St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-05-10
,fnr hr Children,
Tommy's Adventure.

Tommy WAS standing on IL cricket.
hN the west window. tiattcnln% ms most,
against tue pane. and making small
tracks allovcr the glass win ms tongue
when grandma dr"N" up WIN Dolly
and the red wagon. Dolly was the
horse. and she had come to take Tom
my ont to the farm, in Prarlicld. N"u
know. where his grandparents lived. t"
stay two whole days. And he wasn't
going a. Il baby. with somebody To take
care of him. hut a. u Young gentleman
who could look ont toI himself.
..Nohody amt going wiz me-. said
he to Ellen. rriumphantly. lin .ic>
vuin' all myself. alone, men grandma.
1t was the grande>t thing that ever
WAS heard of. Ia go off aS his fatlcrdid.
kissing them all good bye. and perhaps
seeing his mother cry IL little.
If she felt ever 81 much like CRYING.
she could only cry with laughter. when
Tommy came down from the garrcl:
covered with c"hwch> and dust. ANA
presented himself in the paIloi. drag
ging an old blue umbrella. and Il carpet
bag bigger than himself,
"Therc. now. my ting> are all ready.
said he.
Grandma laughed heartily. too; Vet
she made no objections to the outfit OF
the Young tray clcr. but slowed the bag
and umbrella into the wagon. while
Tommy WIS lifted into the seat. and
DullN'> head Was turned toward Pear
field.
The journey WAS not il long one. and
only one thing worth mentioning hap
pencd on the way. They were passing
Il great clover field. just at the edge of
the pine woods. when Tommy cried
out:
'.Oh grandma. grandma. see Il bear.
a->ittn' right up on the end ofhi> tail.
Grandma looked where Tommy
pointed; and Dolly stopped /" look.
too.
''Don't vou see him ," cried Tommy.
No"
Put on y"m >prrtaclr>. then.
The spcctaclc> were put ON. and.
after Il long while. she SAW what the
sharp Young eyes had c>picd 81 quick
~ am old woodchrck sitting at his
hole. just as Tommy WAS proposing
to capture him in the carpet bag. he
Whi>kcd out of sight and Dolly start
ed Oft at Il brisk pace. which she kept
up without stopping till She reached
her own hitchngp">t At glhndpa>
gate.
Grandpa himself Was there to meet
them, and lifted the funny little boy
and his funny baggage out of the red
wagon. W hen he heard about the bear.
he told Tommy that there were plenty
of such hears in his fields. and that per
haps they would 90 and catch one after
dinner.
lin the caIpct-hag ," asked Tommy.
..IeS."
I'VE must have the 'hIclIn to spear
him wiz"
''Of course"
Long before grandpa wis ready togo.
Tommy was parading the ward. spear
ing imaginary bears with his umbrella.
and putting them into his bag. He had
just caught Il fine large one when he
heard loud rumble. and l"nking MP
SAW IL man run IL great yellow stage out
of the barn ON the other side of the
street. Tommy ran To the fence. and
squeezing his chubby face IS fan ;i> pos
sihle through the pickctS. watched the
man while he washed the coach. grcaS-
ed the wheels one at Il time. then lit his
pipe and went AWAY. w hen he WAS
quite ont of sight. Tommy unattached
the gate and went over To the coach
Finding one of the doors open. he
climbed up the iron steps, Juggling the
bag and umbrella after him. to try IL
short ride 10y stage Il >tandStill ride.
of course. He played that he was pa
pa. going t" New York: that the great .
hole under the seat was Il den full of
bears and then he was Il bear himself. F.
He craWlrd into The den. 1t WAS Il fun .
ny place, with nice straw OH the floor. /
and II long curtain of leather in front. T
lie lay very still in there. and SOFTLY .
growlcd To his mdkc-hclicNc culr> Ia .
look ont for that terrible hunter. Tom .
my.
Now You know that bears are very .
sleepy fellows, and it i>n"t strange that
this little Wild animal 10y -amd-hN fell
asleep in his little den.
Meantime grandma had Looked out of
the front door. and not seeing Tommy
anywhere thought he had gone with
grandpa L" the field: while grandpa
himself had forgotten the Young hear
hunter altogether, and had gone t" The
field alone.
After awhile the stage driver came.
harnc>sed his four horses to the coach
and drove away. He stopped at the
store to get the mail bag and take in
several passengers. There WAS Il fat
woman with Il baby. an Irish servant
girl. Il one legged little French pcddlcr.
and Il Stitt old gentleman with Il gold
headed cane. With this load the vel
low stage started for Ryctowm twelve
miles away. and Tommy still asleep
under the seat.
When he awoke he couldn't tell where
he WIS. and wondered what made his
bed rock and bounce about 50. And
then he heard the people talk ing right
over his head. He pcrped under the
leather curtain and Saw several pairs of
shoes. To" frightened to know what
he did. he lifted the curtain and gave
one desperate spring. tlruSting his curly
head. all covered with straw. right he
tween the old gentleman legs. /
If real bear had jumped out. he
could not have made more confusion.
The old gentleman >prang to his feet. ,
his hat over his eyes h> >trik- :
ing against the coach {: the Irish girl
screamed ''murthcr," and tried to lean
nut of the window /; the fat woman faint
nd and dropped her baby: the little
frenchman jumped up and down on his
one leg till he lost his balance and tum-
hled over; and poor Tommy chung
with both hands to the old gcntlemam~ ,
pantaloonS. and screamed with all his
might.
| cannot begin to describe what fol- (
lowed. or record the questions with
which Tommy was a>>ailcd. in English. ,
Irish and French. to all of which he ;