Mexico weekly ledger., 1885-06-04
THAT BAD BOY.
His Report Of His Trip TO Florida with
His Father.

HiS Report OIL Hss iffp 10 Fi0fld0 WITH
His Father.
whats these thingsfn asked the
bad boy Of the groceryman, pointing
contemptuously at a box of oranges
in front of the store.
sFlorida oranges, said the grocery
man. ST should think you would
know Florida oranges, after being in
Florida all winter
"Oh, nothing, only I thought they
were wilted base balls with the juice
all knocked out. Pa telephoned you
to send up some Florida oranges last
night and we had them for breakfast
this morning. had just as soon
eat piece of sponge. Say, do you
know you could be arrested for OBJ
tanning money under false pretenses,
when you sell such things for Flori-
da orangess You can't fool us on
oranges any more The real Florida
oranges are"
"Oh, give us rest said the
groceryman. ''You are getting too
particular. If these oranges don't
suit you, all you have got to do is to
pay your bill and go somewhere
else. People who have always lived
here buy these oranges and think
they are the best, and I don't want
any customers that kick on my
oranges. Here, eat that one and
say it is good, or l will kick nine
kinds of Florida sand out of your
pants" And the groceryman hand
ed the boy an orange of the vintage
of 1884. The boy took out silver
knife and began to remove the peel
ing carefully, laying a handkerchief
across his lap, and was working as
delicately as surgeon would cut out
a cancer, when the groceryman. after
watching him a few minutes, said:
''The time has been when you
would grab an orange, rip open the
side and run your face in clear up to
your eyes and dig out all the juice
and pulp, like hog shelling an ear
of corn, and then eat the skin, but
since you have been to Florida. you
are too nice. Look out, Or you will
get drop of juice on your delicate
fingers. Here, let me pass the finger
bowl" and the groceryman brought
an old tin washbasin full of soapsuds
and set it down in front of the boy,
who went on with his orange peeling,
until the groceryman saw he could
not embarrass the youth, SO he
said, "Well, how did your pa gel
along with the rebels down Southa
Did he have any chance to pull his
revolver on any of them? He was
loaded for bear when he went away
/ "Neyer saw a REBEL" said the boy.
as he placed piece. of the old dry
orange in his mouth. "There AIM
any rebels down South, unless it i:
jeff Davis, and we didn't see jeff
Pa wanted to get in a quarrel witt
some old rebel, I guess and gel
thumped, SO that he could have
: chance to be a martyr, and tell wher
he got home what narrow escape
he had. When he would see mai
ON the cars with a slouch hat on
, after we got in Tennessee, he woult
scrape an acquaintance with him
and talk about the war. The frs
man he struck looked hard and p
thought the man was regular fire
eater, and he throwed out some re
marks to lead him on, but prett
soon pa left the man and came bac
to where I sat. / was tickled to Sc
pa back, cause I expected the foo
of the Car would be covered wit
gore. Pa looked disgusted an
said He amt no rebel. He is fro1
9 Massachusetts,and runs soap facto
!, Try at Chattanooga Pa couldn'
~ realize that the war was over whe
" he went south, and expected ths
. when the people found he was fro'
! the North they would elbow him,
IL look saucy, like the picture he ha
seen during the war. He expecte
to see young Southerners com
a through the cars, drunk and swas
l. gering, with revolvers, like he reae
l. of in the papers sometimes, but not
a ing of the kind ever occurred; an
Ie pa was disappointed. At Atlanta
y got acquainted with nice old ge1
IN tleman, who did him several favor
0 and he was so kind to pa that
;, was mashed on him, and invited hi
ar to come and see us up North, al
IN before pa left him he found that b
ID friend commanded a Confedera
lie battery during the war. Pawas su
ut prised to find that those who we
r. called rebels twenty years ago d
E. not have horns on. Well, after tn
of pa never looked for any more rebeI
s. but he had courtesies extended
H. him by many Of the best people
is Georgia, Tennessee, South Caroh
n, and Florida, and when he found th
i'd the most of them were once COME
u crate soldiers, who believed tn
Ie were doing right in defending th'
lie homes, pa weakened. The last
or heard pa say on the rebel questi
rt. was when he was a guest of min
.