The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1898-04-28
AN INCORRIGIBLE BOY /

THERE was shrewd Yankee boy
born up in Vermont about so years
ago, and despite the fact that he was
ushered into this busy world without
the provcrbial silver spoon in his mouth
I have satisfied myself that his natal
star was lucky one. Nurses in that
given to mummery or prophecy, and nc
one attempted to forecast the horo-
scope of the sturdy little youngster. He
kicked and squalled with astounding
vigor and displayed wonderful deter
mination to have things his own way
but his father had the same DISPOSE.
ton, and all disposed of the infant pro-
clivities by saying that he got them
from the old man direct. The boy had
measles, mumps, wind collie, scarlet
rash and all the other ailments with
which our early existence is penalized,
but they never impaired his constitu.
ton or his will.
At school, where he was enrolled as
Ross Blaigh, the youngster was looked
upon as little too stirring" to please
the teacher and the directors. Indeed,
the boy seemed dangerously near being
incorrigible. He insisted on spelling
Theoretically. He contended that there
was no ''doggone sense" in going
through laugh when l-a-f would an
swer the same purpose, and as long as
he honored the little white school
house with his presence he persisted in
making "Trip spell Europe. He chafed
under restraint, had a restless desire to
get into city, and vowed with all the
confidence of youth of IA that
he would never stay up there among
the mountains, where it took two hills
to raise bean and where kernel of
corn could never sprout and grow up
unless you rolled stone aside to give
nature a, chance. Ross and his father
were so much alike that any compro-
mise arrangement was out of the ques-
ton, and the old gentleman, remember
ing his own early inclination to 20 his
own way, fell in with the trend of the
boys aspirations, and wrote to the I'M
Gle for whom Ross had been named,
Ii
of affairs. requesting that he find the
lad an opening.
Uncle was not infatuated with hav-
ing male member of his tribe to look
after. for all the men of the line with
in his knowledge had an assertive in
dependence that declined to yield to
dictation. But blood is good deal
thicker than water among men of that
disposition, and the boy was notified
to report at the first of the next month
for duty. At the appointed time Ross
was on hand, and the bucolic trade
mark was spattered all over him. He
was tall, raw-boned, angular, freckled,
and such of his garments as had not
been made by his thrifty mother were
the work of a country tailor, who be-
lieved in doing all his cutting on
straight lines and in leaving plenty of
room for growing boy to fill out.
Ross looked very much out of place
in his uncle's resplenlant parlor, and
knew it before he had seen his hat and
butternut overcoat carried back to the
hall rack after he had tossed them
into "the darndest pulled up cheer ]
ever see" His rough hands were a
mans size, and his feet seemed to have
carried on highly successful rivalry
in the matter of development. He did
not know exactly what to do with
these unruly members and could not
but compare them with the white
hands and neatly-dressed feet of his
uncle, who came as soon as the arriva
had been duly announced.
80, Lord!" exclaimed the family's
most successful member inwardly, but
his greeting was accompanied by &
smile that the boy liked, and he showed
his best features as he smiled back.
"He's got our grit" was the nex1
mental comment of his uncle, for Ross
answered all questions intelligently, il
not elegantly, and never gave an out
ward sign that he felt himself a little
outclassed. He subdued his hands by
getting them into his capacious peck
cts and tucked his feet under thu
chair as if to keep them out of sight
At dinner he met the rest of the rela
tionship, a stylish aunt, three pretty
cousins who were old enough to study
the opposite sex, no matter what thu
specimen placed at their disposal, ant
handsome young man, handsomely
dressed, who started in to exercise tn,
cousinly right of guying, but was soo1
made to realize that some of his polish
was knocked off every time Yanke,
shrewdness came back at him. Ros.
swallowed about two inches of stee
with every mouthful of mashed po
tatoes, held his fork as though he wa!
going to stab some one, poured his tex
into saucer and blowed it rather tha1
taking chances of scalding his interna
economy, took long pull at the finger
bowl and announced that beef steal
seemed just as tough in New York a.
it was in Vermont. 1t was inevitabl,
that some of the younger cousin,
should Singer and that tine servants
we'll trained though they were, should
lose their gravity that it was their prid,
and duty to retain. Ross knew that III
was like a fish out of water, but die
his best to appear in the swim. II.
gained ground with the old gentleman
and the younger cousins, but the aun'
groaned in spirit, and she who ranked
as Miss Blaigh in the household die
" her best to ignore the boy. 81