Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1903-11-27

Little Tommy Packard follows the pillow
across the neld The plow-liues hang
about his shoulders. \ quick pull at the
ropes that serve as reins. now ana then a
word Of reimbursement to the horses and
an occasional stumble over the clods.
serve to punctuate the thoughts surging
through his quick and active brain.
Those thoughts are somewhat retro
spcctiVe The suns shining seems not
more bright than the smile upon the dear
mother face which the magic OF memory
has Brought back from the grave. The
bursting buds Of spring in yonder forest
are not more charged with the promise Of
hope than are the words OF his dying
father. And also the picture Of the sem
mary home of "A childhood that seems
long ago; Of the studies there begun I'M
der the principal his father; OF the parting
with soldier brothers at the seminary
gate-all was promise OF a happy life. of
JOY, and perhaps of fame; all was hope
all was brightness. until the home in
ashes brothers killed. father and mother
laid away broken hearted. here is little
Tommy Packard making burrows I'm a
ncighbors field, and making them as
straight as boy can walk. for his board
and clothes; and he was scarce fourteen
years of age
lie thinks of the library in his fathers
school. lie recalls the many books on
those shelves he had not had opportunity
ambitions now never again to be enter
tanned.
Tommy stamps his foot into a clod
reaches the end of the furrow, and turns:
and as he turns rebellion enters his heart
The whole boyish mind turns with horses
ana plow; turns away from the present,
from the blowing of fields, the caring for
horses, the milking of cows, away from
the past, its brightness, it's sorrows its
dlsappointments, towards future that
Will give a boy his rights" The past
has not done it, The present does not do
II. The future shall.
The boy finishes his blowing, carefully
turning every furrow. He stables his
horses briskly rubbing them down while
they eat. The cows are MIXED, cans
filled for the nights shipment; and then
Tommy leaves the other hands at their
supper, finds his employer, and has a long
tax about what his boyish mind con-
siders as his rights"
1.-THE PAINT SHOP.
Tommy is " cleaner and sweeper " and
general assistant in the paint-shop of the
car-repair shops of the Y and Railroad
lie helps to move benches and scaffolds
he hands brushes and buckets to the men;
he mixes plain ore paints under the in
structions of the boss"
He listens while the men in the shop
discuss the subject Of what they call " the
laboring mans rights" Their minds
seem to run upon this subject as earnest
~ as his ever ran upon the subject of his
rights" Nevertheless the rights 4"
they talked about seemed to be very diff
ferent things from those that caused him
to lie awake nights.
Just now he longed for and determined
to have the right to use a paint brush.
little practice at night, little more
practice at noon under the direction of
one OF the men, and soon Tommy is seated
upon the scaffold, and another boy has
his place as cleaner and shop-boy
But Tommy still sees rights " that he
does not yet possess " Car-painter " is a
good trade but car-striper" is a better.
Tommy tells himself that he must have
the right to use the stripping brush
And so night and noon he practices, I'M
til, at sixteen, Tommy has the design "
in his hand, mixes fine colors, and uses
gold bronze.
And now the whir and roar of the ma
chinery in the adjoining shop disturbs
him. Tommy-almost Tom-Packard will
not have his rights until he knows the
" how and wherefore " of that planning
day comes when overtime is
worked in the planning shop. The ma
chinery runs all night. The first part OF
that night Tommy stands around" BY
he is assisting a workman to
place boards in position. At one a. m. he
Is In bed. At seven he is on his scaffold,
stripping deicately the interior of parlor
coach as carefully as If the question of his