The Grange advance., 1874-09-16
cARRoLL'S TEMPTATION.

CARR0LL'S TEMPTATION.
The greatest pleasure and the great
est pain Of Carroll FairwcIii' life was
going to school-the greatest pleasure,
because he was fond Of study, and his
mother worked hard to give him the
time for it and to oio,lle hl,n dccently :;
the greatest pain. beca use the lad was
crippled, and the straight, wel:-made
boys ridicuied him and taunted him
with his crooked back, the resu;. of a
fall in infancy.
No one in the large school Of fifty
scholars was so fond Of the cruel amuse-
ment Of exciting the rage Of the poor
hunchback by taunts and eneers as
Weston Hall, the leader of his class, the
handsomest and smartest Of all Mr..
Grey's scholars. The studies that
Carroll conquered by patient, laborious
application, Weston learned easily, and
the two were the best and the first of
the large number of scholars.
Weston Hall was the son of rich
man, had been petted and indulged from
his cradle, and was accustomed to have
his will law both at home and amongst
his schoolmates and it angered him to
have a boy who was poor and crippled
keep so close to him in all his studies,
that he had to study faithfully to keep
the head Of his class. He missed no
occasion to show his spiteful resentment
to Carroll, taking unfair advantage of
him whenever it was possible, and lead
ing the other boys on to many insults
upon the lads afliction they would not
have thought of alone.
Matters we're in this state when Mr..
Grey, three weeks before the close of the
summer term, announced two prizes for
the competition of the school -one for
the best historical composition, and one
for the best Latin verse. It was really
a race between Carroll and Weston, as
they were far ahead Of the other schol-
ars in all the studies of the class.
Faithfully Carroll worked upon his
manuscripts, copying. revising and i'm
proving them in every hour Of leisure !;
while Weston sneeringly told him he
could toss off better composition in
two hours than he could write in six
weeks.
''It is really between Weston Hall
and myself, mother,'' Carroll said, as
he rolled up his neatly written papers
on the morning of the examination.
''The other boys in the class will all
send in a composition, but the prize will
be between US two. If l lose, Weston
will have new taunt to throw at ne !;
those on my deformity and my door
clothes are getting old. If win, he
will find some new torments to show
his anger. Mother" he said, earnest
ly, his pale face flushing, ''if ! were is
strong and tall as Weston Hail. would
as soon strike baby or a girl as
would torment boy as helpless and
feeble as / am. He knows I would be a
mere child in his grasp, and he delights
in knowing his strength against my
weakness
s'That is the cowardice Of tryant,' -
said Mrs. Fairwell, gently. 'sNo truly
brave boy is ever cruel or tyrannical.
But are you not starting for school too
early, my SONG"
"All the compositions must be handed
in before nine, mother. Wish me sue
cess.''
"With all my hearth
There was time for leisurely walking
when Carroll started, but when nearly
half way to the school, he saw Weston
Hall and group of other schoolboys
waiting at Mr.. Halls gate for him to
pass. Sure that they were planning
some cruel sport, he stepped back, and,
hiding behind hedge, waiting in his
turn until the road was clear. 1t was
. long time before the boys wearied
standing there, and the school bell
clang the quarter before nine, startling
tn em all.
With a shout the whole group hurried
off and when they were we'll on the way
Carroll came from his hiding-place. 1t
was late for him, Tor he could not walk
fast or run if. he was late; but he hur-
ried as much as possible. Suddenly he
saw in his path a small roll tied with
ribbon. He knew the bold, clear
writing upon it as soon rs he saw it.
It was Weston Halls composition, roll
ed together. Evidently he had dropped
them from his school-bag in his haste.
Carroll's heart beat fast. Probably
Weston would not miss the roll until
he was in the school-room, and he
would not, by the rules of the school,
be allowed to leave the room after he
had once entered. If there was no
composition from Weston Hall, Carroll
was sure of both prizes. There was no
actual wrong to be committed. He
need not steal the papers or destroy
them. He had only to walk past them,
not touching them. It was strong
temptation. For nearly three years