Mexico weekly ledger., 1883-06-14
His PA Gets q Bite.

$50 the Doctor thinks your pa has
ruptured blood vessel eh," says the
street-c ear driver to the bad boy, as the
was playing sweet on him to {
get a free ride down town. 80 /,
'WeH how did your paw happen to fall
out ON the boat? Didn't he know the
lake was wet?'' s.
"He had a suspicion that it was damp,
when his back struck the water, l think.
I'll tell you how it was. When my chum
and run away to Pewaukee, ma thought
we had gone off to be pirates, and she told
pa it was duty he owed society to go
and get US to come back, and be good
She told him if he would treat me as an
equal and laugh and joke with me,
wouldn't be so bad. She said kicking
and pounding spoiled more boys than all |
the Sunday schools. So pa came out to |
our camp, about two miles up the lake |
from Pewaukee, and he was just as
good natured as though we had never had
any trouble at all. We let him stay all
night with US, and gave him napkin
with red border to sleep on under a
tree, cause there was not blankets enough
to go around, and in the morning I let
him have one of the soda crackers had I
in my shirt bosom, and he wanted to go
fishing with US. He said he wonld show
us how to fish. So he got piece of pork
rind at farm house for bait, and put it
on hook, and got in an old boat, and my
chum rowed and pa and I tolled- In
swinging the boat around pas line got
under the boat, and come right up near
me- I don't know what possessed me
but took hold of pas line and gave it .
"yank," and pa jumped SO quick his hat
| went off in the lake. "Stoper," says pa,
| ssI've got a whale" It's mean in man to
call his chubby faced little boy a whale,
but the whale yanked again and pa began
to pull him in. l, hung on, and let the
line out little at time, Just cazkly Hike
a fish, and he pulled and sweat, and the
bald spot on his head was getting sun
burnt, and the line cut my hand, so l
wound it around the oar-lock, and pa
pulled hard enough to tip the boat over.
He thought he had fifty pound muscu-
lunger, and he stood up in the boat and
pulled on that oar-lock as hard as he
could. Iought to not have done it, but
loosened the line from the oar.lock, and
when it Stacked up, pa went right out
over the side of the boat, and struck on
his pants and split hole in the water a:
big as wash tub. His head went down
! under the water and his boot heels hung
/ over in the boat. "What are you doin''
Diving after the fish9' says / as pa''
head came up and blowed out the water
1 thought pa belonged to the church, bu
v he said ayou damidyut." guess he wa
e talking to the fish. Well sir, my chun
: took hold of pas foot and the collar o
!, his coat and held him in the stern of tn
5 boat, and padded the boat to the shore
and pa crawled out and shook himself
d I never had no idea mans pants ,coul
= hold so much water. 1t was just hk
: when they pulled the string on a stree
f sprinkler. Then pa took off his pants an
h nv chum and me took hold of the leg
n and pa took hold of the summer kitchel
o and we wrung the water out. Pa wal
it so sociable after that, and he went bae
" into the woods with his knife, with moth
Y ing on but his linen .duster and "a neci
1t tie, while his pants were drying on a tire
y to cut a switch, and we hellered TO hin
i'd party of picknickers from Lake Sit
d were coming ashore right where b
s pants were to picnic, and he run into Il
Id woods. He was afraid there would
some wimmen in the picnic he knowe
Is and he coaxed us to come in the WOO
n, where he was, and he said be. would gil
,e us dollar apiece and not be mad al
re more if we would bring him his pant
J. We got his pants, and you ought to
as how they was rinklcd when he put the
ng on. They looked as though they had be
as ironed with waffle irons. We went
IS. the depot and came home on a freig
of train, and pa sneezed all the way in t
as caboose, and I,don'ts think. heshas ru
no tured any blood vessel. Well, l get
of here at Mitchell's bank" and the
turned the brake and jumped OIL witho
he paying his fare.