The Red Cloud chief., 1882-10-20

49,
time. Grown-up folks can improve their
minds wiihou, Going any harm. for no.
bsdy ever tells them that Their conduct
Is Fush. and that there isn's the
lcas, excuse In the world for them; bu.
just rs sure as . boy tries "a improve
his mind. espec ally with animals. hr
gets into drr1isni ~difficui;ie.
There Was y man came to our tow n
to lecture n while ago. He had been n
great tRayeler. and knew all about
Rome and Niagara Falls and the North
Pole. AMI .nch places. and father said:
Nov. Jimmy. here's NJ opportunity
for You % learn something and improve
your mind; 20 and take your mother and
do take an interrs, in something besides
games"
Well, ] went 10 the lecture. The man
told all abou, the Australian savsgcs
and their boomerang. He showed u, n
boomerang. which il stick III two
legs. and an Australian will throw il NJ
n man. and IL will go and hit him. and
come back of it. wi accord Then he
told us about the way the Zulus throw
their ass~egais--that's the r.gh, way 10
spell il and spear an Engiishman that is
morn ten rods away from them Then
he showed a long string with a heavy
lead ball on each end. and said the
South Americans would throw il nj q
wild horse. and it would wind around
the horses les. and tie itself into n
bow-knot, and then the SCuih Ameri-
can would catch TIE horse. But the
best OF all was the account OF n bull
fight which he Jaw in Spain. with the
Queen sitting on a throne. and giving a
crown OF e~yergrecns TO the chief bull.
fighter. He said that bull fighting was
-awiully Cruel. and that he told us about
il 30 that We might be thankful that We
are SO much better than those dreadful
Spanish people. who will watch n bull
fight all day. and think il real fun.
The next day I told Mr.. Travers
about the boomerang. and he said il
was all true. Once there was an Aus
tralian savage in q circus. and he got
angry. and he threw his boomerang at
a nan who wa in the third story VI n
hotel. The boomerang went down one
street and up another, and into the no.
te. door. and up stairs. and Knocked the
man on the head. and came back the
same way right into the Australian saw
ages hand.
Twas 80 anxious 10 show father that I
had listened TO the lecture that ! made
a boomerang just like the one the lee
:urer had. When it was done. l went
out into the back yard. and slung il at n
cat OF the roof Of our house. IL never
touched the cat, but il went right
through the dining window. aud
gave Mr.. Travers an awful blow in the
eye, besides hitting Sue III the nose. II
stopped right there in the dining-room.
and never came back TO me ut all. and
/ don't believe a word the lecturer said
about it. don't feel courage to tell
what father said about il.
Then | tried to catch Mr.. Thompson's
dog. that lives next door TO ms. with two
lead balls tied on the ends of a long
string. Ididn't hit the dog any more
than | did the cat, but I didn't do any
harm except to Mr.. Thompson's cook.
and she ought TO be thankful that it was
only her arm. for the doctor Md that il
the balls had hit her on the head they
would have broken it, and the conse-
Gnences might have been serious.
Ii was a good while before | could
find anything 10 make an assegai out %;
but after hunting all over the house. l
came across u lovely piece NJ bamboo
about ten feet long. AMI just rs light rs
a feather. Then | got a big knife blade
that hadn't any handle to il. AMI that
had been living in fathers tool chest for
ever SO long. and fastened it on the end
of the bamboo. You wouldn't believe
hon, g,l.nl.Jl.~ \ ..,Il H.. 49,
segai. only the wind would take it. and
You couldn't tell when you threw il
where it would bring up. l don't see
how the Zulus ever manage 10 hit an
Englishman; but Mr.. Travers says that
the Englishmen are all SO made that you
cant very well miss them. And then
perhaps the Zulus. when they want to
hit them, aim at some h NJ else. One
day ! was practicing with the assegai at
our barn door. making believe that it
was IN Englishman. when Mr.. Car
ruthers. the butcher, drove by. and the
asscgai came down and went through
his foot. and pinned it to the wagon.
But he didn't sec me. and | guess he
got it out after a while. though | never
saw il again.
ho' "h1t tttC CttuiCt tNuH III rs aDbut
bull-tights was worse than anything else.
Tom McGinnis' father has u terrible
bull in the pasture. and Tom and I
agreed that we'd have q bull-iight. only,
of course. we wouldn't hurt the bull.
All We wanted to do was TO show our
parents how much we had learned about
the geography and habits of the
Spaniards.
Tom Mc(iinnis' sister Jane. who is
twelve wears old. and thinks she knows
everything. said she'd be the Queen of
Spain. and give Tom and me evergreen
wreaths. l got an old red curtain out
OF the dining room. and divided il with
Tom. SD that we could wave it in the
bulls face. When . bull runs after a
bull-iightcr. the other buli-fighter lust
waves his red rag. and the bull gocs for
him and lets the first bull fighter escape.
The lecturer said that there wasn't any
danger 50 long rs one fellow would al
ways wave n red rag when the bull ran
after the other fellow, and of course We
believed him.
Pretty nearly all the school came
down TO the pasture TO see our bull-;ight
The Queen Of Spain sat on the fence.
because there wasn't any other throne,
and the rest Of tho fellows and girls
stood behind the fence. The bull was
pretty savage; but Tom and I had our
red rags, and we weren't afraid OF him.
As soon as we went into the pasture
the bull came for me. with his head
down. and believing rs if he was out of
his mind. Tom rushed up and waved
his red rag. and the bull stopped run
ming after me, and went after Tom. lust
as the lecturer said he would.
know l ought to have waved nv
red rag. 30 n to rescue Tom. but I was
so interested that l forgot all about il. and
the bull caught up with Tom. Ishould
think he went twenty feet right up into
the air. and As he came down he hit the |
Queen Of Spain, and knocked her about
six feet right against MIR. McGinnis,
who had come down to the pasture to
stop the fight
The doctor says they'll all get well.
though Toms legs are all broke. and
sisters shoulder is out Of joint. and
Mr.. McGinnis has got to get . new set
OF teeth. Father didn't DO . thing 10 |
n 18th ~uv<hsu~ hs,t - |