Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1901-05-28


steers"
A spirit of mischief, akin to that pos
sessing her brother, suddenly inspired |
Hetty to whisper in her mothers ear, |
with an affected intensity Of utterance:
Danny and L are going to have some |
fun with him."
The widows blood ran cold.
"Ohp' she gasped in horror; but before |
she could find breath to protest against |
and sternly forbid all fun with Mr.. Nc
Farlane, Hetty had fed, and would not
be summoned back.
Outside the kitchen door, Hetty was
speedily joined by Danny, who glided
down from his loft as soon as his mother
had gone to receive Mr.. McFarlane in
the Darlor.
Say, Hetty," ne demanded, with an
air of mysterious excitement, you're 60
ing to church tomorrow, amt you"
mo; I'm not" she replied CURLY. Stay |
ing away from church on Communion |
Sabbath seemed to her sort of protest |
against fate. And why should she go
to church when John would not be there?
ooh! But-say, sis; you'll miss lots of
fun if you don't go-only, if you do, you
want to sit near the door"
Gross your heart you'll never tell?'
She laughingly made the gesture and
repeated the formula, ''Hope-I-may-nev-
er-s'help-mer which, in boyish estima-
ton, was equivalent to an affidavit, and
Danny, feeling that his secret was safe,
went on:
ME and Sam Bingham"
''Yes-always when there's any deviltry
n -
der if you two will go to the penitentiary
together"
Never you mind about that. 'Taint
your putin! Jes' listen! Me and Sam
Bingham have got the biggest kind of a
hornets nest out in the barn. We found
it in the woods, more'n two weeks ago,
| and have been sayin' it up. Last night
we plugged up the mouth of it, cut off the
limb it was on, and brung it home"
a hornets nest! Mercy! Why don't
you burn the horrid thing at once?"
Burn it? | guess not! haven't had
a mite of fun since | smoked out the
singing school with red pepper on the
stove. and you bet I'm not going to burn
| any hornets nest when l can stir up a
| whole community with it. Burn that
nest, with more'n a thousand or a mill
ion lively hornets in it! Not if l know
| myself!'
well. what are you going to do with
| it,"
1--WE can crawl under the church, and
we've found Il loose board that we can
! shove up under the pulpit. Tomorrow
| morning, long before anybody else gets
there, we're going to poke the hornets
nest up under the pulpit, with a long
! string tied to the plug in its mouth and
carried away outside and hid in the grass,
so that we can pull out the plug when
we think it's a good time. The lower part
! of the pulpit, you know, between its floor
and the floor of the church, is closed in
| with crisS-crOssed laths, with little square
| holes between them, so that when you're
| under there you can see out, and if meet
in was in, you could see Deacon HilPs
bald head shining like vanished pump
kin. Well, say, sis, bet when there's
hornet coming out of every one of those
holes. good many of them will see moth
ing but that bald head, and think of
| nothin' but jabbin' it. They'll be fightin'
mad, every last one of EN-, and, great
| Scott, how they'll make that congregation
| get up and dust. That's why l said you'd
! better sit near the door,"
"Oh, Danny, it would be a horribly
wicked thing to do. just think how
many folks would be stung. Why, it
would break up the heetingr'
! KNOCK the meetin sky high. sure
enough; but just think what fun it'll be
! to see 'em scramblin' and crawlin' to get
out of the doors and windows; and old
Mr.. Mcleod will get his dose, I'll bet!
! They'll make him dance wOrse'n he made
me the time he curled his black-snake
whip around my legsw
You had no right to take his colt out
| of the pasture to run races"
Great Scott, Hetty! \ fellow might
| as well die if he isn't to do anything but
| what he has a right to. It's the things
| you haven't a right to that you get most
! fun out Of always"
| If you act up to that. Danny, you will
be not only bad boy, but 4 very wicked
man when you grow up"
oh, we'll, l don't mean anything seri-
! Gus, you know, but just fun"
Turning those hornets loose in church
! would be very serious and not at all fun
| ny for the folks who got stung, and you
must not 10 it. will not allow it"
You won't, ! doat guess you can
| stop me. Amt they my hornets? Sup
! pose | had the idea OF making pets of
/ them and have changed my mind. and be-
/ ing very kind-hearted boy, choose to
/ give the poor insects their liberty"
/ But not in church"
! My not? Isn't that good place?
/ lsn Mr.. Mcleod just the right man to
/ tackle them? The last time he saw me
in church, he preached about Elijah and
4 the bears and the boys, and he looked
/ square ut me. as if he wished he could
feed me to 4 bear. But he'd better go to
training on little things like hornets for
awhile before he begins ordering bears
around"
If you don't give up the awfully wick
ed idea, Danny, I'll tell on you and have
it stopped. l really must. l wouldn't
have such thing on my Conscience
oh. Indeed. After you've crossaI
/ your heart you wouldn't tell, \ nice. sos.,
| tender muShy sort Of conscience YOU
/ must have, just work it on your own
/ affairs and let mine alone. never did
/ anything as mean as you have"
! Way, Danny, What did ever do?"
/ You coaxed John Cameron TO run off
/ with you and then wouldn't marry him.
/ just to make a fool Of him. And its Oh
/ your account he stays away 50 long"
/ The cruel allegation that it was her
| own fault she was not long since John
/ Cameron'S wife-all the more hard TO
/ bear for having 4 spice Of truth in it
4 quite ovcrcame her. Turning her back
/ upon the boy. without reply. she walked
I out to the front gate aud stood leaning
! over it, lost in reyeUie tinSed with regret
/ Danny ran up TO the garnet over the par
lOr. TO see how Seo,cAy vas getting
/ along with man."
/ The worthy Mr.. NcFarlane's getting
I along was due 20 no ende3vor OF his own.
/ He simply allowed himself to drift on
/ the current Of conversational circum-
/ stance. Luckily for him. the widow had
I no mind 10 see the bark Of his evident
I good Intentions wrecked for lack OF pilot
| ing. LOve-makias may be either the evO-
[ luton Of impulse or the product of art.
/ The period OF youth, when impulse in-
/ spires that etfioreSceuce Of the inexpsri-
I ,-,,,1 e.,r-f h., r,as-a,.1 -