Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1871-04-19
Cur guung folks.
Little CaddiP.

Little Caddie.
| wish you could have seen little Caddie.
She was such funny, fat little thing, with
very big blue eyes and hair almost as white
as cotton 1t wasn't curly, either, but used
to hang about her neck as limp as shoe
string, her brother Frank said. But she was
so cunning and good natured everybody made
a great deal of her, and she was petted quite
as much as was good for her. First, there
was Grandma, and Mother of course, and
Uncle John, don't know which loved her
the most, but they all loved her too well TO
punish her much for being naughty, so she
got into trouble as all little people do who
are not well governed.
She lived in the country, in a nice little
birds nest of cottage, that in summer was
covered with climbing roses. Caddie had
little room, all her own, for her dolles. She
had one great staring wax doll and as many
as twenty rag babies of all sizes and colors.
Caddie enjoyed housekeeping greatly with
her large family of children, but when she
was nearly four years old mamma thought
she would send her to school. 1t was sum
mer, and we didn't live very far from the
school house, and besides, l think mamma
was tired of hearing Caddie tease to go, so
one Monday morning Caddie started for
school. She looked very wise and important
trudging down the road with a new pocket
in her dress, and a new primer full of pic
lures in her little fat hands. Mamma had
told her just how to behave when she got
there, and the teacher thought she was a
very nice little girl. This lasted for about
half an hour then Caddie grew tired Of stay
ing in one place. She thou ght how much
nicer it was to be running in the garden with
Ponto, or to be dressing and undressing Miss
Rose Wax up in her playhouse 1t grew
so dull after awhile that she crept up to the
teacher and asked, in a soft little whisper. if
she might q" DO home The teacher knew
it wasn't best, 80 she tried to make her I'M
aerstand what school really meant but
Caddie didn't want to know-she wanted to
~ do home, - that was all Two great tears
stood on her round cheeks. Grandma would
say she was abused, and mamma would say
it was too bad ; so she perked up her red
\ lips, and scowled her forehead, and shifted
up her nose, and said to herself, " | sail DO.
! so =" and when the teacher had gone to the
other end of the room, Caddie stole out into
I the entry, whisked on her pink sun bonnet
and trotted off home That was her first day
at school.
1t was long time before she grew to be
quiet and orderly in school, because you sec,
she wasn't made to mind at home. One day
she leased mamma to let her wear her little
plaid shawl. 1t was warm weather, but
Caddie said she was cold, and she coughed a
little croupy cough that quite satisfied nam
ma that she meant what she said. Well,
when the school was nicely begun, and the
children were all quietly studying, they
heard loud "sch-sch'' in Caddie's corner,
and there sat Caddie, her hair tied up in a
pig-tail behind, and an anx ious look on her
face. trying to still a worrisome rag baby
made out Of her plaid shawl you know. 1t
was very funny to see her, to be sure. but
not at all funny to know how she had de-
ceived her mamma, and had played in school
besides.
Oh, how Caddie's pig-tail shook when
the teacher marched the young lady up to
the desk, and brought the little mother to
grief.
But that WASH I the worst of Caddies be-
haviour, though that was bad enough.
Well. one day Uncle John started picnic
!
were going to a grove two or three miles
away. Caddie wanted to go, Of course, but
mamma was firm this time, and said she must
20 to school instead. Caddie shed few
tears and chewed her bonnet strings a few
minutes, bat bore the refusal with better
grace than usual. School had just begun
when the merry party drove by the school
house Caddie looked longingly toward the
window she couldn't even see them 60, and
she didn't like that at all
She made pictures on the slate for a long
time. Pictures of cats with square faces,
and straight marks for legs, and pictures of
nobody knew what, only they were animals
that had as many as twenty eyes, and had a
great deal of smoke about them. Caddie had
seen a boy make smoke and she knew just
how it was done.
Well, she grew tired even of this, and then
she thought of mamma, and the pretty green
grove where she had gone, and the frosted
cakes they were to have for lunch, then she
thought she would run off and go to, but
how? She remembered one day she had had
the earache and the teacher let her 60 home.
Why couldn't she have it again? She
guessed she would. So she lay down on her
seat ia little heap, and groaned funny,
low groan.
Pretty soon the teacher came to her. Oh
oh such a doleful face, and such a smutty
hand as Caddie held over the ear that didn't
ache
Yes, the teacher said she might 90 so
Caddie walked out of the school room as bold
as lion, and ran through the yard and
away off in a different direction from home.
Pat pat went the little feet down beyond
two or three farm-houses. Trot, trot, down
the hill where she had never been before
Then up another that was ever so high, where
she could see the woods where they had gone.
She would have to crawl through the fence to
get there though. 1t was great brush fence