Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-12-12
AN ADVANCE PAYMENT.
Mark Twain, His Good Brother and
 the Broken Sugar Bowl.

Mark Twain, His Good Brother and
 the Broken Sugar Bowl.
 My mother had a good deal of trou-
 ble with me, but think she enjoyed it..
 She had none at all with my brother
 Henry, who was two years younger
 than I, and think that the unbroken
 monotony of his goodness and truth
 fitness and obedience would have been
 burden to her but for the relief and
 variety which furnished in the other
 direction. was a tonic I was vaiu-
 able to her. I never thought of it be-
 fore, but now see it. I never knew
 Henry to do vicious thing toward me
 or toward any one else, but he fire
 quently did righteous ones that cost me
 as heavily. It was his duty to report
 me when needed reporting and neg
 lected to do it myself, and he was very faithful in discharging that duty. He
 is Sid in ''Tom Sawyer" But Sid was
 not Henry. Henry was very much
 finer and better boy than ever Sid was.
 It was Henry who called my moth
 CTS attention to the fact that the thread with which she had sewed my collar together to keep me from going in swimming had changed color. My mother would not have discovered it but for that, and she was manifestly piqued when she recognized that that prominent bit of circumstantial evi- dence had escaped her sharp eye. That detail probably added detail to my punishment It is human. We gener- ally visit our shortcomings on some body else when there is a possible ex- cuse for it. But no matter. took it out of Henry. There is always compensa- tion for such as are unjustly used. often took it out of him sometimes as an advance payment for. something which hadn't yet done. These were occasions when the opportunity was too strong temptation. and I had to, draw on the future. I did not need to copy this idea from my mother and probably didn't. Still, she wrought upon that principle upon occasion.
 If the incident of the broken sugar bowl is in Tom Sawyer"-I don't re- whether it is or not-that is an example of it. Henry never stole sug- ar. He took 1t openly from the bowl. His mother knew he wouldn't take sug- l ar when she wasn't looking, but she had her doubts about me. Not exactly doubts, either. She knew very we'll I would. One day when she was not present Henry took sugar from her | prized and precious old English sugar bowl, which was an heirloom in the | family, and he managed to break the bowl. It was the first time had ever had chance to tell anything on him, and I was inexpressibly glad. I told 1im was going to tell on him, but he was not disturbed. When my mother ,ame in and saw the bowl lying on the floor in fragments she was speeches. Tor a minute. I allowed that silence to work. I judged 1t would increase the effect. I was waiting for her to ask Who did that;' so that I could fetch ,ut my news. But it was an error of When she got through with her silence she didn't ask anything lbout it. She merely gave me crack ,n the skull with her thimble that felt all the day down to my heels. Then broke out with my injured innocence. to make her very sorry that ,he had punished the wrong one. ex- oected her to do something remorseful md pathetic. told her that was not he one-it was Henry. But there was 10 upheaval. She said without emo- ion: Its all right. It isn't any mat ter. You deserve it for something + you've done that didn't know about, md if you haven't done it, why, then vou deserve it for something that you are going to do that shan't hear Mark Twain's Autobi- ,graphy in North American Review.