Mexico weekly ledger., 1885-01-15
THE. BAD BOT.
tPeck,s sun.l

An, Q Merry Chnst,nAs to you,
said the groceryman to the bad boy,
'and here's Christmas present, a
cake Of soap for you, and another, q
beet for your father" and the gre.
ceryman handed the boy a cake ct
red soap, and picked large red beet
out Of basket for the boys pa.
sWell, I snum," said the boy as he
looked sad. 81 don't care for this In
suit on my own account for I am
tuff, and can stand it, but sending
this emblem to pa viii break him up.
You may think it is smart to thus
call my pa a dead beat. but if you
could go to his bedside now and see
him, as he tears what little hair he
has got, and groans, you would not
do it. But I viii take it to hira,"
and the boy wiped his eyes ON his
coat-sleeve, and started to go.
"Hold on" said the groceryman as
he snatched the beet away from the
boy. 81 was only joking. What
ails your pat Is he sick7''
mo, he isn't exactly sick, but he
is mad said the boy, as he put the
soap in his pocket and sat down on
keg of Malaga grapes, and began
digging them out Of the sawdust aud
eating them. "You see pa has been
buying Christmas presents for three
days, and getting them together,
and last night he gave me a list of
the places where they were TO go,
and got my chum to go with me to
deliver them. Seems as though
something always happens to me
when I try to do anything right.
just as we were going by the windy
corner at the court house, and my
ohum was wheeling the hand cart,
I looked at the list to see which
package went to the minister, and
the wind took the list and blew it
into the air clear to the dome of the
court house, and then it sailed away
over the lake. Well, I didn't know
what to do. Pa had gone out some
where to spend the evening. and I
knew I couldn't and him, so we con-
cluded to deliver the presents pro-
miscuously. I knew all the places
they were to 60, and thought it
wouldn't make so very much differ
ence if they did get mixed, SO we
went around with them, and then
went home and went to bed. This
morning I got up early to see what
was in my sock, and I heard pa and
ma having quarrel. It seems that
pa had intended to give ma a seal
skin cloak, but she found a pair OF
red corsets in her stocking, about
five sizes too small, and she was Civ
ling pa fits. Pa explained that he
had bought the corsets for the young
woman who sings in the choir, 81
she could lace them up tight and
make her voice smaller so she could
reach the highest notes. He was go.
ing to do that for joke. While he
was explaining it to ma, the man
who cleans off snow from the minis.
ter's sidewalk rang the bell and
handed the girl package for pa, and
he opened it and found it. was pack
of cards and a lot of poker chips
with note from the minister to pa
giving him old hundred for sending
a minister of the gospel present o,
such tools Of the devil. The minis
ter said he was prepared for insults
in this world, but that was some
thing he could not stand, and b,
. wouldn't be responsible for his &C
ti"ns when he met pa. Pa called m,
, in and asked why I didn't leave thos,
poker chips and cards at the club
and then I had to tell him about th,
wind blowing the list where it lis
teth, and how he did the best W
could without it. Pa wanted to die
and I guess he wanted me and m,
, chum to die also, but the bell run,
for breakfast and we went down t
the dining groom. Ma was mad an
! poured cut the coffee as though sh
r wished it pisen, and pa tried t
: swallow something, and couldn't, an
: 1 tried to pray. cause I thought p
: would break my back after breakfas
. While we was at the table moi
n came from the choir singer thiankin
pa and ma for the sealskin cloak, an
d saying that il filed long felt hi
e or something, and that it was SO al
d propriate, and 80 thoughtful in the
y to SO kindly remember poor gi
$ who had nothing but her voice vii
n which to pull through a cold worl
is She said she hoped the consciousne
of having done kindly action wou
Z" cause them very MeTy Christma
n Well, when pa read that letter to n
II I thought I would die. Pa acted
though he could slip through one
the holes in the cane-seat cha
ut though he couldn't, of course, al
8. ma she just leaned right back 81
ia biated I felt offul at the mistat
if but when / went to say ! didr
mean to mix things up, pa took
10 the carving-knife and looked gre
IS in the eyes, like cat that is scar
en- in dark room, and says, .M-s-o-u-'
nd in a tass voice. and I shet right
i and kept on eating my sassidge. J
III hadn't got fairly onto pancakes