Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-10-18
CHAPTER XNVI.
GARDENING UNDER DIFFICULTIES.

here" said the grocery man to the bad
boy as he came i'll the store with his face
black and shining. L don't want any col
ored boys around here. White boys
break me up bad enough"
ooh, philopene.. said the bad boy as he
put his hands on his knees and laughed
SO the candy Jars ratified ON the shelves.
You didn't know me. am the same boy
that comes in here and talks your arm
off" and the hoy opeaed the chcescbox
and cut of piece Of cheese so natural
that the grocery man had no difficulty in
recognizing him.
w hat il the name of the seven sleep
ing sisters have You got on your hands
and face" said the grocery man as he
took the boy by the ear and turned him
around You would pass in a colored
prayer meeting. and no one would think
you We're galvanized. What you got up
in such an outlandish rig for:"
We'll, I'll tell You if you keep watch
at the door. If YOU see baldheaded
colOred man coming along the street
with club. you whistle and I will fall
down cellar. The baldhcaded colored
man Will be Pa. You see, we moved
yesterday Pa told me to get vacation
from the livery stable. and we would
have fun moving. But l don't want any
more fun. / know when l have got
enough fun. Pa carried all the light
things, and when it came to lifting he
had crick in the back. Gosh, never
was so tired as | was last night, and
hope we have got settled, only some Of
the goods haven't turned up vet. 4
drayman took one load over on the west
side and delivered them to Il house that
seemed 10 be expecting a load of house
hold furniture. He thought it was all
right if everybody that was moving got
q load of goods. Well. after we got
moved Pa said we must make garden.
and we said we would go out and spade
up the ground and SOW peas and radishes
and beets. There was some neighbors
lived in the next house to our new one
that was all wimmen, and Pa don't like
to have them think he had to work, so he
said it would be a good joke to disguise
ourselves as tramps, and the neighbors
would think we had hired some tramps
to dig in the garden. told Pa of a boss
scheme to fool them.
Il suggested that we take some of his
shoe backing that is put on with a
sponge and black our faces. and the
neighbors would think we had hired an
old colored man and his boy to work in
the garden. Pa said it was immense,
and he told me to go and black up,
and if it worked he would black his
self. So / went up and put this burnt
cork on my face, cause it would wash
| off, and Pa looked at me and said it was
| wack and for me to fix him up too. So
| ! got the bottle of shoe backing and
| painted Pa so he looked like a colored
! coal HEAVIER. Actually when Ma saw
| him she ordered him off the promises.
and when he laughed at her and acted
sassy she was going to throw billing
water on Pa. But told her the scheme.
and she let up on Pa. Oh, you'd "a died
to see us out in the garden. Pa looked
| like Uncle Tom, and | looked like Topsy,
only amt that kind of a colored per
son. We worked till boy throwed
some tomato cans over the alley fence
and hit me, and l piled over the fence
after him and left Pa. 1t was my chum,
and when had caught him we put up a
| job to get Pa to chase us. We throwed
some more cans, and Pa come out, and
my chum started, and l after him, and
Pa after both of us.
| HE chased us two blocks, and then we
! got behind a policeman, and my chum
told the policeman it was crazy old
colored man that wanted to kidnap us,
and the policeman took Pa by the neck
and was going to club him, but Pa said
he would go home and behave. He was
offul mad, and he went home, and we
looked through the alley fence and saw
Pa trying to wash off the backing. You
see that backing won't wash off. You
have to wear it off. Pa would wash
his face with soapsuds and then look
in the glass, and he was biacker every
time he washed, and when Ma LATED at
him he said the offulest words, some
thing like Sweet spirit. hear my prayer;
then he washed himself aoaip lam ro.