THE WELCH MOUNTAIN BOY.
“He fixed his crow-bar, attached his cord to it and descended the face of the rock. Busily employed in gathering samphire, the rope suddenly dropped from his hand.” The above is a description of a boy in a most dangerous situation, his only chance of escape being to dart out at the rope and catch it in his hand.
GEORGE DENTON,
THE TRUANT.
eorge Denton was a bad boy, and was constantly getting himself or others into trouble. One afternoon, when sent to school, he played truant, and started for a walk, ready for any mischief that might come to his hand.
He first went into a grove not far
from the school house, where one of the school boys had showed him a bird’s nest, which George promised him he would not disturb. Not regarding his promise, he now climbed the tree and got the nest, which contained several young birds; then, not knowing what to do with the nest, he sat under a tree and held it for a little while, but getting tired of this, and not knowing what to do
with it, he left it in the bushes where the young birds would perish. He then went to find James, another bad boy with whom he often played, and with whom he had many times planned mischief.
On his way he passed a field where a number of reapers were engaged in cutting the grain; coming to a spot where they had left their jackets, he removed one of them and hid it under a bush thus obliging the
owner to make a long search for it after he had finished his day’s work. He found James, and with him two other boys; they were just starting to rob an orchard, and James went with them; they got their pockets full of fruit, and the other boys then left them. George and James sat under a tree by the brook, eating their fruit, till they saw an old crazy man near them, trying to cross the
brook on a tree that had been laid across it. The boys jumped on the tree and shook it to frighten him; but James willing to frighten George as well as the old man, slily tripped him into the water, and then ran away.
George was frightened and very angry, but scrambled out of the water, and wandered about for an hour or two in his wet clothes, fearing to go home, and wishing he had gone
to school. At last he started for home; a carriage passing him, he jumped up behind it for a ride, but soon received a severe blow from the driver’s whip. He then hurt himself in jumping off the carriage, but soon reached home, wet, tired, lame and dirty, and received a severe punishment from his father.
