The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1885-02-25
I IsPY.
HOW BILL NYE PLAYED IT WHEN HE
WENT TO SCHOOL.

DCdi ACddci, uO yOA AOIbSA<c cOA vic
boy of your school who did the
heavy falling through the ice and
was always about to break his neck,
but managed to live through it all
Do you call to mind the youth
who never allowed anybody else to
fall cut OF tree and break collar
bone when he could attend to it
himself.
Every school has to secure the
services OF such boy before 1t can
succeed, and so our school had one.
When | entered the school | saw at
glance that the board had neglect
ed to provide itself with boy whose
duty it was TO nearly kill hlms-If
every few days In order to keep up
the interest, so applied for the po-
sition. | secured 1t without any
trouble whatever. The board un-
derstood at once from my bearing
that | would succeed. And | did
not betray the trust they had repos-
ed in me.
Before the term was over | had
tried to climb two trees at once and
been carried home on a stretcher (;
been pulled out of the river with
nv lungs full OF water and artificial
respiration resorted to; been Jerked
around over the north half Of the
county by fractlous horse whose
halter / had tied to my leg, and
which leg is now three inches longer
than the other, together with yarl
Gus other little early eccentrlcities
which | cannot at this moment call
to mind. My parents at last got so
that along about = o'clock D. m. they
would look anxiously out of the
window and say, Isn't IL about
time for the boys to get here With
Williams remains? They generally
get here before two O'Clock"
One day five or six of US were
playing Il spy" around our barn.
Everybody knows how to play Il
spy" One shuts his eyes and
counts 100, tor instance, while the
others hide. Then he must fiud the
rest and say IL spy" so-and SO and
touch the goal" before they do. 1t
nybody beats him TO the goal the
victim has to blind" over again.
Well, knew the ground pretty
well, and could drop twenty feet out
of the barn window and strike on a
pile of straw so as to land near the
goal, touch it, and let the crowd in
free without getting found out. |
did this several times and got the
binder, James Bang. pretty mad.
After a boy has counted 500 or 600,
and worked hard to gather in the
crowd only to be laughed at by the
bows, be loses his temper. 1t was 80
with James Cicero Bang. l knew
that he almost hated me, and yet l
went on. Finally, in the fifth ballot,
| saw a good chance to Glide down
and let the crowd in again, as I did
on former occasions. | slipped out
of the window and down the side of
the barn about two feet, when was
detained unavoidably. There was a
- batten on the barn that was loose
at the upper end. | think | was
my fathers vest on that dav
as he was away from home, and
wore his clothes when he
was absent. Anyhow the vest was
TOO large, and when slid down that
Ioose board ran up between the vest
and my person in such way as to
me about eighteen feet from
he ground in d prominent. but very !
uncomfortable position.
| remember it quite distinctly. /
James Z. Bang came around where
le could see me. He said / spy
Billy Nye, and touch the goal be-
ore him." No one came to remove
ne barn. No one seemed to sympa-
hize with me in my great sorrow
md isolation. Every little while
lanes C. Bang would come around
he corner and say 20. see We.
You needn't think you're out of
light up there. | can see you real
,lain. You better come down and
blind. | can see We up there :"
| tried to unbutton my vest and
ret down there and lick James, but
t was of no use.
1t was a very trying time. | can
how | tried to kick nv
eli loose, but failed Sometimes !
would kick the barn, and sometimes
would kick large hole in the no
izon Finally | was rescued by a
leighbor who said he didn't want TO
ell a good barn kicked INTO chaos
o save a longlegged boy that wasn't
vorth over six bits.
ltaffords me great pleasure to add
hat while | am looked up to and
nadly loved by every one that does
Iot know me James C. Bang is the
'revet president of fractured bank
aking a lonely bridal tour by him
elf in Europe and waiting for the
Iepositors to die of old age.
The mills of the gods gring slowly
ut they most generally get there
With both feet. adapted from tie
french by permission-)