Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-09-11
FOR LITTLE PEOPLE.
MY GRANDPA'S STORY.


wonder If grandpa5 can always tell
Stories that boys like, and girls as well?
Mine tells always the incest kind,
But grandpa like mine is hard to lind.
The last one he told was so very good
Though he made the lesson well under
stood
That want to tell it jus. as he did,
He kept the moral so nicely hid.
Said Grandpa: 1.-THE first year / went down
To the old academy out of town,
There was one boy there among the rest
A smart one, but just the qncerest dressed
His name was sJonathan-.Ihuathan Jov.'
His name was no queerer IA was the boy
His folks had lately novel. .,ir' satti-
His mother and sister-his 1 stia- was Il ;aG.
He was only thirteen, and sinai! at that.
But there's littl we fellows could beat hiti
He took all the care of the schoo house,
too.
And a colder winter never knew.
He must have suffered, his clothes were so
thin,
But matters like that boys don't take in.
And homely he was, this little boy!
never saw palmer than Jonathan Joy.
But the very aueerest ing of all
w as his boots he was very small,
And his boots were a mans boots, stout and
strong,
Thick, and heavy, and wide, and long;
How such boy could tug 'em about
don't know, but the toes were all stuffed
''Now to our shame it must be told
That we scorned this boy whose clothes
were old.
Often and often, each hour of the day,
We sneered at his boots and would call and
say:
Boots, where are you going with that little
boy?'
1t must have been awful to Jonathan JOY.
lat last the leader OF all our band
He's been dead for years, poor Charley
Rand
Proposed to do something so bad and bold
Almost too ugly to ever be told,
He knew that every night, he lid,
This Jonathan kept his boots in shed.
'He knew the house-such a poor littl c
And he said: Now, boys, if you'll all keep
mum
I'll tell you something first rate to be done.
Let's go to might and have some fun;
Let's all of us go as still as a mouse,
And steal those boots from that old wood
house
I'VE all agreed, to our shame, be it said.
And at night, when we should have been in
bed,
We stole to the home of Jonathan joy
| feel so ashamed of every boy!
We went to the window to listen first,
And that Tor our plan was just the worst.
"He and his mother were there alone;
1t was cold that night, but fire they had
none;
We saw his mother as well as he;
His head in her lap, all could see;
Her hand was careSS ing the brow of the boy,
And the rough red tresses of Jonathan Joy.
nj f,..r no nrIS
she said,
Till We wished we had been at home in bed
Johnnie she said, so soft and low,
''Ts terrible trial, that know,
But it's wear the boots or stay away
Not go to school another day.
"sWe can't buy boots as well as bread,
And keep this poor roof over our heads,
And You hope to be able, you always say,
Through your learning to build home
some day.
Those boots were your fathers; tits hard,
know
The boys must be ugly to treat you So"
"The soft voice faltered, and then there
The sound OF sobbing O,'twas shame!
But Charley turned to the rest of his crew
And whispered: I've thought of a thing
to do;
Come out of this-here, follow my lead;
feel small a mustard seed.
"'Boys,' he said softly, let's buy him a
pair
just such as the rest of us fellows wear
Then he took us away and told his plan.
And each of US felt rather more like man.
We put our mites together, and then
Next night we went to the woodshed again,
"And still and sly as we went before
We left the boots and shut the door.
Such beauties they were, and brand new
ones,
Red topped, with letters which shone like
suns,
And the rest of the winter, L m glad to tell,
We treated that fellow extremely well.
"Years have passed; his place is higher by
far,
And he's richer than all the rest of US are
His mother died long, long years ago,
But she lived to be proud of him, know;
And know he was pure gold without alloy,
For married the sister of Jonathan JOY"
Emily Baker Smalle, in Pansy.