Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1889-12-07
LAUNCES CORNER,

II " iUHS lttlle lilib HIS Hu luTH-
in, " remarked Mrs. Rodney, hope
fully, as she flourished her butter
ladle. She was thinking, practically
enough, of the continued low price
of butter.
"And we come 70 the turns so sud
denly, sometimes, when we don't ex-
peet them, responded quiet little
Miss Barbara, letting .her sewing
full idly upon her lap for moment,
while her thoughts, not all ofmarkets
or prices, wandered back over the
curiously winding life lane that had
brought her to this day.
The room had a third occupant, a
half grown boy, standIeg by an open
window. Hewas thinking of moth
ing under the canopy" his mothec
would have said; of nothing aboveit,
surely. One boot, tolerablv large
sized, heavy and guiltless of polish
was pushed out the window, presently
its mate followed, and Launce sat on
the window-seat. Looking at Thin so
framed, one saw1that the trouble ex-
tended higher than the boots-the
lack of polishiwas general. An ordin-
airy boy in an ordinary window,
that was all the picture-a cheap
print and a rustic frame. He
drummed carelessly on the sash
above his head, whistled a little, and
then, forgetting prudence, began to
knock his depending, restless heels
against the side OF the house.
That sound caught his mothers
ear, and she turned round sharply.
'.Launce Rodney"
Launce dropped suddenly from his
perch to the ground outside.
II never did see the beat Of you!
You'd ought to be ashamed of Your
self Stuck up there ag'in, scratchin'
|. the paint all off the house, and
knockin' your boots to pieces, to say
nothin' Of"
That was all the boy heard as he
walked away. He had no need to
tarry as means of gaininginforma-
ton, for he had heard it all on pre-
vious occasions, and knew exactly
what was coming next, and stopping
to listen as matter of respect did
not occur to him. He was lust mt
that age when the bump of venera-
ton. or reverence, or whatever it's
proper name may be. seems to suffer
a temporary but woeful depression.
So he walked on out Of the yard into
the garden. picked his way over the
squash vines and through the tall
rows of corn that rustled, nodded
and whispered as he passed, until he
reached the orchard and an old apple
tree near the fence. Then hestretched
himself upon the soft grass, drew his
straw hat down to shade his ewes
and lay still.
TWAS very quiet and pleasant there.
There was work enough to be done
elsewhere, but Launce was inclined to
play hide-and-seek with his duties
q one-sided game, in which he was al
ways the one to hide. Ifthey followed
him up, found him, and there was
no escape, he attended to them, other
wise helet them alone, and congratu-
lated himselfon having the best Of the
game. He was not INDECENT. The
energy and ingenuity he expended in
getting around things that ought to
have been done would have carried
him straight through them and left
a respectable surplus.
"'Taint just the work." he com
mented, surveying the toes of his
boots through his halfshut eyes,
but what's the use? Milk the COWS
tonight, and it'll have to be done
over again tomorrow and next day;
and it's just so about chopin wood,
and all the rest Of it. Father, he
pitches into it as if he expected to
get through sometime, but it's the
same thing right over and over, and
what's the good of dom a thingnow
and undoin' it bime-by, and dom it
over next time? A Teller might as
We'll 10 dh hOuE u IttsSt WIN Iile BaUu
runnin' first one way and then 10th
er, and it don't make any difference
which"
There was no one to dispute this
proposition. A stray bird in the
branches overhead seemed rather to
agree with it, and twittered out, "Sol
sol That's sol"
"Then there's school," pursued
Launce refectivelv. Whats the good
of stayin' shut up all day with
benches and blackboards, to learn
ever so many pages Of things You
don't care about, when ther'll be q
lot more just like 'em to lea1n to-
morrow? II John Thompson did buy
six sheep at ten dollars piece, and
lost two drivin' 'em home, and sold
the rest for twelve dollars head,
what do ! care? And why must / be
bothered to find out how much he
lost? That's his business. II they'd
been my sheep, I'd looked after EN-
little sharper, and wouldn't haveiost
anything. S'pose q boy is noun
what's the use OF known about it,