MORAL: _Lower Broadway is not New England_.




_THE_ FABLE _OF THE_ INVETERATE JOKER WHO REMAINED _IN_ MONTANA


The Subject of this Fable started out in Life as a Town Cut-Up. He had a
keen Appreciation of Fun, and was always playing Jokes. If he wanted a
few Gum-Drops he would go into the Candy Store and get them, and then
ask the Man if he was willing to take Stamps. If the Man said he was,
then the Boy would stamp a couple of times, which meant that the Laugh
was on the Man. It was considered a Great Sell in Those Parts.

Or else he would go into a Grocery with another tricky Tad and get some
Article of Value, and they would pretend to Quarrel as to which should
Pay for it. One would ask the Proprietor if he cared who paid for it,
and if he said he did not, they would up and tell him to Pay for it
Himself. This one was so Cute that they had a little Piece in the Paper
about it.

Or they would go and Purchase a Watermelon to be paid for as soon as a
Bet was decided, and afterward it would Develop that the Bet was whether
the Saw-Mill would fall to the East or the West, in case the Wind blew
it over.

It was Common Talk that the Boy was Sharp as a Tack and Keen as a Brier
and a Natural-Born Humorist.