6 BRAGGADOCIO.

old, and his sister was a year or two younger.
He had been used to hard work, and what is
more, he liked to work.

The island lay in the middle of the river
Ousa, arapid and beautiful stream which dashed
through the village of Cramerville. Tom and
his sister had long admired the island with its
few trees and shrubs, and now it was decided
that they would go over and take possession of
it. Easier said than done. However, Tom had
resolved that it should be done, and his favorite
saying was, “ Brag is a good dog, but Holdfast
is a better.”

Tom’s father was a dyer in the mills at
Cramerville; he was a mere laborer, directed
by others, knowing nothing himself of the
chemical process by which colors were made.
He was an industrious, uneducated man, who
had, however, the good sense to value an edu-
cation, and sent his two children to school in
winter, when he could spare their time. This
was not an easy matter, for his wife was dead,
and he had no one to keep house for him but
little Bessie.

The first thing that Tom set about, after he