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low all night. The story got wind, and
from that time pcoplo were afraid to come
where thoy were liable to meet such com
pany.”
“Pity! pity!” rejoined Dr. Gordon,
“for these snakes are known to be excel
lent rat-catchers, and they are harmless
withal, but people have such a prejudice
against every thing under the name of
snake that we can scarcely account for it
except by supposing that it came down
to us from Adam and Eve.
“ Guess I Know a Thing or Two.”
Y dear boy,” said a father
to onl y son ’ u j° ll
are in bad company. —
yjmmm The lads with whom you
* associate indulge in bad
habits. They drink, smoke,swear,
play cards, and visit theatres. —
CM* They are not safe companions for
!f' you. I beg you to quit their
society.”
“You needn’t be afraid of me, father,”
replied the boy, laughing; “I guess I
know a thing or two. I know how far to
go, and when to stop.
The lad left his father’s house twirling
his cane in his fingers, and laughing at
the “old man’s notions.”
A few years later, and that lad, grown
to manhood, stood at the bar of a court
before a jury which had just brought in a
verdict of guilty against him for some
crime in which he had been concerned.
Before he was sentenced he addressed the
court, and said, among other things:
“My downward course began in dis
obedience to my parents. I thought I
knew as much of the world as my father
did, and I spurned his advice. But as
soon as I turned .my back on my home,
temptations came upon me like a drove of
hyenas, and hurried me to ruin.”
Mark that confession, ye boys who are
beginning to be wiser than your parents !
Mark it, and learn that disobedience is
the first step in the road to ruin. Don't
take it.
Worth Knowing. —A poison of any
conceivable description and degree of po
tency which has been swallowed inten
tionally or by accident, may be rendered
almost instantaneously harmless by swal
lowing two gills of sweet oil. An indi
vidual with a very strong constitution
should take twice the quantity. This oil
will neutralize every form of vegetable or
mineral poison with which physicians and
chemists are acquainted.
He who says what he likes, will
be apt to hear what he does not like.
BURKE’S WEEKLY.
“ PLAYING SWEEPSTAKES.”
HY! m -^ Bon ’” Bai(i rs
looking for a string in
Paul’s drawer, ond had picked up
a bag full of marbles. “ You said
you only had fifty the other day
—where did these come from?”
“ Won ’em,” said Paul, briefly.
“ How so ?”
“ Playing sweepstakes.”
“ And was that what kept you out so
late last night, when mother had told you
to come in early ?”
Paul’s handsome face sobered a little,
and he said, “Well, I can’t help it, the
other fellows make me.”
“ How can they make you if you don’t
want to ?”
“ They’ll kick me ’cause I’ve got their
marbles, and say its mean not to give
them a chance to win back; and then
there’ll be two folks kicked,” Paul added
emphatically.
“ But is it right, Paul ?”
“I don’t know as it is,” said he, “ but
I’m in for it; so here goes,” and off he
ran to school.
Mrs. Fielding carefully thought over
the matter. She had aimed to train Paul
to a thorough self-control, rather than
mere submission to authority. So that
evening, when Paul had laid aside his
books, and sat beside her for his “ good
night talk,” as he called it, she said :
“Paul, what would you think of a
drinking man who wanted to reform, and
yet kept his cups and well-filled bottles
constantly in sight?”
“ I thould think it would take him a
good while, besides making it much hard
er for him.”
“ And the only way in which he could
reasonably expect to be delivered from
the evil sin, would be by giving up what
was constantly a temptation ?”
“Yes, of course.”
“ Could you do it ?”
Paul lifted up his head, proudly, and
said, “ T should rather think I could.”
“Could you stop playing sweepstakes ?’’
“But where’s the harm ?”
“Do you pay for them?” asked his
mother.
“ Course not, I win ’em.”
“So does the gambler win the money
staked on the game. Can you toll me
any difference in the principle of playing
for money, or playing for marbles?”
Paul tried his best to think of some
difference, but could not. At length life
mother said:
“ You have admitted that you did not
think it right, and that alone is enough
to make it wrong to you. Then it has
become a passion beyond your control.
Ought you to give it up ?”
Ibis was a hard question. Paul was a
skilful player, always winning, rarely
losing, and the game had become so fas
cinating as to keep him late after school.
“But, mother,” he said, “Fred Kings
ley is my partner, and he and all the
other boys will say I am a mean sneak to
stop playing now, when I’ve got all their
marbles.”
“It ivould be rather mean, too,” said
she. “ What can you do about it ? Can
you not give up the thing that leads you
into temptation ?”
“What! Give up my marblos ! The
boys would all laugh at me.”
“ Hasn’t my son the courage to do right
when the laugh ?”
Paul felt ashamed, for he had learned
that true courage lies in the heart, and
not in the fist.
“ Can you truly pray: ‘ Deliver me
from this evil,’ and keep the temptation
in your hand ! I wish that you would
decide that question before you lie down
to-night; be assured it will be a great gain
if you can make up your mind to control
yourself in this, even though it should
seem to you very much like losing a right
hand.”
Paul thought it did seem very much
like that, and remarked that it was
“tough business.” The struggle was se
vere. For one minute he thought he
could, and then the thought of tamely
playing marbles “just for play,” seemed
more than he could submit to, besides
knowing how the boys would look upon it.
Mrs. Fielding said nothing for a time,
but at length spoke softly, “ Our Lord
taught us how to pray, ‘ Lead us not in
to temptation.’ Do you not need that
prayer now ?”
Paul sprang up, walked up and down
quickly, then came and knelt beside his
mother, while she in a few earnest words
besought the strength and help so much
needed.
Afterward, as they set beside the fire,
he said quietly, “ I’ll do it, mother.”
The boys did laugh some, but Paul’s
consciousness that he was doing right
carried him through, and his manly ex
ample did more to check this growing
evil than all the teachers had said, and
no boy really thought less of him for do
mo- what they knew they would not have
dared to do.
Happiness is not an abstract qual
ity, but consists in doing good to all.
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