ookey the balance of the day neither. He
thess went down to the crik, an' washed the soot off his face, though
they say he didn't no more 'n smear it round, an' then he went down to
Miss Phoebe's school, an' stayed there till it was out. An' she took him
out to the well, an' washed his face good for him. But nex' day he up
an' went back to Mr. Clark's school--walked in thess ez pleasant an'
kind, an' taken his seat an' said his lessons--never th'owed it up to
teacher at all. Now, some child'en, after playin' off on a teacher that
a-way would a' took advantage, but he never. It was a fair fight, an'
Sonny whupped, an' that's all there was to it; an' he never put on no
air about it.

Wife did threaten to go herself an' make the teacher apologize for
gittin' the little feller all sooted up an' sp'iln' his clo'es; but she
thought it over, an' she decided thet she wouldn't disturb things ez
long ez they was peaceful. An', after all, he didn't exac'ly send him
down the chimbly nohow, though he provoked him to it.

Ef Sonny had 'a' fell an' hurted hisself, though, in that chimbly, I'd
'a' helt that teacher responsible, shore.

Sonny says hisself thet the only thing he feels bad about in that
chimbly business is thet one o' the little swallers' wings was broke by
the fall. Sonny's got him yet, an' he's li'ble to keep him, cause he'll
never fly. Named him Swally Jones, an' reg'lar 'dopted him soon ez he
see how his wing was.

Sonny's the only child I ever see in my life thet could take young
chimbly-swallers after their fall an' make em' live. But he does it
reg'lar. They ain't a week passes sca'cely but he fetches in some hurted
critter an' works with it. Dicey says thet half the time she's afeerd to
step around her cook-stove less'n she'll step on some critter thet's
crawled back to life where he's put it under the stove to hatch or thaw
out, which she bein' bare-feeted, I don't wonder at.

An' he has did the same way at school purty much. It got so for a-while
at one school thet not a child in school could be hired to put his hand
in the wood-box, not knowin' ef any piece o' bark or old wood in it
would turn out to be a young alligator or toad-frog thawin' out. Teacher
hisself picked up a chip, reckless, one day, an' it hopped up, and
knocked off his spectacles. Of cose it wasn't no chip. Hopper-toad frogs
an' wood-bark chips, why, they favors consider'ble--lay 'em same side
up.

It was on account o' her takin' a inter