The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-10-09
"God Biess tho Boy"

When you see a boy coming down the
street with ball of cord in his hand
aud a look OH his serious face like that
worn by the picture Of All early Chris
tian father standing in the arena await
ing for the new lion to be called to
dinner, it is sign that if you just cast
your eyes upward, you can see that
boys kite dancing nimbly in the air to
the lasciYious pleading of a'whole colony
OF telephone wires.
When you see boy going along in
the merry merry sunshine with his hat
in his hand, shaking his hair with a
pine stick to get it dry, now and then
leaning his head OH one sid3; pounding
the other side with his hand and practi-
cally kicking his feet in the air, in des-
perate efforts to get the water out of
his ears; or when you see him holding
warm stone to his ear for the same
purpose, it IS true sign that may think
of that boy, by and by, standing speechs
less when his mother asks him how his
shirt came to be wrong side out. You
must not run down the street in the
direction of his home under the impress
sion that the boy is being basely murd-
cred. You can't kill a boy with d skate
strap. And in hoe signoes you viii
know that boy has been in swimming
when he should have been at school.
learning that "twenty-six propositions
are followed by the accusativc," all the
way from ad to ultra.
When you SEQ boy about 5,45 p. NJ,
with ink Oh his nose and the CRIME of
chalk Oh his hands, his hair disheveled,
and the two upper buttons of his jacket,
gone, his collar rumpled and necktie
twisted away, and a suspicious looking
flush and two or three scratches adorn-
ing his face, you may know that he was
kept in" after school, and was taunt-
ed for the same by another boy when he
came out; and if you want to know the
rest of it, it will not be necessary to 20
into particulars, but just ask him
(which whippedl" If Il joyous look of
triumph dances in the exultant eyes,
you will know that just around the cor
ner you will find boy with Il bleeding
nose and a generally demoralized facade.
But if the lad you question looks down.
cast, multisss cum lachrymis begins his
Grafton. like Diuatiacrs, by saying:
"Well, he was a great deal bigger'n
me-" you know that your boy got
"licked.n
When you see boy with the pockets
Of his pantaloons bulging out until he
looks like 4 great humble bee, laden for
the hive, while he walks along-trying
to look as thin rs a split lath, and
wearing profound expression of super
natural innocence, you know, without
referring to the code Of signals. that
boy has been lingering in. somebody's
orchard, and doesn It care CG have undue
publicity given to facts that only con-
Germ him personally.
When you see boy on the distant
hillside, suddenly leap up into the soft
summer air, holding one foot tenderly
but firmly in the welded fingers OF both
hands, while ha hops around in irregu-
AZ but excited orbits at the same time
voicing his grief with wailing snrleks
mellowed by the sunny distance, then
without going to the telephone, you
may know that bare foot boy has trod
on the busy bee that nestled in the per-
fumed clover.
And wherever and whenever you see
him, i'll mischief or out of it-that is,
just coming out of it or just ready to
get into some more; awfully bad, or
with many fearful failures and disgrace
full stumbles trying to be good; forget
ting your commandments which thulld-
er upon him by the hundred, we'll nigh
as readily and repeatedly as you forget
the ten That infinite wisdom has laid
upon you; in all his noise. his poor little
struggles, temptations, triumphs and
and failures, his piteous little troubles
and his fearful, honest penitence, in all
the lightness Of a boys life, your heart
must grow mellow and tender for the
little germ of manhood, so full Of won-
derful possibilities, so rich with seeds
OF strength that will ripen by and by,
for good or for evil, as you walk and
live before the boy; ever as you look at
him, remember what you were thirty or
forty years ago, and say, "God bless the
boy"