Chapter I: Preface

In the story of OSCAR is portrayed the career of a bright but somewhat headstrong boy, who was over-indulged by his parents, and who usually managed to "have his own way," by hook or by crook. The book is designed to exhibit some of the bad consequences of acquiring a wayward and lawless spirit, and of falling into indolent, untruthful, and disobedient habits. These are its main lessons, intermingled with which are a variety of others, of scarcely less importance to the young.

_Winchester, Mass._

ADVERTISEMENT.

"PRECEPTS MAY LEAD BUT EXAMPLES DRAW."

"THE AIMWELL STORIES" are designed to portray some of the leading phases of juvenile character, and to point out their tendencies to future good and evil. This they undertake to do by describing the quiet, natural scenes and incidents of everyday life, in city and country, at home and abroad, at school and upon the play-ground, rather than by resorting to romantic adventures and startling effects. While their main object is to persuade the young to lay well the foundations of their characters, to win them to the ways of virtue, and to incite them to good deeds and noble aims, the attempt is also made to mingle amusing, curious, and useful information with the moral lessons conveyed. It is hoped that the volumes will thus be made attractive and agreeable, as well as instructive, to the youthful reader.

Each volume of the "Aimwell Stories" will be complete and independent of itself, although a connecting thread will run through the whole series. The order of the volumes, so far as completed, is as follows:--

I. OSCAR; OR, THE BOY WHO HAD HIS OWN WAY.
II. CLINTON; OR, BOY-LIFE IN THE COUNTRY.
III. ELLA; OR, TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF.
IV. WHISTLER; OR, THE MANLY BOY.
V. MARCUS; OR, THE BOY-TAMER.
VI. JESSIE; OR, TRYING TO BE SOMEBODY.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

A KITCHEN SCENE.

Bridget and her little realm--A troop of rude intruders--An imperious demand--A flat refusal--Prying investigations--Biddy's displeasure aroused--Why Oscar could not find the pie--Another squabble, and its consequences--Studying under difficulties--Shooting peas--Ralph and George provoked--A piece of Bridget's mind--Mrs. Preston--George's complaint--Oscar rebuked--A tell-tale--Oscar's brothers and sisters--His father and mother.

CHAPTER II.

OSCAR IN SCHOOL.

Oscar's school--The divisions and classes--Lively and pleasant sights--Playing schoolmaster--Carrying the joke too far to be agreeable--Oscar's indolence in school--Gazing at the blackboard--A release from study, and an unexpected privilege--Whiling away an hour--Doing nothing harder work than studying--A half-learned lesson--A habit of Oscar's--A ridiculous blunder--Absurd mistakes of the British government about the great lakes--Oscar less pardonable than they--Another blunder--Difference between guessing and knowing--Oscar detained after school--His recitation--Good advice--Remembering the blackboard--Willie Davenport--A pounding promised.

CHAPTER III.

PAYING OFF A GRUDGE.

Whistler--Why Ralph liked him--Why Oscar disliked him--A caution--A sudden attack--An unexpected rescue--The stranger's advice--A brave and manly answer--Whistler refuses to expose Oscar's name--The boys separate--George's report of the scene, and Ralph's explanation--Oscar's return--His sister's rebuke--His mother's inquiries--Misrepresentations--Willie exonerated--Forgiving enemies--An unpleasant promise called to mind--Mr. Preston's action in the matter--Oscar refuses to punish himself--The chamber--A surprise--Falsehood--Exposure--The account settled--Silence--Late rising and a cold breakfast--What Mrs. Preston said--Its effect upon Oscar--Concealed emotion--Mistaken notions of manliness--Good impressions made--George's narrow escape.

CHAPTER IV.

THE HOTEL.

Alfred Walton--His home--Hotel acquaintances--Coarse stories and jokes--Andy--His peculiarities--Tobacco--A spelling lesson--The disappointment--Anger--Bright and her family--Fun and mischief--The owner of the pups--A promise--A ride to the depôt--A walk about the building--Examining wheels--The tracks--An arrival--A swarm of passengers--Two young travellers taken in tow--Their story--Arrival at the hotel--A walk--Purchase of deadly weapons--A heavy bill--Gifts to Alfred and Oscar--A brave speech for a little fellow--Going home.

CHAPTER V.

THE YOUNG TRAVELLERS

The Sabbath--Uneasiness--Monday morning--A pressing invitation to play truant--Hesitation--The decision--Oscar's misgivings--Manners of the two travellers--A small theft--Flight--A narrow escape--A costly cake of sugar--The bridge to Charlestown--The monument--The navy yard--Objects of interest--Incidents of Joseph's life--A slight test of his courage--Oscar's plans--Going to dinner--A grand "take in"--Alfred's disclosures--Real character of the young travellers--Their tough stories--A mutual difficulty--Confessing what cannot be concealed--Good advice and mild reproof--The teacher's leniency explained.

CHAPTER VI.

WORK.

A command--Passing it along--Reluctant obedience--A poor excuse--A bad habit--Employment for vacation--Oscar's opposition to the plan--Frank the errand-boy--Thanksgiving week--A busy time--Oscar's experience as store-boy--Learning to sweep--Doing work well--A tempting invitation--Its acceptance--A ride--Driving horses--The errand--The return--Oscar at the store--Sent off "with a flea in his ear"--The matter brought up again--Oscar's excuse unsatisfactory--Ralph's services rewarded--Difference between the two boys.

CHAPTER VII.

THANKSGIVING DAY.

Grandmother's arrival--Surprises--Presents--Oscar at a shooting-match--Bad company--Cruel sport--Home again--Prevarication--A remonstrance--Impudence, and a silent rebuke--The dinner--A stormy afternoon--A disappointment--Evening in the parlor--A call for stories--How the Indians punished bad boys--What Oscar thought of it--An Indian story--The hostile party--The alarm--The stratagem--The onset--The retreat--The victory--Laplot River--Widow Storey's retreat--Misfortunes of her husband--Her enterprise and industry--Fleeing from the British--The subterranean abode--Precautions to prevent discovery--Uncle James--The fellow who was caught in his own trap--Old Zigzag--His oddities--His tragic end--How the town of Barre, Vt., got its name--A well-spent evening.

CHAPTER VIII.

GRANDMOTHER LEE.

One of her habits--Ella's complaint--Alice's reproof--Ella's rude reply to her grandmother--A mild rebuke--A sterner reproof--Shame and repentance--Popping corn--George's selfishness--A fruitless search for the corn-bag--Bad Temper--An ineffectual reproof--George's obstinacy--How he became selfish--Difficulty of breaking up a bad habit--What he lost by his selfishness--Oscar's dog--He is named "Tiger"--His portrait--His roguishness--Oscar's trick upon his grandmother--Unfortunate ending--Tiger's destructiveness--A mystery, and its probable solution--Oscar's falsehood--Tiger's banishment decreed, but not carried out--Grandmother Lee's remonstrance with Oscar--Bridget's onset--Oscar's excuse--Moral principle wanting--Mrs. Lee's departure.

CHAPTER IX.

WINTER SPORTS.

Coasting--Oscar's sled--Borrowing and lending--A merry scene on the Common--Various sleds and characters--A collision--Damage to Ralph and the "Clipper"--Not accidental--The guilty parties called to account--No satisfaction obtained--Ralph's trouble--Oscar's anger--His revenge--A fight--His termination--Skating--Tiger on the ice--His plunge into an air-hole--His alarm and escape--Going home--Unfounded fears awakened--Tiger's shame--A talk about air-holes--What they are for, and how they are made--Skaters should be cautious--A change in Tiger's habits--A great snow-storm--Appearance of the streets--Fun for the boys--A job for Oscar--He is wiser than his father--Nullification of a command--The command repeated--Icy sidewalks--Laziness and its excuses--A wise suggestion--Duty neglected--Oscar called to account--His excuses--Unpleasant consequences of his negligence--The command repeated, with a "snapper" at the end--The dreaded task completed.

CHAPTER X.

APPEARANCES.

A compulsory ride--Merited retribution--A sad plight for a proud boy--Laughter and ridicule--Oscar's neatness and love of dress--The patched jacket--Oscar's objections to it--Benny Wright, the boy of many patches--His character--The jacket question peremptorily settled--A significant shake of the head--A watch wanted--Why boys carry watches--Punctuality--Oscar's tardiness at school--The real cause of it--Thinking too much of outside appearances--Character of more consequence than cloth--An offer--The conditions--A hard question--How to accomplish an object--Oscar's waywardness--Boarding-school discipline--The High School--An anticipated novelty.

CHAPTER XI.

THE MORAL LESSON.

Oscar's shrewdness--His reputation for integrity--A new want--Perplexity--A chance for speculation--A dishonest device--Its success--Secrecy--The fraud discovered--Oscar's defence--Restitution refused--Indignation--The Monday morning lesson in morals--Dishonesty--Rectifying mistakes--The principle unfolded--Restoring lost articles--A case for Oscar to decide--His reluctant decision--Taking advantage of another's ignorance--Duty of restitution--Other forms of dishonesty--Better to be cheated than to cheat--Effect of the lesson upon Oscar.

CHAPTER XII.

SICKNESS.

Wet feet--A command disobeyed--Dabbling in the water--Playing on the ice--An unexpected adventure--Afloat on an ice-cake--A consultation--Danger and alarm--Spectators--A call for help--A critical situation--The rescue--Effects of the adventure--Feverish dreams--Strange feelings--The doctor's visit--Lung fever--The Latin prescription--Oscar's removal--He grows worse--Peevishness--Passing the crisis--Improved behavior--Getting better--General rejoicings--Further improvement--Return of a bad habit--Fretfulness and impatience--A dispute--First attempt to sit up--Its failure--First day in an easy chair--The sweets of convalescence--Danger of a relapse.

CHAPTER XIII.

GETTING WELL.

Hunger--An evil suggestion--First visit down stairs--Midnight supper--Weakness and exhaustion--An ill turn--The doctor's visit--The mystery explained--Contents of a sick boy's stomach--The doctor's abrupt farewell--His recall--Promise of obedience--Punishment for imprudence--Directions--Effects of the relapse--Slow recovery--The menagerie procession--A wet morning--Disobedience--Exposure, and its consequences--Reading--The borrowed book--The curious letter--Puzzles, with illustrations--Guessing riddles--Oscar's treatment of Benjamin--His present feelings towards him--Ella's copy of the letter--Oscar's growing impatience--An arrival--Uncle John--The loggers--Cousins never seen--A journey decided upon--Solution of riddles, conundrums, &c.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE JOURNEY.

Setting out--A long and wearisome ride--Portland--The hotel--Going to bed--The queer little lamp--Lonesomeness--The evening prayer--Morning--Breakfast--The railroad depôt--Oscar's partiality for stage-coaches and good horses--Eighty miles by steam--Dinner--The stage-coach--An outside seat--The team and the roads--Villages--Mail bags--Forests and rivers--End of the stage ride--Jerry--An Introduction--A ride in a wagon--Bashfulness--An invisible village--The journey's end--Mrs. Preston--More shy cousins--Supper--Evening employments--Attempting to "scrape acquaintance"--Mary tells Oscar his name--More questions--The tables turned--Getting acquainted in bed.

CHAPTER XV.

BROOKDALE.

A dull morning--New acquaintances--Inquiries about Jerry's school-time--A long vacation--Work--Playmates--Rain--A fine sunrise--The distant pond--A call to breakfast--Preliminary operations--Jerry's uncombed head--Oscar's neatness--Jerry sent from the table--Bad manners--Bathing in the pond--An anticipated pleasure interdicted--The river--A walk--The pond--Map of Brookdale--Going to ride--The Cross-Roads--Billy's speed discussed--The variety store--All sorts of things--Oscar's purchase--Returning home--Short evenings--A nap--A queer dream--Oscar's smartness at dreaming--Making fun of a country store--Mary's question--Crying babies--Teasing--Walking backwards--A trip and a fall--A real crying baby--Mary comforted--Jerry cuffed--Mortification.