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about it -- and wide meadows, through which meandered a creek
that was called Cox's creek-, teeming with fish-; father &
mother often took numbers of the pupils out there fishing-;
they were trips greatly enjoyed by me-; although I had too
much baiting of the hooks to do for the girls, & taking off
the fish from their hooks -- Well two of the Coffee boys
went to our school -- Bill and Joshua-; Bill was a great big
clever hulk of a boy, without super-abundant smartness-;
Joshua was a pale, puny boy, humpbacked & delicate-; a great
contrast to his brother-; a sister of theirs -- Miss Rachel,
was a grown young lady-; in the higher classes-; Tom Brahan,
a relative of the Coffees, was a dashing, handsome little
fellow-; he was another scholar -- and John & Bill Simpson --
about my age-; Sons of John Simpson, the wealthiest merchant
in the place-; they were my class mates.

My first sweetheart was a girl of 16 -- Matilda Kernachan.
I was only ten -- I idolized her -- I have a large scar in
the palm of my right hand, made whilst I was cutting gymnastic
capers to attract her admiration-; I got a bad fall, and a
piece of glass penetrated my hand -- I got over this infatuation
by & bye -- and had another sweetheart, nearer my
own age-; a sweet little girl named Emma Leftwick -- Adelia
Emma Leftwick was her entire name-; she used to wear, alternately
a red and a green merino dress to school-; and wore her hair
in a long pleat down her back. She wrote some verses for her
composition, on Winter the first verse of which I still remember.