Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1889-08-29
FOOLISH QUESTIONS.

myself"
%. Hereford, in ST. Nicholas.
|
FOOLISH QUESTIONS.
How Harry Was Cured of a Very Annoy
ing Habit.
Little Harry Meade's mamma was
very iii, and his papa thought it best
to send Harry into the country for !;
few weeks, and soon Harry and his pa.
pa were on their way to Uncle Char.
| lies"
Harry was very tired when he
reached the farm house where his uu-
Gle lived, and did not take much inter
est in the introductions which followed
his arrival, for he had never seen any
| of his uncle's family.
He was duly presented to Uncle Char
lie, Aunt Emily, their three daugh-
tiers, Kate. Carrie and Ella, and their
little son Ralph, who was only three
years old.
Harry's papa stayed until the next
afternoon, and when he started for
home Harry tried bravely to keep back
the tears which would come to his
eyes. His cousins, seeing how badly
he felt, tried to- divert him in every
possible way, and succeeded so well
that he was as bright as any of them
before night.
AS Harry had mo- sisters of his own,
he did not know what to make of his
girl-cousins, who were too old for
playmates, so the only way he could
enjoy their society was by tormenting
them with questions on every possible
subject. =
No answer, however direct, would
satisfy him-he would invariably fol-
low it with another question.
But no one was irritated by Harry's
questions as Frank. AS Harry was a
guest. his cousins thought they must
humor him as much as possible, but
Frank would scold and fret about it.
Harry would go into the lot where
Frank was digging potatoes. and say:
''Have you got a load yet, Frank9"
NO" Frank would say, not wish
ing to say any thing more than he
could help.
Have you half a load2"
Yes"
'.Any more than half a load?"
Yes"
How much more than half a load?"
Il don't know"
''Well, why don't YOU know"
because don't want to know"
'Why don't you want to know?"
you 60 into the house and torment
some one else," said Frank, now thor
oughly exasperated.
So Harry would GO into the house,
where he would find his cousins very
busy but Harry would not stop for
that. If Kate were, sewing Harry
would say:
cousin Kate. what are you MAX
ing?"
Perhaps the answer would be: "a
dress for Ella.
'.Why are you making a dress for
Cousin Ella?"
because she needs one, l pre-
sumo"
us it nearly done?'
mo. only began il this morning."
why didn't YOU begin it before,
Cousin Kate?"
Il was not ready. suppose"
why were you not ready?"
because [ wasn't" said Kate, fall
ing back on a woman's reason.
rs it half dOnea'
No"
lis it quarter dene?"
"Yes.''
''Is it any more than quarter done2"
No
why DON'T You make one for your.
self p''
''Oh, Harry do stop asking ques-
tions.'
Harry would then go to other mem
bcrs of the family with similar ques-
tions about different things, until each
in turn would implore him to stops:
then he would begin his rounds again.
AS this continued day after day, the,
girls began to think of some plan by
which he could be broken or shamed
out of this habit.
Finally the long-looked for opp0r~
tunity arrived. One morning Harrys
uncle Charlie told him that if he would
sort some apples that aftern DON he
would take him to the county fair the
next day, and give him any number of
rides on the merry go-round. let him
look at the races and show him all
that was worth seeing. Harry was de-
lighted with this plan, and Was very
eager to begin his afternoons work.
Now is our time" said Kate to the
other children and Frank; ''let US each
go into the barn. in turn, and ask him
all the questions we can think Of"
splendid, cried the rest of the
children. You go first, Kate"
.'All right said Kate. and off she
went.
She walked quietly into the barn, as
If on some other business. and seeing
Harry, said:
Hello. Harry! You herep What are
you doing?'
Sorting apples" said Harry, inno-
Gently.
''Why are you sorting apples,
Harry?"