The Washington weekly post., 1900-10-02
Jimmy
Experiment.
H.. W r uTrttc

By ". C. WELLS


JIMMY opened bis eyss slowly and
looked toward the open window.
TIE sun was shining; the morning
> air was cool and fresh the birds
were chlrping Ii the trees near by,
"a everything seemed to be c0nspiring
- make Jimmy feel very lazy and COM
,.-,.hla Then he suddenly remembered
.-..fru u-.s his fourteenth birthday. which
--.a- aim feel more comfortable and lazy
,-sr before and !n honor Of the occasion
rr rg-ned over In bed TO take an extra
80 he Was soon lndulging In very
,rsrfy.ng dream, in which he was sur
.-8,sed by a pile of red. ripe watermel-
Ana. and vas just about 10 begin the task
~ es,lng the whole collection when ne
Els startled by voice calling up the
ts.rs.
Come. Jimmy. get up. Breakfast Is
al on. and ! need some wood split
when Jimmy recovered from the shock
~ found himself sitting on the edge OF
.hs bed With his eyes mechanically wan
lsrng Ia the direction OF the chair on
which BITS clothes were piled Ihen ne
,rratched his head, gsZed out Of the win
i6w. back az his clothes, around tne
-15m and toward the window again And
a.. the time his mind was graphing with
.1c soul-stirring thought: How sweet
might be this ieeting life"-if it wasn't
60 fun OF wood piles Jimmy had been
E1nderlng for several years why It was
hat his Sunday-school teacher kept say
Ing that the Lord loved all good boys
for II the Lord loved all good boys, why
dd he allow the wood to grow in great
rIg chunks that had 20 be split on the
same morning a "feller wanted to go fish,
M
"Jim-e-e-e-e," came the voice up the
stairway.
..Ycs'm." shouted Jimmy, who had
dumped a bag OF marbles on the floor and
was crawling around in his night shirt
practlc!ng the latest ''knuekle down"
shot.
The tone Of this last summons caused
him 20 put on his clothes, gather up the
marbles, and Clatter down stairs TO the
kitchen. where he found his breakfast
waiting. He began operations at once.
You know, Jimmy, your paw Is work
in over 10 Benyille. and won't be back
tnl Saturday. SO you want TO get lp
a little gumptlon and help along little"
"'Spose so" said Jimmy. "But a fell
Ter o1ghtnt to haf to cut wood on his
birthday"
"Oh. fiddlesticks." sneered his mother.
Didn't ] have a birthday last week. An
didn't I scrub an cook an dig same as
any other day? Don't ! always work Ike
q nigger-Sundays, birthdays, an ever
other kind OF a day?'
"Do all Wimmin work like niggersy'
asked Jimmy feeling that maybe there
might be worse things than splitting
wood.
NO, they don't" snapped his mother.
Some wimmin can afford 20 have se--
wants TO do the dirty work, An they
have some time 10 dress up an look like
vi hite folks once In while"
Jimmy did not reply al once, He had
bet with himself that he could get twelve
slices of fried potato into his mouth at
1nce and ne was engaged in deciding the
wager He was overreaehing his fondest
anticipation. Just as the fifteenth slice
gas about TO join the others Jimmy chok-
"a, and coughed a shower OF fried pota-
foes clear across the table. He had soon
restored his swallowing apparatus to It's
normal condition.
Say, maw," said he. as he collecte!
the pieces of potato on his plate and went
10 eating again. "why didn't you marry
a rich man? An then wouldn't a nad
nothin' to do but look purity an wear out
forty-dollar bicycles?"
Never YOU mind askin' too many ques-
ions," said his mother, "but hurry up an
git 10 work on that wood"
Cant I cut II tomorrow pleaded
Jimmy. Il"
mo, you can't cut It tomorrow, want
Ii cut to-day. An cut enough to last the
rest Of the week. A great big lubber of
boy like you ought to have some git UP an
Pit about i'm, You wasn't born with
silver spoon in your mouth"
"Ner I wasn't born with a ak In my
sOuIh. either" retOrted Jimmy as he
shuhied out through the back door and
toward the wood pile.
He sat down on the sawbuek and went
over in his mind how he had often been
told that boys ought TO be very thankful
that they had wood 10 split, because there
were some poor little boys whose papas
couldn't afford 10 buy any wood. Jimmy
did feel a little thankful over this. In
fact. he sat on the sawbuck for as much
as a half hour doing nothing but feel
thankful And he might have kept right
on feeling thankful for the rest of the
forenoon II his mother hadn't called 10
him 10 pitch in or he'd never get through
So he picked up the AK and raised IL above
his head TO strike the first blow, But the
blow was postponed, for Just then Bert
Jones stuck his head over the fence and
shouted:
"Hulo jim! Got a hustle hey?"
"ia-a-a-a-s." said Jimmy. dropping the
n Fracr
pole which was sticking up in the air near
his friends huge straw hat. Amt 10
tough he added. when a feller's got 10
cut wood on his birthday?'
Il wouldn't do IT," said Bert.
Huh said Jimmy. "guess you never
backed up against paws slipper It's jest
Ike beln' hit with a cellar door er some
Thin. II be comes home Saturday an
huis this wood amt cut theFell DC a cy-
c.oue-an' / won't be far of when IL hap
pens"
"Ais an SANS goin' nshin'," said Bert,
I'm haf to be skatin' along; he's Waitin'
Ter me-"
Jimmy watched his friends straw hat
move along above the fence until IL dis
appeared behind the barn. Then he pick
ed up the AK and raised II ready for ao-
iAe az without striking a blow. for just
then he heard his mother calling:
jimmy, just got word that your Aunt
Mary is awful sick. I'm goin' over there.
Might not be back tonight, Take care
ui tho house, Get your wood cut, an II
Sou 20 way don't forget 70 lock up"
Jimmy sat down on the sawbuck for a
while and wondered II his Aunt Mary was
90 very sick. then he picked up the AK
again. But not a whaek followed, for just
Then an old hen In the barn SET up loud
11eAie, and Jimmy promptly ceased op-
ualions and fell TO speculeting on the
probability of her having laid an egg. Tie
Vas soon on his way 10 the barn, for all
doubt in tie matter must be dlspelled. As
%" opcned the barn door and stepped in
Side be paused and started back. There
"as !ons, dark object stretched on 4