The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-05-29
STOLEN FRUIT
Always Tastes the Sweetest
to a Boy.
ARP ON HUMAN NATURE.
Difference Between the Stealing
of a White Man and a Negro.
Written for The constItution.


nest she had been watching so long. And
only to think, 3" she said, 1.-TWO of the boys were
preachers sons, and | told them one day not
to take the birds. and the next day they came
while was gone and took them"
Well, birds nest is very trying thing TO
a boy, whether he is a preachers son or not.
1t strains him. He is almost obliged TO have
it, 1t is as bad as a watermelon 10 darky.
There has been many chapter written about
the sin of rohbing bird nests, but the robbing
goes on about the same. The nest is so cum
ningly made and the eggs are pretty. It is
a prize for boy, and then there is feeling Of
triumph In having found what was hidden.
The same feeling inclines man to go fishing
mot for the love of the fish, but the love of
the sport. lie loves to beat the fish at
their own game. lie loves TO catch
them because they don't want to be caught.
Somebody sent Mr.. Cleveland fine salmon
the other day, and he said he enyed the man
who caught it. 1t looks like very small bus
ness for n large man TO take pleasure in, but II
Is nature and we can't help it. Daniel Web
ster said that nobody liked to fish except gem
tlemen and vagabonds. He was mistaken.
All classes like To fish, but nobody but gentle
men and yagabonds have time. The good
book says 81 will give thee dominion over
the beasts OF the field and the fish Of the sea
and the fowls OF the ais" And SO we want ii,
and the more they resist us the more we want
IL. Nobody wants to shoot chicken or TO
catch ono in a trap, but we will hunt all day
for quails or squirrels or hawks, just because
they are wild and won't submit TO us. | saw
hundreds OF squirrels in park at Memphis,
but nobody wanted them, for they were tame.
and would eat nuts from your hand. We pre-
fer a wild rat to q tame squirrel.
Now, am not GXcuSiDg q boy for robbing
birds nest for it is cruel--more cruel than to
catch fish, for fish is a lower order OF liv
ing creatures, and does not enjoy life like
bird A fish has not got much more
sense nor feeling than "A monkey wrench, but
il does distress the Old birds very much TO take
their Young away or to brcak mp their nests.
Then, again, the boys don't understand the
nice distinctions between "meum and tuum,"
mine and thine. They don't know whore the
line is between wild things that belong to
everybody and those that are near the house
and belong to somebody. Why, one day the
impudont, ill-lnannered rascalS came in my
meadow and killed the squirrels we had been
raising for years. j complained to some boys
once because they robbed my knocking birds
most, and they said why, that nest was on the
other side of the TOAD. Some folks have TO
post their lands to keep intruders off, but that
xdu't keep them off very much, and the hunt
ers set him down as stingy selfish old cuss.
They tramp down my corn every year to catch
q few fish in the creek and as for watermelons,
we have quit planting them far away from the
house A white boy about sixteen years old
will steal melon as quick as negro, and he
will be meaner about 1t, for he will plug
q dozen TO find ripe one. white
man who will steal at all will steal
anything, and he always carries some envy or
malice along with him, but u negro just takes
little things that he thinks you don't need and
Won't miss, and he is really much obliged to
you for having surplus. He has no malice
and no envy. He is glad you are rich. bad
an old ak, and one day when / wanted 1t 1
couldn't find 1t. l made such fuss about 1t
that one OF the darkies brought it homo and
said he was jos keepin II for me till wanted
1t. But white man came along one day and
stole the new one, and when my nabor who
made the handle saw IL at his woodpile and
asked him where he got 1t, he said he found
il in the big road. He has got 1t yet, reckon,
for l never troubled him about 1t. l had
rather negro would steal from me than a
white mamie does it SO tenderly and 80 limo
Gently
"unce Jack, they say that you darkies are
stealing coal from the cars every Saturday
night when they stop over for Sunday"
"Now, boss, You know dat liant no such
thing. | neber has tech a bit of dat coal Maybe
de chilun take n little now and den, but de
railroad neber miss what dey take, Dom
big long kyars ics so full dey ruined over"
and he laughed right honest good-natured
laugh. Ralph lost his knife and Ned found it
and snapped II off quick, and when 1t was
found out he took high ground and said he
'foun dat knife away down yonder by de big
gate" There are lots of folks who think that
finding a thing gives them right to il. Some
boys find marbles and balls aud pencils, and
keep them NEST all boys do some little mean
things on the sly, things they are ashamed of
afterwards. | helped some boys steal water
melons once and was caught at it, and felt
mean n long time. am glad ! was caught
for il cured me early. The owner came right
upon us in the corner of the fence and said:
"Why, boys you don't know how 20 tell ripe
melon from green one. Let me get you some
ripe ones" And lac thumped around and
found some and sat down with as and helped
us eat them, but every mouthtul choSed mo
and stuck in my throat He was good
man and never told ON us. The
good boys we read about in the
Sunday-school books are very scarce-the
boys who never told a story, or took a cake or
lump OF sugar on the sly--who never copied a
sum from another hoy IS slate--who never went
In a-washing, or kept a secret from their
mothor--who never had a fight and didn't toll
it-or never said devil and durn aud dog on il
away from home. When | was about thirteen
/ was the mill boy, and l had to 40 two miles
to mill, and always managed to 20 with some
other boys, as To run horse races coming
back. Some times | could have got the meai
by waiting little while. but the temptation
was toe great and | had TO tell little
story SO as 10 get 10 race coming home and then
race again going after the griSt, Boys have
their temptations just like men, and the mer
fall about as often rs the boys. The difference
is the men cover mp their tracks better thar
the boys. The mon don't steal nor tell lies, but
they cheat and trick and plot and scheme and
conceal the truth. Some OF them do Some
very respectable gentlemen. A trading man
can hardly be candid man. Solomon safe
"A lie sticketh in the joints between the
buyer and the seller" and, he said. 1T /,
naught, Il is naught saith the buyer but after
he buyeth he goeth his way and rejoiceth
And So after all, | believe l had rather risl
the boys. even though they do rob the birds
nests. II boy will just feel mean after n,
does a mean thing have hopes of him. Some
times boys will do bad things just for the peri
of 1.-THE risk--the hazard of being caught
There is an adventure about il that they like
just like there is about smuggling or making
moonShine whisky, The moro boys, the more
they plet mischief. One dog won't 20 OF by
himself and kill sheep, and SO one boy won1
rob an apple orchard He must have company
have known school boys to walk two mile,
20 steal apples when they had apples nj home
One dark night some of the bows went TO Or
AleGander's, p mile away, and stole a bee gun
and carried Il 10 the institute wr,upod up In d
quilt and robbed it and got stunp
all over, though They had honey every dav n;
the clearinghouse lou see, tho old devil
tells thcm there is IAN I'M il. but there rs not
He is an old lar jim Linton and Ncd Gould
ing and Tlad liolt went out on q lark one
night and thc three geese stole a gaudcr from
old isaIa Williams uHd they carried han horne
aud shUt iim up IN the closet They had Ia,
use lOt hin m thc world and lust Stole him