Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1853-08-25
Weakened by distance and imposed

often awakened by distance and imposed
restrsints'
: But, as faithful chronicer of events,
must acknowledge that the harmony Of this
beautiful school was sometimes disturbed
by lItIe rows and riolings, In which per-
formed my full share. On one OCCASION, !
was the cause Of no lit,le merrment, ds
paid the penalty for insulting young lady
by giving her a nick name. This young
lady was mos, distresslngly ugly, both in
face and temper, and had a very tantalizing
name to make fun out Of, when associated
with her personal appearance. She was
chris,ened Irene Crawford. Iforgo. why !
outraged common polteness by giving her
nick name, but | presume must have e.
spoused the cause of some other girl. and,
IN the absence of any other means of retail
alton. called her Irene Crawfsh; species
Of ar,cu!ata which, by The way, she much
resembled. This was very malicious in me,
and deserved even more severe punish
meni than received. But there was some
lllle excuse for me, for no matter what dis
lurbance occurred between the girls, Irene
was sure to be mixed up with it. Doubt
less the ecla. tina. obtained from the whole
school Of girls for espousing their cause
was the ruling motive in my mind, TO over
balance the injustice was doing TO ONE
Irene reported me to Elihu.
Among his other rare qualities, Elihu had
an inventive genius, and disdaned repeating
himself or copying any body else. He
woudTalher let boy 60 unwhipped than
punish two in the same manner. The many
pranks tina. had been played requiring pun
lshmen', had already put his genius to the
tes, for novelties, and the wonder now was,
What new thing can he trump up?'
saw his large, cold gray eye sweep the
horizon, as if he were offering a prayer TO
The god of Invention, when suddenly it rest
ed upon q stump Of Tree in front Of the
door, which had been transformed into
stationary slep-ladder for mounting ladies
gIeam of moon-shne, passed quickly over
his imperluIbable coun,enance, announcing,
10 one familiar with his manner, the birth
of new idea.
Having once formed his plan, no time was
ever lost, but an immediate announcement
was made in drawling, mono,onous voice
Ralph Roanoke will stsnd on one foot
for an hour, on the horse block in front of
the door, bareheaded :; and every time he
falls off will add another half-hour.
An instantaneous roar Of laughter follow
ed this announcement, in which joined ss
heartily as any. In general, this ou.-brake
would have brought condign punishment
upon the head of everv fellow who was
caught laughing. Blu. EIihu was eccentric
wi,hal, and would have been very much cha
grined if his announcement had been receiv-
ed qnielly. He would have fel. it to be fai
lure. 1t was a tribute to his invention. Yes,
The more his boys laughed, the more he in
wardIy ohuckled, and the greater was danger
Of collapse to his stocklnets. Thanks to
good and well-deveIoped muscles, hoped
upon The block, and wen, at ii as cheerful
ly as martyr. The old adage, that s'it is
an i'll wind that blows nobody good" was
again verified in my case. 1t was literally
impossible for the boys to study with Raj ph
cooked up on one leg, making all kinds of
grimaces when EIihu's eve was turned "a
way, without shutting The door and if the
door was shut, it could not be seen wheh
er he was in slatu quo or moi. Thus had
The penalty and the other boys had the fun.
A. length the hour expired, and Elihu
gravey made the announcement.
Ralph Roanoke having stood an hour on
his right leg, can now take his seat.
Blu. Ralph could no. resist the tempta-
ton to show bis bottom by Tapping his
wings, (arms,) and Growing like fighting
cock.
Another roar Of laughter, and then fol.
lowed that mon olonOus voice:
'Ral ph Roanoke will stand another hour
on his left leg, aud the first one who laughs
shall keep him company
This second hour on t'other leg com
plelly smoolhed down all Raj ph's impu-
dence, and the latter clause took the grin
off The faces Of all merry-makers. aud put
another stripe on the shoulders Of the grea!
Captain EIihu P. Howe.