Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1867-12-20
1853 "a From the Atlantic Monthly.
"A YOUNG DESPERADO.

w
bed, with his rosy cheek resting on one OF
his scratched and grimy little hands, form
ling altogether perfect picture of peace
and innocence, 1t seems hard to realize
what busy, FESTIVE, pugnacious, badly in
genious little wretch be ISL There is some
thing 80 comical in those funny little shoes
they look as If they could jump up and
run of, IL they wanted to-there is some.
thing SO laughable about those little
trousers, which appear to be making vain
attempts to climb up into the easy chair
the said trousers still retaining the shape
of ,!ohnny's little legs, and refusing to go
to sleep-there Is something, say, about
these things, and about Johnny himself,
which makes it difficult for me TO remem-
Der that, when Johnny Is awake, he not
unfreGuently displays traits of character
not to be compared with anything but the
cunning of an Indian warrior, combined
with the combative qualities of a trained
sprize-fghter. rie4l .fsg.l7.; ~ .1lg ~
I'm sure don't know how he came by
such unpleasant propenstties. ! am my
self the meekest OF men. OF course, /
don't mean to imply that Johnny inherit
ed his warlike disposition from his mother.
She is the gentiest Of women. But when
you come to Johnny--he's the terror OF
the whole neighborhood. ec7 tr4
He was meek enough at first THAT is TO
say, for the first six or seven days OF his
existence. But verify believe that he
wasn't more than eleven days old when he
showed degree of temper that shocked
me shocked me In one 30 young. On
that occasion he turned very red In the
faee-he was quite red before doubled up
his ridiculous hands In the most threaten
Ing manner, and finally, In the impotency
of rage, punched himself In the eye.
When I think of the life he led his mother
and Susan during the first eighteen months
after his arrival, shrink from the respon.
sibility Of allowing Johnny to call me IA
ther. 1'175ea' Ga ~ "21t III ~ ri
aggressive disposition was not
more early developed than his duplicity.
By the time he was two years of age, /
had got the following maxim by heart !;
VI henever j. Ia particularly quiet, look
out for squalls" He was sure to be in
some mischief And I must say there was
a novelty, an unexpectedne:s, an ingenuity,
in his badness that constantly astonished
me. The crimes he committed could be
arranged alphabetically. He never re-
peated himself His evil resources were
tnexhaustible. He never did the thing I
expected he would. He never failed to do
the thing was unprepared for. lam not
thinking so much of the time when he
painted my writing-desk with raspberry
jam, as of the occasion when he perpetra-
ted an act of original cruelty on Mopsey, a
favorite kitten In the household We were
sitting In the library. Johnny was play
ing In the front hall In view Of the gu
pernatural stiffness that reigned, I re-
marked, slspiciously, "Johnny Is very
quiet, my dear" At that moment series
of pathetic ssescs was heard in the entry,
followed by q violent scratching on the
oil-cloth. Then Mopscy bounded into the
rooui with three empty spools strung upon
her tall. The spools were removed with
great difficulty, especially the last one,
which fitted remarkably tight. After that,
Mopsey never saw work basket without
arching her tortoise shell back, and dis
tending her tail to three times its natural
thickness. Another child would have
the kitten, or stuck pin IN 1t, or
twisted her tail; but 1t was reserved for
the superior genius of Johnny to string
rather small spools upon 1t. He never did
the obvious thing. f'sgs Ij31s1i gs
II was this fertility and happiness, If |
may say so, of invention, that prevented
me from being entirely detected over my
sons behavior at this period. Sometimes
the temptation to seize him and shake him
was too strong for poor human, nature
But always regretted it afterwards
When saw him asleep in his tiny bed,
with one tear dried on his plump, velvety
cheek and two little mice, teeth visible
through the parted lips, couldn't help
what little bit Of fellow he
was, with his funny little fingers and his
funny Httlc nails |; and it didn't seem to
me that he was the sort Of person to be
pitched into by great strong man like me.
When Johnny grows older" used to
say to his mother, " I'll reason with him."
Now don't know when Johnny win
grow old enough to be reasoned with.
When reflect how hard 1t is to reason
with wise grown-up people, if they hap
pen to be unwilling to accept your view
of matters, / am inclined &c be very
patient with Johnny, whose experience is
rather limited, after ali, though he is six
years and half old, and naturally wants
to know why and wherefore. Somebody
says something about the duty Of blind
obedience" can't expect Johnny TO have
more wisdom than Solomon, and to be
more philosophic than the philosophers
Attimes, indeed, have been led to ex-
pect this from him. He has shown adepth
Of mind that warranted me in looking for
At times he seems &c if he were