Oscar / The Boy Who Had His Own Way

er, Mrs. Lee, who arrived the evening previous. She was the mother of Mrs. Preston, and lived in a distant town in Vermont. She had not visited the family for several y

long since exchanged his frock for the jacket, trowsers, and boots, of boyhood. All these changes had happened since their grandmother's last visit; and yet she was jus

Thanksgiving

distributed among the children, as gifts. They were all articles of utility, such as warm, "country-knit" mittens and socks for the boys, and tippets and stockings fo

reaching the ground, the boys found a small collection of young men and lads already engaged in the cruel amusement; for the mark was a live fowl, tied to a stake. The company assembled were of a decidedly low order, and Oscar at first felt almost ashamed to be seen among them. Smoking, swearing, betting, and quarrelling, were all going on at once, interspersed with occasi

cruelty, and breathing an atmosphere loaded with pollution and moral death. The repugnance which Oscar at first felt to the part

e entered the sitting-room, his mother, who had mis

with Alf,"

ice this evasion of he

you might find better company. I 'm afraid he is not so g

oy, and I never heard anybody say he was. I li

not think he is a very good assoc

r which he was becoming a little too notorious. "I see Alf every day, but you

shment, as he uttered these words. He felt th

time with, around the hotel-stable, will do either you or him any good. The lessons a boy learns among tavern loungers do not genera

o engross the attention of the household. It was a pleasant feast, to old and young. The children forgot al

o buy a ticket to an entertainment that was to take place in the evening. But both his parents thought he had better stay at home, with the re

amps were not yet lit, although the gray twilight was fast settling down, and the ruddy coals began to refl

rk awhile, and then grandmother's stories will seem twice

y very interesting stories. I can't think of anything now but what you have already heard. That's just

about the Indians?-I like to

d his grandmother; and if the room had not been quite so dark, Oscar would ha

At any rate, it ought to interest him-so please to tell us what they

dmother," said Oscar, "tell us wh

und, upon his back. They then put their knees on his arms, and held his head back, while they took into their mouth some very bitter stuff, made from the roots of a certai

d Oscar; "I thought somet

er; "but if you think it is so pleasant to take, perhaps your father will give you a t

ened by the Indians, gra

tlement, happened to discover a party of Indians, making their way very quietly up the river in their canoes, towards our little village. He watched their movements as narrowly as possible, but was careful not to let them see or hear him. When they got within about half a mile of the settlement, they pulled their canoes ashore, and concealed them among the bushes. They meant to creep along very slowly and slily, t

the Indians thought they were assailed by a force far superior to their own, and so they fled as fast as they could. When they reached the landing-place, they jumped pell-mell into their canoes, and pushed out into the stream. Now they thought they would soon be out of the reach of harm; but, to their astonishment, the canoes began to fill with water, and were entirely unmanageable. The three men in ambush now began

n silence, Ralph call

"did I ever tell you about Widow S

General Burgoyne's retreat; but I never h

d; and the proprietors of the township gave her a hundred acres of land to encourage and reward her. She worked just like a man, and didn't mind chopping down trees, and cultivating the soil, with her own hands. But by-and-bye the Revolution broke out, and as there were British soldiers in the neighborhood, she was afraid they would make her a visit. She fled several times to another town, where there was less danger; but after awhile a new idea entered her head, and she proceeded to carry it out, with the aid of a man who lived near her. The idea was, to co

might have tracked them to their retreat, for it's likely they

ould be seen leading to it; and they were careful not to go out or in during the day-time. I hav

en now. He used to tell a story of a crabbed old fellow, who was very much annoyed by the boys stealing his apples. So, after awhile, he got a spring-trap, and set it under the trees, to catch the young rogues. But the boys got wind of the affair, and the first night he set it, they picked it up, and very quietly put it on hi

said the grandmother;

t a funny name!"

fellow, when he was mad, and the boys used to tease him in every possible way; but wo to them if he got hold of them. He lived all alone, for he never had any wife or children; and he would not allow anybody to enter his house, on any account, but always kept the door locked. If his neighbors had business to transact with him, he would step into the yard and attend to them; but even in the severest weather, he would not let them cross his threshold. He never woul

ll, about the naming of Barre, in Vermont; do y

Massachusetts, and he insisted that the town should be called Holden. The people liked both of these names well enough, and it was finally determined that the question should be decided by a game of boxing, between these two men. So the meeting adjourned to a new barn, with a rough hemlock plank floor, and the contest commenced. After boxing awhile, one of them threw the other upon the floor, and sprang upon

favorite airs upon the piano-forte. Before the hour of retiring arrived, even Oscar was quite re