there he sits the
livelong day under the shade of the tree, with sapling pole and pin
hook, and fishes, and fishes, and fishes, and waits for a nibble of the
drowsy sucker that sleeps on his oozy bed, oblivious of the baitless
hook from which he has long since stolen the worm. There he sits, and
fishes, and fishes, and fishes, and like Micawber, waits for something
to "turn-up." But nothing turns up until the shadows of evening fall and
warn the truant home, where he is welcomed with a dogwood sprout. Then
"sump'n" _does_ turn up. He obeys the call of the Sunday school bell,
and goes with solemn face, but e'er the "sweet bye and bye" has died
away on the summer air, he is in the wood shed playing Sullivan and
Corbett with some plucky comrade, with the inevitable casualties of
_one_ closed eye, _one_ crippled nose, _one_ pair of torn breeches and
_one_ bloody toe. He takes a back seat at church, and in the midst of
the sermon steals away and hides in the barn to smoke cigarettes and
read the story of "One-eyed Pete, the Hero of the _wild_ and _woolly_
West." There is eternal war between the barefooted boy and the whole
civilized world. He shoots the cook with a blow-gun; he cuts the strings
of the hammock and lets his dozing grandmother fall to the ground; he
loads his grandfather's pipe with powder; he instigates a fight between
the cat and dog during family prayers, and explodes with laughter when
pussy seeks refuge on the old man's back. He hides in the alley and
turns the hose on uncle Ephraim's standing collar as he passes on his
way to church, he cracks chestnut burrs with his naked heel; he robs
birds' nests, and murders bullfrogs, and plays "knucks" and "base-ball."
He puts asafetida in the soup, and conceals lizzards in his father's
hat. He overwhelms the family circle with his magnificent literary
attainments when he reads from the Bible in what he calls the "pasalms
of David"--"praise ye the Lord with the pizeltry and the harp."

[Illustration: THE PARADISE OF THE BAREFOOTED BOY.]

His father took him to town one day and said to him: "Now John, I want
you to stay here on the corner with the wagon and watch these potatoes
while I go round the square and see if I can sell them. Don't open your
mouth sir, while I am gone; I'm afraid people will think you're a fool."
While the old man was gone the merchant came out and said to John: "What
are those potatoes worth, my son?" John looked at him and grinned. "What
ar