Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1885-02-20
Eslerf Reahing.
THAT BAD BOYS CHRISTMAS.
HE MINES HIS PAS PRESENTS ALL Up
AND RAISES MERRY DICKENS
ALL AROUND.

the boy cakr of red soap, and picket
"a large red beet out Of basket for tn
boys pa.
well, | snum," said the boy ~ h,
looked sad. 81 don't care for this in
suit for am tuf, and can stand it
but sending this emblem to pa will
break him up. You may think it il
smart to call my pa dead beat, bu
if you could 60 to his bedside now, .no
see him, as he tears what little hair b.
has got. and grosns. you would not dt
1t. But | will take it 10 him" and th'
bov wiped his eyes on his coat sleeve
and started TO go.'
Hold on" said the groceryman. q
he snatched the beet from The boy, g.
wss only Joking. What sils your pa
Is he sick ~
No. he isn't exactly sick, but he il
mad" said the boy, as he put the so.
in his pocket and sat down on a ksg o
Malaga grapes, and began digging then
out of the sawdust and eating them
lyon see pa has been buying Christ
mas presents for three DAYS, and get
ting them together. aud last nigh, h.
gave me list Of the places where they
were to go, and got my chum to ge
with me to deliver them. Seems .,
though something always happens te
me when try TO do anything right
Just IS we were ging by the windy
corner At ;he court house, sud my
chum was wheeling the hand cart,
/ looked a. the list to See which pack
age went 10 the minister, and the wind
took the Iist and blew it into the ali
clean 10 the dome or the court house
AMI then it sailed away over the lake.
Well. ! didn't know What to do. Px
+ had gone out omewh-rr TO spend the
evening. and | knew | couldn't End
/ him, so We concluded TO deliver the
presents promi.cuously ! knew oil
4 the places they were TO 90 10, and ]
thought it wouldn't make 30 very
much difference II they did get mixed
$50 W. went around with them. and then
,seni home md x-nt 10 bed. Mex.
morning | got up early TO see wha, VA
Ar>tA-A--..sa, a,si H. AL p. aud Ia
having quarrel. 1t seems that p.
had trtcUl-d tn give ma = seals kin
cla.k. hut she found pair of red cor
.,i. IN h-r stocking. and she xas Civ
lss "a It's P.cIpl.Iued that he bad
bought the crtseis for the Young lad Y
ahn siugs IN tn chnIr. so she could
ace them up ught sud make her voice
IN. .il,r so she could reach the hish-st
uuirs He Mas going tn do that for n
joAr NGiir he Mas eIplsinlng II 10
MA. the man Who ctrsus OF the snow
fr"iu tic minister sldsw.lk. rang the
.,cll and handed the glrl a package for
pa. I'd ts opened II and fourd 1t MAS
. pack Of cards aud "a lot of pok, chips.
~ith nu's from the minister TO pa
giving him old hundred for sending y
minister Of the gospel = present oi
,uch tool, ol the devil. The minister
sad lie was prepare for insults in this
world. l,ut that aAs something that he
could not stand ard he wouldn't be
respous bir for hts xctions when he
net IA IA called me IN and asked
why | didn't leave those poker chips
and cards ~; the club, and then | had
10 tell lin about the Wind blowing z
the lis, here II lIsteth, and how We
did the bsst We coult without il. Pa
wanted 10 die. aud | guess he wanted
M any my chum 10 die also. but the
bell rung for eakfast, and xe went
4 -, I - NJ, Il
and poured and the coffee ~ though
she wished it Was p,zen. aud pa tried
10 swallow something, and couldn't,
and tried to pray, cause | thought
pa would break my back after break
fast While he Was at the table note
came from the choir-singer, thanking
pa and ma for the seai-skin cloak, and
she wished them y merry Christmas.
Well. when pa read tina, note to ma
thought | would die. Pa acted ~ if
he could slip through one of the holes
in the cane seat chair, though he could
not of course, aud ma just leaned bsc K
and batted. felt otful at the mis-.
take. but when | went to say didn't
mean to mix things up, pa took up the
carving knife and looked green in the
yes, like cat that is scared IN very
dark room and says M e.o-w" in u
bas. voice, and | ,het right up and
kept on eating my sassidge. We had
not fairly got onto pancakes before the
bell rung, and the old maid with the
gold specs, who lives next door, she
came in aud throwed . package down
on the breakfast table, and SAID she
would have pa arrested for defamssion
of character. and she went ont. Ms
tried to get her to stay to breakfast,
but she glared at ma as though she
wosld bite. Pa opened the package,
and it was pair Of pas old pants, and
an old flannel sndershirt aud pair OF
drawers. Pa turned pale when he saw
them, aud asked me where left the
bottle of tooth powder aud the cologne,
and told him to the best Of my recol-
lection | left them vt the office Of the
Associated Charities. Pa said it was
Just as he expected. He had intended
/ the pants and underclothes to go there,
to be gwen to the poor tramps, and |
had ruined him by sending them to the
old maid. Pa asked me what | thought
an old maid wanted of such . thing,
and what they wanted Of tooth powder
and cologne for tramps. l couldn't
answer, a"d pa groaned and got up
and went into the psrlor. Pa began
to talk to me about the nece ssity in q
young man of being sure he was right
/ hnfora nninn ahead and ma hal On