Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1846-02-13

And joined the merry band,
~~' And the way we used tn ride down hill
one AFTER another. over the glare ice, and some
times clean smack across the medder swami
PORa at shef0ot, was caution to railroads.
Phil Ant'ny was our schoolmaster,
A larned man was he; sa>'fA
In'TitiImetic he'd gone as fur
eAl AS the Double Rule of Three!
He'd studied physic tew,
3 And where ne boarded ronnd
Hec cured worms and tizzick tew
- With roots dug from the ground.
Upon the hill it stood,
That school house old and warm,
With that big pile Of wood,
a laughed at cold and storm,
The hillside slope in front,
How glorious III the view!
-a PFepused to slide full halfa mile
SIS On steds and dug-outs, tew!
y7''Fhs boys may gwout," says the school
master says he, one forenoon, sand du you 90
and break your etarnaI necks a ridn' down
hill IN that hog troth, and you see what You'll
ketch when | git holt on you, that's all -
Stop! Gene back all on you, come back !!
Is stnat the way to gwout, like passed. Of
steeFt sheep rbnnn' over one another?-
Where's yonr manners Haint told You
more'n hundred times bout that! Now
staHFohe to time. and when you git to the
door, iturn round and make your manners, ev-
ery5one on yon. sly Harrington, jist crrne
right staight back here, sir! You're a terri.
blesRart Teller, Amt you? Mebby you tho't
I9dtdn't see you when you was pretending to
make a bow, bump your forrard agin Rnbe
JohHsin's, nose on purpose! Jest see how
you made it bleed; don't cry Reub;n, it'll feel
better arter it's done achin.'' e'@
81 didn't gotG du il; Rube come pushin'
upjest as I turned round TO make my man.
ners;' / didn't have room tn du II, thout hitin'
him on the nose.' ..--.
''What did you push up, that fashion for,
henbm; hadn't you no more sense than that
81 couldn't help ir;, jim Wright stuck pin
lntu me, audit kinder made me jump forrard
a little, and
''WaII go long out both on yon, and behave
yourselves, and tell Jeems WrigltAto come
here; have dizziness of importance to du with
him,'''i. ... .....-.
And away went the boys, and they hadn't
been out tew mlnnets afore they WAS both
mounted on hand sled streakin' it down hill
like chain lite'nin. There wasn't boy in
school that WASN'T la coastn in some way or an
ofher. Some was on sleds, some on panks,
some on logs, some in wooden trays, and them
that hadn't nothin' else to ride on would set
down fiat on the ice, and let others drag 'eln
by two strings tied round their ankles. Bat
they all remembered what Doctor Phil Ant'ny
told 'em, and nobody didn't tetch the big hog
troth. There 1t stood right on the startn pint
as easy as hair trigger to go off. I've seen
a dozen;felers git into it all twisted together
like bed Feels In cold weather, and slide
down like streak and all tumble into a soft
sBew bank together, to the bottom Of the hill,
Ike young rats in meal tub.
Wall putty soon Doctor Phil Ant'ny come
out Of the school honse to look for jim Wright,
but Jim had jest started in his little tray-the |
swTftest craft on the tr ok, 'cept the big hog |
troth7-and his bushy red hair was beginning |
to stream back like blaze of fire. stop -
cried Doctor Phil. ''stop you little rpint, or
IN be arter you, and give you the wust IIckin'
you ever got 10 your lfe!" Il can't," cried |,
jim, lookln back, ''the critters got started.
and faint no use to try to stop her now, she's
got the lin her ter lh.'' '.By the thunder
and litenin!" hoIlered Doctor Phil. and STOMP
ed down his foot, and up flew both heels, and
down he went backwards, kerwolIop into the
hog ;troth, and away he went, with his feet
stlckin' ups right in Jim's wake. Jim seed
him comm, and he put spurs to his boss, that
Is to say.-he stuck his spike into the ice and
pushed ahead, as fine was 'scapIng from
raUfoad. On went Doctor Phil like whirl-
wind, and he was overtakin' Jim hand over
hands or@rather heels over head, and was JUS:
rnnnIn aEonl on him, when the troth touched a
lump of ice and sheered off at tangent. The
boys all stopped and looked at the schoomas-
ter, some on 'em. eenamost astonished ont IF
their breath, and others reddy TO bust latin.
Whlz vent the 10th down the steepest part of
the hill. An old log, half buried in the ice,
lay acrost Doctor Phirs path. and the boys
knew mighty we'll what was comm, for some
on EN- had been shipracked on that log afore.
He'll git histed, now sartin said Sy Harring-
lon, jnmpin up and down, and sIappin his
thighs; ''there he goes by hockey =" and sure
huff thore he did go, for the tfoth struck the
log and leaped six foot into the air, shrowin
Doctor Phil ten foot down the hill, whirin
over and over like buzz, and he never stop
ped till he went splash intu bilin spring,
here the cattle went to drink and had trod it
full Of soft mud. s. -s 'i-1s-
"Whefe's the schoolmaster?" shouted Jim
Wright, crawlin- out of the snow bank where
he had landed, and shakln the snow ont of his
hair; 'Fcracky! if didn't think he'd ketch me
ut one time" ~ s-.-,.g1-,
The boys all run to tine bilin spring, and
there lay Doctor Phil Ant'ny all kivered with
mud and snow, groanin aloud. and tears of
anger and agony startin out of his eyes! His
thigh and one rib was broke. Phil was kind
hearted man. and the boys all loved hTm.
Housed tn talk savage to us sometimes, hat
then ne didn't used to hurt us. The little boys
stood round and cried when Phil told us that
his leg was broke. and the big ones looked
sorry, and took holt on him, keerful, and kerr
rled him TO the school house and then pulled
him over to fathers on haud-sled. Our be.
loved schoolmaster never got up again.
Long fingered our poor friend a