THOMAS EDWARD. 51 



house, than he dodged her and away he started for his 

 old haunts. When his father came home, great was his 

 surprise to learn that he had disappeared in the morning, 

 and had not been seen again by his mother during the 

 day. Very angry was the father. By-and-bye a 

 neighbour came in and said that the lad had returned, 

 and was warming himself at her fireside. Tom had, 

 however, very soon followed her, and heard most of his 

 father's threats of what he would do for him. The 

 woman, however, got a promise that he should " no' be 

 licked," and at this the lad came forward. Immediately 

 the father caught sight of the petticoat hanging loosely 

 around his neck, covered with mud, and his legs and 

 arms in a like predicament, he burst into a loud fit of 

 laughter. That ramble brought on a serious fever, 

 from which it was months before he recovered. During 

 this fever he talked much of his beasties, and his first 

 sensible words were, " Mother, where are my crabs and 

 bandies that I brocht name last nicht ? " 



A number of boys out in the woods one day noticed 

 hanging to a branch of a tree, a bees' " byke," or nest. 

 None of them dared venture up the tree to try and get 

 it, but Edward, with more boldness than the rest, 

 climbed it and found when he got near the byke, that 

 his Scotch bonnet would not be large enough, neither 

 would his stocking, and, as nothing else appeared 

 available, he took off his shirt, and, after being severely 

 stung, he managed to get it safely into his nether gar- 

 ment, and folding it up tightly, started for home. He 

 arrived safely there, and deposited his treasure in an 

 old iron porridge kettle, and attempted to steal quietly 



