Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-04-14
Uncle Tins Talent.

Uncle Tim held up his saw and squinted
along the teeth to see whether it was d" los
ing its set" He failed TO decide, in his sur
prise at finding that he was taking aim at
the minister, who stepped in range just at
that moment on the street side of the fence.
His eyes came into gear again as he laid his
saw on the wood-pile and stepped up to the
fence saying, Well, it is queer It's only
a minute ago was thinkin' about you.
was thinkin' what good sermon that was
you gave us last Sunday mornin', an how
would tell you so the first time ! saw you"
Uncle Tim was the wood-sawyer and days
work factotum for the village. Unlearned
as he was, the minister always missed him if
he was absent from church-he was such a
helpful listener. And to Uncle Tins COM
pliments he replied, "You told me what you
thought of it at the time in the way you
listened to it; though, for that matter, you
always seem to be interested. l don't sup.
pose you know what a comfort such hearer
is to a minister. If all the congregation
were like you, think it would turn my poor
sermons into good ones" "Thank you,"
said Uncle Tim. 81 don't always git the
hang of everything that's said But should
git less if didn't give attention. An | al
ways says to myself: 'The minister he
works hard to write his sermons, an if folks
don't listen to 'em its pretty dscouragin'.'
An says, You can't put much into the
contrbution-box, Tim, an you can't talk in
prayermeetin, but you can count one in
listenin you can try to 'preciate what other
folks do" "The talent for appreciating is
an excellent one to have" remarked the
minister. "Well, as look at it, it's one as
isn't denied to nobody" said Uncle Tim.
" AN if it's the only one I've got III try not
to wrap it in napkin. When Deacon
Mason does me good by one of his expert
ence talks in prayer-meetin', think it's no
more'n right he should know it. P'raps he
has times of thinkin' that he can't say any
thing worth while, an it STAINS to reason
that he can talk better if he knows he's do
ing somebody some good. An when Wild
der Hatch is maxim such a gritty fight to
keep her children together an give 'em an
edcation, think mebbe it makes it little
easier for her to stand up to it if neighbor
drops word of probation once in while"
The minister said nothing, but there was a
look of "'preciation on his face, and Uncle
Tim continued: The other day see the
young schoolma'am was lookin' worn out
and sober like. imagined them big boys
from the Holler was worryin' the life out of
her. An didn't know how | could help
that. But at noon Just went down to the
school-house purpose to tell her how nice
our gran'son was gettin' along with his rith-
meic. An she said it was better than half
dozen cups of tea for cheerin' her up-she
did. An when | see Sanford's boy take
little Irish girls part that the other boys
were tormentin', an they jeerin him, went
up to him an | says, Uncle Tins nothin'
but wood-sawyer, but he knows enough to
see that you've got the stuff of a gentleman
in YOU You see old folks don't notice the
boys enough. An there's Jim Brady,
drinkin', card-playin' shootin' n'-match critter,
who goes around a good deal like dog
without any owner. He knows folks de-
spise him, But Jim's right handy with
tools, an when | take my saw to him to
have it filed, an tell him he does that job
better'n any other man know of, think it
helps him to have little more respect for
himself, do You see its dreadful easy to
look at faults--at faults in children, an
faults in hired folks, an faults in tavern
keepers, an faults in prayer-meetin's. But
as | look at it we'd do a deal better to think
more about the good things in EN-" "To
have the talent for appreciation, as you call
it," said the minister. 81 dunno as that's
quite the thing to call it, responded Uncle
Tim. "My wife, she says to me once in
while, It's nigh onto fifty years that you've
been tellin' me that you love me. An l
know you do. But don't want you to stop
sayin' it. want you to keep tellin' it as well
as livin it, An guess it's not only
talent of probation that's needed but
talent of telln' it," Uncle Tim screwed up
his face for another squint along his saw
teeth, and the minister walked away, reflect
ing how much brighter and better the world
would be if all of us had the talent for ap-
preciating the good things in others, and
added to this appreciation Uncle Tins
talent for tellin' it.'-Christian Weekly.