St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1882-04-21

L Unlnk L must nave Deen dDStuJ lOI Il |
day or two-I only know that | was
told, multis cum ldchrymiS, by my |
queen of hearts that a somewhat big |
ger boy than myself had been guilty |
of some great enormity toward her.
have forgotten its precise character,
but think it was nothing less than in
forming Rhadamanthus of the pack of
cards in her possession, thus subject
ing her to the ordeal of IA public repri- |
mand at morning prayers, as well as
the threatened search for the paste
board idols which she had set up for
the young Israel to worship during the
absence of its Moses. This latter enOI-
nifty had been avoided by the sagaci-
| ty of Miss Bell, who had taken the re-
spOnsibility of the search and found
nOthing-fOr the good reason that she
had not tried to find anything. AS a
result of this there had been wOrdy
war between her and the young man
aforesaid. His name might have been
Sloan if his parents had been so mind
ed, so we will call him that. AS they
iOurneyed homeward that night, some
where in the vicinity of the old Red
Lion, he had added to his otfense the
spretCB injurid fOrmd, which the female
| nedII can never give llC hetu Ntiii
ed her ''freckled" and "snub-nOsed"
and ''red-haired." How my bosom
swelled with righteous indignation as
she recounted to me these ills. swOre
that she should be revenged and that
right speedily. 1t seemed to soOthe her
sorrowing wrath to find me so apt i'll
the lesson of revenge. | dllated on
what | would do with the miscreant,
| rI /
did so. | think | was allowed to con-
firm my oath of vengeance by kiss
upon the fair book of her willing lips
that night.
The next day | went to school with
the firm resolve to perform wOndrous
acts of valor for my lady-lOve before
the night should fall. This resolve
was strengthened by her gracious con-
descension towards me. At the noon
recess | sought my opportunity. l
went to the cellar in quest of Sloan.
| found him playing marbles with an
other, the boy Gage of whom l have
spoken. | was a most enthusiastic
gamester. The magic of chance or
+ rivalry in skill was more than | could
resist A half dozen boys were stand
ing bv eating their luncheons and
my heart full of rage and hate, but not
, knowing just how to find an opening
! for its display. | could not go to
Sloan at once with doubled fists and
t exclaim, "Villain ScOundrel Defend
| yourself! You have slandered my lady
love YOu shall die, traitor !"
: That would not do. l must not
compromise my lady-fair. | must
hBI1
how it was hard to find. So | stood
with my hands in my pockets and
t watched the game. Sloan was victo-
2 rious and very insolent over his victo-
nv too. Poor Gage seemed much
2 chagrined. He had lost his favorite
shooter" famous "ally," which he
3 had kept to the very last, the trophy
| of many a hard won fight, and had
f only been put up as stake when he
I was absolutely ''cleaned out" of every
thing else.
''Oh, you can't play for shucks,
said Sloan jeeringly, as he pocketed
D.. his ''ally" which Gage could hardly
, see disappear without tears. sis there
l ANYBODY else who would like to learn
the game | should be very happy to
teach the rudiments to some one who
will make it a consideration"
4 had handful of marbles i'll my
( pocket and the love of the game over
came the impulse of revenge. ac-
t cepted his challenge on the instant.
One and another gathered around us
S until we were the centre of an admir-
;, ing ring. Luck turned against Sloan.
: had soon won back all he had taken
!. from Gage and gave thar faithful fel-
n low back his favOrite ally. By-ani-by
the bell rang for school but we did not
stop. We had just begun game,
r which, if won by me, would leave
i Sloan without a marble in his posses
sion except his shooter. Gage alone
= stayed to see the game end. We play
t ed cautiously and | won. Sloan was
d angry and jeered him as he had jeer-
p ed Gage. 'Perhaps he would like to
:, engage me to teach him the rudiments
u of the game the next day" | was
d picking up the marbles as | spoke
! He answered sharply that had better
: not crow, he would play me game
It for his shooter against a set of five
b ground marbles. | accepted and il
e five minutes had won that also. o
d course | redoubled my taunts.
l. ''Oh, could win if | was willing t.
/ cheat as you do" said Sloan i'll hi
1t desperation.
1t was an unfortunate remark for him
j, the tinder which fired my half-forgot
ten rage. In an instant | had crap
lie pied with him and was bent upOl
1T avenging my own insult as well "a
that of my lady-lOve at once.
;" Gage tried for a time to act as
peacemaker, but having met the us
ID ual fate of such foolish mOrtals and re
i ceived few blows, he stood off an'
n, sought to attain his object by threat
lie ening to 90 and tell Rhadamanthus
E" We knew him too well to fear any sucl
i'd treachery and each did our best to pun
y ish the other. First one was dow
and then the other, and both had beel
lie to chancery without adding to on
4 beauty, until, as luck would have it, il
lg trying to throw each other we bot
struck against the ash bin. An i'll
id stant after a handful of the strOn
re wood ashes was dashed into my mouth
ne If was angry before | was blind wit
p rage then. | caught Sloan by the hal
ne and we stood on opposite sides of tn
I'd bin, each using the new implement O
E. war, the ashes. | had but one han
4" loose and with this could gather til
ashes and throw it into his face when
ne ever | could get chance. He ha
nd both hands at liberty, and with hi
"a head bent over the bin threw the ashe
e. upward i'll binding shower. HO'
ly they stuck in my hair, gathered in m
n clothes, clung to my sweaty face, creT
ol into my nostrils, invaded my mout
l and passed the picket of my eyelid
ny with impunityl No effort could ri
er me of their intrusive pungency
| H.. 4, ,.nun,r ,roI..pn