The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-12-02
SELECTED STORY.
The Old Church Pew.

Yes, am a White Owl, or Barn Owl
or Screech Owl; cal me which of thes,
you like, so long as you do not cling t
your heathenish superstition and de
scribe me as a bird of ill-omen.
l am an owl of venerable age, an(
may reasonably expect that you will pay
attention to my whm. Moreover, thC
whole of my life has been passed here
in the precincts of this antique, pictur
esque, tumble-dOwn, church-Which
alasl the new rector seems fully deter
mined will have to give place to some
High Art invention in way of ceiling,
and the high-backed, dark oaken peWs
so endeared to us through sacred memo.
ries, will be supplanted by new ones OF
pale yellow wood. ] heard them dis
cussing it all in the vestry the other day,
and Kissed and snapped for more than
an hour after, until l nearly choked
with rage and modification.
| could tell you a story concerning
each of these quaint old pews, only |
dare say you'll find one enough. So, as
twilight is coming on, I'll fly down be-
side you, and perch upon the reading
desk; then you need not strain your ears
to listen.
If the same to you, 1 would rather
choose the pew with the ragged red has
socks, about half way down the middle
aisle. There are three shabby looking
prayer books, with brown leather backs,
lying on the ledge, one little smaller
than the others-ah, you see it now
Well, l had just come into the world
when the owners of the two large PRAYER
hnnka Hrst uNoha tbair -,
that pew. My poor, dear parents, now
dead and gone, have described them to
me with much minuteness, little guess
ing what the sad sequel would be.
They were a young couple of most
prepossessing exterior-or, at any rate,
the happiness which shone in the eyes
of both gave one that impression. he
was the village carpenter, and Just mar
ried to the girl he had always loved,
pretty little Rose, the innkeeper's
daughter.
My father and mother brought me
up 10 take friendly interest in every
individual belonging to our congrega-
ton; but more especially did they
watch with pleasure the weekly de-
votions of these two young creatures.
For they were regular church-goers
and every Sunday saw them in their
accustomed seats, until an event hap
pened to add new sweetness to the
peaceful sameness of their days.
l was already a promising young
owlet, and sufficiently intelligent to I'M
derstand something of the ceremony,
when they brought their tiny infant to
be baptized, down there over the old
stone font. A fine tall fellow, and how
he screamed when the rector-a splen-
did type of the regular out and out gen.
tleman he was, and quite different to
our last mportation-took him in his
arms, and sprinkled the holy water on
his miniature rosy visage.
How proud the young mother looked
as she tried to hush his cries! My pa
rents were 80 highly edited by the
spectacle that they took me out on a
glorious housing expedition that very
night in the farm yard which lies to the
right of the village pond, and which
has since been one of my favorite
haunts.
Ah, well, time crept on, and the little
babe whom l had last seen and heard
in his christening robe no longer de-
tanned his mother at home, but grew old
enough to accompany her and his father
to church.
At the beginning we entertained
every hope that the boy would prove
blessing to the fond parents, to whom
he was so evidently all in all. But,
alas! was the first to note that as the
childish precocity quickened and de-
veloped within him the evil instinct
seemed to predominant, and was ever
ready to extinguish the good.
He used to turn round during the SER
vice and make faces at the school chill
dren, then he would take his marbles
out of his pocket and count them over
when his parents were not looking.
The dear old hymns, that my owls al
ways delighted to hear, possessed for
him not an atom of attraction. Not
withstanding that he had learned to
read at the village school, he did not
even trouble to follow the words, though
I doubt not that through constantly
hearing them some of the lines must
have entered and, perhaps uncon-
sciously, become engraven on his brain.
After a few years had elapsed, his
parents came one Sunday alone, and l
ascertained that the boy developing
taste for book learning, had been APP
prenticed to bookseller in neighbor-
ing town. Occasionally he returned
home for short holiday and accom-
panied his parents as usual to the old
pew on Sunday morning. But, alasl
his behavior was even less excusable
than of yore. He would either sleep
through the sermon, or, on the sly, dip
into book which he held concealed,
with dirty yellow cover.
After this owing to many sad family
losses, my mind was too much dis
tracted by personal sorrow to occupy
myself with the misfortunes of others.
First, my father died of asthma; and
my poor mother, heart broken at his
loss, did not long survive him. Then
my only brother was unfortunately
caught in trap, placed in the church,
Tho CD LuncLi,o