Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-16
LITTLE Mr.. TH|MBlEHNGER
THE BOY OF THE LANTERN.
ny JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS.

,corr-,ob, 1903 by Joel Chandler Barris.)
cot course" said Mr.. Thimblehnger, ali
Of Won can tell better stories than 1 can
because you are larger. Being taller, you
can see farther, and talk louder, but 1
sometimes think that If I were to climb
tree I'd see as far as any of YOU
"well. hope your feelings are not hurt.
remarked Mr.. Rabbit, sympathetically. III
not the fault of your stories that 1aii
asleep when you are telling them. It's my
habit to sit and rod at certain hours OF the
day, and II you'll watch me right close
you'll see that I sometimes drop off when
I'm telling story myself. III try ana
keep awake the next time you tell one."
I'm afraid I'll have to prop Mr.. Rabbits
eyelIds open with a straw" said Mrs.
Meadows, laughing.
'Ill tust try you with little one" Mr..
Thinblefnger declared. I'll tell you one 1
heard when I was younger. / want TO see
whether Mr.. Rabbit will keep awake and
want to see whether there's moral In the
tale"
So he took of his little hat. which was
shaped like thimble. and ran his hand
over the feather ornament to straighten
IL out. Then he began:
"a long time ago. when there was
great deal more room in the country next
door than there is now. there lived man
who had a wife, one son, horse. a cow
and a calf He was a Woodworking man.
SO much 50 that he had little or no time
10 devote to his family. He worked hard
In the field all day, and when night came
he was too tired to trouble much about MS
son. His wife, too. having no servant, was
always busy about the house, sewing,
washing, cooking. cleaning, patching, milk
ing and sweeping. Day in and day out II
was always the same. The man was al
WAYS working. They had no rest except on
Sunday, and then they were too tired TO
pay much attention to their son.
Tho consequence was that while the
boy was very bright lad, he was full of
mischief. up to all sorts Of tricks and
FRANKS that some people call meanness.
BY hook or by crook-or MAYBE by ooq Ok,
the only book he had to read was one with
big pictures of men dressed In red clothes
and armed with yellow cutlasses- The
book was called The Pirooters OF Peru
VIA"
"Maybs tho name was The Pirates OF
Peru" suggested Buster John.
'oh. no." replied Mr.. Thimblefnger II
don't suppose any such country as Peru
had been found on the map when that
book was written. But never mind about
that. The boy read only that book. and he
became rather wild In his mind. He want
cd TO be a pirooter, whatever that was. and
40 he armed himself with old hoe helves
and called them pixies. and he tied shin-
gle to his side and called IL cutIaSS, ana ne
got him q broom handle and called 1t
horse.
This boys name was Johnny. but some
times they called him Jack for short Somo
people said he was mean as he could be-;
But | don't say that. He was fonder Of
scampering over the country than he was
CT helping his mother.
Maybe he didn't know any better because
he wasn't taught any better. But one
morning his mother was so tired that she
couldn't get out of bed She had worn her.
self out with work. The next morning she
couldn't get UP, nor the next, and then the
neghbors, who had como in TO see what
the matter was. said that she would never
get up any more. So one day Johnny found
Everything very still in the house, and the
peghbors who We're there We're kinder to
him than they ever had been, and then he
knew that his mother would never get tired
any more.
"He felt so bad that he wandered off into
the woods, crying as he went. His eyes
we're so full of tears that he couldn't see
where he was going, and he didn't care.