But I had to catch that
game of ball that day at any cost. Getting to the ground was easy. I
opened the window and let myself down as far as I could and then
dropped. I arrived all right, a little shaken up, but what is that to a
boy who has a ball game in his head!
I got to the game all right and some of the boys fixed me up. I don't
remember which side won that game, but when it was finished I went home
and met mother, and the interview was not a pleasant one, though she did
not give me a whipping.
I used to read novels, any number of them, in those days--all about
Indians, pirates, and all those blood-and-thunder tales--lies. You can
not get any good out of them, and they do corrupt your mind. I would
advise the young people who read these lines, and older folks also, if
this is your style of reading, to stop right where you are. Get some
good books--there are plenty of them--and don't fill your mind with
stuff that only unfits you for the real life of the years to come.
[Illustration: A NOON SHOP MEETING ADDRESSED BY MR. RANNEY.]
CHAPTER II
FIRST STEPS IN CRIME
I was getting tired of school and wanted to go to work.
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