Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1893-10-27
CHAPTER XXI,

OnINh1No SADEn AN Adh NELIAhns
"Well, swow, here comes q walking
hospital" said the grocery man as the
bad boys shadow came in the store, fol-
lowed by the boy, who looked sick and
yellow and tired, and he had lost half
his flesh. whats the matter with youi
Haven't got the yellow fever, have your"
and the grocery man placed . chair
where the invalid could fall into 1t.
mo. got the ager," said the boy as he
wiped the perspiration of his upper lip
and looked around the store to see II
there was anything in sight that would
take the taste Of quinine out Of his
mouth. Had too much dreamy life Of
ease on the farm and been shaking ever
since. Darn farm anyway"
"What, you haven't been to work for
the deacon any more. have your I
thought you sent in your resignation"
and the grocery man offered the boy
some imberger cheese to strengthen him.
"Oh, take that cheese away" said the
boy as he turned pale and gagged.
"You don't know what Q person needs
any more than professional nurse.
What I want Is to be petted. You
see, went out to the farm with my
chum, and took the fish poles and re-
manned in the woods while he drove the
horse to the deacon's, and he gave the
deacon my resignation, and the deacon
wouldn't accept 1t. He said he would
hold my resignation until after harvest
and then act on it. He said he could put
me In Jail for breach of promise If I quit
work and left him without giving proper
notice, and my chum came and told me,
and so concluded to 60 to work rather
than have any trouble, and the deacon
said my chum could work a few days for
his board If he wanted to. It was pretty
darn poor board for boy to work for,
but my chum wanted to be with me, 80
he staid.
''Pa and Ma came out to the farm to
stay day or two to help. Pa was 60
ing to help harvest, and Ma was going
to help the deacon's wife, but Pa wanted
to carry the jug to the field and lay I'M
der tree while the rest Of US worked,
and Ma just talked the arm of the dea-
cons wife. The deacon and Pa laid in
the shade and see my chum and me
work, and Ma and the deacon's wife Cos
siped 80 they forgot to get dinner, and
my chum and me organized strike, but
we were beaten by monopoly. Pa took
me by the neck and thrashed out shock
Of wheat with my heels, and the deacon
took my chum and sat down on him, and
we begged, and they gave us our old
situations back. But we got even with
them that night. l tell you, when boy
tries to be good and quit playing jokes
on people. and then has everybody down
on him and has his Pa hire him out on a
farm to work for a deacon that hasn't
got any soul exceptwhen he is in church,
and boy has to get up in the night to
get breakfast and go to work and has to
work until late at night, and they kick
because he wants to put butter on his
pancakes and feed him skimmilk and
rusty fat pork, it makes him tough, and
he would play a joke on his aged grand
mother.
AFTER my chum and me had got all
the chores done that night we sat out on
fence back Of the house in the orchard,
eating green apples in the moonlight and
trying to think Of o plan Of revenge.
Just then l saw q skunk back of the
house, right by the outside cellar door,
and ! told my chum that it would serve
them right to drive the skunk down Gel
lar and shut the door, but my chum said
that would be too mean. asked him if
it would be any meaner than for the dea-
con to snatch us baldheaded cause we
couldn't NOW hay away fast enough for
two men to pitch it. and he said it
wouldn't. and SO we got on each side of
the skunk and sort of scared it down Gel
lar, and then we crept softly and closed
the cellar doors. Then we went in the
house, and l whispered to Ma and asked
her if she didn't think the deacon had
some cider, and Ma she began to hint