My Boyhood and Youth 



roof, and got bravely astride of it ; but in try- 

 ing to return he lost courage and began to 

 greet (to cry), "I canna get doon. Oh, I canna 

 get doon/' I leaned out of the window and 

 shouted encouragingly, "Dinna greet, Davie, 

 dinna greet, I'll help ye doon. If you greet, 

 fayther will hear, and gee us baith an awfu' 

 skelping." Then, standing on the sill and hold- 

 ing on by one hand to the window-casing, I 

 directed him to slip his feet down within reach, 

 and, after securing a good hold, I jumped 

 inside and dragged him in by his heels. This 

 \i finished scootcher-scrambling for the night and 

 frightened us into bed. 



In the short winter days, when it was dark 

 even at our early bedtime, we usually spent 

 the hours before going to sleep playing voyages 

 around the world under the bed-clothing. After 

 mother had carefully covered us, bade us good- 

 night and gone downstairs, we set out on our 

 travels. Burrowing like moles, we visited 

 France, India, America, Australia, New Zea- 

 land, and all the places we had ever heard of ; 



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