Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1860-06-22
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From the New York Mercury.
j Q B T II 0 r NDYKE.
when Forbearance ceases to he a Virtue.
BY GEORGE ALBANY.

A pious grandmother, pious father
and pious mother had left nothing un
said or undone to imbue Job, from infan
cy, with good principles s'Love to Coo
and peace and good will to man. was i'm
pressed upon his young mind with depth
clearness, and precision. which won fol
him, from his Sabbath-school teacher, tbc
appellation Of ''the best boy in the class. ,
At eight, Job was sent to the village
school-a modest establishment, where tho
school marin, a stout, goodly-sized nader
lady Of fifty, boxed the ears of her charge:
through readin', 'ritin', jografee, and srith.
mertic, and then complacently dismissed
them as finished scholars, and competent
for the practical duties Of life
From this institution Job retired at the
age Of fourteen, with wholesome awe Of
the schoolmarm's knuckles, vague ideas OF
grammar and figures, and big iack-knife
for which he had given in exchange his
top, his kite, and four cents, which he
had wheedled from grandmother, who had
intended the money for the heath'n.
After two years of holiday at home, Job
was one day proudly called by grandmoth-
er from romp with old Towser, to read
a chapter Of Isaiah to the minister, who.
considerably disregarding fourteen gross
blunders in the finished scholars pronun-
cation, expressed himself very much pleas
ed; and patting the delighted youth pa
ternally on the head, called him good
and a bright boy; gravely adding however,
that little more schooling might not be
found wholly useless, in case he should
ever cross the mountains to go out into
the world
Job, conscious of his delinquencies-
words of more than three syllables always
having proved too much for hinl-alone
understood the significance of the hint ::
and blushingly looked down-the little
rogue with an air of modest merit.
The dominic was too good-natured and
well-bred to expose him, for which Job
was privately thankful, and in after wears
eylnced his gratitude in many a generous
gift, to which the dear old man, having
long forgotten the incident never rightly
understood the key.
Grandmother, inferring from the time
ly suggestion that the minister, whom she
regarded as the greatest and best man on
the earth, had discovered in her pet some
hidden mental quality which mi ght, with
proper cultivation, send him to Congress,
or some equally famous position. declared,
that she alters knew there was some'n in
the child more than in most folks and
he should have as good learnin' as any
body else's young one, if she died for It.
grandmother had been in the Reyolu-
tion, and she had with her own hands
melted all the old pewter plates and pans
into bullets for her husband, when he took
his gun to 90 and fight the British and
when grandmother once said anything had
to be so ''if she died for ii" so it had to be
that being a clincher which no one in
the household would have thought for a
moment of opposing.
True, Jobs parents-simple benighted
souls-thought he knew enough already.
He couldr read write, and cipher, and what
mere, in the name of goodness, could the
child know, unless it was wickedness.
which he would be sure to learn soon
enough But then, grandmother had
said he should have more learnin' and that
was sufficient more he should have-for
grandmother will was law.
And therefore Job was sent to Meadow
ville-a rival village, some four mile dis
tant, which, boasting of bank, paper
mill, four stores, q regular seminary, and
barber shop, proudly looked down on
Cloverville dob native village, which
had no bank, no seminary-regular or ir-
regular-no paper mill, no barber shop,
and only two stores.
Job, ignorant of the superiority Of the
Meadowvilleans, at first innocently sup
posed himself as good as they-or at least
of that portion who daily attended the
Meadowville Seminary. But from this
delusiye dream be was destined shortly to
awake
For a few days. events moved smoothly
enough. Job came and went, said his les
sons, went up head OF down foot as the
case might be, and nothing occurred to In
terrupt the tranquil tenor of his thoughts,
his feelings, or his way. The boys occa-
sionally stared at him but that was to be
expected, he thought; he was a newscom-
er, and besides, from distance-four
miles off, at least
But in week or two, he was suddenly
astonished to learn that his name was no
longer Job Thorndyke, but "Cloyerville. y
Job did not like this; it sounded disre-
spectful but he fancicd it might be athe
way of the fellers there" and he smiled
as If it were a good joke
Ere long Cloverville was abbreviated to
"Clover;" this to Clio; and this (by a
red-headed, freckle-faced fellow. a little
taller than himself, AMI slender and wrig-
gly as an eel, rudely, to cold clothes. .
Job did not like this at all. lie thought
such conduct was very wicked in the bows
and didn't think he would do it if che was
them"
He said nothing, however-contontina
himself with keeping aloof from them in in
play-hours, and soberly making his way
home directly when school was out. He
laid the matter after short time. before
grandmother and bis parents; but they.
smiling, assured him that the best way
was not to notice the graceless youths,
who would then soon get tired of their
naughtiness, and voluntarily give it up.
But Job did not fnd this to be the case.
In fact, it was the very reverse. The
more he did not notice, the more he HAD
to notice. From simply calling him names,
the Meadowvilleans began to take liber-