The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-08-16
CHAPTER XIV.
ms PA DIssECTED.

sIunderstand your Pa has got to drink
Ing ngain like fish," says the grocery
man to the bad boy as the youth came
ia the grocery and took a handful of
dried apples. The boy ate dried apple
and then made up terrible face, and
the grocery man asked him what he was
trying to do with his face. The boy
caught his breath and then said:
''Say, don't you know any better than
20 keep dried apples where boy can get
. hold OF them when he has got tho
mumps? You will kill some boy yet by
such dunn earelessness. thought these
were sweet dried apples. but they are
sour as boarding house keeper, and
they make me tired. Didn't you ever
have the mumps? Gosh, but don't it
hurt though? You have got to be darn
careful when you have the mumps, and
not go out bob shedding or skating, or
you will have your neck swell mp bigger'n
3 milk pail. Pa says he had the mumps
once when he was q boy and it broke
him all up.
swell, never mind the mumps; how
about your Pa spreeing it? Try one Of
those pickles in the jar there, won't you?
always like to have a boy enjoy him
self when he comes to see me-" said the
grocery man, winking to man who was
filing an old fashioned tin box with to-
bacco out of the pail, who winked back,
as much as to say, If that boy eats
pickle on top of them mumps, we will
have circus sure
"You can't play no pickle on me, not
when have the mumps. Ma passed the
pickles to me this morning, and took
one mouthful and like to had the lock-
jaw. But Ma didn't do it on purpose, /
guess. She never had the mumps and
didn't know how discouraging q pickle
is. Darn If didn't feel as though had
been struck in the butt Of the ear with a
brick. But about Pa. He has been
fuller'n q goose ever since New Years
day. / think it's wrong for women to
tempt feeble minded persons with liquor
on New Years. Now, me and my chum
we can take drink and then let it alone.
We have got brain, and know when we
iave got enough, but Pa when he gets
to going don't ever stop until he gets so
nick that he can't keep his stummick in
side OF hisself. 1t is getting SO they look
TO me to brace Pa up every time he gets
ON q tear, and guess fixed him this
time so he will never touch liquor again.
scared him so his bald head turned
gray in single night"
ssWhat under the heavens have you
done to him now" says the grocery man
in astonishmcnt 81 hope you haven't
done anything you will regret in after
years"
Regret nothing" said the boy as he
turned the lid of the cheesebox back
and took the knife and sliced off piece
Of cheese and took few crackers out Of
Z barrel and sat down on soapbox by
the stove. "You see, Ma was annoyedto
death with Pa He would come home
full when she had company and lay
down on the sofa and snore, and he
would smell like distillery. 1t hurt
me to see Ma cry, and / told her Iwould
break Pa of drinking If she would let
me, and che said if would promise not
TO hurt Pa to go ahead, and / promised
not to. Then got my chum and an
other boy--quite big boy--to help, and
Pa is all right. We went down to the
place where they sell arms and legs tc
folks who have served in the army, or q
sawmill, or thrashing machine and
lost their limbs, and we borried some
arms and legs and fixed up dissecting
room.
I'VE fixed long table in the base
ment big enough to lay Pa out on, you
know, and then we got false whiskers
and mustaches, and when Pa came in
the house drunk and laid down on the
sofa and got to sleep we took him and
laid him out on the table and took some
trunk straps and surcingle and strapped
him down to the table. He slept right
along all through it, and we had another
table with false arms and legs on, and
NO rolled up our sleeves and smoked
pipes just like read that medical stu
dents do when they cut up man. Well,
you'd died to see Pa look at us when
he woke up. ! saw him open his eyes.
and then we began to talk about cutting
mp dead men. We put hickory nuts in
our mouths SO our voices would sound
different, SO he wouldn't know us, and
was telling the other boys about what
time we had cutting up the last man we
bought. said he was awful tough, and
when we had got his legs off and had
taken out his brain his friends came to
the dissecting room and claimed the
body, and we had to give it up, but /
saved the legs.
II looked ut Pa on the table, and he be-
gan to turn pale, and he squirmed around
TO get up, but found he was fast. l had
pulled his shirt up under his arms while
he was asleep, and as he began to move
! took an iciclc. and in the dim light Of
tho candles that were sitting on the
table In beer bottles l drew the icicle
across Pas stummick, and said to my
chum. Doc, guess we had better cut
open this old duffer and see il he died
from Inflammation of the stummicx
from hard drinking. as the coroner sad
ne did Pa sbuddcred all over wher. he
(<If tho t<.tr1x frf.,,,.r f.~ar his l.oro sf,,,