Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1900-04-26

+ peaches. pcarhcx" and appeared to be
/ coming down the ladder.
I 1t was now evident TO Tant Sannie
/ that Waldo had been in her loft and
.0ten her peaches.
To exemplify his own share in the
; proceedings B9uaparte lay down on
+ the sofa and, shutting his eyes tightly,
said, Might, night night" Then he
4 sat up wildly, appearing to be intently
listening mimicked with his feet the
coming down a ladder and looked at
Tant Sannie This clearly showed
/ how, reused in the night, he had dis
covered the theft.
He must have been a great fool to
rat my peaches" said Tant' Sannie.
'They are full of mites as a sheepskin
. md as hard as stones"
Bonaparte, fumbling in his pocket,
lid not even hear her remark and took
put from his coattail little horsewhip,
nicely rolled up. Bonaparte winked at
the little rhinoceros horsewhip, at the
Boer woman and then at the door.
Shall we call him-Waldo, Waldo?"
he said
Tant' Sannie nodded and giggled.
There was something so exceedingly
humorous in the idea that he was 60
Ing to beat the boy, though for her own
part she did not see that the peaches
were worth ii. When the KAHN maid
came with the washtub, she wss sent
to summon Waldo, and Bonaparte
doubled up the little whip and put it in
his pocket Then he drew himself up
and prepared TO act his important part
with becoming gravity. Soon Waldo
stood in the door and took off his hat
Come in, come in, my lad" said
Bonaparte. land shut the door behind"
The boy came in and stood before
them.
you need not be so afraid, child"
said Tant' Sannie. Il was a child my
self once IS no great harm if you
have taken few"
BonaDarte perceived that her remark
was not in keeping with the nature of
the proceedings and of the little drama
| he intended TO act. Pursing out his
lips and waving his hand, he solemnly
| addressed the boy.
| ''Waldo, it grieves me beyond express
| sion to have to summon you for so
painful a purpose, but it is at the inn
perative call of duty, which dare not
| evade. | do not state that frank and
| unreserved confession will obviate the
| necessity of ch2stisement which, If
| requisite, shall be fully administered;
but the nature of that chastisement
/ 10 tod hy-f f-on NJ hmm l1n
| confession. Waldo, answer me as you
| would your own father, in whose place
I now stand to you. Have you or have
you not, did you or did you not eat of
the peaches in the loft?'
| 'Say you took them, boy, say you
| took them. Then he won't beat you
| much," said the Dutchwoman good
naturedly. getting little sorry for
him.
The boy raised his eyes slowly and
| fixed them vacantly upon her. Then
suddenly his face grew dark with
| blood.
$50 you haven't got anything to say
| to us, my lad?" said Bonaparte, mo-
| mentarily forgetting his dignity and
| bending forward with a little snarl.
| 'But what l mean is just this, my lad
when it takes a boy three-quarters of
an hour to ill a salt pot and when at
o'clock in the morning he goes knock
| ing about the doors of n loft it's nat
ul,siE to suppose Tnere's mischief IN IT.
It's certain there is mischief in it, and
| where there's mischief in it must be
| taken out" said Bonaparte, grinning
into the boys face. Then, feeling that
| he had fallen from that high gravity
| which was as spice to the pudding and
| the flavor of the whole little tragedy,
he drew himself up. Waldo" he said,
Confess to me instantly and without
| reserve that you eat the peaches"
Tie boys face was white now. His
eyes were on the ground, his hands
doggedly clasped before him.
What? You do not intend to an
swer?'
The boy looked up at them once from
under his bent eyebrows and then
looked down again.
1.-The creature looks as if all the
devils in hell were in it," cried Tant'
Sannie. Say you took them, boy.
Young things will be young things. l
was older than you when l used to
eat 'bultong' in my mothers loft and
get the little niggers whipped for it.
Say you took them"
But the boy said nothing.
II think a little solitary confinement
might perhaps be beneficial" said
Bonaparte. ut will enable you, Wal
do, to reflect on the enormity of the sin
you have committed against our Fa-
ther in heaven, and you may also think
of the submission you owe to those
who are older and wiser than you are
and whose duty it is to check and cor
rect you"
Saying this, Bonaparte stood up and
took down the key of the fuel house,
which hung on nail against the wall.
"Walk on, my boy" said Bonaparte,
pointing to the door, and as he follow
ed him out he drew his mouth express
lively on one side and made the lash
of the little horsewhip stick out of his
pocket and shake up and down.
Tant' Sannie felt half sorry for the
lad, but she could not help laughing.
1t was always so funny when one was
going to have a whipping, and it would
no MIN SOOu. Anyhow ne WOulu LOT
get all about it when the places were
healed. Had not she been beaten many
times and been all the better for it?
Bonaparte took up a lighted candle
that had been left burning on the
kitchen table and told the boy to walk
before him. They went to the fuel
house. 1t was little stone erection
that jutted out from the side of the
wagon house. 1t was low and without
a window, and the dried dung was
piled in one corner, and the coffee mill
stood in another, fastened on the top
of a short post about three feet high
Bonaparte took the paddock off the
rough door.
walk in, my lad" he said.
Waldo obeyed sullenly. One place to
him was much the same as another
He had no objection to being locked
up.
Bonaparte followed him in and closed
the door carefully. He put the light
down on the heap Of dung in the corner
and quietly introduced his hand under
his coattails and drew slowly from his
pocket the end Of a rope, which he con-
cealed behind him