his nose and eyebrows where the skin was off.

"Yes, that is all right enough," said the grocery man, "but somebody
who knew where that cat slept, in the box of sawdust, back of the store,
filled it full of firecrackers, Wednesday forenoon, when I was out to
see the procession, and never notified the cat, and touched them off,
and the cat went through the roof of the shed, and she hasn't got
hair enough left on her to put in tea. Now, you didn't show up all the
forenoon, and I went and asked your Ma where you was, and she said you
had been sitting up four nights straight along with a sick boy in the
Third Ward, and you was sleeping all the forenoon the 4th of July. If
that is so, that lets you out on the cat, but it don't stand to reason.
Own up, now, was you asleep all the forenoon, the 4th, while other boys
were celebrating, or did you scorch my cat?" and the grocery man looked
at the boy as though he would believe every word he said, if he _was_
bad.

"Well, said the bad boy as he yawned as though he had been up all night,
"I am innocent of sitting up with your cat, but I plead guilty
to sitting up with Duffy. You see, I am bad, and it don't make any
difference where I am, and Duffy thumped me once when we were playing
marbles, and I said I would get even with him some time. His Ma washes
for us, and when she told me that her boy was sick with fever, and had
nobody to stay with him while she was away, I thought it would be a good
way to get even with Duffy, when he was weak, and I went down there to
his shanty and gave him his medicine, and read to him all day, and he
cried 'cause he knew I ought to have mauled him, and that night I sat up
with him while his Ma did the ironing, and Duffy was so glad that I went
down every day and stayed there every night, and fired medicine down
him, and let his Ma sleep, and Duffy has got mashed on me, and he says I
will be an angel when I die. Last night makes five nights I have sat up
with him, and he has got so he can eat beef tea and crackers. My girl
went back on me 'cause she said I was sitting up with some other girl.
She said that Duffy story was too thin, but Duffy's Ma was washing at
my girl's house and she proved what I said, and I was all right again.
I slept all the forenoon the 4th, and then stayed with Duffy till 4
o'clock, and got a furlough and took my girl to the Soldiers' Home. I
had rather set up with Duffy, though."

"O, get out. You can't make me believe you