PECK'S SON INTERESTS HIS PA.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3959, 28 March 1884, Page 4

PECK'S SON INTERESTS HIS PA.

" Come in tho back room, Hennery, I want to talk with you," said tho groceryman to tho bad boy, as ho camo in laughing and slapping his hands on his legs. "1 havo heard something to-day that lias hurt mo as much as though you was my own boy;" and the grocoryman looked as though it would not tako many good sized onions to mako tho tears come. " Great jowhillikins ! what is it ?" asked tho bad boy, as his faco sobered down at tho look of pain on tho faco of his mercantile friend. '' What is tho matter ? Won't your creditors accept ton cents on tho dollar F" And tho boy looked liko a lawyer ready to help a client out, and reached into a cinnamon bag and took out a handful of cinnamon. "No, nothing of that kind," said tho grocoryman. " I have concluded not to tail. But lam told on good authority that you have become bad again, and that you have boon playing tlie meanest trick on your pa that you have over played. The minister told me ho was coming in from a country funeral, the other day, and ho ovortook your pa on the road with a gun, and asked him to got in and ride, and your pa's pants were all torn, his boots and gun full of snow, and he was'so scared that lie kept looking around all the way to town, expecting to bo shot in tho back. Now what kind of a way is that to treat the author of your being?" "There, thore, don't put on any extra sadnoss," said tho boy, as he quartered an orango. "Pa is all right. He wanted us to stir him n\>. You see, since I have been good, pa has been neglected, and ho has become sour, and his clothes don't fit. Ho told nia that what he wanted was excitement, and he had got to have it. Ma told me about it, and tho state of mind pa •was in, and I felt sorry for pa. Ma told mo to try and think up somothing that would sort of wake up pa, or he would rolapso into a state of melancholic and have to hire a doctor I told my chum about pa's caso, and he said it was too bad to aco a man suffer that way, and we must do something to save his life. So wo agreed to take pa out rabbit limiting. I asked pa if ho didn't want to go with us, and ho jumped right up and yelled, and said it Would ticklo hiiri half to death to go. I told hint where there was a place about four miles out of town where there was dead loads of rabbits, but tho man that owned the farm drove everybody off. Pa said there couldn't no man drive him oif, and for us to come on. Well, you'd a dido. Pa wasn't afraid of anybody, until the man hollorcd to him to git. You see, wo wont out to tho farm, and stationed pa by a fence, and my chum and mo went on to the other side of a piece of woods to scare rabbits towards pa. Then we went Up to tho farm house, vrhero a man lived that we know, and told him we wanted to scire a man out of his boots, and ho said all right, go ahead. So wo borrowed somo farmer's clothes, anil old plug hats, and went around behind the barn and yelled to pa to get off that farm. Pa said for us to go to the bad place. He said he camo out to hunt rabbits and by gosh lie was going to limit rabbits. Then my chum and me started towards pa, wading through tho snow, and pa thought we Avero grown men seven feet high. When wo got about twenty rods from pa wo told him to 'git,' and la: Avas going to argue with us. when wo pulled up our guns and iired both barrels at him.

We had blank cartridges, but pa thought ho felt shot striking him everyAvhere, and started for a barbed Avire fence, and Aye loaded our guns again and fired just as pa got on the fence, and ho yelled murder. You knoAV these barbed wire fences, don't you ? The barbs catch on your pants and hang on. Well, pa got caught by tho pants and couldn't got over, and avo kept firing, and he dropped his gun in tho snoAV and tried to tear the fence doAvn, and he kept yelling, " For God's sake gentlemen, spare my life. I don't want any of your rabbits." I got to laughing so I couldn't shoot and I laid doAvn in a snoAV-bauk, and my chum kept shooting. Pa finally got off the fence and burrowed in a snow-bank, and held up a piece of his shirt which the fence tore off, for a flag of truce, and wo quit, and he stuck up his head and he saw mo laying there on the snow, and pa thought his gun had gone off and killed ono of the farmers, and my chum said, "Groat hevings you have killed him." At that pa grabbed b _ gun and run for the road and started for town, and that's Avhere the minister overtook. Along towards night me aud my chum camo homo Avith four rabbits, and Aye told pa he was a pretty rabbit hunter to leave before the rabbits got to running, and that Aye looked all around for him. He looked surprised and asked us if we struck any corpses around on that farm, and I thought I should bust. Wo told him -ive didn't sco any, and then he told us that ho Avas standing thero waiting for rabbits, when a gang of about fifteen roughs came and ordered him aAvay, and ho refused to go. He said they opened fire on him and he threw himself into a hollow square, tho way thoy used to do in the army, threw up intrenchmen'ts of siioav and defended himself, and when ho Avas finally' surrounded and had to retreat ho saw tho ground covered Avith dead and wounded, and he expected ho had Aviped out an entire neighborhood. He said it Avas singular we didn't see any corpses. I asked him how he toro his pants, and ho said tho gang shot them all to pieces. Then avo told him of the joke avc had played on him, and hoAV avc fired blank Cartridges at him as he a?as trying to get over tlie fence, and he tried to laugh, but couldn't. Ho Avas inclined to be mad at first, but finally he said this was more like business, and he hadn't felt so well before since we initiated him into tho Masons, aud avc could play anything on him, and do anything avc chose except let him alone. So you see, I am not so bad as you think. Pa enjoys it, and so does my chum and mo. Eh ! old rutabaga, do you sec ?" " 0 yes, that is. all right if your pa likes that kind of fun, but if you was my boy I would maul you till you couldn't stand." Just then a big cannon fire-cracker that the boy had Jit and laid on the floor exploded", and the grocoryman went out tho back door bare-headed, Avhilc the boy Avcnt out tho front door, whistling "Bo sure and call mo early, for I'm to bo queen of May." —Peck's Sun.