Annals of our ancestors; one hundred and fifty years of history in the ...

I02 ANNALS OF OUR ANCESTORS
armor. We built this defense by slipping the splints inside
his trousers, which were thin summer ones.
Of course it was fun, and Brother Joe and I helped the
culprit upstairs, the ascent of which was no small task for our
big brother on account of his exceeding stiffness of hmb. His
rear view was ridiculous in the extreme, and we all came into
the room laughing. Seeing our poorly suppressed merriment
mother said: "Children, you should be sorry your brother
has to be punished for being bad." She then ordered him
to stand still and with a good-sized water sprout from the
near-by orchard she struck him a sharp blow. Of course the
whip broke, and our mother saw there was a trick. Over her
usually serene countenance a quiet smile rippled and she
opened the door and pushed her son out on the porch. I do
not recall that we ever willfully disobeyed our parents, although
from our attacks of overflowing spirits and many skirmishes
with brooms and fights with pillows, we had sometimes to be
called down.
All natural children hke pets, but httle sister's devotion
to them was marked. Dogs, squirrels, pet chickens, — all
came in for their share of love and mourning when tragic
death claimed them. Our first little puppy was a rat terrier,
a dear little pet — fat, buff-colored, with bandy legs and a
white cross on his breast and forward legs. A family living
north of us had a nest of that breed, and as father was tormented
with rats and mice about the barn and corncrib,
mother gave her consent to having this dog, who was warranted
to slay and destroy rats by the wholesale. So it was that our
parents got into the carriage one day and made a visit, and at
evening they were to return with puppy. Time crept on
while we watched the clock till the going down of the sun
came, and still we kept watch as long as we could see, and then
we listened for the rumbling of the wheels. When we heard
that sound we rushed for the gate. There we met mother with
our pet, which we received with cries of delight. Mother told
how quietly doggie had slept in her lap. We warmed milk for
him and fed little "Buffie," as we called him. We made him
a warm nest in a box by the fire, but long before day he wakened