The Lincoln County leader. [volume] (White Oaks, Lincoln County, N.M.) 1882-189?, 1883-10-06

bad boz, as he canie in the store
looking tired, with his clothes
soiled, and a general appearance
Of having been sleeping in freight
esrsnwith cattle. NYour pa told
me he expected you had run away
for good and that you might not
ON back. Where you been ?"
'FCliicseo,n sRidithe boy, as he
took out n toad stabber knife and
proceeded to take tire ulster off .
smoked herring. 'Becn play ing
Prodigal son, in two acts. But times
have changed since that young
fellow in tie Bible went off on y
ear andthe old folks killed a young
COW for him to eat and fell on his
shirt collar and cried down the
back of his neck. They don't re-
ceive prodigal sons that way in our
ward. They fill a prodigsl sons
coat tail full of boots, and he can't
find cold veal enough in the house
to make a sandwich"
II Thought Cyour folks were
pious, and were inclined to over
look anything,'hS ai the grocery
man, as he charged the herring
and crackers to thebad boys father.
"You don't mean to tell me they
went back on the teachings of the
good book, and warmed your Jack
ett"
you have guessed it the first
time" said the boy. This prod
igal son business is all right in the
DRY, but in practice it's a dead fail
ure. You see at Sunday school
the lesson was about the prodigsl
son, and the minister told us all
about how the boy took all the
money he could scrape up and went
away to = distant country, and
painted the towns red, and spent
his money like a countryman at Il
circus, and how he took in all the.
sights, and got broke, and got hun
cry and took a job at the stock
yards feeding pigs, and he was SO
hungry he used tohelp the pigs eat
their ratibns, and finally he thot'
of his home, where they had pie,
and he went home expecting to be
fred out, but his pa was tickled to
see him, and set up a free lunch of
calf on the half shell, and Rugged
tho boy, and made him feel bully.
When we got home pa and ma talk
ed about the lesson, and pa said it
was oneofthe most touching things
he ever hearL. and told me to
think Of it. and it would do me
good. Well, tue more / thought
Of it. the, more ! felt like trying
the business on, and told my
chnm, and he said he hadn't had
any vacation andsie would go off
prodigsling with me il | would go
and we could sec the country, and
have a good time and cone back
and be received with open arms.
Well, we got all our money togeth-
er, and a brakeman on II freight
train. that goes to our church, be-
cause his wits sings in the choir,
he hid us in the caboose, and we
went to Chicago. q, my, but we.
had a good time. | never saw
money wither the way it did with
us. We cat about twenty times a
da", the first two DAYS, and then
our appetites left US, and then
we WAS out of money. The first
two nights we slept in a two shill-
ing lodging house, the third night
we walked around and the fourth
might've slept in4the police station.
When IL money WAS gone, half
the fun was gone. II a fellow can
walk around with money in his
pocket, he teels good, even if
he don't want to buy anything, but
when the money is gone, he feels
bad, and wantsto buy lots ofthings.
Waited two d7ys for our brakeman
and when we got on his train he
put US in q cattle car, and it was
vile. l traded my collar-button
for Rpostsl card, and wrote to pa
that the prodigal would put in an
appearance at nine P. m, and for
him to prepare to fall on my neck
and to send down 10 themeat mar
ket for a hind quarter OF fatted
calf, and have plenty Of gravy.
You wouldn't believe it, but there
. wasn't any carriage at the depot
and we had to walk home. Icould
have ovefk ieked that. if'there had
Deen, anything to eat when | got to
the house, but>there wasn't enough
for a canary bird. Pa was there
however, and | was Just going to
hold out my neck for pa to get on
10 weep, wien he grabbed il with
hrs hand and came near twisting it
off, and thenih be turned me around.