Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-03-21

ne nfe was nOt discovered until the
blower was one mass of red-hot iron,
and the wooden mantel-piece was smok-
ing with the intense heat. -
When came home Johnny was led
from the store-room, where he had been
imprisoned from an early period, and
where he had employed himself in; eat
ing abouttwo dollars worth of preserved
pears " .7h - bef7e9s5 t8d f1aa z
johnny" said l., in as severe tone
as one could use in addressing a person
whose forehead glistened with syrup
''Johnny, don't you remember that 4
have always told you never to meddle
with matches.'' 81 tsvoln 5dQ0a1 NJ
It was something delicious to see
Johnny trying to remember. He cast
oneseye meditatively mp to the ceiling;
then he fixed it abstractedly on the ca
nary bird; then he rubbed his ruffled
brow with a sticky hand; but really, for
the life of him, he couldn't recall any in
functions concerning matches. 5di % jas
81 can't, papa, truly, truly" said
Johnny at length; ~ guess I must
have forgot it.''i:d ssnoH s'Itsg .rg 5..ss4s
-"Well, Johnny, in order that you may
not forget it in ftiture - i9 li's.:slsilil
Here Johnny was seized with an idea.
He interrupted me. .il5d sA5 10 aIa
"I'll tell you what you do, papa-you
Just pat at doson IN a0rttim'." fs5lg- Z ~
IWith1the air of a man who has settled
a question definitely, but at the same
time is willing to listen politely to any
crude suggestion that you may have to
throw cut, Johnny crossed his legs and
thrust his hands into those wonderful
trousers pockets / turned my face aside,
for Z felt certain weakness creeping iin-
to the corners of my mouth. / was lost.
In an instant the little head, covered all
over with yellow curls, was laid upon
my knee, and Johnny was crying: i IN
so very, very sorry l' iiisi sfi1 i.st
1 have said that Johnny was the ter
ror of the neighborhood. think have
not done the gentleman an injustice. If
there is window broken within the
radius of two miles from our. house,
Johnny's ball, or stone known to come
from his dexterous hand, is almost GER
tain to be found in the battered prem
ises. Il never hear the musical jingling
of splintered glass butmy porte momnaie
gives convulsive throb in my breast
pocket. II There is not door step in our
street that hasn't borne evidence in red
chalk of his. artistic ability there isn't
a bell that he hasn't rung and run away
from at least three hundred times.
Scarcely a day passes but he falls out of
something, or over something, or into
something. A ladder running up to the
dizzy roof of an unfinished building is no
more to be resisted by him than the
back platform of a horse-car when the
conductor is collecting his fare in front.
l should not like to enumerate the
battles that Johnny has fought during
the last eight months. 1t is a physical
impossibility, should judge, for him to
refuse challenge He picks his enemies
out Of all ranks of society. He has
fought the ashman's boy, the grocer's
boy, and the rich boys over the way, and
any number of miscellaneous boys who
CHANGED to stray in our street.
I can't say that this young desperate
is always victorious. have known the
tip of has nose to be in state of un-
pleasant redness for weeks together. !, 1
have known him to come home frequent
ly with no brim to his hat; once he pre-
sented himself with only one shoe, on
which occasion his jacket was split up
the back in a manner that gave him the
appearance of an over-ripel chestnut
bursting out Of its burr. How he will
fight! But this I can say; if Johnny is
as cruel as Caligula, he is every, bit as
brave as Agamemnon. 1 never knew
him to strike boy smaller than HIM
self. I never knew him to tell lie
when lie would save him, from disas-
ter. ,11lez ba5 d. fos
At present the General, as I some
times call him. is in hospital. He was
seriously wounded at the battle of the
Little Go-Cart. on the 9th inst. On re-
turning from my Office yesterday even
ing I found the SCARED veteran stretched
upon sofa in the sitting-room, with a
patch of brown paper stuck over his left
eye, and a convicting smell of vinegar
about him. l3aIo aaa ,4JJ ai-ls d
ayes" said his mother, dolefully,
.Johnny's been fighting again. That
horrid .Barnabee boy (who is eight years
old if he is a day. won't let the child
alone" sfaoaaa TiVKoo
"Well." said ], ,"I hope Johnny gave
that Barnabee boy thrashing."
Didn't I, though y, cries. Johnny
fromithe sofa. "I bet 31art 7a9a
"Oh, Johnny!" says his mother oq
Now, several days previous to this, ]
addressed the General in the following
terms: 3-faFif - o' Ysa ,,l
-i"Johnny,if 1 ever catch you in an
other fight of your own seeking shall
cane you" ait7.t 81. 5,+st .st....i,, ...,
In consequence of this declaration, il
became my duty to look into the cir.
cumstances of the present affair, which
win be known in history as the battle Of
the Little Go-Cart. After going over
the ground very carefully, 1 found the
following to be the state of the case:
1t seems that the Barnabee Boy
speak of him as if he were the Benicia
Boy-is the oldest pupil in the primary
military school q think it mast be mil
itary schooD, of which johnny is re-
cent member. This Barnabee, having
whipped every one of his companions
was sighing for new boys to conquer
when ohnny Joined the institution. H
at once made friendly overtures of battle
toJohnny, who, oddly enough, seemed
indisposed. to encourage his advances.
Then Barnabee began a series of petty
prosecutions, which had continued up to
the day of the fight. -
On the morning of that eventful day
the Barnabee Boy appeared in the
school yard with a small go-cart. After
running down on j ohnny several times
with this useful vehicle, he captured
Johnny's. cap, filled it with sand, and