St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-07-19
MISCELLANY.
A SUMMERS EXPERIENCE.
Nea0 York Sunday Oau.

home picnic and after the neighbors
the dresses and the preacher had beer
discussed, the conversation drifted tt
fresh air children, as the little ones
are called who are sent by charitable
New York societies to spend week oil
two of the hot summer weather at farm
houses along the line of the railroads
sDid you have any 'freshies,' this
summer, Mrs. Lewis Z" inquired heI
friend.
"There nOwi | know it! | shall
. hear of those fresh air children every
where go till my dying day, and then
| shall hear them cantering over my
coffin"
81 feel like Staying the person who
mentions fresh air children to me, my
self. Were yours very bad 7"
"Bad No, indeed. They were just
the sweetest tempered and best behav-
ed little things l ever saw. But they
were just dreadful"
"That was just the case with mine.
Five little angels couldn't have behav-
ed better, and yet five little demons
couldn't have kicked up more disturb
ance."
"Why," said Mrs. Randolph, "when
John came home with our five in the
carriage from the train, and they all
stood up i'm row and took off their
hats to me so Old-fashiOned like, felt
like picking them up and kissing them.
| Instead of that | took them into the
kitchen and gave them all the bread
and butter and preserves and dried
beef and pie and milk they could hold.
They were all little boys, and after they
could eat no more | told them they
could play anywhere they pleased.
Half an hour after one of the farm
hands came up to the house with one
of my little darlings under his arm and
three others bawling at his heels.
'Missns,' said the man, Il guess this
ones gone outen the fresh air business.
He went down and hid himself under
the water in the dam yonder, and l
guess he staid little too long,
"With the help of the girls L rolled
and worked at the poor little fellow,
and pumped his arms and did every
thing else the cook book recipe for cur
ing drowned people told me, but it was
no use, and | gave him up and was
Just ready for cry over him, when L
heard another unearthly howl, and saw
John coming across the lawn with a
fresh air boy apparently at the last
gasp, and with face as white as q
sheet.
ooh! what is the matter, John 2
| screamed.
"I'll never tell you. l just heard a
yell over there in the sheep lot, and
when | ran to the fence this little fell
low was lying there. Gimme the
whisky
"John poured some whisky down
the child's throat, nearly strangling
out of it what little life was left, but it
gasped and struggled until it finally
sat up and remarked
"sB'George, that was close CALI
"sTwant half as close as mine, nuth
err
81 turned with start, and there was
my drowned boy without anything on
him, but strong smell of camphor and
an air of great superiority, as he con-
tinued
"I was drowned, 1 was. What was
your
Little COW took er header at me,
an knocked me out
at afterward turned out that he had
got over in the sheep pasture and trie(l
to make friends with the old gentle
man Cotswold. The boys both apollo
gized for the trouble they had made,
and we put them to bed, but about 9
o'clock John had to ride into Nights
town and bring the doctor, and we
thought two of the boys would surely
die before we got back. The doctor
said that boy who would eat ripe ap
Piles along with green ginger and rot
ten plums and refuse to die was a Gu
riosity. He pulled them both through,
however. and they each ate mans
breakfast, and then followed the mon
off to the raising of George Snedeker's
carriage house. After supper they
were all sitting along on the edge of
the porch, when one grave and quiet
intelligent little fellow opened con-
versation with john"
"'Say, mister, that was a bully raisin'
today, weren't it p
"'Yes, it went off very fine. I'm
glad you enjoyed it,
essay, when are you agoin' to have
your raisin'7'
"'My raisingR What should L have
a raising for9'
"sTo raise your mortgage
Whats that? You young rascal,
who put that into your head 2 shouted
my husband in Il fury.
"'Say, mister, doncher jump on me.
1t was his little nibs with the goggles
over to the raisin' as sed John Ran
dolph was a-talkin' about raisin' a
new barn, but he'd have to call in the
neighborhOod to help to raise his mort
gage first
"My husband looked over at me
with a glare like a mad cat.
"'That's that contemplate Bill
Houseman. Just wait till catch him
in Hightstown.'
alt took me all the rest of the even
ing to keep John from starting off to
hunt up Bill and pound him.
"The next day the whole five little
tots-the oldest was only seven-tOd-
died off to the fields with the men.
Two of them were put on the horses
that were pulling the big hayrake,
while the other three went prowling
about the field and fence corners. At
10 o'clock the girls and | went out to
the field with lunch for the men, and
we were just in time for the grand
row. The three boys hunted around
until they saw hornets nest in an
old persimmOn tree along the fence.
They didn't know what it was but
they took the best possible means to
find out. They got long marking
pole and tried to punch it down. A
moment after they were running
screaming toward their companions on
the horses, but the hornets got there
first, and before you could do any
thing, the horses had jerked away from
the driver, and with the boys on them
and the machine digging up the stub
BILE and dust behind them, they tore
across the field. Down the hill they
came, and without any hesitation jump