Iron County register., 1880-02-12

waiting to be made use of as Joe so well
knew how!
"Duty first!" said Joe to himself,
as with shovel and broom he cleared
the path in the court yard, and SHOW
eled the kitchen steps clean. He did it
so well that his father tossed him some
pennies-for he was saving up to buy
Blinky collar-and he turned off with
a light heart for school, with Blinky at
his heels.
The school-mistress had hard time
that day; all the boys were wild with
fun, one only of them not sharing the
glee. This one was little chap whose
parents had sent him up North from
Georgia to his relatives, the parents be-
ing too poor after the War to maintain
their family. Hewas skinny little fel-
low, always shivering and snuffiing, and
:. his name was Bob.
Now, Bob wasn't a favorite. The
boys liked to tease him, called him
"Little Reb,'' and he in turn disliked
them, and was ever ready to report their
mischievous pranks to the teacher. If
there was any thing pleasant about the
boy, no one knew it, because no one took
the trouble to find out. Bob did not
relish the snow; he was pinched and
blue, and whenever he had the chance
was huddling up against the stove; be-
sides, he liked to read, and would rath-
er have staid in all day with book of
fairy tales than shared the gayest romp
they could have suggested. This after
noon Joe had made so many mistakes
in his arithmetic examples that he was
obliged to stay late and do them
over; but he was sorely annoyed
and tempted at hearing the shouts and
cries of joy with which the boys saluted
each other as they escaped from the
school-room, and he spoke very Grossly
when little voice at his elbow said,
"Please, may go home with youP''
"No,'' said Joe.
"Ah, please!''
Joe turned, and saw that it was Bob
This provoked him still more. "I said
no., stell-tale' What do l want to be
DOCnefed Win you!
Bob turned away, disappointed. Joe
kept on at his lesson; it was very per-
picking, and he was out of humor.
Besides, the fun outside was increasing;
he could hear the roars of laughter, the
whiz of the flying snow balls, and the
gleeful crows of the conquering heroes.
He was the only one in the school
room. Presently there was a hush,
a sort of premolitory symptom
of more mischief brewing outside,
which provoked his curiosity to the ut
most.
ssFive times ten, divided by three,
and Oh, 1 can't stand this" said Joe,
as he gave a push to his slate, and ran
to the window.
The boys had gone off to the farthest
corner of the vacant lot ON which the
school-house had stood, and by the ap-
pearance of things were preparing to
have an animated game of football;
but by the gestures and general drift of
motions Joe saw, to his horror, that
poor little Bob was evidently to be the
victim. Already they were rolling him
in the snow, and cutting him about as if
he were made of India rubber, and de-
served no better treatment.
Joe's conscience woke up in a minute,
for he knew that if he had allowed Bob
to wait for him as he had wanted to do,
the boys would not have dared to touch
him, and he felt ashamed of his unkind-
ness and ill humor as he saw the re-
suits.
The child was getting fearfully mall
treated, as Joe saw, not merely on ac-
count of their dislike for him, but be-
cause in their gambols the boys were
lost to all sense of the cruelty they were
practicing, and they tossed him about
regardless of the fact that his bones
could be broken or his sinews snapped.
Cramming his books in his bag, and
snatching up his cap, Joe dashed out of
the door. Blinky was ready for him,
and did not know what all this haste
meant, but dashed after his master, as
in duty bound.
81 say, fellers, stop that" he shout
ed, repeating the g stop that! :" as loud
as his lungs could make the exertion.
The din was so great that it was some
moments before they heard him, but
Blinky barked at their heels, and helped
to arrest their attention.
"Stop! what shall we stop forP''
asked one of the bigger and rougher
ones.
You are doing mean, hateful
thing-that's why
"Oho! that's because you haven't
share in it, was the sneering reply.
elf you'll stop, I'll run the gauntlet
for you," said Joe. There was pause
Perhaps that would ba better than foot
ball; besides, Joe never got mad, and
little Bob was crying hard. "Let Bob