“I never thought much about that before, but I mean to look out for it now,” said Oscar.
Nothing was said to Oscar in relation to his unguarded remarks to the boys about tattooing, and he never knew that he was overheard by his aunt. That incident, however, gave the turn to the conversation on this occasion.
CHAPTER IV.
UP THE MOUNTAIN.
OSCAR, from the day of his arrival in Highburg, had expressed a desire to ascend some one of the lofty mountain peaks in the neighborhood; and Marcus had made a sort of half promise to get up a party, some fine autumn day, to visit the Camel’s Hump, the highest eminence in that part of the State. On reflection, however, it was thought best to abandon this undertaking, on account of the distance of the mountain from Highburg, the difficulty of making the ascent, and the time that would be required for the expedition. But to compensate Oscar and the other young folks for the disappointment, it was determined, one Saturday afternoon, to make an excursion to a notable eminence called “Prescott’s Peak,” situated about two miles from Mrs. Page’s.
The party consisted of Marcus, Oscar, Kate, Ronald, Otis, and Rover, the dog. They struck an air-line towards the mountain, through fields, meadows and woods, Rover strolling on ahead of the party, with an air of entire satisfaction.
“I’ll bet Rover knows where we are going—don’t you believe he does, Marcus?” inquired Oscar.
“I don’t know, I almost think sometimes that he knows what we say,” replied Marcus.
“He knows a good deal that we say, any way,” remarked Otis. “You give him a bucket, and tell him to carry it out to the barn, and he’ll do it just as well as anybody; and he’ll lie down, or give you his paw, or speak, if you tell him to.”
“One day, about a year ago,” said Marcus, “when Aunt Fanny was packing her trunk, to go to Grandmother’s, she told Rover she had got to leave him, and asked him if he didn’t want to go, too; and upon that he jumped right into her trunk,—as much as to say, ‘Yes, I want to go,—pack me in!’ When Aunt Fanny came back from her journey, it seemed as if he would eat her up, he was so glad to see her. He never forgets anybody that he has once known. Last summer, I took him over to Montpelier with me, where he used to live; and although he hadn’t been there for over two years, he remembered all his old friends, and went around and scratched at all the doors of the houses he used to visit when he lived there.”