The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-01-30
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"a a i6li5viDe maxim 81 heart h When-lI
s 49, Is particularly quiet, look out fors|
~, sisa ., 8 He was sure 60 be ID some mis-
,shsag. And I snuss. say there was no.
yaity. an unexpecte dneBs, an ingenuity, mi
hsa badness that constantly astonished me-
The crimes he committed would be arr
ranged habetically. He never repeated
himself. His evil resources were mex
.haustible. He never did the thing Lex
pected he would. He never failed to do
the thing was, unprepared for. ! am mott
thinking 30 much lof the time when hes
painted my writing-desk with raspberry
jam as of the occasion when he perpetra-
ted an act of original cruelty on Aopsey, 81
favorite kitten in the household. We were
sitting in the library. Johnny was playing
in the front hall. In view Of the super
natural stiffness that reigned, I remarked
suspiciously, :" Johnny is very quiet, my
DEAR" At that moment series of very
pathetic meps was, heard in the entry, fol-
lowed 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 work-basket without
arching her tortoise-shell back and dis
tending her tail to three times its natural
thickness. Another child would have
squeezed the kitten, or stuck pin into 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.
It 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 I always regretted it afterwards.
When saw him asleep in. his tiny bed,
with one tear dried on hisIplump, velvety
cheek, and two little mice-teeth visible
through the parted lips could not help
| thinking what little bit Of fellow he
was, with his funny little fingers and 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.
When Johnny grows older" used to
say to his mother, "I'll reason with him."
| Now, don't know when Johnny will
grow old enough to be reasoned with.
| When reflect how hard it is to reason
with wise grown-up people, if they hap
1 pen to be unwilling to accept your views
of matters, I am inclined to be very pa
tent with Johnny, whose experience is
rather limited, after all, though he is six
i hale old onI naturally NO nj q
to know why and wherefore. Somebody
says something about the duty Of I" blind
4 obedience" | can't expect Johnny to
have more wisdom than Solomon, and to
be more philosophic than the philosophers.
At times, indeed, I have been led to ex-
pect this from him. He has shown q
depth of mind that warranted me in look
/ ing for anything. At times he seems as if
he were hundred years old. He has q
quaint, birdlike way Of cooking his head
on side, and asking question that appears
to be the result Of years Of study. If
could answer some Of those questions I
should solve the darkest mysteries of life
and death. His inquiries, however, gene
rally have grotesque flavor. One night,
when the mosquitoes we're making lively
raids on his person, he appealed to me
| suddenly: "How does the moon feel when
skeeter bites it ?'' To his meditatiye
mind the broad, smooth surface of the
moon presented temptation not to be re-
| sisted by any stray skeeter.
| freely confess that Johnny is now and
/ then too much for me-. wish I could
read him as cleverly as he reads me. He
knows all my weak points he sees right
through me, and makes me feel that am
helpless infant in his adroit hands. He
has an argumentative, oracular air, when
things have gone wrong, which always up
sets my dignity. Yet how cunningly he
uses his power 1t is only in the last ex-
tremity that ne crosses his legs, puts his
hands into his trousers pockets, and argues
| the case with me. One day last week he
was very near. coming to grief. By my di-
rections, kindling wood and coal are plac ed
every morning in the library CRATE, in Or
der that I may have fire the moment ]
return at night. Master Johnny must
needs apply match to this arrangement
early in the afternoon. The fire was not
discovered until the blower was one mass
of red-hot iron, and the wooden mantel.
piece was smoking with the intense heat.
When T came home Johnny was led
from the storeroom, where he had been
imprisoned from an early period, and where
he had employed himself in eating about
two dollars worth of preserved pears.
"Johnny," said I, 10 as severe tone as
one could use in addressing a person
whose forehead glistened with syrup
Johnny, don't you remember that
have always told you never to NEEDLE with
matches ?"
n 1t was something delicious to see Johnny
trying to remember. He cast one eye
meditatively up to the ceiling; then he
fixed it abstractly on the canary bird /; ther
he rubbed his ruffled brow with sticky
hand; but really, for the life of him, he
; couldn't recall any ipjunctions concerning
matches.
81 can't, papa, truly, truly" said John.
ny, at length; CT guess must have forgot