Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1876-07-14
hitew ash.

IOm sawyer, haYlng onenueu his sole
guardian, Aunt Polly, is, by that sternly
atIectionate dame, punished. by being set
TO whitewash the fence in front Of the gar
den. The world seemed hollow mockery
10 Tom, who had planned fun for that day,
and who know he would be the laughing
stock OF all the boys as they came past and
saw him set 10 work like "nigger." But
great inspiration burst in upon him, and
he went TRANQUILITY TO work. What that
inspiration was will appear from what fol-
lows. One of the boys, Ben Rogers, comes
by and pauses, eating particularly fine
apple. Tom does not see him. Ben stared
moment and then said:-
"Hi-yi! You're up stump, amt you ?"
No answer. Tom surveyed his last touch
with the eye Of an artist, then he gave an
other gentle sweep, and surveyed the re-
suit as before. Ben ranged up alongside of
hin. Toms mouth watered for the apple,
but he stuck TO his work. Ben said:-
"Hello, old chap. You've got to work,
hey !'"
"Why, it's you Ben. l wasn't noticing"
Say, I'm going in a.swimming, / am.
Don't you wish you could? But, of course
you'd druther work, wouldn't your
Course you would?"
Tom contemplated the boy a bit and
said :-"What do you call work."
"Why, amt that work."
1'om resumed his whitewashing, and an
swered carelessly:-
"well, maybe it is, and may be it amt.
All know is, it suits Tom Sawyer"
"Oh, come now, on don't mean 10 let on
that you like it7"
The brush continued TO move.
Like it2 Well, l don't see why 1
oughtn't 10 like it. Does boy get chance
to whitewash fence, every day?"
That put the thing in a new light. Ben
stopped nibbling his apple. Tom swept
his brush daintily back and forth stepped
back to note the effect; added a touch, here
and there; criticised the effect again, Ben
watching every move, and getting more
interested, more and mere absorbed. Pres
emily he said:-
SAY, Tom, let me wbitewash little"
Tom considered; was about TO consent,
but he altered his mind.
"No, no. l reckon il wouldn't hardly
do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly's awful
particular about this fence-righl here on
the street, you know-but if il was the
back fence l wouldn't mind, and she
wouldn't. Yes, she's awful particular
about this fence. It's got TO be done very
careful. 1 reckon there amt one boy in d
thousand, maybe two thousand, that can
do it in the way It's got 10 be DONE"
"No-is that so? Oh, come now; lemme
just try, only just little. I'd let you If
you was me, Tom."
"Ben, I'd like to, honest injun; but Aunt
Polly-well, Jim wanted 10 do it, but she
wouldn't let him. Sid wanted to do it, but
she wouldn't let Sid. Now, don't you see
how 1 am fixed? If you was to tackle
this nee, and anything was 10 happen 10
it"-
"Oh, shucks: I'll he just as careful.
Now lemme try. Say, I'll give you the
core Of my apple"
"Well, here. No, Ben; now don't! Pm
afeared"-
I'm give you all of i'll"
Tom gave up the brush with reluctance
while Ben worked and sweated in the sun,
the retired artist sat on barrel in the
shade close by, dangling his legs, munched
his apple, and planned the slaughter of
more innocents. There was no lack of
material boys happened along every lit
tie while; they came to jeer, but remained
to whitewash. BY the time Ben was fag-
ged out, Tom had traded the next chance
10 Billy Fisher for a kite in good repair /;
and when lie played out, Johnny Miller
bought in for dead rat and string TO
swing it with and so on, and so on, hour
after hour. And when the middle of the
afternoon came, from being a poverty
stricken boy in the morning, Tom was lit
orally rolling in wealth. He had, besides
the things have mentioned, twelve mar
bles, part of a jewsharp, piece OF blue
bottle-glass to look through, spool cam
non, key that wouldn't unlock anything,
fragment of chalk, a glass-stopper of a
decanter, tin soldier, couple Of tadpoles,
six tire-crackers, a kitten with only one
eye, brass door-khob, dog -collar-but
no dog-the handle of knife, four pieces of
orange peel, and a dilapidated old window
sash. He had nice, good, idle time all
the while-plenty of company-and the
fence had three coats of whiIewash ON il |
II he hadA't run out of whitewash he
would have bankrupted every boy in the
village.
Tom said 10 himself that it wasn't such a
hollow world after all. He had discovered
great law of human action without know
ing it, namely, that, in order TO make a
man or boy cOvet thing, it is only neces-
.sary to make the thing difficult to attain.
If he had been great and wise philoso-
pher, like the writer ofthis book, be would
now have comprehended that work con-
sists of whatever body is obliged TO do,
and that play consists of whatever body
is not obliged 10 do. Aud this would help
him to understand why constructing arti-
fetal flowers or performing on a tread-mill
is work, while rolling nine-pins or climb
ing Mont Blanc is only amusement. There
are wealthy gentlemen in England who
drive fOur-horse passenger coaches twenty
or thirty miles on daily line in the sum
mer, because the privilege costs them con-
siderable money, but, if they were offered
wages for the service, that would turn it
into work, and then they would resign.-
From Mark IUainS NeW Book.
Aall nlN.l 4