At this dark moment I heard Christy say below , ` She meant it kindly , so I would n't mind , Fanny ; ' and then up came my boy full of sympathy and comfort . Seeing the tragic expression of my face , he said not a word , but , sitting down in an old chair , took me on his knee and held me close and quietly , letting the action speak for itself . It did most eloquently ; for the kind arm seemed to take me back from that dreadful exile , and the friendly face to assure me without words that I had not sinned beyond forgiveness . I had not shed a tear before , but now I cried tempestuously , and clung to him like a shipwrecked little mariner in a storm . Neither spoke , but he held me fast and let me cry myself to sleep ; for , when the shower was over , a pensive peace fell upon me , and the dim old garret seemed not a prison , but a haven of refuge , since my boy came to share it with me . How long I slept I do n't know , but it must have been an hour , at least ; yet my good Christy never stirred , only waited patiently till I woke up in the twilight , and was not afraid because he was there . He took me down as meek as a mouse , and kept me by him all that trying evening , screening me from jokes , rebukes , and sober looks ; and when I went to bed he came up to kiss me , and to assure me that this awful circumstance should not be reported at home . This took a load off my heart , and I remember fervently thanking him , and telling him I never would forget it . I never have , though he died long ago , and others have probably forgotten all about the naughty prank . I often longed to ask him how he knew the surest way to win a child 's heart by the patience , sympathy , and tender little acts that have kept his memory green for nearly thirty years . Cy was a comrade after my own heart , and for a summer or two we kept the neighbourhood in a ferment by our adventures and hair-breadth escapes . I think I never knew a boy so full of mischief , and my opportunities of judging have been manifold . He did not get into scrapes himself , but possessed a splendid talent for deluding others into them , and then morally remarking , ` There , I told you so ! ' His way of saying ` You dars ` nt do this or that ' was like fire to powder ; and why I still live in the possession of all my limbs and senses is a miracle to those who know my youthful friendship with Cy . It was he who incited me to jump off of the highest beam in the barn , to be borne home on a board with a pair of sprained ankles . It was he who dared me to rub my eyes with red peppers , and then sympathisingly led me home blind and roaring with pain . It was he who solemnly assured me that all the little pigs would die in agony if their tails were not cut off , and won me to hold thirteen little squealers while the operation was performed . Those thirteen innocent pink tails haunt me yet , and the memory of that deed has given me a truly Jewish aversion to pork . I did not know him long , but he was a kindred soul , and must have a place in my list of boys . He is a big , brown man now , and , having done his part in the war , is at work on his farm .
We meet sometimes , and though we try to be dignified and proper , it is quite impossible ; there is a sly twinkle in XXXXX 's eye that upsets my gravity , and we always burst out laughing at the memory of our early frolics .
Cy Fanny Jewish fire garret hour nt peppers storm twilight