Omaha daily bee., 1877-04-02

tiCy Nndt hitiu OF ulat6-
rial he was made of and they half
wanted to hear him J1.r, and were
half afraid he might, too. He was
from Constantinople, twelve miles
away-so he had travelled and seen
the world-these very eyes had
looked upon the county court house,
which was said to have a tin roof.
The aweinspired by these reflections
was attested by the impressive 81
lence and the ranks of staring eyes.
This was the great Judge Thatcher,
brother Of their own lawyer. JEFF
thatcher Immediately went for
ward, to be familiar with the great
man, and be envied by the school.
1t would have been music to his soul
to hear the ~whisperings.
"LoOk at him, Jim ~ He's q GO
ing up there. Say-look! he's 8
going to shake hands with hlm-he
is shaking hands with him By
jings, don't you wish you was JEFF Pr
Mr.. Walters fell 10 "showing off,"
with all sorts of official bustling
and activities, giving orders, deliv-
ering judgments, dlscharging direc-
tons here, there and everywhere
that he could find a target. The IL
brarian "showed off "-ruuning and
making a deal of splutter and fuss
that insect authority delights in.
The young lady teachers "showed
of blending sweetly over pupils
that were lately being boxed, lifting
pretty warning fingers at bad little
boys and patting good ones loving
~. The young gentlemen teachers
''showed off" with small seedlings
and other little displays of authori-
ty aud fine attention to discipline
and most of the teachers OF both
sexes found business up at the IL
brary, by the pulpit; and ii
was business that frequently
hat to be done over again two or
three times(with much seeming vex-
ation). The little girls "showed off"
In various ways, and the little boys
'fshowed off" with such diligence
that the air vas thick with naper
wads and the murmur Ct scufiipgs.
And above 1t all the great msn sat
and oeamed o majestic smile upon
all the hQpse and warmed himself
In the Gun of his own grandeur
Ior ne was Showing off too"
There was only oHe thing want
ing to make MIR. Walters ecstacy
oomeplete, and that was a chance
to deliver q bible-prize and exhibit
a prodigy. Several pupils had a
few yellow tickets, but none had
enough-he had been around among
the star pupils inquiring. He would
have given words, nov, to have
that German lad back again with a
sound mind.
And now at this moment, when
hope was dead Tom Sawyer came
forward with nine yellow tickets
and ten blue ones, and demanded q
Bible THE was 9 thnnderbolt out
Of a clear sky. Walters was not ex-
pecting an application from this
source for the next ten years. But
there was no getting around it
here were the certified checks, and
they were good for their face. Tom
was, therefore, elevated to a place
with the Judge and the other elect,
and the great news was announced
from headquarters. 1t was the
most stunning scrprise of the decade,
and the new hero UP to the judicial
ones altitude, and the school had
two marvels to gaze upon, In place
Of one. The boys were all eaten up
with envy-but those that suffered
the bitterest pangs were those who
perceived, too late, that they them
selves had contributed to the hated
splendOr by trading tickets TO Tom
for the wealth he had amassed in
selling whitewashlng privileges.
These despised themselves as being
the dupes Of a willy fraud--a guile
full snake in the grass.
The prize was delivered to Tom
with as much effusion as the super
intendent could pump up under the
circumstances; but 1t lacked some
what of the true gush, for the poor
fellows instinct taught him that
there was a mystery here that could
not well bear the light, perhaps; 1t
was simply preposterous that this
bow had warehoused 1000 sheaves
of Sc%riptural wisdom on bis premises
"a dozen would strain his capacity
without q doubt.
Amy Lawrence was proud and
glad, and she trIed to make Tom see
it in her face-but he wouldn't look.
She wondered; then she was just q
grain troubled ; next q dim suspio-
ION came and went-came again
she atched; q furtIve glance told
her words, and then her heart broke;
she was jealous and angry, and the
tears came-and she hated every.
body. Tom most of all (she thought. }
Tom was introduced to the Judge;
but his tongue was tied, his breath
would hardly come, his heartquaked
- partly because OF the awful great
ness Of the man, but mainly because
he was her parent, He would have
liked to fall down and worship him,
il 1t were In the dark. The Judge
put his hand on Toms head and
called him q fine little man, and
asked what his name was The
boy stammered, gasped, and got 1t
out:
HTom.D
"Oh, no not Tom-it is"
Thomas"
"Ah, that's 1t. I thought there
was more to 1t, maybe. That's very
well. But you've another one, /
dare say, and you'll tell it to me,
won't your"
"Tell the gentleman your other
name, Thomas" said Walters; "and
say 'sir'-you mustn't forget your
manners"
"Thomas Sa wyer-sir."
"That's it That's a good boy.
Fine boy. Fine, manly little fell
low. Two thousand verses ls a
great many-very, very great many.
And you never can be sorry for the
trouble you took to learn II EN- for
knowledge is worth more than any
thing there is IN the world; it's
what makes great men and good
men; you'll be a great man and a
good man yourself, some day,
Thomas, and then you'll look back
and say: It's all owing to my dear
teachers that taught me to learn
it's all owing TO the good superln-
tendent, who encouraged me and
watched over me, and gave me a
beautiful Bible to keep and have it
all my own, always-it's all owing
to right bringing up. That Is what