The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1868-04-16
nlisttllontSus.
Jack Sprouts Conversion.

Jack Sprout swore a terrible oath.
In fact he swore quito number of
oaths, for he was very angry. 1t
was nothing wonderful for Jack
Sprout to swear, even in the presence
Of his wife, for lie was sadly given to
the habit Of profane language. And
yet Jack was good husband,
an iudulgentfsther, and auindustrious
man; aud accommodating ueighbor ;
aud he possessed many other excel
lencies of character which might have
made him u valuatle member of
society, had it not been for certain
loose habits which had marked his
course from childhood. His parents
had been careless aud proiane before
him !. his father had been tough,
rough customer so Jack naturally
>; -ugh came up in the same track.
But he vas good looking, aud Sind
hearted. anu Scnial and social, and SO
he had aimed fo.' wife one of the
very best maidens - the town as
well as one of the handsoL.est'
Master Freddy Sprout, age" nvc
years, stood by his mothers Size
with sadly begr med and tear sti ieaS
ed face, and his story was. that Solo
mon Gordon had whipped him with a
stick, and the boys legs still bore Il
few slight tokens of the castigation.
The ether boys had come with Master
Freddy, and their testimony corrobo-
rated that which the sufferer had given
Freddy, with some of his playmaies,
had been throwing stones at Mr. Cor
dons dog, aud one of the missiles
hurled by Freddy had hit the animal
and caused him to howl with pain.
OF course the stone thrown by such
a tiuy hand could not have inflicted
much injury on the canine brute; but
Solomon Gordon loved his dog, and
when he saw what had been done, he
caught Master Freddy aud gave him
thrashing, for be it known, Solo
mon Gordon was just such auolher
map as Jack Sprout-warm hearted,
generous aud neighborly; but rough,
uneducated, strong willed and iwpul-
sive.
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 20 out now"
"Let me alone. Abby. No man
shall strike q child of mine without
having chance to strike me. Ishall
60 aud see Sol. Gordon, and III give
him such licking as he won't forget
in a hurry ~ And Ja,k closed the
sentence with a terrible oath.
"No-no, Jack-don't go. What
good will it du2 Wait until you are
more cool I"
Pshaw Go away, Abby There
is not power enough on earth to save
Sol. Gordon from a drubbing aud
I'll give it to him before the sun goes
down"
And as Jack Sprout looked at thai
moment he gave awful evidence thai
he was able to make good his word
for a more magnificent structure o.
frame work and muscle was not to bt
found in the town.
"Dcsr Jack, cried the wife, taking
her husband by the arm, "Oh, dC
listen to me one moment. Freddy il
not much hurt aud he ought not Il
have thrown stones at Gordon's dog
You know both Solomon and his wifi
set everything by the little anima
and he would not bark at the boys i
they did not plague him. If you g
aud fnd Gordon as you are now, yor
will only make matters worse. oh
| wish you would drop it,"
Jack ouly shook his head an,
smiled one Of those smiles which ar
terrible upon the face Of an angr
man.
ooh, Jack, If you would only tr
the effect Of kindness upon Solomon
He is a good man at heart-"
Jack interrupted his wife with
0erisiye sneer.
"Don't laugh at me. Jack, l tell yo
it would be better to do SO than I
resort to blows, If you were attack
ed would not blame you for fight
ing to protect yourself, but this is 20
a case that calls for your strength o
muscle. There is higher and noble
strength shat you eau uss now.
"Ohoi" uttered Jack, "you ar
preaching. You are giving me som
of your Sunday School lessons. Blu
| don't want 'em. You may expert
ence religion as much as you please
but you musn't preach the stuff /
me."
Jack" spoke the wife, with ster
solemnity, "have | been any wors
since began TO have an interest i
religious things p
"No, Abby, you were good always
Then why will you not listen to me
If you will stay with me now-it yol
viii wait until your anger is cooled