Beautiful Joe [62]
they had no steamers running between Fairport and the island opposite where
people went for the summer, but they had what they called a team-boat, that is,
a boat with machinery to make it go, that could be worked by horses. There were
eight horses that went around and around, and made the boat go. One afternoon,
two dancing masters, who were wicked fellows, that played the fiddle, and never
went to church on Sundays, got on the boat, and sat just where the horses had to
pass them as they went around.
Every time the horses went by, they jabbed them with their penknives. The man
who was driving the horses at last saw the blood dripping from them, and the
dancing masters were found out. Some young men on the boat were so angry that
they caught up a rope's end, and gave the dancing masters a lashing, and then
threw them into the water and made them swim to the island.
When this boy took a seat, a young girl read some verses that she had clipped
from a newspaper:
"Don't kill the toads, the ugly toads,
That hop around your door;
Each meal the little toad doth eat A hundred bugs or more.
"He sits around with aspect meek,
Until the bug hath neared,
Then shoots he forth his little tongue
Like lightning double-geared.
"And then he soberly doth wink,
And shut his ugly mug,
And patiently doth wait until
There comes another bug."
Mr. Maxwell told a good dog story after this. He said the president need not
have any fears as to its truth, for it had happened in his boarding house in the
village, and he had seen it himself. Monday, the day before, being wash-day, his
landlady lady had put out a large washing. Among the clothes on the line was a
gray flannel shirt belonging to her husband. The young dog belonging to the
house had pulled the shirt from the line and torn it to pieces. The woman put it
aside and told him master would beat him. When the man came home to his dinner,
he showed the dog the pieces of the shirt, and gave him a severe whipping. The
dog ran away, visited all the clothes lines in the village, till he found a gray
shirt very like his master's. He seized it and ran home, laying it at his
master's; feet, joyfully wagging his tail meanwhile
Mr. Maxwell's story done, a bright-faced boy, called Simon Grey, got up and
said, "You all know our old gray horse Ned. Last week father sold him to a man
in Hoytville, and I went to the station when he was shipped. He was put in a box
car. The doors were left a little open to give him air, and were locked in that
way. There was a narrow, sliding door, four feet from the floor of the car, and,
in some way or other, old Ned pushed this door open, crawled through it, and
tumbled out on the ground. When I was coming from school, I saw him walking
along the track. He hadn't hurt himself, except for a few cuts. He was glad to
see me, and followed me home. He must have gotten off the train when it was
going full speed, for he hadn't been seen at any of the stations, and the
trainmen were astonished to find the doors locked and the car empty, when they
got to Hoytville. Father got the man who bought him to release him from his
bargain, for he says if Ned is so fond of Riverdale, he shall stay here."
The president asked the boys and girls to give three cheers for old Ned, and
then they had some more singing. After all had taken their seats, he said he
would like to know what the members had been doing for animals during the past
fortnight.
One girl had kept her brother from shooting two owls that came about their
barnyard. She told him that the owls would destroy the rats and mice that
bothered him in the barn, but if he hunted them, they would go to the woods.
A boy said that he had persuaded some of his friends who were going fishing, to
put their bait worms into a dish of boiling water to kill them before they
started, and also to promise him that as soon as they took their fish out of the
water, they would kill them by a sharp blow on the back
people went for the summer, but they had what they called a team-boat, that is,
a boat with machinery to make it go, that could be worked by horses. There were
eight horses that went around and around, and made the boat go. One afternoon,
two dancing masters, who were wicked fellows, that played the fiddle, and never
went to church on Sundays, got on the boat, and sat just where the horses had to
pass them as they went around.
Every time the horses went by, they jabbed them with their penknives. The man
who was driving the horses at last saw the blood dripping from them, and the
dancing masters were found out. Some young men on the boat were so angry that
they caught up a rope's end, and gave the dancing masters a lashing, and then
threw them into the water and made them swim to the island.
When this boy took a seat, a young girl read some verses that she had clipped
from a newspaper:
"Don't kill the toads, the ugly toads,
That hop around your door;
Each meal the little toad doth eat A hundred bugs or more.
"He sits around with aspect meek,
Until the bug hath neared,
Then shoots he forth his little tongue
Like lightning double-geared.
"And then he soberly doth wink,
And shut his ugly mug,
And patiently doth wait until
There comes another bug."
Mr. Maxwell told a good dog story after this. He said the president need not
have any fears as to its truth, for it had happened in his boarding house in the
village, and he had seen it himself. Monday, the day before, being wash-day, his
landlady lady had put out a large washing. Among the clothes on the line was a
gray flannel shirt belonging to her husband. The young dog belonging to the
house had pulled the shirt from the line and torn it to pieces. The woman put it
aside and told him master would beat him. When the man came home to his dinner,
he showed the dog the pieces of the shirt, and gave him a severe whipping. The
dog ran away, visited all the clothes lines in the village, till he found a gray
shirt very like his master's. He seized it and ran home, laying it at his
master's; feet, joyfully wagging his tail meanwhile
Mr. Maxwell's story done, a bright-faced boy, called Simon Grey, got up and
said, "You all know our old gray horse Ned. Last week father sold him to a man
in Hoytville, and I went to the station when he was shipped. He was put in a box
car. The doors were left a little open to give him air, and were locked in that
way. There was a narrow, sliding door, four feet from the floor of the car, and,
in some way or other, old Ned pushed this door open, crawled through it, and
tumbled out on the ground. When I was coming from school, I saw him walking
along the track. He hadn't hurt himself, except for a few cuts. He was glad to
see me, and followed me home. He must have gotten off the train when it was
going full speed, for he hadn't been seen at any of the stations, and the
trainmen were astonished to find the doors locked and the car empty, when they
got to Hoytville. Father got the man who bought him to release him from his
bargain, for he says if Ned is so fond of Riverdale, he shall stay here."
The president asked the boys and girls to give three cheers for old Ned, and
then they had some more singing. After all had taken their seats, he said he
would like to know what the members had been doing for animals during the past
fortnight.
One girl had kept her brother from shooting two owls that came about their
barnyard. She told him that the owls would destroy the rats and mice that
bothered him in the barn, but if he hunted them, they would go to the woods.
A boy said that he had persuaded some of his friends who were going fishing, to
put their bait worms into a dish of boiling water to kill them before they
started, and also to promise him that as soon as they took their fish out of the
water, they would kill them by a sharp blow on the back