Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-05-14
THE STORY OF A sATURDAY.

The place where we first met our
hero Is a grass-plat about twenty feet
square, bOrdered on one side by a barn
50 weather-beaten that it looks black,
ON another by the clothes-line, and on
the third by a path. The fourth side
was filed up by a pile Of apple-tree
wood. Upon a large limb, gnarled and
twisted, and with dried leaves and the
remains Of what had once been pink
tinted apple blossoms, sat General
Scott.
A queer position for the renowned
military individual, did you say? Well,
This General was a little ten-year-Old
boy named Scott by his grandfather, an
admirer Of the original Winfield. The
rest of the family had, by common con-
sent, dubbed him " The General"
said he was about ten years old,
didn't i? Yes. Well, imagine a boy
Of that age, with black eyes, nut-brown
complexion, ruddy cheeks, and with
head closely cropped, after the manner
Of the lads Of the day-to say nothing
of State Prison cOnviCts. So YOU have
my hero. His uniform was not much
to speak Of. 1t consisted of a blue
checked shirt, a pair of brown trousers,
worn TO a light snuff-color about the
knees, and a hat which had little crown
and less brim The only things war
like in the surroundings were the little
ak leaning against the chopping- stump,
and the pair Of red flannel underdraw-
ers dangling from the clOthes-line with
a flag-of-deiiance air.
As for the General, at the time of
which l speak he was deeply engaged
in the soul-absoTbing labor Of taking a
chip between his toes and laying it
upon the chopping-bloek. Several
times he had tried this, but with no sue
cess. AT last the grimy toes deposited
the chip upon the block, and the brown
| legs crossed themselves complacently.
| Their owner then drew from out his
| pocket a bit of maple sugar. which he
began to MUNICH with great gusto. just
/ then a voice from the neighboring white
1 house called out, " Sc0hr' The maple
! sugar, now reduced to a mass of sticki-
ness, was hastily tucked into one side
of his mouth, and, in a voice exceed.
ingly liquid, the General replied,
/ "Ma'amr'
"Have you split any of the wood
yet?n and the questioner, a small
slight woman, with snowy hair anC
gentle, brown eyes, came down thu
path and paused by the chopping-block
"Why are you not working?n contin
ued the little woman, You've beel
out here a quarter of an hour, and no
blow have heard you strike
The Generals black brows contract
ed. II don't carer' he said, angrily
al can neUer get this hateful pile split
it's no use tryingr'
"You might have had it done Ion
ago had you not played with the boy
so much"
"Well, Jack Hazard and Billy Nc
Evoy don't have to split wood-not eve
kindlingsm in injured tones.
1.-The wood is not hard to chop, an
1 think it much better for boy to hav
a little employment than to idle ava
his time"
I'm sure 1 go to school, grandma
''Yes, but surely one hours work o
Saturday will not injure you, and tha
is all the work you have to do tina
day." said the old lady, kindly. Then
as the Generals face still looked sulleI
she continued: "My dear, do you thin
that you would be perfectly happy
you had a Saturday all to yourself
without doing a single chOre"
Rather guess wouldr' emphat
cally.
"Then will give younext SATURDAY.
upon one condition-that,a as you are
do nothing for any one, no one is 10 d
anything for you. Do you agreean
"Of course. But can really do ju
what 1 want, and 90 where l pleaseP
"Yes. provided you do nothing abs
lutely rash"
'Goodyr' And the General turne
a somersault and uttered a war-whoo
that made his grandma's ears ring.
The next saturday dawned bright an
} clear But Scott didn't rise very earll
He lay long time in his little whit
. bed, making plans for the days enjO.
ment
+ "Grandma said might do Just as
I please, so I'm a-going to stay in bed {
, long as / want to. How jolly, not
} hear Hannah yell out, Scott! g
: up!'"
J After awhile, however, the gnay
) ings of hunger began to be felt, ar
, he arose and dressed himself.
1--WE most always have mullins, ha
and eggs on Saturday." he said, as
l went downstairs, smacking his lips
! anticipation Entering the dining-rOoI
l what was his surprise to find ii
r breakfast things cleared away, and Il
= table covered with its customary Turk
7 red s ,Jread. Going out on the porch,
I found his grandmother sewing.
"Good-morning" she said, pleasal
ly.
"Good-mornin'. Where's brealfas
grandma?'
: "BreakfastP o, we had that lo
! ago.
]. "But is it all cleared away?"
II presume so. l heard Hann
! washing the dishes a little while ago
! quietly.
. But can't have anything to eat
= in aggrieved tones.
"a 'Yesn
L "Then I'll have Hannah fix me som
= thing on the kitchen table-no, !
have her bring it out on the piazz
. it'll be so much more pleasant" sa
> the General, starting for the kitche
n n But his grandmother called him bac
), saying:
'.No, you must remember that you,
y not TO ask any one to do anything
- you to-day"
e The little lad looked ere ALLEN.
0 .,Well," he said, striy g to spe
y unconcernedly. 80! that's so. l
= then | can fix something for myself e'
:. enough" and he departed for
- kitchen, pondoring the question as
y what he should prepare for breakta
a Now, his great grandmother wa
French lady, and perhaps II was II