Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-04-04

&c, wnen he sold for few pennies a
que-r 1.-THE pine trinket, his father
stroKed his silken hair and said;
"Ah, me puir bairnie, 1 dinna ken
but ye may max your fortOon VII you1
knife"
How that little piece of encourage.
ment rang in his ears and stimulated
him to think and whittle, whittle and
think!
|. One genial afternoon in May, Alec
crept out to enjoy the balmy air, and,
by the noise of a crowd of urchins on
a vacant lot at a little distance, was
drawn in that direction. Here he saw
a colored boy, named Jack, attempting,
for the amusement of the party, all
sorts of pranks in imitation of circus
performers. Bareheaded and clothed
in striped red and yellow garments OF
coarse quality, the negro lad almost
seemed made of India rubber.
Alec watched his capers in amaze
ment. Never before had he seen such
antics, or even thought them possible.
1t was no wonder that the frail, stiff
jointed little hunchback dreamed it all
over again. as he did that night.
The next morning his whiting
genius took shape from this event, and
before noon he had produced a rude
pine image of the negro-head, arms
and legs loosely hung with bits of
broOm-wire, and the whole curiouslY
arranged, so that by working a string,
it would jump, nod, turn somersaults,
and go through quite a series of con-
tortiOns. With colored pencils, of
which he had some cheap specimens,
he blacked its head, neck, hands and
feet, redeemed its lips, whitened its
eyes, and rudely striped in yellow and
red the body, all in imitation of the
little negro gymnast. Before it was
completed, his younger brother, who
had been with him the day before,
named it "Jumping-Jack." And in
the afternoon, when he went to the
vacant lot and exhibited it to the young
sters there, it was not only universally
but bOisterously hailed bv the same
name. When he returned home, he
brought, instead of the Jumping-Ja
a silver half-dollar, for which he had
sold the toy to an eager, well-dressed
lad OF his own age. And not only this,
but he had orders from the bows for
half dozen more, to be made as soon
as possible.
Oh. what a proud, glad heart beat
within that defOrmed little body of
Alec's! How his temples throbbed!
How elastic his step! What flashing
eyes! What a skein of wild and hope
full talk he unwound to his mother! So
much money for his whiting and a
chance for more and more! Castles,
sky-high and star-bright!
But have not told you all.
That evening he whitfield, and the
next day he Whitfield, and before night
had added to his caDital three more
shining half-dOllars. The next dav he
doubled his money. The demand for
Jumping-Jacks increased. BOYS came
to the door, silver in hand, to get what
he had not time to make.
His grave Scotch parents began to
hold serious counsel over the matter.
If Alec could find such sale fer these
pine images in that neighborhoOd, why,
the whole city would require thou
sands; and what would sell to delight
ed children in one city, would sell
elsewhere also. If they could supply
the market, fortune might readily be
made.
Scotch blood, once aroused and chal-
lenged, Is sanguine and venturesome.
But it would be uninteresting to re-
peat all the details; so the rest of nv
story shall be brief.
Alec's Sunday-School teacher. who
was a lawyer, procured for him a
patent on Jumping Jacks of every de-
scription; rich old uncle of &lec's
mother built him a factory and started
him in business; and, within year
from the afternoon when the poor lad
wondered at the pranks of the colored
boy, Jumping-Jacks from the Ramsey
factory were selling in great numbers
all over America.
Truly Alec did "mak' a fortoon wi
his knife"