West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1894-03-22
CHAPTER XXI.
HIS PA STABBED.

iitak yVu hd0 ONtf 10 your
house last night" said the grocery man
TO the bad boy rs he came in and sat on
the counter right over a little gimlet
hole, where the grocery man had fixed
darning needle so that by pulling string
the needle would fly up through the hole
and run into the boy about an inch. The
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 he
edged off 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 il it amuses you. 1t don't hurt
fne"
The grocery man looked sad, and then
smiled sickly sort of smile at the
failure OF his plan to puncture the boy,
and then he said: "Well, how was it?
The policeman didn't seem to know
much about the particulars. He said
there was SO much deviltry going on at
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 say. you are
not to give me away It's a go, is it? I
have always been afraid of you, because
you have a sort of decayed egg look
about you. You are like peck of pota-
toes with the big ones on top, q sort of a
strawberry box with the bottom raised
up, SO have thought You would go back
on a fellow. But il You won't give this
away, here goes. You see. heard Ma
tell Pa to bring up another bottle of lini-
ment last night When Ma has pain
anywhere, she just uses liniment for all
that IS out, and pint bottle don't last
more than a week. Well. / told my
chuln. 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 II o'clock, and me and
my chum decided to teach Pa lesson.
don't think it is right for man to 90
to the theaters and not take his wife or
his little boy.
$50 we concluded to burgle Pa. We
agreed TO lay on the stairs, and when he
came up my chum was to hit him on the
head with a dried bladder, and was to
stab him on his breast pocket with a
stick and break the liniment bottle and
make him think he was killed.
1T couldn't have worked better if we
had rehearsed it. We had talked about
burglars at supper time and got Pa nery-
ouss so when he 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 go back, and
hit him on the breast pocket, where
the bottle was, and then we rushed by
him down stairs, and / 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
bis life blood was fast ebbing away. He
held his hand ON the wound and said he
could feel the warm blood tricklin9 clear
down 70 his boots.
81 told Pa to stuff some tar into the
wound, such as he told me to put on my
lip 20 make my mustache grow, and Pa
saId: Ny boy, this Is no time for tri-
ding Your Pa Is on his last legs. When
came up stairs, met six burglars. and
attacked them and forced four OF them
down and was going 70 hold them and
send foF the police when two more that
4 did not know about jumped on me,
and was getting the best Of them whom
one OF them struck me over the head
with a crowbar and the other stabbed
me 70 the heart with q butcher knife. I
have received my death wound, my boy.
and my hot southern blood, that offered
up - freely for my country in her time
OF need. il passing from my body, and
soon your Pa viii De only q piece Of Door
clay. Get some ice and put on nv
stomach and all the way down, for am
burning up!
p went 70 the water pitcher and got a
chunk II ice and put inside Pas shirt.
and while Ma was tearing up an old skirt
70 stop the flow Of blood I asked Pa II
be felt better and II he could describe
bbs Villains who had murdered him. Pa
easped aud moved his legs to yet them
cool from the clotted blood, be said, and
be went on: One Of them was about 8
foot high and had sandy mustache. I
got him down and bit him on the nose.
and u the police find him his nose will
De broke. The second one was thick
st and weighed about 200. had him
down and my boot was ON his neck. and
! was Knocking two more down when I
wa hit. TT . thickset one will have the
marx Of boot heels on his throat. Tell
the police wnen I'm gone about the boot
heel marks
BY this time Ma bad got the skirt
tore up, and she stuffed IL under pas
shirt right where be said he was hit. and
"a was telling as what to do to settle his
estate. when Ma began TO smell the Iini.
mont, and she found tho broken bottle IN
he pocket end searched Pa for the place
Nncre lie was stabbed, and then she be.
-. >" laugh, and "a got mad and said