Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1889-08-23
LAUNCE'S CORNERS.

And we come to tEe tGrEs so suddenly.
sometimes, when we don't expect them,
responded quiet little Miss barbara, letting
her sewing fall idly upon her lap for a
moment. while her thoughts lot all of
markets or prices. wandered back over the
curiou>ly winding life hnc that lad
brought her To this day.
The room had a third occupant, a half
grown boy, standing by an open window
He was thinking of nothing under the
/ canopy" his mother would have said; of
nothing above it. surely. One boot, toler-
4 ably large-sized, heavy and guiltlcss of pol
| ish. was pushed out the window, presently
| its mate followed and Launce sat on the
window-seat. Looking at him SO framed,
1 one saw that the trouble extended higher
/ than the boots-the lack Of polish was
general. An ordinary 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 pru-
dence, began to Knock his depending 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.
Il never did see the beat of you! You'd
ought to be ashamed of yourself Stuck up
there ag'in, scratching the paint all off the
house. aud 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 q
means of gaining information, for he had
heard it all on previous occasions, and
knew exactly what was coming next and
stopping to listen as matter of respect
did not occur to him. He was just at that
age when the bump of veneraton, or rev
erence, or whatever IFS name may be,
seems to suffer temporary but woeful de
preston 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 he stretched himself upon
the soft grass, drew his straw hat down to
shade his eyes and lay still.
1t was very quiet and pleasant there.
There was work enough to be done else
were, but Launce was inclined to play
hide and seek with his duties-a one e-sided
l.. 1. l. -, -. n,
hide. If they followed him up, found him,
and there was no escape, he attended to
them, otherwise he let them alone, and
congratulated himself Oh having the best
of the game. He was not indolent. The
energy and ingenuity he expended in get
ting around things that ought to have been
done would have carried them straight
through and left respectable surplus.
''Taint just the work. he commented,
serveying the toes of his boots through his
half-shut eyes, "but what's the usel Milk
the COWS tonight and it'll have to be done
over again tomorrow and next day; and
its just so about chopping wood and all the
rest of it. Father, he pitches into it as if
he thought he would get through some
time, but it's the same thing over and
over, and what's the good of doin' thing
now, and undoin' it bime bye, and doin' it
over next time! A ieller might as well be
an hour glass, with the sand runnin' first
tho one way and then tother and it don't
make any difference which"
There was no one there to dispute this
proposition. A stray bird in the branches
overhead seemed rather to agree with it,
and twittered out ''Sol so! That's so!''
Then there's the school," pursued
Launce refectively. What's 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
therll be a lot more just like em to learn
tomorrow If John Thompson did buy
six sheep at ten dollars piece, and lost
two driyin. 'em home, and sold the rest for
twelve dollars a head, what do | care
And why must be bothered to find out
how much he LOST That's his business
If they'd been my sheep, I'd looked after
'em little sharper, and wouldn't have lost
anything. S'pose a boy is noun-whats
the use of KNOWN about it when he can't
do anything or have any better times than
if he WASN'T
The bird left the tree and flew swiftly
away. The boy watched it until out of
sight, wondering how it would seem to be
SO free-to CO. go, as far and as fast as it
should please him. Wouldn't he be up
and away though No more Of she old
life for him! lie would be off over the
ocean having a gay, glorious time. He
could find some very different work from
this dreary round of doing and undoing
things. Digging gold in Australia, where
every gittering grain would count as so
much gained, would be a vast improve
ment upon digging away in this common
soil for potatoes that had to be dug, plant
ed and dug again. Or growing rich at the
diamond mines of Brazil. Living in that
strange, wild, beautiful land, with nothing
to do but enjoy it, while the natives work
ed for him, and every days work had
| something to show in bright costly gems!
Launce's knowledge of these far-away
glories was derived from the wonderful
pictures and brief descriptions contained
in his geography-the one study he did
like-and these were just vague and unsat-
isfying enough to leave boys fancy
fine chance for supplementing them; so
Launce lay STILL thinking and wish
ing.
"Hallo!" broke in a sharp little voice
not in the least like one of his slaves an
nouncing treasure. The boy turned his
head little, discontentedly, and saw a
small brown face pressed close to the fence,
and pair of dark eyes steadily surveying
| him.
'What you doin' there, Launce Rod
ney ?"
''Nothin'," said Launce impatiently
"Thinkin'"
'What makes you lay down for when
you Think persisted the newcomer.
'CauSe--no matter what, Hettie Nixon
you run along
II don't want to run along. That's
what everybody says, run along and
don't want to-" Hettie settled her little
chin more squarely upon the fence rail and
held her position.
Launce looked at her again from under
his hat; at the small brown feet poking
/ restlessly in the warm sand; at the short,