The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1883-05-30
THE BAD BOY.
The Bohemian Penny Band Eerenf ,des
His Pa.

There, you drop that, SAID To e gro
Gerry man to the bad boy, as he came
limping into the store and began to fun
BILE around box ofstrawberries. 81 have
never kicked at your eating my Goldfish,
and crackers and cheese, and herring,
and apples. but there has got to be a
dividing II somewhere, and make it
at strawberriesAt six shilling box, and
only two layers in box. I only bought
one box, hoping some plumber, or gas
man would come along and buy it, and
by gum, everybody that has been in the
store has sampled strawberry out Of
that box, shivered as though it was sour,
and gone off without asking the price,"
and the grocery man looked mad, took a
hatchet and knocked in the head of q
barrel of apples, and said, "There, help
yourself to dried apFees."
20, don't want your Strawberries or
dried apples" said the boy, as he leaned
against show case and looked at bar
of red, transparent soap. Il was only
trying to fool you. Say, that bar of soap
is old enough to vote. remember seeing
it in the showcase when was about
year old, and pa came in here with me
and held me up to the showcase to look
at that tin tobacco box, and that round
ZINC looking-glass, and the yellow wooden
pocket comb, and the soap looks just the
same, only little faded. If you would
wash yourself once in while your soap
wouldn't dry up on your hands," and the
boy sat down in the chair without any
back, feeling that he was even with the
grocery man.
"You never mind the soap. 1t is paid
for, and that is more than your father
can say about the soap that has been
used in his house the past month";" said
the grocery man, as he split up box to
kindle the fire. "But we won't quarrel.
What was it I heard about band sere-
nading your father, and his inviting
them in to lunch ?"
Don't let that get out, or pa will kill
me dead. 1t was a joke. One of these
Bohemian bands that goes about town
playing tunes, for pennies, was over on
the next street, and told pa guessed
some of his friends who had heard We
had baby at the house, had hired a
band and was coming in few minutes to
serenade aim, and he better prepare to
make speech. Pa is proud Of being a
father at his age, and he thought it was
| no more than right for the neighbors to
serenade him, ana he went to loading
himself for speech, in the library, and
me and my chum went out and told the
leader of the band there was family up
there that wanted to have some music,
and they didn't care for expense, so they
quit blowing where they was and came
right along. None Of them could under
stand English except the leader, and he
only understood enough to go and take a
drink when he is invited. Ny cAum
steered the band up to our house and got
them to play Babies on our Block, and
Baby Mine and ! stopped all the men
who were going home and told them to
wait minute and they would see some
finn, SO when tho band got through the
second tune, and the frussians were
emptying the beer out of the horns, and
pa stepped out on the porch, there was
more nor hundred people Ia front of
| the house. You'd dide to see pa when
he put his hand in the breast of his coat,
| and struck an attitude. He looked like
a congressman, or a tramp. The band
was scared, cause they thought he was
mad, and some of them were going to
run, thinking he was going to throw
pieces of brick house at them, but my
chum and the leader kept them. Then
pa sailed in. He commenced, Fellow
Citizens and then went way back to
Adam and Eve, and worked up to the
present day, giving history Of the nota-
| BILE people who had acquired children,
and kept the crowd Interested. ! felt
sorry for pa, cause | knew how he would
feel when he came to find out he had
been sold The Bohemians in the band
that couldn't understand English, they
looked at each other, and wondered
what it was all about, and finally pa
wound up by stating that it was every
citizens duty to own children Of his own,
and then he invited the band and the
crowd in to take some refreshments.
Well, you ought to have seenthat band
come in the house. They fell over each
other getting in, and the crowd went
home, leaving pa and my chum and me
and the band. Eat? Well, l should
smile. They just reached for things, and
talked Bohemian. Drink? 0, no. l
guess they didn't pour it down Pa
opened dozen bottles of champagne,
and they fairly bathed in it, as though
they had fire inside. Pa tried to talk
with them about the baby, but they
couldn't understand, and finally they got
full and started out, and the leader asked
pa for three dollars, and that broke him
up., Pa told the leader he supposed the
gentlemen who had got up the serenade
had paid for the music, and the leader
pointed to me and said I was gentle=
man that got it up. Pa paid him, but he
had wicked look in his eye, and me
and my chum lit out, and the Bohemians
came down the street bilin' full, with their
horns on their arms, and they were
talking Bohemian for all that was out.
They stopped in front of vacant house
and began to play, but you couldn't tell
what tune it was, they were so full, and
a policeman came along and drove them
home. l guess will sleep at the livery
stable tonight cause pa is ofiul unreason-
able when anything costs him So, besides
the champagne
"Well, you have made a pretty mess
of it," said the grocery man. Its a
wonder your pa does not kill you. But
what is it I hear about the trouble at
the church? They lay that foolishness
to you"
cts all lie. They lay everything to
me. 1t was some of them ducks that
sing in the choir. l was just as much
surprised as anybody when it occurred.