The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-10-30
A Strange Story.

From the Boston Transcript.
Among curious oriental tales read long ago,
/ remember the story of a fatherless Arab boy,
who hungered for knowledge, but was too poor
to go to school. Obliged to support himself
and his mother and sisters on his little earn
ings, he nevertheless managed to save money
enough to buy book, and this he would pore
/. over between his hours of hard work, though
10 cond not read a word.
05fe moonlight night after ell s,lse rest If tie
ta1iDy ), ere asleep, Inc poor AfssJ coy was sit
ting, with his book in his hands, on bench by
the door, when he saw two rats creep out from
under tine wall near him. He seized basin
from the bench, and, as any boy would have
done, attempted to clap 1t over the rats. One
ran back to its hole. The other was a prisoner
under the pan. In few minutes the escaped
rat came back, and after smelling around the
pan, sat up on it's launches and looked at the
boy, as if begging for his mate. The boy re-
fused and presently the rat disappeared and
returned with something in its mouth which
1t dropped at the young Arabs feet The boy
picked up the gift and saw that it was a gold
piece. Seeing that his mate was not released
the rat went back and brought another gold
piece. The boys amazement must have made
him slow to comprehend or sympathiZe, for it
was not until the anxious rat had ventured
three times more with similar treasures from
its hole that he fully recognized the situation.
The last offering the animal brought was a
purse, which it laid down with all its contents,
as much as to say, This is the best can do"
1 no DOy az ODtG ItlCdS6O MS CdpDlNt, anu DC
wildered with JOY, fastened into the house
with his gold. OF course, the story ends by
telling us that the poor little Arab, so sudden
" made rich went to school and became
learned man.
l can add to this a truer tale-and an equally
good one-of quite modern date. A woman
living in West Tennessee went home froms
church one Sunday impressed by moving APP
peal which her pastor had made in behalf of a
minister s widow, recently left in want, with
six children. What could she give TO relieve
this case of suffering? She was herself wild
ow, and poor. She thought intensely over the
matter, and that night she prayed over it but
way of raising the money occurred to her.
The next morning, when she went out to sweep
off her doorstep, she noticed that the earth on
one side had been freshly thrown up, and
something glittering lay in the dirt. 1t was a
five dollar gold piece. During the night rat
had taken it into his head to dig a hole under
the steps, and one result of his labor was the
resurrection of that coin. The woman knew
that during the war her husband had buried
his savings, all in gold coins, under those steps,
but he had dug up the money after the war
was over, and evidently supposed he had re-
covered the whole. 1t seemed that he was mis-
taken. And now his widow was not
slow to follow the hint given her by the bur-
rowing rat. She removed the steps, and after
a thorough search, succeeded in finding 800.
Regarding this money as a direct gift from
heaven she sent it all to the suffering family.