The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1884-07-16
The Previous Bad Boy.

The Previous Bad Boy.
"Say, what has become of your chunl,"
asked the grocery man of the bad boy,
q he found him sitting on the front
steps untangling a fish line when he
opened the grocery to sweep out. 81
haven't heard anything from your
chum for three months. Amt dead, is
hep
mo, guess not" said the bad boy as
he tried to unite knot in his fish line
with his teeth. He was alive at two p.
M, last Saturday, when he wrote me
from Kalamazoo. You see my chum was
always tuffer nor was, if you would be-
lleve it. He didn't show SO much tuff-
ness right out plain, hut he had it in
him bigger'n a wolf. He didn't like the
way things was a running at home, and
made up his mind to run away, and he
wanted me to 60 too. He pictured to me
how we could 60 to Chicago and join
circus that was there, and travel, doing
some sort of work for our board at first,
until we learned how to turn flip flaps,
and then we would get a regular salary,
and come home IN the fall with our
pockets full of money, and the boys
would look on us as heroes. never had
much runaway in me, and I didn't take
to it very kindly, though my chum tried
to show me how was abused at home,
though don't think l was abused half
as much as l abused other people. After
he had pictured to me the picnic we
would have l went and asked pa what
he thought about it, if it was good
scheme for boy to run away from home
and told him the programme my chum
had laid out. Pa was boy once, and
he ran away from home, and for week
he didn't have enough to eat to keep his
shape. He told me about it, and how
the skin in front of him fell il and al
most got glued to his back bone, and
when he got home they had to run
glove stretchar down his neck and
stretch him before he could drink milk.
Pa said it was the foolishest thing boy
could do to run away from home, and
told me if my chum wanted to 60, to let
him go, and have him write to me if it
was success and could 60 if wanted
to. That seemed to be fair enough, and
80 let my chum 60, and just got let
ter from him." and the boy chewed some
more of the fish line.
"And you are going to join him" said
the grocery man, "going to leave your
home and all its hallowed associations,
it's pancakes and church sociables, its
cheerful surroundings, and 60 off with
circus. Well, you are star fool" And
the grocery man swept a lot of dirt into
the tangled fish line.
"There you are wrong" said the boy,
as he picked up the line and spread it on
the clean floor, and began chewing it
where he left off. Read that letter"
And the boy handed the grocery man
crumpled piece of paper which he read
as follows:
"KALLYMAzoo, Coon IL.
DEAR HEN If you haint got no
money yerself, to send me, pawn your
sox, and sell my dog to the sassidge mill,
and kill my hens and sell 'em, and send
me ate dollars to cum hoam. am bust
flatter nor pancake, and hev bin most
of the time sins l left. | was the gOl
darnest fool out Of the idjit isylum to
run away. Thar is no mummy i'll the
sirkis biznis. | got job currying off
the zebray and feeding the higheyenies,
and prodding the kamels, for my bored
and login. l hev bin kicked around all
the time, bi kanvas men, a zebray bit
my pants of, and had to have over
hauls made Of gunisax. A higheneigh
chawed couple of mi fingers; lyon
roored at me and made me deef, a SAX
red OK hooked me with his hump, and a
kamel walked on me and tried to eat my
koat. A bulldog that sleeps with the el-
lyfunt got mad cause l laid down ON his
hay to sleep and he chewed my shoes, SO
have been barefoot sins we left Michi-
gan sitty. don't get nothin to eat cept
what the kanvass men leave, and that is
not enuff to fat kanary burd. You
shode sense in not going with the sirkis.
It makes me kry when stand by the
kages ahd see the folks 60 in the show,
looking happy like was at home, and l
haint had nothin to eat all day but a
piece Of ginger bred a kuntryman give to
the ellyfnnt wouldn't eat it, and dropped
it in the dirt. The only sustainance
hev had to-day was chewin rubber
stopper to pop bottle.
Now. Hen, deer friend Hennery. bon't
let our folks know how l am fixed, but
send me enough munnie for to ride in a
e,l migrant car, and will dig out of this
sirkis biznis too quick and you can meet
me at Bay View when l get back, with
some Of your old close, and | will he
darn glad to get home. Bring some kold
mete and mustred, too. and some of yer
mas bred. No kake nor nothin like
that, cause / amt eaten kake this year.
Bring balony, and I don't kare if it is
made of yellO dog. if it is balony. l
druther be q dog in Milwaukee than
travel with sirkis in Kallymazoo, and
hev nappetite and no bolony sassidgc.