A Peculiar Case.

that Cyrus , accompanied by a weak-minded little dog , presented himself the next morning after our arrival , and , standing in the breezy entry , with a nondescript fur cap on , pulled tightly dov ? n over his eyes , demanded information as to what he should

" ketch hold on fust . Had he ever brushed a pair of shoes ? No ; but if I would bring him a pair , he would try his hand at it , In about an hour he brought in the shoes , and dryly observed he had " spread the whole box over ' em . " He

had put the contents , not only on the outside of the shoes , but had pasted them thoroughly on the inside as Avell ! This Avas the first exhibition of his skill , and amply illustrated the fact that he was no respecter of placesAvhatever he mi ght be

, of persons . Oh , but he Avas a conspicuous trial in our lot—a source of manifold woe to us all . His ability to do anything was an esoteric quality , and he held his feAV faculties in a kind of sacred privacy .

Before a week had elapsed , every soul in the family regretted that Ave had made the boy ' s intolerable acquaintance , for he baffled all our former experience . " Cyrus is a peculiar case , " said his father ( a squab little man , devoid of hair ); " but don't be hash Avith him , and he'll soon

learn yer Avays , —Avhich he never did . His multifarious manceuverings to avoid learning our Avays astounded the household . He Avas forever " jest-a-goin '" to do everything , but he accomplished nothing . Shirking Avas a fine art with the rogue ; it was akin to meat and drink with hima kind

, of constant nutriment conducive to special gratification . And so he ahvays postponed employment to a more convenient season , Avhich season he trusted might-never come . Honest W . G , discoursing of the Washington embezzlements , let fall this

explanation of "irregularities" at the Capitol : " Work ' s an old-fashioned Avay of gittin' a liviu '; it tires folks , aud they don't like it !" Cyrus exemplified the forcible truth of a statement like this . Punctuality to duty

in any form met Avith his sternest exprobation . He was Avhat is called in the country " a growin' boy , " and he grew to be a thorn in our side , a pest in our path , a cloud in our landscape . In brief , he proved the only serious trial in our cottage life

by the sea , our only real skeleton , indoors or out . Words are colourless to depict the inadequacy of Cyrus to the situation we had called him to fill . A dark lantern with mittens on would have served us quite as

well , for the boy shed no light anywhere and handled nothing fitly . He was a creature of misinformation on every topic he ought to have been conversant with , He was constantly getting himself poisoned with ivy , the leaf of which he mistook for

something else , and the consequent obfuscation of his countenance added nothing to his personal attractions . He had a natural aversion to self-agency , so far as he Avas concerned . He did not know things b y halvesor quarters even . He had languid

, hands , ancl languider legs . His figure Avas long and fuzzy , and Avhen he walked , swung itself to ancl fro like a broken bulrush . AH the possibilities of sloth Avere apparent in his feet . He limped and crept rather than walked . His whole bein »

seemed parboiled , and his joints unsettled . He was an emblem of incompleteness , a memento of hopeless dearth , both moral and physical ; celerity was extinct in him , He had a gone-out appearance , as of one dug up from the ashes of some Yankee Herculaneum ; andas a familywe felt a kind

, , of mortification at belonging to the same race with such a remnant , such a bundle of half intuitions . Coleridge describes him Avhen he speaks of " a monument of imbecility and blank endeavour , " for the boy heard nothing , and saAV nothingfrom sheer

, and stubborn unuse of his faculties . He was unobservant as a " blind alley , " whatever that ophthalmic curiosity may be ; and he never picked up anything , for he was not cognizant of matter like the majority of the human race .

Of positive truth , he was born insolvent . He was strong in partial falsehoods , and preferred the serpentine to a direct course on every occasion , but he had no falterings in deception . He preferred to sidle up to a lie rather than present it squarely ; -but

there Avas no imperfection in the article itself when he had reached it . Sometimes , but not often , his fabrications wore too crude to escape detection . Of this nature was his frequent apology for absences on account of the necessity of " attending his grandmother ' s funeral . " At the end of the