The record-union., 1891-03-23
PUNISHED. BUT NOT GUILTY.
A Discourse About a Spoon That Was
Never Talked of Afterward.

A Discourse About Spoon That Was
Never Talked of Afterward.
81 remember said the raconteur of
the party, among whom was a Detroit
Free Press reporter, "a dispensation of
what may be called Spartan justice. 1t
happened when | was boy, and made a
lasting impression, as incidents OF the
kind do on youthful mind.
''Our folks had some old silver spoons
that had been in constant service for gem
erations, and were small and thin, and
carried in their shallow bowls the marks
of many teeth. Each spoon had his
tory, as spoons did have in those days,
and they We're looked after with the
greatest care. My mother placed them
under her pillow every night, and the
whole family would be regularly awak-
ened by midnight clatter of rattling
spoons, as they had restless habit of
falling out of bed, so their value was en-
hanced by the many sleepless nights they
cost.
well, one of those precious spoons
was missing, and there was great to-do
over 1t. The servants were all questioned,
but no one had seen the missing spoon,
Ihat night colored girl, who had been
taken in some months before by my
mother, and who was a bright and rather
pfecoclous character, told of seeing a new
iilred man on the premises hiding some
thing in his jacket. She even essayed to
nnd the jacket, and, sure enough, between
the lining and the outside was found the
lost spoon.
My mother was so happy in recover
ing her property that she wanted the man
to go scot free. Not so my father, who
was solemn church-goer. L win give
him lecture on the sin of stealing,' he
said, and keep him, as he is useful man.
l am very sure he will never steal from
us again.
II accompanied my father to the kitch-
en-, where the man was raking ashes over
the Goals of hot fire and preparing to 90
to bed. He sat submissively still, as my
father appeared carrying large Bible,
and he listened to the lecture that was de-
livered with an unmoyed countenance. 1
slept and awakened several times before
it was finished. My fathers solemn, mo-
notonous voice affected me like a sopo-
rife, and l did not try to fathom the Ian
guage he used.
''The culprit was a German, and have
since learned that he did not understand
one word my father said to him-not even
the nature of the accusation against him.
/ thought then, as | listened to nv faith
er's bass tones in that grim monologue,
that the punishment was adequate to the
I sin. / had been lectured myself. and
would have confessed to almost anything
to have escaped the consequences.
1.-The lecture was supplemented by a
prayer, in which my father implored di-
vine forgiveness for the offender. The
German took it all in good part, and re-
mained in his situation, but was no doubt
carefully watched. Some years ago the
colored girl acknowledged that she had
put the spoon in his jacket in order to get
rid of him and crafty her love of mis-
chief. AS he never alluded to it in any
way, we could not tell what he thought
of the services of that night, or how much
OF the moral lecture had been compre-
hended. But | am certain he never un-
derstood the criminal characteristics of
the occasion -