Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-01-08
4 YOnng Desperate.

w hen Johnuy IL oil snugly curled up in
bed, with his rosy cheek resting on one of
his scratched and grimmy little hands, form-
ing altogether perfect picture OF peace
and innocence, 1t seems hard to realize
what a busy, restlve, pugnaclous little
wretch he is There is something so comi-
cal in those funny little shoes and stockings
sprawling upon the floor; they look if
they could jump up and run off, if they
wanted to; there is something so aughable
about those little trowsers, which appear
TO be making vain attempts to climb up
into the easy chair; thc aid trowsers
still retaining the shape of Johmny's legs,
and refusing to go to sleep-there is some
thing, | say, about these little things, and
about Johnny himself, which makes 1t diff
ficult for me to remember that, when
Johnny is awake, he not unfrequently dis
plays traits of character not to be COM
pared with anything but the cunning of an
Indian warrior, combined with the COM
bative qualities of a trained prize-fghter
I'm sure | don't know how he came by
such unpleasant propensltles. L am my
self the meekest of men. OF course |
don't mean to imply that Johnny inherited
his war-like disposition from his mother.
She is the gentlest of women. But when
you come to Johnny-he is the terror of
the whole neighborhood.
He was good enough at tirst-that Is to
say, for the first six or seven days of his
existence But [ verify believe that he
wasn't more than eleven days old when he
showed degree of temper that shocked
me-shocked me in one so young. On
that occasion he turned very red in the
face-he was quite red before-doubled
up his ridiculous hands in the most threat
ening manner, and finally, in the impotency
of rage, punched himself In the eye.
When | think of the life he led his
mother and Susan during the first eighteen
months after his arrival, shrink from the
responsibility of allowing Johnny to call
me father.
Johnny's aggressive disposition was not
more early developed than his duplicity
By the time he was two years of age, L
had got the following maxim 10y heart ::
Whenever J. is particularly quiet, look
out for squalls" He was sure to be In
some mischief. And [ must say there was
a novelty, an unexpectedness, an ingenuity
in his badness that constantly astonlshed
me. The crimes he committed could be
arranged alphabetically. He never re-
peated himself. His evil resources were
inexhaustible. He never did the thing l
expected he would. He never failed to do
} the thing l was unprepared for. [ am
not thinking SO much of the time when he
painted my writing desk with raspberry
jam, as of the occasion when he perpetrated
an act of original cruelty on Mopsey, a
8 tavorite kitten in the household. We were
sitting in the library. Johnny was play
-. ing in the front hall. In view of the
.. supernatural stiffness that reigned, re.
marked suspiciously, "Johnny is very quiet
: my DEAR AT that moment a series Of
: pathetic meacs was heard in the entry
e followed by a violent scratching on the OF
+ cloth. Then Mopsey bounded into the
e room with three empty spools strung upor
d her tail. The spools were removed with
}, great difficulty especially the last one
}. which fitted remarkably tig int. After that
!, Mopsey never saw a work-basket withou
\ arching her tortoise shell back, and dis
tending her tail to three times its natura
r. thickness Another child would have
Ii squeezed the kitten, or stuck a min int,
'e it, or twisted her tail; but it was reserve,
70 for the superior genius of JOHNNY to str;n,
RS rather small spools upon it. He neve
did the obvious thing,