[1] For Lilian, Ida’s second name.

CHAPTER XIII.

Biography of Mr. Greeley—­Gabrielle’s Questions—­Mrs. Cleveland’s Corrections—­The Boy Horace not Gawky, Clownish, or a Tow-head—­His Parents not in Abject Want—­Mr. Greeley’s Letter about his Former Playmates—­Young Horace and his Girl Friends—­He Corrects their Grammar and Lectures them upon Hygiene—­He disapproves of Corsets.

July 10.

“Auntie, is it possible,” said Gabrielle, indignantly running into mamma’s room with an open volume in her hand, “that papa was as homely and awkward when a boy and young man as this writer describes him?  ‘Tow-head,’ ‘gawky,’ ‘plain,’ and ‘clownish,’ are some of the most uncomplimentary epithets applied to him.  He is described as having ‘white hair with a tinge of orange at the ends,’ and as ’eating as if for a wager;’ while grandpapa, the writer says, was so poor that papa had to walk barefooted over the thistles, without a jacket, and in trousers cut with an utter disregard of elegance or fit, and it was remarked that they were always short in the legs, while one was invariably shorter than the other.  Was it possible that grandpapa could not afford an inch more of cloth to make poor papa’s trousers of equal length, and was it true that papa never had but two shirts at a time until he came to New York, and that he never had any gloves?  When he was an apprentice in Portland every one used to pity him, Mr. ------ says, as he walked shivering to the Spectator office on cold winter days, thinly clad, and with his gloveless hands thrust into his pockets to protect them from being frost-bitten!”

“My child, you overwhelm me with your questions,” said mamma.  “Let me take them singly, and I will do my best to refute this writer’s unpleasant statements.

“First as to personal appearance.  You say he styles your papa ‘plain’ as a boy.  That is absurd, for his features, like mother’s, were as perfect as a piece of Grecian sculpture.  ‘Tow-head’ is also a mis-statement.  Brother’s hair never was at any time tow-color, and the tinge of orange at the ends existed only in the author’s imagination.  Tow-color, you know, is a sort of dirty white or gray; whereas brother’s hair, until he was thirty years old, was like Raffie’s, pure white.  After that time, it commenced to change to a pale gold-color, which never, however, deepened into orange.  What was your next question, my dear?”

“About papa’s wardrobe,” said Gabrielle, her cheeks still flushed with excitement; “were you indeed so miserably poor, auntie?”

“We were certainly very poor after father failed,” said mamma firmly, “but we were by no means reduced to abjectness.  I can never remember the time, in our poorest days, when the boys had not, besides their brown linen work-day shirts, cotton shirts for Sunday, and father his ‘fine shirt’ to wear to church and for visiting.  Your papa was dressed suitably for our station in life—­neither better nor worse than the sons of neighbors in our circumstances.  As for going barefoot, all country boys at that time did so during the summer months; your papa was not an exception.