Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1874-01-08
BOyhOOd Memories.


years, but house shining out of a house
hold life that eXhaled from it and formed
an atmosphere around it, imperceptible to
other eyes, but clear and full of the tender
est beauty to mine That sOul-vapor
evolving Il thousand airy shapes of sorrow,
tenderness, reverence, love, fear, gladness,
will never gather about any other struc-
turc.
There are subtle losses to IA sensitive
soul that cannot be made up, and that are
out of all proportion to the external and
material value. 80 She has pawned the last
ring for bread for her children" Only
God knows how much that may mean.
One by one they went-cherished things
of value, each full of ones innermost life.
and when all are gone, the soul, stripped
1 of its souvenirs, is impoverished in its
most gracious memories. The burning of
the Alexandrine Library was piteOus loss
in its way; but more pangs have been felt
a thousand fold at the sale of ring, a
brooch, a cradle, a letter. book, than any
one ever felt for the ancient library
/ There was something about the old
house at Litchfield SO sensitively sacred
that | never could bear to look back upon
it IN after years, when it had been rear
ranged. divided, and fixed up generally.
| left it in 1926, bouncing boy to whom
the whole world was an orb of iov and
health, and never put foot across the
threshold again At twilight only, when
the outlines alone were revealed, and the
changes hidden | have looked at it from a
distance.
/ a very boys house. planned without a
plan, and full of entries" closets, and
3 unexpected rooms. There was the great
kitchen. What times we've had there
blind mans buff, at night when the work
was done up What labors on bitter cold
mornings-everything in the house frozen
to kindle a fire of green wood. What
apple-peelings, pumpkin-cuttings story
telling circles around the fire. What dis
nal washing days, and what days OF
smoke and vexatiOn when new-fangled
stoves came in fashion, instead of the
great, roaring old tire-places. There was
the old settec, called . settle, its seat filled
with every conceivable tool, toy, or ginl-
crack. The long clock that stood solemnly
ticking, and would have seemed like Il
deacon if a foolish-looking, half moon face
that never rose or set had not been painted
on its face. Out of the kitchen opened the
candle-clOset, and the sink-rOom, which
was huge. dark well room that never
had ray of sunlight in it. its only window
looking toward the north, as if searching
for cold The doors Of the kitchen were
curiosities. and no two alike-that on the
south large and easy, that on the north
sagged on its hinges and shut with a harsh
noise; the dining-room door shut with 4
cackle, and was always unlatching itself;
the door next to il, seldom used, seemed
stately and aristocratic; the cellar door
was gloomy and mysterious.
All, yes; down those dark cellar stairs
we have gone thousand times, to draw
cider, to pick over apples, to sort potatoes
and turnips. to boil potatoes and apples for
the pigs. in a new-fangled kettle set
Also, down those stairs we have gone a
hundred times, to play hide-and-seek, to
get hatfuls of apples. to hide away from
the folks up stairs who wanted" Us to
explore dark holes, with Charles behind to
keep up our courage, in the fear of seeing
great fiery cats eyes in some bin, or behind
some barrel in some corner of the very
darkest dark, The cellar was under the
whole house. very roomy, and without
windows except or the south. These were
quite large and above ground; and as the
cellar behind and the warm sun before
kept them glowing, spiders lived sumptu-
winter eating each other, with now and
then a hard-shell bug as a dige>tant Alas,
here it was that we fell, Our tender
mouth had often uttered bad words, such
as gosh Il vum," " goll darn it" i
swan and even "by jink-fews,'' but had
never sworn one of the regular and I'M
doubted oaths. until one day, a. the sun
shone warm chow we'll we remember, and
~ fnrafip,rnt. To
black spider. who instead Of retreating
sprang forward and bit it. Ny guardian
angel must have been in the other part of
the cellar, for I was left to say-''--"
well, it would have been e" darn it" only
there was an m in place of the r. In "A
second | would have given worlds to re-
call the phrase. | expected an instant
catastrophe. 4 vague idea of the fate of
Coran, Dathan and Abiram came over me.
| rushed up stairs, and got speedily by the
side of my mother, who was very pious
woman. and kept near her-all day, and
was very good as to excite in her hope
that | was being awakened to religious
things | never liked black spiders before.
and [ have never liked them since.
Poets. scholars, and artists are often rep
resented as living in Gdrrcts, and a sad
thing it mnst be TO live there. But a
roomv garret. extending the whole breadth
of the roof is marvellous good place to
play in, Here the children are out of
sight and in perfect liberty. That must be
an outrageous noise that could get down
to the lower floor Here are all manner
of things to plav with-boXes, chests, Grip
pied bureaus, east off curtains. queer old
dresses, broken furniture, pans. tire-fend-
ers, andironS, screens, and hundreds of
other things for young folks to use in build
ing tents, and dressing up in costume. In
the ~;,rret, too, the nuts are stored, hickO-
rynuts. butternuts, chestnuts, haZelnuts
Bushels of ounces are heaped up through
November, waiting to be preserved
Through the Scattle the boys could eniov
the forbidden pleasure of getting upon the
roof, creeping down to the cutters. str:d
ding the rldge-board. and. on the slv,
firing nuts or pebbles at people passing be-
low. The scene changes, Nv flesh
creeps This garret is also, sometimes. a
judgment hall. Naughty boys, who have
laid up long line of petty transgressions
till the sum total should be worthy of a
general clearance, 60 whimpering and
crying up these stairs with silent gentle
man behind them trimming the leaves
from a ounce switch! All, what hatred
of sin then visited the young wretch, If
he had only felt, when tempted to truancy,
or fibs, or stealing doughnuts, OF pulling
sisters hair, or cutting up Jack = gen
orally. as he does now, sin would have
been precipice up which no temptation
could have made him climb. We have
never seen proper analysis of the men
tai state of a boy vociferating repentance,
dancing with excessive nimbleness, seek
ing with one little hand to cover space
ten times its size, and squirming in man.
ner so supple as would make an eel en-
vious.
After storm. a calm. What pleasant
days followed reckoning, Alas. since
the time when Pharaoh, on a lull of trouble,
hardened his heart, have boys done like
wise. 1tlis true that the rod of correction
drives far away from a bOy. Int II comes