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

^o ANNALS OF OUR ANCESTORS
in later years. Before he could read he used to stand on a
chair before the map of the world which hung on the wall and
call off the countries with their long hard names, and even the
islands of the sea. I, a little three-year-old, used often to
stand beside him in front of that map and hear him go over
the strange foreign names — Borneo, Sumatra, and the rest.
I wonder what kind of a picture we made in child garments of
seventy years ago — he in his little butternut suit of jeans,
short jacket, and trousers to the shoe-tops; and I, a little
yellow-haired girl in a pink calico pinafore, who, when we
were side by side, did not reach to his brown curls. I think we
must have cut a quaint figure with a map of the whole world
unrolled before us.
William was an honest boy, brimful of mischief but always
ready to own to the truth, even to his own hurt. When he
knew that the rod would not be spared, he would stand and
testify with all the gravity due to an occasion of the greatest
moment, while I would look on with fear and admiration.
I, the elder daughter, was in many ways quite different from
William. My complexion was fair; I had blue eyes, ruddy
cheeks, and hght hair. While I was thought to be witty and
ready of answer, I had not the depth of intellectual endowment
which he certainly possessed. His superiority made
me feel how little I knew, and being of a sensitive nature comparisons
sometimes stung me to the heart.
Next in order came Brother Joseph; he, too, was unlike
either of us. He had a soft pink complexion and sandy hair,
very fine and shining in the sunlight; his dark eyes, dark to
blackness, were not unlike our mother's in color. He loved
quiet plays and would amuse himself by the hour, singing all
the while some happy little notes. He early marked out his
own career. How well do I remember, in the long winter
evenings while mother was making the boys' coats by the light
of her two candles, little Joe would be building his air castles,
thinking what he would be when he grew to manhood. So
earnest would he become that he would arise from his little
red chair, stretch himself to his full height, and say in tones of