McCook weekly tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 188?-1886, 1884-07-10
The Typical Bad Boy.
8. II. Keller, In Utica Press.

g. II. Keller, In Utica Press.
In behalf of that mu ch-abused "bad
boy" am constrained to take up the
pen in defense. In the first place he
isn't halt so black as he is painted. L
am well aware of the fact that, as
rule, he is not favorite of susceptible
ladies of questionable age, who abhor-
or pretend to-anything in the shape
of manly breeches. To such, the bad
boy is terror, and he knows it; il he
didn't, he'd cease to make himself so
everlastingly odious in their estimation.
Let the bad boy know to surety that
you dislike him, and you open up q
channel of tribulations that is produc-
tive of much disaster, especially If yen
own an orchard, gate that can be
lifted from the hinges, or dog with
tail long enough to fasten a can to.
There is much truth in the old adage,
ssYou can catch more flies with molas-
ses than you can with vinegar" The
proverbial "bad boy'' is just like one of
those self-same flies. Give him dose
of molasses and you win him for life;
but one drop of vinegar, and he is your
relentless foe. As true and devoted
friend, the "bad boy" is success; as
an enemy, he is as great success. In
his ever-working brain are schemes
which will cause your hair to rise in
horror; and in that same brain are
gendered acts of kindness which are Ca
pable of thrilling your heart to the
very core.
Some one says that the "bad boy"
has too much rope. If he has you are
to blame. You give him the wrong
sort of rope. 1t is full of hard, cross
grained, sour, vindictive knots. If you
had given him rope of different ma
terial there would be no danger of his
dropping suddenly from the end of it.
am acquainted with one of the
sweetest dispositioned boys in all the
world. He is bright, quick, and per-
feet little gentleman when you treat
him as human being should be. He
will 90 mile out of bis way to assist
cripple over the fence he will 60 as far
to fasten can to Browns dogs tail.
Brown has carloads of apples; he'd
rather see them rot upon the ground
than give one to the "bad boy" He
wouldn't give boy an apple for any
thing. Oh, no; not he. He hates boys;
they're q nuisance, he says. The re-
suit is, his dog chases his nose often to
rid himself of the disagreeble, rafting
can fastened to his tail.
There is poor old lady who lives
all alone in a little cottage just across
the road from the "bad boys" home.
That boy never goes to school without
dropping in to see if the old lady has
plenty of wood in the box. Call him
bad boy in her presence, and she'll
quickly tell you that the world would
be better with lots more of just such
bad boys it in.
am no admirer of that personiica-
ton of goody-goody boy who never did
bad thing in all his life. He isn't a
boy; he's only little machine, wound
up to 60 for, say ten, twenty years.
Then, when he is for the first time
really tempted, the cogs refuse to move
and the wheels no longer revolve with
their wonted smoothness; bolt drops
out and-he falls. When the goody-
goody boy falls 1t is long, long fall,
and it takes years to recover his lost
prestige. 1 detest and hate that evil
minded boy who has never the sign of
a redeeming quality about him. He
helps fill the prisons early in life; yet
there may be extenuating circumstances
surrounding his case; if so, let those
who bear him near kinship begin to
practice early, or else-prison bars,
rope and scaffold! But the proverbial
"bad boy" the boy of rollicking laugh
ter, rosy cheeks, the boy who will help
poor old woman over the gutter, then
hasten away to attach a ticktack to
some Miss Snodgrass' window, is per-
son I've always loved. This sort of boy
makes things lively when he's growing;
but grown up-what model!