Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1885-02-10
The Bad Boy.


w Hat liOSIJlbdl dhhtu tllc RTO-
ceryman, as he began TO do up the
crackers.
"Why over to our house. of course"
said the boy, as he took few crackers
out of the scales and began TO nibble
them. "We are the sickest crowd
YOU ever see. Pa has been off his
feet for abouta month, and he hired
the doctor TO recommend a trip to
Florida. The doc told ma confident
tally, that unless pa got out of this
climate pretty soon he would moi
live till spring and ma didn't want
to lose pa right in the inclement
season, so she sighedandbegan to mend
up his summer drawers, and fix things
so he could endure tropical climate.
Pa seemed resigned to his fate, and
has looked awful sick. / found three
other fellows down town, chums OF
pa's,who were going south too, and l
heard pa and them talking about
how they would paint things red
down there and have high old time,
and when spoke of 1t at the table
pas appetite began to improve, aud
he looked as though he could eat me
without any hOrse-radish. After
dinner he called me into the wood
shed and said / ought to have more
sense than 10 triilc with the feelings
of sick man in that way. He said
he supposed he was on his last legs,
and he wanted to go away in peace,
and try and add few moments to
his life, and he didn't want no kick
ing about his going, lie gave me
dollar and said for me not TO make
no more remarks, and then he wink
ed at me. Tho next day ma had
some company, and the wimmen
got to talking about the south, and
asked ma why she didn't go with pa,
and ma said she was well and hearty
and didn't have TO 60. Then the
wiInnen whispered a spell, and ma
went TO the telephone and telephoncd
to her doctor, and he came, and
pretty soon ma was in bed with her
lungs bandaged, and her head tied
up, and hot water bags at her head
and feet, and when pa came home he
was scared. The doctor had such a
look on his face. and SEEM
ed to be so anxious, that pa took him
in the bathroom and said, Now, doc,
| want YOU to tell me the worst. Is
she dangerousp The doctor said it
was not his nature to unnecessarily
rrighten anyone, but he said doctors
often had duty to preform that they
would prefer to transfer to other
He said he would prefer
to wait before expressing an opinion,
but he thought IL was safe to say that
unless the patient had change of
climate at once he should ask to be |
allowed to withdraw from the case,
rs he did not like to be held response
BILE for what seemed to him to be
slow murder in keeping a delicate
woman in climate that was forty
degrees below zero half the time, by
a penurious husband. Pa was touch
ed. could see that much through
the key hole. The doc said pa would
have to approach the matter delicate
ly, and not let ma know she was
or she wouldn't go, but
just go in the room sort of cheerful,
and laugh, and say, 'Hannar, if you
will hurry up and get better, and
pack up, you can go with me to
Florida The doc said ma would
probably refuse to go, but pa must
insist. Well, pa went in with laff|
he had borrowed l guess, cause il
didn't sound like his at all, and he
said what the doc told him, and ma
was better right off. She said she
didn't want to go so far away from
her dear boy, but if pa thought it
best she would get up and pack up
her grip. Pa went out and | told ma
she had played it pretty fine, most as
fine as pa did, and l was going to tell
pa about the wimmen putting the
idea into her head, and she said that
would spoil all, and then / told her
wasn't feeling very well myself lately.
Ma smiled aud asked me what my
symptoms were, and l told her when
l skated all the afternoon my legs
ached like the toothache, and when I
slid down hill all the evening my ears
rung, and had night sweats, and
my hands were chapped, and 1 felt
faint before breakfast, and had
corn on one toe, and my lungs felt as
though they wanted greasing with
fresh orange juice, and cold chills
came over me about nine o'clock,
when the school bell rung, and my
memory was failing so 1 forgot to
split the kindling wood, and l told
her if l had time could think of
twice as many things that allied me
as she and pa both. Ma said l was
evidently in bad state, and she
wanted me to go, but she didn't want
to spring too much on pa at once, so
l better go into decline, and nope
around, and shiver, and then see a
doctor and get the doctor to go to pa
in confidence and ask him if he didn't
want to save the life of his little boy.
SO went to see a horse doctor that
works at the livery stable, who saved
our COW when she got carrot stuck
in her throat, and he said he would
see pa about me. Pa and the horse
doctor worked the same ward in pol
itics last fall, and got pretty familiar,
and when pa come home and found
me soaking my feet in mustard
water, and looking like the last run
of shad, though l never complained
at all, pa said he guessed / better go
down to the store and get new pair
of pants and 60 with him and ma to
Florida. Then l knew the horse
doctor had been getting in his work
on pa"
"And so YOU are going south, a
whole family of frauds, eh," said the
groceryman, as he bit the string from
the paper of crackers.
eyes, that's the intention said the
bad boy as he grabbed a raw turnip
and peeled it, and began TO cat as
though he had tasted for a week.
"Yes, we are going unless we get
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