



Produced by David Widger





PECK'S BAD BOY AND HIS PA.

By Geo. W. Peck

With Illustrations by Gean Smith.

Belford, Clarke & Co. - 1883.

[Illustration: cover]

[Illustration: frontispiece]

[Illustration: titlepage]


     [Transcriber's Note: The variable grammar and punctuation in
     this file make it difficult to decide which errors are
     archaic usage and which the printer's fault.  I have made
     corrections only of what appeared obvious printer's errors.
     This eBook is taken from the 1883 1st edition.]




A CARD FROM THE AUTHOR.

     Office of "Peck's Sun," Milwaukee, Feb., 1883.

     Belford, Clarke & Co.:

     Gents--If you have made up your minds that the world will
     cease to move unless these "Bad Boy" articles are given to
     the public in book form, why go ahead, and peace to your
     ashes. The "Bad Boy" is not a "myth," though there may be
     some stretches of imagination in the articles. The
     counterpart of this boy is located in every city, village
     and country hamlet throughout the land. He is wide awake,
     full of vinegar, and is ready to crawl under the canvas of a
     circus or repeat a hundred verses of the New Testament in
     Sunday School. He knows where every melon patch in the
     neighborhood is located, and at what hours the dog is
     chained up. He will tie an oyster can to a dog's tail to
     give the dog exercise, or will fight at the drop of the hat
     to protect the smaller boy or a school girl. He gets in his
     work everywhere there is a fair prospect of fun, and his
     heart is easily touched by an appeal in the right way,
     though his coat-tail is oftener touched with a boot than his
     heart is by kindness. But he shuffles through life until the
     time comes for him to make a mark in the world, and then he
     buckles on the harness and goes to the front, and becomes
     successful, and then those who said he would bring up in
     State Prison, remember that he always _was_ a mighty smart
     lad, and they never tire of telling of some of his deviltry
     when he was a boy, though they thought he was pretty tough
     at the time. This book is respectfully dedicated to boys, to
     the men who have been boys themselves, to the girls who like
     the boys, and to the mothers, bless them, who like both the
     boys and the girls,

     Very respectfully,

     GEO. W. PECK,




CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

THE BOY WITH A LAME BACK--THE BOY COULDN'T SIT DOWN--A PRACTICAL JOKE ON
THE OLD MAN--A LETTER FROM "DAISY "--GUARDING THE FOUR CORNERS--THE OLD
MAN IS UNUSUALLY GENEROUS--MA ASKS AWKWARD QUESTIONS--THE BOY TALKED TO
WITH A BED SLAT--NO ENCOURAGEMENT FOR A BOY


CHAPTER II.

THE BOY AT WORK AGAIN--THE BEST BOYS FULL OF TRICKS--THE OLD MAN
LAYS DOWN THE LAW ABOUT JOKES--RUBBER HOSE MACARONI--THE OLD MAS's
STRUGGLES--CHEWING VIGOROUSLY BUT IN VAIN--AN INQUEST HELD--REVELRY BY
NIGHT--MUSIC IN THE WOODSHED--"'twas ever thus."


CHAPTER III.

THE BAD BOY GIVES HIS PA AWAY--PA IS A HARD CITIZEN--DRINKING
SOZODONT--MAKING UP THE SPARE BED--THE MIDNIGHT WAR DANCE--AN
APPOINTMENT BY THE COAL-BIN.


CHAPTER IV.

THE BAD BOY'S FOURTH OF JULY.--PA IS A POINTER, NOT A SETTER--SPECIAL
ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY--A GRAND SUPPLY OF FIREWORKS--THE
EXPLOSION--THE AIR FULL OF PA AND DOG AND ROCKETS--THE NEW HELL--A SCENE
THAT BEGGARS DESCRIPTION.


CHAPTER V.

THE BAD BOY'S MA COMES HOME.--DEVILTRY, ONLY A LITTLE FUN--THE BAD
BOY'S CHUM--A LADY'S WARDROBE IN THE OLD MAN'S ROOM--MA's UNEXPECTED
ARRIVAL--WHERE IS THE HUZZY?--DAMFINO!--THE BAD BOY WANTS TO TRAVEL WITH
A CIRCUS


CHAPTER VI.

HIS PA IS A DARN COWARD--HIS PA HAS BEEN A MAJOR--HOW HE WOULD DEAL WITH
BURGLARS--HIS BRAVERY PUT TO THE TEST--THE ICE REVOLVER--HIS PA BEG