Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-04-13
Surprising Adventures of Master Charles.
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Surprising Adventures of Master Charles.
BY BRET HARTE.
At exactly halfpast nine o'clock on the morn.
ing of Saturday, August %, 1865, Master Charles
Summerton, aged FIVE years, disappeared mys-
teriously from his residence on Folsom street,
San Francisco. AT twenty-five minutes past
nine he had been observed by the butcher
amusing himself by going through that popu.
lar youthful exercise known as turning the
crab,' a feat In which he was singularly prof.
cient. At court of inquiry summarily held in
the back parlor at fifteen minutes past ten,
Bridget cook, deposed to having detected him
at twenty minutes past nine, in the felonious
abstraction of sugar from the pantry which, by
the same token, had she known what was
a-comin', she'd have never previnted. Patsey,
shrill voiced youth from neighboring alley,
testified to have seen "Chawey" at half-past
nine, in front of the butchers shop round the
corner, but as this young gentleman chose to
throw out the gratuitous belief that the missing
child had been converted into sausages by the
butcher, his testimony was received with some
caution by the female portion of the court, and
with downright scorn and contempt by its mas
culine members. But whatever might have
been the hour of his departure, 1t was certain
that from hali-past ten A. NJ. until nine PM,
when he was brought home by policeman,
Charles Summerton was missing. Being nat
urally of reticent disposition, he has since re-
sisted with one exception, any attempt to wrest
from him statement Of his whereabouts during
that period. That exception has been myself.
He has recited to me the following in the strict
est confidence.
His intention on leaving the door-steps of his
dwelling was to proceed without delay to Van
Dieman's land, by way of Second and Market
streets. This project was subsequently mOdi-
fed so far as to permit visit to Otaheiee, where
Captain Cook was killed. The outfit for his
voyage consisted Of two tickets, five cents in
| silver, a fishing line, the brass Gaping Of a
| spool of cotton, which, in his eyes, bore some
| resemblance to metallic currency, and Sunday
| school library ticket. His garments, admirably
adapted to the eXigencies of any climate, were
| severally straw hat with pink ribbon,
| striped shirt over which pair of trousers, I'M
commonly wide in comparison to their length,
| were buttOned, striped balmoral stockings,
which gave his youthful legs something the ap-
pearance OF winter-green candy, and copper
| toed shoes with iron heels, capable of striking
| fire from any tiagston'. The latter quality,
Master Charles could not help feeling, would be
| of infinite service to him in the wilds of Van
Dieman's land, which, as pictorially represented
| in his geography, seemed TO be deficient in
corner groceries and matches.
Exactly as the clock struck the half hour the
short legs and straw hat OF Master Charles
Summerton disappeared around the corner. He
ran rapidly, partly by way OF inuring himself
to the fatigues of the journey before him and
partly by way of testing his speed with that OF
a North Beach car which was proceeding in that
direction. The conductor not being aware of
this generous emulation, and being somewhat
concerned at the spectacle of a pair of very
short, twinkling legs so far in the rear, stopped
his car and generously assisted the youthful
SummertOn upon the platform. From this
point hiatus of several hours duration occurs
in Master Charles narrative. He is under the
impression that he rode out not only his two
tickets, but that he became subsequently in
debted to- the company for several trips to and
from the opposite termini, and that at last, reso
lutey refusing to give any explanation of his
conduct, he was finally elected, much to his re-
lief, on a street corner. Although, as he in
forms us, he felt perfectly satisfied with the ar
rangement, he was compelled, under the ciTcum-
stances, to hur after the conductor an opprobri-
Gus appellation, which he had ascertained from
Patsey was the correct thing in such emergen-
cies, and possessed peculiarly eXasperating
properties.
We now approach a thrilling part of the mar
rative, before which most OF the adventures of
the "Boy's Own Book" pale into insignifcance.
There are times when the recollection of this adj
venture causes Charles to break out into a cold
sweat, and he has several times since its occur
renee been awakened by lamentations and out
cries in the night season by merely dreaming of
it. On the corner of the street lay several empty
sugar hogsheads. A few young gentlemen dis
posed themselves therein, armed with sticks,
with which they removed the sugar which still
adhered to the joints ofthe slaves, and conveyed
it to their mouths Finding a cask not yet pre-
empted, Master Charles set to work, and for
few moments revelled in wild saccharine
dream, whence he was finally aroused by an
angry voice and the rapidly retreating footsteps
of his comrade. An omnibus sound smote his
ear and the next moment he felt the cask where
in he lay uplifted and set against the wall He
was prisoner, but as yet undiscovered. Being
satisfied in his mind that hanging was the sys-
tematc and legalized penalty for the outrage he
had committed, he kept down manfully the cry
that rose to his lips.
In a few moments he felt the cask again lifted
by powerful hand, which appeared above him
at the edge of his prison, and which he conclud
ed belonged to the ferocious giant Blunderbore,
whose features and limbs he had frequently met
in colored pictures. Before he could recover
from his astonishmeut, his cas6 was placed with
several others on a cart and rapidly driven
away. The ride which ensued he describes as
being fearful in the extreme. Rolled around
like pill in box, the agonies which lie suf-
tered may be limited at, not spoken. Evidence |
of that protracted struggle were visible OH his |
garments, which were of the consistency of |
syrup, and his hair, which for several hours, |
under the treatment of hot water, yielded thin |
treacle. At length the cart stopped on one of |
the wharves, and the cartman began to unload. |
AS he tilted over the cask in which Charles lay,
an exclamation broke from his lips, and the |
edge of the cask fell from his hands, sliding its
late occupant to the wharf To regain his short
1VSS anu " pun luc SitdlCSl pOSSlDle Instance |
between himself and the cartman, were his first
movements on regaining his liberty. He did
not stop until he reached the corner of Front
street.
Another blank succeeds in this veracious
history. He cannot remember how or when he
found himself in front of the circus tent. He
has an indistinct remembrance of having passed
through long street of stores, which were all
closed, and which made him fear that it was
Sunday, and that he had spent miserable night |
IN the sugar cask. But he remembered hearing |
the sound of music within the tent, and of |
creeping on his hands and knees, when no one |
was looking, until he passed under the canvas. |
His description of the wonders contained within |
that circle; of the terrific teats performed by a |
man on pole, since practised by him in the |
Dack yard; OF the horses, one of which was |
spotted and resembled an animal in his Noah's |
ark, hitherto unrecognized and underlined; of |
the female equeStrianS, whose dresses could only |
be equalled in magnifcence to the frocks of his |
sisters dolls; of the painted clowns, whose |
Jokes excited merriment somewhat tnged BY |
an underlined fear, was an effort of language /
which this pen could but weakly transcribc, |
and which no quantity of exclamation points |
could sufficiently illustrate. He is not quite
certain what followed. He remembered that |
almost Immediately on leaving the circus it be- |
came dark, and that he fell asleep, wakingup at |
intervals on the corner of the Streets on front |
steps, in somebody's arms, and fnallyin his own |
bed. He was not aware of experiencing any |
regret for his conduct. He does not recall at
any time disposition to 90 home; he remem- |
bers distinctly that he felt hungry
lie has made this disclosure in confidence |
He wishes to have it respected. He wants to
know if you have five cents about you.