holes for Teddy till even that ardent grubber was satisfied, or
follow Silas, the man, from place to place seeing him work, for
honest Si was very good to him, and though he forgot his letters
Billy remembered friendly faces.

Tommy Bangs was the scapegrace of the school, and the most
trying scapegrace that ever lived. As full of mischief as a monkey,
yet so good-hearted that one could not help forgiving his tricks; so
scatter-brained that words went by him like the wind, yet so
penitent for every misdeed, that it was impossible to keep sober
when he vowed tremendous vows of reformation, or proposed all
sorts of queer punishments to be inflicted upon himself. Mr. and
Mrs. Bhaer lived in a state of preparation for any mishap, from the
breaking of Tommy's own neck, to the blowing up of the entire
family with gunpowder; and Nursey had a particular drawer in
which she kept bandages, plasters, and salves for his especial use,
for Tommy was always being brought in half dead; but nothing
ever killed him, and he arose from every downfall with redoubled
vigor.

The first day he came, he chopped the top off one finger in the
hay-cutter, and during the week, fell from the shed roof, was
chased by an angry hen who tried to pick his out because he
examined her chickens, got run away with, and had his ears boxed
violent by Asia, who caught him luxuriously skimming a pan of
cream with half a stolen pie. Undaunted, however, by any failures
or rebuffs, this indomitable youth went on amusing himself with
all sorts of tricks till no one felt safe. If he did not know his
lessons, he always had some droll excuse to offer, and as he was
usually clever at his books, and as bright as a button in composing