I was so fluttered by the appearance of his card that I rather lost my head , and did such a silly thing that it makes me laugh even now . He liked chestnut hair , and , pulling out my combs , I rushed down , theatrically dishevelled , hoping to impress my lover with my ardour and my charms . I expected to find little Gus ; but , to my great confusion , a tall being with a beaver in his hand rose to meet me , looking so big and handsome and generally imposing that I could not recover myself for several minutes , and mentally wailed for my combs , feeling like an untidy simpleton . I do n't know whether he thought me a little cracked or not , but he was very friendly and pleasant , and told me his plans , and hoped I would make another visit , and smoothed his beaver , and let me see his tail-coat , and behaved himself like a dear , conceited , clever boy . He did not allude to our love-passages , being shy , and I blessed him for it ; for really , I do n't know what rash thing I might have done under the exciting circumstances . Just as he was going , however , he forgot his cherished hat for a minute , put out both hands , and said heartily , with his old boyish laugh , -- ` Now you will come , and we 'll go boating and berrying , and all the rest of it again , wo n't we ? ' The blue eyes were full of fun and feeling , too , I fancied , as I blushingly retired behind my locks and gave the promise . But I never went , and never saw my little lover any more , for in a few weeks he was dead of a fever , brought on by too much study , -- and so ended the sad history of my fourth boy . After this , for many years , I was a boyless being ; but was so busy I did not feel my destitute condition till I went to the hospital during the war , and found my little sergeant . His story has been told elsewhere , but the sequel to it is a pleasant one , for Baby B. still writes to me now and then , asks advice about his future , and gladdens me with good news of his success as a business man in Kansas . As if to atone for the former dearth , a sudden shower of most superior boys fell upon me , after I recovered from my campaign . Some of the very best sort it was my fortune to know and like -- real gentlemen , yet boys still -- and jolly times they had , stirring up the quiet old town with their energetic society . There was W. , a stout , amiable youth , who would stand in the middle of a strawberry patch with his hands in his pockets and let us feed him luxuriously . B. , a delightful scapegrace , who came once a week to confess his sins , beat his breast in despair , vow awful vows of repentance , and then cheerfully depart to break every one of them in the next twenty-four hours . S. , the gentle-hearted giant ; J. , the dandy ; sober , sensible B. ; and E. , the young knight without reproach or fear . But my especial boy of the batch was A. -- proud and cold and shy to other people , sad and serious sometimes when his good heart and tender conscience showed him his short-comings , but so grateful for sympathy and a kind word . I could not get at him as easily as I could the other lads , but , thanks to Dickens , I found him out at last . We played Dolphus and Sophy Tetterby in the ` Haunted Man , ' at one of the school festivals ; and during the rehearsals I discovered that my Dolphus was -- permit the expression , oh , well-bred readers ! -- a trump . What fun we had to be sure , acting the droll and pathetic scenes together , with a swarm of little Tetterbys skirmishing about us !
From that time he has been my Dolphus and I his Sophy , and my yellow-haired laddie do n't forget me , though he has a younger Sophy now , and some small XXXXX of his own .
Dickens Kansas Tetterbys ardour boyless fourth scapegrace strawberry tail-coat years