As the prejudices of society forbid this sport , I revenged myself by driving hoop all around the mall without stopping , which the boys could not do . I can remember certain happy evenings , when we snuggled in sofa corners and planned tricks and ate stolen goodies , and sometimes Frank would put his curly head in my lap and let me stroke it when he was tired . What the girls did I do n't recollect ; their domestic plays were not to my taste , and the only figure that stands out from the dimness of the past is that jolly boy with a twinkling eye . This memory would be quite radiant but for one sad thing -- a deed that cut me to the soul then , and which I have never quite forgiven in all these years . On one occasion I did something very naughty , and when called up for judgment fled to the dining-room , locked the door , and from my stronghold defied the whole world . I could have made my own terms , for it was near dinner time and the family must eat ; but , alas for the treachery of the human heart ! Frank betrayed me . He climbed in at the window , unlocked the door , and delivered me up to the foe . Nay , he even defended the base act , and helped bear the struggling culprit to imprisonment . That nearly broke my heart , for I believed he would stand by me as staunchly as I always stood by him . It was a sad blow , and I could n't love or trust him any more . Peanuts and candy , ginger-snaps and car-rides were unavailing ; even foot-ball could not reunite the broken friendship , and to this day I recollect the pang that entered my little heart when I lost my faith in the loyalty of my first boy . The second attachment was of quite a different sort , and had a happier ending . At the mature age of ten , I left home for my first visit to a family of gay and kindly people in -- well why not say right out ? -- Providence . There were no children , and at first I did not mind this , as every one petted me , especially one of the young men named Christopher . So kind and patient , yet so merry was this good Christy that I took him for my private and particular boy , and loved him dearly ; for he got me out of innumerable scrapes , and never was tired of amusing the restless little girl who kept the family in a fever of anxiety by her pranks . He never laughed at her mishaps and mistakes , never played tricks upon her like a certain William , who composed the most trying nicknames , and wickedly goaded the wild visitor into all manner of naughtiness . Christy stood up for her through everything ; let her ride the cows , feed the pigs , bang on the piano , and race all over the spice mill , feasting on cinnamon and cloves ; brought her down from housetops and fished her out of brooks ; never scolded , and never seemed tired of the troublesome friendship of little Torment . In a week I had exhausted every amusement and was desperately homesick .
It has always been my opinion that I should have been speedily restored to the bosom of my family but for XXXXX , and but for him I should assuredly have run away before the second week was out .
Christopher Christy Frank car-rides cinnamon left naughtiness right week years