Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1884-07-25
The Bad Boy.

AA1 A(--N~ 49,
Say, what is this l hear about
your pa and the new minister
QuarrelingT said the groceryman
to the bad boy, as he showed up at
his usual hour.
well, it was partly true, but it
was all joke, said the bad boy,
as he looked out the door to see if
his parent was in the vicinity. You
see, it was a new minister that
came here to exchange works with
our preacher. You know when
they exchange work it is as good
as a vacation, cause both ministers
can preach an old sermon that has
been laying around and got moth
eaten. The next day after the
visiting preacher preached he came
to our house to stay day or two,
at mas invitation. Pa hasn't been
feeling very well lately, and ma
said lie wanted some excitement,
and | thought Of an old story read
once about some students at a
theological seminary making two
profes sOrs believe that each other
and thought if such a joke was
all right in a college where they
turned out young preachers, 1t
would DO at our house, so | told
ma she better tell pa to talk loud
enough, or the preacher couldn t
hear him. You see l did't lie, but
ma went and told pa the minister
was deaf, as a post and he would
have to yell bloody murder to make
him hear. | don't think it was
right for ma to say that, cause |
didn't tell her the minister was
deaf, but pa said he hadn't spoken
at ward caucuseS for nothing, and
he would make the preacher hear
or talk the top of his head of. !
brought the minister's satchel over
from the house where he had been
and he came along with
me, and l asked him how his voice
was, and he said it was all right,
and I told him he would have use
for it if he talked with pa much. He
asked me if pa was deaf, but l
wouldn't lie, and all l said was if
the minister would yell as loud as
he did when he got excited in
preaching, pa would hear the most
of what he said. Oh, lie said he
cue tssed he wouldn't have any trOu
Bile making pa hear. Well, |
him in the parlor, and they
shook hands and l skipped up
stairs, just as pa swelled out his
chest and took a long breath and
shouted Glad to see youl Well,
you'd a dide. 1t seemed as though
his voice would knock the new
ear off, but the minister
braced himself, inflated bis lungs,
and shouted, The happiness is
mutual, Iassure you, and then they
both ccughed, cause l guess it
their lungs some. Ma was
leaning over the banisters, and
when pa would roar at the minister,
ma would laugh, and when the
minister would roar back at pa,
would laugh. Pa seemed to think
the minister talked loud, and the
thought the same, and
they was a having it pretty loud,
you bet. They talked about religion
and politics, and everything, and
pa mopped his bald head with his
handkerchief, and the minister got
red in the face; and finally pa told
the minister he needed not yell loud
enough to loosen the shingles, as
he wasn't deaf, and pa needn't
vel like amaniac, and then pa, said
he was another, and the minister
said pa was a worldly minded sOu
of Belial, and then ma she see it
was time to stop it, and she went
down stairs on a hop, skip and
lump, and told them both that there
was a mistake, and that nobody
was deaf, and then the minister
said he understood from pas little
boy that his pa was hard of hearing,
and pa sent for me, but l was
Don't you think a boy
shows good sense, sometimes, in
not being very plenty around when
they yearn for him? Sometimes
| am numerous, and then again l
am about as few as any of the boys.
Well, there was no harm done, but
pa and the minister have their
opinion of each other. .'-Pecl's
Sun.