The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-03-29
A New Kind Of Apr1l Fool.

A New Kind Of April Fool.
Harry Halcomb raised fliatter one re-
cess by saying it was time to get good
and ready for a first-class April Fools
Day.
We had a new teacher real nice one.
She was widow, and Jamie Elliott told
us that she had little son, who was a
cripple, and lived with his grandma in
the next village.
Joe Brown said it would be grand
time to find out what teacher was made
OF, and throw red pepper around and put
wax in her chair, and things like that:
but we told him if he couldn't tell of
some newer style April Fool we didn't
care for any OF his help.
That afternoon Harry and I houn-
dered around in partial payments" we
had to stay after school, and DR.. Thatcher
came in, and we thought he'd been to
see her sick boy.
we dtdnt llSten-we are not mean it
we do cut up-but we could not help
hearing when they spoke out loud.
"You think little wheel carriage?'-
asked Mrs. Randall, softly.
eyes, yes; just what he needs. Open
air-expand his lungs; make new boy
of him.
"How much would it cost?'
He mumbled something about it being
expensive, but necessary" and went off,
The little woman put up a big book
before her face, just the way they do
when they go to sleep in the Public Lib
rary, and we knew there were tears roll
| ing out of her brown eyes just as if we
had seen them. A kind of a half tear
tumbled out OF my eye, and Harry ran
his hands through his curls and stuck
his head in his arithmetic.
In minute or two the teachers book
| went down, and she looked up as bright
as ever and helped us over the "snags''
in our lessons; and then we locked up,
and instead of running off like savages,
we stumped each other to walk home with
the teacher, and what do you suppose she
did?
She asked us where she could buy some
| nice boards and some little wheels.
Well, if Harry and l didn't wink at
each other, and poke and nudge each
| other, for we guessed that our teacher was
going to try to build wheel carriage!
| She must have noticed us, for she called
us to walk near her, and then she told us
that her little boy, Howard, was once a
lovely baby, but his nurse was out with
him one day and she met an old crony
of hers who coaxed her into her house
to drink some lager beer; and they drank
a good deal and the nurse grew real STU
pid, and afterwards she stopped to talk
to another woman on the top of hill
and let go of the baby carriage and it
went rolling away
| 1t ran into horse and buggy that was
standing near the sidewalk and there was
an awful time; the babys spine was hurt
and his legs never grew much, and now,
she said, he was twelve years old, but was
only as big as my brother Will, and he's
just seven
| Then her husband died and she had to
teach school to support herself and poor,
little crippled Howard.
She said she was quite tinker" and
was going to make cart that he could
wheel himself, like a picture she had at
home, and she wanted us to help. and we
said we would
The next day. after school, she showed
us pictures of the kind she was going
to make, and we measured and talked.
That evening she sprained her wrist aw-
fully, and when we heard of it, Harry and
I made plan.
For one week we kept pretty close and
measured my brother Will so much that
he wanted to know if we were making
him some long pants.
Then John Esterbrooks. the village
painter, did us nice little Job of work
and the blacksmith got us some grooved
wheels, and Aunt Annie took some over
coat cloth that was a handsome blue on
the wrong side, and did some lining and
made a cushion, and by that time it was
March 3Ist
Mrs. Randall closed up her school that
night and went to spend the Ist and I'd
Of April with her boy.
The 1st of April was Saturday. 1t was
a nice, pleasant morning We got the
big team ready and put the gay little
wheel cart aboard and started off to see
how our April fool worked
We left the team in the lane and walk
ing up to the door asked for Mrs. Ran
dali, and told her if she'd come around
the corner we'd show her something
Don't yer go wan step, Mrs. Randall"
saucy voice called out: its fool tricks
they're playin' yer