The Bottineau courant., 1912-03-29
The eWayw,,ard;|| 1
Kid
BY MARIAN L. GUERNSEY

to me that all my children had no use
for me except what they could git out
Of me- There's my oldest boy. John
Seems to me that boy was born con.
trary.
II tried all sorts O. ways maxim him
obedient. but they failed-that is, all
sorts o. ways except whippin' him
That don't believe in. shut him ul
by himself. l deprived him Of those
little things children most wish for
Then l tried kindness. None o. them
ways worked with Johnnie"
How about your other children Z
asked the deacon, when they were
little?"
'They didn't any Of 'em appear to
have much sense o. responsibility. If
l or their mother was sick and we ex-
pected 'em to give up anything they
thought O. doin' to help us out they
didn't want to do it. Nothing must in
terfere with any pleasure they laid
out for themselves. Ny youngest boy
and my second girl was the best o the
lot. They're with us yet. Billy's a
fust rate farm hand, and his sister
Ruth Is very useful, helpin' her mother
with the cookin'."
"What became Of Johnnie?''
"Oh, John as he. grew older he got
a lot of all fired ridiculous notions in
his head and was worse'n when he
was a kid. He got an idee that
he'd like to be perfesser In col
lege Did y ever hear O. sich non
sense? He wanted me to spend all
the money I could make on the farm
to edicate him for some useless job,
and when 1 wouldn't do 1t he got mad
and walked away, sayin' wouldn't
hear anything from him ever ag'in
onless he'd done somepin wo'th dom.
After all I'd done for him-keepin'
him in food and clothes-to treat me
that away! tell you, parents are to
be pitied."
"Then you don't think children
pay"
mo, they don't in the long run.
When they're little tots they're kind
o. cunnin' and have spasms of affec-
ton in 'em. But I never could make
out whether the spasms of badness or
of affection was the principal part Of
'em. Anyway, after all the pains
you've had with 'em they're sure about
the time you get 'em to be Of some
use to you to go of, the gals with
some feller and the boys with some
girl, and you never get any return for
your trouble"
Didn't it pay your father to bring
you up?"
II dunno as it did. I've often
thought that mebbe It didn't
The gate clicked, and we'll dressed
man about thirty came up the walk.
The farmer put on his glasses.
"Somepin familiar about him." he re-
marked. "Seems to me I've seen him
before"
"Hello, dadv' said the newcomer.
''You don't know me, do you?"
"By gum! You beant Johnny, be
your
"Certainly I'm Johnny"
"Well, want to know! Come back
to see the old man, eh, my boy? I'm
powerful glad to see you" And he
folded his arms about his son.
Eyes, I've come back, dad. When
went away think must have been
q tribe cantankerous. was determin-
ed to learn a lot Of things that may
seem useless to you. But I've learned
them I'm professor Of biology in
w. university"
"Do tell! What y learned, Johnny ~
"Why, I've learned that we are born
to nature, and our parents Job Is to get
nature out of us as fast as they can.
We are all animals, only we humans
are capable Of higher development
than those below US. But in the begin
ming there's not much difference be-
tween us and them. Look at new
born kitten and you'll see it clawing
the air. I've seen newborn baby do
ing the same thing. But the kitten
grows into cat, and the baby grows
into q man or woman. While the civ
ilized child is developing it is simply
getting away from its ancestral inher-
lIduCe. IL HAS l1lIic SSuSS VI IcSpOuSA-
bility, just as the puppy will eat up all
the dinner provided for the family If
permitted to do so. l dare say, father,
you thought me brutal as boy, and I
was brutal, but was simply obeying
q natural, not q refined, law. But I'm
doing pretty well now and have come
back to look after those left behind
me-
"By gum, Johnny. how you talk!
Does biology pay7"
''Not in money, though my published
books, my salary and my lectures bring
me In fair income. I've something
to spare for you. dad, and mum, and IL
there's anything can do for the boys
or the girls I'd be glad to know It.
well, Johnny boy, I'm powerful glad
TO see you back. OF all my children
you was the most obstinate, but you've
got there, John. and I'm glad Of It.
You've topped the hull lot Of US" a q
And the reason he got there" re-
marked the deacon. was that very OBJ
stinacy. II he'd been the obedient child
you would have liked him TO be he'd