The forlorn baby roars all day , and I do n't blame him ; for he is trotted , shaken , spanked , and scolded by a very cross nurse , who treats him like a meal bag . I pity that little neighbour , and do n't believe he will stand it long ; for I see him double up his tiny fists , and spar away at nothing , as if getting ready for a good tussle with the world by and by , if he lives to try it . Then the boys , -- bless their buttons ! -- how amusing they are . One young man , aged about ten , keeps hens ; and the trials of that boy are really pathetic . The biddies get out every day or two , and fly away all over the neighbourhood , like feathers when you shake a pillow . They cackle and crow , and get up on sheds and fences , and trot down the streets , all at once , and that poor fellow spins round after them like a distracted top . One by one he gets them and comes lugging them back , upside down , in the most undignified attitude , and shuts them up , and hammers away , and thinks they are all safe , and sits down to rest , when a triumphant crow from some neighbouring shed tells him that that rascally black rooster is out again for another promenade . I 'm not blood-thirsty ; but I really do long for Thanksgiving that my neighbour Henry may find rest for the sole of his foot ; for , not till his poultry are safely eaten will he ever know where they are . Another boy has a circus about once a week , and tries to break his neck jumping through hoops , hanging to a rope by his heels , turning somersaults in the air , and frightening his mother out of her wits by his pranks . I suspect that he has been to see Leotard , and I admire his energy , for he is never discouraged ; and , after tumbling flat , half-a-dozen times , he merely rubs his elbows and knees , and then up and takes another . There is a good , domestic boy , who brushes and curls his three little sisters ' hair every morning , and must do it very gently , for they seem to like it ; and I often see them watch at the back gate for him , and clap their hands , and run to meet him , sure of being welcomed as little sisters like to be met by the big brothers whom they love . I respect that virtuous boy . The naughty boy is very funny ; and the running fight he keeps up with the cross cook is as good as a farce . He is a torment , but I think she could tame him , if she took the right way . The other day she would n't let him in because she had washed up her kitchen and his boots were muddy . He wiped them on the grass , but that would n't do ; and , after going at her with his head down , like a battering ram , he gave it up , or seemed to ; for , the minute she locked the door behind her and came out to take in her clothes , that sly dog whipped up one of the low windows , scrambled in , and danced a hornpipe all over the kitchen , while the fat cook scolded and fumbled for her key , for she could n't follow through the window . Of course he was off upstairs by the time she got in ; but I 'm afraid he had a shaking , for I saw him glowering fiercely as he came out later with a basket , going some ` confounded errand . ' Occasionally his father brings him out and whips him for some extra bad offence , during which performance he howls dismally ; but when he is left sitting despondently and miraculously on an old chair without any seat , he soon cheers up , boos at a strange cat , whistles to his dog , -- who is just like him , -- or falls back on that standing cure for all the ills that boys are heir to , and whittles vigorously . I know I ought to frown upon this reprehensible young person , and morally close my eyes to his pranks ; but I really ca n't do it , and am afraid I find this little black sheep the most interesting of the flock .
The girls have tea-parties , make calls , and play mother , of XXXXX ; and the sisters of the good boy have capital times up in a big nursery , with such large dollies that I can hardly tell which are the babies and which the mammas .
biddies boys brushes course eyes hands minute rooster sheds window