The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1893-12-08
(coxrrxrEp.l
CHAPTER XXI.
HIS PA STABBED.

uouSc idst uiSut, roiu TIC ShUVAy Ah1i
to the bad boy as he came in and sat Oh
the counter right over little gimle1
hole, where the grocery man had fixed ;
darning needle so that by pulling string
the needle would fly up through the hols
and run into the boy about an inch. Thu
grocery man had been laying for the boy
about two days, and now that he had
got him right over the hole the first time
it made him laugh to think how he would
make him jump and yell, and as hi
edged of and got hold Of the string the
boy looked unconscious Of impending
danger. The grocery man pulled and the
boy sat still. He pulled again and again
and finally the boy said:
Yes, it is reported that we had bur.
glars over there. Oh, you needn't pull
that string any more. heard you was
setting trap for me. and put piece
Of board inside my pants and thought
would let You exercise yourself. Go
ahead If it amuses you. 1t don't hurt
me-"
The grocery man looked sad, and then
smiled . sickly sort Of smile at the
failure Of HE plan to puncfure The boy,
and thun he said: well, how was iii
The policeman didn't seem to know
much about the particulars. He said
there was 90 much deviltry going on q
your house that nobody could tell when
anything was serious. and he was in
clined to think it was put up job"
"Now let's have an understanding,
said the boy. Whatever l say, you are
not to give me away. It's go. is it, ]
have always been afraid Of you, because
you have q sort Of decayed egg look
about you. You are like peck Of pota-
toes with the big ones on top, sort Of a
strawberry box with the bottom raised
up, 80 have thought you would go back
on a fellow. But if you won't give tlsis
away, here goes. You see. l heard Ma
tell Pm to bring mp another bottle Of lini-
ment last night. When Ma has pain
anywhere. she just uses liniment for all
that is ont, and pint bottle don't last
more than week. Well. told my
chum, and we laid for Pa. This liniment
Ma uses is offul hot and almost blisters.
Pa went TO the Langtry show and did
not get home till IL o'clock, and me and
my chum decided to teach Pa lesson.
l don't think it is right for man to GO
to the theaters and not take his wife OF
his little boy.
80 we concluded to burgle Pa. We
agreed to lay on the stairs. and when he
came mp my chum was to hit him on the
head with dried bladder. and was to
stab him on his breast pocket with a
stick and break the IMMINENT bottle and
make him think he ~ HE'D.
1T couldn't have worked better if we
had rehearse,l it. We had talked about
burglars at supper time and got Pa nerv-
Gus, 50 when ke came up stairs and was
hit on the head with the bladder the
first thing he said was Burglars, BY
mighty and he started to 60 back. and
hit him on the breast pocket, where
the bottle was, and then we rushed by
him down stairs, and l said in stage
whisper, Guess he's dead man, and we
went down cellar and up the back stairs
to my room and undressed. Pa hollered
to Ma that he was murdered, and Ma
called me. and came down in my night
shirt. and the hired girl she came down,
and Pa was on the lounge. and he said
his life blood was fast ebbing away. He
held his hand ON the wound and said he
could feel the warm blood trickling clear
down to his boots.
II told Pa to stuff some tar into the
wound. such as he told me to put on my
lip to make my mustache grow. and Pa
said: MY boy. this Is no time for tri-
fling. Your Pa is ON his last legs. When
] came mp stairs, met six burglars. and
attacked them and forced four Of them
down and was going to hold them and
send for the police when two more that
did not know about jumped on me.
and ] was getting the best Of them when
one Of them struck me over the head
with crowbar aud the other stabbed
me to the heart with butcher knife. II
have received my death wound. nv boy
and my hot southern blood, that offered
mp 40 freely for my country in her time
Of need, Is passing from my body, and
soon Your Pm will I've only a piece Of poor
clay. Get some ice and put on my
stomach and all the way down, FOX am
burning up
II went to the water pitcher and got q
chunk Of ice and put inside Pas shirt,
and while Ma was tearing mp an old skirt
to stop the flow Of blood asked Pa If
he felt better and If he could describe
The villains who had murdered him. Pa
gasped and moved his legs 10 get them
cool from the clotted blood. he said, and
he went on: One Of tenn was about 9
loot high and had a sandy mustache. II
got him down and hit him ON the nose,
and II the police firi him his nose will
be broke. The second ore vas .aicll
81 aud weighed about 700. l had hin.
lown. and my boot was ON his neck, and
was knocking two more down when
was hit. The thickset one will have the
mark Of boot heels on his throat. Tell
The police when I'm gone about the boot
heel marks.'
by this time Ma had got the skirt
'ore up, and she stuffed il under Pas
lhirt right where he said he was hit, and
Pa was telling ms what to do to settle his
state, when Ma began to smell the lini-
~ n a.