Tolland County press., 1883-01-25
A BOYS LECTURE.


 You can have knife with six blades if anybody will give you one. Your father and mother hardly ever give you six blader. They do not think it is best. Some little fellows have numb iackknives. Numb iackknives are made not to cut. Numb iackknives are good for little fel- lows to have My little brothers got 8 numb jackknife. Jaekknives are very easy to lose. A fellow most always loses his knife. He feels very sorry when he first finds out he can't find his knife. He does not believe the knife is lost. He keeps feeling in his pocket, for he believes it is there somewhere, under his ball, or his jewsharp, or his pocket handkerchief, or 'mongst the crumbles. Then he begins and he empties out all these things, and turns his pocket inside out and shakes it, and stands up and shakes his trousers leg, and looks down on the floor, and puts them all in again, and then he begins to hunt. One day I lost my knife some where in the house, and l hunted for it in ninety-seven places. I will mention them |: In my mothers workbasket, in her other basket, in her darn-stocking bag, in eight of her bureau drawers, in six cracks of the floor up garret, in the ashes pail, all over eight floors (crawling), in the cookie pot, in my mothers pocket, in the baby's cradle, in the apple barrel, on four top shelves, on seventeen other shelves, in the spoonholder, in ten of my fathers pock- cts, in fourteen of my big brothers pock- cts, in two of my little brothers pockets, in four of my pockets, on six mantel- pieces, in the waste basket, in my sister g dollhouse, ln her bureau drawer, in the bedclothes chest, in my mothers trunk, in four of my sisters pockets and all the time my knife was in my trousers leg, down at the foot of the trousers leg, in- side the outside part of the trousers leg, back of the lining of it.
 One time when I found my knife I was sorry I found it. I will tell you about that knife One day had new knife. ] never had such pretty one. It had a white handle, and was two-blader. It was as good as mans knife. All the fel- lows wanted to see it, and they thought twas first-rate knife. It had "J. s. on the handle. was so careful of it that wanted to keep hold of it when twas in my pocket; and I kept sitting down and been gone five years brought it to me. When I'd kept that knife not quite two days, there was little hole in my pocket little bit of a hole. It wasn't as big round as the end of my little finger. mean the very tip end of my little finger not where it begins to be big any. It wasn't as big as little white bean. 1 don't think it was as big as pea. think it was about as big as quarter oi pea. No fellow would think knife could get through that hole. But kept it away from that hole. I put things in between, and I kept putting my hand in to touch my knife. We'll, played round good while, and then we played ''I spyn and we had to run everywhere !; and next thing I knew put my hand in my pocket and my knife was. gone and my finger went right through that hole not just ex. actly the same one, for that little one hao grown big one. My mother said that my knife rubbed and wore the hole out bigger. Nobody could find that knife. A long time after I lost it I stubbed my toe and fell down in the field, and my hand hit something in the grass, and I looked there, and there was my knife, "J. s." or the handle. l was not glad found it. was sorry. It most made me cry. It wa, all rusty and black, and you could no start the blade one mite to make it come open. My father tried to. Inever want ed to see it again, and dug deep hol' and buried it up. know the spot, ant every time go by there I think of tha knife.