Part 1 of From Funny, To Bad, and Back
 

By:  Lynne G.


It had been one of those weeks that Little Joe Cartwright wished would end.  Everything the boy did turned into a disaster.  Of course it had started very early on a Monday morning.  Little Joe had spent another night of not being able to sleep.  So instead of tossing and turning all night, the boy decided to get up.  He dressed very quietly as not to awaken his sleeping family.
 
Once down stairs he decided to make some coffee even though he really wasn't sure just how to make it.  He first got a fire going in the stove.  He then ground up some coffee beans and mixed them with some water and put it on the stove.  As he waited for the coffee to get hot, he dozed off.  He was startled awake by a screaming Hop Sing, and coffee boiling all over the stove.  "Oh Hop Sing I'm so sorry.  I guess I dozed off again" said Little Joe.  Hop Sing was yelling in Chinese, and he chased the boy out of the kitchen.  All this commotion from the kitchen got Ben, Adam and Hoss up and they were walking down the stairs just in time to see Hop Sing chasing after Little Joe with a spoon in his hand.  "Oh geez" Adam said as he tried to wake up some more.   " Hop Sing whats the matter?" asked Ben.  "Little Joe try to burn up my kitchen!  He not know how to make coffee" yelled Hop Sing.  "JOSEPH, why are you up at this hour trying to make coffee?" asked Ben.  " I couldn't sleep, and I really needed some coffee" the boy said softly.  " Joseph, Little Joe, is there something bothering you or are you not feeling well?' asked Ben.  "No Pa, I'm just so sleepy,but I can't seem to sleep.  Maybe I'm a little over tired" Little Joe told his Pa.  "You've got to be kidding little brother-you over tired-from what?" laughed Adam.  "Now come on Adam, your little brother has been working very hard lately, and is probably just over tired is all" said Ben.  Adam just stood there and shook his head .  "Adam Pa's right little brother here has been working hard, or haven't you noticed or didn't want to notice" Hoss told Adam.  
 
The boy left the house and headed for the barn to do chores.  
 
When breakfast was ready Ben asked Hoss to go and get Little Joe.  When Hoss got to the barn he watched his little brother cleaning the stalls for a couple of minutes.  "Hey little brother, breakfast is ready.  Come on and get cleaned up" Hoss told the boy.  " I'm not hungry Hoss" the boy said.   "Are you afraid of Hop Sing or something?'  asked Hoss. " No, I'm not afraid fo Hop Sing.  I'm just not hungry is all" Little Joe said.  "OK, suit yourself little brother, but it sure does smell good in the house" Hoss said.  
 
Hoss goes back to the house, and sits down at the table.   " Hoss, where's Little Joe?" asked ben.  " Says he's not hungry, Pa" said Hoss.  Ben shook his head and said,"something must be bothering the boy"..   " Oh Pa, he's probably afraid to face Hop Sing" Adam said.  
 
When Little Joe finished working in the barn he headed out to feed the chickens, but being sleepy and not really thinking straight, he forgot to close the gate to the chicken pen.
 
The boy headed for the house to get a cup of coffee, hoping it would wake him up.  He came in through the front door, but he forgot to close it.  Soon there were chickens coming into the house and walking all over the room, and also all over the yard.   JOSEPH-GET THOSE CHICKENS OUT OF THIS HOUSE THIS INSTANT" yelled Ben.  "What chickens?" asked the boy.  "Those chickens" laughed Adam as he pointed to the chickens in the livingroom. Little Joe looked towards the livingroom-saw the chickens and he yelled "OH NO!!!!!!" He jumped up from his chair and started to chase the chickens out of the house.  His family sat there laughing.
 
When Little Joe got outside he stood there with his mouth open and stared at the sight in front of him.  There were chickens running amok all over the yard.  So ran after them trying to get them all back in their pen.  About the same time, his family sttod on the porch and watched the baby of the family chasing chickens all over the yard, and they stood there laughing at the sight.  " Gotta love em, Pa" said Hoss.  
 
Finally the winded Little Joe sat down on the ground breathing hard from chasing chickens.  "Looks like it's not yer day there little brother" Laughed Hoss.  "It ain't funny Hoss" yelled Little Joe.
 
Over the next few days, Little Joe had left the gate to the corral open, and some of the horses got out, and they ran through part of Hop Sing's garden.  Hop Sing was really mad at this, and he was yelling and he chased the boy all over the yard with his large spoon.  Ben heard all the commotion from the yard, so he got up from his desk, and went to see what on earth was going on.  He saw his youngest son running for his life, so as the boy passed next to him, he grabbed the boy by the arm, and asked " what have you done this time to Hop Sing JOSEPH?"  " Pa, I sorta forgot to shut the corral gate, and the horses got out and they ran through Hop Sing's garden" the boy said as he looked up at Ben.   " JOSEPH, what am I going to do with you?" asked Ben.  " Lock him up, Pa" laughed Adam and Hoss.  "Little Joe, go and get those horses back in the corral NOW"!!!  "Yes sir" said Little Joe as he went after the horses.  By the end of the week, Little Joe had lost the mail, broke 3 windows in the house, knocked over a large bag of chicken feed, spilled his milk, fell off his horse, lost the ax, and many other things.
 
Early on Thursday morning, after a couple of hours of restless sleep, Little Joe got up, and went out to the barn to do his chores.  When he finished he went back into the house and went over to Ben's desk-sat down-took out some paper and a pen and wrote Ben a note.  He left the note on the credenza , and he went out-got on Cochise and rode off.
 
About three hours later as his family sat down to breakfast. Ben asked Hoss to go up stairs and get Little Joe up.  When Hoss came back down, he told Ben that his little brother wasn't in his room.  Ben looked at Hoss and said "he's not in his room?  Now I wonder where that boy could be and what is he up too now?"  " Pa, you worry too much over him.  He's probably in the barn" said Adam.  When Adam got up from the table, and headed for the front door, where he noticed the note from his little brother.  "Pa, as he headed to the table with the note in his hand, and as he handed it to Ben he said "it's from Joe.  Ben took the note and read.  It said "Pa, could sleep again.  Got the barn all mucked out. Horses are fed.  Gone out to check fences.  Be back later.  Little Joe".  Ben sat there shaking his head and said "that does it.  I'm going into town and talk to Dr. Martin about Joe's not sleeping or eating much.  There must be something wrong with the boy,,but he sure isn't telling us what is wrong."  "That is a good idea Pa.  I'm now starting to get worried about him too" said a concerned Adam.
 
When Ben got to town, he went right over to Dr. Martin's office.  "Ben, how nice to see you.  I hope nothing is wrong with you or is this just a friendly little visit?" asked Paul Martin. "Paul, I'm concerned about Little Joe.  He seems to be having a hard time sleeping, and he's not eating much.  He seems to be forgetting to do things.  I just don't know what else to do.  We are all getting really worried about the boy" said Ben.  " Ben, has he said anything about not feeling well? asked Paul. " No, he hasn't.  He just says he can't sleep" Ben said.  "Has he been over doing it-I mean has the boy been working harder than normal"  "Yes he has.  He keeps trying to prove to his older brothers that he can work just as hard as they can, but he's only a young boy.  He doesn't have to prove anything to us" said Ben.
 
"Well, Ben , he just might being worrying himself about not being able to sleep, and he gets upset.  That could explain the problem" Paul told Ben.  "Here I'll give you some sleeping powders for him.  Just give him a small spoonfull in what ever he likes to drink in the evening.  Don't tell him about the powder.  Just makes sure he drinks it.  If he's as tired as you say, this will work, and he should sleep like a baby for 24 hours or more.  If it doesn't help, bring the boy into the office and I will give him a complete check up." Paul said as he handed the powders to Ben.  "Thank you Paul.  I sure hopes this helps the boy" said Ben as he shock Paul's hand.  " Me too Ben. Me too" said Paul.
 
When ben left Paul's office, he saw Little Joe on his horse, and he yelled " Joseph, come over here"  " Hi Pa, what are you doing in town?" asked the boy.  "Well I might ask you the same thing son" said Ben.  "I thought you were checking the fence lines" Ben asked.  " I was Pa, but got done, and so I thought I'd come in and get the mail" said Little Joe. " Why don't you give me the mail and we will ride home son?" said Ben.  Little Joe handed the mail to Ben and said " Don't you trust me with the mail Pa?" " I trust you son, but I'd just rather take it if you don't mind" Ben said to his son.  They rode home in silence.
 
That night during dinner, Little Joe was so sleepy that he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.  He put some food on his plate, and he slowly ate  a little bit.  They were talking about their day, except for Little Joe who had dozed off.  Adam looked over to his little brother, and pointed towards him and said "hey Pa look at Little Joe.  I think he's sleeping".  Ben looked over at his son, and smiled and said " JOSEPH"   There was no answer.  As his family sat there looking at him, his head slowly started to slumped towards the table.  " I've got to wake him up" said Ben.  "NO Pa, let's just see what happens" said Adam.  Sure enough, the boy's head and face fell into his plate.  Adam and Hoss were laughing loudly.  "Will you two stop that laughing right now.  This isn't funny" yelled Ben.  "But Pa, he looks soooo funny" laughed Hoss.  Ben got up and walked over to his baby son, and gently woke him up.  The boy sat up with mashed potatoes all over his face.   "Hey little brother, yer suppose to eat yer food, NOT WEAR IT" laughed Hoss.  By now Ben was trying not to laugh at his son, and he told him to go to the kitchen and wash his face.  "STOP LAUGHING AT ME" yelled the boy at his big brothers.  " Sorry little brother, but you are just too funny looking right now" said Adam also laughing.  Little Joe stormed off to the kitchen.  Hop Sing came out of the kitchen with a strange look on his face, and he asked "Why Little Joe got food all over face?"   Adam and Hoss were almost rolling on the floor in laughter.  " STOP THAT LAUGHING RIGHT NOW" yelled Ben.   "Hop Sing, Little Joe fell asleep at the table" Ben told Hop Sing.  " Oh, boy need to sleep in bed not at table" said Hop Sing.
 
Little Joe walked out of the kitchen not looking at anyone, and he madly stomped out the front door.   Later that evening he came back in from the barn and he sat down.  " Son, I know what you need, a nice cup of hot chocolate.  You know it always makes you feel better.  " It does sound good Pa.  I think I'd really love to have some.  No sooner said, then Hop Sing came out of the kitchen with hot chocolate for the family.  "Thanks Hop Sing" they all said.  
 
"Little Joe, said Adam, we didn't mean to upset you at dinner, but you really did look funny, kid"  Little Joe just looked at his oldest brother and slowly sipped his hot chocolate.  When he finsihed it, he sat the cup down, and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in.  Ben went back to reading his paper, while Hoss and Adam played checkers.  
 
A few minutes later, Hoss glanced over to his little brother-got a big smile on his face and said " Pa, Little Joe is sound to sleep"  Ben put his book down and walked over to his son and softly called his name. There was no response from the boy.  " Pa, don't wake him up.  I'll take him up to bed" Hoss said softly.  Hoss gently picked up his little brother who was dead to the world in deep sleep, and carried him up to his room.  He got the boy undressed and into his nightshirt, and into bed.  He lovingly covered him up, turned down the light, and left the boy to sleep.  The next morning, Ben looked in at his sleeping son, and smiled.  The boy slept that entire day, and when he woke up on Saturday morning, he came rushing down the stairs, and said " Good morning everyone.  Boy I'm hungry!!!!!!   "Good morning to you too" they all said.
"Hey, I feel GREAT this morning" said a wide eyed Little Joe.  He was back to his usual silly self.   " Looks like we got our Little Joe back again, and he has that little twinkle in his eyes gain too" said Hoss with a big smile on his face.  
 
Over the next few days, Little Joe spent most of his time absolutetly tormenting his older brothers to no end.   At one point Adam and Hoss were just about at the end of their patience with their little brother, so they tied him up to a tree, and gagged him.  " Ah, finally some peace and quiet"  said Adam.  Ben rode into the yard, and he saw his youngest son tied up and gagged.  "Why is Little Joe tied up and gagged" asked Ben.   " Oh hi Pa, said Hoss.  That little varmint is driving us CRAZY!!!!!.   Ben got off his horse and walked over to Little Joe and said " Little Joe, can't you find something to keep you busy for a while? I swear son, you are going to be the death of me yet"  Little Joe looked at Ben with THAT look on his face that only he can do.  "How long do you two plan to keep your little brother tied up and gagged?" asked Ben. "As long as it take us to finish this gate: said Adam.  Ben walked to the house shaking his head and mumbling to himself.  
 
The next day Little Joe got up early so he could finish all his chores so he could continue teasing his brothers.  Adam and Hoss had planned to put a new side on the wagon that their little brother had so how broken.   Adam had bought a large piece of wood for the side of the wagon, and he had measured it and cut to fit.  Soon their little brother showed up.  The boy grabbed the hammer and ran off with it.  "DADBURN YOU-YOU LITTLE VARMINT.  GET BACK HERE WITH HAMMER.  DO YOU HEAR ME LITTLE BROTHER?????"   yelled Hoss.  The boy brought the hammer back, but he continued to tease his brothers.  " I like him better when he was sleepy" grumped Adam.   " Me too " Hoss said agreeing with Adam.  
 
"Hey kid, why don't you get out of here.  Go and get lost or something" yelled Adam.  Little Joe grabbed the keg of nails and took off with them.  "I mean it Little Joe, you bring those nails back here NOW" screamed Adam.  He brought the nails back and said " you two aren't any fun today".  Then he picked up the saw and tossed it towards the barn and laughed.  "OK, THAT DOES IT" screamed Adam.  "Let's get him Hoss".  They ran off after their brother, who was laughing so hard that he fell down.  "Yer gonna be sorry boy" yelled Hoss.  Hoss grabbed Little Joe by his shoulders, while Adam grabbed his ankles, and they lifted him up and carried him over to the water trough.  "PUT ME DOWN!!!!!   PUT ME DOWN!!! yelled the boy.  Hoss and Adam tossed him very hard into the water trough.  "NOW YOU STAY THERE TILL WE SAY YOU CAN GET OUT!!!! yelled Adam.  They went back to work.  What they didn't realize was that Little Joe had hit the back of head extremely hard on the back of the trough, knocking him out.
 
In the mean time, Hoss and Adam were busy with the wagon, when Adam said " Hoss, sounds like the trough did it's thing.  He hasn't said anything at all.  Guess he's learned his lesson".  Adam glanced over towards the trough and yelled "OH MY GOD"  Hoss looked up  and towards the trough, and he and Adam ran over to their unconscious little brother.  "LITTLE JOE, LITTLE JOE" they kept yelling over and over, but there was NO reponse from the boy  "STOP KIDDIN' AROUND LITTLE BROTHER" Adam said, but the boy was unresponsive.  Hoss picked him up out of the water, and laid him on the piece of wood.  They kept calling his name and slapping his face.  No response at all.  Adam jumped on his horse and raced off to get Dr. Martin.  Hoss picked  up his little brother and ran to the house with the unconscious boy in his arms.  "Pa Pa Pa" ylled Hoss.  Ben who had been at his desk jumped up and ran to the door-opened and saw Hoss with a very limp boy in his arms.  "HOSS WHAT HAPPENED" screamed Ben.  "Pa it was an accident.  We didn't mean to hurt him.  We were just tryin' to teach him a lesson-thats all.  Hoss and Ben ran up the stairs, with Little Joe still in Hoss"s massive arms.  "Hoss, was his head underwater at all?"yelled Ben.  "NO" cried Hoss.  They got the boy undressed, dried off, and in his nightshirt, and in bed.  They kept trying to wake him up,but nothing worked.  Hop Sing even tried.  " I wish Paul would hurry up and get here" said Ben.  "LITTLE JOE, LITTLE JOE, PLEASE WAKE UP BABY.  PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES.  PLEASE DEAR GOD, PLEASE HELP MY BABY!!!!! cried Ben.
 
               End of Part One.
 
 
.  
 
 
 
IHi Jennie.  I have a new story for the reading room.  
It is called:   From Funny, To Bad, and  Back.  Part 1.
It is rated "G"
It's about Little Joe having problems sleeping, and from the lack of sleep, he dozes off off at not so good times.
lynneg@harbornet.com
 
                            
Part 1 of From Funny, To Bad, and Back
 
It had been one of those weeks that Little Joe Cartwright wished would end.  Everything the boy did turned into a disaster.  Of course it had started very early on a Monday morning.  Little Joe had spent another night of not being able to sleep.  So instead of tossing and turning all night, the boy decided to get up.  He dressed very quietly as not to awaken his sleeping family.
 
Once down stairs he decided to make some coffee even though he really wasn't sure just how to make it.  He first got a fire going in the stove.  He then ground up some coffee beans and mixed them with some water and put it on the stove.  As he waited for the coffee to get hot, he dozed off.  He was startled awake by a screaming Hop Sing, and coffee boiling all over the stove.  "Oh Hop Sing I'm so sorry.  I guess I dozed off again" said Little Joe.  Hop Sing was yelling in Chinese, and he chased the boy out of the kitchen.  All this commotion from the kitchen got Ben, Adam and Hoss up and they were walking down the stairs just in time to see Hop Sing chasing after Little Joe with a spoon in his hand.  "Oh geez" Adam said as he tried to wake up some more.   " Hop Sing whats the matter?" asked Ben.  "Little Joe try to burn up my kitchen!  He not know how to make coffee" yelled Hop Sing.  "JOSEPH, why are you up at this hour trying to make coffee?" asked Ben.  " I couldn't sleep, and I really needed some coffee" the boy said softly.  " Joseph, Little Joe, is there something bothering you or are you not feeling well?' asked Ben.  "No Pa, I'm just so sleepy,but I can't seem to sleep.  Maybe I'm a little over tired" Little Joe told his Pa.  "You've got to be kidding little brother-you over tired-from what?" laughed Adam.  "Now come on Adam, your little brother has been working very hard lately, and is probably just over tired is all" said Ben.  Adam just stood there and shook his head .  "Adam Pa's right little brother here has been working hard, or haven't you noticed or didn't want to notice" Hoss told Adam.  
 
The boy left the house and headed for the barn to do chores.  
 
When breakfast was ready Ben asked Hoss to go and get Little Joe.  When Hoss got to the barn he watched his little brother cleaning the stalls for a couple of minutes.  "Hey little brother, breakfast is ready.  Come on and get cleaned up" Hoss told the boy.  " I'm not hungry Hoss" the boy said.   "Are you afraid of Hop Sing or something?'  asked Hoss. " No, I'm not afraid fo Hop Sing.  I'm just not hungry is all" Little Joe said.  "OK, suit yourself little brother, but it sure does smell good in the house" Hoss said.  
 
Hoss goes back to the house, and sits down at the table.   " Hoss, where's Little Joe?" asked ben.  " Says he's not hungry, Pa" said Hoss.  Ben shook his head and said,"something must be bothering the boy"..   " Oh Pa, he's probably afraid to face Hop Sing" Adam said.  
 
When Little Joe finished working in the barn he headed out to feed the chickens, but being sleepy and not really thinking straight, he forgot to close the gate to the chicken pen.
 
The boy headed for the house to get a cup of coffee, hoping it would wake him up.  He came in through the front door, but he forgot to close it.  Soon there were chickens coming into the house and walking all over the room, and also all over the yard.   JOSEPH-GET THOSE CHICKENS OUT OF THIS HOUSE THIS INSTANT" yelled Ben.  "What chickens?" asked the boy.  "Those chickens" laughed Adam as he pointed to the chickens in the livingroom. Little Joe looked towards the livingroom-saw the chickens and he yelled "OH NO!!!!!!" He jumped up from his chair and started to chase the chickens out of the house.  His family sat there laughing.
 
When Little Joe got outside he stood there with his mouth open and stared at the sight in front of him.  There were chickens running amok all over the yard.  So ran after them trying to get them all back in their pen.  About the same time, his family sttod on the porch and watched the baby of the family chasing chickens all over the yard, and they stood there laughing at the sight.  " Gotta love em, Pa" said Hoss.  
 
Finally the winded Little Joe sat down on the ground breathing hard from chasing chickens.  "Looks like it's not yer day there little brother" Laughed Hoss.  "It ain't funny Hoss" yelled Little Joe.
 
Over the next few days, Little Joe had left the gate to the corral open, and some of the horses got out, and they ran through part of Hop Sing's garden.  Hop Sing was really mad at this, and he was yelling and he chased the boy all over the yard with his large spoon.  Ben heard all the commotion from the yard, so he got up from his desk, and went to see what on earth was going on.  He saw his youngest son running for his life, so as the boy passed next to him, he grabbed the boy by the arm, and asked " what have you done this time to Hop Sing JOSEPH?"  " Pa, I sorta forgot to shut the corral gate, and the horses got out and they ran through Hop Sing's garden" the boy said as he looked up at Ben.   " JOSEPH, what am I going to do with you?" asked Ben.  " Lock him up, Pa" laughed Adam and Hoss.  "Little Joe, go and get those horses back in the corral NOW"!!!  "Yes sir" said Little Joe as he went after the horses.  By the end of the week, Little Joe had lost the mail, broke 3 windows in the house, knocked over a large bag of chicken feed, spilled his milk, fell off his horse, lost the ax, and many other things.
 
Early on Thursday morning, after a couple of hours of restless sleep, Little Joe got up, and went out to the barn to do his chores.  When he finished he went back into the house and went over to Ben's desk-sat down-took out some paper and a pen and wrote Ben a note.  He left the note on the credenza , and he went out-got on Cochise and rode off.
 
About three hours later as his family sat down to breakfast. Ben asked Hoss to go up stairs and get Little Joe up.  When Hoss came back down, he told Ben that his little brother wasn't in his room.  Ben looked at Hoss and said "he's not in his room?  Now I wonder where that boy could be and what is he up too now?"  " Pa, you worry too much over him.  He's probably in the barn" said Adam.  When Adam got up from the table, and headed for the front door, where he noticed the note from his little brother.  "Pa, as he headed to the table with the note in his hand, and as he handed it to Ben he said "it's from Joe.  Ben took the note and read.  It said "Pa, could sleep again.  Got the barn all mucked out. Horses are fed.  Gone out to check fences.  Be back later.  Little Joe".  Ben sat there shaking his head and said "that does it.  I'm going into town and talk to Dr. Martin about Joe's not sleeping or eating much.  There must be something wrong with the boy,,but he sure isn't telling us what is wrong."  "That is a good idea Pa.  I'm now starting to get worried about him too" said a concerned Adam.
 
When Ben got to town, he went right over to Dr. Martin's office.  "Ben, how nice to see you.  I hope nothing is wrong with you or is this just a friendly little visit?" asked Paul Martin. "Paul, I'm concerned about Little Joe.  He seems to be having a hard time sleeping, and he's not eating much.  He seems to be forgetting to do things.  I just don't know what else to do.  We are all getting really worried about the boy" said Ben.  " Ben, has he said anything about not feeling well? asked Paul. " No, he hasn't.  He just says he can't sleep" Ben said.  "Has he been over doing it-I mean has the boy been working harder than normal"  "Yes he has.  He keeps trying to prove to his older brothers that he can work just as hard as they can, but he's only a young boy.  He doesn't have to prove anything to us" said Ben.
 
"Well, Ben , he just might being worrying himself about not being able to sleep, and he gets upset.  That could explain the problem" Paul told Ben.  "Here I'll give you some sleeping powders for him.  Just give him a small spoonfull in what ever he likes to drink in the evening.  Don't tell him about the powder.  Just makes sure he drinks it.  If he's as tired as you say, this will work, and he should sleep like a baby for 24 hours or more.  If it doesn't help, bring the boy into the office and I will give him a complete check up." Paul said as he handed the powders to Ben.  "Thank you Paul.  I sure hopes this helps the boy" said Ben as he shock Paul's hand.  " Me too Ben. Me too" said Paul.
 
When ben left Paul's office, he saw Little Joe on his horse, and he yelled " Joseph, come over here"  " Hi Pa, what are you doing in town?" asked the boy.  "Well I might ask you the same thing son" said Ben.  "I thought you were checking the fence lines" Ben asked.  " I was Pa, but got done, and so I thought I'd come in and get the mail" said Little Joe. " Why don't you give me the mail and we will ride home son?" said Ben.  Little Joe handed the mail to Ben and said " Don't you trust me with the mail Pa?" " I trust you son, but I'd just rather take it if you don't mind" Ben said to his son.  They rode home in silence.
 
That night during dinner, Little Joe was so sleepy that he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.  He put some food on his plate, and he slowly ate  a little bit.  They were talking about their day, except for Little Joe who had dozed off.  Adam looked over to his little brother, and pointed towards him and said "hey Pa look at Little Joe.  I think he's sleeping".  Ben looked over at his son, and smiled and said " JOSEPH"   There was no answer.  As his family sat there looking at him, his head slowly started to slumped towards the table.  " I've got to wake him up" said Ben.  "NO Pa, let's just see what happens" said Adam.  Sure enough, the boy's head and face fell into his plate.  Adam and Hoss were laughing loudly.  "Will you two stop that laughing right now.  This isn't funny" yelled Ben.  "But Pa, he looks soooo funny" laughed Hoss.  Ben got up and walked over to his baby son, and gently woke him up.  The boy sat up with mashed potatoes all over his face.   "Hey little brother, yer suppose to eat yer food, NOT WEAR IT" laughed Hoss.  By now Ben was trying not to laugh at his son, and he told him to go to the kitchen and wash his face.  "STOP LAUGHING AT ME" yelled the boy at his big brothers.  " Sorry little brother, but you are just too funny looking right now" said Adam also laughing.  Little Joe stormed off to the kitchen.  Hop Sing came out of the kitchen with a strange look on his face, and he asked "Why Little Joe got food all over face?"   Adam and Hoss were almost rolling on the floor in laughter.  " STOP THAT LAUGHING RIGHT NOW" yelled Ben.   "Hop Sing, Little Joe fell asleep at the table" Ben told Hop Sing.  " Oh, boy need to sleep in bed not at table" said Hop Sing.
 
Little Joe walked out of the kitchen not looking at anyone, and he madly stomped out the front door.   Later that evening he came back in from the barn and he sat down.  " Son, I know what you need, a nice cup of hot chocolate.  You know it always makes you feel better.  " It does sound good Pa.  I think I'd really love to have some.  No sooner said, then Hop Sing came out of the kitchen with hot chocolate for the family.  "Thanks Hop Sing" they all said.  
 
"Little Joe, said Adam, we didn't mean to upset you at dinner, but you really did look funny, kid"  Little Joe just looked at his oldest brother and slowly sipped his hot chocolate.  When he finsihed it, he sat the cup down, and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in.  Ben went back to reading his paper, while Hoss and Adam played checkers.  
 
A few minutes later, Hoss glanced over to his little brother-got a big smile on his face and said " Pa, Little Joe is sound to sleep"  Ben put his book down and walked over to his son and softly called his name. There was no response from the boy.  " Pa, don't wake him up.  I'll take him up to bed" Hoss said softly.  Hoss gently picked up his little brother who was dead to the world in deep sleep, and carried him up to his room.  He got the boy undressed and into his nightshirt, and into bed.  He lovingly covered him up, turned down the light, and left the boy to sleep.  The next morning, Ben looked in at his sleeping son, and smiled.  The boy slept that entire day, and when he woke up on Saturday morning, he came rushing down the stairs, and said " Good morning everyone.  Boy I'm hungry!!!!!!   "Good morning to you too" they all said.
"Hey, I feel GREAT this morning" said a wide eyed Little Joe.  He was back to his usual silly self.   " Looks like we got our Little Joe back again, and he has that little twinkle in his eyes gain too" said Hoss with a big smile on his face.  
 
Over the next few days, Little Joe spent most of his time absolutetly tormenting his older brothers to no end.   At one point Adam and Hoss were just about at the end of their patience with their little brother, so they tied him up to a tree, and gagged him.  " Ah, finally some peace and quiet"  said Adam.  Ben rode into the yard, and he saw his youngest son tied up and gagged.  "Why is Little Joe tied up and gagged" asked Ben.   " Oh hi Pa, said Hoss.  That little varmint is driving us CRAZY!!!!!.   Ben got off his horse and walked over to Little Joe and said " Little Joe, can't you find something to keep you busy for a while? I swear son, you are going to be the death of me yet"  Little Joe looked at Ben with THAT look on his face that only he can do.  "How long do you two plan to keep your little brother tied up and gagged?" asked Ben. "As long as it take us to finish this gate: said Adam.  Ben walked to the house shaking his head and mumbling to himself.  
 
The next day Little Joe got up early so he could finish all his chores so he could continue teasing his brothers.  Adam and Hoss had planned to put a new side on the wagon that their little brother had so how broken.   Adam had bought a large piece of wood for the side of the wagon, and he had measured it and cut to fit.  Soon their little brother showed up.  The boy grabbed the hammer and ran off with it.  "DADBURN YOU-YOU LITTLE VARMINT.  GET BACK HERE WITH HAMMER.  DO YOU HEAR ME LITTLE BROTHER?????"   yelled Hoss.  The boy brought the hammer back, but he continued to tease his brothers.  " I like him better when he was sleepy" grumped Adam.   " Me too " Hoss said agreeing with Adam.  
 
"Hey kid, why don't you get out of here.  Go and get lost or something" yelled Adam.  Little Joe grabbed the keg of nails and took off with them.  "I mean it Little Joe, you bring those nails back here NOW" screamed Adam.  He brought the nails back and said " you two aren't any fun today".  Then he picked up the saw and tossed it towards the barn and laughed.  "OK, THAT DOES IT" screamed Adam.  "Let's get him Hoss".  They ran off after their brother, who was laughing so hard that he fell down.  "Yer gonna be sorry boy" yelled Hoss.  Hoss grabbed Little Joe by his shoulders, while Adam grabbed his ankles, and they lifted him up and carried him over to the water trough.  "PUT ME DOWN!!!!!   PUT ME DOWN!!! yelled the boy.  Hoss and Adam tossed him very hard into the water trough.  "NOW YOU STAY THERE TILL WE SAY YOU CAN GET OUT!!!! yelled Adam.  They went back to work.  What they didn't realize was that Little Joe had hit the back of head extremely hard on the back of the trough, knocking him out.
 
In the mean time, Hoss and Adam were busy with the wagon, when Adam said " Hoss, sounds like the trough did it's thing.  He hasn't said anything at all.  Guess he's learned his lesson".  Adam glanced over towards the trough and yelled "OH MY GOD"  Hoss looked up  and towards the trough, and he and Adam ran over to their unconscious little brother.  "LITTLE JOE, LITTLE JOE" they kept yelling over and over, but there was NO reponse from the boy  "STOP KIDDIN' AROUND LITTLE BROTHER" Adam said, but the boy was unresponsive.  Hoss picked him up out of the water, and laid him on the piece of wood.  They kept calling his name and slapping his face.  No response at all.  Adam jumped on his horse and raced off to get Dr. Martin.  Hoss picked  up his little brother and ran to the house with the unconscious boy in his arms.  "Pa Pa Pa" ylled Hoss.  Ben who had been at his desk jumped up and ran to the door-opened and saw Hoss with a very limp boy in his arms.  "HOSS WHAT HAPPENED" screamed Ben.  "Pa it was an accident.  We didn't mean to hurt him.  We were just tryin' to teach him a lesson-thats all.  Hoss and Ben ran up the stairs, with Little Joe still in Hoss"s massive arms.  "Hoss, was his head underwater at all?"yelled Ben.  "NO" cried Hoss.  They got the boy undressed, dried off, and in his nightshirt, and in bed.  They kept trying to wake him up,but nothing worked.  Hop Sing even tried.  " I wish Paul would hurry up and get here" said Ben.  "LITTLE JOE, LITTLE JOE, PLEASE WAKE UP BABY.  PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES.  PLEASE DEAR GOD, PLEASE HELP MY BABY!!!!! cried Ben.
 
End of Part One.


RETURN TO LIBRARY