, 1859-12-16
NO.

there happened to be poa erfuI preacher there.
who could make himself heard at the distance Oh
a mile, he thought he would turn over a new
leaf At once. When he got home, therefore, the
nrst thing he did was to send for the minister The
wortny man came, and, TO his extreme amazement,
iouna that Stevens wanted TO- join ths church,
u have no hesitation IN laying your PROPOSE
ton before the brethren" said the good old man,
trying TO smother laugh.
Or course you haint responded Steve with
great confidence.
/" And IL you give satSaetory evidence Of
amendment, Mr.. Stevens" continued the minis
ter emphasizing the word, "ihey might takeyou
on prooation az any rate, we have q meeting to-
nighI, and can let you know tomorrow"
Probation be d-doggedl" calculated Steve.
as tne minister hastily retrcated whv can4
they let me jine at once, while ! feel like ifsD
The proposition, as might have been expected,
created real sensation. There was hardly
member OF the church, male Of female, who had
rot, at some time or other, been victimizcd bv
Stevens slanderous tongue, and they could hard
" hear his name with patience. Some Of them
went 50 far as to say that z he Joined, they
would leave, and that settled the matter, for they
were among the "fore-handed" members, and
who could afford to lose themf
However, to avoid trouble with an unscrup-
ulous fellow like Steve, il was resolved to break
tne matter TO him as gently as possible. Two Of
the most respectable men in the church were ap-
pointed to call on him, and Il was generally under
stood, such was their known mildness Of dispose
ton, that every possible excuse consistent with
truth would be made for not receiving him.
Inc rest Of the story rauss be told in steve's
when Deacon Peabody came along. I sot in
the back door whiting hoe handle. and hone
to suiierh wasn't mad onulf to rare right Up.
A cousin Of my wiir's whose sister was a ihcnn-
Dcr had come over arly and told US all about it,
Good mornin, Mr.. Stevens says the old
hypocrite, with face as long as yard Of pump
T." said nothin' but kept a whiting
~ came down % see you thismcrnin'' !" says
Wal says ], how do you like my looksi'
down 70 abor with you.
he got out Of me-
- But, Mr. Stevens said he. very solemnly,
the church sent mo down here 70 fqlt with you
mnule'
"'Wal, yoaye been faltR for more'n i've
minutes, Deacon Peabody says /, and you've
sa'e :. notha~ yet now when are you goin' 70 be-
"The old lsraelilo looked mad enuiF to biiemy
head of ata snap. but he thought It best to keep
cool, 50 he drew long breath and went on:
" Nobody wants to hurt your feelings or
make any trouble, Mr. Stevens but the church
have come to the conclusion tia. perhaps, on the
whole, under the circumstances, ana in view Of
everythln', Il might possibly be best al round,
and takln' al things into consideration. for you
not 20 BE- hasiy in applyIn' just ai present.
They think, on mature reflection, that Il might
be as well il you'd conclude to postpone il alille
while, say for year or eighteen months
Irar| Il aI.mN
makes EN- think sol The church amt nj,
is itp
This was a hard question. The old sarpint
knew very well that il wouldn't answer to say
be didn't know--lor be knew fast cnoueh-and
knew that know'd he did. So says hos
Mr.. Stevens, I'm sorry YOU'RE 50 riled
about it-you'ye no occasion. disat come 70
offend you, but you know As well as do why
the church don't accept you
Deacon Peabody
- Wen, says he, don't you know what latgs
stories you're in the habit Of toln'p
who says tell large stories 2 says 7. Ita
an oniruih, and you can't prore u anti Now
Amt 4 shame, Deacon, for man like you to 70
round seandalizin' a neighbor that wayi What
story o. mine did you ever hear that wasn't truef
Uome lay your finger on the first story, and
won't say another word
Why there's 50 many on EN-, answered
the Deacon, that its most onpossiblo to specify
any one in pariieker But now think on i,
don't you remember that story about your
fathers bein' killed BY a bearg'
MY fathers bein' killed By boarr said I.
there it Is nowl That's ist The way folks lie
about mel Its an ontruih like the f11i on EN-
and you ought to be ashamed, Deacon Peabody.
% BE- runnin' round town iellin' things that aint
Well,' said he, pretty short you've made
that are observation about often onul; II you
didn't say your father was killed By bear what
was i you did sayf.
s'I'll tel you said that father was tho irst
man to bring sheep in this town, and that's no
story, IS itg'
No said he, Il aint'
" And ! said that one day he lost one Of them
arc sheep In the woods-and that's likely II Il
aint true-and when he was lookin' for ii, said
he came across q bear. The bear growled At dad
and dad hollered at the bear and finally The beast
came al him. and tore al his insIdes out. and
then your father, Deacon peabody-who was q
respectable man, sir, and wouldn't agono about
town scandalizin' his neighbors-your hthor
heard my father holer, and came up, AID reoin'
how matters stood, ran for The doctor. When
the doctor come, the fnst thing ho did was to
catch sheep and cutits id1idcs out and put fhom
In place Of dads, and aoGor said dad vas killed
BY that bear No sirl told he naked iFulk--I
said be grew as well as ever be waa except that
he hankered qficr AaV az "a eilisl, ald lGd
ir0ol enough 0rord 70 mals Ain an osercoaf N
the springf You don't call that q lhrgs s.sry I
hope II you won't lel FILLER jine tho church
because he tells The truth. you won't and many
decent member, lguezsp
"Tho old man rll rite stTaio up, and walked
away without sayin' q word What he thought
never could lnd Out ior he cd christian hssn't
opened bis head 70 me slncoT
An exchange paper begins forciblo appeal 10
iis delinQuenis with this touching sentence.
We rnrsf lrn ~ ~ d. 4