g up her nose in consequence of a fly having
perched itself obstinately on the point thereof. Zackey, with the red
earth of the mine still streaking his manly countenance, was rolled-up
like a ball in his own bed in a dark recess of the room, and little
Grace Maggot could be seen in the dim perspective of a closet, also
sound asleep, in her own neat little bed, with her hair streaming over
the pillow, and the "chet" reposing happily on her neck.

But that easily satisfied chet had long ago had more than enough of
rest. Its repose was light, and the sound of baby Maggot falling out of
bed caused it to rise, yawn, arch its back and tail, and prepare itself
for the mingled joys and torments of the opening day. Observing that
the urchin rose and staggered with a gleeful expression towards the
door, the volatile chet made a dash at him sidewise, and gave him such a
fright that he fell over the door step into the road.

Again was that tender babe's deceitfulness of character displayed, for,
instead of howling, as he would have done on other occasions, he
exercised severe self-restraint, made light of a bruised shin, and,
gathering himself up, made off as fast as his fat legs could carry him.

There was something deeply interesting--worthy of the study of a
philosopher--in the subsequent actions of that precocious urchin. His
powers in the way of walking were not much greater than those of a very
tipsy man, and he swayed his arms about a good deal to maintain his
balance, especially at the outset of the journey, when he imagined that
he heard the maternal voice in anger and the maternal footsteps in
pursuit in every puff of wind, grunt of pig, or bark of early-rising
cur. His entire soul was engrossed in the one grand, vital, absorbing
idea of escape! By degrees, as distance from the paternal roof
increased, his fluttering spirit grew calmer and his gait more steady,
and the flush of victory gathered on his brow and sparkled in his eye,
as the conviction was pressed home upon him that, for the first time in
his life, he was _free_! free as the wind of heaven to go where he
pleased--to do what he liked--to be _as bad as possible_, without let or
hindrance!

Not that baby Maggot had any stronger desire to be absolutely wicked
than most other children of his years; but, having learnt from
experience that the attempt to gratify any of his desires was usually
checked and termed "bad," he naturally felt that a state of deli