Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-04-16
Pops Idea Of Fun.
BY MRS. FRANK II CARTHY.
rE-nm uarnrr,s Young Pennle.

i hand, Bob ,? | was ulSS listed, ana ulun
say ANYTHING If he'd been boy OF my
size Just then, things would have been
different but Bob is kind OF man 1t
isn't pleasant to offend l smiled in
sickly way, but was never more dis
gusted in my life. Any more sprees
should think not I'll leave it to any one
if this kind of sprees pa?s. Count me
in for the next racket, Eob," he said at
the breakfast table, and tnen he winked
again. / declare l was that sick let my
buckwheat cake get cold.
Here's the way it was. We live in
nubby kind of place, you see. Almost
everyb body owns his owl house and
grounds, and spends all LIS spare time in
fixing up. Most of the gentlemen go
over to New York to business every day,
but before they go, and after they come
back they're always fu,sing around,
making little alterations aad what they
call improvements. 1t makes EN- awful
mad if the place is ont of order the sew
cntieth part of an inch. The ladies raise
flowers, fix baskets and roses, andall that
kind of Simcracks, and the men go pot
tering about, making more fuss over their
plots of ground than = big farmer out
West does over his tks.Hsands of acres.
Well, we boys get together sometimes
and arrange everything to suit ourselves.
In single night it'll be like transfor-
nation scene at pntomime-mayb not
so pretty, but every bit as funny. Fun
We've laughed ready to split our sides to
see the poor old barber come limping up
for his pole in front of the doctors, and
the doctor go clustering down there for
his hitching- post lot of paving stones
against the door of the real estate office,
and the cows and chickens running loose
about town.
But this particular lark was what We
called a specially. Only gates were to he
touched, and these were to undergo
regular tribulatiol. The weather was
about right-muGy-an the mud in
some places knee-Geep. We arranged all
the preliminarics at recess, and Tom
Jones was to go around about Q O'Clock
and let us know if the coast was clear
but he wasn't to give our regular call
all the place knows that 1t goes some
thing in this way, "ki-yuah-yuah yoo-o,
with prolonged howl at the end. We
always drop it when anything secrets on
hand. 1t was agreed upon that Tom
Jones should go TO each house, if all was
right, and have coughing and sneezing
spell that wouldn't arouse suspicion
then we We're to creep out, when the folks
were gone to bed, and go to work. And
1t happened to be work that time, you'd
| better believe
/ We Were all sitting around the table
when the clock struck O. Pop had his
! spectacles on, and was reading an e,lito-
rial to ma, the girls were busy with their
| lessons and had finished my last exam
| pie, when all Mt once We heard a terrible
/ coughing and sneezing out i'll the street.
/ That was the worst of Tom Joncs-he
always overdid ais part. If he'd had
/ pneumonia, whooping- g-couSh, asthma and
bronchitis, and had been hired to go round
with cough medicine to cure EN-, he
couldn't have turned himself further in
side out. OF course Pop began to notice |
it, and ina locked up in alarm.
Why said ma, THAT boys got ter
rible cold!'
Fearful !" said Pop, with queer
twist of his under lip and when Tom
Jones, like big donkey, went across the
street TO Jim Clancy's house, and began
the whole thing over again, Pop wanted
to know why that boys cold was like the
paper he held in his hand. We all gave
1t up, and Pop said because it was period |
ical. Ma and the girls looked mystified. |
but | WAS afraid then he'd tumble to
something, and couldn't help getting red,
to save my life. That's the worst of my !
plagued skin,-it's SO thin the blood |
shows right through it.
There were no more of the boys houses
in oqr aIIeri,'e aIHi' "Da nrnttS =: s99n s9, We al !
ON the second floor off the hall it was an .
e., al, of tba
and down by the Virginia crecper to the |
front garden. | went around to our
place of meeting, and there they all were /
The wind had sprung up pretty brisk, .
and there was n thin coating of Ice over 1
the mud; but that was all the better ior |
the gates we wanted to bury. We owed !
made up our minds ed have Il nice time .
caboodle was rusty, and nearly tore our /
nails of, but We got it loose at last, and /
hauled it off to n marshy lot, where We |
sunk it in the mud Then we changed |
the doctors gate TO the Judges, and to /
avert suspicion we took our own gates of
with the rest We were getting pretty |
well tired out and ready for home, and
had lain my gate up against n neighbor-
right there in the shadow Of the wall but |
Pop. We were all SO thunderstruck that |
we didn't move, and to my surprise Pop |
began TO laugh and beckon to the boys to
come closer They were not to he caught |
by that bait, and stood off pretty CON
sldcrably, when Pop whispered over to us,
he afraid, boys / like to see you enjoy !
/ I lao
Bless your hearts like fun vet as well !
D. anybody"
Then he laughed ready to split. bent |
himself double, and We all began to feel
easy, and laugh too Tom Jones said he |
wished his father WIS like mine. and Pop
began to encourage us to do more. We |
were So spurred on by Inn thatwe hardly |
LIFT Il gate Ill the place where 1t belonged. !
Pop going along with us. acting as kind |
OF scout, he said, and seeing that nobody |
WAS near to disturb us. Once or twice he |
gave II signal of alarm, and We all crouch |
ed down us still as mice, Pop siiller than
any of liz. | never was ST. dumbfoundcd |
in my life, fur I'd never seen Pop very
jolly that way before. The boys Were de-
lighted with him they all agreed to
make him president of our club and Pop |
sand he'd take the position when he got !
back from the legislature
Well, we'd come to the conclusion the |
place was completely done, and Jim
Clancy proposed we should go home. |
Jim had torn his hands rather badly with
| Uncle Jnke's gate, and didn't feel very |
good, when Pop said:
"Ycs, boys, Of course we'll go home |
pretty soon, when we're through, You |
! l., ,t.,pI
back in their places again first y
| We all looked at each other aShast for
a minute Back again. cried the fcl-
! lows. "Well, guess not ~ Not much -
! Hardly and all sorts of derisive re-
/ iusals went round.
/ Pop stood among lis, whiriing his cane,
/ smiling all the time, and said
'Oh. yes you will, boys, when You
( think of it II minute You've had your
| fun, you know but it won't do to 20 too
/ far. I'm justice Of the peace. you see,
and this innocent little racket comes I'M
| der the head of malicious mischief. You
could all be sent to Jail and no matter
how badly Id feel, Id lave to act under
the law There's where it is you sre
people are So hard on boys they won't let
them enjoy themselves. It's too bad
but never mind, we've had our fun any
any. Now let : get Ia work i'll earnest.
Here, well begin with this gate Lift 1t
up there, Jim hold on the other side,
Bobby, my boy. Now we have ii al
together"
And ms tue ms you live. We actually
found Ourselves walking along with the
gate between us From that gate we
went to another AMI another. | don't
know how it was, but We Just ploddcd
along, and did what Pop said. He was
laughing, and joking and ilourshing his
cimo but, oh, how tired we were How
our hands and our feet and our hearts
uched, and how sickenins it all was The
most sickcning of anything was to hear
Pop laugh aud carry on all the time. as
ii this was the cream Of the Joke. tell