Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1891-08-04
A LecruR1 o.. \ SPOON.
the Hired Man Get ~. bot iie raiisi 10
1o..nt,h.ai "A Word Of a..

The iiirsj Man Get u. bot lie Failed 10
Csu,pr.h.ai . wori sf ~.
II rvmcmbcr.- Hail tho rccontcur of
the party. "a disIsnsation u what might
b. called Spartan justice. II happcnod
when wAs boy and made q lasting
impression. As incidents % the hnh Do
on q youthful mind
"Our folks a, homo hal some old sil'
yer spoons that hal been In constant
service fur generations. and were small
aud thin, AMI carriol In their shallow
b,wls the marks % every tooth In the
family. Each spoon hal history and
an association. NJ spoons did have In
tho~e days. AMI they were looked after
with the greatest car. Ny mother
placed them under her pillow every
night. and the whole family would H.
regularly awakcncd by midnight clai-
ter % ra,tlirs spoons, A. they had a rest.
lcss habit of falling out 81 b-d, ~ their
value Wa enhanced 10y the many sleep
les nights they cost.
"well. one % tho~o precious spoons
was missing. and there was n great 10 do
over IL. The servants were all ours
toned. but no one hal sen the missing
sroou. That night q colored girl, who
hal b-n taken In some months before
by my mother. and who was bright and
rather prccocious character. told of see
ing n new hir-i man on the prcmiss-
hiding something In his jacket. She even
essay-i to fnd the jacket. and, sure
enough. bstwccn the lining and the out
side was found the lo-t spcOn.
my mother was - happy In recover
ing her property that she wanted the
man to ~ scot free. Not 20 my father,
who was a solemn church goer. Iwill
give him lecture on the sin of stealing.
b. said. and keep him. ~ he Il useful
man. am very SURF lac will never steal
from u again
II accompanied my father 90 the
kitchen, where the man was raking
ashes over the Goals Of hot fire AMI pre-
laring to 20 tol--i. lie sat submissi'ely
still as my father appeared, carrying a
large Bible. and he listened to the lect-
urc that was delivered with an unmoyed
countenance. slcp, and awakened sey'
eral times before u was finished. My
fathers solemn. monotonous voice af-
fec,ed me like soporihc and did not
try a. faihom the language he ussi.
"Thc culprit was German. and ]
have since learned that he did not under
stand one worl my father said 20 him.
nor even the nature of the accusation
against him. thought then. as ] lis
tened to my fathers bass tones In that
grim monologue, that the punishment
was adequate 10 the sin. ] hal been
lcctured myself. and would have con-
fessei to almost anything 10 have &C.
caT.-i the consequences.
"The Lecture was supplemented by a
prayer. In which my fater implorsl
divine forgiveness for the offender The
German took 1t all In good part and re-
mained Ia his situation. but was no
doubt carefully watched. Some years
after 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 mischief. As he never alluded
10 II In any way we could not tell what
he thought of thesrvices ofthat night, OF
how much of the long moral lecture had
been comprehended. But ! an certain
he never understood the criminal nature
cf the occasion. Detroit Free Press.