The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1877-03-02

President; for the officers of the Govern
ment; for poor sailors, tossed by stormy
seas; for the oppressed millions groan-
ing under the heel of European mon
arches and Oriental despotisms; for
such as have the light and good tidings,
and yet have not eyes to see nor ears to
hear withal; for the heather in the far
islands of the sea; and closed with q
supplication that the words he was
about to speak might find grace and
favor, and be as seed sown in fertile
ground, yielding in time grateful har-
vest of good. Amen.
There was rustling of dresses, and
the standing congregation sat down.
The boy whose history this book relates
did not enjoy the prayer, he only en-
dured tiff he even did that much. He
was FESTIVE all through it; he kept tally
of it unconsciously-for he was not list
ening, but he knew the ground of old.
and the clergyman regular route over it
and when little trife of new matter
was interlarded, his ear detected it and
his whole nature resented it, he consid
cred additions unfair and sconndrelly. In
the midst of the prayer fly had lit on
the back of the pew in front of him and
tortured his spirit by calmly rubbing
his hands together, embracing its head
with its arms, and polishing it SO vigor-
ously that it seemed to almost part COM
pany with the body, and the slender
thread of neck was exposed to view;
scraping its wings with its hind legs and
smoothing them to its body as if they
had been coat tails; going through its
whole toilet as TRANQUILITY as if itknew it
was perfectly safe. As indeed it was i;
for as sorely as Toms hands itched to
grab for it they dare not-he believed
his soul would be instantly destroyed if
he did such q thing when the prayer
was going on. But with the closing
sentence his hand began to curve al d
steal forward; and the instant the
amen was out the fly was q prisoner
of war. His aunt detected the act and
made him let it 60.
The minister gave out his text and
droned along monotonously through an
argument that was so prosy that many a
head by and by began to nod-and yet
it was an argument that dealt in limit
less fire and birthstone and thinned the
predestined elect down to a company so
small as to be hardly worth the saving.
Tom counted the pages of the sermon !;
after church he always knew how many
pages there had been, but he seldom
knew anything else about the discourse.
However, this time he was really inter-
ested for little while. The minister
made grand and moving picture oe the
assembling together of the worlds hosts
~ <1av hn M
lamb would lie down together and lit
tie child should lead them. But the
pathos, the lesson. the moral of the
great spectacle were lost upon the boy;
he only thought of the conspicuousness
of the principal character before the on
looking nations; his face lit with the
thought, and he said to himself that he
wished he could be that child, if it was
tame lion.
Now he lapsed into suffering again, as
the dry argument was resumed. Pres
emily he bethought him of treasure he
had and got it out. It was a large
black beetle with formidable jaws-a
"pinch-bug," he called it. It was in a
percussion-cap box. The first thing the
beetle did was to take him by the finger.
A natural FLIP followed, the beetle
went houndering into the aisle and lit
on its back, and the hurt finger went
into the boys mouth. The beetle lay
there working its helpless legs, unable
to turn over. Tom eyed it, and longed
for it; but it was safe out of his reach.
Other people uninterested in the SER
mon, found relief in the beetle, and they
eyed it too. Presently vagrant poodle
dog came idling along, sad at heart,
lazy with the summer softness and
quiet. weary of captivity, signing for
change. He spied the beetle; the
dropping tail lifted and wagged. He
surveyed the prize; walked around it;
smelt at it from a safe distance; walked
around it again; grew holder, and took
closer smell; then lifted his lip and
made a gingerly snatch at it, just missing
it; made another, and another; began to
enjoy the diversion; subsidized to his
stomach with the beetle between his
paws, and continued his experiments;
grew weary at last, and then Indifferent
and absent-minded. His head nodded,
and little by little his chin descended
and touched the enemy, who seized it.
There was sharp yelp, a airt of the
poodle's head, and the beetle fell a
couple of yards away and lit on its back
once more. The neighboring spectators
shook with gentle inward Joy, several
faces went behind fans and handker-
chiefs, and Tom was entirely happy.
The dog looked foolish, and probably
felt so; but there was resentment in his |
heart, too. and craving for revenge.
So he went to the beetle and began q |