The Red Cloud chief., 1884-03-21
HERS.
TOMMY'S WHIPPING.

He was seven years old. lived in Chey-
enne, and his name was Tommy. More.
over he vas going 20 school for the first
time in his life. Out here little people
are not allowed to attend school when
thew are five or six. for the law says:
children under seven must not 90 to
school"
But now Tommy was seven and had
been TO school two weeks, and such de-
lirhtful weeks! Every day mamma lis
tened to long accounts Of how ''me and
Dick Ray PLAYED marbles" and us tel
lcrs cracked the whip" There was an
other thing that he used to tell mamma
about. something that i'll those first days
he always spoke of in the most subdued
tones, and that am sorry to record il
of anv school-was the numerous whip
pings that were administered to various
little boys and girls. There was some
thing painfully fascinating about those
whippincs to restless, miscellaneous little
Tommy, who had never learned the art
of sitting still. He knew his turn might
come at any moment and one night he
cried ont in his sleep: 'Oh. dear. what
will become OF ME If get whipped!'
But as the days passed on and this pos
s;ble retributiOn overlook him not, his
fears gradually forsook him. and instead
of speaking pitifully of ''those poor chill
dren who were whipped he mentioned
them in a casual. Offhand rs
those cry-babies, you know9' One
afternoon mamma saw him sitting on
the porch, slapping his little fat hand
with a strap. Tommy, child, what in
the world are YOU dOing:?' she asked.
Into his pocket he thrust the strap,
and the pink cheeks grew pinker still as
their owner answered.:
..I-I-was Just seeing-how hard |
could hit my hand-without crying"
and he disappeared around the side of
the house before mamma could ask any
more questions
The next day TOmmy'S seatmate.
Dicky Ray, was naughty in school. and
Miss Linnet called him up. opened her
desk. took out a little riding-whip-it
was a bright blue one-and then and
there administered punishment. And
because he cried, when recess came.
Tommy said: isn't Dick Ray just q
regular cry-baby?:" (He had learned
that word from some of the big boys
but, mind you. he never dared to say
it before his mother.)
Dicks face flushed with anger.
Never YOU mind. Tommy Brown"
said he. ..just wait till you get whipped
and we'll see a truly girl cry-baby then,
won't we. Daisy?'
And blue-eyed Daisy. who was the
idol of their hearts, nodded her curly
little head in the most emphatic
ner, and said she ''wOuldn't be one bit
s'prised If he'd boiler so loud that they
would hear him way down in Colo
RADIO"
Tommy stood aghast. for really and
truly. he wasn't quite so stony-hearted
a little mortal as he appeared to be; he
had been secretly rather sorry for Dick,
but-he wanted Daisy to think that he
himself was big and manly. and he had
the opinion that this was just the way
to win her admiration. But all this
time he didn't knOW Uhdt Udisy did-
that Dicks pockets were full of sugar
plums: tip-tOp ones. too. for Daisy had
them. and knew that little pack
cts of them would from time to time
find their way into her chubby hand.
All the rest OF the morning Tommy
kept thinking. thinking, thinking. One
thing was certain: the present situa-
ton was not to be endured one mo-
ment longer than was absolutely neceS-
sary. But what could he do? Should
he fight Dicky? This plan was reject
ell at once on high, moral grounds.
Well, then. supposing some dark night
he should see Daisy IN the street, just
grab her. hold on tight. and say:
''NOw, Daisy Rivers, l won't let You
90 till you promise you'll like me a
great deal betterer than you do Dick
There seemed something nice
about this plan. very nice; the more
Tommy thought of it, the better he
liked it: only there were two objections
to it. Firstly: Daisy never ventured
out doors after dark. Secondly: Meth
err did Tom.
Both objections being insurmounta-
BILE. this delightful scheme was reluct-
antly abandoned. and the thinking pro-
cess went on harder than ever, ill ut
last oh. oh! if he only dared! Whs. 4
it would be! But then he
coaldn't-yes. he could. too. Didn't
she say that she wouldn't be one bit
s'prised if he hollered SO loud that they
hear him way down in Color
Colorado, indeed, He'd show
her there was one boy in the school who
was not a girl-cry-baby!
Yes, actually, foolish Tommy had de-
cided to prove his manhood by being
whipped, and that that interesting little
event should take place that very after
noon!
What did he co? He whispered six
Had it oeen any other child, he would
have been punished; but Miss
Linnet knew both Tommy and his
mamma quite well. and therefore she
knew also, quite well. hat only a few
days ago the n horror of TOmmy's
life had been the thought that he might
be whipped. Then, too, it was
his first term at school, and hitherto he
had been very good. So she decided to
keep him after school and talk to him
Of the s~infulness of bad conduct in gen.
eral. and of whispering in particular.
This plan she faithfully carried out, and
little culprit's heart so melted with
him that he climbed up on his teach
er's lap, put his arms around her neck
and kissed her, crying he would
never be so naughty again. He
was just going to tell her ALI about
~ I