The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1855-09-15
Not Ashamed Of Ilidiculc.


up as sort OF leader in matters Of opinion
as well as of sport. lie was not nt heart
malicious, but he bad foolish ambition of
being thought witty and sarcastic, and he
made himself disagrcablc by habit OF tur-
ming things into ridiculc so that he seemed
continually on the look out for matters Of ri.
diculc.
lIartly was new scholar and little was
known Of him among the boys. One morn
ing as we were on our way to school he was
driving COW along the road to ncighbor-
ing field. A group Of boys, among whom
was Jcmson, met him as he was passing.
The opportunity was not lost by Jcnson.
"Ilellol" he exclaimed, "what's the price
of milk | say, Jonathan, what do you
fodder on? what will you take for all the
gold on her horns2 Boys if you want to
see the latest Paris style look at those
boots :"
IIartly, waving his hand at MS with n
pleasant smile, and driving the COW to the
field took down the bars Of a ra'lencc, saw
her safely in the enclosure, and then putting
up the bars, came and entered the school
with the rest Of US After school n.the af.
ternoon he let out the COW, and drove her of
/ none VI US hlltN Nutlt anu i'NlN 'hl
for two or thra weeks, he went through the
| same task.
/ The boys Of - hcalcmy were nearly
! all sons Of wealthy parents, some Of them,
/ of whom was Jcmson, were ounces enough
/ to look down with sort Of disdljn upon n
/ scholar who had to drive a COW. The Snccrs
/ and jccrs Of Jcmson were accordingly often
renewed. lie once on the plea that he did
not like the odgr Of the barn, refused to III
/ next to llartly. Occasionally he would in
quire after the cows health, pronouncing
| the word kcow after the II amer Of the
| country people.
With admirable good nature did llartly
. bear al these silly attempts TO wound aud
annoy him. do not remember that he cv-
or once betrayed into a look or word Of an
gry retaliation. 81 suppose, lIartly,' said
JcmsOn, one day, 81 suppose your daddy
means to make a milkman Of YOU" "Why
noty" asked lIartlv. 80 nothing only
don't leave too much water in the cans when
YOU rinse them, that's all I" The boys
| laughed, and llartly, not in the least mortl.
fled, replied, "neycr fear, if should cvci
rise to be a milkman, I'll give you good
measure and good milk"
The dav after this conversation there was
public exhibition, at which number ol
ladies' and gentlemen from neighborIng citc'
were present. Prizes were awarded hy the
principal Of our academy, and both llsrty
and .JcmSUn received a Crcdtablc number
form respect to scholarship the two wer'
abcnt equal. After the ceremony OF dlstri
butionthc principal remarked that there wa
one przr, consisting Of gold medal whirt
was rarely awarded not so much on account
Of It's great cost as because the occasions o
instances were rare which rendered its he
stowment proper. twas the prize for hc
rois,n. The last boy who received one wa
young Manners who three years ago rcscu
cd aatIbr4nEYn YniFlqp dGEaaiaaTiina, dGEaaiaa ina, with the per
mission Of the company, he would relate
short story. Not long since, some scholar
were flying kite in the streets just as
poor boy on horseback rode by on his way t
mill. The horse took fright and threw tn
boy, irjuring him so badly that he was car
ricd home, and confined some weeks to hi
bed. Of the scholars who had uniutcntiOn
aly caused the disaster none followed L
learn the Fate Of the wounded boy. Ihcr
was one scholar, however, who had wltucs
scd the accident from a d 81. ne, who no
only went to axe inquiries, but stayed L
render services.
This scholar soon learned that the wound
ed boy was the grandson Of poor widow
whose sole support consisted in selling IN
milk of fine COW OF which she was th
owner Alas what could she do now =
She was old and lame, and her grandson o.
whom she depended to drive her COW TO pas
49,
turc, was now on his back, helpless. NE
yer mind, good woman, SAID TIA" scho!al
II can drive your COW" With blessing
and thanks the old woman accepted his ia
vOr.
But his kindness did not stop here. No
ncy was wanted to get articles from tn
apo,hccary. II have money that my moth
cr sent me to buy pair Of boots with, sal
the scholar, "but can do without them io
while 80 no." said the old woman .
cannot consent to that but here is pair {
: cow-hide boots that bought for Henry, VIII
can't wear them If you would only bu
these, giving us what they cost, we shoui
get along nicely The scholar bought tn
boots, clumsy as they were, and has wor
them up to this time.
7 Well, when it was discovered by otht
boys of the academy that our scholar was /
the habit OF driving a COW, he was assalle
every day with laughter and ridlculc, Iii
cow.hide boots in particular were made ma
: ter of mirth. But he kept on checrlully da
after day, never stunning observation, an
driving the widows COW, and wearing h
thick boots, contcnted in the thought thu
he was doing right; caring not for all tn
ieers that could be uttered. lie never uu
dcrtook to explain why he drove a COW, fc
he was not inclined to make a yaunt Of hi
charitable motives and furthermore, in h
heart he had no sympathy with the falls
; pride that could look with ridicuc on an
useful employment. 1t was by mere acc
dent that his course of kindness and sei.d'
NAL was yesterday discovered by his teaci
or.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, | appc;
to you, was there not true heroism in tn
boys conduct? Nay, Master llartly, do ne
sink out of sight behind that black board
You are not afraid of ridicule, you must nc
be afraid ofpraise. Come forth, come iortl
Master Edward James !lartly, and let us Sc
your honest face.
As IIartly, with bushing checks made h
appearance, round OF applause in whic
the whole company joined, spoke the gener
appreciation of his conduct. The ladi'
, stood upon benches and waved their han'
| kcrchcis. The old men wiped the gatherln
moisture from the corners Of thcu eyes, an
c'eppcd their hands. Those clumsy boo,
y on llartly's feet seemed II proudcr ornamcr
than crown would have been on his hea'
The medal was bestowed on him amid gem
raj acclamation.
Let me tell good thing Of Jemson befol
conclude. lie was heartily ashamed of h
ili.naturcd railery, and after VIC were dsmi
Scd he went with tears in his eyes, and teI
dered his hand to llartly, making han'
, some apology for his past ill'manners
, "rhink no more of it, old fellow, said llar
, ly, with delightful cordially, "let us all 9
D and have ramble out in the woods bclo,
we break up for vacation" The boys on
and all followed Jcmson's example and the
we set forth with hurrahs into the woods
!. What happy day it was