Litchfield enquirer., 1877-03-29

W1F4 NM AfcaOble& n ms enanQ,s lO0keQ fssPa SsGIP ses se0R anS s s!.tvssS Rs iP left him here when gaed to the door for m ifk; and when came back he was ava; but whether he 1gaed out the win- dow or up the lum [chimney]. I canna' tell" ''Na. s'Most extraordinary P exclaimed the father, sitting down in his chair. He was perfectly thunder-struck. His supper was waiting for him, but he could not partake of it. A neighboring woman shortly after entered, saying Maggie, he's come p :'Oh, the nickem." Gone given to mischief, said Tom's moth CT; "surely he's dead wi cauld by this time. Fat can we do wi him? Oh, Mrs. Kelmar, he'll break my very heart. Think O him being oot for haill days without ony meat. Often he's oot afore he gets his breakfast, and we winna see him. again till nicht. Only think that he's been out a the day 'maist naked We can-l na get him keepit frae thae beasts O hiA s.- 4>> r-e..
 Hell soon get tired O that" said good Never, roared old Edward. ''I'n chain him in the house, and see if that will cool him" But, reioined Mrs. Kel-
 
 John ''I1l chain him to the grate. But far is he. Bring hinghere.''' SHe's at my freside." By this time Tom, having followed at her heels and heard most of what was said about him, was ready to enter as she came out "Far have ye been, ye scamp" asked his moth CT. 'sAt the Tide" His father, on look ing mp and seeing the boy with the old petticoat about, bedabbled by the mud in which he had been playing. burst into a fit of laughter. He leaned back on his chair. and laughed till he could laugh no more. ...
 "Oh, laddie," said the mother, ye need na look at n-e in that way. It's you that he's laughin' at, ye're sich comical sieht' Yell gang to that stinkin' place, man, till ye droon yersel, and sine ye, wilma come back again" Tom was clean ed, scrubbed. and put to bad. The re- suit of this scrape was braln-f fever that nearly cost the boy his life It was months before he was able to go out again. This happened when he was only about four years old. Nothing could cure him of his rowing habits. He roamed everywhere about the country, and learn. ed the best nesting places, the woods, plantations, and hedges, the streams, burns, locks, and mill-dams, within the neighborhood of Aberdeen. Whenever the other boys missed nest, it was al- ways ''that loon Edward" that had taken it away.
 The poor little fellow was always get ting thrashed.. His parents, hardwork- ing, steady people, could not understand his fondness for rowing and picking up all sorts of strange '.beasts'' and .'vermin, :" and were sorely tried by his idle hab- it's and stubborn disposition. When near ly five years old he was sent to school to keep him out of harms way. It was a dame's' school kept by an old woman, who consented to take the boy because she knew his mother and wanted to oblige her. The school-room was the garret of dwelling house, and was situated at the head of long stairway. Tom hated the confinement, and often played truant. Finding this out, his mother called his grandmother to her assistance, and''gran- nie" took him to school every morning. When. the old dame had him by the ''scruf of the neck, Tom knew he might as we'll attempt to escape from wise. His only chance was to go along quitely and watch his opportunity to slip through her fingers when she was painting up the long stairway. One morning he was sent after rolls for breakfast. but after making his purchase, instead of gong home, he started eff with three other boys to the Denburn to gather horse-leeches Stopping over the water, he saw the na- fection of grannie approaching with steal thy steps. When he felt her fingers on his neck. he made sudden bound for the burn. He heard a heavy splash in the water. His comrades called out ''Tam!"' ''Tam yer grannies droonIn'" But Tam!'' neither stopped nor looked back. He flew as fast as he could to the Inches, where he stopped to take breath and then wandered about all day. After dark he slunk home, sure of dreadful beating. His mother received him with sharp re- brooches: "Ye're here agaln, ye ne'er-do- weel creepin' in like thief. Ye've been wi yer ragamufins; yer weet duds tell that. That's wi yer Inches, an tearin' an rldin' on the logs, an yer whin bushes. But ye may think muckle black shame o'yersel, man, for gaun and droonin yer peer auld grannie. 1T didna droon her, {" said Tom. But she may hae been droon- ed for you; ye didpa stay to talk her oot. 2 ''She fell in hersel." "Haud your tongue, or i'll take the poker t'ye Think shame, man, to send her hame in sic 8 filthy state. Bnt where's the bread I sent ye for" ''Its a'eaten." "We wad hae had a late breakfast if we had waited till moo, and sine ye've no gotten 1t after a." But yell see what yer father Il say to ye when he gets hame."
 Tom soon got to ped, put kept awake until his father returned. He was told the whole story by his wife in its most dreadful details. When he he heard of grannie' plash into the burn, and com. ing home covered with ''glauY," he burst out into long and hearty laugh. Tom heard it with joy. The father then re- marked that grannie should ''beware of going so near the edge of such a dirty place. Then Tom felt himself reprieved, and shortly after fell asleep. a-s@.s fss D.
 Tom learned but little at this first school. The old dame was very devout, and besides teaching the A B c, and to read words of three letters, she prayed, ,or as Tom called it 'sgroaned" twlce day. She was dreadfully annoyed by he''nasty things" Tom brought into the school room, and he was often warned that if he kept 1t up'he would be expelled. One day he brought tame kae, or iackdaw hid- den in h1s trowsers When the scholars knelt down to pray, the kae became frac- tious and uneasy, and pushed his beak through the opening between his trow- sers and the vest Tom tried to squeeze him back, but the bird began to screm. cre-a00a0 :! creaOaa0 "The Lord pre- serve's a Fats this noo?' cried the old dame, starting to her feet. 'It's Tam Edward again P shouted the scholars, s'wi'a craw stlckin' oot of his breeks! The scEool-marm went up to him, pulled him up by his collar, dragged him to the door, thrust him out, and turned the key on him. Tom never went back to that school
 Tom was then sent to another school. It was kept by an old man who had great faith in the ''taws" as a means of instruc- tion The 'taws" is heavy leather strap about three feet long. the end cut into several tails and hardened in the fire. In the hands of an angry man it is fearful instrument of torture, as Tom often found to. .hls cost. One day he smuggled into the school room a broken bottle full of horse-leeches. All passed on smoothly