The afternoon was stormy, and the children amused themselves with
in-door sports. After tea, however, Oscar asked his father for some
money, to buy a ticket to an entertainment that was to take place in
the evening. But both his parents thought he had better stay at home,
with the rest of the family, and he reluctantly yielded to their
wishes, coupled with the promise of a story or two from his
grandmother, about old times.

A cheerful fire was burning in the grate, when the family returned to
the parlor, from the tea-table. The lamps were not yet lit, although
the gray twilight was fast settling down, and the ruddy coals began to
reflect themselves from the polished furniture. Mrs. Preston was about
to light the lamps, when Ella exclaimed:

"No, no, mother, don't light the lamps--let's sit in the dark awhile,
and then grandmother's stories will seem twice as romantic. You don't
want a light, do you, grandmother?"

"No," said the grandmother, "I can talk just as well in the dark. But
I don't know as I can tell you any very interesting stories. I can't
think of anything now but what you have already heard. That's just the
way when I want to tell a story. If I was all alone, I should think of
lots of things to tell you."

"Can't you tell us something about the Indians?--I like to hear about
them," said Oscar.

"You would like to know how they served naughty boys, would n't you?"
inquired his grandmother; and if the room had not been quite so dark,
Oscar would have seen something like a roguish twinkle in her sober
gray eye, as she spoke.

"O yes, grandmother," interrupted Ella, "that will suit him, I know.
At any rate, it ought to interest him--so please to tell us what they
did to their bad boys, and perhaps we shall learn how to serve Oscar."

"And while you are about it, grandmother," said Oscar, "tell us what
they did to naughty girls, too."

"I don't know how they punished girls," said the old lady; "but I have
heard it said that when they wished to punish a boy very severely, they
made him lie down on the ground, upon his back. They then put their
knees on his arms, and held his head back, while they took into their
mouth some very bitter stuff, made from the roots of a certain plant,
and squirted it into the boy's nose. They kept repeating the dose,
till the poor fellow was almost strangled, and I suppose by that time
he was cured of his fault."

"Pooh, was that all?" said Oscar; "I thought so