Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 August 1889 — "Helen's Babies.” [ARTICLE]

"Helen's Babies.”

Mr. Eugene Field, the author of the “Sharps and Flats” column of the Chicago News, has three boys who, if they do pretty nearly as they please and do it in a highly original manner, ire only chips of the old block. One day in mid-winter, when Chioago s far famed lake breeze had driven the thermometrlcal mercury down into the bulb and was sitting on it to keep ife down, the three Field boys did not come home at the usual hour for returning from school. Dinner was held oft tor them until almost 8 o’clock, and then, as the rest of the family sat at the table, one of the boys came softly in, wearing on bis face and all over his manner the most positive evidence that he had been up to mischief. “Where are your brothers?" asked the father. “They’re down stairs,” said Pinney, “bringing up the fish,-’ “What fish?”"” “The fish we caught.” “Where have you been fishing?” “Down to the lake. You see it was this way, papa. We was awful cold and we saw smoke coming up from the lake and we went down there to get warm.” Thef bad seen the steam rising from the watar and had. gone nut about a mile over the ice to “get warm." Presently, when it was thought Pinnoy had satisfactorily explained their absence from home and established mace, the other two boys, Melvin and Sugene, jr., came in looking as blue as whetstones and as stiff as frozen mackereL Melvin held in his hand about two yards of tow string, the end of which was tied around the body of a solitary smoked herring. “See,” said Pinney, lifting the fish from the floor, where Melvin was dragging it In a shame faced manner —“See, papa, we thought we’d like to >ring something nioe for your supper, so we caught this fish; and it’s all for you, papa."—Washington Post