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24 " , , TI
The Family
A FRIEND IN THE GARDEN.
He is not John the gardener,
And yet the whole day long
Employs himself most usefully,
The flower-beds among.
? * ; ' . I
jie is not Tom, the pussy-cat.
And yet the ouier day,
With stealthy stride and glistening eye,
..e crept upon his prey.
He is not Dash the dear old dog,
And yet, perhaps, if you
Took pains with him and petted him,
You'd come to love him, too.
He's not a blackbird, though he chirps,
And though he once was black;
mm uuw in; wears a loose gray coat,
All wrinkled on the back.
He's got a very dirty face,
And very shining eyes;
He sometimes comes and sits indoors;
He looks?and p'r aps is?wise.
But in a sunny flower-bed
He has his fixed abode;
He eats the things that eat my plants?
He is a friendly Toad.
?Julian 11. Ewing.
SOWING AND REAPING.
n oiury tot motners.
This afternoon friends^ related two incidents
which I am going to pass on,
making no alteration save in the names.
They were told independently of each
other, but they are more effective told
together. They point their own moral,
so my part is only to repeat the stories.
The first was told by the preacher's
wife:
"Some time ago," began Mrs. Merrill,
"Hal and Hoy came to breakfast leaving
their room in disorder. Lutle gar
uicuui ncic suttiiereu auoui ine HOOT,
their shoes were in the middle of the
rug, ana the towels were in tne wrong
place.
"Why boys," I asked, "is this the way
young gentlemen leave their room? Did
you think that because mother was here
you could put your duty off on her? I
do many things for you and love to do
them, but you ought to do your share. I
thought my little boys loved to wait on
mother. The time may come when you
will be sorry you didn't help her all you
could, and glad to remember every step
you saved her."
"By that time four little arms were
round my neck. 'We do love you, moth
er,' they cried, 'and we love to wait on
you, too. We just forgot, that time.' And
then came a merry scram&le of putting
to rights, and they haven't forgotten
since.
"Yesterday their father was called to
the telephone before he was quite ready
to make his appearance among us. Hal
and Roy went to his room upon an errand,
and came out shocked at discovering
several garments out of their place.
As soon as Mr. Merrill was free they took
him solemnly to task. Hal, nine years
old, began upon him, 'Father,\ he gravely
inquired, 'is (hat the way a gentleman
leaves his room? Did you thiink mother
* ,
IE PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOU
had nothing to do but straighten up after
you"? 'She waits on you a lot, chimed in
seven-year-old Roy, with equal earnestness,
'but you ought, to wait on her, too.'
Then in chorus, and impressively, 'The
time may come when you'll be sorjjy you
didn't save her all you could. It may,
Father.'
"I never," concluded Mrs. Merrill, "saw
anything so ludicrous as the mystified,
almost ?t lino fir. >4 . "
-?wuuicuauw my nusband
turned upon me. Then, perceiving
that I was struggling desperately not to
laugh, he knew the explanation would
soon be forthcoming. So he meekly
thanked his young mentors for their reminder,
and tidied up the room to tneir
satisfaction."
The next story was also about two little
boys, but as tne narrative does not
appear therein, I shall relate this one in
my own words:
Every June Mrs. Travis brought Gus
and Archie out a trunk full of "rompers"
and little striped shirts on the way from
the far south to the mountains of Ten
nessee. At Grandpa Travis's delightful
country nome they frolicked on the green
grass all the day long, with pets in
plenty' to choose among. The summer
I am telling of, their favorite was a
graceful white kitten, called Fluffy Ruffles.
She was gentle, yet mischievous;
very affectionate, quick to understand
when the boys spoke, and as quick to
answer. But, to the distress of her
two-legged playmates, rlutfy Ruffles began
to pine away. She grew weak and
thin, her coat lost its gloss, and her eye
its brightness. The elders decided that
she must be banished, and as Aunt Sophie
was going to mase a visit at a distant
farm, she was appointed to take the kitten
with her, as secretly as possible.
But a piteous protest issuing from the
little basket in the buggy, brought stormier
protests from the boys. Aunt Sonhie'
explained to' them the necessity of the
kitten's removal, but they only wailed tho
louder.
Aunt Sophie, pretty, young Aunt Sophie
was cut to the heart at leaving her
darlings plunged in such depths of woe.
So without pausing to reflect she called
out, as she drove off, "I'll bring her
back," and the children were pacified.
Some time later she returned home,
but without the kitten, which had not
long survived its transnlantatlon
Gus and Archie asked no questions
about their little companion, and after
several weeks Aunt Sophie concluded that
they had forgotten all about it, for which
she was very thankful, as her ill-considered
and unfulfilled promise had cost her
conscience not a few twinges.
One day Gus fell into wrong-doing, and
taking what he erroneously imagined to
be the easy way out of it, he told his
Aunt Sophie a very transparent falsehood.
She took him on her lap, and
talked to him solemnly and tenderly
about his offense. Tears rolled down his
cheeks and she proceeded to deepen the
Impression she had made. She described
the bliss and glory of Heaven, telling him
there was no place in Heaven for a liar.
"Unless you tell the truth, dearest, you
will never see dear Grandma," she said,
"after you die, nor Grandpa,"?the tears
poured faster?"nor Father nor Mother,"
?he began to sob?"and Gus, darling,
you'll never see your Aunt Sophie." "Oh,
yes," he cried, triumphantly, "I'll, see
TH. June 2, 1909.
you. Aunt Sophie, 'cause you said you'd
bring back the kitten, and you never
did!" M. H. W.
IN BASEBALL TRAINING.
By Kate Gaston Davidson.
Bobby had always said that when he
erow tin 4 - 4 ~
? ut cApctieu 10 oe a Presbyterian
preacher like grandpa, but lately he had
decided to be a league catcher instead.
He was particular to wear his cap hind
part before and the air fairly reeked
with "bunt," "muff," "sprint" and suchlike.
Whenever papa on Uncle Tim
chanced to be unoccupied for a moment,
there was Bobby, with an ingratiating
smile and his baseball.
"Just throw me a few for practice,
won't you?" would be his request. One
day mamma came out when a trial game
was in progress.
"Bobby, won't you run over for baby's
milk? He wants his teq." The brightness
went out of Bobby's eyes like a
sum on your slate before a wet sponge.
"Oh, Mamma, Uncle Tim was just giving
me some dandy left curves. That baby
is always wanting something," he grumbled.
' But you wanted the baby, didn't you?"
reminded mamma gently.
"I never asked God, for just one. One's
no good, specially such a little one. I
asked for eight, so'ze 1 could have a baseball
nine." The catcher was still sulky.
"Well, baby's one-eighth Qf what you
want!" Mamma rejoined gaily. "Who
knows, he might grow up to be a star
pitcher; you'd better keep him filled with
milk, hadn't you?" But even this pleas
antry failed to appease Bobby's wrath,
and he started off with laggard feet and
a decided frown.
When he had reached the gate, Uncle
Tim called him back, with the air of one
wtio had just thought of something.
"You don't know how it shortens a
trip to have something interesting to
think about on the way; I'll tell you
something. Do you remember that
champion catcher the league had here
last year?"
" 'Sinews,' they called him, " assented
the small boy eagerly. Uncle Tim nodded.
"Well, I read the other day that Manager
Robinson had black-listed him over
here in Atlanta." Black-list! Why that
was as bad as dying, Bobby thought.
"What (or"? he gasped.
"Just because he refused to obey instructions
cheerfnllv onH ? " ?*
j uuu |iiuuipny. UI1cle
Tim opened his paper. "That's all.
Run along." It was a very thoughtful
Bobby who walked slowly to the gate
But from there, he broke into a run and
before you could say "Jack Robinson" he
was back with the milk and a emiling
face..
It was only the next day that Mamma
had strawberry short-cake for dessert and
Bo^by was looking longingly at a third
slice. Mamma shook her head.
"I'm just sorry when there is dessert,"
Bobby exploded violently, "for you^ won't
fill a fellow up!" Daddv broueht hl?
hand down on his knee for emphasis.
"Now that shows a real base ball man!"
he beamed upon the surprised Bobby.
"I know all those players -who boarded
around here at Mrs. Brown's last year
were just as sorry as they could be when