Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-11-11
GOING A-GUDDLING.

sAecthcOH. very lar.
rom it. Friday has always been my
unlucky day, anyhow. If tate, as
frequently happens, has any unpleas.
antness in store for me, it is sure to
reserve it till Friday.
But Dominic Forbes was. as we
boys phrased it, sin tear on
that particular Friday forenoon;
something had gone radically wrong
with him. Everybody knew that the
dominic was deeply in love with a
farmers fair daughter, and that the
courtship ofDuncan Gray was nothing
to his in vicissitudes, for at one
time bonnie Jeanne Johnstone. smiled
on him, and at another she laughed
at him. And whatever Jeanie's mood
was, We poor pupils became theresult-
ant; 1t was fog -fog-hog all day
when Jeanne was saucy, but when
Jeanie was kind everything we did
pleased our dominic.
AS rule, at all ordinary times Dom
inie Forbes was tartar. Squeers was
saint to him. And the tawse-a
piece OF leather bride cut at the end
into two fingers and hardened in the
hre-got little rest. When 1t was put
away for q time the "spengie" cane,
or rattan tookits place, and / do not
n -
know which makes the palms and fin
gers tingle the most.
A bit OF a masher was Dominic
Forbes, especially on a Sunday, when
ne wore swallow-tail coat, with a
morsel OF crimson silk handkerchief
sticking out OF the pocket-he kept an
ordinary white one in a breast-pock-
ct for nasal duty--and his club-foot
boot, with its extraordinary thickness
OF sole, shining like half-a-yard OF pol
ished Whitby jet. The dominie's hair
was as black as his boot, and his side
whiskers glittered like boatmen bee
ties.
Now Saturday was kind OF mixed
day with us boys at Bellfeld school:
day OF grief in the morning, because
the work of the week had to be reca-
pitulated, and we were all sure to be
thrashed; and of Joy in the afternoon,
because it was a half-holiday and the
morrow was Sunday.
But mol to our great astonishment,
on this particular Saturday the DOM
inie was as sweet in temper as tab
by cat with five Young kittens,
Jeanne had been kind. That was
the solution OF the riddle.
But there he was. dressed IN his Sab
bath clothes, silk handkerchief and
polished club.foot-boot, and positive
ly white neck tie!
And he frequently smiled softly to
himself-wandcred little in his talk
but looked generally angelic.
Numbered good deal over my ir-
regular verbs. gave single verbs to
plural nominatives and murdered my
past participates. But dominic merely
smiled and corrected me.
went back to my seat, walking on
/ feathers, seemingly.
had a fayorite Hat mahogany ruler,
and got round to my table in time
to find mischievous Davie Law burn
ing one end oft between the bars OF
the CRATE.
My Joy was turned to wrath. /
drew forth the ruler and smote Davie
with the fiery end oft, javelin fashion.
1t went half way down his throat, /
suppose, and loosened some of his
teeth. Davie yelled, and the dominic
appeared and found Davie splitting
blood and cinders But even this did
not disturb his equanimity. Hemere-
ly said, .'You shouldn't have done
that, Gordon"
Such is love-when Chloe is kind
We were not bit surprised TO get
away that day two hours sooner than
usual.
We rushed pell-mell, almost break
ling each others ribs in the doorway.
We yelled and shouted tor Joy, and
flung our Highland bonnets high in air.
When the exuberance OF our ecstasy
had somewhat subsidized, Willie jamie
son-poor ladl he was killed soon aft
er this by his fathers horse falling on
him-stood upon the top of stone
and shouted:
"Who will go a-euddling?"
What he really did say was: "Fa'll
gag guddlin'?" But you see / am, po-
lite enough to translate his words in
to English.
Now, Willie was the biggest boy in
our set, and we respected him accord
ingly and looked up to him almost
reverentially. Even a box on the
ears from Willie was considered an
honor and acondescension on his part.
"Who will go a-guddling?"
Fifty arms waved in the air at once;
fifty treble voices rang out "I'll gang
I'll gang I'll gangl"
But Willie had no intention of in
viting the small-fry-the nippers from
tot.
He rushed through their ranks, dash
ingthem ASIDE in all directions, like a
sturgeon in a shoal OF haddocks, and
made his way to the spot where Davie
Law and !, with our Jackets off were
having it out in downright earnest.
He soon settled the business by
pitching into us both, and when We
arose from the ground
Now, will we gang guddin'2" said
Willie.
"Gangguddlin'? Wouldn't we, just?"
On went our jackets, and off after
Willie went Daviean |; my arm round
Davies waist; his arm round my neck;
he telling me he liked me better than
any other boy in the school, and | as
surfing Davie that had always quite
loved him.
On our way to Den burn, where we
intended to guddle, we met daft Willie
Wilson. Willie was wheelwright-
or his brother was; for don tsuppose
he himself did agreat deal in that way.
But Willie wasn't fool, mind you.
Not a bit of it; only little daft; he
wanted featherin the wing, twopence
in the shilling-call it what you please;
only he was very great favorite with
us bows. A boy himself at heart,
though he could not have been less
than 80, he sympathlzed with us IN
every way, and entered with heart and
soul into all our games and all our
schemes.
"Willie," we said; twill you go
guddling? We're all going"
"To besure Twill, " cried Willie, "and
so will Jock And I'll put on my best
jacket too"
Jock, by-the-way, was a tame heron
ia craigit heron"-so called from
the length of his neck, which you could
have tied knot upon without put
t;no the bird to much Inconvenience
A iong-legged stupid, old bird he was,
who used TO catch minnows and trout
for himself till he muddled all the
stream, then go to sleep for an hour,
with the water up to his knees, till it