The Lincoln County leader. [volume] (White Oaks, Lincoln County, N.M.) 1882-189?, 1884-01-26
THE BAD BOY.


NllE Uhh WV 10 III . 80 49,
grocery man. and began filling
his pockets with the luscious trop-
ical fruit.
'',Iust Won hold on said the
grocery man as he stopped the boy
from taking any more. "llerc's Il
herring. When anybody wishes
another a happy New Year. he
should allow the victim the privi-
lcgc Of selecting the weapons, as
they do in Il duel. Now, oranges
are liable to- give YOU the winter
cholera. and ifthev did, | would be
liable for damages, but You take
This smoked herring and eat it. and
| will take the chances and the
grocery man mloaded the boys
rockets and handed him the her.
ring.
dear me. what a frec-hcartcd
old fellow YOU are" said the boy,
as he took off his mittcn and began
pcaling the herring. Here, you'd
hcttcr take back the head and skin
ot this herring and give me a crack
cr, and then ! will tell YOU what a
brave nan pa is
Tell me about your pa. havn't
heard anything from him for a long
time" SAID the grocery man as he
handed the boy the cracker. and
sat down on a half bushel measure
by tle stove.
well. Won see, last night we
got to talking about haunted nous
cs, and pa said there was no such
thing as Il haunted house. He
said whenever an unusual noise
was heard in a house, instead Of
investigating 1t, people got scared
and went around talking about the
house being haunted, and before
long everybody believed it, the
reputation ofthe house was ruined.
and everybody was nervous. Pa
said that haunted houses was on a
par with spiritualism, and people
of sense never took any stock in
either. He said if | ever heard Of
Il haunted house, TO let him know
and he would go through it and in
vestigate it in the dark. | thought
to myself, boss. you can't fool
Henncry.' and ! laid tor pa. That
evening my chum's cat came ove
to visit our cat. and when it a
time to 90 t" bed the two cats yer
sleeping by the stove, and pa told
me | better put the cats ont doors
and 60 to bed. SO | took the cats
mp carefully and raised up the Gov
or to the piano, and laid the cats
down in the back side ufthe inStru-
mcnt, among the strings, and pet
ted them, and they went to sleep.
and | shut down the cover. and We
all went to bed. Ma ard pa sleep
right over the parlor, and | sleep
ut the back Of the honSc. Along
about two clock in the morning,
about the time cats usually get
woke NJ and heginto prowl around,
there w;ts Il faint scratching ottoc-
nails on the strings, an Il yowl.
that sounded as though 1t came
from the sewer. 1t was evidently
music, such us YOU get at boarding
houses where Il bnardcr practices
ON the piano for her board. | lis
tened, and pretty soon there was
two 'mcouS' and a spit and the
strings acted as though they were
being walked on the way a cat does
when she puts her paws out in
your lap and lets her toe-nailS go
through your pants, | got up and
went to pas room, and ma was sit
ting up in bed with her nightcap
off, her hair standing right up
straight, and she was trying to get
pa to raise up and listen, but it
wasn't pas night to listen, and he
put his head under the bed clothes
and tried to snore. but | knew pa
was scared. | told pa that | wasn't
afraid but | wished he would let
ne sleep on the lounge in his room
and pa raised up and wanted to
know what tie row was, and Just
then the cats in the piano seemed
to have come together for their
regular evening fight, and of all
the music You ever heard, that
beat everything. Pa listened and
said it was somebody next door
trying to play opera, but ma said
something was in the house, and
| told pa the house was haunted.
and tor him to get up and investi-
gate. Pa was kind OF 'Shamed to
be afraid, SO he got his pants on
and went out in the hall, and Just
then the cats got to fighting anoth-
er round, and pa rushed into the
bath room aud closed the door, and
velled to me to open the window