Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-09-04
They Traded Names.

That matter about your FISH buyin'
reminds me of what happened two sum-
mers ago to my sister, or ruther to her
two little boys, or, more correct VT, to
one of EN-. Them was two curi'uS lit
tie boys. They was allus tradin' with
each other. Their father deals mostly
in horses, and they must have cot it
| from him. At the time I'm tellin' of
| they traded everything they had, and
when they had nothin' else to swap they
traded names. Joe lie took Johnny's
name and Johnny took Joe's. Just
about when they had done this they
both got sick with sumthin' or other.
the Oldest one pretty bad. the other not
much. Now, there amt any doctor
within twenty miles of where my sister
lives. But there is one who sometimes
has a call to 90 through that part of
the country, and the people in that
part is allus very glad when they
chance to be sick when he comes along.
Now this good luck happened to my
sister for the doctor came by jist ut this
time. He looks into the state of the
boys and while their mother was gone
down stairs he mikes up some medicine
he has along with him. What's your
name? he says TO the Oldest boy.
Now, rs he had traded names fair and
square. he wasn't goin' back on the
trade, and he said Joe" And my
name is Johnny" up and says the 9TH
er one. Then the doctor goes and gives
q bottle of medicine to their mother,
and says he: This medicine is fur Joe.
You must give him teaspoonful every
two hours. Keep up the treatment and
he will be all right. As fur Johnny,
he amt sick much and don't need no
medicine. And then he went away.
Every two hours after that Joe, who
wasn't sick worth mentioning, had to
take dose Of horrid stuff, and pretty
soon he took to his bed, and Johnny he
Just played around and got we'll in the
nat'ral way. Joe's mother kept up the
treatment, gittin' up in the night TO
feed that stuff to him, but the poor little
boy got wuss and wuss, and one morn
in he SAYS to his mother, saws he:
a'Mother, [ guess | am gOin' to die, and
J. ruther than to take any more of that
medicine, and [ with you d call Johnny
and We II trade names back again, and
if he don't want TO do 1t, you ken tell
him he ken keep the old mink skin |
gave him to boot on account of his
Mans havin' a Wesley IN it, Trade
namesp" saws his mother. ''What do
you mean by that?" And then he told
her what he and Johnny had done.
''And did you ever tell anybody about
this?'' says she. Nobody but Doctor
Barncs,f' says he. '.After that [ got
sick and forgot it." When my sister
heard that an idee struck into her like
you put fork into IN apple-dumplin'
Traded names and told the doctor!
She'd all along thought it strange that
the boy that seemed wuss should be
turned out and the other one put under
treatment, but it wasn't for her to set
up her opinion against that of man
like DR.. Barnes. Down she went, in
about seventeen jumps, to where Eli
Timpkins, the hired man, was plowin'
in the corn. take that horse out o
that she hollers, ''an' you may kill
him if you have to, but git Dr.. Barnes
here before my little boy dies" When
the doctor come he heard the story,
and looked at the sick youngster, and
then says he: ''If he'd kept his mink
skin and not hankered after Wesley
in his name, he'd had a better time
of it. Stop the treatment and he'll be
all right +" Which she did, and he was.
Frank r. Stockton, IN the Manhattan.