The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-08-22

himself that he must make it all real
The more he thought about it the
more impossible his task appeared
as was quite natural.
And then having played so long
with his temptation, another natural
thing happened. The Enemy, who is
always lingering around on the watch
for just such opportunities, whis-
pered something softly in his ear.
Ned looked at the axe which he had
been holding in his hand, and from
that to the wood. Then he glanced
toward the house. But no, Nora
would not know the difference, she
had not heard what his father said
to him, and so it would be quite,
quite easy to tell her that he was go
ing up the river with Charlie Ito be
sure they would have to walk, for
the boat was out of the question to
boys without the necessary fifty
cents), and might not be back till
after dinner. He could get up early
on Monday morning and finish the
wood and clear the yard so that it
would be all right when his father re-
turned; and he would never think of
asking him if he had kept his prom
Use and gotten all in order for Sun
day. HE always trusts you, you
know"
Ali the Enemy had gone too far
this timel At the thought of how
his father did trust him, a sudden
little color glowed in Ned's brown
cheeks. In a flash he was on bis
feet, bringing the axe down upon the
stick which he had tossed across the
log, with blows calculated to divide
one twice the size; and if you had
been very close you might have heard
the word, "Sneak!" come from be-
tween his tightly closed lips. He
was thoroughly ashamed of himself,
and Disguised and Inundated, FOR he
had always prided himself upon being
what he termed "above board" But
he hadn't yielded, and that was one
small comfortl He worked with such
will that he more than made up the
time which he had lost, and presently
the last stick was finished and In the
shed.
Then he brushed that free of chips
and bits of bark and made little
heap of such for "quick kindllngs."
After that he returned to where the
pile had been and began the same
process there. But at almost the
first chip which he picked up he
paused. There seemed to be some
thing very peculiar about it, for Ned
held it in his hands and gazed at it
as though it had been ghost. And
it was not much to be wondered at,
either; at least it has not been my ex-
perience to find fresh crisp dollar
bills and notes pinned to chips be-
meath woodpiles. For that is what
Ned's chip had pinned to it, After
he had finally convinced himself of
that fact, he slowly opened and read
the note. 1t said:-
DEAR NED: | can almost guess
the time that you will find this and
the enclosure. You will have finished
cutting and putting away the wood,
and then you will gather up the
chips in clearing the yard, for |
know that not one will be left to dis
figure the place over Sunday. This
will be about half past ten-am /
highland that will leave plenty of
time for you to finish up nicely be-
fore dinner. After that [ want you
to take this money, get Charlie, and
go off for pleasure trip this after
noon. You can go for a ride on the
train, or get boat and spend it on
the river. You have we'll earned the
treat by your faithfulness, and have
not only saved me great deal of
money, but have taught me that |
can depend upon you. Have a good
time. Ever your loving FATHER.
Of course you can guess what Ned's
first thought wasl Yes, you are
right; it was gratitude that he had
not forfeited his fathers good
opinion. He felt as though he could
never have looked him in the face
again had he yielded to the impulse
to deceive him. And then-suppose
that he had not found that note till
Monday morning.!
Such good time as those boys
had! Perhaps the afternoon was
even pleasanter than the morning
would have been; at any rate it
seemed so to Ned, as he lay in the
bottom of the boat gazing up into
the green network above him when
Charlie took his turn at the oars.
Then that supper on the island, with
the fish broiling on the wood Goals,
just as Ned had pictured them! He
thOuoht that he had never tastad