The Lincoln County leader. [volume] (White Oaks, Lincoln County, N.M.) 1882-189?, 1884-08-02
THEBAD BOY
Frorn PICK 5 suN.

in the store with a pair of big yarn
mi;,rus on. and took up an apple
with his mouth, his hands seeming
to be helpless, land what ais your
own hands! should think you
had been on a Fourth Of July
drunk
1--WE haven't been drunk, at
least only as drunk as a person Fan
get on lemonade. But we have
had a serious accident said the
boy, as he held the apple on his
arm while lac chewed a piece of it.
''lou see, pa is very patriotic, and
he likes to celebrate the glorious
Fourth. He bought a lot Of fire.
works and invited the minister's
family and a lot Of the deacons'
families over to our house, on the
evening of the Fourth, to see him
set of 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 un-
Just neighbors. Pa wouldn't let
me 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 minister in a ham
mock, his wife in 4 lawn chair
near the hammock, swinging him,
ma on tho outside-c cellar door, the
deacons and their families scattered
around in chairs on the ground,
and my chum and me in a swing.
Pa fixed Il board to shoot rockets
from. and had Il box full Of fire
works behind a tree, and after tell
ing the ladies to be quiet, he fixed
Il rocket on the beard, put a lot Of
Roman candles in his coat-tail
pocket, gave q few candles to the
minister, who laid them down be-
side him in the hammock, and
when all was ready pa touched OF
the rocket. | shall always think
pa put the rocket on the board
wrong side up. Anyway, it
"whishrd, and bursted, and scat
tered all over our yard, the stick
struck ma, who was On the cellar
door. in the po!onaise, and she
yelled and ,hc cellar door fell and
let her down cellar. The rocket
tilicj Tie box Of fireworks with
fire, and they all began to 90 of at
once, and such a noise and STAN
pcje | never heard. The Roman
candles in pa, coat-tail pockets be
gan to 20 off and shoot colorcd
balls up Wndcr his coat and down
his trousers, and he yelled that he
WAS stabbed and called for water.
The pin wheels began to fly around
and one of them got in the ham
mock with the minister, and touch
cd off his Roman candles, and he
got SO scared he couldn't get ont
of the hammock, and he Just laid
there and yelled. He thought he
WAS dead and had made a mistake
and got to the wrong hereafter, and
he didn't seem to realize what was
up until a nigger-chascr got after
his wife, chased her around a tree
and went into her stocking, when
she jumped right irto the hammock
on top Of the minister and said,
oh, Lord, save me- and that
tipped the hammock over and
spilled them lu,ou the ground into
some red-tre that was burning. BY
that time the rockets in the box
got to going and they went of
among the deacons and their wives
and the sticks flew everywhere,
and some of those cannon fire
crackers got their tails aGre, and
they went of, and the folks lust
laid down and blatted. Every few
minutes some new fireworks would
catch fire, and run among the
guests, and pa saw me and my
chumrn the swing and said, Turn
The hose on us So | grabbed the
garden hose which was wetting