Evening star., 1918-08-18
Man1ie'S Father
FELT awfully sorry when Mamie
Little got mad at me and

for a good while. At first when. a
fellow gets girl the other fellows
lrller: Mamie Little is Georges
girl! Mamie Little is Georges girl"
And he has to get mad and fight about
1t to prove it's lie; but after he has
fought enough~to prove it's lie, then
he can have her for his girl and no.
body says it. So, then. she's the one
he kisses when. they play "post Of
fee" and Copenhagen" at parties and
If he's got anything to give her he
gives it to her. like small shells and
better slate pencil than she has and
such things. So it's kind of nice, and
you feel pretty good about 1t and are
glad she's your girl.
Well, that was the year we had
an. election to see whether 1t was to
be prohibition or not, and all the
school children whose fathers We're
prohibition paraded; 50 Mamie. Little
paraded because her father was one
Of the biggest prohibition men In
RivSrbank. and / paraded because
Mamie did, and my father didn't care
whether there was prohibition or not.
Swatty diAn't. parade beceuse mis-
father was a German tailor. ana wnen
he felt like glass OF peer ne Waassu
to have it, and every fall Swattys
mother made grape wine out OF wild
grapes that me and Swatty got from
the vines in the bottom across tne
Mississippi. When they had the cleo
tton. prohibition was elected al over Set
the State, but not in RiverbankI put
we had to have 1t in Riverbank be-
cause the state elected 1t.
OF course, / was prohibition, oe-
cause / had paraded and because
Mamie Little was, but Swatty was
anti-prohibition. didn't say sa;d e tn,ns nas
Huh! You thought you was SO
smart, didn't you? You thought pro.
hibition was going. to get licked. put
it was you got licked: Next time you
won't be so smarts / guess you ana
your father feel pretty sick about IT,"
Don't you say anything ABOUT my
father" Swatty said.
."Ill say he was licked. because he
was licked" I said
so Swatty pulled Off his coat and l
pulled off mine, and we had a good
ight He licked me because he. always
did; and when he was sitting on my
ribs and had his knees on my arms
so I couldn't do anything he asked
me IL / had had enough, and l said
had Because / bad had.
IL guess / showed you how much
the prohibitions can lick thesanti-pro-
hibitionS!" he said.
'"Let me up" said.
Are you a prohibition? ne ASKED
said, "Yes / am"
"All right" he said. and he put his
hand on my nose and pushed. He
pushed my nose right into my race.
vi never had anything hurt like that
lid yelled. 1t hurt so much. told
him to stop.
'All right" he said. "if I stop what
a9e you?"
"I knew what he meantl He had
already got me from being republi-
can to being democrat that way
once before. / wasn't thinking OF
Mamie Little; I was thinking of my
rose. So 1 said:
I'm an anti-prohibition New let
me UP. You've busted my nose and
some of my ribs, and 1 want to put
some plantain on my eye before It
swells up
We felt of my ribs and couldn't find
that any seemed busted. and my nose
stopped hurting and came back into
shape, so me aud Swatty were better
friends than we had ever been. be-
cause we were now both anti-prohibi-
tions We went around and made
lot Of prohibitions into anti-prohibi-
tions because Swatty showed me how
to push. nose the way he pushed
mine. But 1t didn't do much gooc, l
guess. The election was over and
anyway. there were'always more anti
prohibitions in Riverbank than there
were prohibitions.
1t was almost right away after that
that me and Swatty and Bony met
Mamie Little and Lucy one Saturday
afternoon. Lucy Is my sister. and
they were going downtown. Me and
Swatty and l3ony were sitting on the
curb telling whoppers; or / guess
Swatty and Bony were. l was just
telling some things that had happened
to me some time that I'd forgot until
l happened TO think them up just then.
Swatty was telling how he went up
to Derlingport and his uncle intro
duced him to the man that had the
government job of making up new
swear words when Mamie ami Lucy
came along. 1 said:
Where are you going"
Down town." Lucy said.
Did mother give you a nickel?" !
asked, nd I was sort of mad, because
mother owed me nickel and hadn't
laid me because she said she didn't
Lave one, and IL she gave one to Lucy,
'Hhy, all right for mother
mo, she didn't give me nickel,
,Mr. Smarty" Lucy said. 'If you want
10 know so much. We're going down to
..lr. Swartz's shop to see If he'll let
Mamie have a father"
] guess that would sound pretty
funny IL you didn't know what she
meant. 1t was paper dolls.
Girls always play paper dolls, l
Euess; so Mamie and Lucy and all
The girls played them; they got them
out of the colored fashion plates in the
magazines-brides and mothers and