Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1867-12-19
Ths gepablieau.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10th, 1867.
A Young Desperate,
From tho Atlantic Monthly.

n HOubS DCSRCAAuVs
From tho Atlantic Monthly.
When Johnny is all snugly olrled
up in bed, with his rosy check res
ting on one of his scratched and
grimy little hands, forming altogeth-
er a perfect picture of peace and in
innocence, it seems hard to realize
what 4 busy, FESTIVE, pugnacious
badly ingenious little wretch he is
There is something so comical in
those funny little shoes and stock
ings sprawling on the fioor-they
look as if they couldjump up and run
off if they wanted to--there is some
thing to laugliable about those little
trousers. which appear to he making
vain attempts to climb up into the
easy .chair-the said trousers still re-
manning the shape of Johnny's little
legs, and refusing to 60 to sleep
there is something, | say, about
these things, and about Johnny him
self, which makes it difficult for me
to remember that, when Johnny is
awake, he not unfrequently displays
traits of character not to be compnr.
ed with anything but the cunning OF
an Indian warrior, combined with
the combative qualities of a prize
fighter
I'm sure | don't know how he
came by such unpleasant propensi-
ties. / am myself the meekest OF
men. OF course l don't mean to
imply that Johnny inherited his war
like disposition from his mother.
She is the gentlest of women. But
when you come Johnny-he's the
terror of the whole neighborhood.
He was meek enough at first, that
is to say, for the first six or seven
days OF his existence. But | verify
believe he was not more than eleven
days old when he showed a degree
of temper that shocked me, in one so
young. On that occasion he turned
very red in the face-he was quite
red before-doubled up in his ridicu-
Ions hands in the most threatening
manner, and finally, in the impoten-
cy of rage, punched himself in the
eye. When / think of the life he led
his mother and Susan during the first
eighteen months after his arrival
shrink from the responsibility of al
lowing Johnny to call me father.
Johany's aggressive disposition
was not more early developed than
his duplicity. BY the time he was
two years of age / had got the fol
lowing maxim by heart: whenever
J. is particularly quiet look out for
squalls" He was sure to be in
some mischief. And l must say
there was novelty, and Unexpected
ness, an ingenuity, in his badness
that constantly astonished me. The
crimes he committed could be ar
ranged alphabetically. He never re-
repeated himself. His evil resources
were ineShaustible. He never did
che thing I expected he would He
never failed TO do the thing | was I'M
prepared for ! am not thinking so
much CT 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, favorite kitten in the
household. We were sitting in the
librarT. Johnny was playing in the
front hall In view of the supernat-
ural stiffness that reigned, / remark
cd. suspiciously, johnny is very
quiet, my dear" At that moment
series of pathetic mews was heard in
the entry, followed by a violent
scratching on the oil cloth. Then
Mopsey bounded into the room with
three empty spools strung upon her
tail. The spools were removed with
great difficulty, especially the last
one, which fitted remarkably tight. |
After that, Mopsey never saw q work
basket without arching her tortoise
shell back and distenJing her tail to
three times its natural thickness.
Another child would have squeezed
the kitten, or stuck n pin in it, or
twisted her tail; but it was reserved
for the superior genius of Johnny to
string rather small spools upon it.
He never did the obvious thing.
1t was this fertility and happiness,
if / may say so, of invention, that
prevented me from being entirely de-
jected over my sons behavior at this
period. Sometimes the temptation
to seize and shake him was too strong
for poor human nature. But l al
ways regretted it afterward. When
l saw him asleep in his tiny bed.with
one tear dried on his plump, velvety
check and two little inject teeth just
visible through the parted lips. ]
couldn't help thinking what a little
bit of a fellow he was, with his funny
little 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-
(Which johnny grows older" /
used to say to his mother, "1'll rea-
son with him.
Now | don't know when Johnny
will gro old enough to be reasoned
with. When reflect how hard it is
to reason with wise grown up people,
to be unwilling to accept your view of
matters, am inclined to be very pa
tient with Johnny; whose experience
is rather limited, after all, though he
is six years and half old, and natural
ly wants to know why and wherefore
Somebody says something about the
duty Of ..blind obedience" / can't
expect Johnny to have more wisdom
Al. II - 4. l..