The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-01-02

There was meaning tone In mammals
voice which made Toms cheeks turn a
little red.
"Can't you fancy them at supper" she
went on, eating their own corn-cake, the
first made from their own fields don't
believe they had any apple sauce to eat
with 1.-THE apple orchards were not
planted then, you know-but even with
out that it must have seemed delicious to
them"
Toms cheeks were very red indeed now.
"What do you think Elder Brewster
would have said, or Miles Standish, If
some one had told them that hundred
and fifty years or 80 later, one OF the boys
for whom they were working so hard to
build up home and q country would turn
up his nose at corn-bread, and refuse to
eat it because it wasn't mullins 2 Would
they have been most sorry or most angry
do you think :"
~ don't know" said the abashed Tom.
"Elder Brewster would probably have
looked troubled and perplexed. He would
have found it hard to understand how
such thing could be. But can imagine
Miles Standish bringing his fist down on
the table with bang, and shouting, De
generate little rascal, let him not dare to
call himself descendant of ours !" added
Mrs. Brewster, with wicked smile.
ooh, mamma, don'tp said Tom. He
looked so unhappy that she said no more,
but she noticed that next morning he ate
a large piece of corn-bread at breakfast,
and for long time after that she heard
no more petitions for orange marmslade
or apple sauce. Tom never spoke of the
matter again, but the recollection of Elder
Brewster's surprise and Miles Standish's
disgust served as a check and reminder
when he felt inclined to be dainty and
difficult.
Another time it was question of indo-
lence. Tom came down very late to
breakfast, and was correspondingly late
at school.
"How do you suppose the woods would
ever have been cleared, and the fences
built, and the wharves made, if the Pill
grim boys had lain in bed till half-past
eight in the morning ?" his mother asked
him. ave should all be sitting in the
wilderness at this moment, if they hadn't
been earlier than that"
Little by little, Tom Brewster grew
into manly boyhood, and the forefathers,
of whom he thought so much, played no
small part in the development of his char
acter. He was strictly truthful, and had
strong sense of honor, as became a de-
scendant of sturdy Elder Brewster; and
this, of all his traits, was that which his
mother loved and priced the most.
So it was quite shock to her when,
one day, note came to Mr.. Marshall, the
master of the high school, to say that he
was sorry to make complaint against
Tom, whose conduct had generally been
most satisfactory, but that something
very unpleasant had occurred. The bell,
which hung in the tower of the school
building, had been stolen. No one knew
by whom, but mitten marked with
Toms name had been picked up in the
staircase which led to the tower, and he,
on being questioned, though he denied
the mischief, had confessed that he knew
something about it. II can make no i'm
PRESTON" wrote Mr.. Marshall. "Per.
haps you will be able to get the truth
from him."
MIR. and Mrs. Brewster were greatly
troubled by this note. It was the first
serious scrape that Tom had ever got
into, and they were perplexed as to how to
deal with it. Kindly and closely they
questioned their boy, but for long time
they could get no answer beyond, 81
didn't do it. Mamma, l told Mr.. Mar.
shall that didn't do it." But at last,
when Tom grasped the fact that his pa.
rents were not quite sure that he was
speaking the truth, his face flushed indig-
nantly, and tears sprang into his eyes.
Papa, don't you believe me 2" he said,
with choke in his voice.
Yes, Tom," answered his father, slow
ly. eff you look me straight in the face
and say that you didn't do this, l must
believe you, for you have never told me
lie."
"No, and l never WILL" said Tom,
looking straight into his fathers eyes.
" I'd be ashamed of being descendant of
the Pilgrims if told lies. do know
who stole the bell, mamma, and l said so
when Mr.. Marshall asked me, but prom
ised not to tell"
"That's enough, my boy. Pm satisfied,
and no one shall ask you any more ques-
tions about it," said Mr.. Brewster.
Tom let mamma kiss him, then he hur-
ried away. His eyes and voice were not
quite steady yet, and, like most boys of
his age, he considered crying a weakness
to be ashamed of. But his heart was
warm with glow of affection toward the
parents who believed him, without wait
ing for the proof of his word, which came
few weeks later.
"What stanch little chap that is :"
remarked his father, after he was gone.
How he hanks back to the Pilgrims
always He thinks twice as much about
them as ever did. Well, Elder Brewster
himself need not be ashamed of him."
"No," replied his wife, thoughtfully.
1t is curious to see what a large part
Elder Brewster and the rest of those old
worthless have played in Toms develop
ment. 1t makes it better worth while to
have lived to think that, long after you
are dead, you may still reach out hand,
as it were, to affect the life and character
of your far-away descendants. l wish all
New England boys cared about the Pill
grims in the same way. There is every
thing in having high standard, and
Toms standard, all his life, has been the
Forefathers. Susan Coolidge, in Congre-
gationalist.