afternoon the horse
and drag were used in collecting the sap. Jack and
Phineas went the rounds of the sugar-bush with a
couple of upright, open casks; into these the sap from
the buckets was emptied, until they were as full as
they could safely ride without slopping over, as they
were drawn to the camp. Phin drove the horse, and
stopped at the trees, while Jack emptied the buckets,
some of which were found brimming full, - a glorious
sight to Jack's eyes. Moses, in the mean time, with a
boy's impatience, got a good fire under the kettles,
within the stone-work of the arch, and before night
the pleasant odor of the steam from the boiling sap
was wafted through the woods.
Phin soon complained of a sprained ankle, and
thought he could not drive the horse any more. So
he went and sat down before the fire, while Step Hen
Treadwell, who ran to the woods as soon as he was
out of school, gladly helped Jack in his place.
The fire had now to be kept going and the kettles
boiling by day and often by night, as long as there




134              DOING HIS BEST.
IIGATHERING THE SAP.
was sap. The boys had accordingly brought their
supper with them, intending to watch the arch until
late in the evening, and then sleep in the hut. Jack
and Moses were tired enough when night came,tired and hungry; and, 0, how good the bread and
butter and boiled eggs tasted! and how sweet the
rest from their labors, as they sat in the door of the
hut, before the glowing mouth of the arch, and talked
over the day's doings and the prospects of the morrow!




THE SUGAR-BUSH.


135


The sap stopped running at night, to begin again
the next morning, first a few slow, trickling drops,
and then a lively pattering, which it did Jack's heart
good to hear. The forenoon was spent in tapping
Aunt Patsy's trees, finishing the new  sap-troughs,
chopping wood for the fire, and gathering, without the
aid of the horse and drag, the sap in the buckets nearest the camp. Phin rendered very little assistance.
If left to tend the kettles, he either let them boil over,
or neglected to keep them supplied with sap, or suffered the fire to go down; while he could usually be
seen sitting on a log, holding a dipper of steaming
sirup, which he was complacently cooling and sipping.
The sap, stored in the great trough, was dipped from
that into the first, or heating kettle, from that into
the second, or boiling kettle, and lastly into the third,
or sweet kettle, where many gallons of sap were concentrated into a single gallon of sirup. This was
finally taken, a few gallons at a time, to Mr. Chatford's house, to be strained, and then boiled down
still further and carefully "sugared off" by Mrs.
Chatford over the kitchen fire.
It chanced to be a capital sugar season; and there
was so much work to be done, and Phin did so little,
that the two active partners had to "borrow" Mr.
Pipkin much of the time, in order to keep the sap
boiling and the buckets from overflowing.
"Jest as I knowed 't would be," said that gentleman, with a chuckle of satisfaction. " You 're a couple
o' perty smart boys, - got good grit, I allow; but ye
could n't git along without me "




136


DOING HIS BEST.


"0, you're mighty grand!" sneered Phineas; "just
about the smartest man in the world,- Mr. P. Pipkin, Esquire!"
Mr. Pipkin, who stood on a log which he was chopping, paused, stooping, and looked contemptuously
over his big front teeth at Master Chatford.
"As for that 'ere Phin," said he, "if he's worked
enough in this sugar-bush to 'arn the sirup he's
drinked, I miss my guess! Talk about his bein' a
pardner in the business, by hokey! It's like a farmer
takin' a fox into pardnerships, a raisin' chickens!
There's reason in all things!" And, striking the
axe into the log again, he made the lively chips fly at
Phin's head.
The boys had a good many visitors at the camp,men who were interested to see " how they were getting along with their job," and young fellows who
came for a taste of the sirup, or to sit and tell stories
in the evening before the fire. Three or four of the
" Huswick tribe " came prowling about, making friendly advances to Jack, and helping themselves rather
too freely to the contents of the sweet kettle. Phin
was. afraid of them; and Moses said he did not like
to get their ill-will by driving them away. But Jack,
who had particular reasons for not being charmed by
their society,* vowed at last that he would have no
more of it.
So one day, when the lank and long-armed Hank
approached, and, with a wink and a grin, taking down
* See "A CHANCE FOR HIMSELF."




THE SUGAR-BUSH.


137


the dipper from its nail, reached it over into the sweet
kettle, while behind him stood Cub, short and fat,
awaiting his turn, and still behind him Tug and Hod,
Jack spoke out:"See here! that dipper is travelling back and forth
altogether too often between that kettle and your
mouths!"
" It's lickin' good!" said Hank, smacking his lips.
"Don't be mean about a little sirup."
"Mean?" retorted Jack. " We don't tap trees
and chop wood and boil sap, to treat all the loafers in
town."  He sprang and snatched the dipper. "Now
go about your business, will you? You're not wanted
here."
Hank stared, and Cub looked fierce; but Jack
quietly laid the dipper on the end of the great saptrough, and said to Lion, "Watch! take care of it!"
Which command Lion, who cherished a cordial grudge
against the Huswick tribe, was ready enough to obey.
"Lucky for you ye 've got a dog to back ye up!"
said Cub, as he followed his retreating brother through
the woods.
"Yes, watch-dogs are useful, when such fellows as
you are about!" Jack hallooed after him.
It was Lion's business after that to guard the sweet
kettle; and, as he was a constant companion of the
boys at the camp, they had no more trouble from unwelcome visitors.
"I van," said Mr. Pipkin one day, after Lion, in
the absence of Jack, had baffled all the attempts of




138


DOING HIS BEST.


Lon Gannett and Rant Hildreth to steal a dipperful
of sirup, " the dog ought to be the third pardner in
this consarn, -he's wuth a plaguy sight more'n
that 'ere lazy Phin!"
At the close of the season the boys gave a famous
sugar-party in the woods, to which their friends were
invited. It was a mild March evening; and the
woods were beautiful, lit up by a blazing bonfire.
The "sugaring off" was a success; and, fortunately,
there was still snow enough to be found to drop the
golden wax on, hot from the ladle. The merry guests,
gathered in a noisy group about the kettle placed on
the ground, scraped it clean with knives and sticks
and spoons; and afterwards played "I spy" among
the shadowy trunks in the firelit woods, which resounded with their joyous voices.
After paying for Mr. Pipkin's services by giving
Mrs. Chatford a portion of the sugar, and allotting to
Mrs. Treadwell and Aunt Patsy their shares, previously agreed upon, the boys sold what was left, and
found that they had cleared twenty-seven dollars by
the operation.
"VWell, well! I do declare!" said the deacon;
"I 'd no idea of your making so handsome a thingl!
For two boys, it's really very well."
"Three boys!" snarled Phineas, vexed at being
left out of the account.
"And a dog," laughed Jack; "don't forget Lion."
"And a man o' jutdgent and backbone to look
arter 'em and lend a helpin' hand," said Mr. Pipkin.




--


/
*1    /
22


(I1


-/4 








THE SUGAR-BUSH.


139


"Now about dividing this money," said Moses.
"Though I'm older than Jack, he has worked just as
hard as I have, and is entitled to as much as I am.
But you saw how Phin worked, father; and now I'm
going to let you divide it."
"I was a partner, and I claim an equal share with
the other two!" cried Phin, with great vehemence.
" They'd be better off this minute if Phin had kep'
out o' the sugar-bush altogether," said Mr. Pipkin.
"A lazy back and a sweet tooth hender more 'n they
help, about the kittles."
Mr. Chatford took Moses and Jack aside. "I know
he did n't do very well," he said, coaxingly; " but I
want to encourage the boy; it will be a great disappointment to him, if he don't have a share. So, if
you've no objections, I'11 divide the money in this
way: you two shall have eleven dollars apiece, and
Phineas shall have the other five. 'T ain't hardly
fair, I know; but you sha' n't lose by it in the end."
Moses said it was "outrageous"; but Jack declared himself satisfied. "Although," said he, "I
don't believe Phin will be."
Indeed, Phin was at first furious over the small
share given to him; but, finding that it was all he
could have, he finally put it in his pocket, vowing at
the same time that he would come up with Jack and
Moses in some way.
"And now, father," said Moses, "Jack has another
idea, - a bigger scheme than this,- which I believe
we can make something out of, if you will let us, and




140              DOING HIS BEST.
if we can keep clear of third partners; we have had
enough of them!"
"Say nothing more about that!" replied the deacon, indulgently, with a wink and nod. "What's
your scheme? Sorething to make your fortunes, I
suppose "
"Of course," said Moses, laughing; and he proceeded to explain.




THE GREAT SCHEME.


141


CHAPTER XX.
THE GREAT SCHEME.
"WE have no more land under cultivation now,
than we have had for the past four years. But here's
Jack, an extra hand, who thinks he ought to be earning something besides his board and clothes; and I,"
said Moses, - "I believe I can do twice the work this
year I did last."
"I hope so. But come to the point, come to the
point," said the deacon.
"Well, there is Old Scattering's farm, which has
been running down ever since he began to drink too
much hard cider."
"Who is Old Scattering?" demanded the deacon,
sternly, - though he knew very well. "If you mean
Mr. Treadwell, say so. Learn to speak respectfully
of neighbors."
"He will do anything for Jack," said Moses; "and
I believe we can take some land of him, to work this
summer, just as we did the. sugar-bush."
"Come, come!" said the deacon, thoughtfully,
"you must n't let your ambition run away with you.
Bear in mind, you're only a couple of boys; and
don't think, because you've done tolerably well with
the sugar-bush, you can make money at farming.
Besides, we haven't the team to spare."




142


DOING HIS BEST.


"I've talked with Mr. Treadwell," said Jack;
" and he has promised to furnish team and tools, and
one half the seed, and give us one half the crop."
"Well, that's liberal, too liberal," said the deacon;
"though I suppose it will be better for him than to
have his land lie still. But it ought to have been
broken up in the fall. Besides, it's too far off."
"It is n't a long way, through the woods," replied
Moses. "If he furnishes and keeps the team, we
sha' n't have to go around the road very often. I believe we can raise a good crop of spring wheat on his
old corn-lot, by just turning it over, giving it a good
harrowing, and sowing some of Sellick's new kind of
seed on it. The old fallow we can get ready during
the summer for sowing with winter wheat in the fall.
All that need n't interfere very much with our work
here at home, if we only manage right."
"Who ever heard of such a thing? Two boys!"
said the deacon, when he had got to the end of his
objections.
"Jack and I can plough and harrow as well as anybody," insisted Moses. "I guess we can get you to
sow the wheat for us; and we shall expect to ask
your advice about some things."
Mr. Chatford began to waver. "What will the
neighbors say to our taking land? as if we had n't
enough of our own!"
"But it isn't you, it's Jack and I! And if the
neighbors say anything, I think they '11 say you've
got a couple of pretty enterprising boys in the family."




THE GREAT SCHEME.


143


"Well, well! don't brag; that sounds too much
like Phineas. I suppose he'll want to go in with
you?"
" But he can't, if he does. We gave him one trial.
We don't want any drones in our hive. He don't
know anything about it yet."
The deacon took time to consider the matter and
talk it over with his wife. She was prepared to favor
it. "You saw," said she, "how happy and industrious
the boys were, at work on their own account in the
sugar-bush. It is the very best education you can
give them, -to throw them on their own resources
a little, and let them think and act for themselves."
So at last the deacon gave his consent. Phin, when
he found it out, was highly exasperated; and he
declared that, if he stayed at home, while Jack and
Moses took land to work, he would have a share of
their profits, "anyway!"
The two young farmers were impatient to begin
their spring work; and as soon as the frost was well
out of the ground, they might have been seen one
morning harnessing Mr. Treadwell's horses, and getting out the plough from the wagon-shed. The old
man was present, and helped them start.
"Most happy!" said he, when Jack thanked him
for his assistance. "At your sarvice! I am not what
I was; I could plough once! Now I abrogate " (Jack
wondered whether he meant abdicate) "in favor of
my juniors. Old men for counsel, young men for
war." And he proceeded to moralize, making odd




144


DOING HIS BEST.


gestures, and speaking in so funny a singsong tone
that Jack and Moses had to put down their heads
behind the horses to hide their laughter. "Time cuts
down all, both great and small. Stephen will let
down the bars. We are a flower, and we wither; we
are cut down, and we pass away. The plough will
ride very well on the shoe. Wine is a mocker, and
strong drink is raging; and, boys, I bid you good
speed. At your sarvice, and most happy!"
As the boys set off, Jack driving, and Moses holding the plough in the wooden " shoe," the old man
suddenly screamed after them, -
"Ho, ho! hold on! wait! I- I - I forgot!"
" What can the old fellow want? " said Jack, pulling the reins. "He yells as if the world was afire!"
"I notify you!" cried Old Scattering, shaking his
fist at them as they looked back. "Beware!  Don't
go home to dinner! The old woman's been fryin'
some of her prime doughnuts this mornin', - at your
sarvice! That's all!"  And, waving his hand at
them rather tragically, he walked off in the direction
of his house.
"I guess the old chap has been taking a little more
hard cider than usual, this morning," remarked Moses. "Hurry up, Step Hen! take away those bars."
Once in the old corn-lot, the plough was launched
from the shoe, and a broad "land " was marked out.
"That furrow is n't so straight as it might be,"
laughed Jack, looking behind him. "And it is n't
turned so clean as your old plough turns a furrow."




THE GREAT SCHEME.


145


" This plough will do better after it has had a little
polishing in the earth; the rust will soon wear off.
We must make a neat job; father will be over here
to criticise and laugh at us, if we give him a chance."
"Now," said Jack, after he had gone two or three
times round the field with Moses, " let me try it alone,
and see how I get along."
He slipped the reins over his shoulders, and laid
hold of the plough-handles, following in the furrow as
the team moved slowly along. At the corners of the
"land," he brought the horses about with a touch of
the reins, and then hauled the plough around. The
ground was tolerably free from roots and stones, and
everything went well.
So Jack said to Moses, "Now leave me here to
plough alone, while you go home and help your father. I want him to see that he is n't going to lose
us, because we have land of our own to work. Or
you may plough, and I'11 go."
"You can plough as well as I can, but maybe I
can do more than you at something else," replied
Moses, who accordingly returned home.
Jack was delighted. Ploughing was his favorite
work. It required little effort of the mind; and that
was left free to think. Many a bright day-dream he
had, walking in the furrows with his hands upon the
plough-handles, - alone, but never lonely; many a
lesson in his books he reviewed in memory, and many
a problem solved.
He had brought his dinner and a book with him;
7                        J




146              DOING HIS BEST.
and at noon-time, while the team was feeding, he hid
in the barn on the hay, to avoid Old Scattering and
his wife's "prime doughnuts "; and there he studied,
"to make up for lost time," as he used to say. The
necessity he felt for making up that loss was a good
thing for him, since it stimulated him to efforts which
soon placed him in advance of boys who had enjoyed
far greater opportunities.
But we must not stay too long with Jack at his
studies and his work, or we shall give the impression
that he never played. This would be far from the
truth. He managed to have no idle time; yet,
though he worked hard and studied hard, when any
genuine sport was going forward Jack was just the
fellow to join it.




THE CARAVAN.


147


CHAPTER XXI.
THE CARAVAN.
THE spring work was done, the crops were doing
finely, and the summer was well advanced, when the
neighborhood was one day thrown into a state of joyful excitement by the arrival of a menagerie.
It passed by Mr. Chatford's house on its way to
the Basin; and Kate and Mrs. Pipkin, followed by
Mr. Pipkin, ran out to see the long line of wagons,
some drawn by four or even six horses, the band
riding in their magnificent chariot, and 0, most wonderful sight of all, the two elephants!
"They've got the animals' cages in them big, close
wagons," said Mr. Pipkin, -" bears, and painters,
and hyenies, and rhinocroces, and monkeys."
"Monkeys! 0, monkeys!" cried little Kate, beside herself with excitement.  " Where's Jack?
Where's Moses? 0, where are they?"
"But you can't see the monkeys, child!" said Mrs.
Pipkin.
"No, but I can think of them! And, dear, dear!
I wish mother was- at home, to say I can go to the
show to-morrow! I believe I shall die if I don't go
and see the darling monkeys!"
The boys now came running; and, although Mrs.
Pipkin warned them that dinner was ready, curiosity




148


DOING HIS BEST.


proved stronger than appetite, and away they sped,
following the menagerie up the road.
"They 've stopped! " cried Jack. "Hurry, and we
shall see the elephants yet!"
They ran on, and found that the whole caravan had
come to a halt at Welby's Brook. A few of the lighter
wagons had crossed, but, the bridge proving rather
shaky, its strength was to be tested before the heavier
wagons should attempt to go over. The boys were
wondering what sort of test would be applied, when
Jack exclaimed, "The elephant! they are going to try
the big elephant on it!"
There were two elephants; one a huge, formidable,
surly-looking old fellow, with monstrous tusks, and a
tremendous trunk, which he kept constantly in motion, now swinging to and fro over the ground, now
pulling a tuft of grass and stuffing it into his mouth,
or using it to brush away the flies from his shoulders
and legs, and now casting little volleys of sand over
his back. The other elephant was about two thirds
grown, and was without tusks.
" You'd better keep away!" cried one of the keepers to the boys, as they were inclined to press near.
"Accidents may happen."
So they jumped over the roadside fence, and viewed
from behind that convenient barrier all that passed.
The big elephant was now led forward by his keeper
to the edge of the bridge, where he paused, and
carefully placed one foot on the timbers. That was
enough. Having felt the structure shake beneath his




THE CARAVAN.


149


weight, he drew back, and was then taken around
through the bed of the stream below the bridge.
Preparations were then made to send the heavy
wagons across in the same way. As the farther bank
was steep, the teams had to be doubled; and so one
after another the wagons passed.
"I wonder what the animals in the cages think,
going down and then up, and shaking about, in that
way!" said Moses.
At last came the heaviest wagon of all. Eight of
the finest horses were attached to it, and it went reeling and plunging down the bank. It crossed the
stream safely, and was ascending the farther bank,
the eight horses springing with all their might, when
it stuck in the mud, and all their efforts to start it
forward once more were in vain. Phin screamed with
delight.
"They're stuck! the rhinoceros wagon is stuck in
the bank, and they never can get him away!"
" It looks so, by George! " said Moses. " There's
no chance for any more horses, as I see; they '1
break something, if any more are put on."
"O, I 'm glad I came!" cried Phin, climbing up
on the fence. "Say! Ab, Jase!" he called out to
the Welby boys, who had just arrived, "we've got a
rhinoceros in the mud here, did ye know it?"
"How do you know it's a rhinoceros?" said Jack.
"It may be the lions. You would n't laugh quite
so loud, if the wagon should tip over and they should
break out."




150


DOING HIS BEST.


Phin changed countenance, and turned to see if
the way was clear behind him. " I'm going to climb
that tree! " said he, starting for a little birch near the
fence. "Lions can't climb, can they? "
"Look!" said Jack. "See what they are going to
do with the little elephant! "
The " little " elephant would have been thought big
enough if the enormous size of his companion had
not made him appear small by comparison. Viewed
beside the largest horses belonging to the caravan,
his bulk was immense; and now an opportunity had
arrived to compare his strength with theirs.
His keeper led him down into the bed of the
stream, and placed him in the rear of the mired wagon, with his nose against it. Then he gave him a
signal. The elephant began to push. He did not
seem to put forth his strength, and yet the wagon
which the eight horses could not move was lifted
slowly and steadily forward up the bank. The horses
did not start until after the wagon did, and then they
had little to do but to keep out of its way, until the
elephant was withdrawn.
The boys were thrilled with wonder and admiration at this display of docility and power in the
young animal. Jack declared he wouldn't have
missed the sight "for anything"; and that he would
have "given anything " if the folks had all been
there to see it.
"We're all going over to the show to-morrow; are
you?" cried Jase Welby.




THE CARAVAN.


151


"I am!" said Phin, slipping down from the tree.
"I tell ye, it's going to be the biggest show that ever
was!" And he went on to brag as if he had been the
proprietor of the menagerie.
"The old folks are away from home; won't be
home till to-morrow  night," said Moses. "But I
suppose they would let us go."
" Where've they gone?" said Abner Welby.
"A visiting, - over to the place where we used to
live before we moved here," replied Moses.
" They've been talking about going there ever since
that phrenologist came to our house," said Phin, "and
I bet it's to find out something about him,- they
used to know him there."
"We must go to the show, Jack!" said Moses.
" Yes; and Kate, - it will break her heart, if she
can't go and see the monkeys," said Jack. "Ie could
walk, but - and there's your cousin Annie!" for
Miss Felton was once more teaching the summer
school. " To-morrow is Saturday, - no school in the
afternoon, - she must go!"
" We might all go in a load together, in the double
wagon, and have lots of fun," said Moses, "if they
were only at home! They've got old Maje and the
buggy; we should have to drive the old mare and the
colt, and the colt ain't used to the road."
"He's broke," said Phin, "only he won't back;
nobody could ever make him back yet."
"Jack says he knows how to make him; and father has said he might try it some time. We might




152


DOING HIS BEST.


this afternoon; we sha'n't feel much like work, thinking about the caravan."
The Welby boys said they would like to help and
see the fun.
"Well," said Jack, " come over and bring your yoke
of steers, and I '11 show you. It's rather rough; but
I've seen more than one horse taught to back in that
way."
To this Abner and Jase gladly agreed. Jack and
Moses and Phin then hurried home to tell what they
had seen, and to get sharply scolded by Mrs. Pipkin
for being late to dinner.
"Don't say any more about it," said Jack; "and
maybe - maybe" (laughing)    " we'11 arrange it so
that you and all of us can go to the show to-morrow
afternoon."
Mrs. Pipkin was pacified, and Kate clapped her
hands with delight.




BREAKING THE COLT.


153


CHAPTER XXII.
BREAKING THE COLT.
THE dinner was eaten in haste; and by the time
the colt was harnessed, the Welby boys arrived with
the yoke of steers.
The colt was a three-year-old; "going on four," as
Mr. Pipkin said, and nearly as large and strong as his
mother. He had been broken to ride, the previous
autumn, when a good deal of sport had been had with
him, particularly on one occasion, the precise circumstances of which Mr. Pipkin now related.
"Nobody'd ever been on his back but once, then
Mose tried it,- but he was off agin quicker'n ye
could 'a' said 'Jack Robi'son!' Colt was a nippin'
grass in a corner o' the fence, an' Mose was a layin' on
his back, jest where he'd been flung. Deacon told
him not to try it agin, an' got Don Curtis over here
one day last fall; Don said he could ride any boss 't
ever stepped on four feet. Wal, Don mounted; an' for
about half a jiffy the colt stood stock still, as if he was
so much astonished he didn't know jest what to do.
'T was in the pastur', where there was plenty o' room.
Colt looked around him, then all of a sudden he started; he walked right up to that big stun-heap ye see
over yender, - stopped, - head went down and heels
went up, —and there was Don on the stun-heap!
7*




154


DOING HIS BEST.


He was ridin' that! he, he " said MIr. Pipkin, chuckling at his own wit. " Don hung on to the bridle,
an' got off 'm the stuns lookin' dreffle silly, —
ruther sick, tu, for he'd got a good deal of a bruise,
and a good deal more of a scare. Then Jack says, 'I
believe I can ride him!' Deacon tried to put him off;
and Don says, says he,' Let him try, if he wants a
broken neck.' 'I '11 resk my neck,' says Jack; and
he was on, afore the deacon knowed it. Colt r'ared,
till he 'most went over back'ards; but Jack stuck.
Then the colt tried the head-an'-heel business, -
r'ared and kicked up five or six times like fury, - an'
still Jack stuck. Monkey to the show to-morrer
won't do no better'n Jack done then. Bimeby colt
got mad and begun to run. Hokey, how he did clip
it! Round the pastur', round and round the pastur',
like a streak. All thought he was runnin' away with
Jack. But 't seems Jack was a lettin' on him go!
For arter a while, when the colt was about used up,
all of a lather, pantin' as if for his last breath, Jack
jest reined him right up to where we all stood a waitin' an' wonderin', jumped off, stroked and patted
colt's head and neck, then jumped on and walked
him round the lot, slick as could be. We never had
no trouble with him  arter that, - only we never
could make him back in harness."
"Huh! " said Phin, "anybody could have done
just what Jack did, that had always been with horses,
as he has! lHe was brought up in a stable."
Jack made no reply to this taunt; but, the colt




BREAKING THE COLT.           155
being by this time harnessed between the stout shafts
of a cart, he hooked one end of a log-chain into the
ring of the ox-yoke, and made the other. end fast to
the cart-tail; the steers being headed in one direction and the colt in the other.
"Now," said Jack, taking the reins, "I'll try to
back him; if he won't back, just start up the steers,
and draw him back. Gently. - Back now! back!"
And he pulled hard on the reins.


-> — ~-uZZ -c —i
7 —


aYTTG    x",,1-'.\''/BREAKING THE COLT.




156


DOING HIS BEST.


The colt, as he had always done at such times,
braced himself obstinately, refusing to budge. Just
then Abner touched up the steers. Greatly to the
colt's astonishment, no doubt, the cart began to go
backwards, and he with it, in spite of himself. Not
liking to be beaten in that way, he fell on his haunches, and finally went down altogether.
"That will do!" cried Jack. "Unhook!"
The chain was cast free from the yoke, and Jack
and Moses, one on each side, made the colt get up.
He was then started forward, stopped, and ordered
once more to back. He leered and braced himself as
before.
"Hitch on again!" cried Jack.
The same operation was gone through with three
or four times, and at last, when the colt flung himself, he was drawn backwards a little way along the
ground. He did not fall again; but when the oxen
began to draw, he yielded, and walked backwards
without making any resistance. Then, when told to
back, he anticipated their pulling; and finally backed
very well without their help. All this time Jack
coaxed and talked kindly to him, and never struck
him a blow.
" Wal! ye've done it! " said Mr. Pipkin. "Colt's
had a lesson he won't forgit in a hurry. He's as
well broke as anybody's colt now, an' for my part
I'm willin' to give Jack all the credit on't. Guess
the deacon'11 be surprised!"
The colt was then harnessed with the mare to the




BREAKING THE COLT.            1.57
double wagon, driven about the lot several times, and
made to back occasionally. He was afterwards unharnessed, coaxed, and curried, and fed with "nubbins " of corn from the boys' hands.
" In this way," said Jack, " he will find out that we
are his friends, and mean well by him."




158


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XXIII.
GOING TO THE MENAGERIE.
AFTER supper that night Jack hastened to find
Miss Felton at her boarding-place, and invite her to
the show the next day.
"Everybody is going; we are all going, and you
must go too."
" Who will take care of the house?" Annie asked.
"W e can lock it up, and leave Lion to watch it.
Oh! if you could have seen what that little elephant
did!" And Jack went on to talk of the subject that
filled his mind, until Annie caught his enthusiasm
and agreed to go.
The boys dreamed of elephants that night, and
were up early the next morning, impatient to have
the time come to harness the horses and start.
The mare and colt were in the pasture, when Jack,
a little before noon, went out and caught them.
Moses, who met him leading them in, saw at once by
his anxious face that something was the matter.
" Moses!" cried Jack, "look! the colt is lame!"
"Lead him  off; let me see how he steps," said
Moses. " He must have strained a leg somehow yesterday."
"By hokey!" exclaimed Mr. Pipkin, coming up,
"the critter 's ruined! So much for your fashion o'




GOING TO THE MENAGERIE.


159


breakin' hosses! break their legs I I knowed suthin
'd happen, - I told ye 't wa'n't no way!" Although
at the time he had thought it a very good way.
"Ho! Jack!" sneered Phineas, "ye didn't know
so much as ye thought ye did! Anybody could break
a colt in that way! Father'll be home to-night;
you'll ketch it!"
" Shut your head!" exclaimed Moses, impatiently.
"The colt is n't hurt so but that he '1 get over it in a
day or two."
Jack tried to think so, and yet he could not conceal his trouble. "It won't do to drive him to-day,
any way," he said.
"What shall we do?" said Mr. Pipkin. "Women
folks can't walk; and when my wife's made up her
mind to do a thing, I don't want to be the one to tell
her she can't!"
Jack thought of Kate, and Annie whom he had
specially invited, and looked blue enough for a minute.
"The neighbors' horses will all be in use, such a
day as this; can't borrow one, for love or money,"
suggested Phineas, well pleased, since he could walk,
whatever the rest might do.
"I 've thought!" suddenly exclaimed Jack. "I '11
get one of Old Scattering's horses! I know he'll let
me. So while you, Moses, get a rag, and some salt
and vinegar, and give that ankle a good rubbing, I '11
put." And Jack "put" accordingly.
Unfortunately the old man was not at home.
" When will he be at home?" Jack asked in some
dismay.




160


DOING HIS BEST.


" I sha' n't expect him before night," said poor Mrs.
Treadwell, with a look which told of much sad experience with a husband who carried a red nose. "He's
to the Basin, with Stephen; of course they'll stay to
the show."
She knew nothing about the horses; and Jack, who
had been accustomed to take them without asking
whenever he wanted to use them on the farm, at last
resolved to take one for his own private business
that afternoon. Of course he did not feel just right
about it, but necessity seemed to justify the step.
So he bridled Snowfoot (the old man gave fanciful
names to his beasts), leaped upon his back at the gate,
and returned home at a smart canter around the road.
Annie had already arrived; and all were waiting to
see what success he had met with.
The brisk ride, and the consciousness of having by
a prompt action overcome a serious difficulty, put
him in excellent spirits, and caused him for a time
quite to forget his misgivings.
After dinner Snowfoot was harnessed with the mare
before the double wagon, and all "piled in," at Mr.
Pipkin's suggestion, - Annie and Kate and Phin and
Moses and Jack and Mr. and Mrs. Pipkin; a jolly
load, like many another that went to the show that
afternoon. Jack was the driver, and he took pride
in passing every "slow coach" on the road.
The great tent was pitched just outside the village,
in a large field divided from the street by a zigzag
rail-fence, to which already a number of country


I




GOING TO THE MENAGERIE.


161


teams were hitched. Jack drove up to a convenient
corner, jumped down and tied the halters to a rail,
while Moses and Mr. Pipkin helped the ladies to
alight.
Close by, and quite near the opening which had
been made for the crowd to pass in, was a sort of
pedler's wagon, on the green sides of which were
painted in fancy letters the words, Dr. Lamont,
Prince of the healing Art.  The rear end of the
wagon, which was turned towards the passing throng,
had been opened so as to form a sort of platform, on
which stood an astonishing figure, - that of a man,
in a wonderful green coat, or robe, that came down
below his knees, with a shining brass helmet on his
head, a brass trumpet in one hand, and a small bottle
in the other. As he was making a speech that attracted a good deal of attention, Jack and his party
stopped to hear him.
After putting the trumpet to his lips and blowing a few not very melodious notes, the man proceeded in a voice rendered sonorous by the hollow
brass:"The 'Lectrical 'Lixir, ladies and gentlemen!"
(brandishing the small bottle.) "Here it is! here's
the great remedy of the nineteenth century! Only
fifty cents a bottle,-three bottles for one dollar,
ladies and gentlemen! Cures ear-ache, sore eyes,
hydreophoby, catarrh, consumption, dyspepsy, coughs,
colds, burns, scalds, bruises, lameness in man or
beast!"
K




162


162         DOING HIS BEST.


IC

THlE 'LECTRICAL 'LIXITR MAN.


" Better buy some for the colt',"Y observed Mr. Pipkin.
"WAalk up, walk up, gentlemen and ladies, and
ladies and grentlemen! " said the mouth under the
helmet.   " The 'Lectrical 'Lixir" (Electrical Elixir,
probably) " is compounded from the extract of the
skin of the wonderful 'lectric eel, - the, most curl's
and wonderful creatur' in the known world. You '11




GOING TO THE MENAGERIE.


163


see some curi's creatur's under the tent to-day,monkeys, moon-calves, rhinoceris bosses, chickens
with two heads, and I don't know but whales; but
you won't see nothin' so wonderful as the 'lectric
eel.  He inhabits tropical countries, and lurks in
the beds of streams, and when travellers go to cross,
he discharges his battery at the hosses' legs, and
bosses and riders fall down, and is drownded, and he
feeds upon them at his leisure. No man can touch
this eel without receivin' a shock; and a stroke from
his tail, either in or out of water, has been known to
produce in a few minutes instant death."
"Then how do they ever ketch him, I'd like to
know? There's reason in all things!" chuckled
Mr. Pipkin.
The man hesitated, the eyes behind the helmet
turning now for the first time upon Jack and his
party. He seemed for a moment to be looking for
somebody or something else in the crowd, -perhaps a child or a dog, for his glance took a low
range along by Mr. Pipkin's legs; then proceeded
briskly: -
"The 'Lectrical 'Lixir,.manefactered by a scientific
and chimical process from the skin of this curi's
beast, possesses properties unknown to the age a few
years ago. If any gentleman present - gentleman or
lady - is troubled with deafness, lameness, toothache,
rheumatiz, let 'em step up, and if I don't cure 'em
with a single application of the 'Lixir, before the eyes
of all of ye, then I '11 ask no man to buy my bottles."




164


DOING HIS BEST.


"Better cure us of our common-sense fust, then
we '11 buy!" said Mr. Pipkin.
"I take jokes in good part," replied the quack,
looking straight at the speaker through the eye-holes
in his helmet; "but the 'Lectrical 'Lixir is no joke,
as you shall find if you '11 step up and let me cure
ye of that rheumatiz. No charge for the application;
and you won't be obliged to buy a bottle, neither,though it's only fifty cents; three bottles for one
dollar, ladies and gentlemen!"
"By hokey!" said Mr. Pipkin, "I have got the
rheumatiz in my left shoulder! How did he know
it? I've a good notion to let him try his 'Lixir!"
"0, come along!" said Jack, seeing that Annie
Felton, grown impatient, was walking on with Moses
and Kate.
"Go ahead, if ye want tu," said Mr. Pipkin, stripping off his coat. "But I 'm a goin' to let him try,
an' see if he can cure me, as he says."
Mrs. Pipkin gave her consent, influenced by curiosity and the gratuitous nature of the experiment,
and held her husband's coat, while he stripped up his
sleeve and presented his shoulder to the charlatan.
"This is what I like!" said the latter, pouring on
spme of the "'Lixir" and rubbing it into the flesh.
"To be doin' good; to be healin' the 'flicted; curin'
diseases; anything to oblige my feller-creatur's;
that's my weakness. If I git pay, very well; if I
don't, it's jest exac'ly as well; for I'm the best-natered man in the world!"




IN THE TENT.


165


CHAPTER XXIV.
IN THE TENT.
IN the mean while, without waiting to hear the
concluding speech of the man in the brass helmet
and green robe, or once suspecting that he might be
an old acquaintance, Jack hastened to overtake Moses
and Miss Felton, leaving Phin to follow with Mr. and
Mrs. Pipkin.
At the entrance to the tent, Annie wished to pay
for herself, but 0, no! Jack was too proud and happy
to be able to pay for her with money he had earned
by honest work.
" Well, if it will please you," she said, with a smile.
"Shall we go in now, or wait for the others?"
"Better go in, I think," said a well-known voice,
"and see the animals before the tent is crowded."
"Percy!" said Annie, with a start and a blush.
"Mr. Lanman!" cried the boys. He gave the young
lady his right hand, and with his left shook hands
with Moses and Jack and Kate.
They all entered the tent together. Percy escorted
Miss Felton, and Moses had Kate in charge, while
Jack followed with a lonely and disconsolate feeling at
his heart. What troubled him all at once? Was it
the recollection of the colt's lameness, or of the manner in which he had taken Snowfoot, without leave?




166


DOING HIS BEST.


Percy had many anecdotes to relate of the animals
they saw, and of the countries they inhabited; and
Jack ought to have considered it a piece of good fortune that they had fallen in with him. Jack was
indeed a grateful and admiring friend of the young
man, whom he liked better than alltost anybody else
in the world. But now his lowering looks, as he
watched him and Annie, seemed to say, " I know she
expected to meet him, and that's what made her
hurry along so! And now she can't think of anybody but him! 'T was I that invited her, and what
right has he to take her away from me? How happy
they both are - without me!" And, unable to endure the sight, the wretchedly jealous and unhappy
boy wandered away alone and lost himself in the
crowd.
He tried to divert his mind by looking at the wild
animals, - the sleepy old lions, crouched upon their
paws; the sleek leopards, bounding over the bar which
their keeper thrust into the cage; the restless hyena,
pacing to and fro within his narrow bounds; the languid
polar bear, panting over his pan of cold spring water;
the chained black bear, begging cakes and buns of the
children; the boa-constrictor, which the man wound
about his neck like a tippet, -and all these would
have interested him greatly at another time. But
now he was too miserable to care for them. As he
remembered the joyful anticipations with which he
had looked forward to this time, his heart seemed
almost bursting with grief.




IN THE TENT.


167


Then all at once he stopped and said to himself,
"I am a fool! Worse than a fool! I am just as
mean and selfish as I can be. I ought to be glad that
she is happy; why am I not? I will be glad!"
Then came a struggle with himself; and, after a
great gulp or two at his choking grief, which refused
to be swallowed so easily, he at last got the mastery
of it. When he met his friends again, he appeared
with his hands full of oranges and his face full of
smiles.
"Why, Jack!" cried Annie, "we thought we had
lost you! Where have you been? Oranges! You
naughty boy!" For they were rather a costly luxury
in those days, and she thought him extravagant. But
Jack knew how fond she was of them, and the hope
of adding to her happiness had so lightened his heart
that he would have held them cheap had they cost
their weight in gold.
While they were all refreshing themselves with the
delicious fruit, and looking at the monkeys, Mr. and
Mrs. Pipkin came up.
"Hello, Phi!" said MIoses, " what luck?"
" It's the most wonderful thing ever ye heerd on!"
answered that gentleman, screwing his mouth into a
pleased pucker about his conspicuous front teeth.
"That feller jest cured me in a jiffy! took the pain
right away. I tell ye that 'Lectrical 'Lixir can't be
beat for rheumatiz!"
"What's that stuffed in your pockets?" asked
Jack.




168


DOING HIS BEST.


"Bottles; three for a dollar, by hokey! My wife
was opposed to my buyin' on 'em at fust; but, ye
know Deacon Dresser? Deaf as an adder in one ear,
- has been for ten year an' more. Wal.' that chap jest
rubs on some of his 'Lixir round and under it, and
finally gives it a good squeeze behind with his thumb,
an' out comes a great wad of ear-wax, and, I vum!
the deacon declares he can hear as well now out of
one ear as t' other. Arter that my wife was willin',
for she's a little hard o' hearin', on the off side."
" Mr. Pipkin!" cried that lady sharply, " I '11 thank
you not to make a public topic of my ears! And
you'll oblige me by not speaking of me as you do of
your horses."
" I said the off side, an' the off side's the off side,
whether it 's a boss or any other critter," AMr. Pipkin
explained.
"Mr. Pipkin! I'm amazed at you!" said Mrs.
Pipkin.
"I leave it to the schoolmaster," grinned Mr.
Pipkin.
"Then the schoolmaster will give judgment against
you," said Percy.  "We call the left side of some
animals the near side, because we stand on that side
of a horse when we go to mount him, and walk on
that side of a horse or ox team we are driving, and
that makes the other side the of side. Now, unless
a man drives his wife as he does his oxen - "
" I give it up!" said Mr. Pipkin. " I drive her?
by hokey, she drives me!"




IN THE TENT.


169


Jack asked if Snowfoot and the mare were quiet
when Mr. Pipkin came away, and where was Phin?
"I did n't notice about the team," replied Mr. Pipkin. "As for Phin, that 'Lixir man said he had a
curi's thing to show him if he would wait till the
crowd thinned out a little more. Phin was tickled
enough 'cause he took notice on him, an' so he
waited."
i' I don't like that!" said Moses. "He'11 get humbugged!"
Jack said he would go and find him, but just then
two acquaintances came along.
It was Step Hen Treadwell and his father, - the
old man so tipsy that he had to steady himself by
holding fast to his son's shoulder. Jack hastened to
meet them, thinking he would tell about Snowfoot;
but the old man struck a solemn attitude and pointed
to the cages.
" Good thing!" said he, leering, and balancing himself, with a hiccup.
"Yes," said Jack, " a very good thing."
"Good thing!" repeated the old man, waving one
hand loftily, while he still held fast to Step Hen with'
the other. He then beckoned to Mr. Pipkin, and
when that gentleman approached, he once more indi-,cated the show with a sweeping gesture, and reiterated, with an emphatic nod, "Good thing!"
His inflamed eyes, his veiny cheeks, that fiery
sponge, his nose, the solemn grimace and emphasis
with which he spoke those two words, as if they had
8




170


DOING HIS BEST.


been the last utterance of human wisdom, and the
contrast of poor, little, timid, short-legged, roundeyed, round-faced, sober, staring Step Hen, attracted
about as much attention as any animals belonging to
the menagerie. The last Jack saw of them, the old
man was standing by the great pole which supported the centre of the tent, - and which he probably
mistook for a spectator, — calling its attention to the
satisfactory display of wild beasts, and repeating,
"Good thing! hey?" with a hiccup; "good thing I"
Phin soon came in, and his friends noticed that he
had a strange look in his face.
"What did the 'Lixir man say to ye?" asked Mr.
Pipkin.
"Nothing much," replied Phin, with a shy and
rather guilty air. "Made me a present."  He pulled
a small book from his pocket. " Keeps 'em to sell,
but he gave me one, because he took a notion to me."
"A Dream Book! ' Dream Book and Fortune Teller'! 0 Phin!" cried Moses.
"Need n't laugh," said Phin resentfully, taking it
back. "You'll be glad enough to have some fun out
of it some day, - but you sha' n't! Where did ye get
your oranges?"
" O, a fellow came along and gave 'em to us!" said
Moses.
" Who was it? Come, tell me, can't ye?" snarled
Phin.
" I guess the fust letters of his name is Jack Hazard," remarked Mr. Pipkin.




IN THE TENT.              171
" You might have kept one for me " said Phin. " I
think you're real mean, anyway."
" Here, Phin," said little Kate, taking onie from her
pocket.  "Jack was so generous, he gave me two.
You may have this."
Phin seized and sucked it greedily.




172


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XXV.
THE PIPKINS RIDE THE YOUNG ELEPHANT.
IN a little while Kate complained that she was getting tired of the beasts. "They make such horrid
noises when they yawn, and they smell so! I want
to go home."
"We will go into this other tent, where there is to
be a performance pretty soon," said Percy. "There
we can find some good seats, and rest."
All followed him except Phineas, who said he was
going to see more of the animals first. When, a
quarter of an hour later, he came and occupied the
seat they had kept for him, he was full of brag.
" Huh! I 've seen something you have n't, any of
ye   I saw the man go into the lions' cage! He
whipped 'em, and played with 'em, and was going to
put his head into the old lion's mouth; but he was
cross, and so he did n't dare."
Kate wished she could have seen what Phin described; but she was quickly consoled by what took
place in the tent where they were.
Among other things there was a diverting pony
performance, which filled the tent with shouts of
laughter. Within a circular space, surrounded by
spectators on the benches, a man, dressed like some
country greenhorn, had a series of comical adventures




THE PIPKINS RIDE THE YOUNG ELEPHANT. 173


with a little black pony, hardly larger than himself,
chasing him, catching him, riding him, and getting
flung from his back.
Then "General Jackson" was introduced. The
General was a monkey, with chattering teeth and little snapping black eyes. He was dressed in "soldier
clo'es," as Mr. Pipkin remarked; he walked on his
hind legs with the help of a chain held in his master's
hand, and wore a military hat, which he politely took
off when he bowed to the spectators. Being relieved
of the hat and chain, he mounted the pony, whip in
hand, and rode swiftly round the ring first one way
and then the other, clinging fast in spite of all the
efforts made to throw him off. Now he leaped from
the pony's back to his master's shoulder, and again to
the pony's back; or hopped to the ground to pick up
the whip, which he had dropped, and jumped up on
the pony again when he came round, - all while the
pony was in rapid motion.
Then, General Jackson retiring, any gentleman
present, not too heavy, was invited to ride the pony.
A long-limbed, lank, grinning young fellow stepped
forward, saying " he guessed he could." "It's Hank
Huswick!" said Jack. "Hank Huswick!" repeated
a dozen other young fellows who knew him; and there
was loud cheering. The applause was still more uproarious when, after trying in vain to cling on by
locking his long legs under the pony's belly, Hank retired ignominiously from the contest, with a dusty
jacket and a bloody nose.




174


DOING HIS BEST.


The pony then being withdrawn, the large elephant
was brought in and introduced as the "Emperor
Nero."  As he had been advertised to walk over his
keeper lying on the ground, lift and carry him on his
tusks, and perform many other surprising feats, the
result was disappointing. There was evidently something about the enormous brute's appearance which his
keeper did not like; for, after a few turns about the
ring, the Emperor Nero was led out.
"That elephant," whispered Percy, "is the Prince
Royal, that lately got away and made such a panic in
some town in Canada; his owners have changed his
name, but lie is the same fellow. He has periodical
fits of ill-temper, and they have to be very careful of
him."
" Here conies our little elephant!" cried Jack. And
the boys had to tell once more how the great wagon,
which eight horses could not draw, had been pushed
up the bank by that powerful head.
After Napoleon - for that was the young elephant's
name - had performed a few simple feats, a huge saddle, with a "sort o' pew on top on't" (to quote Mr.
Pipkin's phrase), was brought and firmly bound by
strong girths to his back. He was then made to kneel
down, and a short flight of steps was placed against
his side, leading up to the open door of the " pew."
This was elegantly cushioned, and capable of seating
several persons.
"Now," said the keeper, "any ladies who would like
to ride on the elephant can have an opportunity, such




THE PIPKINS RIDE THE YOUNG ELEPHANT. 175


as will not probably occur to them again in the course
of their lives."
Not a lady stirred.
L' The animal," he went on, "is, as you see, perfectly
docile and harmless. Hundreds of ladies -some of
the first rank - have ridden on his back, both in this
country and in Europe; and no accident has ever happened during these performances."
Thereupon a lady stepped forward; and, encouraged
by her example, another, and then another, followed.
"I am going! would you?" said Mrs. Pipkin, excitedly. "I believe I will!"
"Mis' Pipkin! Mis' Pipkin!" remonstrated her
husband; "it's a terrible resk! Don't you ventur'!
You'll git a broken neck!"
" Mr. Pipkin!" said Mrs. Pipkin, severely, "I 'm
ashamed of you!"
Other ladies were pressing forward, and she made
haste to take her place with them, while her husband
excited a good deal of merriment by calling anxiously after her, "Mis' Pipkin!  Mis' Pipkin! you're
crazy! Heavens an' airth! You're crazy, Mis' Pipkin!"
As many as twenty ladies presented themselves,
eight of whom - Mrs. Pipkin being of the numbermounted the steps and took seats in the cushioned box
on the elephant's back.
"She '11 git killed! they '11 all be spilt out when the
elephant goes to git up!" said Mr. Pipkin, nervously.
" I declare, if she don't beat all the women!"




176


DOING HIS BEST.


The door of the box being closed, Napoleon, at a
sign from his master, rose carefully to his feet, carrying saddle and ladies up with him without spilling
one. Then the spectators cheered, and the ladies on
the elephant waved their handkerchiefs in triumph.
After a few turns about the area, the elephant was
made to kneel again, and the ladies dismounted. Eight
others then took their places, rode round the ring a
few times, and afterwards retired in like manner.
"Now," said the keeper, " would any gentlemen like
to ride?"
A dozen sprang to their feet; and, strange to say,
Mr. Pipkin was one of them.
"Mr. Pipkin! Mr. Pipkin!" said Mrs. Pipkin, sarcastically, "you '11 get a broken neck!"
" I'm goin' to have my ride on the elephant as well
as you, by hokey!" And Mr. Pipkin crowded forward into the ring.
No sooner, however, had the twelve gentlemen presented themselves, than the saddle was quietly removed, and they were invited to mount the ladder and
take seats on Napoleon's bare back. Three declined
the honor, and retired amid the jeers of the multitude.
Some of the remaining nine would also, doubtless,
have gladly withdrawn, but for the dread of ridicule.
One of these was Mr. Pipkin, who declared afterwards
that he " did n't exac'ly fancy the idee of straddlin' the
critter bare-backed"; but, having committed himself
to the enterprise, he " wa' n't the sort o' man to back
out."




THE PIPKINS RIDE THE YOUNG ELEPHANT. 177


Mrs. Pipkin, however, seeing the saddle removed,
was seized with genuine alarm; and, rising in her
seat, she beckoned, and cried in a shrill voice, "Mr.
Pipkin! Mr. Pipkin! don't'you ventur'! you will get
a broken limb! Mr. Pipkin, you are insane!" to the
infinite amusement of the spectators.
The elephant rose, not quite so carefully as when
he bore a fairer burden, but the nine men clung fast,
each to the man before him, while the foremost kept
his seat firmly on the animal's neck. So they were
all carried safely up, and afterwards borne in ludicrous state around the ring. Mr. Pipkin, as he passed
the bench where his friends were seated, waved his
hand, and puckered his lips about his big front teeth
with a droll smile. But his career of triumph was
short. Napoleon suddenly stopped. His keeper stood
facing him, with crossed arms.
"Gentlemen," said he, " this is a very docile and intelligent animal, as you observe, but he sometimes has
the ague. I think he is about to be taken by a fit."
He opened his arms, probably as a signal, and immediately Napoleon began to shake. He shook till
Mr. Pipkin screamed, "The ladder! quick! take me
off! le' me git down!" He continued to shake, harder
and harder, like a small mountain swayed to and fro
by a violent earthquake, and off went two gentlemen
over his tail. He shook again, and off went two more
on one side and one on the other. The next man was
Mr. Pipkin. He clung fast to the body of the man
before him, who did the same to the next, who hugged
8*                       L




178


DOING HIS BEST.


TIIE YOUNG ELEPHANT'S AGUE-FIT.


as for dear life his fellow on the elephant's neck. But
the ague was too much for them, and all went tumbling to the ground together.
Roars of laughter greeted this final catastrophe,
which was considered the greatest sport of the day.
Nobody was seriously hurt, and the manner in which
the men picked themselves up as they fell, and ran
away from the elephant's legs, seemed to amuse everybody except poolr Mrs. Pipkin.




THE PIPKINS RIDE THE YOUNG ELEPHANT. 179
"He has broke - certainly he has broke something!
Have n't you, have n't you, Mr. Pipkin?" she cried,
as Mr. Pipkin came limping back to his place, looking ruefully at his bosom, which appeared to be saturated, if not with his blood, then with some liquid
which he held equally precious. "Is it your breastbone?" said Mrs. Pipkin.
" No, but my bottles! my three bottles of 'Lectrical
'Lixir! Dumbed if they ain't all broke, by hokey!"
And the worthy Pipkin proceeded, with an aspect of
the utmost dismay, to examine his unlucky pockets.




180


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XXVI.
HOW PHIN SAW THE "ZEBRAY."
"IF you had only thought to rub some of your
wonderful Elixir on the elephant's back, you might
have cured his ague," said Jack, slyly.
"So I might," replied Mr. Pipkin, "if it had been
a real ager; but did n't ye see? 't was all a trick!
The man gin him a sign for to shake us off."
"0, this is dreadful!" said Mrs. Pipkin, looking at
her husband's clothes. "What did I tell you? If
you had only heard to me! You do beat all the
men!"
"Keep the 'Lixir in your pockets, Phi," said
Moses, "and let it soak into your hide, and you never
will have the rheumatism or any other disease
again."
" I don't know, mabby 't ain't so great a loss arter
all," remarked Mr. Pipkin, philosophically. " Fact is,
I was beginnin' to feel my rheumatiz comin' on agin,
settin' here, with this draft of air on my shoulder.
Should n't wonder if the feller's a humbug! " And,
taking the broken glass from his pockets, he flung it
spitefully under the bench.
Phin now said that he was going back to the large
tent, to find the " zebray," which he pretended not to
have seen. He had been gone about ten minutLes,




HOW PHIN SAW THE "ZEBRAY."


181


when it occurred to Jack that he ought to go and
look at his team. He accordingly departed, telling
his friends that, if he should not return, he would
meet them as they came out.
As he passed through the large tent he looked in
vain for Phineas; and afterwards, to his surprise,
found that young gentleman in close consultation with
the man in the helmet and green robe. The man
had, however, laid aside his helmet, which could not
have been a very comfortable thing to wear in the
hot sun, and in the shrewd, thin features thus exposed,
Jack recognized, with amazement, his old acquaintance, "good-natered John Wilkins."
The fellow, using the platform of his wagon for a
table, was showing Phin some interesting tricks with
a pack of cards. "Now, this," he was saying, " is a
mighty curi's trick, perty as it can be! I'11 show
you. The jack-o'-hearts, you say, went into that
pile?"
"Yes, for I saw it," replied Phin, hugely tickled at
the thought of gaining so much useful information.
"And of course you are willing to bet it is there?
Of course. But don't bet, for I don't want to win
your money. I'm only showin' ye, and that's 'cause
I see you are such an uncommon bright boy, and
'cause I take such an uncommon fancy to ye. For
now jest look! The jack ain't in that pile at all, but
here in my hand! Ain't it curi's? Now, with practice, you may make a good thing on't if ever you




182


DOING HIS BEST.


find yourself in want of money. Jest a good-natered
little game, you know!"
But Phin, looking guiltily around to see if he was
observed, had by this time discovered Jack standing
by the fence.
" So this is the way you see the ' zebray,' is it?"
said Jack.
"I'm just having a little fun, and it's nobody's
business but my own," replied Phin, tartly.
"I hope you know what sort of a man you 're
dealing with, that's all!" said Jack with a significant
look at the charlatan.
"I guess I know a good deal better than you do,"
retorted Phin.
"Oh! do you? Then maybe you can tell me just
what he is, -a travelling phrenologist, or a quack
doctor, or a book-pedler, or a gambler, or whether he's
chiefly in the horse-and-sleigh business?"
" My young friend," said the man, "you do me injustice, and it's nat'ral; so I forgive ye. I'm a sort
of jack-at-all-trades, and good at several; and when
one don't pay, or I git tired on't, I turn my hand to
another; variety is the spice of life, you know, and
I'm the best-natered man in the world."
"What's your name to-day?" queried Jack.
"Don't ye see it on my wagon? 'Dr. Lamont,
Prince of the Healing Art'! And let me assure you,
my young friend, that, whatever you may think of
me,-and it's my fate to be misunderstood,-the
'Lectrical 'Lixir, manefactered from the concentrated




HOW PHIN SAW THE " ZEBRAY."       183
extract of the ile of the 'lectrical eel, is no humbug, but the greatest remedy of the nineteenth century, curin', by both out'ard and in'ard application,
all diseases of the lungs, liver, stummick, skin, and
blood, of which I am the sole proprietor."
" Proprietor of the diseases? " laughed Jack.
"My young friend, a joke is never out of place
with me, for I am too good-natered to take offence.
But now," said the Prince of the Healing Art, "I
must don my helmet again, and take up my trumpet,
for the crowd will soon be comin' out, and I expect
to sell one hundred bottles of the celebrated 'Lectrical 'Lixir 'fore the sun goes down."




184 '


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XXVII.
EXTRA PERFORMANCE BY THIE OLD ELEPHANT.
So saying, the Prince blew a blast which was answered by a strange and terrible noise in the tent,
the bellowing snort of some huge animal, succeeded
by the yell of tigers, the roar of lions, and a tumult of
human screams. Jack looked in the direction from
which came the frightful sounds, and saw five or six
nen rush wildly out of the tent. Then some large
object was pushed against the side of it, making it
bulge and sway to its very top. Then out came a
pair of enormous white tusks, tearing the canvas, followed by the head and shoulders and whole body of
the great elephant, the Emperor Nero, breaking ropes
and chains, trampling fragments of the tent under his
feet, brandishing his trunk, and bellowing and trumpeting with tremendous fury.
It was the snort of his rage which had set the wild
beasts in their cages to roaring, and now the sight
and sound of the frenzied monster filled the horses at
the fence with astonishment and terror. Two or
three broke their halters and ran away with the vehicles to which they were attached. Some snorted,
responsive, and tugged in vain at their fastenings.
Others stood paralyzed and trembling with fright,
while he rushed down upon them.




/   i    "\
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TIHE OLD EI LIEPIIANT' S EXTR.'A PER'FOItMANC'E.  1 P   I


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I




EXTRA PERFORMANCE BY THE OLD ELEPHANT. 185


He started toward the street; but instead of passing where the way was clear, he struck the corner of
the fence near the opening, and with a toss of his
tusks, sent the rails flying fifteen or twenty feet into
the air, as a child might twirl a handful of jackstraws.
The wagon of Dr. Lamont, from which the horse
had fortunately been removed, was next attacked.
Nero went at it head downwards, and in an instant
the air about him was thick with flying fragments,wheels, shafts, splinters, Dream Books, and bottles of
Electrical Elixir. While Phin fled for his life, and
the Prince took to his heels, Jack sprang to unhitch
Snowfoot and the mare, and get them out of the way.
But he might as well have attempted to dodge a
bomb-shell. He had barely time to escape with his
own body and limbs, which luckily appeared too
slight for Nero's notice, when the infuriated beast
plunged at the quaking and cringing team.
The harness snapped like shoe-strings, as the mare,
caught upon the great tusks, was hurled over the elephant's head. Snowfoot now broke loose, parting
halter and trace, and started to run. But his speed,
compared with that of the hugest and most powerful
of all beasts, was as an infant's to a man's. The
elephant swiftly came up to him, tossed him, and
caught him with his tusks as he came down.
Jack, glancing back over his shoulder, and seeing
the destruction of the horses, uttered a cry of dismay, and stopped, little caring now what might happen to himself.




186


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE CATASTROPHE.
CATCHING and tossing Snowfoot the second time,
the elephant left him on the roadside, where he fell,
and kept on up the street, his tusks low, his trunk in
the air, and uttering, from time to time, his wild
snort.
The panic-stricken spectators of the show came
pouring out of both tents, without confining themselves to the means of egress provided for them, or
even to the vast rent made by the Emperor Nero.
More than one jack-knife made liberal slits in the
canvas, to let out the crowd.
One of the foremost of the out-rushing throng was
a little man in a short striped jacket, with a red
Turkish cap on his head and a spear in his hand. He
might have been heard to shout, as he ran swiftly
toward the scene of Nero's doings, had not his voice
been drowned in the tumult of noises. Finding he
could not come up with the elephant, he turned back,
and was met by an attendant leading a horse, saddled
and bridled. The spearman seized stirrup and rein,
flung himself into the saddle, and spurred through the
crowd, which parted before him with cries of, "The
keeper! make way for the elephant's keeper!"
Jack now ran toward the tent, eager to learn if




THE CATASTROPHE.


187


any accident had happened to his friends. He soon
saw Moses in the crowd.
" Where are they - Annie, and the rest?"
"They are all safe," replied Moses. "Percy Lanman is with them."
"Nobody hurt?" said Jack.
"Nobody that I can hear of. Almost everybody
was in the second tent when the elephant broke loose,
and he did n't come into that.. Any damage outside?"
asked Moses.
" Our team - he has done for the mare and Snowfoot!"
"Killed them?"
"Yes, or worse!" replied Jack, with a bursting
heart. "Come and see!"
The Prince of the Healing Art was standing in his
green robe, helmet in hand, surveying the wreck of
his wagon and his scattered wares, and amusing the
crowd with his philosophical remarks. On the roadside close by was the mare, entangled in the wreck of
the fence, where she had fallen; while on the opposite
side of the street, a few rods off, lay Snowfoot, bleeding from the wounds of the tusks.
"There's your borrowed horse, Jack!" said Phin,
with a satisfaction which he did not attempt to conceal. "Guess it '11 take all you make by farming this
year, and more, too, to pay the damages."
"That horse will die, or have to be killed," said
Moses. "I don't believe the mare is hurt quite so
bad; let's see."




188


DOING HIS BEST.


Some of the bystanders took hold with the boys,
and helped get the mare out from among the rails, and
upon her feet. She was bleeding from a tusk-wound
in one leg; and she trembled so that she seemed
hardly able to stand.
"She has got what she never'11 get over!" said
Phin. "Then there 's the colt at home,lamed for life."
"Take it coolly, my young friends," cried the Prince
of the Healing Art, showing his trumpet, which the
elephant had stepped on. "I shall never be able to
blow any but flat notes, after this! No matter; these
are trifles. Le's be jolly! Learn a lesson from the
good-natered philosopher!"
While he picked up his books and unbroken bottles,
and piled the pieces of his wagon on the side of the
road, the boys took the dangling strips of harness from
the mare, and, leaving her standing in a corner of the
fence, went over once more to Snowfoot. The harness
had been completely stripped from him; and there
seemed to be nothing they could do, but to leave him
where he lay. By this time zMr. Pipkin had arrived.
" Wal!" said that gentleman, in utter dismay and
horror, " if this ain't ridickelous!" - which was about
as strong an expression as he seemed able to make
use of. After a moment's reflection, he added, "If
it don't beat all creation!"  Another pause; then,
" Boys! boys! what '11 the deacon say? Jack, what '11
Old Scatterin' say to his Snowfoot? Deliver me from
elephants, arter this! dumbed if I ha' n't had enough
o' the brutes!"




THE CATASTROPHE.


189


Jack now saw Percy Lanman coming with the
ladies. "Don't let her -don't let them  see this
sight!" he said, and ran to prevent their approach.
"The elephant has almost killed our horses!" he
cried. "You may as well know it, but don't go and
see! The poor horses!"
Though greatly shocked, herself, Annie, at sight of
the boy's distress, put on as cheerful a look as she
could, telling him to bear it bravely, as it was something for which he was not to blame.
"Things seem determined to go wrong with me,
whether I am to blame or not," sobbed Jack. " I try
to do my best, - but see what comes of it all!"
" Keep on trying!" said Annie. "Don't give up.
This is dreadful, but you could not help it; and it
will all come out right, I am sure!"
" Of course I could not know what would happen,
but- Mr. Treadwell's horse!" said Jack.
She said what she could to console him, then left him,
Percy having proposed to take her and Kate and Mrs.
Pipkin to his father's house, which was not far off.
Jack, who had been looking, from time to time, for
Step Hen and his father, now saw them   coming.
The old man appeared a little more sober than when
he made so ridiculous a show of himself in the tent,
and Jack hoped to find him reasonable.
"Somebody's horse killed?" interrupted the old
man, as Jack began to tell the story. "Whose?"
"Yours, Mr. Treadwell! Snowfoot!"
"My Snowfoot? He's to hum in the pastur', ain't




190


DOING HIS BEST.


he, Stephen? Did n't drive over, did we, Stephen?
Though I most forgit. Hey, Stephen?"
"0 Mr. Treadwell " cried Jack, " I went to ask you
if I could take Snowfoot, and you were not at home.
I had invited the folks, and I felt sure you would be
willing, - you had told me always to take the team
without asking, when I wanted to use it on the
farm, - and I - I will pay for him, of course, when
I get money enough, though I think the owners of
the elephant - "
Here the old man again interrupted him. Still
partially drunk, he forgot all his kindly feelings
towards Jack, and, reflecting only that Snowfoot had
been taken without leave, and had been killed, he
flew into a passion. He refused even to see the owners of the elephant, declaring that lie would have no
dealings with them; they would never pay a cent
without a lawsuit; that Jack alone was responsible
to him for the loss.
"How much will it be?" asked Jack in a faint
voice.
" Seventy-five dollars!" replied the old man sternly.
"You offered to sell Snowfoot once, to Don Curtis,
for sixty-five," suggested Step Hen, in his friend's
interest.
"That was when I thought of giving up the farm.
Now, I've fine crops growing," said his father.
Jack thought it hard that what he had been doing
for the old man should have added ten dollars to the
value of the horse he was to pay for, but he only




THE CATASTROPHE.


191


said, "I'11 do what I can; perhaps my share of
the crops will come to near that."
"I shall hold the crops," replied Mr. Treadwell.
"As for the hoss, do what you please with him. I
wash my hands of him!"  And he stalked away.
Percy Lanman now returned, anxious to see what
could be done to help the boys.
" We must find Duffer, the first thing," he said," and
put the horses in his charge."
" Duffer!" cried Jack. "He is my best enemy!"
" No matter; he is a good horse-doctor; I'll manage him."
" He is down there by Snowfoot, now," said Jack.
So they went and found Duffer, who, at Percy's
request, consented to take charge of the wounded
beasts.
"The next thing," said Percy, " is to find the proprietors of the show, and see what they will do; since
Mr. Treadwell refuses to have any dealings with them,
and Mr. Chatford is away, I 'd better act for you."
" O, will you? will you? " cried Jack with joyful
eagerness.
"I '11 see Judge Garty," said Percy. "I '11 get out a
writ and attach their whole menagerie, if they refuse
to pay the damages. But I think they will hear to
reason; if they don't, they certainly can't expect to
exhibit their show again in this part of the country."
Jack's heart kindled with hope and gratitude as he
listened to these resolute and cheering words, and he
ran to tell Moses.




192


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XXIX.
AN ELEPHANT HUNT, AND WHAT FOLLOWED.
IN the mean while the Emperor Nero's keeper,
spear in hand, spurred swiftly after him up the road,
followed close by two or three other mounted men,
armed with rifles, and, at a more respectful distance,
by a throng of spectators, curious to see an elephant
hunt, and solicitous at the same time for their personal
safety.
The enraged monster amused himself, at first, by
demolishing one of the runaway vehicles, which he
speedily overtook, and killing the horse, which he
tossed two or three times and then trampled beneath
his feet. He then opened a passage into a cornfield,
by scattering two or three lengths of fence, and went
through it like a tempest, throwing up the hills with
his tusks and tearing and trampling the half-grown
crop, and leaving a track of ruin behind him which
his pursuers found it easy to follow.
Beyond the cornfield he entered a meadow and
attacked a haystack, which he was busily tearing to
pieces when the horsemen appeared.  At sight of
them he started off again at a swinging trot which
soon left the swiftest behind.
He now entered a field where a man and a boy were
making hay. Too busy to be able to go that afternoon




AN ELEPHANT HUNT, AND WHAT FOLLOWED. 193


and see the elephant, what must have been their astonishment to see the elephant coming to them! The
boy had just time to dodge behind a stone-heap, and
the man to spring up into a tree, when the animal
passed, and went crashing through a thicket of young
poplars farther on.
He was now getting into difficulty. On the other
side of the thicket was a corduroy-road, laid across
the edge of a morass which stretched beyond. Nero
was too knowing to trust his tremendous bulk upon
that soft and treacherous footing, so he took to the
road. He did not seem to like that very well either, for
the logs were broken in places, and there were mudholes in which he was careful not to set foot. The way
was also dangerous for the horses, and he might still
have escaped, but for a circumstance which the wisest
elephant could not have foreseen. The road led to
the canal, and he suddenly found himself on the edge
of a bridge which he dared not venture over.
As the road was here bordered by a swamp on both
sides, he found himself in a sort of trap.
He turned about and was going down from the
bridge, when he was met by the foremost horseman.
It was the little man in the striped jacket and red
cap. He threw himself from his horse, and it was
a wonderful sight to see him, a mere pygmy in comparison with the brute's stupendous bulk, march boldly up to him, while that huge and powerful creature,
fresh from killing horses and destroying wagons and
haystacks, began to cringe and tremble, and actually


9


M




194


DOING HIS BEST.


"-j


TIE ELEPANT IINT.
THE ELEPIIANT HUNT.


roar for mercy! Perhaps there was never a more
striking example of the supremacy of man over the
brute. With one stroke of tusk or trunk, he could
have slain his keeper on the spot, and no doubt tlle
faintest sign of fear on the part of the latter would
have proved fatal to him; but perfect courage and a
merciless spear gave him the victory. Nero had suffered many severe punishments for his misdeeds, but
probably never anything like what lie received that




AN ELEPHANT HUNT, AND WHAT FOLLOWED. 195


day at the hands of the determined little man in
the red cap.
Great was the surprise and wonder of the spectators, half an hour afterwards, to see the great elephant returning tame and contrite, with the mounted
spearman riding at his side, and the horsemen, armed
with rifles, close behind. The crowds fell back and
gave him a wide berth as he passed.
"Now, gentlemen," said one of the horsemen, dismounting near the scene of the first catastrophe, and
giving his beast and his gun to an attendant, " we
will see about these damages."
"Thank you, Mr. Mundy," said the Prince of the
Healing Art. "That sounds good-natered! I 'm a
good-natered man, myself, but - "
"I don't care anything about you " interrupted
the showman, putting the Prince promptly aside.
" You have followed our show long enough, and if you
want me to pay for your wagon, you must first prove
it is your property. Who are the owners of these
horses?"
"I represent the owners," said Percy Lanman.
"The mare belongs to this young man's father; the
horse is a borrowed one, and this other boy will have
him to settle for."
"The mare will get well," said the showman.
"But she never will be good for much; ask the
farrier here," said Percy, bringing up Duffer.
"I have eyes of my own," replied the showman.
"Harness ruined. Wagon-tongue broken. Anything
else?"




196


DOING HIS BEST.


"One whippletree," said Jack.
Well, what's the damage?"
The boys looked at Percy, who, after hesitating a
moment, said, "There are a dozen good judges of
horses present who know this team, and - "
"No matter about that," said the showman. "I
can see for myself. What's to pay?"
"One hundred and sixty-five dollars," replied
Percy.
" That's fair. Walk over to the tavern with me in a
minute, and I'11 hand you the money. Who is the
owner of that dead horse and broken buggy up the
road?"
"I am," said a young farmer, who had been waiting to see how the first affair was settled.
"What's to pay?"
"Three hundred dollars."
"You '11 have to go to law for your money," said
the showman, promptly.
" WThy so?" asked the young man, turning pale.
" Either you are a fool, or you think I am. Where's
the owner of the cornfield?"
"See here! " said the young man. " I did n't mean
to ask more than I honestly thought the horse and
buggy and harness are worth."
"Yes, you did."
" Well, then, what do you think - what are you
willing to pay?"
"One hundred and twenty-five dollars. If that
don't satisfy you, sue."




AN ELEPHANT HUNT, AND WHAT FOLLOWED. 197


" I suppose I shall have to be satisfied."
" Then come over to the tavern. And, gentlemen,"
added the showman, addressing the crowd, "I want
it understood that the proprietors of this menagerie
do business on straightforward principles. All danger
is now over, and the Emperor Nero will be strictly
guarded in future."
" Here is the owner of the cornfield! " cried some
one, and an old farmer came forward. He said he
had just been to look at the field, but that it was a
hard thing to get at the actual damage. " I'd rather,"
said he, "let my neighbors look at it, and say what
you ought to pay."
"That's honest talk," said the showman.  "But
let's see! You could n't have raised a hundred dollars'
worth of corn where the Emperor passed, could you?"
'0, no!"
"Fifty?"
"No."
"Twenty-five?"
"Considering the fences, the haystack, and everything, the damage may amount to that."
"Twenty-five dollars; that's settled, then. Come
along with us."
And the showman led the way to the tavern, while
the Prince of the Healing Art took advantage of the
lull in the excitement to get up a tolerably brisk sale
of his Electrical Elixir, at twenty-five cents a bottle.
"A ruinous sacrifice," he remarked," owing to circumstances over which he had no control."




198


DOING HIS BEST.


On the way to the tavern, Jack whispered to Percy,
who, stepping to the showman's side, asked if he
knew anything about "Dr. Lamont."
"The real Dr. Lamont, the Electrical Elixir man,
used to follow our show through the country, with
that very waTgon, till about a month ago, when he fell
in with this fellow. They got to gambling, and the
doctor lost everything, - horse, wagon, stock in trade,
green coat, brass helmet, trumpet, I don't know what
all! He then staked his name, and this fellow won
that too. He has been Dr. Lamont ever since."
Jack wished to learn more of the Prince, but they
had now arrived at the tavern, and he forgot everything else in the joy of seeing one hundred and sixtyfive dollars in good bank-notes, counted out by the
showman, and paid over to Percy.
"There 's Old Scattering painting his nose at the
bar," remarked Moses; by which figure of speech he
meant that the old man was taking a glass of
grog.
" I '11 settle with him on the spot, before witnesses,"
said Jack; and, walking up to the bar with Percy
and Moses, he offered the old man the price of Snowfoot.
The drinker paused, glass in hand, and leered with
his red and watery eyes at Jack and his handful of
bank-notes.
"Jack," said he, with emotion, "you're a superlative chick - chick - chicken! A friend to my boy
here, when he needed a friend! Forgive hard words,




AN ELEPHANT HUNT, AND WHAT FOLLOWED. 199
and shake hands. Now take a glass, and then go
home with me and eat some of my wife's prime
doughnuts."
Jack declined the glass, but in order to draw the
old man away from the bar, pretended to accept the
other invitation, until he had got him and poor
little patient Step Hen launched on their homeward
way. Then he left them, saying that he must see
about getting his "women folks" home.




200


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XXX.
PHIN'S PROGRESS.
MR. PIPKIN had already started for home on foot,
accompanied by Phin, who was eager to meet his
parents on their arrival, and tell them the exciting
news.
The hopeful youth had that satisfaction. He met
his parents at the gate, and, before they had time to
alight, told them of all the disasters that had happened in their absence, - the laming of the colt, the
taking of Snowfoot without leave, and the destruction
of horses, wagon, and harness by the elephant; for
you may be sure that he set the matter forth in as
strong colors as his vivid fancy could paint.
The deacon, excited and alarmed, did not get down
from the buggy at all, but, having taken Phin up in
Mrs. Chatford's place, started for the Basin as fast as
old Maje could travel.
They had not gone far when they met Percy Lanman coming in a carryall with Annie Felton, Mrs.
Pipkin, and Kate.
" Where are the boys? " demanded the deacon, with
a stern and anxious face.
"They 're coming 'cross-lots afoot," said Mrs. Pipkin. "Don't be concerned; don't blame them  "
"Concerned! blame them!" echoed Mr. Chatford.




PHIN'S PROGRESS.


201


"Strange that I can't go from home to be gone a
couple of days, but everything must go wrong in my
absence! You, Mrs. Pipkin, and your husband, ought
to look after things better than this, instead of countenancing the boys in their folly. I suppose now I
shall be responsible for Mr. Treadwell's horse, and
have him to pay for, besides suffering my own
losses."
"The horses are both paid for, Mr. Chatford," replied Percy Lanman. " Mr. Treadwell has the money
for Snowfoot, and Moses is bringing home ninety dollars for the damage done to the mare, harnesses, and
wagon."
"The caravan people settled the hash, then, did
they?" said the deacon.
" Yes, and very liberally."
" And, uncle," added Annie, "if you will wait and
hear the boys' story, I don't think you will blame
them very much."
" And the horses- both dead?"
"Neither, as yet," said Percy. "The mare will get
well; possibly Snowfoot will, too. Jack couldn't
bear to have him killed. The horses are both in
Duffer's charge; the wagon is at the wagon-maker's,
and the harness at the harness-maker's, and I think
everything has been done that could be, under the
circumstances."
The deacon's mind was relieved by this good news,
though Phin did not appear so well pleased; and,
turning about, he drove on after the carryall, con9*




202


DOING HIS BEST.


eluding to postpone his visit to the Basin until the
next morning.
Moses and Jack reached home about the same time
with the others, and met Mr. Chatford in the yard.
There the colt was examined and found to be much
better; and then the day's adventures were discussed.
The deacon was amused at Jack's account of Mr.
Pipkin's ride on the elephant, but his brow darkened again when he learned who was the vender of the
bottles of Electrical Elixir.
"That villain in town again? " said he.
" Yes, and lhe's likely to stay some time, if he waits
to have his wagon mended," replied Moses. " He made
a good deal of Phin, and gave him a Dream Book."
For a moment the deacon stood speechless with astonishment and indignation. He then called for the
book, and demanded of Phineas what the man had
said to him.
" Nothing much," replied Phin, faintly, "only that
he took a notion to me."
" Took a notion to you!" echoed the deacon, angrily. "Did he give you anything else?"
"No," murmured Phin.
"I charge you, one and all," then said Mr. Chatford, " if that scoundrel stays at the Basin, have no
sort of intercourse with him.  Phineas, do you
hear?"
"Yes; though I can't see what hurt there is in it."
" What hurt! I'11 show you what hurt there is, if
you disobey me!"  And, walking into the house, the




PHIN'S PROGRESS.


203


deacon helped forward the supper by s,uffing the
Dream Book under the simmering teakettle.
Mr. Chatford rode to the Basin the next morning,
and found both the mare and Snowfoot in an improving condition.
"Whatever else you may say of Duffer," he remarked, "he is certainly a good farrier."
"Rleminds me," remarked Mr. Pipkin, "of what
old Parson Plumley used to say of weeds,- that there
wa' n't one but what was good for suthin', if we could
only find it out."
"He offered fifteen dollars for the mare," continued
the deacon; " but I said she had done us good service,
and if she lived I would pension her off; turn her
out to grass, and let her raise a colt or two. He said
he would give five dollars for Snowfoot; what do you
think of that, Jack?"
Jack did not say anything for a moment, he was so
astonished.
" I am glad we did n't have him killed! But he is
not for sale. I never owned a horse before," he added
with a smile, and a flush of pleasure, "and I'11 hold
on to Snowfoot, if only for the name of it!"
"You own a horse!" sneered Phineas, his face
turning almost green with spite and envy. "That's
a great thing to brag of, ain't it? But I suppose you
got so used to driving old crow-baits on the canal,
you '11 feel quite at home with a limping cripple!"
Jack gave Phin an angry look, but turned away
without speaking a word.




204


DOING HIS BEST.


The colt speedily recovered from his lameness, and
was put to the plough beside old Maje. The business
of the farm now went on as before, except that Phin
appeared more discontented than ever. Neither
threats nor coaxing could induce him to do an earnest
stroke of work, and it soon became evident that he
had some mysterious business of his own on hand.
Often after supper he would leave the others to do
the milking, and, scudding off across the fields, be
gone until late in the evening, when he would return,
prepared with some wonderfully smooth excuse for
his absence, in answer to his father's questions. The
next day he would appear languid, lagging behind in
the field, and complaining of all sorts of physical
pains and weaknesses, until his father would say, " If
you are not able to work, I don't wish to compel you
to "; then he would go and lie down behind a stoneheap, or in a corner of a fence.
But the deacon was not altogether deceived, and
one day, stepping up softly to a wall, behind which
Phin had lately dropped, overcome by an excruciating
colic, he discovered that ingenuous youth, no longer
clutching his waistband with piteous groans, but
practising tricks with a pack of cards!
"This is your terrible stomach-ache!" thundered
his father; and, pouncing upon the frightened Phineas,
he shook him till the cards flew in every direction,
and his head seemed near flying away after them.
"Where did you get these cards?"
"I found- bought- they are some Jase Welby
gave me!"




PHIN'S PROGRESS.


205


-1 N ----,
- -   "... ". -   1  -   1


18\C'
'If J
J,/)~i,
I'r3~,1


CAUGHT.


" Tell me the truth! I shall ask Jason, and if I
find you are lying, I'11 horsewhip you! "
Then Phin whimpered, "They are some that
man    "
"That scoundrel!" exclaimed the deacon, turning
pale, " after I told you to have no more dealings with
him!"
"I have n't," said Phin. "They're some he gave
me that first day, at the show."




206


DOING HIS BEST.


"Then you lied to me! " And his father grasped
him once more by the collar.
" I - I was afraid you would burn them up, as you
did the Dream Book!" cried Phin.
"How many times have you seen that man
since?"
" Only once, when I could n't help it. He's at the
Basin waiting for his wagon to be mended. I was
over there, and I just saw him, but I - I remembered
what you said, and did n't speak to him."
" Who told you that you might go to the Basin?"
" Nobody, but I wanted to get some string for my
kite -"
" Look at me!" said the deacon. He felt that the
boy was lying to him, but somehow he had not the
heart to punish him as he deserved, so he said," Give
me those cards, and don't go to the Basin again, or
out of sight and hearing of the house, unless you are
told to. Will you obey me?"
Phin promised. But the next Sunday, having excused himself from going to meeting, he skulked
away behind walls and fences, over the hills, then ran
through the woods to the canal, and along the "heelpath," until he met a smiling and very good-natured
man coming to meet him.




BUSINESS PROSPECTS.


207


CHAPTER XXXI
BUSINESS PROSPECTS.
ANXIOUSLY, in the mean while, Jack and Moses
watched the maturing of their wheat crop. They
had seen with wonderful interest and delight the first
tender spears pricking out of the ground; then the
whole field turning green; then the tall stalks waving in the wind, and putting forth heads, which were
soon filled with plump, milky berries; and now they
saw, with more pleasure than they had ever felt in
any romance or story, the gradual yellowing and ripening of the grain.
The season proved favorable. " But a wheat crop's
never safe," said Mr. Pipkin, "till ye harvest it, and
thrash it, and git it to market, and git your money
for't." The great danger was the rust. A few days
of warm wet weather might, almost at the very last,
prove fatal to the finest crop, causing the stalks to
mildew and the ripening berries suddenly to " shrink,"
losing their beauty and also much of their value.
Then, even if that danger passed, a wet harvest
might ruin all.
At last, one Saturday, the deacon said, "If it's a
fine day, boys, we '11 go into your wheat lot next Monday." And it was a fine day. And Mr. Pipkin and
another man, hired for the special occasion, advanced




208


DOING IIS BEST.


into the field, swinging their white-fingered cradles,
and laying the grain behind them in even swaths.
Jack followed, raking it up into gavels, for Moses and
the deacon to bind; and afterwards carried the bundles together, and helped set them up in stacks, ready
for drawing to the barn and stack-yard.
In due time the grain was housed and stacked;
and soon a thrashing-machine, which went from farm
to farm, thrashing all the wheat in the neighborhood,
was set up one evening on Mr. Treadwell's premises.
When it left, two days later, there lay a huge heap of
chaff behind the barn, two great stacks of straw stood
in the yard, and the grain, the plump, golden grain, a
great, spreading pile, covered all one side of the barnfloor. Ah, how proud and rich the boys felt!
The same machine afterwards thrashed the deacon's
wheat, about which they helped, of course; then they
took advantage of a few days of dull weather to run
their grain through a fanning-mill, and get it in a fine
condition for market.
While they were thus at work, a merchant from
the Basin came and looked at it, and finally bargained
for it at a good price. Mr. Treadwell sold his share
at the same time, and all, carefully put up in bags,
was afterwards delivered to the dealer at his warehouse on the canal. The boys' profits amounted to
thirty dollars apiece. This may seem a small matter
to us, but it was a very great matter to them; and I
have heard Jack say that no subsequent gains, in the
more prosperous years of his life, ever afforded him




BUSINESS PROSPECTS.


209


such happiness. And when we consider that he and
Moses had given but a portion of the time that summer to raising their first crop, and that they had also
prepared ground for a still larger crop of winter
wheat, besides working at home enough to pay for
their board and clothes and the help the deacon furnished them, we must allow that thirty dollars apiece
was not bad.
Ah, but they had both gained more than that! In
cultivating a crop of wheat, they had cultivated their
own manhood, and reaped an experience of more
value than any harvest.
Phin put in his claim for a share in the profits, as
he had vowed he would do, and got well laughed at
for his pains. And now Jack met with another piece
of good fortune, which served greatly to aggravate
Phin's discontent.
On visiting the Basin, three or four weeks after the
menagerie was there, Jack had ventured to call on
Duffer, and ask about the horses. To his surprise
that cordial enemy of his had received him with more
respect and politeness than he had probably ever
shown to any boy before.
" That 'ere mare," said he, leading the way to the
pasture, "she ain't doin' so well as I 'xpected. But
that 'ere hoss, he's doin' better'n I 'xpected. That
'ere mare, she never'11 be fit for nothin' but to raise
colts; but that 'ere boss, he's a hoss yit. I '11 give
ye twenty dollars for him."
Jack put his hands in his pockets, and his head
N




210


DOING HIS BEST.


on one side, and looked and felt very much like an
experienced dealer in horse-flesh.
"What will you do with him?" he asked.
"If I buys him," said Duffer, " I jest keeps him till
he gits sound and strong, and then I sells him to go
on the canal."
"The canal is a hard place for horses," said Jack,
who knew.
"Yis; and I ca'e'late he'll git used up in jest
about one season."
"Poor old Snowfoot!" said Jack, stroking the animal's flanks, " he's suffered enough on my account,
and I don't think I shall ever be willing to let him go
on the canal."
"I '11 give ye twenty-five dollars," said Duffer, who
thought Jack was only waiting for a higher bid, " and
that's about twice what you '11 ever realize on him
arter my bill for nussin' on him is paid."
"Very likely," said Jack, "but Snowfoot shall
never be killed on the canal, if I can help it!"
As he was going away, Duffer offered him twentyeight dollars; and the next time he came, two dollars
more.
Not long after, the deacon paid the farrier's billfifteen dollars - for attendance on both horses, and
he and Jack led them home. The mare was a cripple; but Snowfoot was fast getting over his lameness,
and but for two ugly scars in his hip and side, would
have looked almost as well as ever.
As they entered the door-yard, Jack took great




BUSINESS PROSPECTS.


211


JACK AND SNOWFOOT.


pleasure in making Snowfoot "stand around," and in
showing him up to his friends.
" If it don't beat everything under the sun!" said
the admiring Mr. Pipkin. "Five minutes arter the
ol' elephant had the handlin' on him, I wouldn't
'a' gi'n a rusty copper for that hoss, with a shovel
to bury him with throwed in; and now —by hokey!"




212


DOING HIS BEST.


"Is he your horse now, Jack? O, I'm so glad!"
cried little Kate, delighted.
"I don't see but what the horse belongs to me, just
as much as he does to Jack," said the envious Phin.
"We all had him that day."
"Yes!" retorted Jack, "you were glad enough to
ride with us after I had got him, and to taunt me
with my bad luck after the accident; so you have no
claim. But it is different with Moses; and I 've been
thinking that I would give him an equal share in the
horse with me. I think that is fair; and, Moses, I '11
do it."
"You won't do any such thing," replied Moses,
much affected by this generous offer, " for I won't let
you. You took all the responsibility for the loss, when
you thought it would come out of your own pocket,
and I did n't offer to share it; and now do you think
I'm so mean as to share your good luck? No! The
horse belongs to you, and to nobody else."
"I'll give you forty dollars for him," said Don
Curtis, just then sauntering into the yard.
"Thank you," said Jack, " but my horse is not for
sale." And he led Snowfoot proudly away.




THE RACCOON HUNT.


213


CHAPTER XXXII.
THE RACCOON HUNT.
"'CooNS are makin' terrible work with the corn
this year," Mr. Pipkin complained one evening.
" Won't be much left to git ripe, at this rate."
"I 'm going to train Lion to track 'em," said Jack,
who thought that what dog had done dog could do,
especially if the last-named dog was Lion.
"He's a dreffle knowin' animal, I allow," said Mr.
Pipkin. "But you never can l'arn one o' that kind
to be a good 'cooner. Now young Lanman has got a
fust-rate 'coon-dog; why don't ye ax him to bring
him over next time he comes, and go a 'coonin' with
ye?"
"So we will!" cried the boys; and so they did.
And accordingly, on the first fine moonlight evening,
Percy came over with his long-eared, tawny Lara, on
purpose to "go a 'cooning."
"All ready?" he called, holding his dog at the
door.
"Yes, and waiting," replied Moses, for it was late.
"There was no use in starting any earlier," said
Percy. "The 'coons don't go into the corn much before this time. But now we must hurry, or the moon
will set before we can catch a 'coon. Bring an axe,
somebody; we may need it. And a gun."




214


DOING HIS BEST.


"I've got the old musket ready on purpose," said
Moses. "Where's Phin, I wonder? He was here
fifteen minutes ago."
"That 'ere boy's conduct is queer!" observed Mr.
Pipkin. "He done perty well for a while, arter that
'Lectrical 'Lixir man left the Basin; but now he's
got some more mysterious business on his hands."
"The Elixir man is back again," said Percy. "He
has come for his wagon, which has been mended, but
he has n't the money to pay for it."
"Phin has n't gone to the Basin at this time of night,
I know I" said Moses. "He '11 be back here soon."
They waited for him a few minutes, then, as he
did not come, started off without him.
" Must be suthin' cumi's, to make him miss a 'coon
hunt," was Mr. Pipkin's comment, as he shouldered
the axe and marched out into the moonlight.
The party proceeded in silence to the cornfield, on
the side towards the woods, out of which the raccoons
were known to come. Then Percy Twhispered, pointed, and released Lara. Throwing cown his nose, the
dog darted away between the two outer rows of corn,
and disappeared. Jack at the same time released
Lion, saying, "Seek!" and away went Lion also,
though in another direction.
"You '11 hear from Lara presently, if there are any
'coons in the corn," said Percy.
The boys listened with anxiously beating hearts,
but for a while heard nothing but their own footsteps,
and the rustling of the long corn-leaves in the wind.




THE RACCOON HUNT.


215


Then suddenly Lara opened, -a long, loud bay,
which was music to the ears of the eager hunters.
"Hark I" cried Percy, as the boys would have
rushed forward. "He is coming out of the corn!
The 'coon has started for the woods, and he is after
him. Come on!"
He leaped the fence; Jack and Moses and Mr.
Pipkin followed; and they all ran diagonally across
the pasture towards Peternot's woods. All at onco
the sound of Lara's barking became stationary, and
more violent than before.
" He has treed him!" said Percy; and so it proved.
They found the dog yelling, in great excitement, at
the roots of a scraggy pine in the open field, and making occasional wild leaps at the trunk, up which his
game had escaped. "Here's your 'coon," said Percy.
" Now what shall we do?"
"Father don't care about that tree," replied Moses;
"he had just as lief it would be cut as not."
"Then here it goes " laughed Percy; and, taking
the axe, he began to chop. But Lara kept running
about and leaping at the tree, endangering his own
head, and Percy had to take care of him.
"Lucky the tree ain't on old Peternot's land,"
remarked Mr. Pipkin, as he took the axe.
The trunk was not large, and soon the hunters
began to watch eagerly to see which way it would
fall. To give Lara a good chance, Percy had cut in on
the side towards the cornfield, hoping to bring the
pine down in that direction. But it leaned a little




216


DOING HIS BEST.


the other way; and just at the critical moment there
came a gust of wind, which carried it over towards
the woods. It fell with a crash; and almost at the
moment Lara was bouncing over and through the tops
after the 'coon.
"Here he is!" screamed Jack. He had stationed
himself between the tree and the woods, in order to
head off the game, in case it should get the start of
Lara in that direction; and he now had the satisfaction of seeing an animal, about as large as a large cat,
run swiftly away in the moonlight, not more than
two rods off.
Jack followed; and Lara, having been baffled a
moment at the tree-top, was on the track again too
soon to allow  the 'coon to reach the woods. He
turned, and ran up a tall poplar, before the very eyes
of the boys, and almost between the teeth of Lara.
The dog was an instant too late; and now here he
was barking up another tree.
"Father '11 hate to have that cut, it makes such a
good shade for the cattle," said Moses, regretfully.
"Climb it! " cried Jack; "climb it, and shake the
'coon off! Let me try! Give me a boost, will you?"
Percy and Mr. Pipkin "boosted " him, so that he
had but a yard or so to climb before he grasped the
lower limbs; then he quickly disappeared in the
branches.
"What's going on here?" said the voice of Phineas, who just then came up, attracted to the spot by
the felling of the pine and the sound of voices.




THE RACCOON HUNT.


217


"Hello! where did you come from?" said Moses.
"I thought you'd given up the 'coon hunt, so I
went to set my woodchuck-trap before the moon went
down," Phin explained. "'Coon up this tree?"
"Yes. See him anywhere, Jack? " cried Moses.
"Not yet," Jack answered from the branches.
"Wonder what Lion's barking at over yender!"
said Mr. Pipkin.
"A 'coon, I suppose," said Moses. "I've heard
him for-the past ten minutes; but he'll stay. We
can't catch but one 'coon at a time."
"Lion treed a 'coon!" sneered Phineas. "I don't
believe there's any 'coon! I tried to call him away,
but I could n't. I want Jack to call him."
"Jack has something else to do just now," said
Percy, looking up into the tree. Just then Jack's
voice was heard again.
"I see the fellow! He's way up in the top, as
high as he can get! Wait a minute. Now look out
down there,- I'm going to shake!"
The hunters below ranged themselves on the side
of the woods, while Lara stood under the tree, expec'tant, his head thrown back, his eyes turned upwards,
and his mouth opening and shutting, and uttering
wistful whines and yelps. There was a heavy rustling of boughs above, at which he leaped and danced,
in eager anticipation of the descending game, - but
no game fell.
"I tell ye, he sticks!" cried Jack. "Wait till I
get a little higher!"
10




218


DOING HIS BEST.


Another and still livelier clashing of the topmost
branches of the tree; and yet nothing came.
"Ho!" said Phineas, "'t ain't so easy to shake a
'coon off! and you ain't quite so smart as you thought
you was I"
Jack did not heed the taunt. After another vigorous shake he cried, " I wish I had the gun up here!
I could put the muzzle right to his head. He's
fast in the little notch there, and I can't move him.
I '11 cut a good stout stick, and see if I can't poke
him out."  A branch was cut and trimmed, and the
poking began. "He's savage!" cried Jack. "By
George, he's fighting me!"
"I'll get the gun up to you in a minute," said
Percy. "Hand it to me, Moses, after I get into the
tree."
But before he began to climb, Jack screamed,
"Look out!"  And he had just time to spring away
from under the tree, when down came a dark object,
clashing through the lower branches, and striking the
ground with a heavy thump. It was the game, which
Jack had dislodged by a skilful twist and thrust of
his stick.
Lara was on the spot almost at the same moment.
A confused snarling and snapping followed, and then
a violent shaking of the said dark object in the dog's
mouth.
"There's your 'coon! " said Percy Lanman, quietly. (' Lara has finished him; - let go, Lara!"




THE 'COON THAT LION TREED.


219


CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE 'COON THAT LION TREED.
JACK slipped quickly down from branch to branch,
and dropped from the lowest branch to the ground,
just in time to see Lara's master take the dead game
and hold it up by the hind legs. The boys were
almost as much excited over it as the dog; but Phin
beat all the rest in bragging about it.
"I tell ye, that's a dog for ye! Did n't he shake
him! Lion never could have killed that 'coon!
Lion's no dog at all for hunting! Call him, Jack!
he thinks he's got something over there, but he's a
fool of a dog!"
"I 'm going to see whether he's a fool of a dog or
not," replied Jack.  "I don't believe he's barking
so for nothing. Come on!"
He led the way, and all followed eagerly except
Phin, who seemed suddenly to have lost all faith in
his old favorite, and to be greatly disgusted because
the rest put confidence in his barking. After trying
in vain, however, to induce Jack not to go, but to
call the dog, he reluctantly accompanied the party.
They found Lion barking at the roots of a butternut-tree, that stood in a bare pasture, near the lane
that led past the cornfield to the barn.
Two or three rods farther on, close by the lane




220


DOING HIS BEST.


fence, was a fine large elm-tree, which Percy looked
at twice.
" Lucky for us the 'coon did n't take to that, - and
it's a wonder he did n't! Now we must be careful,
or we shall get him out of the butternut, only to put
him into the elm."
" See!" said Phin, triumphantly, "Lara don't say
there's a 'coon here! "
Indeed, Lara did not seem to strike any very fresh
track about the tree at first; but now, prompted by
his master, he began to sniff at the roots, and then to
bark with Lion at the game in the tree.
The butternut was easy to climb, and Jack was for
going up into it at once. But Percy said no.
"The fence will bother the dogs. We don't know
which side of it the 'coon will fall if you shake him
off. Even if he falls on the side of the dogs, he can
run through before they can get over; and we don't
want to give him a chance at that elm."
"We can take the fence all away!" said Jack,
proud of Lion's exploit, and eager to get at the game.
He declared that he heard a rustling in the branches,
and thought he could see something up among them,
although the moon had now set and it was growing
dark.
"5We '11 build a fire of some of these old rails,"
said Percy, "and make a light we can see to shoot
him by."
"And have a supper of roasted corn afterwards!"
exclaimed Moses.




THE 'COON THAT LION TREED.


221


"I don't think father'11 want you to cut up the
rails, or roast the corn, either," said Phineas. "I say,
come away! I'll bet a thousand dollars there's no
'coon in this tree."
"I '11 bet a thousand dollars there's something,"
said Jack, "and we're going to have a shot at it,
any way."
He hastened to pull some splinters off the fence,
and whittle some shavings, while Percy, with matches he carried for the purpose, started a blaze. Mr.
Pipkin split up fragments of a rail, to add to the fire;
and Moses went to the cornfield to find some good
roasting ears. Soon a bright flame shot up from the
corner of the pasture, casting a wide gleam around,
lighting up the human figures and the dogs about
it, and shooting its rays into the boughs of the
butternut. Suddenly Jack seized the musket.
" I see him! I see him!" lie screamed, and brought
the gun to his shoulder.
"Here! here!" said Phin, running to stop him.
"What are you going to do?"
"Shoot the 'coon! Don't you see him up there?"
"Don't shoot!" yelled a voice from  the tree.
" Take the dogs away, and I '11 come down!"
"It's Colonel Crockett's 'coon! " laughed Percy.
"It's a man, by hokey!" said the astonished Mr.
Pipkin.
" A minute more, and I'd have brought him down!"
said Jack. And he pulled Lion away, while Percy
called off Lara.




222


DOING HIS BEST.


TIIE COON THAT LION TREED.


Then the owner of the voice came slipping lightly
to the ground.
"No harm!" said he, gayly. "I like a joke, even
if it tells ag'inst myself; it's all the same to me; for
I'm the best-natered man in the world I"




PHIN'S REVENGE.


223


CHAPTER XXXIV.
PHIN'S REVENGE.
"THE 'Lectrical 'Lixir man!" -" Dr. Doyley." -
"Good-natered John Wilkins!" - "Prince of the
Healing Art!" exclaimed Mr. Pipkin, Moses, Jack,
and Percy Lanman, all in a breath. To which Moses
added, sharply, " How came you up that tree?"
"How does any biped without wings get up in a
tree? " replied the doctor. " Nat'rally, I dim' up."
" What did you climb up for? "
" What for? To git away from that dog, - and I
must request that you '11 keep a tight holt on him,
young man, or I shall have to shin up agin!"
"What were you doing here?"
"Havin' a pleasant and profitable conversation
with that interestin' brother of yours, -jest a goodnatered talk; I take such a fancy to him, you know!
-when along comes this brute of a dog, and would
have had me by the throat, if my young friend had n't
hild him till I jumped into the tree."
" Why did n't you tell of this? " said Moses, turning to Phin.
"'Cause! I knew you'd go and tell father, and I
did n't want to get a licking," whined Phineas.
"This, then, is the reason why you came and asked
Jack to call Lion!"




224


DOING HIS BEST.


" Yes; I tried to get him away, and could n't. I'11
own up all about it, if you won't tell father."
" I know enough about it!" said a stern voice; and
Phineas, turning, saw his father standing behind the
fence, in the lane.
Kept awake by the barking of the dogs, and at last
seeing a fire kindled in the field, the deacon had
got up out of his bed, dressed himself, and gone to
see what sort of game had been treed so near the
barn. He had approached, concealed by the shadows
of the fence, while he himself, glancing between the
rails, saw by the light of the fire everything that took
place. He now got over the fence, and stood angrily
confronting the wily doctor.
"You unblushing scoundrel! what business have
you on my premises?"
" Maybe you would n't like to have me tell, before
these witnesses, what my business is!" replied the
doctor, with a sickly grin, in the firelight. "If you
would, here goes! "
" You have the advantage of me; and you use it
meanly and cruelly!" said the deacon, trembling with
agitation. " I would appeal to your honor, if you had
any to appeal to. I would appeal to your affection
for this boy, - which you profess to feel, - but your
own conduct shows that you are his worst enemy,
instead of being his friend. I've a good notion to
let the dog take you - Phineas, come with me! "
So saying, Mr. Chatford seized the boy by the collar, and led him away. The doctor, who had stood




PHIN'S REVENGE.


225


with folded arms, nodding and leering sarcastically,
while the deacon was talking, now followed him with
a glance which would hardly have entitled him to
be considered the best-natured being in existence.
In that glance were malice, cunning, and revenge.
"Good! " said he, with a mocking laugh. "Very
good! Things is workin'! We '11 see! ha, ha!"
"Look here, doctor!" said Percy Lanman. "I
know something about this business" (Jack wondered whether he had learned it of Annie Felton),
"and I have a bit of advice to give you. Let that
boy alone. Why, after all that has been done for
him, do you wish to bring about his ruin? You are
an unnatural -"  Percy checked himself.
"Say on! speak it out! " said the doctor. "Ha,
ha! well! I am patient; I submit to be misunderstood. Ah, if you knew my heart! But adieu!
Keep back the dog till I am well off these premises,
and I promise you never to set foot on 'em agin."
"I advise you to make tracks pretty fast," said
Moses, " for we sha' n't hold the dog much longer."
"Show yourself Prince of the Heeling Art, by the
way you take to your heels!" cried Jack.
"Ha, ha! a good joke!" said the doctor, as he
gracefully retired. "But no offence! for I am - I
think I have shown that I am- yes, good-natered
is the word!"  And with a bow and a flourish he
turned, leaped the fence, and disappeared in the darkness of the lane.
The hunt was over for that night. Moses roasted
10*                      o




226


DOING HIS BEST.


the ears of corn he had picked, and Percy, Mr.
Pipkin, and the boys sat for an hour round the
fire, and ate them, and talked over the evening's
adventures, and told stories; then they separated,
the boys carrying home the raccoon.
The next day Phin kept his room, which his father
had forbidden him to leave until he should have
settled with him for his misconduct. His meals
were carried up to him by his mother, who talked
and wept with him, and implored him to "turn over
a new leaf," and try to do better.
"There is Jack," said she, "doing his very best,and see how cheerful and happy he is in it! Why
can't you learn a lesson and take an example from
him?"
"Jack!" said Phin with an angry sneer. "Don't
say Jack to me! I hate him!"
" Why, what do you hate him for?"
"'Cause! you think more of him than you do of
me, and that's enough."
"If any one in this house thinks more of him than
of you, there's a reason for it. Your opportunities
have been much greater than his; and you are smart
enough, - if you only had a disposition to do well."
"I '11 be revenged on Jack I" was Phin's only reply
to his mother's last words; and she left him, with
sorrow of heart.
His supper was brought up to him, as his breakfast
and dinner had been. He ate a little; then, hearing
the folks sitting down at the table in the room below,




PHIN'S REVENGE.


227


he took from under the bed a bundle of clothes which
he had already tied up, and dropped it out of the
back window. After that he went into Jack's room,
took a key from the pocket of Jack's Sunday trousers,
and with it unlocked a chest at the head of the bed.
In a corner of the chest he found another key that
unlocked the till. In the till was a silk purse, a
present to Jack from his dear friend Annie Felton;
and it contained all Jack's hard-earned money.
Every dollar he had received for his share of the
wheat crop, together with what was left of his
"sugar money," - about thirty-three dollars in all,was in that purse, the gold in one end and the silver
in the other, each confined in its place by a silver
ring.
Phin listened for a moment, and glanced over his
shoulder with a wild look, then slipped the purse
into his pocket.  He then locked the till, and
the chest itself, putting both keys back in their
places, glided out of the room, crept softly as a cat
down the stairs and out at the front door; picked up
his bundle behind the house, stooping low so as
not to be seen from the windows; dodged behind
the wood-pile, gave a low whistle for Lion, and disappeared in the orchard, followed by the eager,
unsuspicious dog.




228


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XXXV.
HOW PHIN AND LION WERE WELCOMED.
PEERING fearfully over his shoulder to see if he
was pursued, running and skulking, Phin - still followed by Lion, who no doubt fancied some fine sport
in prospect-passed the orchard, traversed the lane,
the fields and the woods beyond, and reached the
canal.
Then he first began to breathe freely, though his
heart was still palpitating and his face still pale.
He took out the purse and looked at it and " hefted"
it, as with a guilty laugh, and a wild gleam in his
eyes, he glanced backwards once more at the woods
through which he had come.
"If I see them after me," he muttered to himself,
"I '11 fling it into the canal; - Jack shall never have
it again!"
He kept the "heel-path," crossed the waste-wear
and the culvert, ran down along the edge of the
pond, and, taking the village in the rear, hurried to
the tavern. He inquired in the bar-room for Dr.
Lamont, and was told that that gentleman was
" somewhere round, maybe at the barn." So to the
barn he went.
There under a shed was the doctor's wagon, mended
and repainted so as to look almost as good as new,




HOW PHIN AND LION WERE WELCOMED.   229


and with his name and title, "Dr. Lamont, Prince
of the Healing Art," blazing in bright letters on one
side, and" Dr. Lamont's celebrated Electrical Elixir " on
the other. In the front part of the wagon was the
doctor himself, reaching over and packing the box with
a fresh supply of bottles received that afternoon by
way of the canal. He looked up, and with a cry of
pleasure saw his young friend approaching with his
bundle; but before he could speak, Lion made a dash
at him.
"Ho! hold him!" yelled the doctor, as, seized
with fright, he jumped over into the box, among his
bottles, and shut the cover after him.
Astonished by the magical disappearance of his
victim, Lion ran round the wagon, whining and
barking, and leaping upon the wheels, until Phin
grasped him by the collar and held him. Then the
terrified doctor ventured to lift the lid of his hidingplace, and peep out.
" Got him? can ye hold him?" he said.
"I guess so."  But at that moment Lion snarled
and struggled so violently, that the poor wretch in
the box dodged down out of sight and dropped the
cover again.
" I've got him fast now," said Phin.
The cover was lifted again cautiously, and out
came a hand, and a rope, and these words: "Tie
him! tie the brute!"  So Phin made one end of the
rope fast to Lion's collar, and the other to a wheel
of the wagon; after which the doctor took courage,




230


DOING HIS BEST.


TIHE PIRINCE IN HIS CASTLE.


and, opening his trap again, put out his head and
shoulders, with a scared but smiling face.
"0 my dear boy! my charming Phineas!" he said,
"what ever possessed you"- a start and a growl
from Lion made him dodge again- "to - to bring
that ferocious beast along?"
"Did ye think I was going to leave him    for
Jack?" replied Phineas. "Not by a long chalk!
I 'd rather he'd be dead!"




HOW PlIIN AND LION WERE WELCOMED.  231


Kill him, then! " said the doctor.
"Kill him? kill Lion?" echoed Phineas, turning
quite pale.
"You see, it's impossible to have him with us!
He '11 always be pitchin' into me. My trousis '11
never be safe, - say nothin' of legs and throat!
Ah!" added the doctor, with a sigh, " I'd give fifty
dollars if that dog was dead."
"If he can't go with us, then I won't go!" Phin
declared, with a disappointed and angry look.
" What will you do, then, my dear boy?"
" I'11 go back home first!"
" 0, now, just think of it!" said the doctor, sweetly
and persuasively.  "Go back there and live on a
farm all your days! a boy of splendid talents like
you! pick up stun and hoe corn for a livin'! see that
mean little canal-driver petted and put above you! -
I'm sure a lad of your sperit can't submit to that."
"I d'n' know!" Phin muttered, looking gloomy
and dissatisfied, as he fingered Lion's collar.
"On the other hand," said the doctor, in honeyed
accents, "think of the fortin that's to be yourn if you
go with me! You'll see the world; have a sort of
Fourth-of-July every day in the year; nothin' to do
but to drive the boss and blow the trumpet while I
sell the bottles. We '11 spend the winter in the sunny
South, goin' from city to city, from plantation to
plantation, always happy, always good-natered, livin'
1)y our wits, - no hard work about it, - and pilin' up
the money! Then, when we git tired of this thing,




232


DOING HIS BEST.


we'll sell out, and turn our hands to another; that's
my maxim; - variety 's the spice of life, and we '11
have our share. Think on 't, my dear boy! only
think on't! then I know how you'll decide."
"I s'pose I shall have to go with you now," said
Phin, his face brlightening a little; "for I -"  He
looked furtively around, and added something in a
whisper.
" Ah, have you? my lovely Phineas! That was a
bold stroke, and it was your right. Of course you
can't go back now. Better give it to me; le' me
take care on't for you. Hand up your bundle too.
We '11 have everything ready for a start."
So Phin passed up his bundle to the amiable doctor, and then, with a trembling hand, and a skittish
look behind him, reached up the purse of money.
"Now," said the doctor, more confidently, as he
dropped the purse into his own pocket, "about the
dog. There's only one thing to be done, and you
must do it."
"What's that?" Phin faltered.
" Drownd him!"
" I can't! how can I?"
"Easy enough.   Rope 's already on his neck.
Take him to the bank of the canal over the culvert.
Find a good-sized stun, tie the other end of the rope
around that, and push dog and stun off together."
Phin's countenance was full of doubt and trouble.
It was clear, they could not take Lion with them;
neither could he bear the thought of leaving him to




HOW PHIN AND LION WERE WELCOMED.    233
comfort Jack; and yet —though he could easily
make up his mind to sacrifice an animal for which he
felt a merely selfish, covetous love - he lacked the
courage to do the dreadful deed. The doctor's power
over him, however, was now complete; and it was
not long before Phin might have been seen crossing the street, and going out of the village the way
he had come, leading Lion by the rope.




234


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XXXVI.
DR. LAMONT'S LITTLE GAME.
THE wary doctor remained in his extemporized
fortress of a wagon-box until the enemy was out of
sight, -pleasantly employing his time in counting
the contents of the purse, - then finished packing
his bottles, and prepared to put into practice a little
scheme for paying his hotel bill, without a needless
waste of money.
"The best friends must part," he said gayly to the
landlord, as he entered the tavern. " My boss, if you
please; — I go where duty leads me."
" But your hoss don't go till you've paid up all
charges," was the landlord's not very cordial reply.
"Though you pulled the wool over Lapham's eyes,
and he let you take the wagon away on trust, you
can't come any of your sharp games on me."
" Lapham's a man after my own heart " said the
doctor. "Such a gentleman! so good-natered! "
turning to the bystanders.
To which the landlord replied rather gruffly, "As
I've heard you say of yourself, I think he's 'too
good-natered for his own interest,' - in this case, at
all events."
" Ha, ha! that is my fault; and it may be Lapham's. But I love good-natered men!" said the




DR. LAMONT'S LITTLE GAME.


235


doctor, with a smile of insinuating softness. "You
think I've no money? Look at that!"    And he
displayed a handful of gold and silver. "Le' me
show ye a little trick." He placed a half-dollar on
the floor, whirled around on it, and stamped his foot.
"Now is there a half-dollar under my heel?"
"I think there is," said the landlord.
"Ha, ha! I believe there is too!"  He stooped
again, and pretended to pick up the half-dollar, performing the trick so adroitly that any one who saw
him would have been deceived, had not the edge of
the coin been left sticking out from under his heel!
He then whirled himself about two or three times
more, tossing in the air a coin he had pretended to
pick up; then stopped, and leaned over the bar.
"Now," said he, "I s'pose you say there ain't no
half-dollar under my foot?"
"I 've no opinion about it," said the landlord, who
at the same time winked at a village loafer standing
behind the doctor. The loafer grinned, understanding
that a neat little trick was to be played upon the
trickster.
" 0, yes, ye have; you've an opinion, one way or
t' other. Come, now, I '11 bet there is a half-dollar
under my foot, or I '11 bet there ain't, whichever ye
please, for I 'm the most accommodatin' man in the
world."
The landlord waited until his accomplice had slyly
stooped, removed the coin from under the doctor's
foot, and showed it behind his back; then said, care



236


DOING HIS BEST.


t;  n I.,.


THE DOCTOR'S LITTLE GAME.


lessly, "Well, if you insist, I'11 bet the amount of
my bill there ain't no money under your foot."
"Say under his shoe," remarked a quiet-looking
young man, who had just come in. "You don't
know how many half-dollars there may be under his
foot, inside his shoe."
"A good idee!" replied the landlord. "Of course
I mean under his shoe; - that's my bet."




DR. LAMONT'S LITTLE GAME.


237


The adventurer seemed slightly embarrassed for
a moment, perhaps at the unexpected suggestion, but
quite possibly at some disagreeable recollection associated with the young man's face, which was somewhat pitted,-a fire-lit scene on the edge of a
cornfield, a group of 'coon-hunters, an ugly dog, and
an angry deacon, for instance.
"I take th;e hint in good part," said he, recovering
his equanimity. "It was shrewd, and I love shrewdness! I love and admire a shrewd man! Under the
shoe, it is. How much is your bill?"
" Your board, off and on, and keepin' your boss,fifteen dollars. I '11 receipt it, and we'll put that
and your money in the hands of this young man."
"All fair and honorable," said the doctor, counting
out fifteen dollars in gold. "If I show that there's
a half-dollar under my shoe, the stakes go to me;
otherwise to you. This young man may not be my
friend, but I see honor in his face."
Percy Lanman received the stakes, little suspecting
to whom the gold really belonged.
"But look here!" he said to the landlord. "You're
just betting against your own money." The landlord screwed up one side of his face very hard, and
scratched his cheek, looking puzzled. "Fifteen dollars is the sum he owes you; this, then, is rightfully
yours already. Now, to make it a fair bet, he must
put fifteen dollars more with it."
"So he must!" cried the landlord; and "So he
must! that's a fact!" echoed the bystanders.




238


DOING HIS BEST.


"Shrewd agin!" said the light-hearted doctor,
gayly dropping three more golden half-eagles into
Percy's hand. "I shall love this young man! ha,
ha! All ready?"
The trickster, who was to be tricked so finely,
stepped aside. " Now," said he, not the least astonished at seeing no money on the floor, " I s'pose you
all say there's no half-dollar under my shoe. Very
good! this man has the one that was there;- I '11 take
it if you please. Thanks! Now look! No slight of
hand about this! Gentlemen, what do you see?
Seating himself in a chair, he held up his shoe,
and showed, sticking to the sole, in the hollow of his
foot, a third half-dollar. A little wax, applied before
he left the wagon, had enabled him to make this
profitable use of so much of Jack's money.
The landlord turned purple with astonishment and
rage; but there was nothing to be said. Lamont, who
knew when the visible half-dollar was removed, had
won the wager by a deeper trick than that he had
pretended to be playing. He pulled off the waxed
coin, leaped to his feet, and extended his hand for tile
stakes.
"Excuse me," said Percy; "not yet. Mr. Lapham
is anxious about the money you owe him for repairs
done on your wagon, and he asked me to come and
see about it. I've sent a man to fetch him, and I
think I '11 keep the stakes till his little bill is settled."
Strange to say, the doctor did not appear altogether enchanted at this fresh display of the beloved




DR. LAMONT'S LITTLE GAME.      239
quality in the young man. But, quickly regaining
his complacency, he said: " Ha! very pretty 1 very
neat indeed! I like a good-natered trick, even if I be
the victim!"
And, on the arrival of the wheelwright, he cheerfully accepted what was left of the money after the
bill for mending his wagon - twenty-eight dollars
had been paid out of it. He then took leave of the
company, got up his horse (the ostler refused to help
him), mounted his box, and drove out of the village
to the place he had appointed for meeting Phineas.
The boy, if prospered in his undertaking, should
have been there before him; but he had not yet
arrived; and although the doctor waited for him
until dark, and he grew alternately anxious and
furiously angry, still no Phineas appeared.




240


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XXXVII.
WHY PHIN WAS LATE.
THE shades of evening were closing in, when Phineas Chatford, desperately resolved upon destroying
the dog he could not take with him on his travels,
and was unwilling to leave behind, quitted the village, leading the noble, faithful creature by a
rope.
From the shore of the pond he climbed the embankment of the canal, where he pried two or three
large stones out of the gravel before he found one to
suit his purpose. At last he selected one; it was
almost too heavy for him to carry, and, in getting to
the culvert, he was obliged to rest it on Lion's back.
The dog walked by his side, with an air of proud
satisfaction in doing a service, never suspecting that
the burden he bore was to serve as the means of his
own death.
So they reached the part of the embankment where
Jack had once made his celebrated escape from Constable Sellick.* On one side was the canal, along
which a boat was slowly passing. On the other side,
fifteen feet below, was the pond, the water of which
was there conducted beneath the canal through a culvert of massy masonry. A little farther on was the
* See " A Chance for Himself."


A




WHY PHIN WAS LATE.


241


waste-wear, where the surplus water of the canal
poured over, in a shining cascade, into the pond.
At the top of the bank above the culvert Phin
stopped, put down his stone, and waited for the boat
to pass. He also looked anxiously to see if any
person was coming from either direction. It was a
lonely place at nightfall: nobody was in sight, save the
boatmen, and all was still, - no sound but the crack
of the driver's whip and the noise of the waterfall.
Phin now rolled his stone cautiously down the
bank, till it rested on the top of the culvert masonry.
He then wound the loose end of the rope about it,
and fastened it with a close knot. During these
deadly preparations, Lion looked affectionately in the
boy's guilty face, and licked his hand.
The verge of the masonry was very narrow, presenting just room for Phin to rest the stone upon it.
The bank was steep behind him, and it was, on the
whole, an awkward place for his business. But at
last he was ready. Stone and dog, tied together by the
rope, were at the edge of the culvert, and Phin stood
with braced feet behind, ready to launch them.
He waited a moment more, to see if any person
was approaching; and again Lion licked his hand.
The next instant, dog and stone went tumbling over
the masonry, and fell with a great splash into the
water.
Scared by the sound, - terrified at what he had
done, - Phin crouched against the bank, and looked
all about him, hearkening for any sound, as if he had


11


P




242


DOING HIS BEST.


committed a murder and feared detection. Seeing no
object mToving in the dusk, hearing no sound but the
waterfall, he took heart, and glanced over the brink
of the culvert. As he did so, he saw something
stirring in the water. It was coming out. It came
out, and rose up on the bank, black and shaggy and
dripping, and shook itself. It was Lion, dragging the
rope, with a large loop in it, out of which the stone
had slipped as he struggled to get free.
For a minute Phin felt relieved to know that the
animal -the fond, the faithful Lion, who seemed
almost human in his intelligence and his attachments
-was not drowned. Then he remembered his reasons for wishing him dead; and all his hatred of Jack
revived.
After a little reflection, he hardened his heart
again, and hastened to bring another stone, which he
likewise placed on the verge of the masonry. It was
not quite so heavy as the first, but it had a jagged
side, about which he felt sure that he could tie the
rope in such a way that it would not slip.
I '11 finish the job now I 've begun!" he muttered
to himself. "I '11 do it this time!"
He found little difficulty in catching the dog,
though he seemed somewhat shy of his attentions
now; and once more he led him up the embankment.
"Come! poor fellow!" he said, coaxingly, patting
his wet neck; but Lion held back. "Good Lion!
fine old dog!" he said, and at last got him again to
the edge of the masonry.




WHY PHIN WAS LATE.


243


To prevent him from getting away while he was
completing his preparations, Phin took a turn with
the rope around his own leg, and then proceeded to
tie the end of it, in a strong noose, to the stone.
But now Lion seemed to be fully aware of the deadly
mischief that was intended. Coaxing was in vain.
He put forth all his strength, and, in the struggle
to get away, dragged Phin from his footing.  Phin
slipped from the masonry, striking his head against a
sharp corner of it as he fell, and dropped stunned into
the deep water.
But for the hurt, which left him senseless, he
might have saved himself by swimming. As it was,
he sank helplessly, rose slowly, and floated with the
sluggish current to the mouth of the culvert.
It was then that the generous nature of the dog
asserted itself. Still dragging the rope, he plunged
into the water, and swam with all his might to the
rescue of the wretch by whom his own life had just
been twice attempted. He seized the boy's coatcollar in his strong teeth, and paddled for the bank.
When Phin came to himself, Lion had drawn him
beyond the abutment of the culvert, and was dragging
him up out of the pond, on the sloping shore. It was
some time before he realized what had happened;
then, as he sat trembling, aghast, and drenched, on
the gravelly bank, he remembered everything, he took
in all: he had been saved from a terrible death by
the nobly forgiving animal he had been trying so
hard to kill.




244


DOING HIS BEST.


For a while he felt too weak and dizzy to stand.
During the few minutes he sat there he thought of a
good many things. The shock and chill and fright,
added to the pond-water he had swallowed, had taken
away what little courage he possessed, and he wished
himself safe and snug once more in his room at home.
"Why did I ever leave it? why did I run away?"
thought he, crying miserably. "I '11 go back! I
will!"
But then, there was the money he had stolen from
Jack and given to the doctor! He must first recover
that, or how could he dare ever to show his guilty face
at home?
So, after recovering his strength, he got up, climbed
the bank, crossed the waste-wear on the narrow footplank placed over it, and started to find the doctor.
The evening was cloudy, and so dark that, in his
weak and aguish condition, he felt dreadfully lonesome and afraid, as he hurried down the heel-path to
the bridge. He whistled in vain for Lion. That
sorrowful and indignant companion had started for
home alone, as soon as he saw that Phin was safe,
his whole look and manner seeming to say, "I 've
done my duty, and I never will have anything to do
with that boy again!"
Crossing the canal at the bridge, Phin hastened
down the road, and soon saw a wagon standing by
the fence. It was the doctor's; and, as he approached,
the doctor's voice hailed him.
" What made ye so late?"




WHY PHIN WAS LATE.


245


" Could n't come any quicker. Got in!" murmured
Phin.
" Is he - all right?" said the doctor.
"Yes," replied Phin, ashamed to confess the truth.
"Good! Now get up here as quick as ye can, and
we '11 be off."
"Can't! " faltered the wretched boy.
" Can't! why not? what do you mean?"
"I've changed my mind. Give me my money
and my bundle, and let me go back!"
"Go back?" exclaimed the doctor. "If you do,
you '11 have to go without the money, for that's
spent; paid over to that miserable wheelwright for
mending my wagon."
Phin uttered a wail of anger and dismay.
"Come, come! Don't be faint-hearted! cheer up,
my dear boy! Git in here, and we'll talk it over as
we drive along; then you shall do as you please.
Wet, are you? Here 's the robe of the Prince of the
Healing Art to wrap around you! Ha, ha! dog's
dead, is he? That's my brave boy! Now the world
is before us! no regrets, no tears, - all good-natered,
ye know!"
So saying, the doctor folded Phin in his long green
robe, placed him on the seat by his side, and, coaxing
him with wily words, drove briskly away.




246


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XXXVIII.
DISCOVERY.
PHIN'S absence from his room had already been
discovered by Mrs. Chatford, when she went up to
take away his plate after supper. But, thinking he
would return soon, she had kept the fact a secret
from her husband, dreading to increase his displeasure.
It was not long, however, before the deacon, coming in at the close of his day's work, said to Moses,
"Go up and tell Phineas to come to my room." As
Moses started to obey, Mrs. Chatford was obliged to
confess that Phineas was not in the house.
"Has he dared -" broke forth the deacon, who
suddenly checked himself. He heaved a deep sigh
of anxiety and grief, then added, in a subdued voice,
"See if any of his clothes are gone; let us know
the worst."
"I have looked, and some of his clothes are missing; though I can't think he has taken them with
the intention of really running away " said Mrs.
Chatford. "It is only a freak to frighten us, I am
sure!"
"Lion has gone too! " exclaimed Jack, on coming
into the house, and learning what discoveries had
been made. And when, soon after, Lion came home,




DISCOVERY.


247


wet, with a wet rope draggiig by his collar, the family
were thoroughly mystified and alarmed.
Then Percy Lanman arrived; and in answer to the
eager question, Had he seen anything of Phineas?
answered, "Yes, I had a glimpse of him going out of
the village      towards the pond, leading Lion by a rope."
"I see it all!" cried Jack, wildly excited. "Lion
followed him, and Phin was going to drown him, -
for if he is running away, he is going with that man,
and that man and Lion can't get along together!"
"0 Jack!" said Annie Felton, mildly, "how can
you think Phineas would do such a thing?"
"Because he has more than once threatened to kill
my dog, when he has been mad at me; and he has
meant it, too!"
"Did you see anything of- that man?" the deacon asked, with a darkened countenance.
Percy described the scene which he had witnessed
in the bar-room, and in which he had borne a part.
"We were all glad that Lapham got his money," he
added; "though we all wondered how the doctor had
come by it so suddenly, for nobody believed he had
a dollar an hour before."
" Gold? said Jack. He rushed to his room. In
a few minutes he came running back, with a face
full of consternation and wrath. "Robbed! " he exclaimed. "I 've been robbed! Every dollar I had in
the world! and the purse you gave me!" - turning
to Annie, —  he has taken all!"
This startling accusation was received with an out



248


DOING HIS BEST.


cry of incredulity and astonishment. At length the
deacon spoke.
" After all my cares and my prayers," he said, with
solemnity and sorrow, "I find I must give up all
hope of that boy; - he has gone his own way; I
cannot help it!"
" But I will follow him!" exclaimed Jack. "I '11
hunt him and that villain to the ends of the earth,
but I '11 have my money back!"
"You forget," said Mr. Chatford, " that your money
has probably gone to pay for the mending of the
wagon. You might recover it of Mr. Lapham, if you
could prove that it was stolen from you."
"Take it from that poor man, when he received
it honestly in payment of a debt? I couldn't do
that!" said Jack.
" I am glad if you could n't!" said Annie Felton.
"0 Jack! you are richer to-day without a dollar
than Phineas will ever be if he makes a fortune.
Believe that."
"I do believe it," replied Jack, manfully. "Let it
go! I can work and earn more. I am glad, Moses,
you had put your money into your father's hands; he
might have taken that, too."
" Rob his own brother?" said Mr. Pipkin. "I can
believe a good deal of that 'ere Phin, but - his own
brother!"
"0 father I" then said Mrs. Chatford, weeping,
"is n't it time? I think the boys should know,there is no use in keeping the secret longer!"




DISCOVERY.


249


"Yes, yes," replied the deacon, " I've been thinking on't. We have kept the secret even from Moses,
for fear we might in some way wrong Phineas. We
wanted to give that poor misguided boy all the
opportunities we could, and shield him from prejudice and contempt. For that reason we kept the
secret from him, too. But he knows it now. And
you may as well know it, boys. Annie knew it
before; and with our permission she has told our
friend Percy. When we have told you, boys, you
will perhaps think more charitably of Phineas, for
you will see a good reason for his being as he is."
"For mercy sake, deacon!" said Mrs. Pipkin,
"what is it? Don't keep us in suspense! I've
known well enough there was something; now I'm
dying to know what!"
The deacon took little Kate in his arms, and two
or three swift tears trickled down his cheeks, in the
lamplight that shone upon the little group. Neither
one of his children had ever seen him weep before.
"Do you remember, Jack," he said, "how, when
that lie lay between you and Phineas at the time you
broke into Peternot's house, you charged me with
partiality towards my own flesh and blood? Of
course, you said, it was natural for me to believe
him rather than you, because he was my son. I did
not tell you how much you wronged me then. I
believed him because I could not see his motive for
lying. That was all. But I was wrong. And,
Moses, let me say now that often, when I have
11 *




250             DOING HIS BEST.
been called to settle boyish difficulties between you
and Phineas, I have risked being unjust to you, for
fear of being unjust to him."
"I have thought so," said Moses. "But I never
could understand why it was."
"I will tell you why," said the deacon, nervously
stroking little Kate's fair hair. " Moses,- my darling,
- my children, - Phineas is not your brother! "
"Not our brother? O father!" exclaimed the
child, while Moses stood silent and fixed with astonishment.
" Only by adoption. He is your second-cousin, on
his mother's side; and that man - that Doyley, that
Wilkins, that Lamont, whose real name is Reddington- is Phineas's own father."




MR. CHATFORD EXPLAINS.


251


CHAPTER XXXIX.
MR. CIIATFORD EXPLAINS.
FOR a moment the silence was broken only by a
stifled sob from Mrs. Chatford's corner.
Of all who then for the first time heard the truth
concerning Phin's parentage, Jack was the least
surprised. He waited for the others to express their
wonder and amazement, then said quietly, "I had
partly guessed how it was."
"You, Jack? How?" asked Annie.
" That first evening at your house,- after Lion had
caught Reddington (if we have got at his real name
at last!) stealing the horse and sleigh,- I overheard
something which made me think there was some
such family secret. Then, you remember, I said he
reminded me of somebody I had seen, and I thought
for a while I had known him before. But I found
out at last who it was he looked like: it was Phineas!"
"So he did, by hokey!" cried Mr. Pipkin; "jest
that slick smile, and cunnin' look out o' the eyes.
Wonder I never thought on't afore!"
"Then when he came disguised as a phrenologist,"
said Jack, "and told so much more of Phin's real
character than I believed such a quack could possibly
have got at by any science, -all that set me thinking.




252


DOING HIS BEST.


I had often wondered how Phin could be the brother
of so generous and open-hearted a fellow as Moses, or
a dear, true, affectionate girl like Kate, or the son of
such parents. So at last I made up my mind that
he was some relation to - what's his name? - Reddington."
"How did it happen?" asked Moses, who could
not get over his astonishment. "Who is this Peddington?"
"When he first made his appearance in Bartonville, where we used to live," said the deacon, "he
pretended he had found a silver-mine somewhere in
the neighborhood, and was going to buy up a tract
of land, and build extensive works for getting out the
ore. He was just waiting for some capitalists to come
to his terms, he said. Meanwhile he dressed pretty
well, talked large, strutted around, and pretended to be
making an examination of the country. He carried
a hammer with him, and pieces of ore in his pockets,
- which might have been silver ore, and probably
were, though I never believed he broke them from
any rocks in that part of the country. If he had
really found a mine, I did n't believe he would make
so much talk about it until he had secured the land
where it was situated, unless he was a bigger fool
than he appeared to be. But he was a glib-tongued
fellow, told a smooth story about himself, and even
got some pretty shrewd people to believe in him.
He got credit at the tavern, at the tailor's, and I
don't know where else, and even borrowed money




MR. CHATFORD EXPLAINS.


253


of several persons who expected to take stock in his
mining company and make their fortunes.
"You have heard us speak of your mother's cousin, Myra Lemmick, Moses," continued the deacon.
"She was a rather vain, flighty creature, good-hearted
though, and she might have made some young man a
good wife, if she had n't had the misfortune to have
two thousand dollars left her by her father. That
somehow spoilt her. She considered herself a great
belle and an heiress, and rather looked down on the
honest young men she had known all her life."
"She was flattered to death," said Mrs. Chatford.
"It was n't so much poor Myra's fault, that she was
vain."
"Well," said the deacon, "when this scamp Reddington came along, he quite turned her silly little
head, and marry him she would, in spite of all we
could say and do. Your Uncle and Aunt Felton, who
lived in Bartonville at the time, joined with us in trying to show her the rogue's real character and dissuade
her from the marriage; but 't was no use; marry him
she did, for she was of age, and could do as she
pleased. She was so angry with her relatives, on
account of their opposition, that she was married at
the minister's, and didn't invite one of us to the
wedding."
"You forget, uncle," said Annie Felton, "or perhaps you never knew, that she did invite Forrest
and me. We were children then; we always liked
her; and Reddington had managed to please us




254


DOING HIS BEST.


by little presents of candy and trinkets. So Forrest
and I, having got mother's permission, went over to
the minister's that morning and saw them married.
It was the first wedding I ever saw, and I thought
it delightfully romantic!"
"So did she, poor thing!" said the deacon. "But
how it all turned out! In about six months she
came back to us again, to beg for a home. Reddington had turned out a mere swindler, and had gone off
with all the money he could borrow, together with
her two thousand dollars, which she had foolishly
put into his hands. It was an awful blow to poor
Myra. It broke her pride, and her heart with it.
She did n't live over five or six months, did she,
mother? "
"About six. She was married in September, and
died in October of the next year. She just withered
and passed away like a flower," said Mrs. Chatford,
with a deep sigh. "Our hearts bled with pity for her
and her poor little helpless orphan baby."
" That was Phineas," her husband went on, as her
voice broke down with emotion. "You were then
three years old, Moses. We adopted him; and you
never knew but that he was your own brother.
Soon after, we sold our farm in Bartonville, and moved
to this place, where we hoped his father would never
find us out, if he should wish to claim his son. He had
come back once, soon after Myra's death; I hardly
knew for what, unless it was to get some hold on us
through the child. He had spent or gambled away




MR. CHATFORD EXPLAINS.


255


all his ill-gotten gains, and wanted money of us; and
I gave him some, on his promise that he would never
come to trouble us or the child again. We always
lived in dread of him, however; the more so, as
we saw Phineas growing up with many of his father's
traits of character; and it seems we had good reason."
"Why did you make that visit to Bartonville last
summer?" asked Moses. "I thought it had something to do with that man."
"Yes, it had; we wanted to know if he had been
seen there lately, and determine, if we could, whether
he found us by. accident, or had some design in
searching us out. It seems he had been in the town,
not long before he came to us; and he was probably
on his way to find us when he made that attempt on
Forrest's horse and sleigh. He must have been without
money at the time; and that is probably the reason
why he did n't come more directly to us."
"I shall always believe he robbed Paul Peternot,
and was somehow concerned in his death, - and I
am  sure Lion thinks so!" said Jack, patting the
noble dog's head, between his knees.
"And now, to think," said good Mrs. Chatford,
"that Phineas is going the same way with his father!
It is too dreadful! Somebody must follow them, and
try to bring him back!"
The deacon felt that this remark was meant for
him; and he replied, "I did all I could for the boy
when he was here, and I tried to keep him with us;
but I made up my mind if he ever took the course he




256              DOING HIS BEST.
has taken, he must abide the consequences. If he
comes back, - and I hope and pray that he will, - we
must receive him  kindly, and forgive him if lie
repents; but he can never again be to us what lie
has been. From this day I adopt Jack here in place
of the son we have lost; he has been proved, and
found worthy."
" Yes, Jack is our son, Jack is our dear son," said
Mrs. Chatford, with streaming tears; "but, O Phineas i"




ANOTHER LITTLE SECRET.


257


CHAPTER XL.
ANOTHER LITTLE SECRET.
FIRM as he was after he had once made up his
mind to any course, the deacon was easily persuaded
to drive over to the Basin and see if any tidings could
be had of the fugitives.
Moses said he would go on foot by the way of the
canal, make inquiries in that direction, meet his
father at the Basin, and ride home with him. As
they set out, Mrs. Chatford pleaded with them both
to do all in their power, in case they should find
Phineas, to bring him back.
"You need n't ask me that! " said Moses, showing
a great deal of feeling; for all his youthful affection
for his supposed brother now came back upon a heart
softened by pity and grief.
About half an hour later Percy Lanman, setting
out for home, invited Jack to walk with him a little
way. Jack was glad enough to go. The moon,
which had been under a cloud earlier in the evening, now shone through glittering rifts, from dark
blue gulfs of sky, making the night beautiful. The
two friends crossed the fields, past the rustling corn
and the shadowy wood-lot, talking earnestly by the
way.
"If Phin was born with such traits of character as
Q




258


DOING HIS BEST.


Mr. Chatford says, then how is he to blame? " Jack
inquired.
"That's a question not easy to answer," replied
Percy, thoughtfully; "and we may as well leave it
to the Power that alone sees and knows all things.
Certain it is that we ought not to condemn him; we
should look with charity and forbearance upon the
failings of every human being."
"Don't you think our birth and education make us
what we are?" said Jack. But instantly the vast,
shadowy thought came over him, - even like the
shadow of the cloud which just then crossed the
moon,- what had birth and education ever done for
him, up to the time when he found a home and a new
life with the Chatfords, under whose influence Phin
had been all his days? Yet here he was clothed
in self-respect, and crowned with manly hopes, walking with a dear and noble friend, -he, Jack, the
miserable little canal-boat driver of less than two
years ago!
"No doubt," said Percy, "we are born with the
germ of our future destiny in our hearts; and circumstances - but we won't discuss that; we shall only
get into the usual maze if we do. After all, we have
a conscience that condemns us when we do wrong, and
aspicrations that tend to lift us upward, if we only
heed and nourish them. Our sole duty lies in doing
our best, with what gifts and opportunities we have.
I don't know anything about your parents, Jack, but
I know your early opportunities were small; how, then,




ANOTHER LITTLE SECRET.


259


do I account for your present condition and prospects?
You have been doing your best, -any one can see
that; you have your faults, but you try to overcome
them; you never shirk a duty, but meet it face to
face, like a man; and this gives me perfect faith in
you. Living up to this high principle, you will
always be rich, though you haven't a dollar; you
will be happy, for you will be active, helping yourself and others."
"Oh I to hear you talk so!" murmured Jack, his
quivering voice showing how deeply affected he was.
"Poor Phineas I" Percy went on;" his principle in
life seems to be to shirk every duty he can. I pity
more than I blame him, because he lacks the will to
do right and the love of doing right. Do you know,
Jack, that one of the noblest, highest aims of life is
to keep that will and that love alive in ourselves,
and to stimulate them in others? "
"You have stimulated them in me!" exclaimed
Jack.   0, what should I be, I have often thought,
what should I ever have been, if it had n't been for
you, and Miss Felton, and the Chatfords?"
Percy was deeply moved by this outburst of gratitude. For sole reply he laid his arm lovingly over
Jack's shoulder, and pressed his hand. They walked
on in silence, and had reached the banks of the canal,
when Jack suddenly spoke up: "Do you know, I'm
going to find out, if I can, something more about my
parents, some day?  I never thought much about
them, when I was with old Berrick on the canal.




260


DOING HIS BEST.


But it has been coming upon me lately, that my
father must have been a good deal of a man; and I
have the strongest curiosity - though I think it is
something better than curiosity - to learn about him;
yes, and about my mother, too, for I can't believe
what was told about her by Molly and Captain Jack."
" That is a good wish, and I hope you will accomplish it," replied Percy. " But here we have come to
the waste-wear, and I must send you back."
"This is just the place where Phin would have
tried to drown Lion," said Jack; and proposed that
they should go down to the culvert.
The moon was shining bright again, reflected in the
pond below, which was all a-ripple with dancing and
sparkling waves from the foot of the white cascade
that poured over the wear.
"Do you remember," laughed Jack, " when I got
away from Sellick by tumbling off here head-foremost,
and swimming through the culvert?"
"And they poked for you with poles, and I dove
for you, when you were half a mile away on the other
side of the canal!" added Percy. "But what's this?"
"A big stone!" cried Jack.  "I believe Phin
brought it here to drown Lion with!"
The conjecture seemed so reasonable that they
paused and looked all about them, half expecting to
see or hear something of Phineas. But there was no
sound, no motion, all about them, save the roar of the
waterfall, and the fairy-like dance of the moonlit
waters.




ANOTHER LITTLE SECRET.


261


As the young man and the boy parted company at
the top of the embankment, Percy said, with a tender
pressure of Jack's hand, "And now, with Annie's
permission, I am going to tell you a little secret, -
a great secret to her and me!"
A strange fear suddenly came over the lad. Percy
went on, "She and I thought that you ought to be
one of the first to know it. We are - well, yes,
engaged to be married; that's the commonplace way
of putting it. And now, dear Jack, good night!"
Percy turned, springing with light and joyous steps
along the embankment, towards the village. Jack,
stupefied, stunned, watched him for a few moments,
then threw himself, face downward, upon the bank.
And there the moon shone upon him, and the night
wind blew over him, and the waterfall sang in his
ear, and the slow boats moved by in the canal, - all
unheeded by the wretched boy.
I don't know how long he lay there, or just what
his thoughts were, —if feeling did not overwhelm
and swallow up all thoughts. At last he roused
himself, and stood upon his feet.
The night was still calm, and brightly beautiful;
the ripples on the pond still danced and sparkled,
though farther off now, for the moon was nearing the
west; and the musical cascade still gleamed in the
white, cold light, as he crossed the foot-plank over the
wear.
He remembered his fit of jealousy in the menagerie
tent. He was passing through another such struggle




262


DOING HIS BEST.


now, but one more severe. And again his better
nature was coming out triumphant.
"I might have known it all," he said to himself.
"I never dreamed that she could be anything but a
friend to me. 0, she could never, never have been
anything more, and I knew it so well! And he is
the only man in the world half good enough for her.
I will think only of them, - Heaven help me!"
throwing up his arms, and turning his face towards
the open sky. "I will pray for their happiness I
and I will love them all the more "
When he reached home, the lights were all out in
the house. He entered softly.
"Is that - Phineas?" said Mrs. Chatford, starting
up with a sudden, faint hope.
"No, it is Jack," was the response; and the boy
heard her sink down again with a heavy sigh.
He went up the chamber stairs, and, glancing his
eye towards Annie Felton's room, the door of which
was open, saw the moonlight streaming in upon a
still figure at the window. It arose, and came towards
him with a sweet smile, - 0, so sweet and tender!
It was Annie. She reached out her hand. Jack
seized it, and pressed it to his lips, - tried to speak,
- could only murmur, " I know! I am so glad for
you and him " - and fled to his own lonely room.
Lonely indeed it was that night. But before he
slept, solace came to him in the deep, unselfish love
for his two dearest friends, and joy in their happiness,
which welled up in his heart. He felt that, if Annie




ANOTHER LITTLE SECRET.         263
had given herself to any less worthy person than
Percy, he should have died with grief and jealousy.
But he knew that she had chosen wisely; that this
thing was to be, and that it was well even for him;
and he knew it better still in later years.
This sorrow and this sacrifice were also well for
him; for out of them came a truer, tenderer manliness of soul, and a sweeter happiness, than proud
success can ever bring.




264


DOING HIS BEST.


CHAPTER XLI.
JACK'S JOURNEY.
THE next morning, at breakfast, Deacon Chatford
took from his pocket a handful of gold and silver
coin, and handed it to Jack across the table.
"What's this for?" said Jack, looking up in surprise. He had been very thoughtful all the morning,
and this was the first time he had spoken.
"That's your stolen money, my boy. I went to
see Mr. Lapham, and when I told him the circumstances, he was quite willing to give it up."
"But there is no certainty that this is mine!"
"In all probability it is; and Mr. Lapham is satisfied."
" But - how can I take it?" Jack did not know
that the deacon had paid money out of his own
pocket to make the wheelwright satisfied; yet he felt
that there was something not quite right about it.
"I can't take it, not now," he said, and handed it
back. "IKeep it for me - or for him; maybe we
shall find out something more in a few days. Besides, what I cared most about,- the purse she gave
me," - with a timid glance at Annie, -" is n't here."
" I'11 knit you another," said Annie.
" Thank you; but it won't be that purse!" said the'
boy.




JACK'S JOURNEY.


265


This problem of the money remained for a
while unsolved, and it gave Jack a good deal of
trouble.
One evening he started up suddenly from reading
the deacon's newspaper, and walked the room and
the yard for half an hour in a state of mental excitement.
On coming back into the house, he looked at the
newspaper again, and then said, in a quiet tone,
"If you have no objection, Mr. Chatford, I should
like to make a little journey to-morrow. The work
is pretty well along, and I think I might be spared
for a day or two."
"Certainly," said the deacon. "And if you have
no objection, I should like to know where you are
going."
I'd rather not tell just yet. I should like to -
borrow - a few dollars, and your saddle, if you will
trust me with it."
"And a horse? you can take any horse on the
place, if you'll promise to keep out of the way of
crazy elephants!" said the deacon.
"I intend to ride my own horse," replied Jack,
with a blush and a smile. " Snowfoot is about well,
and he's scarcely lame at all."
This singular start excited no little wonder and
curiosity in Jack's friends; but as they saw him ride
off at sunrise the next morning, on Snowfoot, followed
by Lion, Moses thought he had guessed the secret.
"He 's going to see Annie!" - for Miss Felton
12




266


DOING HIS BEST.


JACK SETS OUT ON HIS JOURNEY.


had closed her school two or three weeks before, and
had been driven home to her father's house by Percy Lanman.
It was a pleasant day in early autumn; and, jogging along the country roads on his own horse, followed by his dog, Jack felt his heart overflow with a
pennsive, tranquil happiness. He did indeed take the
track which led to Annie Felton's home, - and what




JACK'S JOURNEY.


267


memories of her seemed to throng the way!- but a
little beyond the tavern where he had had his first
adventure with Phin's father, he took another road
that branched off in an easterly direction, leaving her
home to the right, and far behind.
He drew rein now and then, to inquire his way of
persons he met or passed; and a little before noon
stopped to lunch and bait his horse at a tavern.
There he appeared chiefly interested in some flaming
circus-bills with which the bar-room was hung,
announcing an exhibition, that afternoon, in a neighboring village, of the wonders of riding, tumbling,
swinging in the air, jumping through hoops, and so
forth, shown in the high-colored pictures that lined
the walls. It was, in fact, an advertisement of the
passage of this circus through the country which had
attracted Jack's attention in the newspaper the night
before; and he was now on his way to meet it.
After dinner and a good rest, he got up Snowfoot
again, and rode on, amidst a throng of country
people flocking to see the circus, and soon came in
sight of the white tents pitched on an open common,
with gay flags flying over them, and a concourse of
spectators setting in towards the scene of attraction.
On the way, he reined up before an old brown barn
by the roadside, the dilapidated gable-end of which
was literally covered by the gorgeous circus-bills.
There he sat in his saddle, laughing with suppressed
glee; for in the midst of athletes turning wild somersets in the air, and pyramids of horsemen standing




268


DOING HIS BEST.


on each other's shoulders, was a small handbill,
pasted in fact here and there over the great bills of
the circus company, now diversifying the flank of a
steed, and now the jacket of a striped and tattooed
clown.
"THE CELEBRATED DR. LAMONT!
PRINCE OF THE HEALING ART!!
AND HIS UNEQUALLED ELECTRICAL ELIXIR!!
THE GREAT CURE-ALL OF THE 19TH CENTURY!!!!
For sale on the Circus Ground /
"I guessed right this time," thought Jack, as he
rode on. "I thought he would be following the
circus."  And indeed it was not the circus at all
which Jack had come so far to see, but the Celebrated
Doctor himself, and his hopeful son and heir.
He made Snowfoot fast to a wayside fence, to
which many other horses were already hitched, and
left Lion to guard him; then turned up his collar,
pulled his hat over his eyes, assumed a stooping gait
(reminding himself of Mr. Pipkin), and walked on
with the crowd.
Presently, above the confused tramp and murmur
resounded a brazen note,- or shall we say a tin one?
for it had a decidedly dinner-hornish sound.
"Hello!" laughed Jack to himself again, "the
doctor has had his trumpet repaired, or got a new
one!"
And now, over the heads of the pedestrians, he




JACK'S JOURNEY..descried two figures erect on a red-painted wagon,one at the rear, in brass helmet and green robe,
brandishing some bottles and shouting; the other
high up in front, a smaller figure, - that of a boy, in
fact,-blowing away at the trumpet until he was
red in the face.
" Walk up, gentlemen and ladies!" the doctor (for
it was indeed he) was shouting under his lifted visor.
" Here 's your celebrated 'Lectrical 'Lixir, composed of
the extract of the skin of the wonderful 'lectric eel;
cures burns, bruises, coughs, colds, consumption, backache, headache, ear-ache, and heart-ache,- rheumatiz in every form and shape! Only fifty cents a
bottle; three bottles for one dollar, ladies and gentlemen!"
Then - toot - toot - toot - went the trumpet.
"Cure warranted, or money refunded!" shrieked
the doctor. "Any person troubled with deafness,
lameness, sore eyes, rheumatiz in the j'ints, is invited
to step up and be healed! No charge for the operation. Show won't begin for half an hour yit; plenty
of time, gentlemen and ladies! Any case of stiffness in the back or limbs cured in five minutes, with
the magical influence of the celebrated 'Lectrical
'Lixir, compounded from the extract of the skin and
ile of the wonderful 'lectric eel! "
Toot - toot - too  too -to - o- o - t! fromthetop
of the wagon.
"Prob'ly ye don't believe what I tell ye," said
the doctor, as no patients presented themselves. " But




270


DOING HIS BEST.


look a' that young man up there," - pointing to the
youthful trumpeter.-" Young man," he cried, "tell
the people how you come to be travellin' with me."
"Ye cured me," said the young man, twirling the
trumpet, with a grin.
"I cured him!" said the charlatan. "I was addressin' a crowd as I be now, when he stepped up,
and I cured him. What was the matter with ye,
young man?"
"Lame; had a fever-sore on my left leg," said the
young man.
"Had a fever-sore of long standin' on his left leg;
so lame he could n't walk," cried the quack.
" Then how could he step ulp?" some one inquired;
while some one else echoed, "Long standin' on his
left leg!"
"On his well leg, with the help of his poor but
honest parents, he stepped up, and got upon my
stand.  What else was the matter with ye, young
man?"
"Scrof'la," said the young man, always grinning.
" Scrofla, or king's-evil," cried the quack. "One
of the wust cases. It had nearly- but the young
man shall tell his own story. - What had it.done to
ye, young man?"
"Destroyed the hearing of one ear."
"Destroyed the hearin' of one ear, ladies and gentlemen! Which ear was it, young man?"
"Left ear," said the youthful trumpeter.
"Left ear," repeated the mountebank. "Fever-sore




JACK'S JOURNEY.


271


and scrof'la, - deaf in one ear and a cripple in one
leg, - and with one bottle of the 'Lectrical 'Lixir I
affected an immejit cure, to the great joy and lastin'
gratitude of his parents, who begged me to let him
travel with me one month, for fear of a relapse.
There he stands, a livin' moniment of the sublime
vartews of the celebrated and world-renowned 'Lectrical 'Lixir, compounded of the double extract of the
skin, ile, and liver of the wonderful 'lectrical eel!
Walk up!"
And just then an old man walked up, or rather
limped up, for he was quite lame. He had a few
words with the Prince, and then, with his assistance,
mounted the platform.
"Ladies and gentlemen! here's a man says he
has been troubled with a stiffness of his right knee
for ten year'; and with one application of the celebrated 'Lectrical 'Lixir I propose to work a mirackelous
cure! Meanwhile my attendant on the wagon will
'tend to customers, - may as well make the most of
your time, - secure a few bottles 'fore they're all
gone."
Lamont, then, with some difficulty, succeeded in
getting the old man's trousers-leg above the knee,
exposing a calf and shin that excited the derision of
irreverent youngsters. While he was at work, rubbing in the liquid, the living monument of its virtues,
after a few vigorous notes of the trumpet, took up the
eloquent strain.
"Walk up! walk up, gentlemen! Here's your




272             DOING HIS BEST.
'Lectrical 'Lixir! greatest remedy of the nineteenth
century! Only fifty cents a bottle, three bottles for
one dollar; cure warranted, or money refunded!
Take a bottle, sir? take a - a -"
The words died to a gasp, and, the face of the
youthful trumpeter turned all at once a sickly, bluish
and greenish sallow hue, wonderful to witness. The
cause of this remarkable change was not far to seek;
for there by the wagon-wheel, looking up with keen
blue eyes straight into the eyes that looked down, was
the round-shouldered young fellow to whom he had
hoped to sell a bottle, and who was suddenly transformed into Jack!




WHO WON AT LAST.


273


CHAPTER XLII.
WHO WON AT LAST.
" PHIN CHATFORD! get down here!"
"What do you want of me?" gasped poor Phineas.
"You son of poor but honest parents! cured of
fever-sore and king's-evil! I guess you'll have a
relapse!"
" Don't!" whispered Phin, as Jack got hold of him.
"You living monument! get down here, I say! I
want my purse and my money!"
" I hain't got 'em!"
" Who has?"
"I gave 'em to him."
"Get them of him, then, or I '11 have you both in
jail within an hour! "
Jack had by this time pulled Phin to the ground;
and, still holding him by the collar, he led him around
to the rear end of the wagon, where the doctor was
applying his Elixir to the old man's leg.
"There! better, ain't ye? not so lame as you was,
be ye?" he was saying; and the old man was beginning to imagine that the stiffness of his knee was
relieved. "It's asure cure, ye see, gentlemen! And
this is an old subject; youth is more s'ceptible; I
could 'a' cured a younger man in half the time. The
'Lectrical 'Lixir, ladies and -"
12*                     R




274


DOING HIS BEST.


Just then the eyes under the helmet looked down
on Phin and Jack; and the head in the helmet was
evidently disconcerted. Phin pointed at Jack, and
beckoned.
"Wait a minute!" said the doctor, nodding hastily.
"I 'm havin' a little sale jest now."
Jack took advantage of the delay to open a conversation with Phineas.
" How do you like this kind of life?"
"Well enough!" said Phin, sullenly.
"Had n't you better go back home? you'll be
kindly received," Jack assured him.
"I guess so!" grumbled Phineas.
Finding it impossible to persuade him, Jack said,
"Why did you try to drown Lion?"
"To get rid of him!"  Then, looking up with a
quick glance of apprehension at the doctor: "Don't
tell him I did n't drown him! I '11 get the money
back for you, if I can."
The throng soon dispersed; when the doctor, having
had time to collect his wits, turned to the two boys.
" That purse of money!" faltered Phin. " He says
he '11 have us both in jail, if I don't give it back."
"What pus of money?" Lamont innocently inquired.
" The purse he stole from me, and that you received
from him, knowing it to be stolen!" cried Jack.
"Ingenious! and I love a neat little game; but
old birds ain't to be ketched with chaff," said the
doctor, with an insulting laugh. "If he has stole




WHO WON AT LAST.


275


your pus, clap him into jail, and mabby our good
friend Deacon Chatford will thank you! But Idon't
know nothin' of the matter." And this was all the
satisfaction Jack could obtain.
He felt that he had committed an error, in making
a threat which he did not care to execute, even if he
could have hoped to find a magistrate outside of the
circus-tent to issue a warrant on his complaint. But
he had thought of a better plan, which he now determined to carry into effect.
"You shall see what I'11 do!" he cried, as he
turned away.
"He '11 do something!" murmured the frightened
Phineas. "You never saw such a fellow, when he
sets out to do a thing! Give him the purse, won't
you? and the money, -you've got enough!"
"It's agin my principles to give back anything I
once git into my claws," replied Lamont, taking off
his helmet. "Run to the tavern for the hoss, while
I pack up the wagon. We've made a perty good
sale, and can afford to cut." And he began at once
to prepare for flight.
As Jack was going from the circus-ground, he met
a full-faced and somewhat burly young fellow, the
sight of whom filled him with joy.
"Forrest Felton!" and he ran to greet his friend.
"Where did you come from? "
"I am out here on a surveying tramp," replied Forrest. " A boy I had to carry my chain struck work, -
said he was going to the circus,- so I thought I might




276


DOING HIS BEST.


as well go too. But how came you here?" Jack
told his story, to Forrest's great amusement. "And
what are you going to do now?"
"I 'm just going to see that my horse is all right,
and get my dog; Lamont is afraid as death of him!
I'11 just lay siege to his old wagon, till he gives up
the plunder, if it takes a week!"
Forrest laughed heartily. "I'11 go with you and
see fair play," said he. "Is that your horse yonder?"
"Yes; he's all right."  Jack then gave a peculiar
whistle, and presently Lion came bounding towards
them. "And here is my constable!" he said, taking
the dog by the collar.
While Jack was talking with Forrest, Phin had
scudded across another part of the common to the
public house where the doctor had put up his horse;
and he was on his way back to the wagon, leading
the beast by the bridle, when he saw, to his dismay,
Jack and his two allies arrive on the spot before him.
Lamont, who was on the ground fastening up the
end-board, heard a sharp growl, and, looking around,
saw -the dog! the dreadful dog, that would not stay
drowned, but had come to life again for his ruin
One moment of paralyzing fear, - and then the dexterity with which the doctor mounted from the earth,
over hub and tire, to the very top of his wagon-box,
would have done credit to any acrobat that day inside
the tent.
" What do you want of me?" he cackled from his
perch, much like a frightened fowl.




WHO WON AT LAST.


277


"You know what I want!" replied Jack, holding
back the dog by the collar, "and what I'm going
to have!"
"Help.! " screamed the doctor; and some loungers
about the tent came hurrying to the spot. "Somebody kill that brute!"
"Do you know this man?" cried Jack. "It's the
man whose horse you were stealing once, when my
dog caught you; and his name is Forrest Felton."
"I knew   you then, George Reddington!" said
Forrest; "and if I let you off, it was to get rid of
you. Now I'm here to see fair play. You'd better
give the boy his property."
By this time Lamont, perceiving that he was well
out of Lion's reach, began to recover his audacity.
"Thanks for the advice," he said, "but I don't
know nothin' about his property. Very glad to renew
acquaintance; and I'd come down and shake hands
with ye; if you was in better company. - Come, my
boy!" calling to Phineas, "hitch up, and we 'l be
off."
"Take care of that wagon!" said Jack, and released
the excited dog.
As Phin approached with the horse, Lion growled
frightfully at him, and he durst not lay hand on the
thills.
"I think you '11 be off about the middle of next
week, at this rate!" said Jack; "for I don't quit
this spot, or call off my dog, till I get what I came
for. Why don't you hitch up, Phin?"




278


DOING HIS BEST.


" I can't!" whimpered Phin, vainly endeavoring to
coax his old friend Lion.
" Why don't you get down and help him, doctor?"
cried Jack, while Forrest kept the spectators from
interfering.
Lamont took in the situation, in all its various
bearings.
"My young friend," said he, presently pulling a
purse from his pocket, and counting a roll of bills,
"you've played a shrewd game, and you've wvon!
I love a shrewd game, even if I lose, - for I 'm the
best-natered man in the world! See if that is all
right,"- tossing the purse stuffed with bank-notes
down to Jack, -" and have the kindness to call off
your dog, and oblige yours truly."
The purse was uninjured, and its contents appeared
satisfactory; for Jack laughed with delight, as he put
it into his pocket, and retired with Forrest and Lion.
Thereupon Lamont lost something of his goodnature; and, creeping down over the forward part of
his wagon, he sprang upon Phineas like a cat.
" a! you villain! you said the dog was drownded!
you lied to me!"  And then followed a noise of
beating and cuffing, accompanied by yells from
Phineas.
Two or three days later, Deacon Chatford received
a letter, from which the following is an extract:" I have found the Prince of the Heatling Art and
got back my purse, and as much money as Phin stole




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WHO WON AT LAST.


279


from me; so you can hand that back to Mr. Lapham,
with my compliments. I saw the advertisement of a
circus in your 'Republican,' and thought he would be
following it with his ''Lectrical 'Lixir,' but I did n't say
anything to you about it, for fear you'd think I was
going on a wild-goose chase. I have seen Phin, and
tried to get him to go back home, but he won't,
though I don't think he is having a very nice time
with the doctor, judging by the cuffs and the yells I
heard just after I left them. I met Forrest Felton,
who is out here surveying land, and he wants me to
carry the chain for him a few days; I think it
will be a good chance for me to learn something of
practical surveying, and if you can spare me from
the farm, I think I will stay. But tell Moses and
Mr. Pipkin they needn't fear but that I shall be
home to help at the corn-husking.  Forrest is a
splendid fellow; I could n't have got back my
money if it hadn't been for him and Lion. Snowfoot is improving; the journey has done him good.
My love to all at home. And good by.
"From your affectionate son,
"JACK H. CHATFORD."
The deacon wrote back, telling Jack to stay away
as long as he wanted to; and in fact the boy did not
go home until after Annie Felton's wedding.


Cambridge: Electrotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co.