Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1889-03-09
Some Humiliating Incidents Of My
Boyhood Days.
reae1 .a..ss rra.S..-s.
lhoossE No I!559 81 yFlf Is 50 ISFls|l 8sS

/ khOsp ,NpO kn9Hf Hq M4epl4 was e. PEI
that / have the moral courage to writt
the following details OF something thai
occurred in my youth. / should MOI
care TO meet the ieers and. gibes Of my
old friends, who will recall as well as.
do the huniliating incidents am. about
to narratez s..h sfr i.sb ba
The scene was a rural district in 4
Western State, and the attain was the
result Of my first attempt to play tbs
boau. / was sixteeniyears old at the
time. and the young lady whom | fa.
vorcd with my attentions was a year
youngerns aaEi1 M8' fe sg a. +
There was to. be party at a farm
house in the neighborhOod, to which
my brother Frank and | had been In
vited. / conceived the idea Of putting
behind me childish things, and Of fig
uring as q. young gentleman, by escort
ing Miss jamie Sharpe to the PARTY 81
Farmer Trufant's. st2s ~ Z
Miss jamie sat just across the aisle
from me at the little country school
so that it was easy enough for me .tC
make known my desire to her, which
did by wiping my slate very clean, and
drawing a wreath of queer-lookine
flowers around the edges, with a sup.
posed turtle-dove ia each eohner.h In
the tentersI wrote: zsaoisI bna -itiy
reMiss JANE EComphmeats OF the.iseasOt
/ from Mister Silas B. Derby, TO Miss,,Jan
Sharpe, deziring the pleasure OF her society tc
the Party tonight. Let me know on the other
side OF the slate, when the teecner is not a-lool
| ing" - lf ss1sa T'G 1si = 81
+ never could 'spcli.well, but Il did
think knew how tolwrits an,invitation
according to therulesiof polite society.
and fancied my note to- be most elegant
in form.
When ! slyly slipped the note across
TO Miss Jane, she glanced at Il, read the
lines, and was at once seized with a
violent and prolonged fit of giggling.
Then she again read the note, peeped
shyly at mo over the top OF the slate,
her bright blue eyes twinkling merrily,
ducked her head down under the desk,
and giggled- again, after which, she
leaned halfway across the aisle. and
whispered: :. !,
"Aint you ashamed Of yourself, 81
DarbyPa A'sf -
Nevertheless. when the slate came
back to me, there was Pcrawled on I
these words: - ~ sAa
Miss sharie accepts Of the Company Uf
Mister Silas Darby wnh thanlssfor th0same."
Then Miss Sharpe' tuined her back
upon me, and again fell to giggling, and
did not glance toward me again that
day.
Now while I was not cowardly boy,
there was one animal of which / was
mortally afraid, and that was dog,
never could overcome my fear Of a
savage dog; the bark of one made my
blood run cold, and could not be in
dueed to GO to q house where one was
kept Thesugliest little cur could
easily put me to flight and never
could be made to believe That there
were dogs which would not bite. as
Ten minutes aftetAIiss Jane had sent
me her note, accepting my company,
thdre flashedinto my anind, the sickep-
ing recollection that Farmer Trufant
was the'owner.o Of an. .uglys noisy, VIC
ious-looking dog, of which | was very
much afraid, although / had repeatedly
been told that this dog was living
veri6cation Of the, old saying that
barking dogs never bite. "'NOld Tobe
was such an eviI-looking, sullen.a animal
chat I had no confdepce that his ma
ture was peaceable. and ! could not
think of encountering him at night
without feeling of horroE'~ T.,
Now my brother Frank was. not afraid
of dogs. He was fond OF them. and
had way of making friends at once
with even savage dogs. II they were
too sullen and vicious to succuhb .to<a
sOft-voiced. coaxing way he hado he
could glare anthem, and roar out: BE
gone!p in a way that always. put them
to fight. had always envied him his
power over dogs, but never so much as
on the day asked Miss jamie to ac-
company me to the party. big 9,iH ;
My anxiety grew greateras the day.
wore on, and when evening came had
mado up my mind to do very humil-
iating thing. 1 would ask Frank to go
with me as a sort Of b6dy-guard, keep
ing at a respectful distance, as body
guards should'do re'" 9iif fsA
Frank was a good-natured. f1h-l6vihg
boy, and he mortified me- very much by
bursting into roar OF Laughter when 1
made my appeal to- him on. our way
home from school that night 8 oss
''Oh, he had to take the boys along
to keep. the idogs4 awaylr heghouted,
changine nline;of an old rhyme to suit
the occasion, and lapeiug up and down
before me inthe road. s,li 80 .t~. /.
yThcn, taking advantage of.my neces-
sity. no began snaking, hard terms with
me, insisting on having my handsome
pair Of neY skates in yeturn for his old
ones -tofhds that I Al - BAsoeh-S
dition that ho kept absolutely Silent re-
garding his part in the affair. and did
not desert me at the critical moment.
The truth is, Frank was inordinately
fond Of 2 jole, and ] was careful to