Page 39

1zlw 3iatshra 
Sammy's Revenge 
Sammy Bell and his parents lived in the little country town of Greensboro.
If they had not lived in the country, this event of which I am to tell you
would 
not have occurred, as Mr. Clayborne would not have come to visit them, had
they lived in the city. Mr. Clayborne was Sammy Bell's father's best chum.
Mr. Bell and Mr. Clayborne had known each other ever since they were boys,
sitting together at school and making faces at the teacher, who was always
peering over his glasses at the two boys sitting in the back row. It was
quite 
natural, therefore, that when Mr. Clayborne's nerves began to fail, his friend,
Mr. Bell, immediately invited him to spend the summer at his quiet country
home. 
On the evening of Mr. Clayborne's arrival, Sammy accompanied his father 
to the depot. Sammy formed his opinion of people at first sight, and the
mo- 
ment he saw this nervous looking gentleman swinging his walking stick, he
decided that this man would prove a great source of trouble to him. When
Mr. Bell looked down at Sammy, and said that this was his little son, Mr.
Clayborne quickly looked down over his glasses and said, "Ahem."
Sammy was 
then almost positive that he wouldn't like Mr. Clayborne, and with a sigh
he 
thought to himself that he would get more whippings than ever while this
Englishman was here. 
The next day Sammy came running into the house, found his mother, 
pulled her into the library, and closed the door. 
"Mother," said Sammy, "I want to go camping on Soo Creek.
Johnny and 
Billy are going, and they asked me. Johnny's uncle from New York is home,
and he's going with them. Oh! he can tell the most wonderful fish stories
you 
ever heard. May I go, mother?" 
"Well, Sammy," said his mother, "I don't know; but you will
have to see 
what your father says, because he knows those boys better than I do."
Mrs. Bell left the room, and Sammy said to the glass monkey in the corner:
"Oh, I think she'll let me go, and I'm sure daddy won't care, but I'll
ask him 
when he comes to dinner." 
At the dinner table Sammy began to tell his father all about his invitation
to go camping, and asked if he could go. Before Mr. Bell could respond, Mr.
Clayborne said: 
"Go camping! Well, I never! I knew some boys once who went camping,
and the damp air made them all have pneumonia. Why, they said the mos- 
quitoes nearly ate them up, and a snake almost bit one of the boys. No, I
don't 
believe in that camping business." 
Sammy clenched his fists, and was about to jump up from the table and 
punch the frail old gentleman, when he remembered that he wasn't Billy or
Johnny. 
Page 39 
i  I