The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1883-12-19
THE Rad BOY AND HIS PA.

'Hcllo. lIcnncry,' said the grocery
MAJ to the bad boy, as he came in hold
ing his sides to keep them from bursting
with suppressed laughter, "what has oc-
Cured to causc Il pious young mai to
laugh in that worldly manner? You
must try to cultivate q long. mournful
countcnancc, and learn to sigh and look
sick when YOU are the happicst," and the
grocery man weighed out Il couple of
pounds of buckwhcat flour for a hired
girl. elias your pa joined the police
force. l saw him driving a lot of hogs
to the pound yesterday"
"That's what l am laughing about"
said the boy, as he put an apple on the
stove to bake it. spa has gone to the
pound after the hogs this morning.
You see, | have been taking lessons
in painting and drawing, and the
other day | surprised ma by
showing him Il picture of Il blue COW,
with !. green tail and old gold horns,
and he told me he never saw anything
more natural. and he advised nc to turn
my attention entirely to animal painting.
Pa keeps four hogs in Il pen i'll the back
lot. and every day he turns them out in
the alley and lets them run, and takes
them up when they come home. The
hogs are large white ones, regular beau
ties. and pa thinks thinks about as much
of them as he does Ct me-. Well, pa told
me to 90 and turn the hogs out ycstcr-
day, and took my paint brush along
and before turning them out | painted
black spots I'LL over the hogs. You never
see a lot ofSpccklcd hogs, where the spots
were put on any better. Thchogs looked
at each other kind of astonishcd, and /
turned them out. In the afternoon. pa
went out to the pen and began to call,
'poig, poig,' and the pigs came running
up the alley. Pa saw the strange hogs
coming, and he got mad and drove them
out the alley, and then he called for his
pigs again, in Il muscular toac of voice,
and the spccklcd hogs came again, a lit
tie slower, and seeming to wonder what
allied pa. They acted as though they
felt hurt at being received in such a
violent manner. Pa met the sDecklcd
hogs with q broom. and he run them
down the alley again, and the hogs stood
off and looked at him as though they
thought he had the iim-jams. You'd a
didc to see pa drive his own hogs
away, and talk sassy. He got a pail
of swill and called the hogs again,
and they came on a gallop, and then
pa called a policeman and they drove
the hogs to the pound. | didn't see pa
last night, but the first thing this morn
ing | told him | had taken his advice,
and turned my attention to animal paint
ing, and that | had painted spots on our
white hogs, and made speckled hogs of
them, and that specklcd hogs were worth
a cent a pound more than white
hogs. Well, pa didn't faint away, but
when it all came over him, that he had
drove his own hogs to the pound, he was
so cross he could have bit a nail. But he
didn't say anything to me, cause sposc
he didn't want to discourage my artistic
ambitions, but he has gone down to the
pound after the hogs. May be the rain
has washed the spots off, and the man
that keeps the pound will not let pa have
white hogs when he left specklcd mes
there. However, 1 didn't warrant the
J hogs to be fast colors, anyway. Do you