The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-01-10
HIS FIRST COMMANDMENT.

4 Ncr-
| r:tts first bombardment, and therefore
! the first beginning of his military career,
has been current in Salem. ILL.,, for so
| many years that probably the general
| himself wouldn't recognize it now If he
| heard one of the eldest inhabitants tell
| 1t But it's a better story now than it
was thirty years ago, and cid man Thurs
ten, who was boys together with Yves
Merritt. tells it like this:
| Yves Merritt was one o. tn goldingdest
| Kids 1 ever seen. Nothin mean about
him. you understan', but just the bull
headedest, persistingest young un ever
| lived. There warnt no way to stop him,
| an 4 he couldn't make thing go. the
| rest o US boys just chucked Z and says
II won't CO. / fight what year it was
| his father took him over L ST. Looie fr
! the Fourth, but when Yves come back
| he was the wust gone kid on cannon,
| an artillery, an soldier bus you
ever seen We had parades lam
battles every day after that .,enool
| took UP, an Yves he WIS allus .otain
r gineral r whatever meant bos III tn
! hun job. Long in tn fall old N 1 Mer-
ritt he pixies off fur ST. Looie IN tn
| stage-they warn't no trains ther Gays
an when he comes back. what d je spose
he fetches Yves but brass car non,
Twas about a foot and a he long
but If it'd been a Napoleon eighty
I
over it. He fetched us all up IN 4
meetin' an established what he called
artillery brigade, an he made US ali chip
If FIR powder an shot, an OF all the
! hullabaloos ever kicked up with a small
! field piece Yves Merritt and his brass
| cannon done it. We bruke so many win
| dows an manned s. many chickens an
things tn fust week that tn old man
| begin [ git riley an lowed f IVES didn't
| let Up he'd take the burned old cannot
an sink it in tn horse pond. So Yves,
| he allus was leery an kinda tender like
about his dad, he did let up an FIR nigh
on three months they warn't no lombard
nent goin' on at all. 'cept what we done
with crab apples an sech.
| Then a troupe o. actors hit Salem with
| a show name Sir Ronald's Vengeance.
| r the Bloody Barter an Yves an his
| brother Tom-older'n hfm-'lowed they
vas goin' to see it. TIL opery house is
| thar yit. lookin' kinda wobbly for shore,
| but settin up on tn same old posts. an
not much wuss for wear than some O
US old-timers I'm Salem. Yves an Tom
an all O. us kids was busier'n red ants
! on hot rock helpin' them play actors
git their truck-scenery an clothes an
| SIGH, mp { tn opery house, but when
the time come for tn show to cut loose.
tn manager, he said we'd have L wait
till ell tn grown folks was seated an
|
rear O. TIL hall. He KEEP a-shovin' an
ashovin Yves an Tom an me to one side
till IN blamed old place was full as it
could hold. and some of 'em settin' in
the winders.
''Th parson. an he never went near n
show lest it was what he called 'lesiti-
mate, he was settin' up in tn front
row with his wife an darters. an tn
editor o tn weekly he was sett.n' on a
bench with tn piany player. the place
was that damned. Twas a old. one-story
frame then. boarded up tween tn ground
and the floor all round ceptin' at tn
back. an there they was an openn' IN
der it whar tn hogs went { git cool.
r waller, an 1t was q reglar pig-sty
f'r EN- o. nights. When Yves Merritt
seen we was goin' t git tn wust o tn
deal, he says. gettin' red round tn gills,
lie says. Blame Z don't stampede them
II ont rows somehow,
They was a g1n-play in tn fust act,
it seems, an tn whole crowd was in
tranced. as you might say. with tn hero
and the heSrowine. when, all of a sud-
dent, tn most awfullest explosion ever
heerd in Salem took place right under the
villain o tn piece. Crash went tn WIN
dCws. women scrceched an ev' body begin
jumpin' an jumpin. but tn wust of all
was the howlin' that come up fom under
tn one-y house floor Out tn winders
out tn doors like A passed. of scarf
ponies. tromp;n' on one and t'other. and
then fallin over runaway pigs onct they
was In tn street. It musta took ten
minutes to pacify tn crowd, an then
bout half o them wouldn't go back f
finish UP TIL show. TIL actors got back
worl, purity soon. but when things
got quieted down q bit, an 81! man Mer-
rift commenced sizin' up his surround
il :, he seen Yves an Tom an me all
sittin' very solemn an interested right in
IN front row. mex tn piany player. The
editor. lie was gone, an tn mex mornin
had some big headlines about 'Mysteri-
Gus Explosion Beneath tn Opery House
Stage an long talk with the star &C
tress about Z beau she'd give tn mitten
to. an which. she lowed. was follerin
her round t git vengeance. They put
all the blame onta tn mysterious stran-
ser seen loiterin' round TIL livery stable
an all that sort o cuff. but Tom Merritt
an me we knowed better. an we was
both looxin' for Yves TO git a good hidin
fer it.
Shore 'rough. that night. when old
man Merritt come home after chattin
with all tn neighbors an helpin ev-body
look into tn cause O. tn explosion, he
como homo an finds Yves an Tom an all
tn boys snug up in bed like rothin' did
happen.
'Wes.' says tn old man. lookin' aw-
ful solemn. how did you git in the show
so late?
II come in FIN under tn stage. says
Yves
why didn't you como in I'm tn front
door? saws III cid man.
Couldn't scrouge through. sir says
Yves.
When did you git in. Wesg says tn
old man
Right arter tn explosion says Yves.
An where was you when tn exrlo-
sion tux place Wes?
was right in it. dad, SAYS tn kid.
'on'y twarnt q explosion at all,
What was II. them
Twas a saloot I done il outten tn
brass cannon,'
'What'd you do it fur. wes? asks tn
old man.
u don it s scare tn parson.' says
Yves. I knowed he never was fond o.
shows. nor noises. nor any o. them thirgs
an | lowed Z he was good an scarf he'd
got homo quick An ha done it, sir. m
ne an tn boys crope infm under IN
stage an TUX them seats John H
Raftery.
A Possible Value
fFrom the Boston TransCipt)
Paying Teller-Sorry to say It. but there
are no funds.
Man ct Window-Then. you mean to say
this check is coed for nothing
Paying Toller-Oh. no. I wouldn't care
e go as far as that II might be OF