Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-07-11
The Bringing Up of a Boy
by Franzka hiannn heispnngf dIRepubHcn

Come now, Alfred, let me wasl
yo~r hands,"
Don't run SO fast Alfred, you'll
Eau!"
"Prenez garde, Aired"
Oh, Alfred! What a boy!"
Early and late this everlasting CITY
Of Alfred" Father fused, mother
called, and MademoiselIe never gave
I'm one moments peace.
Fathers business was chiefly cut
ing coupons, and the rest of his
spare time he devoted to the anxious
supervision Of his only sons sduca
ton. He was mothers idol and chief
care; and, furthermore, there was
MademOiselle, whose sole purpose in
life WIS to see that no harm came to
that precious child.
All this bored Alfred.
One day down in the sn4oking-ro om
he heard his father say to Mr.. Lang.
don, Yes, I'm deYoting myself en-
tirely to my boys education.
1t reminded him of the time when
he heard the cook say she was going
to devote herself entirely to the mice
ia the pantry" Shed get rid of them
or shed know the reason Why!" The
mice didn't I've through the seige.
But there could be no better testi-
moniaI to AIfred's general robustness
that the fact that he pulled through,
in spite of all this devotion.
Incessant as the waves that lap
the strand, these perpetual oh, AL
Treds' beat upon his baby ears, and
they made just about as much i'm
preston as the waves usually make
on good firm rock.
Alfred kD wv, of course, that his
father was brick, and his mother
was darling, and that MademoiseIIe
could be nice when she chOse,-and
he was sure he ought to be very glad
indeed to have some one wash his
hands and keep his clothes tidy, and
make MIN take matted milk, and not
let him tumble doWn,-and of course
he knew that little boys had to mind
but somehow this eternal cry Of
Alfred got to be such a nuisance
that he had to pretend to be deaf in
seIfdefense.
The only quiet time in the day
was when Alfred went to bed, but
that was only a lulI before the storm
for the moment he opened his mis-
chleVous eyes in the morning, the
everlasting chorus began again.
They never gave him a minutes rest.
You see, they were trying to make
model child of him, and he was
anything but a model boy, the little
rascal, with his high spirits, his
quick temper, and his love of fun.
Just before his sixth birthday came
the great change. Not that Alfred be-
came model boy, but that his father
and mother became model parents
And this is how it happened:
Even the best natured boy In the
world can come to the end Of his pa
ttence and Alfred was hardly that.
He had pulled through long, hard
case of the measles and as soon as
he was up again, the eternal molly
COddIing started in. Of course he
knew they only did it for his good
nut it got on his nerves. He'd heard
hat phrase from his mother, and he
anew what it meant
The poor little rascal sat discOnso-
lately by the window, playing with
mis- tin soldiers, or pretending to-
for he really was watching the boys
who lived in the corner grocery, Gee.
How they splashed through the mud!
And not one of them had rubbers on
either! And their hands were so fine
and dirty! and their faces, too! He
bet they didn't have to come In and
drink matted milk! Myl but they
must be having fun! Almost as good
as running away and being a pirate!
But the best OF all must be to be an
orphan!
This Thought took his breath away
at t7rst-he hardly dared to think Of
such Joy. But the IDEA grew on
him. Oh, yes,-it was pretty good to
have mother pick you up and cuddle
you, and tell you storiest-and father
certainly did bring home splendid
toys and all-but Gee!-what fun Il
must be to play marbles on the side.
walk. He'd have given his best rock
ing horse for that. And what's the
use OF putting on white sailor suits
all the time. They just seem to get
dirty by themselves; and you can't
get down and wiggle round on the
ground two minutes to build house
or anything, without being all in al
muss.
Jimmy and Johnnie at the grocery
never had to wear such horrid white
things. If you start in good and dirty
1t doesn't matter a bit how much
dtrtier you get. Now, for instance
when you want to catch a June bug
and you see it sitting up in a tree
you have to shake the tree good and
hard to get it down, don'te you? And
the minute you get a good hold and
begin to shake. along comes Maiden
oisele and hOllers: "Ah, Monsieur AL
fred Just look at your pretty white
suit! What naughty boy you aret"
Jimmy and Johnnie never had such
things happen to them Sometimes
they'd come over and play with AL
fred. But the best fellow he knew to
nave fun with was Tommy Otis: ne
was an orphan, and he could get Just
as dirty as he pleased And the way
ne could look cross-eyed! My! It
WAS orrao+E