The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1902-10-07
ARTHUR AND JAMES.
by BARRY PAIN.

WIN straight, Dlack hair, pleasing eI-
preston, and spectacles with round glasses
Seen with the sunlight on those glasses, he
looked like cross between a rat and a
boy. His last school report said: Every
good. Always attentive and industrious.
Has won the conduct prize"
Arthur Wilberforce Soames procured
this report, had it framed neatly, and hung
it up by his bedside.
"Oh, Arthur" said his Aunt Agatha, II
am afraid this is vanity"
1--WE just put it there" said the boy, ito
remind myself how much more kindly my
dear n. - ers have spoken of me than have
ever deserved, and to stimulate me to fresh
efforts"
He also decorated his room with photo
graph of himself as a choir boy, in a sur
olice, with his spectacles off and the whites
of his eyes showing considerably. He had
a bookshelf which was entirely devoted to
those volume which had been awarded to
him as prizes for pure unremitting goodness.
IF that Gear boy is spared to us, said his
Aunt Agatha, che will be an archbishop"
But it is good proverb which says that ii
you give dog good name you may as well
hang him. Arthur Wilberforce Soames had
a very good name indeed, and similar fate
befell him. He had made the fatal mistake
of showing people what he could do when he
liked; he had provided milk-white back
ground on which the slightest error showed
up dead black Arthur Wilberforce Soames
required that he should startle and surprise,
and be received with enthusiasm; and all he
got was a gentle approval
He redoubled his effort. He went in for
extra-special, high-pressure goodness, with
r.. \ L L.. Il l.
forgiving his schoolfelows openly and osten-
tatiously, until they resented it. He spent
holiday in committing to memory volun-
tarily hymn of exceptional length He
said that he wanted to be missionary. He
gave his pocket money to beggars when
ever he could be sure of an audience. He
wore himself out in his efforts to find nov
elites in goodness.
Now Arthur had brother called James,
who was untidy, unpunctual and uninten-
tional His life was long series of rows,
and he never had the faintest idea how he
had got into them. The beautiful example
of his brother Arthur had been held up to
him in vain, though Arthur thoroughly
enjoyed it. Finally, it seemed too absurd to
expect that so bad boy as james should
even attempt to be as good as Arthur, and
the practice dropped. Arthur threw out
hints that James wanted a model to go by, If
only boy good enough could be found.
One day when Arthur had been vainly
fishing for little admiration, and was feel
ing particularly detected, James happened
to come in. From pure inadvertence-for no
boy could have been more unintentional
than James-he had not been whacked for
a whole month Either he had not given
the occasion, or, which is more probable,
chance had hindered the detection of the
OCCASION He mentioned it-more as one of
those queer condolences that might happen
to anybody than with any idea of Boosting.
A scene of warmest enthusiasm followed.
They spoke of James as if he were a hero
and a saint; they gave James a shilling;
they said James might keep a dog; they
promised to take James to the pantomime
at Christmas.
Aunt Agatha said it was one of the hap
pest days in her life. Arthur could en-
dure it no longer; he retired from the
room.
He broke into a violent passion and
neighbours orchard. His methods with
orchards were, from total want of expert
ence, so elementary that he was detected at
once. He pleaded that, owing to his short
sight, he had mistaken the orchard for a
church. An ordinarily bad lie would have
been believed, so perfect was Arthur Wa
berforce's previous character; but this was
too monumental. 1t made even the mild
Aunt Agatha sarcastic. In justice to Ar
thur, it should be added, that he learned to
tell very much better lies later on. You can
not, especially if handicapped by sanity
nature, expect to become finished criminal
in a moment. Memo repente turpissimus
fit. Or, as has been we'll observed, Rome
was not built in day.
For a month Arthur Wherefore Soames
was as bad as he could possibly be. 1t was
against his nature, and, consequently, he
showed no originality; he initiated slavish-
ly the badness of the worst boys he knew
or of whom he had read. He became the
despair Of his parents, the rage of his school
masters, the terror of his neighborhood, and
an object of interest to the police By this
time he had got the background as black
as it could be, and thought he would see
how a little white would show up on it. He
became good again, and the change brought
him applause, affection and presents, all of
which he thoroughly enjoyed. He now lives
in streaks; when his saintliness is not max
ing its proper effect he puts in a little black
background And the moral of this is that
there would be more virtue in the world if
only we could show more sustained enthusi-
asm for it.-Black and White, London.