The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1867-07-17
Sou the Aallte Girele.
.FHE POWER OF KINDNESS,
!; PRETTY LE:sToRY.

Jack, ,Sproutswas a good husband, an
indulgent father, an honest man, an &C
comrlo odating neighbor, and be possessed
many other excellences of character
which might have made him an excellent
member of society, had it not been for
certain loose habits which had marked
his course from childhood: Ills parents
had been careless and prone before him,
his father had been tough, rough custo-
mer, Sc. Jack had naturally come in the
same track. But he was goodIooking
and Kind hearted, and genial and social,
and so had gained for a. wife one of the
very best maidens of our town, as: we'll as
one of the handsomest,
Master Freddy Sprout, aged five years,
stood by his mothers side, with sadly
begrimmed and tearstreaked face, and his
story. was, that Solomon Gordon had
whipped him with q; stick, and the boys
legs still bore "a few slight tokens of the
castigation. Freddy. with: some of his
playmates, had been throwing stones at
; Mr.. Gordon's dog, and one Of the missiles
hurled by Freddy had hit the ANNA, and
caused him to howl with pain. Of course
the stone thrown by such a tiny hand
could not have inflicted much injury upon
the canine brute, but Solomon Gordon
loved his dog, and when he saw what
had been done, he caught Mr.. Freddy and
gave him a. thrashing; for, be it known,
Solomon Gordon was just such another
man as Jack Sprout- warm hearted, gen
erous and neigh borly, but, rough, unedu-
Gated. strong-willed and impulsiye.
Jack ;Sprout2 put on his hat and prepar.
ed to sally forth. Hislips were pale and
tightly compressed, and the huge muscles
:of his arm worked like bundles of rope.
aDear j Jack," pleaded his wife, "don't
go out now"
sEIet me alone, Abby. No man shall
strike; q child of mine without having a
chance to strike,me. I shall 60 and see
Sol Gordon, and I'll give him such lick
B ing as he won't forget in g hurry
ssNo, no, Jack-don't go. What good
will it do. Wait until you are more
cool" - 50 -,
sPsbawI Go away, Abby. There is
NOS power enough on: earth to save Sol
Gordon from a drubbing, and I'll, give it
TO him before the sun goes down,
And as Jack Sprout looked. at that mo-
ment, he. gave awful evidence that he was
physically able to make good his word,
for a more magnificent structure of franc
work and muscle was not to. be found in
the town.
aDear Jack, p cried the wife, taking her
husband by the arm. "Oh, do listen TO
me one moment; Freddy rs. not much
hurt, and he ought. not to have thrown
stones at Gordon's dog. You know both
Sol and his wife set; everything by the
little animal, and he would not bark at
the boys if they did not plague him. If
you 20 and find Gordon. as you are now,
you will only make matters worse. Oh,
I wish.;You would drop. it,.
Jack interrupted his wife with a de-
risive sneer-
sDon't laugh. at me- Jack. I tell you
it would. be better to. do so than to resort
to blows. If you were attacked, / should
not blame you for trying to protect your
yourstrength Of muscle. There is a high
Grand a nobler strength that you can use
now"
eOh, ho,o uttered Jack, ayou are preach
ing. You are giving me some of your
Sunday school lessons: You may expert
ence religion as much as you please. but
you mustn't preach the stuff to me-
seJack," spoke the wife, with stern So
lemnity, shave been worse since began
to have an interest in religious things ?"
mo, Abby-yon were always good"
ssThen why will you not listen to me-?
IF. you will stay2with me now-ifyo will
wait.until your anger is eooled-and then
goland speak kindly to Solomon Gordon,
/ give you. my solemn pledge that you
will feel o thousand times better than you
will if yon-''
But. Jack would not hear his wife out.
He had said that he would thrash Solo
mon Gordon, and he would keep his word
His temper was at the boiling point, and
he was fairly aching to get his fingers on
the man who had. dared to strike his bow !;
for Freddy was his pet, and every blow
that had been laid upon the child's BODY
had made a mark, Of fire upon his own
heart. So he put. his wife away from him.
and hurried from the house, slamming the
door after him.
Away went Jack Sprout with rapid,
heavy strides; and had Solomon Gordon
fallen in his way just then he would have
most assuredly been severely beaten, for
though Solomon was stout, bold man,
Jack was q very Hercules.
But Jack was destined to get pretty
thoroughly cooled off before he met the
object Of his wrath. AS he approached
the river, just below the falls, he heard
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