The Brookhaven leader., 1883-11-01
A BOYS WATERMELON APOLOGY.

BU1 - NAlEhMEbUN AfULUU1s
Talking about apologies" said Will
Van Leaf "did | ever tell you about
my watermelon apologyP'
You never told me- replied Ned
Morningstar. You may have told some
of the other fellows"
You never told me,' chorused the
"othcr fellows"
Come to think, might have known
hadn't said viii, "cause I've only
been back to school three days, and in
those three days you fellows have
scarcely given me chance to get q
word in edgeways,' as my grand
mother says; you We had so much to say
yourselves"
1t was n fine day in October. School
was Just out and the boys were linger-
ing on the school-house steps. They
had been listening attentively- with the
exception of Will Van Leaf, who list
cned impatiently-to something Frank
Smith was telling them, when at last
Will found an opportunity of intro
ducing his story of the season. He had
not returned to school until q month
after the fall term began, and since his
return, though he had been fairly in
undated with accounts of summer-vaca-
tiOn adventures and fun, he himself, to
quote his own quotation, had scarcely
found chance to get in word edge
WAYS But now his chance came in
this way: Frank Smith, describing a
wonderful squirrel he had seen in the
woods one day, declared its tail was
four feet long. g" L refuse to believe it,
SsAII NnI -
nor invented squirrel with tail
longer than three feet and a half, and
I'll bet I've seen and invented more
squirrels than ever you have
"Ah, ha! SO you accuse me of false
hood" said Frank Smith, placing his
hat on the extrt me back of his head
and throwing himself into fighting
attitude, "and that is something my
proud spirit can not and will n stand.
SO come on, or make an apology"
Then it was that VIII Van Leaf said:
Talking about apologies, did ever
teuyou about my water melon apology?"
And receiving unanimous negative,
followed by a unanimous request to 'go
en- he went on: "Well. you know,
our folks spent most of last summer at
Uncle Johns; he owns big farm on
Staten Island. and there was lot of
boys boarding up on the hill at Widow
Pratts, and of course | soon got ac-
quaintCd with 'em. And didn't we
have jolly times, boating and swimming,
and playing ball, and acting theatricals,
all made up by yourselves; you bet!
"Well, just halfway between Uncle
Johns and the boarding-hous was old
Bartholomew place. old Bear most
everybody called him behind his back,
cause he had such shaggy hal and eye
hrows, and grOwled instead of speak
ing, and was so awfully ugly in every
way. And he had the biggest water
melon patch for miles around. And
On day three or four of the hill chaps
and me-
"And IT, corrected Ned Rowe, called
by his comrades Grammar Ned"
"Oh, botherr' said Will; 'let me go
on with my story in my own way,
Grammar Ned; you can save up the
mistakes and give 'em to me when I'm
through" but he accepted the correc-
ton all the same.
"Well, three or four of the hill chaps
and ! were standing one morning peep
ing through crack in the fence at O*d
Pears watermelons, and oh! we did
feel such longing for 'em, they were
so jolly ripe and fat, when along came
Serious Dick >"
WHO was Serious Dick?'" asked
Frank Smith.
"A fellow bout sixteen years old,
who worked for Uncle John, and always
looked and talked as though he was
preaching" explained viii. "Well,
he came along and he stopped and
peeped through the crack in the fence,
too, and then he says very solemn:
Amt them beaut;esn Don't you cor
rect again, Grammar Ned;' Dick said
Them didn't. Amt them beauties
says he, and there's dozen of 'em SO
ripe they're ready to burst and ought
to be picked this minute. They won't
he no good in day or two. And won't
it be sin and shame to see 'em a
rotting, for Old Bear don't go to market
TILL day after tomorrow, and he
wouldn't give one away, no, nor sell
one to anybody round here, no matter
what happened. say, boys, says he,
Il wouldn't blame you bit if you bor-
rowed few of them melons tonight.
1t you do, save me one, and I'll do as
much for you sometime or other and
then he winked and walked of, lookingas as
serious as ever. Well, that set the ball
a-rolling, and we boys talked it over
and agreed that it ,could be a shame to
let those melons rot on the vines, and
so that night we pried a board off the
feuce and crawled in and borrowed
dozen of 'em. Eleven of 'em we ate on
the spot, and the twelfth we saved for
Serious Dick. carried it home-pretty
heavy it was, too-and slowed it away
in the corner of the barn under the hay.
And the next afternoon-I didn't see
him before cause he'd gone to New
York with load of cabbages-I saw
Serious Dick going into the barn and l
ran out and whispered to him: Your
melons In there in one corner under
the hay But Dick started back and
rolled up his eyes. and acted as though
he was half scared to death. And says
he, let it stay there. / wouldn't touch
1t for nothing why. what's the mat