Year: 1869

knew by the sympathetic glow upor
his bald head--I knew BY the thought
full look upon his face--I knew by The
emotional flush upon the strawberry
upon the end of the old free-liyer's
nose, that Simon Wheeler's memory
was busy with the olden time, and so
prepared to leave, because all these
were symptoms of reminiscence-signs
that he was going to be delivered oi
another of his tiresome personal expe-
riences--but | was too slow; he got the
start of me. AS nearly as | can rec
ollect, the infiction was eouched in the
following language:


eve was all boys then, and didn't
care for nothin' only to shirk school
and keep up revivin' state Of devil
ment all the time This var Jim Wolf
L was talking about was the prentice,
and he was the best hearted fellcr, he
was, and the most onselfsh / ever see
well, there could not be a more
beautifuller boy than he was, take him
how you would; and sorry enough |
was when / see him for the last
time.


"Me and Henry was always pesterin'
him and plastering moss on his back
and putting bumble-bees in his bed,
and SO on, and sometimes we'd crowd
in and bunk with him Notwithstanding
his growing, and then we'd let on to
get mad and fight across him so as to
keep him stirred up like. He was
nineteen; he was long, lank and bash
full; we were fifteen and sixteen, and
tolerably lazy and worthless.


$50 that night that my sister Mary
gave the candy pulling, they started us
off to bed early, so as the company
could have full swing, and we run on
him to have some fun.


"Our window looked out onto the
roof of the ell, and about two o'clock
a couple Of tom-cats got to rarin and
chargin' around on it and carryin' on
like sin. There was four inches of
snow on the roof, and it was froze so
that there was right smart crust of
ice on it, and the moon was shinin'
bright, and we could see them cats like
daylight. First they'd stand off and e.
yow-e-yow, just the same as if they
war cussin' one another, you know,
and bow up their backs and push up
their tails, and swell around and spit;
and then all of sudden the gray cat
he'd smath a handful of fur off the
yaller cats ham, and spin him around
like button on barn door. But the
yaller cat was game, and he'd come
and clinch, and the way they'd gouge,
and bite, and howl, and the way they d
make the fur fly was powerful.


"Well, jim he got Disguised with
the row, and lowed he'd climb out
there and shake 'em off that roof. He
had really no notion of doing it, likely,
but we everlastingly dogged him. and
said how he always Dragged he
wouldn't take dare, and so on, till
bimeby he histed up the winder, and
10 and behold you, he went--went just
as he was--nothing on but his shirt,
and that was short. You ought to see
him creepin' over that ice, and diggin'
his toe-nails and his finger mails in for
to keep him from slippin'; and above
all You ought to seen that shirt a flap
pin in the wind, and them long, ridic-
ulous shanks of his'n a glimmerin' in
the moonlight.


"The company folks was down there
under the caves, the whole squad of
'em under the onery shed of Wash'ton
bower vines all settin' round about two
dozen sassers of hot candy, which they
sot in the snow TO cool. And they
was talkin' and laughin' lively; but
bless you they didn't know nothing
about the panorama that was going
on over their heads. Well, Jim he
went sneakin' up onbeknown to them
tom-cats, they was switchin' their
tails and yow-yowin' and threatnin' to
clinch, you know, and not payin' any
attention; he went a sneakin' and
sneakin' right up to the comb of the
roof, till he was in foot and half of
'em, and then all of a sudden he made
grab for the yaller catl But, by
gosh, be missed fire and slipped his
holt, an his heels flew up and he Topped
on to his back and off that roof ike
dart!-went a smashin' and crashin'
down through them rusty old vines
and headed right in the dead center of