The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-02-17
His Pa oess Mad.
lPeck's sun.l


 T vas down to the drug store thi, morning, and saw your ma buying lo of court plaster, enough to make shirt should think. What's she doing witt so much court plaster" asked the gro cery man of the bad boy, as he came ir and pulled of his boots by the stove and emptled out lot of snow, that had col lected as he walked through drift, or the hearth, which melted and made 2 bad smell.
 70, guess she is going to patch pa ur so he will hold water. Pas temper goI him into the worst muss you ever sec last night. If that museum was here now they would hire pa and exhibit him as the tattooed man. tell you, have got too old to be mauled as though was a kid, and any man who attacks me from this out. wants to have his peace made with the insurance companies, and know that his calling and election Is sure, be cause 1 am a bad man, and don't you forget it, And the boy pulled on his boots and looked so cross and desperate that the grocery man asked him if he wouldn't try little new cider.
 Good heavens" said the grocery man as the boy swallowed the cider, and his face resumed its natural look, and the piratical frown disappeared with the cider You have not stabbed your father, have you! have feared that one thing would bring on another. with you, and that you would yet be h png.~
 Nav, haven't stabbed him. It was another cat that stabbed him. You see pa wants me to do all the work around the house. The other day he bought a load of kindling wood, and told me to carry ii into the basement. have mol been educated up to kindling wood, and didn't do it. When supper time came and pa found ,ha, had not carried in the kindiing wood, he had hot box, and he told me if that wood was not in when he came back from the lodge, that he would warm my jacket. Well, tried to hire some one to carry it in, and got a man to promise to come in the morning and carry it in, and take his pay in gro ceries, and was going to buy the grocer ies here and have them charged to pa. But that wouldn't help me out that night l knew when pa came home he would search for me. So slept in the back hall on co: But didn't want pa to have all his trouble for nothing, so borrowed an old tom cat that my chum's old maid aunt owns, and put the cat in my bed l thought if pa came in my room after me, and found that by his un. kindness that had changed to tom Cat, he would be sorry. That is the big. gest Cat you ever see, and the worst fight. CT in our ward. It isn't afraid of any. thing. and can whip New Foundland dos quicker than you can pu, sand in . barrel of sugar. Well, about clever o'clock heard pa tumble over the kind, ling wood, and knew by the remark h. made, as the wood slid around under him that there was going 10 be cat fight req quick. He come up to mas room, ane sounded ma as to whether Hennery hac retired to his virtuous couch. Ia is awfu sarcastic when he tries to be. coulc hear him take of his clothes, and heal him say, as he picked up trunk strap, I guess will go up to his room and watch the smile on his face, as he dreams of an gels. yearn to press him to my aching bosom.' thought to myself. mebbe you won't yearn so much diFectly-He eosns up stairs, and could hear him breathing hard. looked around the corner and could see he just had on his shirt and pants. ana his suspenders were hanging down, and his bald head shone like a cal cium light just before it explodes. Pa wen, into my room, and up to the bed and could hear him say, Come ou, here and bring m that kindling wood, or will start fire on your base burner with this strap And then there was rowling such as never heard before, and pa said, Hell en Blazes,' and the furniture in my room began to fall around and break. o, my! think pa took the tom cat right by the neck, the way he does me, and that left all the cats fee, free to get in their work. By the way the ca, squawled as though it was being choked, 1 know pa had him by the neck. sup pose the cat thought pa was whole flock of New Foundland dogs, and the cat had a record on dogs, and it kicked awful. Pas shirt was no protection at all in a cat fight, and the cat just walked all around pas stomach, and pa yelled police and fire and turn on the hose, and he called ma, and the cat yowled. If pa had had pres ence of mind enough to have dropped the cat, or rolled it up in the mattress, i, would have been all right, but a man al- ways gets rattled in time of danger, and he held onto the cat and started down stairs yelling murder, and he met ma coming up. guess mas night-cap, or something. frightened the cat some more, cause he stabbed ma on the nigh,-shir with one hind foot. and ma said mercy on us,' and she went back, and pa s,um- bled on a hand-sled that was on the stairs, and they all fell down, and the cat go; away and went down in the coal bin and yowledeall night. Pa and ma went into their room. and l guess they anoinsed themselves with vaseline, and Ponds extract. and went and got into my bed, cause il was cold out in the hall, and the cat had warmed my bed as well as it had warmed pa. Itwas all could do to go to sleep. with pa and ma talking all night, and this morning came down the back stairs, and haven't been to breakfast. cause don't want to see pa when he is vexed. You let the man that