Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1884-10-31
The Bad Boy.
DY GEORGE W. PECK.

mouth, his hands seeming to be help
less, "and what ails yourown hands -?
l should think you had been on
a Fourth of July drunk"
ave haven't been drunk, at least
only as drunk as person can get on
lemonade. But we have had a seri-
Gus accident" said the boy, as he held
the apple on his arm while he chew
cd piece Of it. "You see, pa is very
patriotic. and he likes to celebrate the
glorious Fourth. lie brought q lot
of fireworks and invited the minis
tcr's family and lot Of the deacons'
families over to our house, on the
evening of the Fourth, to see him set
Off the fireworks in the yard. lie
said he would point the rockets the
other way, so the sticks would fall
upon the just as well as the unjust
neighbors. Pa wouldn't let tmc touch
the fireworks, cause he said only
grown people should handle such
things, and he knew all about it. The
folks all got out in the yard, the min
lister in hammock, his wife in a
lawn chair near the hammock, swing
ing him, ma on the out side cellar
door, the dcacons aud their families
scattered around in chairs and on the
ground, and my chum and me in a
swing, Pa ii Xed Il board TO shoot
rockets from, and had a box full Of
fireworks behind Il tree, and after
telling the ladies TO be quiet, he fixed
rocket on the board, put a lot Of
Roman candles in his coat-tail poek-
ct, gave few candles TO the minis
ter, who laid them down beside him
in the hammock, and when all was
ready pa touched oil the rocket. |
shall always think pa put the rocket
on the board wrong side up. Any
way, it wished" and burstcd, and
scattered all over our yard, the stick
struck ma, who was on the cellar
door, in the polonaise, and she yelled
and the cellar .dGSr fell and let her
down cellar. The rocket filled the
box of fireworks with fire, and they
all began TO 90 of at once, and such
n noise and stampede | never heard.
The Roman candles in pas cOat-tail
pockets began TO 20 off and shoot col
ored balls up under his coat and
down his trousers, and hc yelled that
he was stabbed and called for water,
The pin wheels began to fly around
and one of them got in the hammock
with the minister, and touched otlhis
Roman candles, and he got so scared
he couldn't get out Of the hammock,
and he just laid there aud yelled. lie
thought he was dead and had made
a mistake and had got 10 the wrong
hereafter aud hc didn't seem to real
izc what was up until niggcr-chas-
er got after his wife, chased her
around tree aud went into her stock
ing, when she jumped right into the
hammock on top of the minister and
said, 'Oh Lord save met and that
tipped the hammock over and spilled
them out on the grouHd into some
rediire that was burning. BY that
time the rockets in the box got to go
ing and they went of'among the dca-
cons and their wives, and the sticks
flew everywhere, and some of those
cannon iire-crackers got their tails
aflre, and they went OIL, and the folks
just laid down and blatted. Every
few minutes some new fireworks
would catch fire, and run among the
guests, and pa saw me and my chum
in the swing and said, Turn the hose
on u.s. So l grabbed the garden
hose which was wetting down the
llawn 'tother side of the house, aud me
and my chum: played fire engine,
and wet the whole party till the fire
was out, and then they all jawcd pa
cause he didn't know anything. Ma
wasn't hurt at all, only scared, and
we found her down cellar where she
had crawled under the kindling
wood. Pa had some refreshments on
table on the veranda, that hc was
going to treat the crowd with, but Q
pin wheel got in pail of lemonade
and a niggcr chaser followed it ant
chased the pin wheel and lemons
around until the lemonade smellet
like a gun that is breech-bumt and ;
rocket went in the ice cream freeze
and exploded and throwed ice cream
} all over the side of the house jus
like mortar, and a bunch of fire
works went in the cake basket ant
spoiled the flavor of cake. After tn
fire was out and we stopped playing
the hose on them, we found that no
body was burned except pa and me
Nnd his forehead and hair was singet
and my hands were burned puttin
out the minister's wife. The minis
ter's coat was spoiled, and his wifi
lost one stocking, but they were nc
hurt. Pa went IN the house to pu
1t some sweet oil on his head, and h
got into the bottle of prepared glu
by mistake, and his hair is glue
down to his head, and became hare
= so it sounds like board when he hi
it with his knuckles, and that is whG