Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-02-26

and Us aet 81
Sc HIow. d8z haH8 50 tlcfa
VITA scores 81 sWHl g1liauta and
eaaamfiraaM made "a eHlfancinR
tnIefafa ad my way down
aHa ssood On tie brink
el iaioEiszlIag delight fully
as q. ~ early education
satas had been WofuHy neglec-
! mover 90 fnlly realized this
a wheu stood "a the edge Of The
pond, with ny feet frmIF imbed-
ded i the snow on that December
evening, and looked az the lights
the people and the fun. Very lean.
legged mon whlFled and skinned
before ne.
a very shoFs. squatty looking
boy bore down from somewhere
and topk . position In front Of me.
Is hsd q paiF Of skates dangling
from his arm. and something else
not quite e. large, dangling from
his nose. H6 wasa queer looking
boy. Whan He stepped be seemed
to shat himself uplike q telescope.
His head setlied down between
bis shoulders, and bic body came
down upon his legs, as though they
had On intention OF breaking down
those invaluable members Of socie-
". He evidently had something
heavy on his mind. He drummed
bis heels on the Ice before me, and
looked absently At the gayety all
around him. While studying him,
l commenced TO feel an overpOW.
ering desire 10 get out on the pond
and distinguish myself, although
1 had no very well deflued idea
how | was TO do II. Mygaze alter
mated between his skates and the
ice for sometime. l have since
thought the boy was hired by some
body to take up that position, but
l had no thought Of 1.-THE kind at the
time. Such athOught, then, would
have been worth two hundred dol
lars coming when 1t did, 1t was
a damage TO me.
Finally l hailed the young man,
with q view Of mounting his skates.
He was corrupt to the core, and a
twenty. five cent stamp 0vercame
him like q summer rain. He threw
down his skates at my feet aud
turned his attention to the stamp.
held ii up to the light ; then he
rubbed It between his fingers. Its
genuineness satisfied him, and he
put 1t carefully away behind his
somewhere.
SIS your heels bored y he asked.
"What do you mean by that ~ /
said,
"why for the corks on the skates
he answered, looking at me curiouss
4 felt thatI had said that I ought
nQs TO, but ! told bin 10 put on Che
skates, as hal rlieu mat N in my
wfisg Isat down On I've snow,
and he went to work. He was a
long time doing ii. The snow was
nncomfortably moist, and my coat
was too short 90 be of any use. II
sat there long enough to have OBJ. |
lorbed all the, moisture for a yard
lround ME. Whom be cot through
be told me to get on my feet IL
got part ways up aud then 1t hap
.ened 10 occur 10 me that this. was
The first time Ihad ever been hAr-
messed in two skates at once. The
rejecting was weightier than
would seem possible, and l sat
"Guess YOU never skatcd for q
livingG remarked the boy, taking
hold Of my hand.
Notahat II remember, I said
let him assist me to my feet
Just as a party Of young people
went SHINING by. The owner Of
the skates wasa philanthropist In
his way. He pointed TO the party,
and said that they were skating
around the pond on q wagon, and
asked him not to run over them. l
had all could do to resist a desire
to run over them, but l managed
10 repress II.
1t felt 80 nice to be on my feet
that ! told him | guessed | would
start out. l was disappointed 10
one particular. l thought 1t would
require an effort to start Off; butt
didn't. While | was deciding be-
tween shooting across tho pond
like q comet, and marking out a
spread eagle ON the very centre of
the Ice, o sudden movement of the
left skate diverted my attention,
and the next moment | was looking
ct the lamps through my legs aud
humping my head feroclously
against the ice. This surprised me,
and It interested the boy. The more
so, as | held In my outstretched
hand a portion of the hair that a
moment before adorned and pro.
tected his scalp.
Why, what on earth did you do
that fOrI' he asked looking at me
with considerable uneasiness, and
holding his hand on his head
l didn't make any answer. |
saw that / had created a sensation
besides, my head aehed.
He helped me up, butt noticed
he didn't show the enthusiasm he
brought to the first effort, and also
that when be got me to D perpen-
dienlar he showed an inclination to
avoid me.
He kept one eye on me, and tho
other revolved toward the shore
This apgered me.
II wont hurt you" / said.
81 don't want you TO-" he answered.
"Nhy don't you stay by me then ?"
1 asked.
sBecause I aln't got much hair.
and | amt old enough to wear a