

A Boyhood in Scotland 



a couple of eggs apiece, a disgusting job, but 

 we would do almost anything to mend our 

 speed, and as soon as we could get away after 

 taking the cure we set out on a ten or twenty 

 mile run to prove its worth. We thought 

 nothing of running right ahead ten or a dozen 

 miles before turning back; for we knew nothing 

 about taking time by the sun, and none of us 

 had a watch in those days. Indeed, we never 

 cared about time until it began to get dark. 

 Then we thought of home and the thrashing 

 that awaited us. Late or early, the thrashing 

 was sure, unless father happened to be away. 

 If he was expected to return soon, mother made 

 haste to get us to bed before his arrival. We 

 escaped the thrashing next morning, for father 

 never felt like thrashing us in cold blood on the 

 calm holy Sabbath. But no punishment, how- 

 ever sure and severe, was of any avail against 

 the attraction of the fields and woods. It had 

 other uses, developing memory, etc., but in 

 keeping us at home it was of no use at all. 

 Wildness was ever sounding in our ears, and 

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