The evening call. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1891-1893, 1893-07-05

The Aged Bell-keeper and the Boy Who
Shouted "Ringr'


though we shall never hear its clariol
d tones.
a This great bell, weighing 2,08
: pounds, was cast by Pass s. Stow, Phil
} adelphia, and around it near the to-
were cast the prophetic words from
: the book of Leviticus, proclaim
4 liberty throughout all the land unit,
all the inhabitants thereof" Earl,
, in June, 1853, it was hung in tn,
? belfry of the state House in Philadel
: phia, with no thought of the liberty
it would one day proclaim.
e. Let US look back over the HUNDRED
|; and seventeen years that have passed
since this bell rang on that Fourth OF
July, 1776, and gaze upon the picture
of the scene so wildly drawn By
George Lippard in his "Annals of the
American Revolution"
LET me paint you a picture upon
the canvas of the past.
at is a cloudleSS summer day, a
clear sky arches and smiles above a
quaint old edif1ce rising among the
giant trees, in the center of wide
city. Plain red brick the walls; the
windows partly framed in stone; the
roof caves heavy with intricate carv-
ings; the hall door ornamented with
pillars of dark stones. Such is the
State House, Philadelphia, in the year
of our Lord 1776."
Within the house was Congress as
sembled. During the session of Con-
gress this summer Richard Henry
Lee of Virginia, moved that THE
| reunited colonies are, and ought to
be, free and independent States"
John Adams of Massachusetts, sec
onded the motion, and a committee
of five was appointed to draw up a
declaration of independence. 1t was
Thomas Jefferson that wrote this
strong and forcible declaration. And
now it was submitted to Congress for
adoption.
The people knew that their des-
tiny was hanging in the balance. All
day the streets were crowded with
anxious men and women, impatiently
waiting to hear the decision. They
surged against the barred doors of
the assembly rooms and stood upon
one another's shoulders to peer in the
windows.
In yonder wooden steeple which
crowns the red brick State House
stands an old man, with white hair
and sunburnt face He is clad in hum
BILE attire, yet his eye CLEANS as it is
fixed upon the ponderous outline of
the bell suspended in the steeple |
there. The old man tries to read |
the inscription on the bell, but can
not. He is no scholar, he
scarcely can spell one of those strange
words carved on the surface of the
bell.
''BY his side, gazing in his face in
wonder, stands a flaXen.haired boy,
with laughing eyes Ofa summer blue.
"Come here, my boy; you are
rich mans child you can read. Spell
me those words and Ill bless you,
my good childn
THE child raised himself on tiptoe
and pressed his tiny hands against the
bell, and read in lisping tones these
memorable words:
" Proclaim liberty throughout all {
the land, unto all the inhabitants
thereof {
''The old manyponders for a mo- PC
ment on those words: then gathering
the boy in his arms he speaks. I
g Look here, my child Wilt do
5he old man kindness? Then haste
you DOWNSTAIRS and wait In the hall |
by the big door until a man shall
rive you message for me- A man 5
With velvet dress and kind face 2
viii come out from the big door and l
i've you word for me. When he 0
lives you that word, then run out s.
'Onder in the street and shout ii up 9
o me, Do you mind?' a
at needed no second command. ?
The boy sprang from the old bell y
-eeper's arms and threaded his way d
own the dark stairs "
1.-THE old bell-keeper was alone.
lany minutes passed. Leaning over y
he railing Of the steeple, his face u
Oward Chestnut street, he looked tC
nxiously for that fair-haired boy.
1Oments passed-an hour-yct still
e came not lmpatientlY the old :.
IAN shook his head and repeated: - -
They will never do it; they will ~
ever do it, "
LAS the words were on his lips a ~
Jerry ringing laugh broke on the ear. -
here among the crowds on the pave ~
lent stood the blue-eyed toy, clap
ing his hands, while the breeze blew "
is haXen hair all about his face. "
nd, swelling his little chest. he ~
Used himself on tiptOe and shouted ~
single word He
Ring" I'D
''Do you see that old mans eve ~
re? DO you see that withered hand ".
-asping the iron tongue Of the belI2 \
he old man is Young again: his veins III
e filed with new life Backward M
I'd forward, with sturdy strokes he III
EuDg the tongue. The bell speaks ~
1t. The crowd in the street hears
and bursts forth In one long shout
ID Delaware hears IL and gives Id ,
OK In the hurrah Of her thousand 80,
i!ors- The city hears il, and starts ~.
from desk and work beach, as I'LL,
Ough an earthquaEc had Srsgnr ~