The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1869-01-14

9A9 sEiH ID u 5EE
fJIm WoIfe and the Tom Cats.
BY MARX TWAIN.
I knew by the sympathetic glow
upon. his bald head-I knew. by the
thoughtful look upon his face-I knew
by the emotional flush upon the
strawberry on the end of the old freq
liver's nose, that Simon Wheeler's
memory was busy with the olden.
time. And so 1, prepared to leave
because all these were symptoms Of a
reminiscense-sign that he was gOs
ing to be delivered of another Of his
tiresOme personal. exPerienee-but I
was two slow he got the start Of me.
AS nearly as I can recOlleety the infliea
tiOn was cOuched in the following Lam
guage:
awe was all boys, then, and did Mt
care fOrnOthing only how to shirks
school and keep up a revivini state OF
devilment all the time. This var Jim
Wolfe I was tallgia' about was the
'Printiee, and be was the best hearted,
feller, he was, and the most fOrgiVln'
and Onselfsh, I ever see well, there
could MT be a more abulli6er boy than
what he was, take him how you
would and SORRY was when I see
him for the last time.
"Me and Henry was always pester-
ing him and plasterin' boss bills on
his back, and puttin' humble bees into
his ped, and 50 on, and sometimes
we'd crowd in ana bunk with him,
Notwithstanding his groWlibg, shd
then we'd let on. to get mad and fight
across him so as to keep him stirred up
like. He was nineteen, he was, long
.apdlapk, and bashful, and we was
fifteen and sixteen, and tOlerably lazy
and worthless. 7H'i1
$50 that night, you know, that my
sister Mary give the candy pullins
they started US off to bed early so the
company e0uld,have full swing, and
we rung on jim to have some fun.
! sour window looked out onto the
roof Of the ell, and about ten O'clock n
couple of old tom cats got to rarin' and
chaFgih' around omit, and carryin'On
ike sin. There was -four. inches Of
snow on the roof, and it was froze so
that there was a right smart crust 6t
ince on it, and the moon was shinin'
4 bright, and we could see. the cats like
day light. First, they'd stand of and
4 Ie-yoW-e-yOw, just the same as If they
was eussin3 one another, eyeu know,
and bow up their backs aud bush up
their tails, and swell around and spit,
and then all offs sudden the gray cat
he'd snatch handfuLof fur of the
yellow cats ham, and spin around
him like button on a barn door.
But the yellow cat was game, and he'd
come and clinch and the way they'd
gOuge and bite and howl and the way
they'd make the fur fiy was powerful.
JgA well yJim he got disgusted with
they rev, and lowed he'd climb out
there and shake 'em off'n that roof
He had MT reely any notion of tOiI'
it, likely, but we eyerlastingly dOgged
him and bullyragged him, and lowed
he always Dragged how he would ne
take dare, and so on, till bimeby he
histed up the winder, and 10 and be-
hold you, he went-went just as he
was-nOthing on but a shirt, and it
was short. You ought to a seen him
a cree-e-pin over that ice, and diggiI'
his toe nails and his finger nails in for
to keep him from slippin and above
all you ought to a seen that shirt a
flappin' in the wind, and them long
redickulOus shanks ofhis'n a gIisteniu'
in the moonlight.
"Them comply folks was down
there under the caves, the whole squad
Of 'em under that Orney shed of dead
Wash ton Bower vines-all sett'u
rOundi about two dozen sassers of .6Lt
candy, which they sot in the snow to
cool. And they was laughfi' ANA
talkin' lively; but bless you, they
did MT know nOthin' about the panas
rama that was goin' on over their
headsa Well, Jim, he went a sneekin'
and skeenin' mp onbeknowns TO them
tom cats-they was a swishin' theie
tails and yow-yowin' and threatenia'
to clinch, you know, aud not payin'
any attention, he went a sneekin' and
a sneekin' right-up to the comb Of the
roof, till he was in u foot an a, half Of
'em, and then all of a sudden he made
a grab for the yaller cat! Bat BY
gosh, he missed fire and slipped his
holt, an his heels flew up, an he flop
ped onto his back and of'n that roof
roof like a dart !-went.a snashin' pm
q erashin' down through them old
rusty vines and headed right in the
dead center of all them tomp'ny pe0-
pie !--sat down like yarth quake in
them two dOzen-sassers- of red hot
candy, and Let off a howl that was
bark from the tombs
'sThen1 -gals-well, they left, YOU
know They see he war mt dressed
for company, and so they left. All
done in a second, it was just one little
war hoop, and a whish Of their dresses,
and blame the weneh Of 'em was in
sight anywhere. ,.-
Slim, he was in sight! He vas
gOrmed with the bilin hot moIasst5
candy clean nOWA to his heels and
| had more busted sassers hapgin' to
him than if he was. Japan princes
and he came a prancin' aHl every
4 jump he give he'd shed some chilla,
and every squirm he fetched he. Drip
ped some candy.
5a"And bIistered! Why, bless your
soul, that poor ereetur could MT RELY
set down comfortly for lis much as
much as four weeks. ''I
h The Atlantic monthly saysi 1T is
one of the most cherished dogmas Of
the modern lady, that she must NOT
ldoanything for pay ; and this miser-
able prejudice Of senseless conventions
ality is at this moment the worst Oh
stacle in the way Of feminine talent
land energy. Let cooperative HOUSES
keepers -den1Olish it forever by declsr-
ing that is just as. necessary and hOR-
I ora bIe for q wife TO earn money as her