Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-03-09

People used 10 say, Little Jerry is
LITTLE. but oh, mY!' He liked that, be-
capse be knew they meant that his short
ness (which was a grief to HIM did not
make him Of no account. He knew as
we'll IS anybody that he had got to try
extra hard all MS life in every way, if he
wanted TO make up for being so small.
One bappv day a minister who WAS visit
ing Jerry g mother made Jerry glad and
pave him what was q comfort to him ever
after bv telling him q verse made up by
DR.. Watts but not printed in the hymn
book.
Il was3
Could I in stature reach the pole,
Or grasp creation in a span,
I'd still be reCkOned by my soul;
The minds the measure Of the man!
How he did glory in this splendid piece
NJ ~Doetry! He talked il TO himself when
ever he had nothing else to thiuk of, and
walked many a mile and ran many a
mile keeping step TO those words. When
he went for the cows, and had hard
work TO keep h mare from Jumping
over the bars and coming to the barn
with them, he would shout them out to
the mare, when she turned back-she so
biz and be so little, yet she having to
give in to him!
OF course it was pretty hard in school
TO be always the smallest boy in his
class. Whenever a new boy came he
hoped he would be a little smaller; but
he never was, or if he was he went into
a Younger class; and sometimes, al
though q new boy was bigger, he went
into a younger class. Even Jerry 8
favorite verse of poetry did him no good.
because when he said il at recess they all
laughed. They twisted it all ways; said
the mind was the measure of the pole
and the pole was the measure OF
the man, and the mole was the
measure of the pan, and more
things than you can think of. Jerry
knew they were foolish, but what Of
thaG? They didn't know so. He had
hard work TO keep from crying, 80 be
tried biting his lip till it hurt resolved
to bite till the blood came, if he could
not keep in any other way. And just be-
fore the blood would haYe come the tears
went back.
But his mother must have seen some-
thing in his face when he got home, for
she said:
whats the matter, my son?''
Nothing, mother
Then in a little Will she stopped still,
with q plate in one hand and a towel in
the other, and SAID:
"Has anybody been abusing my bOy?'
ono, mother; no.
He sat with his feet on the stove-hearth
and his arithmetic in his lap, but he
couldn' t keep his mind on the sum at all.
AT last, when he thought she had for
rr4e., --Ia4,-a- -. l-..-L - Ct hn
said:
Mother, what is the reason that boys
who are q little younger than l am are q
little larger than am?''
She did not answer, but wiped her
hands on the towel and hung it Up, and
then came and put her arms around him,
and be could hear her swallowing very
fast, while her cheek felt wet against
his.
is my blessing unhappy
He tried to say no, but could not force
down the lump in his throat. So they
sat Il little while, and then she said:
Isn't il a comfort to my boy that his
mother loves HIM better than anything
IN the wOrld?''
Jerry said it was and kissed her and
went out of doors. When he got into
the open air he had TO own 10 himself
that her pity was no comfort at all; not
one bit; just because it was pity. Pity
can help pain or grief, but not moTtiica-
ton. 1t is only more Notifying But
10 the evening his Uncle John suddenly
said to him (of course his mother had
spoken to Uncle):
Jerry, do you know what 1 proph-
esy?''
mo, uncle.'
"Well. l prophesy that some day
you'l show The folks the difference be-
tween bIgness and greatness
The great question every morning was
whether the wheels had really gone all
night, or whether the dam had sprung a
leak or some other accident had cut short
The lovely operation. He approached
lie place slowly, always listening before
he looked; and occasioually-nOt very
oIten-foUnd that the patter-patter had
actually continued all through the silent
hours Of absence, darkness, dawn, sum
Else and morning!
But one day he approached in his usual
silence; came nearer aud nearer; no
souud-he looked, and
The whole dam was wantonly destroy
cd, the top sods thrown out on the bank,
The rest carried down stream, the nicely
framed board nuneS broken ana trOdden
INTO the mud and the wheels carried
bodily away. His anger began, in
creased, grew overwhelming, until the
nary which possessed him frightened
dm and be said to himself: ''This will
nev 10. Such n feeling might lead a
ma go murder another Then set his
lretn together aud went home to break
last quite calmly.
why don't you eat your breakfast,
J~erry?'
Il do, MOTHER "a few mouthfuls
that stick in Jerry s throat.)
How is your mill dam, Jerry?"
Gone"
Broken? Why, there hasn't been
any rain!p
Jerry tries to swallow the lump. wiuks
very fast and shakes his head.
That was comfort; and Jerry went to