Aunt Jos Scrap-Bag, Vol. 5 | Page 2

the trip, and mother was sewing day and
night to earn enough for a week at least of blessed country air and quiet.
Jimmy did his best to help, but could find very little to do, and the
pennies came in so slowly he was almost in despair.
There was no father to lend a strong hand, and Mrs. Nelson was one of
the "silent poor," who cannot ask for charity, no matter how much they
may need it. The twelve-year-old boy considered himself the man of
the family, and manfully carried as many burdens as his young
shoulders would bear; but this was a very heavy one, so it is no wonder
that he looked sober. Holding his curly head in his hands, as if to keep
it from flying asunder with the various plans working inside, he sat
staring at the dusty bricks in a desperate frame of mind.
Warm days were coming, and every hour was precious, for poor Kitty
pined in the close room, and all he could do was to bring her
dandelions and bits of green grass from the Common when she begged
to go in the fields and pick "pretties" for herself. He loved the little
sister dearly, and, as he remembered her longing, his eyes filled, and he
doubled up both fists with an air of determination, muttering to
himself,--
"She shall go! I don't see any other way, and I'll do it!"
The plan which had been uppermost lately was this. His father had been
a sailor, and Jimmy proposed to run away to sea as cabin boy. His
wages were to be paid before he went, so mother and Kitty could be in
the country while he was gone, and in a few months he would come
sailing gayly home to find the child her rosy self again. A very boyish

and impossible plan, but he meant it, and was in just the mood to carry
it out,--for every other attempt to make money had failed.
"I'll do it as sure as my name is Jim Nelson. I'll take a look at the ships
this very night, and go in the first one that will have me," he said, with
a resolute nod of the head, though his heart sank within him at the
thought. "I wonder which kind of captains pay boys best? I guess I'll try
a steamer; they make short trips. I heard the cannon to-day, so one is in,
and I'll try for a place before I go to bed."
Little did desperate Jimmy guess what ship he would really sail in, nor
what a prosperous voyage he was about to make; for help was coming
that very minute, as it generally does, sooner or later, to generous
people who are very much in earnest.
First a shrill whistle was heard, at the sound of which he looked up
quickly; then a rosy-faced girl of about his own age came skipping
down the street, swinging her hat by one string; and, as Jimmy watched
her approach, a smile began to soften the grim look he wore, for Willy
Bryant was his best friend and neighbor, being full of courage, fun, and
kindness. He nodded, and made room for her on the step,--the place she
usually occupied at spare moments when they got lessons and
recounted their scrapes to each other.
But to-night Willy seemed possessed of some unusually good piece of
news which she chose to tell in her own lively fashion, for, instead of
sitting down, she began to dance a sailor's hornpipe, singing gayly, "I'm
little Buttercup, sweet little Buttercup," till her breath gave out.
"What makes you so jolly, Will?" asked Jimmy, as she dropped down
beside him and fanned herself with the ill-used hat.
"Such fun--you'll never guess--just what we wanted--if your mother
only will! You'll dance, too, when you know," panted the girl, smiling
like a substantial sort of fairy come to bring good luck.
"Fire away, then. It will have to be extra nice to set me off. I don't feel
a bit like jigs now," answered Jimmy, as the gloom obscured his face

again, like a cloud over the sun.
"You know 'Pinafore'?" began Will, and getting a quick nod for an
answer, she poured forth the following tale with great rapidity: "Well,
some folks are going to get it up with children to do it, and they want
any boys and girls that can sing to go and be looked at to-morrow, and
the good ones will be picked out, and dressed up, and taught how to act,
and have the nicest time that ever was. Some of our girls are going, and
so am I, and you sing and must come, too, and have some fun. Won't it
be