The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1876-07-16
Manning Star and Catholic ~essen ger.
TTW oRIEAss suNBAy JuL4ls 1915.
ROM SAWYER IS DIPLOMACY.
IFrom Mark Twsin,a New worh.l

THE world seemed to be hollow mockery to
Tom. who had planned fun for that day, and
who knew that he would be the laughing
stock of all the boy as they came past aud
saw him, set to work like niger" But q
great inepira ion burst upon him and he
went TRANQUILITY TO work. WHAT that inspira
tion was will appear from what follows One
of the boys, Ben Rogers, comes by ana
pauses, eating particularly fine apple.
Tom does not see him. Ben stared mo-
ment and then said:
"Hi vi! You're sp q stump, amt You r.
No answer. Tom surveyed his last
touch with the eye Of an artist, then he
gave another gentle sweep, and surveyed
the result as before. Ben ranged up along
side Of him. Toms mouth watered for the
Z" Hello, old chap. You got to work,
Wbv. it's you, Ben. wasn't noticing"
essay, Im going in ewimmipg, am
Don't you wish you could But, of course,
you'd drnther work, wouldn't youf Course
Tom contemplated the boy bit and
said:
"What do you call work 7"
"Why amt that work 2"
Tom resumed his withdrawing and an
swered carelessy:
"Well, maybe it is, and maybe it amt.
All know is, it suits Tom Sawyer"
"oh. come now. you don's mean to let
on that you like itf"
The brush continued to move.
Like it, Well. don't see why 1
oughtn't to like it Does q boy get chance
to whitewash fence every dayf"
That put the thing in a new light. Ben
stopped nibbing his apple. Tom swept his
brush daintily back and forth; stepped
back to note the effect; added touch here
watching every move, add getting more
and more interested, more and more alb
eorbed. Presently he said
Say, Tom, let me whitewash little"
Tom considered was about to consent;
but he altered bic mind.
Ono, no. reckOn it wouldn't hardly do,
Ben. You see, Aunt Polly's awful particu
lar about this fence-right here on the
street, you know-but if it was the back
fence wouldn't mind, and she wouldn't
Yes, she's awful particular about this fence.
It's got to DO done very careful. reckon
there amt one boy in a thousand, maybe
two thousand, that can do it in the wsy it's
got to be DONE"
"No-is that SO 2 Oh, come now 1emme
just try, only little. I'd let you, if you
was me, Tom"
"Ben. I'd like to, honest injun; bat
Aunt Polly-well, Jim wanted to do it, but
she wouldn't let him. 81 wanted to do it,
but she wouldn't let Sid. Now, don't
you see how am fixed If you was to
tackle this fence, and anything was to hap
"Oh, shucks I'll be just as careful. Now
/ femme try. Ssy-rll give you the core of
"Wsl, here. No, Ben; now don't; I'm
afread -
"T'll give you all of it,"
Tom gave up the brush with reluctance
in his face, but alacrity in his heart. And
while Ben worked and sweated in the sun,
the retired artist sat on o barrel in the shade
close by, dangling his legs. ne1nched his
apple, and planned the slaughter of more
innocents. There was no lack of material;
boys happened along every little while
they came to jeer but remained to white.
wash. By the time Ben was tagged out,
Tom had traded the next chance to Billy
Fisher for kite 10 good repair; and when
for dead rat and string to swing it With;
and SO on, and SO on, hour after hour. And
when the middle of the afternoon came,
from being poor poverty stricken boy in
the morning, Tom was literally rolling in
wealth. He had, besides the things have
mentioned, twelve marbles, part of a jews
harp, . piece of blue bottle glass to look
through, q spool cannon, q key that
wouldn't unlock anything, fragrant of
chalk, glass stopper of decsnter, tin
soldier, a couple of radpoles, siE fire crack
ers, kitten with only one eye, brass
knob, dog collar-bnt no dog-the han
die of knife, four pieces of orange peel,
and dilaPidated old window sash. He
mad nice, good, IDLE time ALI the while
plenty of company-apd the fence had
three coats of whItewash on it'll If he
hadn't run out of whitewash, he would
have bankrupted every boy in the village.
Tom said to himself that it was not such
hollow world after all. He had discov-
cred a great law of human action without
knowing it, namely, that, in order to make
man or boy covet a thing, it is only neces
sary to make the thing difficult to attain
If he had been a great and wise philoso-
pher, like the writer of the book, be would
now have cOmprehended that work con
sists of whatever body is not obliged to
do. And this would help him to under
stand why constructing artificial flowers or
performing on a tread mill, is work while
rolling nine pins or climbing Mont Blanc is
only amusement. There are wealthy gentle
men in England who drive courthouse pas
seDgers- coaches twenty or thirty miles on
daily line in the summer, because the
privilege costs them considerable money,