Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1883-05-26
THAT BAD BOY.
He Permits His Pa TO XIII Him.

Naw,' said the grocery man, as he
charged the cheese to the boys father,
aud picked up his cigar stub, which he
had left on the counter, and which the
boy had rubbed on the kerosene barrel.
No, sir, that whistle would scare any
dog that heard it. Say, what was your
pa running after the doctor in his shirt
sleeves for last Sunday morning? He
looked scared. Was your ma sick
again.
"Oh, no, ma is healthy enough now
she has got a new frlr-lined cloak. She
played consumption On pa, and coughed
so she liked to raised her lights and liv-
er, and made pa believe she couldn't
live, and got the doctor to prescribe
furlined circular, and pa went and got
one and ma improved awfully. Her
cough has all gone, and she walked ten
miles. was the one that was sick
ion see, wanted to get pa in the
church again, and get him to stop
drinking, 80 got a boy to write letter
to him, in "A female hand, and sign the
name of a choir singer pa was mashed
on, and tell him she was yearning for
him to come back to the church, and
that the church seemed blank without
his smiling face and benevolent heart,
and to please come back for her sake.
Pa got the letter s atulday night,
and he seemed tickled, but | guess he
dreamed about it all night, and Sunday
morning he was mad and took me by the
ear and said couldn't come no Daisy
business on him second time He said
he knew | wrote the letter, and for me to
go up in the store-room and prepare for
the almightiest licking boy ever had,
and he went down stairs and broke up
IN apple barrel and got stave to whip
me with. Well, had to think mighty
quick, but was enough for him. got IA
uried bladder in my room, one that me
and my chum got to a slotter-house, and
bowed il partly up, SO it would be
sort Of fiat like, and put it down in
side he back part of my pants, right
about where pa hits when he Furnishes
me. | knOwed when the barrel stave
hit the bladder it would explode. Well,
pa he came up and found me crying.
can cry just as easy as you can
turn on the water at a faucet, and pa
took OFF his coat and looked sorry. |
was afraid he would give up whipping
me when he seen me c"y, and | wanted
to 90 on with the bladder experiment,
50 looked kind of hard, as if | was de
flying him to do his worst, and then he
took me by the neck and laid me across
a trunk. | didn't dare struggle much
for fear the blad er would lose itself,
and pa said Now, Hennery, | am
going to break you Of this dam foolish
ness, or | will break your back, and he
spit on his hands and brought the bar
rel stave down on my best pants. Well,
you'd died if you had heard the ex-
plosion. 1t almost knocked me off the
trunk. 1t sounded like firing Il fire.
and pa looked scared.
~ rolled off the trunk on the floor, and
put some flour on my face to make me
look pale, and then kind Of kicked my
legs like fellow who is dying ON the
stage, after being stabbed with piece
of lath, and groaned and said Pa, you
have killed me, bur forgive you : and
then rolled around and trothed at the
mouth to make foam. Well, pa was
all broke up. He said Great God,
what have | done? | have broke his
spinal column.
90 my poor boy, do not die ! kept
chewing the soap and toaming at the
mouth, AMI drew my legs up ana
kicked them out, and clutched my hair,
and rolled my eyes, then kicked pa in
the stummick rs he bent over me, and
knocked his breath out of him, and
then my limbs began to get rigid, and |
said Too late, pa. | die at the hand
o! an assassin. Go for doctor. Ia
throwed his coat over me, and started
down stairs on run, saying, Il have
murdered my brave boy, and he told
ma to 60 up stairs and stay with me,
cause | had fallen off trunk and rnp-
,nred II blood-vessel, and he went after
the doctor.
When he went ou' of the front door,
] sat up and Ii a cigarette, and INA
came up and told her all about how