, 1883-10-13
THAT BAD BOY.

counter; you loom up well for boy
with the ague. thought you were
sick in bed. ] haven't seen you for
Il week"
"Qh! the agcr's played out; I guess
they run out of quinine in this town
while | was sick. Anyhow, they
fred nearly barrel Of it down my
neck" replied the boy, helping him
self to an apple.
81 heard your father was arrested
last Saturday. What's the trouble ?"
asked the groceryman, as he closed
gate he put at the end Of the counter
to keepNhe boy out Of the suglr-bin.
"Well, he did come near being run
in, sure, and / guess he would il it
hadn't cen for me. You see, ha
has been sick ever since she went
into the deacOn's cellar to draw cider
and met that skunk, so she told pa
if he would get a couple Of good, fat
hens she would try and make a pot
pie for Sunday, as she felt her health
failing, and If her appetite did not
improve soon she would &C hence,
whatever that means. So that even
ing pa started out after hens. He was
too late to get dressed ones, so he got
two live ones, and started for home.
Me and my chum were laying for
him, and when he got about half way
home it began to rain, and he started
to run, so as not to get wet. We fol-
lowed, and met policeman, and told
him we saw man steal two hens,
and pointed out pa as the man. The
policeman started after him and yell.
ed out for him to stop, but pa didn't
hear him. Pretty soon pa saw some
one was chasing him, and thought
it was a robber, and ran all the harder.
Then the policeman pulled out a re-
volver and fired in the air to scare
paj ust as one of the hens got one of
her wings loose and Topped it IN pas
eye. Pa dropped with a groan, and
said: T'm shot; tell my wife died
happy Then a crowd got around,
and was going to hang the policeman,
but he swore the shot came from
across the street, for he saw two men
run, and said he didn't carry a pistol,
anyway, and the crowd might search
him. But l saw him throw it over
fence; aud me and my ehum got it
the next morning. When pa found
he wasn't dead he called for a stretch
er to be carried home to die with his
family. While some Of the crowd
went for a stretcher the rest began
TO examine him all over to find where
the bullet went in, and when they
couldn't find it he jumped up and
offered to lick any man who said he
was shot. Just then another police
man came up, and said he recognized
pa as Chicago Bill notorious safe
r0bber, and that there WIS 4 reward
offered for him, Pa said he was an
honest man, and agreed to back to
the market with the chickens and be
identified. They found only one Of
the chickens, but the market man
knew pa and fixed it, and the police
man began to beg pas pardon, and
pa gave him five dollars to keep quiet
about it. When pa went home he
told ma how he helped catch a safe
blower, and when he got his share Of
the reward she could have new seal
skin saCque."
"YOur fatherll kill you some day.
But what about the fuss at the social
at the deacon's night before last ~
as he picked the fly-specks off Of a
lot of maple sugar he was putting
away for "New maple sugar" next
spring. 81 heard the whole church
was mad at each other over a grab
bag, and the presiding elder had all
he could do to quiet things down"
"That don't amount to much said
the boy. "ThCre's always something
turns up when the sociable season
first sets in. You see, ma was ap-
pointed a committee to fix upa grab
bag. Me and my chum were digging
bait that morning to go fishing, and
pa came out and said: 'Hennery, l
believe you put up that chicken job
on me, and l don't believe anything
but hard work will ever reform you.
want you to spade up the ground
under the currant bushes.' l asked
him If he wanted a hump backed,
dishgured boy, made so by hard
work. He said he would risk the
bump, and told me to pitch in, and
then went down town. My chum
said he would help me, and me and
him got the jobdOne before o'clock.
When we got done we went in and
found ma had finished the grab-bag,
and had it all loaded, and the top
fastened with puckering-string, and
hung on the back Of chair Ma was
up stairs getting her Sunday clothes
on, to go to the soCiable, 50 it didn't
take me and my chUm long 10 empty
the bag and get first choice. Then
got our mouse-trap and took it to the
barn, and caught two nice, big, fat
mice, and put 'em in a collar-bOx,
with holes cut in it to give 'em air,
and put that in the bag. Then my
chum remembered a big snapping-
turtle he had in the swill-barrel, and
me and him got that and wiped it
dry, and tied it all up but its head,
and put it in, just as the deacOn's
hired man came for the bag. Me and
my chum went down to his house
and waited till the people got over
to the sociable, and then we went
over, and got up in tree, where we
could see through the omen window