He would
not part with a copper of his money and would have nothing to do with
_The Tin Box_. Then the Editor's wrath broke out, and he said he had
already written his editorial, but would now, as a concluding article,
write a second one in order to show up the person who had tried to
wreck the paper, in his true colours. He would exhibit him as the
meanest, most contemptible insect that ever crawled on the surface
of the earth.
In the middle of this furious tirade my poor little brother burst out
crying. "Keep your miserable tears till the paper is out," shouted the
other, "as you will have good reason to shed them then. You will be a
marked being, every one will then point the finger of scorn at you and
wonder how he could ever have thought well of such a pitiful little
wretch."
This was more than the little fellow could stand, and he suddenly fled
from the room, still crying; then we all laughed, and the angry editor
laughed too, proud of the effect his words had produced.
Our little brother did not join us at play that afternoon: he was in
hiding somewhere, keeping watch on the movements of his enemy, who was
no doubt engaged already in writing that dreadful article which would
make him a marked being for the rest of his life.
In due time the editor, his task finished, came forth, and mounting
his horse, galloped off; and the little watcher came out, and stealing
into the room where the _Tin Box_ was kept, carried it off to the
carpenter's shop. There with chisel and hammer he broke the lid to
pieces, and taking out all the papers, set to work to tear them up
into the minutest fragments, which were carried out and scattered all
over the place.
When the big brother came home and discovered what had been done he
was in a mighty rage, and went off in search of the avaricious little
rebel who had dared to destroy his work. But the little rebel was not
to be caught; at the right moment he fled from the coming tempest to
his parents and claimed their protection. Then the whole matter had to
be inquired into, and the big boy was told that he was not to thrash
his little brother, that he himself was to blame for everything on
account of the extravagant language he had used, which the poor little
fellow had taken quite seriously. If he actually believed _The Tin
Box_ article was going to have that disastrous effect on him, who
could blame him for destroying it?
That was the end of _The Tin Box_; not a word about starting it
afresh was said, and from that day my elder brother never mentioned
it. But years later I came to think it a great pity that the scheme
had miscarried.
