Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1889-12-13
HOW HE GOT In.

Real Life.
The 15-year-old boy in real li6
went into meditative mussing OF
Thanksgiving morning. Opulenc,
had Stunned him and indulgence
had stuck closer than a brother. He
was well acquainted with the dubi
Gus business of getting along" was
this boy in real life. This morning
he sat down to draw comparison be-
tween the thanksgi 0fng of fact and
the thanksgivings of fiction. He was
familiar with both.
"lf were only boy in story
he said, 81 should have fine time
to-day. No matter how poor and
hungry / might be in the morning,
by some mysterious means | should
be filled up with the fat of the land
before night and set in the direct
road of making fortune. if, indeed
the money had not been flung
directly into my hands. l am dis
gusted at myself for having been
born into real life, when might Just
as well have been boy in a story, a
Thanksgiving story. That boy can
bear any amount of hardship all
through the year, because he knows
that on Thanksgiving a rich uncle,
a doting old grandfather, or some
such comfortable sort of a chan
whom he has never before heard of,
vii! turn up and insist upon loading
the boy with benefits. That boy is
the lucklest chap on earth. Thanks
giving changes the whole tenor of
his life, as the solemn stories say.
He would be a poor stick, sure
enough, if he couldn t rub along al
most any way till the happy day
came. He has sure thing. He has
only to wait.
Now, the poor boys in real life
and I'm one of that sort-have it
just the other way. The toughest
days they have are the feast DAYS
and holidays. shouldn't even mind
beng an old man in a story-an old
man sunk to the ears in debt, with
the sheriff's hammer hanging over
his head. Because would know as
well as | knew breathed that my
long absent son, reported dead
twenty years ago would loom up un.
eXpectedly some time before midnight
on Thanksgiving and pay off the
mortgage on the farm and make the
old lady and me comfortable for the
rest of our days-with foreign pipes,
iurs, fruits and easy chairs thrown
in. Yes, indeed, the old man of fic-
ton, even il he totters and suueaks.
is far better off than the boy of fact.
1t is so very disagreeable to be mix
ed up with facts and realities, especi-
ally on day like this when you know
that the people in stories are eating
turkey, receiving legacies, taken to
the bosoms of their rich and long alb
sent relatives, and in every way fav-
ored by good luck.
Even the women and girls in
Thanksgiving stories have some
consideration shown them. FIRE.
puently they are real good to them.
In some instances they have inherit !
ed money and have been permitted
to ~ their own guardians. They
have also, occasionally, enjoyed |
their own earnings unmolested. Once
in while the old man relents and |
let's his daughter marry the man she
is in love with. In many ways they
are happier in the stories than out.
or course | never wish myself a girl;
but if | was compelled to be one. /
should ask to be made girl of fic-
ton and not of fact.
Seriously and honestly, ifI could
get to the ears OF people who intend
to come into this world, | would
urge them to go into stories inste qd.
1t would be money in their pockets,
and they would build up a monu-
ment of gratitude to me higher than
the steeple of Trinity church, and
some of them would write a book
about me as big as a piano, l am
sure.
Had | been a boy in a story writ
ten to fit this day | should now be
my kingdom ofwealth, pleas
are and big eating. Would that |
Gould become boy in a story" And
he rose with sigh, and sauntered
Town toward the river "aimlessly."
rs people in novels walk around
sometimes.