The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-04

was In the toughest crowd of kids that
was ever got together, an he was at
their mercy an didn't know his danger
There was Ed Bazille an Bill Koch an
Frank Robert am John Berkey an
Mike Boyle an Frank Holabird an
Johnny Healey and George LEM an
me and lot of more tough nuts-a
mighty bad place for an unsuSpectin'
man to be In. Perfesser Gale came up
the hill an said 5"Howdy, boys" just
like that, an we all ducked our caps
as perHte as pie. Ed BaZille give the
old man some taffy about how glad
we was to have him in our midst on
TINS suspicious occasion, an the sport
began. Well, the old man didn't like
TO tackle the hill very much, but after
ne had made couple Of trips on the
hig hobs with me an Koch and some
OF the others, he got used to it. an
when some one dared him to take the
nil alone, he ihesitated an then
walked to meet his fate as the noos-
papers say. But he didn't walk. Not
much. He slid. Before he got through
he flew. An when he landed-my!
The Old man never knew how 1t all
happened. l never heard any one say
VINO 1t was that put the row of rocks
across the cowpath where the sleds
had been runnin' down the hill. But
the rocks was there before the pro-
lesser, an when he saw EN- 1T was too
late to stop. When the hobs struck a
boulder as big as bucket that lay in
the middle of the track, they stopped.
The perfesser went on. He struck
twenty feet from where he made the
rise, then started rollin' down the off
side of the, hill down to Pleasant
avenue. There was nothin' to stop
him. We couldn't We was all at
the top Of the hill gain with horror
On the awful catastrophe. When saw
the old man get up off the hobs in that
hurried way, 1 had the queerest feelin'
An when he finally struck Pleasant
avenue fifty yards from where the
trouble began, 1 had it again. I've
had that same feelin' many times since.
The last time was when the wildly
said yes. The other kids must a felt
the same way, fer there was the queer
est looks on their faces an l thought
Mike Boyle was a chokin,' he was that
black in the face.
"Some of the kids hurried down the
hill, when they saw the old man was
slow about gettin' up! Some Of the
rest of us stopped about half way
down. where the row Of rocks was,
an the mex day, when the committee
went to look fer the rocks, there wasn't
one to be found. 1t was mighty queer
about that But the old man was a
sight. When he got his wind he sat
up in the road where he had landed,
and called the roll. He made every
mothers son of us line up in front Of
him an tell him all we knew about
them rocks. But for wanst he didn't
find out anything. Nobody knew, an
of course, there was nothin' to tell.
The old man had trouble gettin' up an
when he did we see there wasn't a
decent rag on him. Finally, he said.
Young gentlemen, wish you to as
sist me to the school house. like that
He was that lame he couldn't walk,
an he made us get sled and haul
him to the school house. The buildin'
was up on the side of the hill, as
told you before, an it was tough pull
In him up, but he stuck to it that he
couldn't walk an he must get somthin
he had left there Then when we got
him to the door we was invited into
help him find somthing. He was the
worst crippled UP man I ever see. We
had to help him to the desk up stairs
in his room, an then, all Of sudden,
he jumped up as lively, an had the
door locked 50 quick, we almost faint
ed.
'"Then trouble began in earnest. Koch
was first, HoIabird second. and some
one, but If the old man hadn't been
tired with his previous exertions, 1
think he would have killed me. I had
felt the weight of that strap many a
time before, but it was the hottest
stuff durin' the few minutes he laid it
on, I ever run up against. Finally,
when we had all had a taste of the oil,
the Old man said,T That will do for to-
day, young gentlemen, school is dis
missed just like that An then we
sneaked. 1t wasn't anything else.
Nobody said anything until we got
block away from the school house.
We was the glummest lot Of kids, you
ever saw. Then somebody remember
ed how funny the old man looked as
he went down hill, and snickered. Then
the next feller remembered the same
and giggled. In a minute we was
whoopin' like Injuns an had forgotten
the lickin' The joke was too good to
keep an got out An when school
was took up again after the holidays,
the old man called us all up an said:
The day of my accident. 1 asked you
all If you knew how those rocks got
on the hill in the path of the Sled, like
that I was told by each of you that
you had no knowledge of the rocks be-
ing there. Since then I have heard
from various sources that you each OF
you have told story conflicting with
your first statements to me- / will not
have a liar in my school if / can help
it. When find one OF my pupils Is
ignoring the truth, I shall punish him
James, you may step forward just1ike
that 1 did. So did Koch, an Boyle
an the rest. AS he laid on the strap
the old man apologfzed for not being
able to do us full justice. I have had
a lame arm since New Years day. he
said just like that.
A few minutes later the school house
burned down. School was out an some
people always said some of the kids
that didn't like the old man set it on
fire 1 don't know. The buildin' was
frame, an it made hot fire, but ii
wasn't a bit hotter than perfesser
Gales strap that New Years day these
NANNY years ago.
Coin? SO long. Here comes the loot, y
and Jim ducked his pipe and saunter-
ed UP street humning something about
his girl being a Bowery girl and all
the world to him, when everybody
who knows the big fellow is aware OF
the fact that his girl is a widow and
that she lives over on Iglehart street.