The Great Big Man.

The boy scouts book of stories. By Franklin K. Mathiews. 1919

The Great Big Man. By Owen Johnson. Reprinted by special permission from “The Prodigious Hickey.” Copyright, 1908, by Little, Brown and Company.

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“You don’t think ———” began the Big Man in dismay.

“No; you’re all right now. You’re quiet, and don’t tag around, and you’re a good sort, darned if you aren’t, and that’s why I don’t want to see you spoiled. Now a straight question: Do you smoke?”

“Why, that is—well, Butcher, I did try once a puff on Snookers’ cigarette.”

“You ought to be spanked!” said the Butcher, angrily. “And when I get hold of Snookers, I’ll tan him. The idea of his letting you! Don’t you monkey around tobacco yet a while. First of all, it’s fresh, and second, you’ve got to grow. You want to make a team, don’t you, while you’re here?”

“O-o-h!” said the Great Big Man with a long sigh.

“Then just stick to growing. ’Cause you’ve got work cut out for you there. Now I’m not preachin’; I’m saying that you want to fill out and grow up and do something. Harkee.”

“All right.”

“Cut out Snookers and that gang. Pick out the fellows that count, as you go along, and just remember this, if you forget the rest: if you want to put ducks in Tabby’s bed or nail down his desk, do it because you want to do it, not because some other fellow wants you to do it. D’ye hear?”

“Yes, Butcher.”

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