Oscar | Page 2

theft--Flight--A narrow escape--A costly
cake of sugar--The bridge to Charlestown--The monument--The navy
yard--Objects of interest--Incidents of Joseph's life--A slight test of his
courage--Oscar's plans--Going to dinner--A grand "take in"--Alfred's
disclosures--Real character of the young travellers--Their tough
stories--A mutual difficulty--Confessing what cannot be
concealed--Good advice and mild reproof--The teacher's leniency
explained.
CHAPTER VI.
WORK.
A command--Passing it along--Reluctant obedience--A poor excuse--A

bad habit--Employment for vacation--Oscar's opposition to the
plan--Frank the errand-boy--Thanksgiving week--A busy time--Oscar's
experience as store-boy--Learning to sweep--Doing work well--A
tempting invitation--Its acceptance--A ride--Driving horses--The
errand--The return--Oscar at the store--Sent off "with a flea in his
ear"--The matter brought up again--Oscar's excuse
unsatisfactory--Ralph's services rewarded--Difference between the two
boys.
CHAPTER VII.
THANKSGIVING DAY.
Grandmother's arrival--Surprises--Presents--Oscar at a
shooting-match--Bad company--Cruel sport--Home
again--Prevarication--A remonstrance--Impudence, and a silent
rebuke--The dinner--A stormy afternoon--A disappointment--Evening
in the parlor--A call for stories--How the Indians punished bad
boys--What Oscar thought of it--An Indian story--The hostile
party--The alarm--The stratagem--The onset--The retreat--The
victory--Laplot River--Widow Storey's retreat--Misfortunes of her
husband--Her enterprise and industry--Fleeing from the British--The
subterranean abode--Precautions to prevent discovery--Uncle
James--The fellow who was caught in his own trap--Old Zigzag--His
oddities--His tragic end--How the town of Barre, Vt., got its name--A
well-spent evening.
CHAPTER VIII.
GRANDMOTHER LEE.
One of her habits--Ella's complaint--Alice's reproof--Ella's rude reply
to her grandmother--A mild rebuke--A sterner reproof--Shame and
repentance--Popping corn--George's selfishness--A fruitless search for
the corn-bag--Bad Temper--An ineffectual reproof--George's
obstinacy--How he became selfish--Difficulty of breaking up a bad
habit--What he lost by his selfishness--Oscar's dog--He is named

"Tiger"--His portrait--His roguishness--Oscar's trick upon his
grandmother--Unfortunate ending--Tiger's destructiveness--A mystery,
and its probable solution--Oscar's falsehood--Tiger's banishment
decreed, but not carried out--Grandmother Lee's remonstrance with
Oscar--Bridget's onset--Oscar's excuse--Moral principle wanting--Mrs.
Lee's departure.
CHAPTER IX.
WINTER SPORTS.
Coasting--Oscar's sled--Borrowing and lending--A merry scene on the
Common--Various sleds and characters--A collision--Damage to Ralph
and the "Clipper"--Not accidental--The guilty parties called to
account--No satisfaction obtained--Ralph's trouble--Oscar's anger--His
revenge--A fight--His termination--Skating--Tiger on the ice--His
plunge into an air-hole--His alarm and escape--Going
home--Unfounded fears awakened--Tiger's shame--A talk about
air-holes--What they are for, and how they are made--Skaters should be
cautious--A change in Tiger's habits--A great snow-storm--Appearance
of the streets--Fun for the boys--A job for Oscar--He is wiser than his
father--Nullification of a command--The command repeated--Icy
sidewalks--Laziness and its excuses--A wise suggestion--Duty
neglected--Oscar called to account--His excuses--Unpleasant
consequences of his negligence--The command repeated, with a
"snapper" at the end--The dreaded task completed.
CHAPTER X.
APPEARANCES.
A compulsory ride--Merited retribution--A sad plight for a proud
boy--Laughter and ridicule--Oscar's neatness and love of dress--The
patched jacket--Oscar's objections to it--Benny Wright, the boy of
many patches--His character--The jacket question peremptorily
settled--A significant shake of the head--A watch wanted--Why boys
carry watches--Punctuality--Oscar's tardiness at school--The real cause

of it--Thinking too much of outside appearances--Character of more
consequence than cloth--An offer--The conditions--A hard
question--How to accomplish an object--Oscar's
waywardness--Boarding-school discipline--The High School--An
anticipated novelty.
CHAPTER XI.
THE MORAL LESSON.
Oscar's shrewdness--His reputation for integrity--A new
want--Perplexity--A chance for speculation--A dishonest device--Its
success--Secrecy--The fraud discovered--Oscar's defence--Restitution
refused--Indignation--The Monday morning lesson in
morals--Dishonesty--Rectifying mistakes--The principle
unfolded--Restoring lost articles--A case for Oscar to decide--His
reluctant decision--Taking advantage of another's ignorance--Duty of
restitution--Other forms of dishonesty--Better to be cheated than to
cheat--Effect of the lesson upon Oscar.
CHAPTER XII.
SICKNESS.
Wet feet--A command disobeyed--Dabbling in the water--Playing on
the ice--An unexpected adventure--Afloat on an ice-cake--A
consultation--Danger and alarm--Spectators--A call for help--A critical
situation--The rescue--Effects of the adventure--Feverish
dreams--Strange feelings--The doctor's visit--Lung fever--The Latin
prescription--Oscar's removal--He grows worse--Peevishness--Passing
the crisis--Improved behavior--Getting better--General
rejoicings--Further improvement--Return of a bad habit--Fretfulness
and impatience--A dispute--First attempt to sit up--Its failure--First day
in an easy chair--The sweets of convalescence--Danger of a relapse.
CHAPTER XIII.

GETTING WELL.
Hunger--An evil suggestion--First visit down stairs--Midnight
supper--Weakness and exhaustion--An ill turn--The doctor's visit--The
mystery explained--Contents of a sick boy's stomach--The doctor's
abrupt farewell--His recall--Promise of obedience--Punishment for
imprudence--Directions--Effects of the relapse--Slow recovery--The
menagerie procession--A wet morning--Disobedience--Exposure, and
its consequences--Reading--The borrowed book--The curious
letter--Puzzles, with illustrations--Guessing riddles--Oscar's treatment
of Benjamin--His present feelings towards him--Ella's copy of the
letter--Oscar's growing impatience--An arrival--Uncle John--The
loggers--Cousins never seen--A journey decided upon--Solution of
riddles, conundrums, &c.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE JOURNEY.
Setting out--A long and wearisome ride--Portland--The hotel--Going to
bed--The queer little lamp--Lonesomeness--The evening
prayer--Morning--Breakfast--The railroad depôt--Oscar's partiality for
stage-coaches and good horses--Eighty miles by steam--Dinner--The
stage-coach--An outside seat--The team and the roads--Villages--Mail
bags--Forests and rivers--End of the stage ride--Jerry--An
Introduction--A ride in a wagon--Bashfulness--An invisible
village--The journey's end--Mrs. Preston--More shy
cousins--Supper--Evening employments--Attempting to "scrape
acquaintance"--Mary tells Oscar his name--More questions--The tables
turned--Getting acquainted in bed.
CHAPTER XV.
BROOKDALE.
A dull morning--New acquaintances--Inquiries about Jerry's
school-time--A long vacation--Work--Playmates--Rain--A fine

sunrise--The distant pond--A call to breakfast--Preliminary
operations--Jerry's uncombed head--Oscar's neatness--Jerry sent from
the table--Bad manners--Bathing in the pond--An anticipated pleasure
interdicted--The river--A walk--The pond--Map of Brookdale--Going
to ride--The Cross-Roads--Billy's speed discussed--The variety
store--All sorts of things--Oscar's purchase--Returning home--Short
evenings--A nap--A queer dream--Oscar's smartness at
dreaming--Making fun of a country store--Mary's question--Crying
babies--Teasing--Walking backwards--A trip and