Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1883-06-16

and Polly shook hisself and said, What
you giving u.s. and the minister got up
and brushed the bird seed off his knees,
and he looked mad. thought ma would
sink with modification, and was sit
ting on piano stool, looking as pious as
a Sunday school superintendent the
Sunday befor he skips out with the bank
funds, and ma looked at me as though
it was me that had been tampering with
the parrot. Gosh, / never said word
to that parrot, and can prove it by my
chum Well, the minister asked one Of
the sisters if she wouldn't pray, and she
wasn't engaged, so she said with pleas.
ure, and she kneeled down, but she cork.
ell herself, cause she get one knee on
cast iron dumb bell that / had been
practicing with. She said % my in
disgusted sort ofa way, and then she be-
gan to pray for the reformation of the
youth Of the land, and asked for the
spirit to descend on the household, and
particularly on the boy that was such n
care and anxiety to his parents, and just
then Polly said, %, pull down your
vest. Well, you'd a dide to see the
woman look at me. The parrot cage
was partly behind the window curtain,
and they couldn't see it, and she thought
it was me. She looked at ma as though
she was wondering why she didn't hit
me with poker, but she went on, and
Polly said, wipe off your chin and
then the lady got through and got up,
and told ma it must be great trial to
have an idiotic child, and then ma she
was mad and said it wasn't half SO bad
ms it was to be a klepto-maniac, and that
woman got up and said she wouldn't
stay no longer, and pa said to me TO take
that parrot out doors, and that seemed
to make them all good natured again.
Ma said to take the parrot and give it to
my finger at the parrot and il looked at
the woman and said old cataramaran,'
and the woman tried to look pious and
resigned, but she couldn't. AS | was
going out the door the parrot ruffed up
his feathers and said Dammit, set 'em
up and hurried out with the cage for
fear he would say something bad, and
the folks all held mp their hands and
said it was scandalous. Say | wonder If
a parrot can 60 to hell with the rest Of
the community. Well, put the par
rot in the woodshed, and after they all
had their innings, except pa, who acted
as umpire, the meeting broke up, and ma
says its the last time she will have that
gang at her house"
That must have been where your pa
got his black eye" said the grocery man
as he charged the bunch Of celery to the
boys pa. did the minister hit him, or
was il one Of the sisters"
90, he didn't get his black eye at
prayer meeting, said the boy, as he took
his mittens off the stove and rubbed
them "a take stiii;ening out. 'It was
from boxing. Pa told my chum and me
that it was no harm to learn to box,
cause we could defend ourselves and he
said he used to be holly terror with
the boxing gloves when he was boy,
and he has been giving us lessons. Well,
he is no slouch, now / tell you, and
handles himself pretty we'll for a church
member read in the paper how lack
Chandler played it on Conkling by get
ting Jem Mace, the prize fighter, to
knock him silley, and asked pa if he
wouldn't let me bring poor boy who
had no father to teach him boxing to
our house to learn to box, and pa said
certainly, fetch him along. He said he
would be glad to do anything for poor
orphan. So / went down in the Third
ward and got an Irish boy by the name
of Duffy, who can knock the socks off Of
any boy in ward. He fit prize fight
once. 1t would have made you laugh
to see pa tell him how to hold his hands
and how to guard his face. He told
Duffy not to be afraid, but to strike right
out and hit for keeps. Duffy said he
was afraid pa would get mad if he hit
him, and pa said, nonsense, boy, knock
me down If you can, and l will laugh
ha ha" Well, Duffy he hauled back
and gave pa one in the nose and another
in both eyes, and cuffed him on the ear
lammed him in the mouth and made
his teeth bleed, and then he gave him q
side winder in both eyes. and pa pulled
off the boxing gloves and grabbed q
chair, and we adjouned and went down
stairs as though there was a panic. I
haven't seen pa since. Was his eye very
black ?"
''Black, should say So" said the gro-
cery man. "And his nose seemed to be
trying to look in his left ear. He was at
the market buying beefsteak to put on
it,"
90, beefsteak is no account. l must
60 and see him and tell him that an oys-
ter is the best thing for a black eye.
Well, must go. A boy has a pretty
hard time running a house the way it
should be rum" and the boy went out
and hung up sign in front of the gro-
Gerry: "Frowy Butter Speshulty."