The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1856-10-25
FOR TIIE. BOYS AND GJI,J <:
STEALING WATER MELONS

STEALING WATER MELONS
y man IN country town took orea: pIeaS
nre IN ia wing neat garden lie had all
kinds OF Vegetables and fruits earlier than b,,
nt'@ho"r>. Hnt thIe,ln! bows in the nei N.
h"rh""i ann"ve'l him damaged his trees
tramHcd down his flowers. and .hookrd' h..
choicest fruits. II. trieh v,r,ous WAYS %
protect his grounds; bat his watch dos wrr,
POISONED ana his sct.rral,s caught no,hinr b,,
ms latest fowls and most favorte eat.
Vne afternoon however. lust at uioh,t,ll
ne oVcrh'ar> couple OF mi>rhlevou, hov.
'aiklnH t"-rthrr. when one OF them SAWS -
wv hat do Won say. joe Shall W. come
the "ra5 over them melons to ni,ht, Oj
S"lre> will be snoring like ten men b,.tor.
twelve o',.!0rk'
The other objected as there wasa b;,l
wall To ",.t over
IN P>'law was the reply: know A
place "hrle YOU can get over lust As easy
KNOW 1t Ikea book. Come. Joe lets ,o If
he owner of the melon patch didn't like
the id"i OF beng An caves lroopcr: hut r..
conversation So intimately concerned his mel
on, VIII he bad taken so much 1aius tc
r''>r that he kept Inirt and listened TO III,
pans "t The Young >rapeoraceS, so tl,a, h,
m"'t make II somewhat hothrr>om.. for them
Ned proposed to get over the wall ON III.
south side. 10y the great pear tree, and emf
DIRE ty across to the summer house. lust north
OF which Were the melons.
Joe was a clever fellow, who loved GOOD
fru't exceedingly. and WAS as obstinate a, an
ass. Grt HIM once started to do thino and
he would stick 10 it Ikea u.,d-turtI. IN ,
n'"roe toe The other didn't care so much
Tor The melons as for The fun of getting them.
Vow hear tie owners story
! made all needul preparations for the
v:>It put IN brad> pretty thick IN the scant-
I'hS a'ons the wall where they intended to
gel over uncovered large water vat that
ha' been tlIled tor some time, from which. in
"rv weather, was accustomed to water nv
garden; dug a trench foot deep or so. and
placed slender boards over it, which were.
slightly covered with dirt, and lust beyond
them some little cords, fastened tightly. some
eight inches from the ground. I picked all
the melons | cared to preserve, leaving
pumpkins and sIua>hcs about the size and
shape OF melons in their places.
lhe boys were quite right in supnosinc il
would be- dark but missed il a l;ttl. IN ,nt.r.
ring that 'old Swipes,' as thcv called him
would be in bed. The old man liked lirl.
fun As well As they, and when the time came.
from his hiding place he listened =
wv hist, Joe don't you hear sometbino,'
'h'nk that 1t was very probable they did,
tor hardly were the words uttered than thor.
cam" sound of forcible tearing tustian
VET oil my coat tail whispered joe
There goes one flap sure as a gun. Why Get
off, Nedr o.
AND Ned was off, and one leo of his
brrech'S besides and then he was .ab' .;no
ana oh ing, and telling Joe that bt believed
there we're nails in the SHE of tae wall. for
something had scratched him trcmcndouslv
and torn his breeches all to pieces
Joe sympathizcl with him for bp said half
MS G coat was hanging up there somewhere
ihey now started hand in hand. for Ned
believed he knew the wav.' They had ar
rived little beyond the trees. when somc-
thing went swash swash into the wafer.
vat.
sneeze ensues, then the exclamation.
thunder that water smells rather oldv
Ned wanted to 90 home at once but loo
was TOO much exrIted to listen for a moment
to such proposition.
Never heard arvtling about that c;stern
before; the old fellow must have fixed if IN
p"rro>e to drown people in. Curious. thouch
that we should both fail in it,
They pushed on again for the melons
rr>e't'y they were caught bv the cords
ana hradlong they went into heap of briars
and thi>tles, and the like, which had b..n
placed there Tor their exprc,, arco,n,ol,
ton
such a "etfin' up stairs mutte.ed one
Netflcs and thistcs how they prick ex-
claimed the other.
Ihey now determined to 90 on more can.
t'ously' AZ length they arrived at the patch
How ttlck they are. Joe Come h.r..
lhere more than dozen fat one, r;,l.t
here o"'
ana they now set in the midst of them
an" seemed to conclude that they were ann.
y rewarded for al! their mi>haps
Here, Joe,' said Ned: take this melon
isn't 1t rouser: Slash into it,
1T cuts tremendous hard, Ned. Ire
squash =
=, NO II isn't, tell you; its a new kind O,d
owiPes sent to Rhode Island for the seed last
spring '0 '''' last
, ,"el'' then. all I've got to say, is that the
Old fellow got sucked in-thst's allv
IN gong to gouge into this watermelon
no''oo: there goes z half dollar I've broko
my knife. If didn't know that was a wstar
melon should say it was pumpkin. Fac,
s. believe it is pumpkin
What the boys did besides. while the own.
'r went to the stable and unmuzzlrd tho oo.,
mi led him into the garden, he couldn't say
nat they took long steps, the onion and the
lower bed revealed in The morning
Ihev had paid pretty dearly for the wbis.
lie. They haze not tasted a SINGLE melon
hey had got scratched, had torn their clothes
we're as wet as drowned Fats, anI halt scar.I