The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-03
A BABY'S PROTEST.

He Does His Duty. but Shuts Down
on Persistent FriVoIity.
A dignitied infant of perhaps years &C.
cupied seat in all upward-rolling Fourth
avenue Car yesterday afternoon; and, from
the rigor of his countenance and the
gravity of his mien, it was obvious to the
other passengers that he was considering
a subject Of lofty public Importance. and
would have resented the interruption of
his train Of thought. By the side of the
dignified infant was his mother, and i'll
her lap she held a child of two or three
years, jovial, laughing, hail-fellow-well-
met sort of a baby, that despised conven-
tionality and rocked not for public
opinion.
This baby was likewise vigorous and en-
thusiastic. Occasionally he rose in his
mothers lap, seized her by any article OF
raiment that came handiest and jumped
ecstatically up and down. Then he made
endeavors to poke his fingers into her eyes,
attempted to tear off her bonnet, or made
desperate pug ilistic onslaughts upon the
nearest passengers. The dignifed infant
occasionally turned upon his younger
brother glances of. contemptuous and
scornful disapproval, which the jovial
baby returned by making frantic and
violent demonstrations in the others
direction.
In the course of two or three blocks the
JOVlal DbDy DeCduuo SOuGWLdU NCilItSu
the violence of his gymnastics, and was IL
duced to sit quietly for a few moments in
his parents lap. where he amused himself
by attempting to open his little green
purse. Baffled in this effort, he finally
threw the purse upon the floor of the car.
The dignified infant at once slid gravely
down from his seat, picked up the purse
and handed it back, Then he laboriously
climbed into the seat and resumed his
meditation, when the jovial baby flung
the purse to the floor again, with an in
sane and gleeful cackle. Again the digni-
fed infant, without protest or any mani
festation of disappoval, solemnly slid off
the seat and recovered the purse, and
again regained his seat after a violent
struggle.
The joviaI baby was evidently endowed
with nice sense of humor, for he waited
until the dignified infant had resumed his
philosophical contemplation of the car cell
ing, and then tossed the purse back again
to the floor. The dignif1ed infant was
evidently trifie annoyed, but he was obvl-
ously an infant who recognized the claims
of duty, for, without moments hesitation
and with the same rigid gravity, he de-
scended for the third time to the floor and
handed back the purse to his frivolous
brother, and third time he clambered up
again to the seat. With a malignant
chuckle the younger infant once more cast
his plaything to the bottom of the car
and again turned to his brother. But the
dignified infant paid no attention, and
neither did he move from his seat. He
obviously considered that there was u
place to draw the line, and that it had
been reached. --... .--
The baby made violent motions in the
direction Of the purse, but the dignified in
FAINT needed him not until the mother
said, gently:
Jump down, Harry, dear, and pick up
baby's purse"
The dignified infant turned upon her a
countenance of grave disapproval.
'sLet him Diet it hisself," he said, sternly.
"Does he fink I haven't dot anything to do
but pick it up for him to TOW it down
adain?"
The scornful glance that the dignifed IN
FAINT turned upon the passengers, who
laughed, turned their merriment into cha
grin. They perceived that that 5-year-old
infant held them in contempt-[N. Y.
Com. Advertiser.