PECK’S BAD BOY AND HIS PA.

By Geo. W. Peck

With Illustrations by Gean Smith.

Belford, Clarke & Co. - 1883.

     [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