The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-09-19

buot soon We shall meet NIT der poys left pc
Ind dot shve.t Loweeza. dot lofe us SO veil.
--Chariss +. -idons. in Detroit Free Press
TWO IMPORTANT PAPERS.
Il DON'T know what l shall dew with
that ere boy,' said Farmer Long to his
wife. as they sat by the tire, that winter
morning. "He's more harum-skarum
than that States Reform-SchooI boy
was.
We'll. father, have patience with
him for the sake of his folks. think
there's something in Jim that will sur
prise you, one of these DAYS."
dunno whether he'll surprise me
emmy moren he has er not. Last spring
he made b'leve he knowed all bout
billing down sap, nd surprised me by
burrin' the bottom NV the sap-pan eout,
nd settin' the sap-hOuse on fire. Last
summer he broke more tools in haydn
time than all the rest Nv us together.
And dear me! You'd orter seen him
dig pertaters last fall! I'll venter he
cut every third one in tew-struck at
EN- ez ef he was splittin' rock-maple
logs. Nd meow he's broke my best
three-tined pitchfork, some way, a
feedin' the cattel. He's on'y sixteen
y'r old. Eff he duz this in the green
tree. what in mater III he dew in the
dry?'
After these rem arks about the boy he
had taken to keep until he was of age,
the farmer started for the barn. He
was bending over the great meal-chest,
just inside the barn door, as tandem
team was turning around the corner of
the barn. This team consisted of a
wild yearling steer and the boy, Jim
Fowler. The team was on the
:. dead" run. The youth had hold of
the steers tail with his left hand, and
held aloft milking-stool in his right.
MIR. Long was unaware of danger;
and when something struck him, and
Immediately he found himself on his
back in the meal-chest, his first thought
was of an earthquake or a tornado or
other dread outbreak of forces. He
emerged from the chest just in time to
see his lime-tacked steer pass on into
the stable. and Jim Fowler arise half
stunned from the floor.
"Yeou young scampw he Numbered,
'Ieou'll murder somebody VT -er-er
| shall. eff yeou don't stop yer dumbed
work.
The boy did not laugh at the miller
like appearance of the man. His own
face was quite az white as the farmers
as he said:
I'm awful sorry, Mr.. Long"
II dunno whether yer be er not, :"
replied the latter. .'But I'll tell We
meow md here, Jim Fowler, what's
what, when yer father died yeou
haden't relative lett
No, sir, they want none left, :"
broke in the youth; and the tears filled
his eyes.
II promised him a little afore he
died, I'd take care on We until yeou was
old enough ter take care NV ye'self;
nd dew well by ye-give We common
school eddication nd SO on. Nd
mean ter dew it eff yer conduct don't
become onbarable. But yeou must be
more stiddy md manlike md not plague
me ter death by yer recklessness. Dye
hear?"
''Yis sur'n I'm goin' ter try, Mr..
Long"
That's the sorter talk. l want We
ter go ter school md git ter be ez smart
ez Jennie is, ef We can. Yeou er tew
years older'n she is md y'aint nowhere
side Nv her,
Il know it. l amt nowhere side NV
her.
Jennie, the farmers daughter, was q
bright girl; and as pretty as pink.
Jim did not wonder that her father and
mother were proud of her; nor that
they felt there was vast difference
between him and her. He thought
there was himself; and he believed she
did, for one day of tie last summer,
when he stumbled onto her flower-bed,
she spoke sharply at him and, if he had
not misunderstood her, called him a
"beggar."
He was careless and stupid; If she
had said as much, he would have
thought it justifiable under the circum-
STANCES. But for her to speak in that
wayLas if his misfortune was his fault
made him almost hate her. He did
not answer back, but the look he gave
her kept her from ever repeating that
taunt; and also from forgetting that she
had once made 1t.
Yet he continued to be the same care
less Jim up to this winter morning.
But when Mr.. Long had administered
his reproOf and returned to the house
to brush the meal from his clothes, the
youth fell into a profound meditation,
out of which he came with this ejacu-
lation-
"rll do it!',
When the next term of school began,
there were two scholars from Farmer
Longs.
Jennie and Jim.
They went together; but separated
when they got there, for Jennie was in
a higher department than Jim could
enter. This was the first term the lat
ter had ever begun with determine
ton to learn. That he was now SO
determinssl IL proved BY. the answer he
gave to his teacher ON the first day OF
school, when she asked him, among
other things, what he wanted to do; il
was this: want ter git ter know ca
much ez Jennie Long does"
How did he come out? Well, he
went to school every term for three
years. He studied evenings and all the
time, when not at work, during vaca,
tons. BY incessant devotion to his
books through, those three years, he
was able to master all the Textbooks
used in that institution. For the laet
two terms of his course, was member
of Jennie's classes. He graduated
when she did, and in most of their joint
studies was marked several points above
her.
How did Jim think he had come Quit
Going home with Jennie that last day,
after school had closed, he repeated the
words Mr.: Long had spoken three year,
before: Yain't nowhere side Nv herr
and thought they were truer now than
ever.
Had the "want ter git ter know