River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-01-04
WILSON'S CONFESSION.
Edited BY Iaceh,sad.

| that the authorities ONeI fbHeIc WOult
consent to look at it in the light of
boyish frolic at all ; although | thinl
what happened to the old woman, my
mistress, was a good thing for her, as
il was certainly was for every one else
and as for the old man, he was always
saving he was ready TO 60, and IL M
went little sooner than he supposed
he was going, Il. would have made but
little difference to him. He was second
master. He lived on Severn street IL
Clerkenwell, and his place of business
as we'll as his residence was a tall brick
building, standing all alone, a dairy
where cows never saw daylight being
on one side, andia bowling-alley on the
other. How long he had lived there
| the Lord only knows. The name over
the window James Macdonald, Print
er, was printed invery old-fashioned
characters, and almost invisible. iron
the dusty accumlations OF may years
passed his shop one particularly
bright morning, which perhaps ac
counts for my seeing the bill in his
window, which read thus:--
"Boy wanted must be the son OF i1ldustri
GUS parents, Scotch preferred; must be able
20 read and write, and be strictly moral and
upright lad"
When | first cast my eyes on this
bill had my hands stuffed into my
breeches pockets, and was whlstllng
sThe girl | left behind me-" but the
moment | read the bill | drew my
hands out of my pockets, and began, to
hum Presbyterian hymn,-fo was
born a hypocrite, and lying with me
was natural gift.-and then l rang
the bell. 1t was answered by a good.
deal worse-looking boy than | was,
though he was considerably larger.
"What do you want? said this
youngster, cycling me with great Jeal.
ousy, for my knees were not patched
as his were, neither did wear cordu-
rOys. :.
Il want the place wot's vacant,
said /, confidently, I'm yirtuous
and upright lad"
.'Oh, you are, are you, replied the
boy sarcastically ''well, you won't do,
COS you amt big enough"
"I'm as big as you" said j, getting
ready to run if he showed fight.
81 can fight you with one and, he
replied. :,
"And | can fight you with one hand, =
said old Macdonald, coming up behind
and giving him a blow which knocked
his head against the wall. "Come in,
my boy" he said to me, ''you look like
a nice, piOus boy. Does your father
drink :"
mo, SIR said |, 'sand he goes to
church, regular - 1t is possible that
this was not, strictly the truth.
"And you go with him, suppose,
continued the old man.
.sYes, SIR" replied, ''and | say my
prayers every night like a good boy"
Neither was this, perhaps, strictly the
truth.
sThen | think you are the boy |
want.'' said the old man. / want a
bow that is willing to make himself
generally useful for his food and LODI
ging the first six months, after which
/ Will pay him trihe, and if he serves
me faithfully for year or two may
apprentice him, in which case, said
my master, patting me on the back,
she will become, in course OF time, a
gentlemanly compositor, and perhaps
be able to save enough money to take
/ him to America.
This was prospect sufficiently glo'
rious. have always blamed old Mac
donald for exciting my imagination toe
much at first. 1t was a singular fault
for man of his years, but he paid the
penalty for it.
"I'm sure I'm willing" said ! t.
| him, seeing the good Impression | had
made, call | want is chance to say
my nraverS regular .H
| NV master looked at me earchiDgly
when made this remark. but, appa-
rently convinced of my sincerity, he
said -
81 am glad to see you so thoughtful
/ William; you are avery nice boy. NOW
we will go up stairs.
Accordingly, up stairs we went, and
| there l saw the old woman, my mis-
| tress-a shrunken, dried-up old whlsI
of neutrality-suspicious. only knows
how old she was. But she had albright
keen eye that rested on me the moment
entered the room.
"James, said she sharply to hel
husband, ''don't have anything to dc
with that boy; he's hypocrite he;
false to the back bone; he's capable oi
poisoning his mother.
| don't know what made the ole
lady speak of piOuS boy like me il
that way but | know what | thought
and how | felt.
"All right, old ooman," / thought
''if was only big enough to pitch you
out of the winder or if never gets {
| chance to burn you up alive Thai
is what thought, and thought it will
more intensity perhaps, than most
pious boys would have been capable
Of. The old man looked at his wife
rather astonished at her observations
and said hitAA a4
Nonsense, my dear, he is very
nice. pious boy, and his father an(
mother don't drink and go to churcl
regularly" :.
81 don't believe word of it." sait
Mrs. NJ, and then. shaking her fist a
me she said, so, you good for nothing
wretch
/ 81 want to be q good boy" | saiC
meekly but the thought of burning
her up alive came into my head anC
it kept coming into my head in spit
of me-"
! ssYour mistress will show you wha
to do" observed old Macdonald, trot
ting down stairs with look of disap
poIntment on his face. My mistres
surveyed me, when he had gone, delib
erately and carefully, for about half ;
minute she then grasped me by tn
hair of the head and turned me rounC
/ several times, like human cork-screw
to make her survey more complete
After this she took hold of my ears
one in each hand, and bumped m.
head several times against the wall
which operation seemed to complete
the process of examination.
"You are bad, deceitful boy" SAT-