The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1868-04-24
Jack Sprouts Conversion.

- JACK ~6pf0ut CONVERSION
Jack Sprout swore a terrible oath. In fact
he swore quite number of oaths, for he was
very hungry. TWAS nothing wonderful for
Jack Sproat to swear, even in the presence
Of his wife, for he was sadly given to the
habit of profane language. And yet Jack
was good husband, an indulgent father, an
industrious man, and accom- modating neigh
Dor; and he possessed many other excellen-
cies of character which might have made
him a valuable member of, society, had it
not been for certain loose habits which had
marked his course from childhood His
parents had been careless and profane be-
fore him ; his father had been a tough,
rough customer; SO Jack naturally enough
came up in the same track But he was
good looking, and kind hearted, and genial
and social, and SO he had gained for wife
one Of the very best nlaidcns Of the town,
as we'll as one of the handsomest. 4tzglI
Master Freddy Sprout, aged Eve years,
stood by his mothers side, with a sadly
begrimmed AID tear>streaked face, and his
story was, that Solomon Gordon had
whipped him with stieky and the boys
leg still bore few slight tokens of the cas-
tigation. The other boys had come home
with Master Freddy, and their testimony
corroborated that which the sufferer had
given. Freddy, with some of his play
mates. had been throwing stones at Mr..
Gordon's dog, and one of the missiles hurl-
ed by Freddy had hit the animal and
caused him to howl with pain. OF course
the stone thrown by such tiny hand could
not have inflicted much injury on the ca
nine brute but Solomon Gordon loved his
dog, and when he saw what had been done,
be caught Master Freddy and gave him a
thrashing; for be it known that Solomon
Gordon was just such another man as Jack
Sprout-warm hearted, generous and
neighborly; but rough, uneducated, strong
willed and impulsive r u.s~i-
Jack Sprout put on his hat and prepared
to sally forth. His lips were pale, and
tightly compressed, and the huge muscles
in his arms worked like bundles of ropes.
Dear jack" pleaded his wife, don't
60 out OWL t-1-lso al5 .tft 81
Let me alone, Abby. No man shall
strike q child of mine without having
chance to strike me. [ shall 60 and see
Sol. Gordon, and I'll give him such lick
ing as he won't forget in hurry u and
Jack closed the sentence with terrible
oath v%.l s.icta-t
Mono, Jack-don't go. What good
will it do? Wait until you are more
cool - W 20
"Pshaw! Go away Abby. There is not
power enough on earth to save Sol. Gordon
from drubbing; and III give it to him
before the sun goes down ~. s-d IL Eta
And as Jack Sprout looked at that mo-
ment he gave awful evidence that he was
able to make good his word; for a more
magnificent structure of framework and
l. IL L., Al n Ton
Dear Jack, cried the wife, taking her
husband by the arm, ooh, do listen to me
one moment. Freddy is net much hurt /;
Gordon's dog. You know both Solomon
and his wife set everything by the little au>
imal and he wonld not bark at the boys if
they did not plague him. Ifyou go and
find Gordon as you are now, you will only
make matters worse. "Oh, | wish you
would drop it, ~ 81 t.s.e
Jack only shook his head and smiled one
OF those smiles which are terrible upon the
face of an angry man. .a.
ooh. Jack, if you would only try the eff
feet of kindness upon Solomon He is a
good man at heart '-n-le l.a-.
Jack interrupted his wife with derisive
sneer Hs..i te.t...-
Don't laugh at me Jack. tell you it
would be better to do 30 than to resort to
blows. IF you were attacked would not
blame you for fighting to protect yourself,
but this is not case that calls for your
strength of muscle. There Is higher and
nobler strength that you can use now.
"Oho |" uttered Jack, you are preach
ing. You are giving me some OF your Sun
day School lessons. But | don't wan
'em. You may experience religion as
much, as you please, but you musn't
preach the stuff to me.
Jack, spoke the wife, with stern sol
emnity, have been any worse since l
began to have an interest in religious
things? ?"
No, Abby. you were good always
Then why will you not listen TO me
Ii you will stay with me nOw-if you will
wait until your anger is cooled-and then
go and speak kindly to Solomon Gordon
| give you my solemn word that you will
feel thousand times better than you will
if you 7ge.u.- !. h-sa.E l
But Jack would not hear his wife out
He had sworn that he would thrash Sole
mon Gordon, and he would keep his word
His temper was at the boiling point, AID
he was fairly aching to get his hands upon
the man who had dared 10 strike his boy !;
for Freddy was his pet, and every blow
that had been laid upo IN the Child body
had madel7 "a mark of Gre 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 most
assuredly have been severely beaten; for
though Solomon was stout, bold man. yet
Jack was very Hercules.
But Jack was destined to get thoroughly
cooled off before he met the object of his
wrath. As he approached the bridge that
spanned the river just below the falls he
heard loud cries of alarm, and upon hurry
ing forward he found that boy had fallen
from one of the projecting timbers into the
water. He looked over the railing and saw
the little fellow just coming to the surface
Of the foaming, boiling hood-a curly
headed boy. just about the age of his own
darling Notwithstanding forth his tiny
arms in an agony Of despair. 1t was ter
rifle place, that seethiDg, roaring pool,
where the waters Of the great river came