The morning news., 1899-12-31

Lippincott or Strawbridge or whateva, he
name of the gentleman is Who lives hers
should get pneumonia through the loss Of
his doors, 1t would be Your fault"
Amiuadab had not thought Of that A.
! all. To give a man pneumonia was the
last thing he would have Wished 10 do and
his eyes began to IN with tears.
While he was trying hard 10 keep back
the sobs. a large. stout. kindly looking Old
| gentleman came down the brSad stare Sc
and seeing one of his doors OFF its hinges
and policeman on the steps, said: bei
I 10, what's the matter herey is this The
way you come in doors-by taking N
/ doors off r. ~
Then Aminadab did what he ought
nave done in the first place. He took oit
I his hat and he made low bow and said
| in manly toue Il am building lib ary
| at Mullinsville, N. j.. which | am gong
70 give TO the town and | needsd rahr
of doors for It and seeing that you n1usf
be rich or else you wouldn't have mahog-
any doors when black walnut would 20
just welh / helped myself to them aud
didn't suppose that you'd miss them.
Didn't suppose that I'd miss tn ny
Hoity, tcity. am / so old that l cant e<el
when my fioEt doors are gone? However,
l am glad 10 see that you are so public
spirited and if you and the officer viii come
inside out Of the draught. I'D like 10 talk
to YOU
Amiaadab notioned 10 the officer TO go
ia and then he placed the door In position
and put back the screws. Then he came
iaside aud sat down in the old gentleman's
drawing room.
Now. see here. young man. where did
YOU get the rest of the material for your
library?"
Il got the stone from the stone walls
around the country"
And did you have permission?'
why, no." said Aminadab. wondering
ly. What's stone out of wall here
and there?"
rho policeman looked at Mr.. Straw
bridge or Mr.. Lippincott or whatever his
name was and shook his head sadly. To
him the boy seemed pretty bad and IL
he had had his say he would have carried
him off TO the police station.
But the old gentleman smiled kindly.
And who helped you take all this stone7
Didn't your helpers tell you that il is
wrong to steal?"
Il had no help, sir" said Amtnadab. Il
We'll, you must be unusually strong. And
how were you going to carry my doors
back to Mullinsville?''
ION my back" said Aminadab, simply.
"A young Sampson" said the Old gen.
tleman, looking over the tops of his
glasses at the policeman, who nodded ar
fabIy.
And the glass and timber. where did
you get those?H
Aminadab told him. Somehow ne was
patriarchal old man. He had heard OF
jails, but he did not believe that the gem
tleman was going TO punish him.
Mr.. Lippncott-if that was his name--
heard him through and then he said of
fcer, / don't think that this is a case for
you. He has put back my door and I
viii deal with him in a way that seems
fit"
The officer rose and bowed and went out
When Amlnadab and the old man were
al tt.ar sIa. IaNf .f.EI
a little fellow who has so much strength
of body and such kindly Instincts ought
to learn that 1t Is never kind to FAKE
things that don't belong to him. Now, !
believe that you acted thoughtlessly. and
/ am not going to punish you. although
you committed a crime In taking down
my door. Instead, / going TO make
you "A present of the doors and will have
them sent out to Mullinsville and ] will
also give you ten thousand books TO put
on the shelves. for library without books
Is Hike cake without sugar. Only first
you must go to each man from whom you
--er-'borrowed material and tell him what
you have done and restore his property II
he objects And / viii make good any
stone or glass or timber that Is needed.
Aminadab seized the good mans hand
and wrung IT, and a few minutes later he
was on his way home and before night
fall he had visited every man who had un-
knowingly contributed to the new library
MullinsviIle only one man refused 20 let
Aminadab keep what he had taken ana
that one was an old fellow who had miles
on miles OF stone fences, from whom the
boy had taken one stone. He insisted on
It's being returned to him and as it'was
the bottom stone in the foundation wall,
Dabby had a hard time getting II and
plenty Of time to reflect on his misdoings
1t Is a singular fact that after the
library was dedicated there was no one
who spent so much time In IL as this old
man. who had refused to contribute sin.
BILE stone toward Its erection.
The day of the dedication was made
holiday In Mullinsvile and every one IN
town came to see what one small boy had
heen .,bIe To do and old Mr.. Strawbridge or
TInnincott told them all that they had
ought tn be proud of Amnadab, on the
whole because while dishonesty was
grevious quality, still 1t could be repent
"a OF and doubtless Aminadab had al
ready repented, but public spirit was a
tbine so rare that 1t ought to be encour-
aged by all possible means" .
Then Aminadab got up and said: II
thought that ! was going to give you this
library myself, but since my kind friend
here has opened my eyes see that had
only two things 20 give you; my labor and
what taste / may possess. The rest you
have given yourselves and the books he
has given. So say let's give three cheers
for him"
The cheers were given Justify, and then.
much to Aminadab's surprise, MIR. Ham,
erton, who had come In late and unexpect-
edly. rose and said "Dabby has forgot
ten that l own the ground on which he
built the library, but l cheerfully give II
to him to give to you because / think
that he is the most generous and the most
public-spirted boy In New Jersey And
after this we will trust him with any
thing"
And Dabby has proved faithful TO that
trust Charles Battel Loomis.