. Recollections of Auton House . TER THIRD. AUTON ARK AND THE JOLLY-BOAT. OAHS ark and the jolly-boat, bywhich I mean the big four-poster andthe trundle-bed underneath it, havesheltered more square yards of chil-dren within their wide, straddlingsides than any other two private bedsin New England. To enter the ark we needed a chair,to board the jolly-boat we had onlyto tumble in. The trundle-bed wasshoved under the big one during theday and drawn out at night. These beds held different sets of chil-dren at different epochs. Once the two afforded nightly domicilefor no less than six
. Recollections of Auton House . TER THIRD. AUTON ARK AND THE JOLLY-BOAT. OAHS ark and the jolly-boat, bywhich I mean the big four-poster andthe trundle-bed underneath it, havesheltered more square yards of chil-dren within their wide, straddlingsides than any other two private bedsin New England. To enter the ark we needed a chair,to board the jolly-boat we had onlyto tumble in. The trundle-bed wasshoved under the big one during theday and drawn out at night. These beds held different sets of chil-dren at different epochs. Once the two afforded nightly domicilefor no less than six boy and girl Autons. Besides these, Debrah,of course, was curled up somewhere on the edge of the bed, on aspace scarcely wide enough to rest a teacup. In the morning the• babv, whoever it-might be, was set in the midst of the charmed «/ / o circle, to which was often added the new kitten, a fresh puppy,or somebodys black boy. Bottled up within this company was atremendous amount of latent fun and animal spirits, ready at any. 28 RECOLLECTIONS OF AUTON HOUSE. instant to break out and join the dreadful revelry about tobegin. It is impossible to describe all the wonderful plays andjourne}7s taken, — the babels and bedlams let loose — the hootingsand shoutings and screams which proceeded, on such occasions,from the warm depths of these resting-places of my childhood. Iwill endeavor, however, to give an idea of several of the moreprominent and fascinating fandangoes, as specimens of the rest. I must premise this description by making aremark about the nursery night-dress of thatperiod. All the girls wore nightcaps with ruf-fles on the edge. As to that matter MotherAuton and Debrah were all in the fashion ;mothers cap was high behind, the ruffles com-ing all over her face and concealing every feat-ure but her nose, while Debrahs was smaller,and used to get askew in the morning, afterthe whole family had clambered across her faceto see who could be first at the fire to dress.
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Keywords: ., bookauthorhoppinau, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1909
