OCR Text |
Show Old Nibs. When 1 was a boy wo played a eamo called "Old Nibs." U was fear-fully fear-fully and wonderfully made, nnd was Played In and about a roomy old barn In the neighborhood. "Old Nibs," supposed to bo n demon de-mon of infernal conception, reigned In tho stable. Ho was transformed from ono of tho Innocent bovy of boys by a chanco selection nnd immediately imme-diately retired to tho barn to becomo a monsterof hideous mien. Then wo mado Bailies at tho barn, and bravo was ho who could clamber In at a rear window and pass out at another, trespassing upon tho domain of thGVi-"iki as ho snortod in his lair. On ono-occaslon I slipped through tho hay mow door froi an applo troo hard by, and scrambled aloft on tho redolent hay. Tho ndoloscont accomplices accom-plices on tho ground wero supposed to keep "Old Nibs" busy while I watched watch-ed my charfce to lock him out of his own home; but thoy didn't! Ho camo crashing up the stairs nftor mo, smoke issuing from hlB nostrils, a weird and flighty bellow emanating from his throat I stood for a momont almost paralyzed para-lyzed with fear. Thon my oyo caught the hay chute orifice, and with ono foil swoop, I-rJoTe for it, head first! It was a loap for life on tho spur of tho .moment, and while tho execution was good, tho results wero poor. Like tho ourtaary hay chute, it was ibig at tho top, tapering to a small hole at the bottom, Tho result may bo guessed I stuck, head foremost in tho chute I I not only stuck in tho chuto, but I stuck so tightly that even "Old Nibs" had to turn in with his persecutors and help extricate me. Thon thoy made mo "Old Nibs." That was thcVjame. There nro Tiogimes nowadays like "Old Nibs." At least I haven't notic od any such and I'm not pessimlsti-cal pessimlsti-cal about boys and their games, either. |