The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1883-03-21
PECK,s BAD BOY.
He Plays The Burglar Racket on
the Old Man.

Gerry man 70 the Gao .poyi 40 No S'A'H9
in and SAT on the counter right over
a little gimlet hole, where the gro
Gerry man had fixed a darning needle
60 that by pulling a string the needle
would fly up through the leand
run into the boy about an inch. The
grocery man had been laying for the
boy for two days, and it made him
laugh TO think how be would make
him jump and yell. The grocery
man pulled, and the boy sat still
He pulled again, and again, and FIN
ally the boy said:
ayes, il is reported that we had
burglars over there. Oh, you needn't
pull that string any more. 1heard
you was setting a trap for me, and l
put a piece Of board inside my pants
Go, ahead if it amuses you. II don't
hurt me-"
The grocery man looked sad, smiled
a sickly sort Of a smile at the failure
Of his plan, and then said, "Well,
how was itR The policemen didn't
seem toknow much about the psrtic.-
ulars."
"Now lets have an understanding"
says the boy. whatever l say you
are not to give away. It's go, isit2
1haye always been afrrid Of you, be.
cause you have a sortof decayed egg
look about you. But if you won't
give this away, here goes. You see,
] heard ma tell pa to bring up an.
other bottle Of liniment last night
When ma corks herself, or has pain
anywhere, she just uses liniment for
all that is out Well, told my chum
and we laid for pa. This liniment
ma uses is oful hot, and almost bills,
tiers.
Pa went to the Langtry show, and
did not get home till eleven o'clock,
and me and my chum decided to
teach pa a lesson. We agreed to lay
on the stairs, and when he came up
my chum was to hit him on the head
with a dried bladder, and l was to
stab him on his breast pocket with a
stick and break the liniment bottle,
and make him think be was killed.
1t couldn't have worked better. We
had talked about burglars at supper
time, and got pa nervous, so when he
came up stairs and was hit on the
head with the bladder the first thing
he said was burglars by mighty, and
he started to go back, and then hit
him on the breast pocket, where the
bottle was, and then We rushed by
him down stairs, and said in q
stage whisper, 4 guess he's dead
man. and we went down cellar and
up the back stairs to my room and
undressed. Pa hollered TO ma that
he was murdered, and ma called me
and came down in my night.shirt,
and the hired girl she came down,
aud pa was on the lounge, and he
said his life.blood was fast ebbing
away.
He held his hand on the wound,
and said he could feel the warm blood
trickling clear down to his boots. l
told pa to stuff some tar into the
wound, such as he told me to put on
my lip to make my mustache grow,
and pa said, My boy, this is no time
for trifling. Your pa is on his last
legs. When 1 came up stairs l met
six burglars, and l attacked them
and forced four Of them down, and
was going to hold them and send for
the police, when two more, that did
not know about, jumped on me, and
] was getting the best of them, when
one Of them hit me over the head
with crow bar, and the other stab.
bed me to the heart with butcher
knife. Get some ice and put on my
stomach, and all the way down, for
! am'burning up l went to the
water pitcher and got a chunk of ice
and put it inside pas shirt, and
while ma was tearing up an old
skirt to stop the flow Of blood, I
asked pa if he felt better, and if he
could describe the villains who had
murdered him. 'one of them was
about six foot high, and had sandy
moustache. Igot him down and hit
him in the nose, and if the police find
him, his nose will be broke. The
second one sthick set, and weighed
about wohuudred. Ihad him down
md INV hoot moo m L;,.L ~