The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1869-01-22
BIDDEFORD ME-, FRIDAY MORNING, JANUARY 22 1869.

we had finished. The little boys from
their side of the room Looked up surprised
and redoubled the vicious speed by which
already their NUNS had been debasine
themselves into uiuiui with the dots to tho
Us omitted. Faithful Brereton and Har.
ris and Wolls-I can see them now-plod'
ued on unconscious; / could see that none
OF them had advanced more than quar-
ter down his page.
| For few minutes the dominic did moi
observe our erected pen-fcatliers, SO en-.
gagged was he In altering ''sense llne'
oil SingletOn's or somebody's. The sense
OF this line was, that ''the vlrtuous father
OF Minerva always rewarded green con-
querors," such eplthets and expletives
having suggested themselves from
Brownies Yirldarium. But the last sylla.
bic OF "Palladls" had got snagged behind
a consonant, and the amlablc dominic was
relieving 1t from the over-pressure. So
We sat like Roman senator's, with our quill
sceptres polsed,-not coughing nor mov-
Ing, nor In any way calling his attention,
that the others might have the more time.
And the little boys fairly gall0ped with
their NUNS. But our sedate fellows on
The other form plodded painfully on,-and
}-had only finished seven lines when Mr..
Whipplc looked up, saw the senator's and
the sceptres, and said, reproachfnlly :
'You cannot all have hurried through
that copy! The chestnuts turn your
heads" With the moment, he turned
his, to see that the mlnute-hand had pass
ed q full half-circlc. at Is halEpast!" he
said, innocently. ~ beg your pardon
but among the MUSES., you know We are
unconscious OF. time. Well, well, let us
see. Rather shabby, GeOrge,-rather
shabby; not near so good rs yesterday
some strains are short, and some are shcrter,'
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 rs much
astonished In their way; for 1t was not
On cir wont to come In sixth or 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 OH those vicious ms,
and, II there were anything In the system,
each one ought to write commonwealth v
now, so that II should pass the proOf-read-
or as cOunting-hOuse." But there Is not
much In system, and dare say they gre
all bank presidents, editors, professors Of
pcnmanshp, or other men of letters.
The clock actually pointed ut quarter of
eleven! Now at ll.30 we should have
been out ut recitation, translatlng Camilla
well over the plain. We had thrown her
across the river OH a lance the day before.
We suufilcd out, and I, still In q hurry,
had to be corrected for speed by the mas
ter. then assumed more dccOrOus tone,
| his grated nerves were soothcd rs he
heard the smooth cadcnces Of the Latin
aud then, of course, just the same thing
happened rs before. The lesson was
ninety lines, but we had not read half of
them when Miss Tryphosaput In her head
to look ut the clock.
"I}eg pardon, brother. my watch has
run down. Bless me, II IL half past clcv-
en!" And she receded rs suddenly rs she
came. AS she went she was heard ask
ing, ''whcrc can the morning have gOncy'
and observing to vacant space In the hall,
that "the potatoes were not yet on the
fire." As for the dominic. he ascribcd all
this to our beginning the Virgil too late; |;
said we might stay on the benches and
finish 1t now, and gave the little boys an
other stake" In their arithmctics, while we
stayed till the welcome clock struck twelve.
''Certainly short mornln ?, boys. So
mucr for being quiet and good. Good
day, ,''now and pleasant afternoon to you.
IL is ut this point. so far rs know, that
my conscience for the first time tingled q
little.
A little, but, alas, not long! We rushed
IN for dinner. Poor Miss TryphOsa hadt
apologize for the first and last time In her
life! 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, g,-and
of course we had not expected much from
q picked-up dinner, an carly hour. We
all thanked and praised. l cut the cold
corncd beef. and we fell tO,-our appe-
tites, unlunchcd, beginning to come into
condition. Ny only trouble was to keep
the rest back till Miss TrypllOsa's pOta-
toes-thc largest little hard ut heart
appeared.
For, In truth. the boys were all wild to
be away. And as soon Us the potatoes
were well freed from their own jackets
and imprisoned under ours, cut the final
slices Of the beef Hackmatack cut the
corresponding bread; the little boys took
galore of apples and of dOughnuts; we
packed all In the lunch-baskcts, took the
hard eggs beside, and the salt, and were
away. AS the boys went down the hill, i
stopped In the schoOl-rOOm, locked the
doors. drew the curtain, opened the clock,
cut the packthrcad, pOcketed the horse
shoe. screwed on the bob, and started the
pendulum again. A very gOOd-naturcd
pendulum indeed! Ii had done the work
OF four hours In two. How much better
that than sulking. discOntented, for q
whole hour, In the corner OF farmers
kitchen!
Miss TryphOsa and her brother had the
feeling. suppose, which sensible people
have about half the days of their lives.
'that 1t Is extraordinary the time should
go so fast!" So much for being infinite
beings, clad for only q few hours In time
and clay. nor wholly ut home In these sur
roundings.
Did say would write the history OF
that chestnuttingY did not say so. L
did not entitlc this story "The Good chest.
nuts. but"The GOOd-naturcd Pendulum
will only say to the little girls that oil
went well. We waited at the foot OF the
hill for few minutes till Clapp and Per
kins came up with the mare anu wagon.
They said It was hardly half an hour since
school, but even the little boys knew bet
ter, because the clock had struck one rs
we LEFT the schOOl-hOusc. 1t was little
odd, however, that rs the boys said this,
the doctor passed In his gig, and when
Clapp asked him what time II was. he
looked Mt his watch, and said, 'llalf-past
ten."
But the doctor always was so queer!
Well. we had a capital time; just that
pleasant haze hung over the whole. Into
the pasturc.-by the second-growth, over
the stream, into the trees, and under
them, m,-fngers well pricked,-bags all the
time growing fuller and fuller. Then the
afternoon lunch, which well compensated
the abstemiousness of the mornings, then
sharp game ut ball With the chestnut
burrs,-and even the smallest boys were
made to catch them bravcly.-and, as the
splncs ran into their little plump hands,
Il NAln