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     TIMOTHY’S BOYHOOD 
     
     CHAPTER I. 
     
    
   
   
    
     THE SURROUNDINGS AND SCENES 
     
     OF MY BOYHOO’D 
     
    
   
   
    
     I was a real boy and the place where I was born and brought up 
     
     was a real place, and not imaginary like you often read about in 
     
     storybooks. The stories I am going to tell you are true or as told to 
     
     me. I am sure these are the kind boys and girls like best. The his-- 
     
     tory is reliable; there may be some slight inaccuracies; my memory 
     
     may have slipped a cog occasionally and I had to put in a few missing 
     
     cogs to make the machinery go smoothly. I leave room between the 
     
     lines for the reader to fill in from his imagination and experience. I 
     
     had to grow up and go to school before I could write stories. I am 
     
     like the boy who when asked “Who made you?” answered, "I am not 
     
     finished yet.” That was a good answer, for though we stop growing 
     
     physically we keep on growing mentally. These stories sweep across 
     
     the years from the time I was a very small boy until I was a young 
     
     man. I record them topically rather than. in order of time. Timothy 
     
     is not my real, or proper name; my brothers gave me this name. I will 
     
     tell you further on why they did so. I was born August 11th, 1857 
     
     in a log house. I must tell you about the surroundings, and scenes of 
     
     my boyhood in orderto give the stories their proper historical connec- 
     
     tion. This will help to make them more interesting and instructive. 
     
     Country life was about the same all over the Island and the scenery as 
     
     grand. This writing is a cross-section that will show the conditions 
     
    
   
   
    
     and various affairs of the life of the pioneers just as they were. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The pioneers were industrious, hardy and brave. None were rich; 
     
     none, or very few, had to beg. They were kind and helpful to one 
     
     another. Large tracts of land were held by non-resident landlords. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Paying rent for their farms and the uncertainty of their tenure were 
     
     unsatisfactory to those settled on these lands, and caused some bitter 
     
    
   
   
    
     feelings. The Government wisely bought this land from the land-