The little one was a
blue-eyed, chubby, handsome lad, with long yellow curls and an unlimited
capacity for mischief.
As Will passed along the road he saw Toddles playing in the field where
Baizley was digging. Presently he was tickled to observe that the child
had discovered Baizley's tin dinner pail, hidden in a clump of raspberry
bushes. The mischievous little rascal promptly emptied the contents out
upon the sward, and then, with his chubby hands full of cheese and
pumpkin pie, scampered over to the edge of the pool.
"Pitty pishies! give pishies 'eir dinner! Pishies! Pishies!" cried
the gleeful little voice; and splash into the pool went the cheese
and pumpkin pie, frightening the "pishies" nearly out of their wits.
Will exploded with laughter; and at the same moment Baizley, looking
up from his work, discovered the fate that had befallen his dinner.
Now Will Hen Baizley was in an unusually bad temper. Digging ditches
was not a labor he was accustomed to, and it made his back ache. In his
best of humors he was a coarse and heartless bully. On this occasion
he was filled with rage against the baby depredator. Toddles had annoyed
him on several previous occasions, and just now Will's laughter was the
one thing best calculated to sting his annoyance into fury. With a roar
that frightened Toddles into instant silence, he rushed forward and
grabbed the child, giving him a violent cuff on the side of the head.
It happened that Mr. Hand was looking out of the window of his house
on the hillside and saw all that happened.
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