The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-07-11
"What are you doing there 2"
ttFnrret Mhere | left my hoe y

| w nat are you uOlng Jnere r.
"Forget where l left my hoe"
81 do think in my soul, that you are
the most worthless boy l ever saw.
What's that lynn there by you, hah 2"
'lt's the hoe, " lazily taking up the i'm
plement.
Now do you think you can recollect
where the corn is ~
Eyes, sir, l reckon"
He moved slowly away and sought the
place where the corn-blades waved in
lazy whisper. Tie ''chattcr Jack" sat
on the tall iron weed and sang his rip.
saw notes: the snake doctor flew
around and tipped" the top OF an old
stump; squirrel chattered in the neigh
boring woods and IA toad, fat on diet
of bugs and drink of dew. laziy fell
from IA clol. showed his ycllow;sh under
side and then slowly hoped away. Abe
approached Il stamp and struck it with
his hoe. A low hum, a loud buzz, and
the air was full of humble bees, The
boy thYcshed himself with his hat and
took TO his heels; slowly at first, but
when bee alighted on the back of his
neck and made known the exact locality
of his whereabouts, the boy set up yell
and ran toward the house at the top
of his speed The old man saw him
coming. He was surprised to see his son
travel SO rapidly, and the old fellow,
throwing down his harness, slapped him
self and roarcd with laughter. Abe
bounded over the fence like deer The
old man was so much tickled that he had
to support himself against the corner of
the house, but the next moment he was
trying to untangle bee from his "bush-
heap" of hair. His wild motions at
tracted other bees, and the boy now res
cued, shouted with laughter
Come, fight them off y shouted the
old man. "Confound it, don't you see
that they are killing me1"
The old lady came out, but she was
too prudent to rush to the rescue, and
the old man, thus left to fight his own
battle, fought until the bees "sheathed
their swords through lack of argu-
ment"
81 ought to take limb and whale
YOU" said the old gentleman, smoothing
out his ill-used hat. Didn't you know
better than to bring the things here2n
81 wasn't trying to bring the bees"
the boy replied, 81 was trying to bring
myself"
After an application of effective rene
dies for such Ills the old man said
oval, its proved one thing: That
yer can travel faster than creep. 1t
was the fust time that l ever seed yer
strike er trot There must be somethin'
in you. lingo how my jaw hurts. Have
yer got any books2"
eyes, sir"
"Weil, gether 'em up and in the
mornin' you may hull out to school. A
boy that's as pert as you are ought to be
eddycated"
The next day Abe arose early. His
father was surprised to see him beat the
sum-" for" as the old gentleman after
ward declared, Il ulster have to pull
him out of bed every mornin'."
When Abe arrived at the school house,
where learned bow legged man smoked
clay pipe and put him in the nomi-
native case, the pupils threw up their
sun bonnets and hats, and shouted: "Ho,
here comes lazy Abe Hurdle"
In disappointment of all expectation,
Abe did not NOPE around the grounds,
but played with vigor which astonshed
every one, including the learned bow
legged man who often INDUCED in the
false participle of ''having went" In
the school-room the boy devoted himself
to his books and though he had lost
much of his laziness yet he was still too
lazy to relinquish his mental hold on
anything he once learned. He became
favorite, and the learned bow-legged
man, who would sometimes allow a
singular verb to follow two nouns, one
day said to Abe's father:
That boy is going to make his mark.
He is quite beyond me already, and
would advise you to send him to town"
81 amt got the money"
"Why, my dear sir, you have quite
large farm here. You regard yourself as
being poor, when in reality you are quite
well fixed. If you haven't the ready
money, sell part of your land
"rll be hanged if don't do it. The
boy is so pert now that | can't do too
much for him"
Abe was delighted with the idea of
attending large school. He promised /
his father that if he felt the old feeling I
coming back on him he would find a
humble bee and sting himself.
At the large school, by leniency called /
a college, Abe retained his stubborn hold I.
on every fact which came into his posses /,
sion. He entered the law class and de-
voted himseli to the sheepskin books .
lie graduated with honors. returned home
and established law cilice in the neigh
3orng village.
Vars nave passed since then In the |
old farm -house garden there are two
graves, side by side. Little children spell !
- !, L..
evening, a noted Congressman and his /
matronly wife sit under the great elm
that shades the grass-grown mounds. In
a little field hard by, where every year
the corn blades wave in lazy whisper, /
stands a stone, bearing this inscription:
This is the spot where years ago,
bumbe-bees came from an old stump and |
nominated a candidate for Congress. - !
ArkaaSaN TraUeLr.