Des Arc weekly citizen., 1869-01-19


 Whipple looked up, saw the senators , and the sceptres, and said, re proarh
 fully :"You cannot all have hurried through that copy! The chestnut'
 turn your heads" With the moment
 he turned to see that the minute
 hand had passed full haff-circle f"Is it haIf-past?" he said. innocently, "I beg your pardon; but among the Muses. you know, we are unconscious or time. Well. well, let us see. Rather libby. George-rather shabby not near so good as yesterday;
 Some struins are sho.t aud some a,e I shorter;
 and you too, Singleton. do not know when you have been so carelcss--you both of you are in such haste. See, Wells and Harris have not yet finished their lines.'
 Wells and Harris think were as much astonisIed in their way; for it 1 was not their wont to come in sixth and seventh-fairly distanced. indeed on any such race course. But there was little time for criticism. That good- natured pendulum was rushing on. The little boys escaped without comment on those vicious ms, and. if there were anything in the system. each one of them ought to write .com- x,..lf b' st eh pass the proof-reader as counting house" But there is not much in the system, and dare say they are all bank presidents, editors, professors of penmanship, or other men of letters.
 The clock actually pointed at quarter of eleven Now at 10: 30 we should have been ont at recitation, translating Camilla well over the plain. We had thrown her across the river on lance the day before. We shufllcd out, and I, still in Il hurry, had to be corrected for speed by the master. I then assumed more dccorous tone. his grated nerves were soothcd as he heard the soothing cadcnccs of the Latin,- and then. Of course, just the same thing happened as before. The lesson was ninety lines, but we had not read halt of them when Miss Tryphosa put in her head to look at the clock
 Beg pardon. brother, my watch has run down. Bless me. il is half past elcven!" And she receded as suddenly as she came. As she went shc was heard asking. Where can the morning have gone = and observing to vacant space in the hall, thnt 'the potatoes were not yet on ihe fire As for the dominic, he ascribed all this to our beginning the Virgil too late said W, might stay on the benches and finish it now. aud gave the little boys another take in their arilhmetics, while we stayed till the welcome clock struck twelve.
 .Certainly short morning, boys. So much Tor being quiet and good. Good day, now, and pleasant after noon to you. It is at this point, so far as know, thai my conscience, for the first time, tingied d little.
 A little, but alas, not long! We rushed in for dinner. Poor Miss Tryphosa had to apologize for the first and last time il, her fife! Somehow we had caught her, she said. She was sure she had no idea how but the morning had seemed very short to her, and so our potatoes were not done. But they would be done before long and oi course. we had not expected muc" from pIcked-up dinner. an hour early. We all thanked and prais- ed. cut the cold corned beef. and we fell to,-our appeiites, unlunched, beginning 10 come into conditiUn My only trouble was to keep the rest back til Miss Tryphosa potitoes-the largest aiittle harda heart-appeared.
 For, in truth, the boys were all wild to be away. And as soon as the potatoes were well freed from their own jackets and imprisoned under ours. cut the final slices oi the beei. llackmaiack cut the responding bread the little boys took galore of apples and of doughnuis; we packed all in the lunch basket, took the hard eggs beside, and the salt, and were away. As the boys went down the hill, Il stopped in the school-room, locked the doors, drew the curtain, opened the clock, cut the packthread, pocketed the horseshoe, screwed on the bob, and started the pendulum again, A very good-natured pendulum indeed It had done the work of Iour hours in two. How much better that than sulking. disconientcd, for whole hour in the corner ot u farmers kitchen! ! Miss Tryphosa and her brother had the feeling, suppose, which sensible people have about half the days oI their lives, that 1t is extraordinary the time should go 50 ias,!" So much for being infinite beings, clad for only q few hours in time and clay, nor wholly at home in those surroundings.
 Did say would write the history oi that chestnutting? did not say so. l did not entitle this story The Good Chestnuts,' but "fhe Good-natured P'nduIum." l will only say to the l little girls that all went well. We waited at the foot of the hill for few minutes ,iN Clapp and Perkins came up with mare and wagon. They said it was hardly half an hour since school, but even the little boys knew better, because the clock had struck one as we