The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-07-12
THE LITTLE CHAP.

| The Little Chap had been humored
from the time he was born, but he. was
such q fascinating Little Chap that no,
body could help humoring him. He
stubborn, he was headstrong, he was
naughty, liz you like, the Little Chap,
but In his very naughtiness there was
something really captivating. which
won your heart, but played the mischief
| with your dignity. When he stood be-
fore you with his legs far apart, his
hands in the pockets Of his much
patched trousers, and the magnitude of
his defiance so ont Of proportion to that
Of his tiny body, you were altogether
at q, disadvantage, and ] am not sure
but that the Little Chap in the innocent
slyness of his heart felt that you were
at his mercy. A little patched cherub
Hike him, with tousled blond hair and
an enormous sense Of his own impor-
tance. would have been no mean antag-
onist 20 Hercules himself, and so secure
was he in the consciousness of his valor
that he would not have been afraid 10
tackle Hercules.
The Little Chaps father, Amund
Myra. was q carpenter by trade and
lived In one of the lone1iest mountain
valleys Of Norway. His wife, Kari, had
presented him with five daughters be-
fore it occurred to her to present him
with o con. and his joy at the last ar
rival had only been equaled by his dis
| gust at the i've previous ones. The Lit
tie Chap took instant possession Of his
| father heart, which had been kept pur-
| posely vacant for his reception. When
the nurse brought him ON the evening
of his arrival upon q pillow and placed
him across Amund's knees. the carpen-
ter freely forgave his wife her i've past
delinquencies in consideration OF the
Little Chap. for this was not the usual
infantile vegetable that simply fed and
slept. It was q quaint and sturdy little
personality, that took In the world, his
father included, witha slow, wondering
gaze, and seemed to do vast deal Of
profound and solemn thinking Amupd
could not rid himself Of the impression
that his son viewed him rather critical
ly, as il he were debating with himself
whether, ON the whole, he liked his APP
pearance and found him a fairly saisfac-
tory parent. He was very much afraid
that he did not come mp to the Little
Chaps standard. he was absurlily anx-
ious tomake as favorable an impressions
as possible There was something pecul-
larry wise and venerable in the Little
Chaps aspect az he lay there upon the
pillow. What tremendous secrets that
Little Chap must know, !" unused his "a
ther, 'sif he only chose TO divulge them
secrets Of the sun, and the moon, and
the great unknown from whence he
camen
Ard thus it happened that from the
hour of his arrival the Little Chap came
TO be regarded as q person of tremendous
consequence nc was impressed upon
him from the time he lay i'm the cradle
chat he was boy, and that q boy was b
superior kind OF creature, who had moth
ing except certain accidental points or
anatomy in common with girls, which
latter species had been wisely created
by the Lord TO wait upon him. He was
not very big before Amund. who could
not bear TO be separated from him, got
| into the habit Of taking him along when
he went out into the valley to do job
There the Little Chap would sit
proudly perched upon his fathers shoul-
| der. bundled mp in scarfs and with q fur
cap that was much too big for him pulled
down over his ears he was not talk
ative child, but there was slow and
old fashioned kind of gravity about him
which made everything he said infinite-
| ly droll. He took himself very serious
| " and allowed no trifliKg with his dig
nifty. He took much Satisfaction In the
thought that he was helping his father,
and Amund rather encouraged the idea,
giving him b hammer with which DO
pounded nails into piece Of board and
occasionally mashed his fingers And
all day long, while the carpenter
i worked, whether indoors or ont o&
doors, the Little Chap bustled about
him, sat in the shayings whiftling
sticks or Clipped the edge of the plans
by running it into the heads Of the nail,
which he drove In whereser q csnven-
lent place presented itself.
But whatever mischief he got into.
Whatever tools he ruined. Amund 70
/ garded IL only as . fair price which be
4 paid for his company And never once
did he scold the Little Chap, but grave
| u explained 10 him why he must no.
do snch things, as II he had been j
grownup man. And the Little Char
would listen grayely, with qnivexiue
under lip, and when the kindly hornily
Il was at nm end he would lie very still,
with bis head buried Id the shavines,
feeling terribly humiliated at the
thought of his delinquency. Tho nexi
day, when Amnnd started out, carrying
his tools In d bag on his back, the tdtt1s
Chap would meet him at the door, and
with d dubious and anxiously expeotan'
look would ask:
May I help you today, dads'
/ Yes. Little Chan. yon ahall haln M