Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1884-06-19
Peck's Bad Boy and His Pa
HON IA PRoSPEEED o> MS f,ILURE
THE BID BOY SAWS \ CnIM FROM IN
PRi>pNNENT.

"Whew, said the grocefSman. AZ the
bad bo, came IN and backed up against he
stove, when strong smell OF horse filed
the air and coun,eracted the smell Of de-
cAled eggs, you haven't gone to work in
the livery stable again, have you ~
mo but il IS about the same. | am tax
ing care of pas trotter, and it is more work
than running a whole livery stable, cause
You have 10 rub Il trotter about all the time.
IN one place or another, and blanket him.
and bed him down. and treat him like a
baby. said the bad boy he took leather
troitlng boot out Of his coat pocket and slt
down by the stove 20 punch hole in the
strap.
We'll, by gum. that beats me. said the
grocerymsn. a. he put on his spectacles and
looked at the boy, and held his nose as the
horse fumes came fresh from the stove.
''Onl, two weeks ago your father fsiled and
now he keeps trotter. and he is member
Of the church too, in good standing, and
pra,s regularly. swow. have lost con
tidenc. in everybody"
20, you don't have to worry about pa. =
sail the boy, as he buckIrd the ,rot,ing boo,
around his own leg and kicked hi, ankles
.
icrrd. "Pa knows his business. Times
were never so good in our fami, as they
nave been since pa failed, unless it was that
time when pa was selling stock in the silver
mine. Why, pa is full of fun at home, and
ma, She lstf-. and pa gets her anything she
wants. He bought her diamond lace pin
las week with four big di,mnnds as big as
hazel nuts. But una isn't going 10 wear ii
here at home, where people think pa is bust
ed, but she is going 10 wait till they go off
travelling and paraIyze people at the hotels.
Bu, s'pose pa has more fun Sith the trot-
Ter than YOU can shake stick at. He paid
a terrible price for the horse, cause he was
learned To trot without pulling on the lines
Pa goes out en- the road. and when anybod,
tries TO pass him be lets the reins lay on
the dashboard Of the cutter loose, and pa
sort Of shuts his eyes though ne was
sweetly sleeping, and the horse just paws
the snow. Ii ANYBODY comes along that be-
longs to our church, pa begins To sing a
hymn like he was happy, and The trOttcr
goes for all that is ont. Some Of en- think
pas mind is affected BY his failure. and that
MS head Is weak, bat they don't want to
fool themselves much on pa. a man who
can settle with his creditors for 10 cents on
The dollar, and stand them off for the 10
cents and pu, his money in bonds don't need
much sympathy
"Wel, guess Your pa will pull through.
But what is this hear about YOU and your
chum hanging around the police court
heard that you and him made up a purse to
pay a fellows fine and save him going to
the house Of correction. You fellows will
get TO mixing up with thieves, and the first
thing you know you will get pulled by the
police. and saltpeter won't save you," and
the groceryman looked wise, as though he
had saved two boys from ruin by his sage
remarks.
"Well, sir, if we hadn't happened down
to the police court thar morning, that boy
would have been ruined. The judge had
just said, s5 fine, or 10 days in the house Of
correction, and the policeman led the boy
out, and as he passed me thought his face
was familiar, and as knew the cops sister,
he let me 20 to the station and see the boy
He used to live where we did, before We
came here, and his folks we're rich then, but
his father failed and his mother died, and
the boy never learned to do anything, and
he has been for year, walking around from
town to town, eating when anybody offered
him meal, and going without when they
didn't. 'rother night he struck this town
and he was hungry and he didn't have am
bition enough to even 20 and beg piece Of
bread, and he stood leaning against an iron
fence, ready to freeze, when a policeman
took him in. The ambition was all chilled
out Of him. and he didn't make any defence
at the charge Of vagrancy, and was going to
be sent up with thieves and drunkards, when
we happened TO see him. tell you it don't
make any difference how rich boys father
is, every boy ought 10 learn to do some
kind Of work, because the time may come
when he will have to work or starve. Well,
he was tickled to see me, and cried some,
and said when he got out Of Jail he guessed