The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-07-02
The ProVerbiaI Bad Boy.

In behalf of that much abused ''baC
boy," am constrained to take up th'
pen in defense. In the first place, ht
isn't half SO black as he is painted.
am well aware of the fact that, as {
j rule, he isn't favorite of susceptible
ladies of a questionable age, who abhol
-or pretend to-anything in the shape
of manly breeches. TO such, the bad
i boy is u terror. and he knows it; if he
I didn't, he'd cease to make himself sc
seVerlastingly odious in their estima-
Il ton.
Let the bad boy know TO surety
| that you dislike him, and you open up
channel OF tribulation that is produc-
tive of much disaster, especially if you
own an orchard, q gate that can be
lifted from the hinges, or a dog with a
tail long enough to tic q can to.
There is much truth in the old adage
You can catch moro flies with mo-
lasses than you can with vinegar -"
The proYerbial ''bad boy" is just like
one of these self-samc dies. Give him
ii dose of molasses and you win him for
life; but one drop OF vinegar, and he is
| your relentless foe. As true and de-
voted friend the ''bad boy is a success.
In his ever working brain are schemes
which will cause your hair TO rise in
| horror; and at the same time are gen.
| dered acts Of kindness which are eapa-
bic of thrilling your heart to the very
core.
Some one says that the bad boy has
too much rope. Ii he has you are to
blame. You give him the wrong sort
- II :. f,,ll #
grained, yindictivc knots. If you had
givon him rope of q different material
there would have. been no danger of
his dropping suddenly from the end
of it.
am acquainted with one of the
sweetest dispositioned boys in the
world. He is bright, quick, and a per-
feet little gentleman when you treat
him as n human being should be. He
will 60 mile out of the way TO assist
4 cripple over the fence; he will go as
far to fasten q can to Browns dogs
tail. Brown has cartloads of apples;
he'd rather see them rot on the ground
than give one to the "bad boy" He
wouldn't give Il boy an apple for any,
thing. Oh, no; not he. He hates boys;
they TO nuisance, he says The re-
suit is his dog ehases his nose OCCASION
ally to relieve himself of the disagree
able, rafting tin can fastened to his
tail.
There is a poor old lady who lives all
alone in cottage across the road from
the ''bad boys" home. That boz nov-
cr goes to school without dropping in
to see if the old lady has plenty of
sr,I o,, (t,,I H.
in her presence and she win quickly
tell you that the world would be better
with lots more OF just such bad boys in
ii.
/ am no admirer of that personifica-
ton of the goody-goody boy who never
did a bad thing in all his life. He isn't |
\ boy; he 5 only q little machine wound |
up 10 90 for. say ten, twenty years.
Then. when for the first time he is really |
tempted, the cogs refuse to move and |
the wheels no longer reyolve with their !
wonted smoothness; a bolt drops out
and-he falls. When the goody-goody |
boy falls it is long, long fall, and it |
takes years to recover his lost prestige. /
/ detest and hate that evil minded boy
who has never sign of redeeming
quality about him. He helps fill the
prisons early in life;yet there may be +
circumstances surround +
ing his case; if SO, let those who bear
him near kinship begin to practice car
" or else-prison bars, rope, scaffold!
But the provcrbial ''bad boy" the boy
Of rollicking laughter. rosy checks. the
boy who win help the poor old woman
over the gutter. then hasten away to
attach a tick-tack to some Miss Snod-
grasses window, is a person I've al
ways loved. This sort of boy makes
things lively while he is growing; but
grown up-what model!-H S Keller
n Utica Press,