The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1881-02-18
This little one,
All, wait, my deari
80. - -
About Johnny sIyboots.

~
Johnny Slyboots, because he was always
getting into mischief, and was so sly
about 1t that it wasn't often that he got
found out.
81 just wish he'd get come up with
some time, said Joe Lane to another OF
"the boys" "He's always doing mean
things, and, nine times out of ten, zoe
get blamed for them"
Joe was right about this. The bows
knew how mischievous Johnny was, but
other people did not.
Somebody must do the mischief. the
grown people argued, and, as the other
boys were often caught in mischief-do-
ing, it was quite likely they were the
authors of much of the mischief at
which no one was caught.
As this mischief was generally of n
mean, low-lived kind, and Johnny was
-nlne times out of ten-the doer of it,
the other boys We're out of patience with
having it laid to them. So it was not to
be wondered at that they wished Johnny
might get caught at some of his mis-
chief-making.
One day he was going by old Widow
Larrabee's. Aunt Sophrony, as every
body called her, was very poor, hard
working old woman, with a crippled
grandchild dependent upon her. She
was always at work, when there was
anything to do, but, work as best she
could, it was but poor living that she
succeeded in getting.
In summer, she raised vegetables and
sold them in the village. In her garden
she had some grape-vines, and from
these she sold few dollars worth of
fruit in the fall. What they brought her
in was but a small amount, but to her it
seemed considerable, and to have gone
without it would have deprived her of
many little comforts and necessaries.
On this morning, when Johnny was
going by her house, he CHANGED to catch
sight OF these grapes, hanging in great
purple, misunderstanding clusters on the
vines.
Il like grapes" said Johnny Slyboots
to himself. They're awful good wish
l had some "
Then he crept up to the fence and
took survey of the garden and the
grape-vines.
81 b'leeve I'll come here tonight and
get some, he said. "I'll bring q big
basket along and I'll fill it with 'em. [
can hide it som ers about the barn, and
/ can have grapes to eat s'long's want
EN-. I'll do it p
Now, most boys would have gone to
some of their boy friends and got them
to join them on the expedition he had
planned, but that wasn't the way with
Johnny Slyboots.
He didn't dare to hint about it to any,
body, for he knew that there wasn't n
boy in the neighborhood, excepting him
self, that was mean enough to steal from
such poor old woman as Aunt Sophrony
was. They might get into "scrapes"
that were anything but creditable, but
not one of them would be guilty of what
he planned to do
He waited until everybody had gone
to bed. Then he got up, dressed himself,
crawled ont of his bedroom window, and
taking the big basket that he had hid
under the currant bushes, SO that it would
be ready for use when needed, he set of
on his thieving trip.
He climbed over the fence and crept
slyly toward the grape-vines. When
he got to them he set down his basket
and listened. There wasn't sound to
be heard about the house. so he fell to
work.
He cut off the lunches with his knife,
and laid them down carefully in the bas-
ket, taking pains to pack them snugly,
so that the basket would hold as many
as possible.
He meant to have all he could take
away, and what he could eat beside.
Now, it would have been a very mean
thing to do If any boy had stolen only
what he wanted to eat. But Johnny
bad no notion of stopping there. He
didn't care if Aunt Sophrony was poor.
He liked grapes, and here was chance
of getting enough to last him for long
time, without their costing him any
thing.
He was such n stingy, misery fellow
that i think the fact that he was getting
something that cost nothing, in money
value, would have induced him to steal
green persimmons. And, too, there was
something about this way of getting
what did not belong to him that seemed
sharp and cunning.
Whey he had filed his basket, he be-
gan eating the fruit from the vines. He
ate as long as he could swallow. then he
shouldered his basket ard started for the
road.
About halfway between the grape
vines and the road were two hives of
bees. Johnny Slyboots knew they
were there, but he had forgotten about
them.
He ran against one and fell over it,
head first, into the other hive, upsetting
it, and spilling his grapes. The bees
roared angrily, and before he could get
to his feet dozen of them had stung him
about his head.
He grabbed his basket and made n
dash for the fence. The pain of the
stings was SO intense that he could
scarcely tell what he was doing or where
he was going. He caught his chin ON