Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-06-04
TIE BAD BOY.
His Pa Mistakes z. n. @. A. Delegate
for Burglar.

swell, how's your eye ?" said the gro
Gerry man to the bad boy, as he blew in
with the wind on the day of the cyclone,
and left the door open. "Ssy, shut that
door. You want to blow everything out
of the storei Had any more fights, pro-
tecting girls from dudes?"
mo, everything is quiet 80 far. guess
since have got record as fighter the
boys will be careful who they insult when
l am around. But have had the hardest
week / ever experienced, jerking soda for
the Young Mems Christian Association,
said the boy, as he pealed banana.
"What do you mean, boy? Don't cast
any reflections on such anoble association.
They don't drink, do they?
"Drink o, no They don't drink any
thing intoxicating, but when it comes to
soda they flood themselves. You know
there has been National Convention OF
delegates from all the Young Mems Chris.
tian Associations of the whole country,
about three hundred, here, and our storeis
right on the street, where they passed four
times day, and | never saw such appe-
tites for soda. There has been one contln-
ual fizz in our store since Wednesday. The
boss wanted me to plsyit on some OF them
by putting some brandy in with the per-
| fumery few times, but wouldn't do It,
/ guess few weeks ago, before had led
different life, / wouldn't had to be asked
twice to play the game on anybody. But
man can buy ssaa OF me and be perfectly
safe. OF course, il a man wlnks when
ask him what flavor he wants, and says
| never mind l know enough to put IN
| brandy. That is different. But / wouldn't
smuggle it into man for nothing. This
Christian Association Convention has
caused a GOODNESS between pa and ma,
though"
"How's that Your pa isn't jealous, is
he p and the grocery man came around
| from behind the counter to get the latest
gossip to retail to the hired girls who
traded with him.
"Jealous nothin'," said the boy, as he
took few raisins ont of box. " You
see, the delegates were shutaed out to all
the church members to take care of, and
they dealt two to ma, and she never told
pa anything about it. They came to sup
per the first night, and pa didn't get home,
SO when they went to the Convention in
the evening masgave them night key, and
pa came home from the boxing match about
| ii o'clock, and ma was asleep. Just Is pa
got most of his clothes off he heard some
body fumbling at the front door, and he
thought it was burglars. Pa has got nerve
enough when he is on the inside OF the
house and the burglars are on the outside.
He opened window and looked out, and
saw two pieious-looking characters
| irving to pick the lock with skeleton
KEY, and he picked up new slop
isr that ma had bought when we
moved. cover and all, and dropped it
down right between the two delegates.
Gosh, if it had hit one Of them there would
have been the solemnest funeral you ever
saw. Just as it struck they got the door
opened and came in the hall, and the wind
was blowing pretty hard and they thought
cyclone had taken the cupela off the
house. They were talking about being
miraculously saved, and trying to strike a
match on their wet pants, when pa went to
the head of the stairs and pushed over a
wire stand filled with potted plants, which
struck pretty near the delegates, and one
of them said the house was coming down
sure, and they better go into the cellar,
and they went down and got behind the
| furnace. Pa called me up and wanted me
to 20 down cellar and tell the burglars we
were onto them, and for them to get out I;
but wasn't very well, go pa locked his
door and went to bed. l guess it must
have been half an hour before pas cold
feet woke ma up, and then pa told her
not to move for her life, cause there
were two of the savagest. looking burg
| lars that ever was, rumaging over
the house. Ma smelIed pas breath to
see if he had got to drinking again, and
then she got up and hid her oroide watch
| in her shoe, and her Ounalaska diamond
earrings in the Bible, where she said no
burglar would ever find them, and pa and
ma laid awake till daylight, and then pa
said he wasn't afraid, and he and ma went
| down cellar, Pa stood on the bottom stair
and looked around, and one Of the dele
gates said, Mister, is the storm over, and
is your family safe? and ma recognized the
voice and said, Why, it's one of the dele
gates. What you doing down there ? and
pa said, Whats delegate? 2 and then ma
explained it, and pa apologizsd, and the
delegate said it was no matter, and they
had enjoyed themselves real well in the
cellar. Ma was mortified most to death,
but the delegates told her it was all right.
She was mad at pa, fist, but when she saw
the broken slop-bowl on the front steps,
and the potted plants in the hall, she
wanted to kill pa, and l guess she
would only for the society of the del
egates. She couldn't help telling pa
he was a bald.headed old fool, but
pa didn't retaliate. He is too much
of a gentleman to talk back in company
ALI he said was that woman who
is old enough to have delegates sawed
off on to her ought to have sense enough to
tell her husband, and then they all drifted
off into conversation about the convention
and the boxing match, and everything was
all right on the surface, but after breakfast,
when the delegates went to the Conven.
ton, noticed pa went right down town
and bought new slop-jsr and some more
plants. Pa and ma didn't speak all the
| forenoon, and guess they wouldn't up to
this time only mas bonnet come home from
the milliner's, and she had to have the
money to pay for it. Then she called pa
pet, and that settled it. When ma calls
pa pet, " that is S25. Dear old darling
meaps $50. But, say, those Christian
young men do heap of good, don't they
Their presence seems to make people bet-
ter. Some boys down by the store were
going to tie a can on dogs tail yesterday,
and somebody said, here comes the Chris
tian Association, and those bad boys let
the dog go. They tried to find the dog
after the crowd had got by, but the dog
knew his business. Well must go down
and charge the soda fountain for picnic
that ia expected from the country"
"Hold on minute, said the grocery
man, as he wound piece of brown paper
around cob, and stuck it in syrup jug
he had just filed for a customer, and then
licked his fingers; =" / want to ask you a
question. What has caused you to change
SO from being bad? You were about as
bad as they make 'em, up to few weeks
ago, and now you seem to have a soul, and
| get in your work doing good about as well
! as any boy in town. What is it that ails
you ?"
80, sugsr, don't want to tell" said
the boy, as he blushed snd wiggled around
on one foot, and looked silly. "But if
you won't laugh l will tell you. 1t Is my
| girl that has made me good. It may be
only temporary. Ii she goes back on me
1 may be tuff again, but if she continues
to hold cut faithful shall be daisy all
the time. Say, did you ever love girl !:
It would do you good. If you loved any
body regular old.fashioned, the way do,
people could send little children here to
trade, and you wouldn't palm off any
wilted vegetables on them, or give them
short weight. Ii you was in love, and
felt that the one you loved cav every act
Il