The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1874-02-19
FOB THE YoplR FOLKS.



Tommy White was six years old,
and a fat, funny little fellow, with
blue eyes, deep dimples, and the
lightest yellow curls you ever saw.
Tommy livel In white house that
stood ON the top of q hill, with his
father and mother, and halfa- dozen
brothers and sisters, who were all
older than he, and thought he was
the most beautiful and wonderful boy
that ever was born.
But although Tommy was the dar-
ling Of the whole family, there was
one who was more devoted to him
than all the others. % ~
This was his sister Annie; she was
six years older than Tommy, and
nom the time he was q baby she had
taken almost the whole care of him,
and their mother called Tommy can
Their house stood, as 1 said before,
on the top of a high hill, and In the
winter the children used to have
grand times cOasting down; they
could go clear across the orchard and
the road, and then down another lit
tie slope; 1t was the best cOasting
place anywhere round, and the chill
dren enjoyed it all winter long.
One summer morning when the
hillside was covered with grass and
yellow dandelions, and the children
were playing around, Annie picked
a quantity of dandeliOn blossoms and
made chains of their stems, and a
harness for herself that Tommy might
drive her for horse, but after q time
they became tired Of this play and
sat down on the grass TO rest.
mamie" said Tommy, after he
had sat still about minute and q
quarter, "T0mmy wants to play"
swell" said Annie, blowing the
downy head off. of a dandelion,
"what does Tommy want to play"
II dunno; sumfin, yes: Tommy
wants to side down hill"
"Why, you little goosie," said An
ME, "yOu can't slide down hill i'm
s sunni .a there here isn't any snow to
"S'ide on the grass"
! "Y0u can't, darling, the sled won't
go; do you want to try it? Well,
sit here a minute, I'll get the sled and
let you see;" and away she ran to the
In a minute the sled was brought,
and Tommy proved to his satisfac-
ton, or rather dissatisfaction, that il
would not 60 on the grass.
As Annie was putting away the
sled in the barn, she spied some
empty barrels In the corner. Sudden
ly a new idea flashed through her
brain.
80, TOmmy!" she cried, 81 have
thought of such a splendid thing |;
I'll put you into one of these empty
barrels and roll you down hill. It
will be better than sliding.
Tommy was delighted with the
plan. So one of the cleanest barrels
was quickly turned over on Its side,
and rolled into good position at the
top of the bill and Tommy crawled
in.
He was such a little fellow that
there was plenty of room for him,
and Annie gave the barrel a push,
and 1t began to roll down the hill.
Faster and faster it went, and An
ME stood and gazed after 1t, but only
for a moment, for she soon heard
cries issuing from 1t, and they were
not screams of delight, but of pain
and terror.
Poor Annie! Screaming herself,
she ran after the barrel as fast as she
could hoping to stop II before it reach
ed the foot of the hill, but it rolled
faster than she could run and away
it went, through the orchard, across
the road and down the bank on the
other side before 1t stopped; then
Annie siezed it and pulled out Tom
my, fOrlorn-lOOking child enough /;
his plump cheeks, his fat hands, and
arms, and feet were scratched and
bleeding, his dress was torn, and he
was screaming and crying with all
his might.
Annie took him i'm her arms and
carried him home. Her mother, who
had heard the screams, was standing
at the top of the hill, and came to
meet her. She took Tommy herself,
and asked Annie how he got hurt.
Annie told what she had done as
well as she could for. crying. Her
mother did not scold her, for she
knew she had not meant to hurt her
little brother, and she thought the
fright she had received would teach
her to be more careful In the future.
She washed the blood from Tom
my's face and hands and found he
wasn't seriously hurt. When he had
sObbed himself to sleep, Annie went
after the barrel and rolled it home;
on looking in it she saw what she had
not noticed before, q great many 1T
tie nails, whose points had done the
mischief. z
Tommy's scratches soon healed up,
and in a few days he was quite well,
but his older brothers called him the
Infant Regulus for long time
afterwards.-YoUth's Companion. 4