The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1883-10-24
THE BAD BOYS FRANKS.



man as the boy came in the store and
sat up on the edge of the counter,
"you loom up well for boy with the
ague thought you couldn't get out
of bed; you haven't been around for a
week."
"Oh, the ague's played out. Iguess
they run out of quinine in this town
while was sick. Anyhow, they fired
nearly barrel of it down my neck" 4"
replied the boy, helping himself to an
apple.
"I heard your father was arrested
last Saturday. What's the trouble ?"
asked the grocery man, as he closed a
new gate at the end of the counter he
had made to keep the boy away from
the sugar.
"Well he did come near being run
in, sure, and l guess he would if it
hadn't been for me. You see, ma has
been sick ever since she went into the
deacon's cellar to draw cider and met
that skunk, 50 she told pa if he would
get couple of good fat hens she
would try and make pot-pie for Sun
day, as she felt her health failing, and
if her appetite wouldn't improve soon
she would go hence, whatever that
means So that evening pa started
out for hens. He was too late to Q t
dressed ones, so he got two live ones
from the market ard started home.
Me and my chum were layin' for him,
and when he got about half way home
it commenced to rain and he started on
run so as to not get wet. We fol-
lowed and met a policeman and told
him we saw man steal two hens, and
pointed out pa as the man. The po-
liceman started after him and yelled at
him to halt, but pa did not hear him.
Pretty soon pa saw some one was
chasing him and thought it was rob-
bers, so he ran all the harder. Ten
the policeman pulled out his revolver
and fired into the air to scare pa, Just
as one of the hens got her wings loose
and Topped it in pas eye. Pa dropped
with groan, and said: "I'm shot.
Tell my wife died happy" Then a
crowd got around him, but when pa
found he wasn't dead he
called for stretcher to be
carried home to die with his
family. While some of the crowd went
for the stretcher the rest began to ex-
anime him to see where the bullet
went in, and when they couldn't find
it, he got up and offered to lick
any man that said he was shot. Just
then another policeman came up and
said he recognized him as Chicago
Bill notorious safe-robber, and that
a reward was offered for him. Pa said
he was honest man, and agreed to go
back to the market with the chickens
and be identified. They found only
one of the chickens, but the market
man knew pa and fixe1 it, and then
the policeman began to beg pas par
don, and gave him five dollars to keep
still about it. When pa got home he
told ma he had helped to catch a safe
blower, and when he got his share of
the reward she could have a new seal
skin sacque."
"Your father'l kill you some day"
said the grocery man. "But what
about the fuss at the social at the
deacon's night before last? l heard
the whole church was mad at each
other over a grab-bag, and the presid-
ing elder had all he could do to quiet
things down"
"That don't amount to much" re-
piled the boy. "There's always some.
thing turns up when the sociable
season first starts in. You see, ma
was appointed committee to fix up a
n q
digging bait that morning to 60 fish
ing, when pa came out and said,
Hennery, l believe you put up that
chicken job on ME, and 1 don't believe
anything but hard work will reform
you. | want you to spade up the
ground under the currant bushes" l
asked him il he wanted hump
disligured boy, made so by hard work.
Pa said he woul risk the hump. and
told me to pitch in, and then went
downtown. My chum sal he would
help me, and me and him got the ioh
done before 2 o'clock. When we GOT
done 1 come in and found ma had
finished the grab-bag, and had it all
loaded, with the top fastened with q
puckering-string, and hung on the
back of chair. Ma was up stairs
getting her Sunday clothes on, to gC
to the sociable, so it didn't take me ant
my chum long to empty the bag anC
get first choice. Then 1 got oul
mouse trap and took it to the barn
and caught two nice big fat mice anC
put 'em in collar-bOX with holes Gu
in it, to give 'em air, and dropped tha
in the bag. Then my chum remem
bered a big swapping turtle he had il
the swill-barrel, and me and him go
that and wiped it as dry as we could
and tied it all up but its head anC
put that in just as the deacon'i
hired man cane to take the bat
over to the sociable. Me my
chum went down to his house anc
waited till the people got over to tn,
so liable, and then we went over anC
got up in a tree where we copld SO,