The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1870-06-10
(From tho Galaxy, of May)
The Story of the good Little Boy who
did not Prosper.
DY MARK TWAIN.

The following has been written at
the instance of several literary friends,
who thought that if tho history Of
''The Bad Little Boy who did Not
Como to Grief" Ga moral sketch which
published five or six years ago) was
worthy Of preservation several weeks
in print, Il fair and unprciudccd com
panion piece to it would deserve y
similar mortality-Editor:
Once there was good little boy by
the namo Of Jacob Blivcns. lilo al
ways obcycd his parents, no matter
how absurd or unreasonable their de-
mands were; and he always learned
his book, and was never lato ut Sun
day school. lie would not play hook
cy, even when his sober Judgment
told him it was the most profitable
thing he could do. None of the other
boys could ever make that boy out, he
acted SO strangely.
lie wouldn't lie, no matter how
convenient it was. lie just said it
was wrong to lie, and that was sufli-
cicnt for him. And lie was so honest
that he was simply ridiculous. The
curious ways that Jacob had surprised
everything. lie wouldn't play mar
blcs on Sunday, he wouldn't rob birds
nests, he wouldn't give hot pennies to
organ grinders monkeys; he didn't
seem to Ia llo any interest in any kind
OF rational amusement. SO the other
boys used to try and reason it out and
come to an understanding about him,
but they couldn't arrive ut any salts
factory conclusion; as l said before,
they could only figure out q sort Of
vague idea that he was "atl,ictcd,"
and SO they meyer allowed any harm
TO come to him.
This good little boy read all the
Sunday school books; they were his
greatest delight. This was the whole
secret Of it. lie believed in tho good
little boys they put in tho Sunday
school books; he had every confidence
in them. uc longcd to como across
one Of them alive once; but mover did.
They all died before his time, may be.
Whenever he road about Il particular
good one, he turned over quickly to
tho end TO sec what had become of
him, because he wanted TO travel
thousands of miles to gaze upon him !;
but it wasn't any uso; that good little
boy always died in tho last chapter,
and there was picture of his funeral,
with all his relations and the Sunday
school children standing around the
gravo in pantaloons that were too
short, and bonncts that werc too largo,
and everybody crying. into handkcr-
chiefs that had as much rs q yard of
stuff in them. He was always headed
off in this way. He never could soc
one of those little boys, on account of
his dying rs in the last chapter.
Jacob had noble ambition to be
put in q Sunday school book. lie
wanted to be put in with pictures rep
rcscnting him gloriously declining TO
his mother, and she weeping for joy
about it; and pictures representing
him standing on his door step giving
a penny to poor beggar-woman with
six children, and telling her to spend
it freely, but not TO be extravagant,
because extravaganza is sin, and pic
lures of him magnanimously refusing
to tell on the bad boy who always lay
in wait for him around tho corner as
he came from school, and welted him
over tho head with lath, and then
chased him, saying: "IIi! Hill" rs ho
proceeded. That was tho ambition
Of young Jacob Blivcns. Io wished
to be put in Sunday school book. 1t
made him feel littlo uncomfortable
sometimes when he reflected that the
good little boys always died.
Lie loved to live you know, and this
was. tho most unpleasant feature of
being Sunday-school book boy. He
knew it was not healthy to be good.
Ic knew it was moro fatal than con-
sumption to bc supernaturally good,
AS tho boys in tho books wero; he
he knew that none Of them had boon
able to stand it long, and it panied
him to think that if over they put in
book he wouldn't ever SEQ it, or
even if they did get the book out be-
fore he died, it would not be popular
without any pictures of his funeral
in tho back part Of it. 1t couldn't bo
much Of q Sunday school book that
couldn't tell about the advice hc gave
to tho community when he was dying.
So at last, of course. he had to mako
up his mind to do tho best he could
under tho circumstanccs-tol live right
and hang on as long as he could and
have his dying speech all ready when
the time came for him to die.
But somehow, nothing over went
right with this good little boy; moth.
ing ever turned out with him the way
it turned out with the good little boys
in tho books. They always had q
good time, and tho bad boys had tho
broken legs; but in his case there was
n screw loose somewhere, and it all
happened just the other way. When
he found Jim Blake stealing apples,
and went under the tree to read to
him about tho bad little boy who fell
out Of o neighbor's apple trce and
broke his arm, Jim fell out of tho tree
too, but he fell on him and broke his
arm, and Jim wasn't hurt at oil, Ja.
cob couldn't understand that. Thoro
was not anything in tho books like it.
At onco, when some bad boys push.
cd blind man over in the mud, and
Jacob ran to holp him up and receive
his blessing, tho blind man did not
give him q blessing at all, but whack.
cd him over the head with his stick,
L