Page:Samantha on Children's Rights.djvu/215

 And Tirzah sez, "Yes, indeed, it is, now last Sunday in church"

But Tamer, bein' so full and runnin' over with complaints about Jack, she went right on and told over a dozen of his little tricks and ways, kinder cunnin' I thought some on 'em, but she and Tirzah thinkin' 'em dretful, and at last, though I am very close mouthed and seldom speak, I did say, "It seems to me you ort to be more patient with your little children, for they are learnt by us bigger ones to do most everything they do, and then the poor little creeters get whipped for it."

"Well," sez Tamer, "I would like to know who learnt Jack to do some of his tricks, what would you do," sez she, "if a child throwed all your clothes out of the winder—dresses, petticoats, stockin's, and everything when you wuz tryin' to dress? And poured water down on folks who wuz passin' below. Why," sez she, "such strange things would be throwed out of our winders that folks would inquire what kind of folks lived there. And one woman that he spilte a bunnet for threatened to sue us; of course that wuz some time ago, when we lived in town, but I well remember it. She had stopped with another woman right under our winder for a few minutes' quiet and peaceable talk, and Jack trickled a hull cup of water down onto 'em. Their bunnets wuz kinder soft and spongy, and took up the water for a spell, but when their heads begun to git wet they investigated, and there Jack wuz, happy as a king, callin' for more water, his cup had gin out—how would you like that? And while you wuz tryin' to dress have all your clothes throwed down into the street, and you can't say that he had ever seen us do that."

"I shouldn't like it," sez I mildly; "but how old wuz Jack when he did this?"