The Newtown bee., 1890-07-25
JAMES FIRST SERMON.

he remembered them tenderly. To be
 sure, he had always hated rags; but if it
 had not been for the rags he might not
 have got into jail; and if he had not gone | to jail he would not have met with his
 good fortune. But perhaps had better | begin at the beginning and tell all about
 it. Jamie's mother was a widow. Poor,
 very poor. A hard-working, pious
 Scotch woman, who abhorred dirt and
 dishonesty.
 She and Jamie both worked in a box
 factory, and she was so frugal and sav- | ing that out of their small earnings she
 had furnished d few rooms comfortably,
 and laid by little sum in case of sick
 ness. They went to church regularly,
 and it was Jamie's great ambition to be
 a preacher, regular exhorter, even at
 the age of 12. He harangued the boys
 of his acquaintance; he argued with
 them on all subjects with such persist
 ence that they gave up in self defence,
 even when unconvinced. He studied the
 minister's gestures and read the Psalms
 in exact imitation of his voice and in- | flections. He considered it great af- | fiction that he was obliged to leave school and nearly distracted his mother with deep questions which, with her
 scant knowledge, she was unable to an- swer.
 l Jamie was about B, when one morning | as they went to work as usual they found | the doors of the factory closed. The firm | had failed, and the three weeks back pay which they owed the employees was nev- CT paid.
 That was the beginning of dark days for Jamie and his mother. There was very little work to be had in the small town in which they lived. The widow
 was woman of very independent spirit, | and was too proud to live on charity. One day she went out to wash and
 caught a frightful cold. No more work
 for her after that. The tired hands were
 folded together and idle now from weak
 ness. The weeks of sickness ate away | the little hoard of money. Jamie was sick nurse and housekeeper, and tried to
 be economical, but the money melted | away so fast.
 One night the mother grew very cold and still, and never coughed or suffered any more. Then came the funeral.
 Jamie knew the dread his mother had al- ways had of going "on the town,'' so he
 decided (with the neighbors' advice) to sell the little stock of furniture and bury
 her himself with the proceeds.
 He had no idea it was so expensive to die. When all the bills were paid he had l only dollar and a half, and the worn clothes he stood in. No home, no work,
 no money and, worse than all, no moth- CT! No wonder Jamie's heart ached. He had always been taught to be independ- ent, so he tried hard to get work; but | the odd jobs he could do brought little
 money, and more than once he had the
 mortifying consciousness that he was on-
 ly employed out of pity.
 Things seemed going from bad to | worse. His clothes were worn to rags. | The weather grew colder, and work more | scarce. He was walking down the street early one cold morning, pondering on ways and means, when he heard two men | disputing loudly just ahead of him. Sud- denly one drew a revolver and fired at | his companion and he fell. A crowd gathered at the report of the pistol, and | the assassin was seized. No one but
 Jamie and small shopkeeper, who was sweeping before his door, saw the deed.
 The respectable shopkeeper was able to
 give bonds for his appearance as a wit
 ness, but there was no one who offered to go on the bond for ragged Jamie, so he was marched off to jail for safe keep ing, till he should be summoned as wit ness. He was very indignant at first and felt woefully disgraced, but in day or two he grew more resigned-after he had argued it out with himself that he was not there through his own fault. He was an industrious little fellow, so the jailer set him many tasks, for which he was allowed better food and greater lib- erty.
 He was quite favorite with the pris- oners He had bunk by himself, but was in and out among those less fortu- nate than himself. One Sunday morning as he went in among the prisoners, he noticed new arrival lying on bench at one side of the room, whose handsome clothing attracted his attention. A silk handkerchief covered his face, but in his restlessness it had slipped aside, and Jamie saw that he was very pale. He thought of that dreadful pallor in his sick mothers face, and a great pity came into his heart. He sat down very quiet ly, and lifted the sleeper's head carefully upon his lap for softer resting place, apparently without disturbing him.
 Itwas not altogether desirable change for by and by he began to fidget and grow very uneasy. The rough men were making wicked jests and swearing loud- ly. Usually they showed some regard for the boys presence, but the recent ad- mission of several very hard characters had demoralized them all. Finally, at a wicked oath, Jamie sprang to his feet, tumbling his burden off his lap uncere- moniously. His body was small, but his spirit was big enough for a giant.
 ssHush P he commanded. sHow dare you blaspheme in that wicked way 7