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G (3GS) T H E I
Our Boys
A TRUE DOG STORY.
I.?ittle dog Trip, slightly lame in his hip,
O. a wonderful dog is he!
Can't you tell by his look, that he's fond of his books.
And has taken his "degree"?
i ue uug is no 1001, ror he went to school
With his master, day by day;
When lessons were done, he'd jump and he'd run
And share in the children's play.
One day, sad to tell, misfortune befell
Poor Trip, when he had turned rover.
* Though suff'ring and lame, to school back he came
And waited till lessons were over.
With tenderest care, his master did bear
The poor little dog to his home;
The doctor was paid to render "first aid"
And in this way Trip learned not to roam.
Commencement day came, when was called out the
name
Of each one who had finished the course;
And diplomas all tied with white ribbon wide
Bach received from a right worthv source.
The last name of all for the teachers to call
Was Trip "Smith,"' for "attendance and voice."
Then arose a great cheer with the dog's bark so clear.
As if he, too, had cause to rejoice.
To the platform lie hied, with mouth opened wide
His diploma to carry away;
By the faculty signed, his "sheepskin" you'll find
In the home of the "Smiths" to this day.
Summersville, W. Va. ?M. P. K.
HOW LEE CHING SAVED HIS TITLE.
BY B. C. C.
"Tell me a story about where Ching Fun
came from, papa," said Netta, hoisting herself
with great effort outo her father's lap. Netta's
father had just come back from China, and
among the strange things lie brought the little
girl was Ching Fun, a hideous little Chinese
idol. Netta held liim now, elasped tightly in
her small i'at hands.
"Well," said her father, rocking comfortably
in the big leather chair, "I'll tell you about a
small boy who used to pray to Ching Fun."
"Oh," Netta gasped, and opened her eyes
in astonishment.
"His name was Lee Ching Fun, so 1 named
our friend here after hiiu. Lee Ching's father
was so poor that you wouldn't suspect he was
not just a common day laborer. But he wasn't
?he was a man. To be sure, it was the lowest
title in China, but his ancestors, generations
back, had been kin to the Emperor's family.
"There is a tradition in China that until a
man does some brave deed, he cannot inherit
v.:? f.wi *- > i " ? *
ma tinier s utie ^uia u, auring an nis lire *
time, lie does uot perforin a great deed, he loses
the title altogether and takes the one below it.
Well, Lee Ching's ancestors had been very distinguished
people who had done many great
deeds and kept their titles for centuries. But
once there was born a son who grew up into a
weak, useless man. He cared nothing for great
deeds and so taught his son nothing about them.
In all his life he did not do one great act. So
he lost his father's title. This weak man's son
was even worse than his father?he was wicked.
He did no good deeds and so many bad
ones that he was feared by all the country.
iNone or tne descendants of these two men did
any great deeds and as each sinful, useless life
went by the title got lower until only the last
title stood between Lee Ching and the common
mass of Chinese people.
"When the awful famine began more than
a year ago, Lee Ching was eight years old.
Though his father was not wicked, he was a
dull man and never concerned himself about,
doing a good deed even to save his title. Lee
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PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SC
and Girls
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Chiug saw that if their title was to be saved,
he himself must act.
" 'Then,' thought he, '1 will teach my children
to be brave and good and it will be easier
for them to do good deeds than any other.'
" ' nm wiiat is a great deed?' lie asked his
motjicr one day. The poor woman did not
know, so he eould only pray to this little Ching
Fun to tell him. He thought about it as he
helped his father in the day and at night he
dreamed of rescuing people from starvation,
from drowning, or from horrible demons and
goblins.
"As the days went by Lee Ching's little face
grew thinner and thinner, for each day he had
less arid less to eat. Each day, after feebly
attempting to help his father work the sodden
land around his home, Lee Ching had to walk
a mile to the home of the American missionary.
There he received the small portion of rice the
missionary was able to give to a few people.
"One cold afternoon he stood shivering in
the long line of starving, hollow-eyed people.
There were still ten in front of him and he was
thinking wearily of the mile he must walk before
he could rest or eat even a grain of rice.
Now there were nine people ahead, now eight,
now only seven. As he counted them, he began
to notice the fierce look of hunger in each face
and he wondered if his own looked like those
around him. He noticed that some looked exhausted
with hunger while others seemed fairly
well fed.
" 'I know I don't look like this poor old
man,' he thought, and straightened up his weak
little body. He was looking at a pitiful old
man in front of him whose skin seemed to hang
on his bones. He trembled as he leaned on his
stick and seemed almost unable to take one sten
farther its the line moved up. Ilis eyes burned
brightly as he watched each person depart and
bis lips moved as if tasting the precious grains
they were bearing away. Lee Ching, watching
him, forgot his own hunger and fatigue. He
offered his arm to the old man and assisted him
in each step nearer the bowl. Now there were
only four in front of the old man, Lee Ching
saw, as he began to count again.
"Suddenly a thought, a horrible, fearful
thought, came to him. He shuddered and tried
to put it from him, to think again of the people
around him. He closed his eyes, beating the
ground nervously with his foot, but he could
not forget what he had thought.
"Now there were only two men in front of
the old man, now one and at last the old man
himself stood before the kind, tired missionary.
Teai*s of hunger came into Lee Ching's eyes, but
he stepped out of the line.
" 'Give him mine, too ' ho uairt to ?? 1
j 7 MU.?U uw tav aiua/-CU
missionary. Then he ran?ran as far as his
poor legs could carry him. That was not far.
Soon he stopped and sank down on the hard
ground. For the first time he realized that he
had given away his father's and mother's daily
food as well as his own. The thought that his
parents would be angry with him, that they
might starve, and his own hunger and weak
neas overcame him and he fell hack unconscious.
"The missionary gave away Lee Chiug's rice
to the old man and after giving away what remained,
he started off after Lee Ching. He
knew the little hoy could not go far, and, indeed,
it wh? not long before he stumbled over
IUTH [ March 20, 1912
the small form lying in the dark, lie carried
it back to his house and it was not long before
Lee Ching had regained consciousness and
was happily eating a bowl of steaming rice
with his fingers. You see, the missionary had
no chop-sticks like those Lee Ching was accus
toined to eat his rice with, and Lee Ching could
not use the missionary's knives and forks, so
lib had to use his lingers. Before he finished,
he sank back into a sounder sleep than he had
known in weeks.
"And while he was sleeping the missionary
was thinking. He knew the tradition that had
caused Lee Ching's family to lose their titles
and he knew that only the last title remained
to Lee Ching's father. So after thinking long
and earnestly, he went to the authorities of
the town and told them what Lee Ching had
done.
" 'Was liot that, si tri-r?ut ilonfl 9'
them. And they all agreed that it was. So
they sent and informed the boy's parents that
Lee Ching was safe, and that they were to go
and live in a house that had belonged to their
family before they lost their titles. There they
were to meet their son and he would tell them
why this good fortune had befallen them.
"So, wondering greatly, they went, and were
greeted at the door by Lee Ching.
" 'Why, Lee Ching, have we come here to
live?' they asked him in great joy.
" 'I do not know, my parents,' he answered
in wonder and joy as great as theirs. 'They
told me 1 did a great deed and saved your title
because T gave our rice to an old man. But
that was not a great deed,' he said, shaking his
head. 'It must have been because I ate more
rice at one time than I have eaten altogether
since the famine began.'
Netta's father stopped and looked at Ching
Fun.
"Now do you know how I got Ching Fun?"
he asked smilingly. Netta thought a moment.
"I suppose the missionary made them Christians
and they didn't need Ching Fun any
more," she said, cautiously.
< (n. - i e* ? ' - - - --
vjrooa ior you,*' fter father exclaimed laugh
ingly. "That's just what he did. They gave
Ohing Fun to the missionary and he gave him
to me. And now I have given him to you and
you must ke<?p him."
MARYS OF HISTORY.
The name of Mary has played an important
part in history. In Scotland, the first Royal
Marie was the daughter of Duke Arnold of
Gucldress, who married .lames II, and afterwards
became Queen Regent. Then we have
Marie of Tjovruitu* nrlw, ?1 i *r
__ II m? llialTICU .1 (11111*8 V.
after refusing Henry VIII. Their daughter
was the famous Mary Queen of Scots, the most
romantic and fascinating figure in the whole
history of olden Marys. Then there was Mary
Tudor. Henrietta Maria became the ill-fated
wife of Charlie I. Mary of Mo den a was the
second wife of James II. Mary, the daughtei
() ' .lames II. by his first wife, by her ruarriaire
.v';lh William of Orange, invested their joint
reign with a glory which is even now undiminished.
Since then, we have had several
prim-esses named MaVy?one the daughter of
George II, another of George III, while the
mother of our late Queen was Mary Louise
Victoria. But the most essentially Egnlish of
all the Marys in the history of the country is the
present Queen.
The significance of the passage declaring that
"there remaineth a rest for the people of God"
is in that.word "remaineth." That is what we
want?a hleasedness that shall last, a reat that
shall remain.
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