was more to it maybe that s very well but you ve another one i and you ll tell it to me won t you tell the gentleman your other name thomas said and say sir you mustn t forget your manners thomas � sir that s it that s a good boy fine boy pine manly little fellow two thousand verses is a great many � very very great many and you never can be sorry for the trouble you took to learn them for knowledge is worth more than anything there is in the world it s what makes great men and good men you ll be a great man and a good man yourself some day thomas and then you ll look back and say it s all owing to the precious sunday school privileges of my boyhood � it s all owing to my dear teachers that taught me to learn � it s all owing to the good who encouraged me and watched over me and gave me a beautiful bible � a splendid elegant bible � to keep and have it all for my own always � it s all owing to right bringing up that is what you will say thomas � and you wouldn t take any money for those two thousand verses � no indeed you wouldn t and now you wouldn t mind telling me and this lady some of the things you ve learned � no i know you wouldn t � for we are proud of little boys that learn now no doubt you know the names of all the twelve won t you tell us the names of the first two that were appointed tom was at a button hole and looking he blushed now and his eyes fell mr heart sank within him he said to himself it is not possible that the boy can answer the simplest question � why did the judge ask him yet he felt obliged to speak up and say answer the gentleman thomas � don t be afraid tom still hung fire now i know you ll tell me said the lady the names of the first two were � david and let us draw the curtain of charity over the rest of the scene chapter v bout half past ten the cracked bell of the small church began to ring and presently the people began to gather for the morning sermon the sunday school children distributed themselves about the house and occupied with their parents so as to be under aunt came and tom and and mary sat with her � tom being placed next the aisle in order that he might be as far away from the open window and the outside summer scenes as possible the crowd filed up the the aged and who had seen better days the mayor and his wife � for they had a mayor there among other the justice of the peace the widow fair smart and forty a generous good hearted soul and well to do her hill mansion the only palace in town and the most hospitable and much the most lavish in the matter of that st could boast the bent and venerable major and mrs ward lawyer the new notable from a dis next the of the village followed by a troop of lawn clad and ribbon young heart then all the young clerks in town in a body � for they had stood in the their cane heads a wall of and admirers till the last girl had run their and last of all came the model boy taking as care of his mother as if she were cut glass he always brought his mother to church and was the pride of all the the boys all hated him he was so good and besides he had been thrown up to them so much his white handkerchief was hanging out of his pocket behind as usual on sundays � accidentally tom had no handkerchief and he looked upon boys who had as the congregation being fully assembled now the bell rang once more to warn and and then a solemn hush fell upon the church which was only broken by the and whispering of the choir in the gallery the choir always and whispered all through service there was once a church choir that was not ill bred but i have forgotten where it was now it was a great many years ago and i can scarcely remember anything about it but i think it was in some foreign country the minister gave out the hymn and read it through with a relish in a peculiar style which was much admired in that part of the country his voice began on a medium key and climbed steadily up till it reached a certain point where it bore with strong emphasis upon the word and then plunged down as if from a spring board � j toe the � � � rf em he was regarded as a wonderful reader at church he was always called upon to read poetry and when he was through the ladies would lift up their hands and let them fall helplessly in their and wall their eyes and shake their heads as much as to say words cannot express it it is too beautiful too beautiful for this mortal earth after the hymn had been sung the rev mr turned himself into a board and read off notices of meetings and societies and things till it seemed that the list would stretch out to the crack of doom � a queer custom which is still kept up in america even in cities away here in this age of abundant newspapers often the less there is to justify a custom the harder it is to get rid of it and now the minister prayed a good generous prayer it was and went into 