ad 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--B