The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-03-30
THE DAILY STAR
A COUNTRY BOY.

I made the acquaintance of Mr.. Cicero
6coot principal of the Mount Joy Aca'
denny, and the thorn of my boyhood. Oh
his personal appearance | have but dim
recollection, although, if the numerous
monochromatic portraits of him we were
In the habit of executing upon our slates
could be relied upon as correct, hetwas
indeed remarkable man, being invaria-
bly, represented without joints in his legs
or arms, and as the proprietor of a
mouth which would have been an orna-
ment to threshing-maehine.
These peculiarities, with the addition
of pair of spectacles and the explanatory
inscription. "1his is old Scoots," com
pleted striking and easy recognizable
portrait. Up to this time / have never
shown any symptoms of the artistic ten
dency, and astonished myself by produc-
Ing portrait which far surpassed any
previous efforts in that direction by
simply adding a luxurious tail to an
otherwise orthodox portrait. This evi-
dence of latent genius fell under the
quick eye of Mr.. Scoots, whose admira-
ton of my artistic effort was so enthusi-
astic that l sat down with consider
able difficulty after receiving his con-
gratulations. My naturally desperate
resolution upon this unfortunate termin-
alton to my career as an artist was to
run away and turn pirate, but after talk
Ing the subject over with my chum-
who rejoiced in the sobriquet of Cop
perry joel reluctantly abandoned the
Idea in consequence of his refusal to join
HE, and his threats to "tell on me" if
persisted.
Joe was good-hearted little fellow, a
few months younger than myself, and
remarkable for nothing except his good
nature and his nick-name-his latter &C.
quired by the morbid tendency of "his
folks" to flavor their food with strong
garlic; in consequence Joe seemed to me
to be surrounded by an odorous blue
cloud. This popularity was in some
respects benefit to him, as he could
leave his dinner-basket in the most ex-
posed situations without danger of an
attack upon it-an immunity possessed
by no other boy in the school.
In spite or Joe's little weakness in this
respect / was strongly attached to him.
and we were associated in several i'm
portant enterprises. The most important
of these was circus, which held matt
nees every Saturday in vacant barn
Lack of his fathers house. The private
entrance to this place was over a high
board-fence and through hen-coop. Ad-
mission ten pins. Being rent free, and
the performers not very clamorous on
the salary question, this enterprise had
long and successful career, although the
actors usually outnumbered the specta-
tors. But brilliant idea of mine fin
ally terminated, the existence Of the as
B,ciation. This project was to tie nv
wrists to rope which we had stretched
across the barn, some six feet from the
floor, and then to swing around after the
style of a gigantic pin-wheel. Something
of the sort had seen at an actual cir
Gus, and the thing seemed so easy that
determined to practice it in private, and
then astonish the neighborhood by my
proficiency. To my surprise, after | had
cast myself off the meal-bags upon which
l had climbed to tie my wrists to the
rope, sagged heavily, and found the
nearest approach could make to the de-
sired act was series of painful squirms,
which finally varied by kicking up my
heels and bowling like young panther,
until Joe's father cut me down, kindly
remarking that he wouldn't whip me
that time, but the circus would have to
stop.
Joe met me at the end of the lane, and
sympathizingly heard the story of my
disaster, in which l carefully explained
that had at the very least broken my
backbone in two places, as l could
plainly hear the bones crate when
walked. This appalling diagnosis stag
gered Joe for few seconds, but, remem-
bering he still had a surplus fsh-ball
from his lunch, he offered me the odor-
Gus bolus as being likely to assist in heal
ing the fracture. This unusual prescrip-
tion must have worked an almost i'm
mediate cure, as / was so far recovered
as to be able to go for the cows with Joe,
few minutes after having assimilated
the compound. Like all powerful drugs
however, it left some disagreeable traces,
as / was convinced at supper by my
mother saying, after preliminary snuff:
"John, you will have to take up that
floor sSS.aaip," from which ! inferred the
"scent Of the ish-ball hung round me
STILL"
TIE COWS took their meals in what we
called "the far field" about half mile
from the farmhouse, and when we had
decided to bob for eels or 60 sucker
spearing we could make the "Trip in less
than half an hour, but usually it took
us about two hours, as, after attending
to our muskrat traps and stoning such
frogs as seemed to be in need of our at
tention, we took turns in riding "Ska-
garacktacus" home. "Skag" was young
lady COW, Of that particular pattern
known to us, boys as a sharp cow-ana-
tomically, not mentally-being con-
structed upon the sun-fsh principle as to
her backbone, and otherwise apparently
tondelad after a hat-rack These disad