The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-08-02

dim old daYS-you doubtless would
have been informed that nobody of
that name was there Your juvenile
informant. however. by way of gratui-
tous intelligence, might have gone on
10 state that two families of the name
of Anderson resided there-"Old Do
good Anderson, the preacher, and his
brother John. But had you asked for
Tod" Anderson, or simply Tod -
your boy would have known Tod: your
boy, in all likelihood, would have had
especial reasons for remembering Tod,
although his modesty, perhaps. might
not ALLOW him to- inform you how Tod
had 'waXed it to him more'n onc't''!
But he would have told you, as tell
YOU now, that Tod Anderson was the
preachers boy, and lived al the par
sonage. Tod was a queer boy.
Stoddard Anderson was named in
honor Of some obscure divine his ia
Their had Joined church under when a
boy. 1t was a peculiar weakness of
the father to relate the experience of
his early conviction: and as he never
tired Of repeating it, bv way of pre-
cept and admonition to the hayward
lambl1ins of his flock, Tod mastered its
most intricate and sacred phraseology,
together even with the fathers more
religious formulas, to degree of per-
lection that enabled him TO preside
at mock meetings in the hayloft, and
offer the baptismal service at the
"swimmin' hole"
In point of personal or moral re-
semblance,, Tod was in no wise like
his father. Some said he was the pic
ture OF his mother, they who could re-
member her. for she fell asleep when
Tod was three, days Old, with her moth
er-arnls locked around him so closely
that he cried, and they had to take
him away from her. No.-Death had
taken her away from him.
It needs now no chronicle to tell how
Tod tLriVed in spite of his great loss,
and how he grew TO be big, fat, two
listed baby with a double chin, the
pride and constant worry of the dear
old grandmother into whose care he
had fallen. 1t requires no space in
history's crowded page To tell how he
colf1d stand up by a chair when eight
months old. and crow and laugh and
dodd& his little chubby arms till he
quite upset his balance, and, pulling
the chair down with him, would laugh
and crow louder than ever, and kick,
and crawl, and sprawl and jabber;
and never lift a whimper of distress,
Jul W ITCH DNlIlS IGCheQ ~ steep. Leu
babyhood of usual interest be in
ferred-then add a few more years. and
you viii have the Tod of 10 / knew.
0 moral, Saintlike. and consistent
Christian what is it in the souls of little
children so antagonistic to your own
sometimes? What is it in their way
ward and impulsive natures that you
cannot brook? And what 5trange tine
ture of rebellious feeling IS it that en-
bitters all the tenderness and love you
pour out so lavishIy upon their stub
born and resentful hearts? Why is it
you so GENEROUSLY cherish the COM
mand divine, Children, obey your
parents and yet find no warm nook
within the breast for that old house
less truth that goes wailing through
the world:
A boys viii is the winds will,
And the thoughts of youth are long,
long thoughts?
Tod went to school-the thriftIess
Tod.-not wholly thriftless, either: for.
although he had not that apt way of
skimming like a swallow down the
placid rills Of learning, he did possess,
in some mysterious strength, most
extraordinary knack of acquiring just
such information as was not taught at
school. and had no place within the
busy hive of knowledge.
Tod was a failure in arithmetic Tod
couldn't tell twice ten from twice eter-
nifty. Tod knew absolutely nothing of
either Christopher Columbus or the
glorious country he discovered express
~ for the use of industry and learning,
as the teacher would have had him i'm
plicitly believe. Tod couldn't tell YOU
anything about John Smith, even, that
very noted captain who walks cheek by
jowl with the dusky Pocahontas across
the illimitable fancy of the 10-year-old
school boy of our glorious republic. Tod
knew all about the famous Captain
Kidd. however. In fact, Tod could sing
his history with more lively interest
and real appreciation than his fellow
schoolmates sang geography. The
simple Tod once Joined the geograph-
ical chorus with:
I'D a Bible in my hand
As ] sailed. as l sailed,
And / sunk her in the sand,
As j sailed
And Tod-not Captain Kidd-had a
ringing in his ears as he sang, as he
sang, and an overflow of tears as he
sang. And then he ran away from
school that afternoon, and sang Cap
tain Kidd. from A to lizard, in the full
hearing of the industrial hive to the |
very evident amusement Of the work.
ers," and the discontinue of the ruler
of the swarm"
The teacher called on the good min
lister that evening, and after a long
talk on the back porch. left late in the |
dusk, wiping his eyes with one hand, |
and shaking the other very warmly |
with the preacher. And Tod slipped |
noiselessly along the roof above them, |
and slid down the other side, and |
watched the teachers departure with a |
puzzled face.
Tod was at school next morning long |
before the call of Books; i'm fact, so |
early that he awaited himself of his /
isolated situation TO chalk the handle |
Of the teachers pointer, to bore a gim- |
let hole in the water bucket. to slip a |
chip under one corner of the clock in |
order to tilt it out of balance and |
time. and in many more ingenious |
ways to contribute to the coming trou-
bles OF the day. The most audacious
act, however. was 10 climb above the |
teachers desk and paste a paper scrap /
over a letter 20" in the old motto, /
BE good" that had offered him its
vain advice for years. AS one by one
these depredations met the teachers
notice through the day, the culprit /
braced himself for some disastrous is
sue, but his only punishment was the
assured glance the teacher always
gave him, and the settled, yet forbear-
ing. look of pain upon his face. In
sheer daring Tod laughed aloud-a
hollow. hungry laugh that had no
mirth in it-but as suddenly subsidized
in a close investigation of problem in /
mental arithmetic when the teacher
backed slowly toward his desk and
stood covertly awaiting further devel-
opments. But he was left again TO
his own inclinations, after having,