The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1894-11-27

O~~~N
now probably be called an academy
for young gentlemen"-was on the
point of breaking up for the autumn
holidays. One day during the morning
recreation had boyish dispute witt
| sohoolfellow, whose true name was
| Joseph Cornish, but to whom we had
given the nickname of Ginger in oonse
quence of the light carroty color of his
hair.
Ginger was morose, cross grained
boy, heartily disliked by the whole
school for his hangdog looks and sulky
temper. have forgotten the cause Of
my quarrel with him ON the occasion &c
which refer, but remember that we
speedily came to blows, and after q
short, sharp tussle I sent him sprawling
on the ground, to the undisguised de-
light of the onlookers, who shouted
"Bray-vo, little Carboyl Serve him
rightp' Ginger gathered himself up,
shook his red name and scowled at me
threateningly.
Never mind, Carboy, he snarled.
"You have thrashed me, own, but il
won't be long before you get bigger
hiding yourself, mark that"
mot from you, you cowardl'' re-
torted defantly.
'Oh, no, not from me- Oh, dear,
no, he sneered. ''But from your step
mother You'll soon have one, Carboy,
and then, my eye, won't you get thump-
edp
"a stepmotherl I'm going to have a
stepmotherl' The bare idea of such a
thing struck me so exquisitely droll
that l burst into fit of laughter.
"Oh, you laugh now" said Ginger
disdainfully. "Wait awhile, that's all.
You'll see. Your father is going to get
married again. know what I'm talk
ing about, 1 dol And then you'll have
a stepmother, the same as me- She II
give you beans, like mine does me.
What a jolly larkl" And his ugly,
freckled face expanded into fiendish
grin which made him look, if possible,
uglier than ever.
His jeers would infallibly have cost
him another drubbing, but just at that
moment the school bell rang and frus-
trated my bellicose intentions.
/ firmly made up my mind to think
no more of Ginger's haunting words,
but in spite of all my efforts to blot this
sneering prophesy from my memory the
dismal vision he had so Indignantly
oonjured up still chung to me. Every
where, sleeping or waking, at my les
sons and in my leisure moments, at
home or at school, that one horrible
word, stepmother, was always before
my eyes. At last, completely dominated
by the grewsome spell, found myself
irresistibly impelled to write on my
slate, ON the fly leaves Of my books, on
the white mantelpiece in my little
room, inside the chest of carpenter s
tools my godmother had given me for
my last birthday, on the gummed med
ioine labels I furtively took from my
fathers surgery and stuck on disused
blue bottles marked poison EVERY
where "StepmotherP'
Then suddenly, as if to confirm the
representation of the diabolical Gin
ger, noticed certain occurrences which
appeared to my jaundiced observation
alarmingly suspicious For some days
past an extraordinary and altogether
unusual stir was going on under my
good fathers roof In the first place,
several rooms were now opened for the
first time since my mother RS death three
years previously. Margaret, our faithful
old servant, who had lived in my ia
theirs family long before his marriage,
was plunged in fever Of excitement
from morning till night. With her cap
stuck on the side of her head she rushed
up and down stairs 20 times a day,
turning out cupboards, taking down
curtains, pulling up carpets, cleaning
wardrobes, polishing furniture, scold-
ing everybody who crossed her path and
conducting herself generally like an
elderly female in an advanced stage of
mental alteration. In the midst Of these
strange potents the surgery boy, whose
ears she boxed twice day at least and
who had never before dared to offer the
slightest objection, actually turned
round and had the audaoity to say:
'Lor, amt glad that you won't be
my missus much longerl" / know he
said It, because heard him with my
own ears.
] confess that all these mysterious
events greatly increased my uneasiness.
ooh, If 1t should be truep' l whis-
pered to myself, with shudder. "Oh,
If father is really going to be SO unkind,
80 cruel, as to give his motherless little
boy stepmotherr'
AS a matter of fact, had no expe-
rience Of stepmothers, no recollection
of ever having seen one But had
heard some shocking stories of their
malevolent propensities, and though
had no personal acquaintance with Gin
gers stepmother the tremendous knobs
and bumps that frequently ornamented
his head and which he assured the boys
were her savage handiwork were all the
confederation required to convince me
that small boys and stepmothers were
much of the nature of oil and vinegar
and totally irreconoilable
How woll remember one particular
ly restless night, during which dream
ed that had stepmother who infiiot-
ed hideous fortunes upon my wretched
anatomy, sometimes raising protuber-
ances on my head with the aid of the
most formidable pestle to be found In
the surgery and at others operating in
cisions In my little arms and legs with
sharp knives and needle pointed lancets,
carefully selected for the purpose from
nv fathers case of Instruments, and
threatening me with instant annihila-
ton If / dared to complain to him OF
her inhuman barbarity. The next morn
ing, weary and miserable, ] trudged
off to school, leaving my breakfast
almost untasted and as thoroughly
convinced as boy of II could be that
life is a delusion and snare, and that
to be dead must be something quite
soothing and delightful.
was dragging my way slowly along
the street in this detected frame Of
mind when suddenly heard my IA
/ theirs name pronounced by one Of two
persons walking just In front of me.
"Yes," said the speaker, whom l at
once recognized as our near neighbor,
Mr.. Borroughs, the solicitor. Eyes. it's
settled. ] understand DR.. Carboy Is go
Ing to marry second wifa''