23/69 Mother can't whip me, because the doctor says it ain't good for me. You goin' down ?" "Can't go down but once. I've got to go home, or mother 'll give it to me." "Does she ever whip you ?" "Sometimes." "Mine don't," said Ephraim, and he felt a superiority over Ezra Ray. It was not painted, nor was it as new as Ezra's, but it had a reputation. Barney had won many coasting laurels with it in his boyhood, and his little brother, who had never used it himself, had always looked upon it with unbounded faith and admiration. |