Laddie: A True Blue Story

Takes t

ate of man: to-

es of hopes; to

lushing honors

omes a frost, a

nks, good, easy

is a-ripening,

he falls,

e the plunge!

ires him now,'

s for cooking, advised each other about how to get more work done with less worry, to doctor their sick folks, and to make their dresses. At last, when every thing was talked over, and there began to be a quiet time, father would reach across the table, pick up a paper and read all the interesting things that had happened in the country during the past wee

that they didn't have to do it. Because they were so glad about these things, they invited every one they met that day; but we knew Saturday mother felt that probably she would ask a crowd, from the chickens, pie, and cake she got ready. When the reading part was over, and the women were begin

" laughed Laddie a

side the front window, crie

he was bathed, and in clean clothing to start with, but he had washed and brushed some more, until he shone. His cheeks were as smooth and as clear pink as any girl's, his eyes blue-gray an

unday there, or he was invited to a party at the President's. I don't see how any man could possibly be handsomer or look finer. His shirt, collar, and cuffs were snow-white, like everything had to be before mother got th

o tight, and collars too high. She said they acted like half-broken colts fretting over restriction. Always she said to father and the boys when

s if their mothers had told them. You can always see

e looking at him curiously, but he stood there buttoning his glove an

nder her lanternjawed chin, pulled her he

'member the day we

ade jokes about it until our

oing to spoil n

'furriners.' I'm goi

n better business," s

ezed her chin, and hugg

friend going back on me. Sarah, I though

e very reason I don't want you mixed up wi

eze than ever. "You got that all wrong, Sarah. You'll live to

surer about it every day for tw

neering man, proud as Lucifer! For some cause, just or not, he is ruining his life and that of his family because he so firmly believes it just; he i

be other people didn't find our mother so lovely as we thought her. I once heard one of her

sends a frail little woman pacing the yard, and up and down the roa

on't want you mixed up with!" said Sara

SHAME. Shame there is," said Laddie, "and what a word! How it stings, burns, withers, and causes heart trouble and hiding; but shame in connection with that woman, more than shame thrust upon her, which might come to

ast-iron man with a big cane, and two raving bulldogs," said Mr

went back and

ws the right word. Reason I know, Sarah, I've said the word to them, separately and collectively, and it worked. There is a contrast, Sarah, between what I say and do to those dogs, and the kicks and curses they

d as if tha

this," said Sarah. "How lon

f he'd spoken; so he waited until he could

r at the door of their hearts, until we break down the wall of pride they have built around them, ease their pain, and bring them with us socially, if they are going to live among us. You people who talk loudly and often about loving God, and 'doing unto others,' should have gone l

left th

g woman. There is none save ours in this part of the country, and she may never have seen any, and be interes

d handed it to Laddie, who

ou can select," father sa

hem another where he thought they could have what they needed and hadn't got the last place. Finally, he put them, on the fourth move, on a little sandy ridge across the road from the wood yard, and that was the spot. They shot up, branched, spread, and one was a male and two were females, so the pollen flew, the burrs filled right, and we had a bag of chestnuts to send each child aw

y compliments. If I'm invited in, I'm going to make the effort of my life at driving the entering wedge toward social intercourse between Pryors and their neighbours. If I'm not, I'll be back in thirty min

bout Laddie, for he hadn't left them a thing to guess at, and mother says the reason gossip is so dreadful is because it is always GUESSWORK. Well, that was all fair and plain. He had told those people, our very best friends, what he thought about everything, the way they acted included

he said he never bit her when he nursed; he never mauled her as if she couldn't be hurt when he was little, he never tore his clothes and made extra work as he grew, and never in his life g

he cut the branch and untied the horse. He gave the limb and basket to mother to hold, kissed her good-bye, and me too, before he mounted. W

s head and laugh

went on right out loud: "I'm riding up the road waving the banner of peace. If I suffer repulse

bow, and waved the branch. Leon began to sing at the top of his voice, "Not

t, talked about his horse, how he rode, and made wagers that he'd get shut out, like e

ey wouldn't let him in," he said. "He's a man of hi

read the chapter and we were ready for bed; still Laddie hadn't come back. And father liked it! He just plain liked it! H

"Well, they don't seem in a hu

nk he WOULD be sent

, on an animal basis, a woman would look twice before she'd send him away;

one can be reasonably

ccupied at home. Their earmarks are all goo

ss and social position makes me sick. Men are men, and Laddie is as much above the customary timber found in kings and princes, physically and mentally, as the sky is above the earth. Talk me no

she appears so

lifetime misery, and the soul's salvation of my son, if thi

ed. She punched the pillow, and wouldn't say another word

d father hardly waited to ask the blessing befor

red: "Altogether, it mig

ia started to school, then he took me on

, so I asked for Miss Pryor. She came in a minute, so I gave her the branch, told her about it, and offered the jelly and cake for her mother. The Princess invited me to enter. I told her I cou

e say?" chu

e them to the woods and shoot them. Thomas said he'd see to it the very first

to work for,

aughter, and to inquire if I might visit an hour, and as he was not there, I ha

women asked you t

an's house without his permission. May I talk with your

her the word was that it made 'no difference to her father' if I came in, so she opened the door widely, took my hat and offered me a seat. Then she went to the next room and said: 'Mother, father has given Mr

mean by that?"

g their place for two years, and she'd seen me

" said

ell on!"

in common, we could get along on fifty topics; it was different with the housebound mother. I did my best, and after a while Mr. Pryor came in. I asked him if any of his horses had been attacked with the trouble some of the neighbours were having, and told him what it was. He had the grace to thank me. He said he would tell Thomas not to tie his horse at the public hitching rack when he went to town, and

ld see they were starved for company, so I took the job of entertaining them. I told some college jokes, funny things that had happened in the neig

t straigh

e to eat, and how did t

nge, I had to use all my brains, not to be a bore to them; and to handle food and cutlery as the women did. It's quite a proces

y would have company unti

thought likely, ther

s in can be served, and see that they are not a mite o

just

get something out

your faith!" replied mo

their horses, and we rode around the section, the Princess and I ahead, Mr. Pryor following. Where the road was good and the light fine enough that there was no danger of laming a horse, we dropped back, one on either side of him, so we could talk. Mrs. Pryor ate the cake and said it

she did love to have the t

like my strawber

" said Laddie. "I've yet to se

all?" ask

t his mind seemed to run on it constantly. When we were riding she talked quite as much as he, and it will hustle us to think what the little scamp did, any bigger than they do. Of course, father, you understood the price Mr. Pryor made on one of his very finest colts was a joke. There's a strain of Arab in the father-he showed me the record

t experience, and reckless as he is, doesn't need a horse like that, for one thin

the horse. It is my opinion that he would be greatly pl

thing he can't do in this

hink, father?"

als to me that Leon is old enough to recognize the value of the animal; and that the care of it would develop and str

jumping it over logs. Whenever he leaves, it follows him to the fence, and the Princess says almost any hour

best judgm

e money isn't claimed inside the time you specified, I would let Leon and Mr. Pryor make their own bargain. The boy wo

that horse, it was downright mean. What if we were under obligations to Mr. Pryor? W

e pillows worth while, in a few years. They put them in the barn where our geese stayed over night, and how they did scream. That is, one of them did; the other acted queerly and father said to Laddie that he was afraid the trip was hard on it. Laddie said it might have been hurt, and mother was worried too. Before she had them an hour, she had sold all our ganders; spring had come, she had saved the blue goose eggs, set them under a hen, raised the goslin

get rid of some of it if she could, and of course Sarah should have first chance at it. Hadn't she kept her over night so she could see her new home when she was rested, and didn't she come with her, and help her get settled, and had she ever failed when we had a baby, or sickness, or trouble

us how to use them. He said they were gone with candles, sand boxes, and snuff. Mother said she had no use for snuff, but candles were not gone, she'd make and use them to the day of her death, as they were the nicest light ever invented to carry from room to room, or when you only wanted to sit and think. Father said there was really no good pen except the quill you

ey were like Pryors' had been settled, Mrs. Freshett said: "Since he told about it before all

my door to see if I'm sleeping. Sometimes I'm wakeful, and if he pommels my pillow good, brings me a drink, and rubs my head a few strokes with his strong, cool hands, I can se

the M

ly has incurable heart trouble, the worst

aid Mrs. Freshett. "She is lik

t. That's why she

had him

, and it was like a grand party, just as they fixed for themselves, alo

had enough schoolin' to ge

ather said that "was the Dutch of it." And mother always answered that if any one

gain. And all mine, Mrs. Freshett, knew how to sit properly at the table, and

theirs than most of us have. For all the money it takes to send a boy to college, he ought to get somethin' out of

," said mother. "You are always influ

my betters that I don't carry home a lot I put right into daily use, an' nobody knows it pla

at is a very nice compliment, and I wish I

So all I can pick up an' hammer into mine is a gain for me an' them. If my Henry had lived, an' come out anything like that boy o' yourn an' the show he made last Sunday, I'd do well if I didn't swell up an' bust with

said mother. "But I work, pray, hope, an

ll, I guess the less said-little pitchers, you know! I can't see as I was to blame. I was the youngest, an' I knew things was wrong. I fought to go to school, an' pap let me enough that I saw how othe

er. "Mrs. Freshett, p

ther said, 'No, for him to move on.' He tried an' he couldn't. They was somethin' about him-well, you know how them things go! I wa'n't only sixteen, but I felt so sorry for him, all fever burned an

set to work the best I knowed. 'Fore long Josiah was a little better an' he asked who I was, an' where my folks went, an' I told him, an' he asked WHY I came back an' I didn't know what to say, so I jest hung my head an' could

folks!' 'You look as decent as I do,' says he; 'I'll chance it!' Then I tole him I was as good as I was born, an' he believed me, an' he always has, an' I was too! So I nussed him, but I didn't make the job of it he did. You 'member he is pitted considerable. He was so strong I jest co

gon, an' we driv away here where we thought we could start right, an' after we had the land, an' built the cabin, an' jest as happy as heart could wish, long come a man I'd made mad once, an' he tole everythin' up and down. Josiah was good about it. He offered to sell the land, an' pull up an' go furder. 'What's the use?' says I. 'Hundreds know it. We can't go so far it won't be like to follow us; le's stay here an' fight it.' 'All right,

id mother. "Oh my

him so happy in all his days. Orter heard him whistle goin' home, an' he's tryin' all them things he learned, on our place, an' you can see it looks a heap better a'ready, an' now he's talkin' about buildin' in the spring. I knowed he had money, but he never mentioned buildin' before, an' I always thought it was bekase he 'sposed likely we'd have to move on, some time. 'Pears now as if we can settle, an' live like

mother. "What a dre

'em! I'm done cringin' an' dodgin'! I've always done my best; henceforth I mean to hold up my head an' say so. I sure can't be held for what was done 'fore I was on earth, or since ne

ah Hood. Mrs. Freshett threw her arms around mother, and looked over her shoulder, and said to me, "Sis, when you grow up, always take a chanct on welcomin' the s

e proud of he

n't see how people livin' with her, an' seein' her every day, are in a shape to

and give it all it would eat; so when the horses were tended, the cows milked, everything watered, and the barn ready to close for the night, Laddie took the milk to the house, while Leon and I caught the blue goose, carried her to the well, and began to shell corn. Sh

d mother tell me to give her 'all she would eat.

t I was doubtf

bill higher, stretched her neck longer, and she looked so funny when she did it, that we just shrieked. Then Leon reache

s been starved. She can't g

funny that Leon sent me for more corn; but I told him I thought what she needed now was water, so we held her to the tro

mill-hopper!

hers. We ran to fix them, and had a time to get Jo back into his stall, and tied. Before we had everything safe, the supper bell ran

I remembered we hadn't put her back. He frowned at me cross as a bear, and I knew that meant he had re

I had, she'd be at it yet. She was starved sure enou

er this, take her out alone, for a few

lot of fun to see her run her bill around,

sheep and geese to the creek to water; the trough was so high it was only fo

forget to come bac

m whistled, so I went down in the orchard to see what he wanted, and we got to planning how to get up a fox

? What will mother say

outside. Blast a girl! If you ever amounted to anything, you could have

was having such a hard fight with the horses. If I'd been like he was, I'd have told him that he was older, mother told HIM to do it, and it wasn't my fault; but in my heart I

looking into all the holes, and before I had gone far I had a glimpse of her, and it scared me so I screamed, for her head was down, and she didn't look right. Leon came

e; about the worst awe you ever hea

she would never know. Then he took her up, carried her into the barn, and put her on the floor where the other geese had stayed all night. We stood and looked at her some more, a

u going to t

d Leon. "I'm t

as yours. I'll go with you. I'll t

d Leon. "What good

? Could you get another wit

dged again, before I r

Smarty, I'll lay all the blame on you; I won't help you a bi

D that to be mean, but I did care. I cared dreadfully; I was partly to blame, and I knew it. Coming around t

n where no one wil

told him. I thought I felt badly enough, but after I saw Laddie, it grew worse, for I remembered we were short of money that fall,

you can help it. I'll hide the goose, and see if I can get another

I went around to the gate and stood there looking up and down the road, and over the meadow toward the Big Woods; and all at once, in one

the top of the Pryor backyard fence, I stuck there, for the bulldogs were loose, and came raving at me. I was going to be eaten alive, for I didn't know the word Laddie did; and those dogs climbed a fence like a person; I saw them the time Leon brought back Even So. I was thinking what a pity it was, after ev

you must have a minute

frothed. "What did anybody

was, until his bulldogs scared me so my heart got all tangled up with my stomach, my lungs, and my liver. That made me mad, and there was nothing that would help me to loosen up and talk fast, like l

ly to the l

be sure

accents so

ot long

ngry by that time I meant to tell him what I thought. Polite or not pol

one sent me here. I came to see the Princess, because I'm in awf

d, whether he believed in Him or not. "If it isn't N

he did kick them, and they didn't like it either-took my hand and led me straight into the house, and the Princess was there, and a woman who was her mother no doubt, and

th climbing fences, to shake hands with her. She was so gracious and lovely I forgot what I went after. The Princess brought a clo

r, "and I never have taken a chill, and anyw

the Princess. "Tell me quick

be as soon as she finds out,"

r when a visitor plainly told you she was in awful trouble, didn't seem very good manners to me. The Princess and her mother never even smiled; and before I had told nearly all of it, Thomas was called to hitch the Princess' driving cart, and she took me to their barnyard to choose the goose that looked most like moth

nt the long way round the section, but g

enjoy seeing it. I didn't see how he could! We were ready to slip out, when our geese began to run at the new one, hiss and scream, and make such a racket that Laddie and Leon both caught us. They looked at the goose, at me, the Princess, and each o

I mean stuff the Bishop's pillow-and as we have a large flock of blue geese, father gave her one, and he had the best time he's had in years doing it. I wouldn't have had him miss the fun he got from it for any money. He laughed like home aga

d you care about what I said

n thee.' Well, it was a little pointed, but sinc

"Of course I never would, if I

en both of them laughed. Leon saw that he had told her

r the goose, and helping me out like such a brick of a good fellow, and what I wis

road, where he unhitched the horse and helped her in.

what to say!

ld counsel silence,"

nderstand how

e to Little Sister. Her thanks and Leon's are

dding mine. De

so serious. Can't you

I am glad, and I'm thankful for anyt

rincess, and when she loosened t