St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1882-06-30
flor hs Children.
That Hornets Nest.
BY CHARLEY GRAYsON.

the way they have to without any
grandfathers or grandmothers | never
could make out. just fancy having
no grandfather to go and see Christmas
and Thanksgiving and summer vaca-
tions The fact is, boy without any
grandfather can't begin to have half a
good time.
Fathers and mothers are all very well,
but, you see, as mother explained the
last time father had to whip us, they
feel "A responsibility. Now, GRANDPA
theirs and grandmothers haven't any
such responsibility. They can just
give themselves up to being goOd-na-
tured, and let fellow have good
time. If he turns out bad, you see, it
amt their fault, and they don't have
to worry about not having done their
duty by him.
My grandfather lived just out of
Blackridge, on Il large farm. There
was an academy at Blackridge, and so
mother sent me to live there for a
while and 90 to school and Uncle
Jerry's two boys, Ham and Now Fright
names Hamilton and Mowbray.) lived
there all the time, and Uncle Jerry and
Aunt Anna too, and we had Just the
best fun that ever any boys did have
| don't mean Uncle Jerry and Aunt
Anna they didn't go in for fun, you
know. Uncle Jerry kept a store in the
village, and Aunt Anna staid in the
kitchen with grandma.
We always had to behave ourselves,
and never thought of doing things
without leave, for grandpa was not one
of the kind to be disObeyed besides,
we loved him too well for that. But
he was always ready to let us have Il
good time, and said that he liked to
see boys enjoy themselves when they
did it in the right way.
Besides Ham and Now, there were
the Davis boys, about five miles off,
who went to the academy too and
once Il week or so we spent the day
with them or they came to spend it
with us. Real good fellows, both of
to them best. there were such lots of
things to do there. Mr.. Davis, you
see, was what grandpa called ''a pro-
gressive mani used to wonder what
that meant, and say it over to myself
whenever | saw him-and he wanted
Frank and George to understand every
thing that was going on and he used
to get them all the improving boys
books that came out, and they had a
tool chest, and a printing press, and
all kinds of drawing things, and the
greatest lot of scrap-bOOks and they
collected stamps and coins, and taught
us how and we used to make things
when we went there, and Mr.. Davis
always gave prize for the best.
Mr.. Davis's right name was ''HOn.
Charles NJ. Davis" | saw it on his
letters when the boys brought them
from the Post office, and they were
very proud of their fathers name. He
had been to Congress, people said, and
| used to wonder if this was as far off
as the Cape of Good Hope.
Mrs. Davis used to train round I
don't mean that she acted bad) i'll a
real handsome dress mornings, and she
smiled at us pleasantly, and said that
she liked boys, and hoped we wouldn't
make her head quite split (Ham guessed
there must be IA big crack in it some
where y and then she went off, and we
didn't see her again until dinner-time.
| used to get most sick then, because
Mrs. Davis said she thought boys could
never have too much to eat and she
kept piling things on our plates, and it
wouldn't he polite to leave them and
was the littlest, and it really seemed
us if | couldn't hold them all. Aunt
Anna always said that ''visiting didn't
agree with Phil :" but | went all the
same.
This was the way we got there ::
grandpa would let us have a horse
when it wasn't too busy day on the
farm, and we all took turns in riding
him. 1t was prime fun, and gave each
of us Just about enough walking. There
was the One-mile mill, and Heckles's
pasture, and the brook, and old Mrs.
Junkett's little red house, and lots of
places, where the boy that was on got
off, and the next one took his turn !;
and we never quarrelled about it, and
always came back feeling just about as
good as when we started.
One morning in July we set off, eX-
pecting to have just the grandest kind
of time. Mr.. Davis had got the boys
something new from the city, and they
wouldn't tell us what it was until we
came. 1t was Saturday, of course, and
most amazingly hot. Kitty (that was
the horse) did not care about going
very fast, and she crawled along with
us, turn and turn, till we got about a
mile from Mr.. Davis's.
"a hornets nest ~ shouted Nov,
who had walked on ahead of Kitty.
"COme on, boys :"
"Stop," said Ham /; 'Iet's tie Kitty
safely first"
SO we led her to the shade of some
trees on the edge of a piece of woods,
where she would be safe from the hor-
nets, and tied her fast then off we
went, full tilt, after Now. He was
staring up into a hollow tree, where
we could just see the hornets nest,
looking like a brown paper parcel full
of hOles-and big fat one it was.
"There's millions in it," said he as
we came up but he didn't mean mon
ey, only hornets.
This pleased us very much not that
we were exactly fond of hornets, but ii
made it more exciting. No matter
what IA boy is doing, he always has to
90 for a hornets nest when he sees it
and we never thought about being
warm or anything else, but just to send
those hornets flying. We could see a
lew vi IheuI CIdNllHS III anu out- anu
hanging round their paper house, and
we meant to give them a hint that
| they'd been living in that hollow tree
about long enough.
The tree was quite low, and we got
long sticks and went at them. We had
"A lively time of it. The hornets came
swarming out at us like ten thousand
red-hOt locomotives, burning us every
where at once, for they stung Us like
fun; and We ran for dear life, and then
came back and hacked away at them
our faces blazing with heat, and per
spiration oOzing from every pore. We
took off our jackets at the beginning OF