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A New England Girlhood, Outlined from Memory (Beverly, MA)
·
Lucy Larcom
87
We
were
seldom
permitted
to
play
with
any
boys
except
our
brothers.
I
drew
the
inference
that
our
boys
must
be
a
great
deal
better
than
"the
other
boys."
My
brother
John
had
some
fine
play-fellows,
but
he
seemed
to
consider
me
in
the
way
when
they
were
his
guests.
Occasionally
we
would
forget
that
the
neighbor-boys
were
not
girls,
and
would
find
ourselves
all
playing
together
in
delightful
unconsciousness;
although
possibly
a
thought,
like
that
of
the
"Ettrick
Shepherd,"
may
now
and
then
have
flitted
through
the
mind
of
some
masculine
juvenile:--
"Why
the
boys
should
drive
away
Little
sweet
maidens
from
the
play,
Or
love
to
banter
and
fight
so
well,--
That
Is
the
thing
I
never
could
tell."
One
day
I
thoughtlessly
accepted
an
invitation
to
get
through
a
gap
in
the
garden-fence,
to
where
the
doctor's
two
boys
were
preparing
to
take
an
imaginary
sleigh-ride
in
midsummer.
The
sleigh
was
stranded
among
tall
weeds
an
cornstalks,
but
I
was
politely
handed
in
by
the
elder
boy,
who
sat
down
by
my
side
and
tucked
his
little
brother
in
front
at
our
feet,
informing
me
that
we
were
father
and
mother
and
little
son,
going
to
take
a
ride
to
Newburyport.
He
had
found
an
old
pair
of
reins
and
tied
them
to
a
saw-horse,
that
he
switched
and
"Gee-up"-ed
vigorously.
The
journey
was
as
brief
as
delightful.
I
ran
home
feeling
like
the
heroine
of
an
elopement,
asking
myself
meanwhile,
"What
would
my
brother
John
say
if
he
knew
I
had
been
playing
with
boys?"
He
was
very
particular
about
his
sisters'
behavior.
But
I
incautiously
said
to
one
sister
in
whom
I
did
not
usually
confide,
that
I
thought
James
was
the
nicest
boy
in
the
lane,
and
that
I
liked
his
little
brother
Charles,
too.
She
laughed
at
me
so
unmercifully
for
making
the
remark,
that
I
never
dared
look
towards
the
gap
in
the
fence
again,
beyond
which
I
could
hear
the
boys'
voices
around
the
old
sleigh
where
they
were
playing,
entirely
forgetful
of
their
former
traveling
companion.
Still,
I
continued
to
think
that
my
courteous
cavalier,
James,
was
the
nicest
boy
in
the
lane.
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