The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1901-11-21

another until, when the rest were all
done, there would be left the neck
and shoulders and some of the gravy
for me and "Tige, "(his real name was
Tiger, because he was SO Hereafter
CATS. After dinner I'd 90 out and
start the soap to ''biling" again and
put some green chips on the smudge
in the smoke house and then I'd slip
off to the pig pen to see the pigs and
poke them with stick as stood with
my toes sticking through the crack of
the pen, until the mother of the pigs
getting tired of going "wooh, wooh"
at me, would make dive and nip my
big toe, when the circus would, begin
with full orchestra and flourish.
I'd make the flourish. When my toe
was tied up, I'd sit on the kitchen
steps with my head leaning on my two
fists and the burrows in the dust on nv
face would show where the tears had
washed out d c..,anpel and Tige would
sit by me and look sad and troubled.
This would be about the program
for one day, maybe for a good many
days, varied by circumstances over
which l would seemingly have but
little control. l would of course have
a stone bruise and get silver in my
thumb, and tramp on a thorn, and
get into humble bees or a yellow
Jackets nest, and / ID fall off the fence
and get kicked by the calf, and have
a toe nail '.stubbed" off and get lick
ed for running away to play with Tom
Hays, and old Fan would run away
with me because persisted in riding
backwards from the field and using
the breeching for bride and saving
her tail with it until she just wouldn It
put up with itany longer, and all that.
When green apples were the size of a
quail'S egg I'd fill up on them and
have the 'awfulest fits of the gripes''
and have to take the worst doses of
pepper tea and pain killer you ever
heard of, but l ID get well, or die try
ing, just for the pleasure of being a
boy again, and SO would you. When
there was nothing else to do, I'd 90 to
school, and play ball with the boys,
and have fights, and get licked by the
teacher, and like as not have to sit
with the girls for whispering or going
to sleep and falling off the seat. Now
right here | want to tell you old fell
lows that if / was young again I'd
sooner sit with the girls all day than
to have to stand on the floor and get
my spelling lesson and get cracked on
the head with ruler when | WASH t
looking. | mind the first time | had
to sit with the girls for not paying at
tention to my lesson. / was Just a
little fellow and the teacher made me
sit by a long, lank, lathey kind of a girl
for an hour or more and / mind cried
a good deal and wiped my nose on my
. sleeve to beat all, until when it got
dry it was as stiff as single, but Ia
!, do the same thing over again if / hao
the chance.
Il When | got SO it WASH t any punish.
ment to have to sit with the girls an0
| really began to kind of like it, the
, teacher changed his tactics and didn't
: try to punish me in that way at all
, but made me stand on one leg in the
corner with paper Ounce cap on, but
, | ID take the punishment all over again
sitting with the girls and all, if
, could be boy once more Now hon
estly, you old gray-headed men
wouldn't you be willing to go over il
all again if you could? Why wasn't
! it SO arranged that when a man haC
lived up to a certain age and had hon
| estly done the best he could and haC
: made mistakes because he didn It know
any better, he could begin anew an6
live through it again and again unit
the mistakes were all wiped out and
he had learned enough to lit him fol
kingdom come?
The boy have tried to describe ha.
only got to be a school boy, six to
fourteen years old. From fourteen
to twenty-one is another period in hi:
life I'd like to live through again il
} | could, wouldn t you?