Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1903-10-15

With fifth sfs=t tiNed - t5eze= fI2=f4t555s5
Roe K.
And he=ne4 Had met =5aIa.. .@aa==5
That sWerVed his Viii tire II =stsi 0t{se,
For black i black and H=A41e rs Whit.
And WRONG il Wron2 stnd light is ri2ats
Said the Deacon. "KeeP tI1a1 Thought III
and you'll dnd your way by day or
mis- ht
Though in All things else So eireamSpeet
The Deacon owned al4A= grave defect.
But whore is the man VIM is quite cor
rect
,Fis more than q mortal dare expect.
And some are candid enough to say
1t is better th4tn}en are made that Way,
Cor somewhere n1aa1llLess mGst get out.
AID one good wea akuess, without u doubt,
Makes the rest of the moral structure
stout.
He loved tobacco. the Deacon did,
And never was found without his qud.
l:llt he tried his best to keep ii hid, ,
For the Deacon clearly reasoned that
The sly, keen-eyed Jehosaphat.
ON seeing the sire take his chew.
Might some time dafe 10 tlA= it. too.
Which the Deacon vowed would never
do;
SO the boy was made to understa nd
He would have his packet soundly tanned
Ii ever he dared to taste or touch
The thing the Deacon loved much;
And as far as the world had seen or
heard,
The Deacon never broke his word.
As Was saying. the snow came down
Till the Deacon, who'd planned to drive
to town
That very day. was quite shut III.
And. as a punishment for his sin,
He hadn so much as single chew.
So what in the world was the man to do!
He Was all Of a tremble: his nerves, ere
lons
Were quite unstruns. and the world
seemed wrong.
The outward sign OF an inward grace
That sometimes sholle on the Deacon's
Seemed gone forever, and in its place
Was a sorry look of deep dismay.
And those Who got in the Deaeons way
Were quite surprised at the things he'd
And once he kicked at the old house cat
intact. did several things like that.
Which did appear exactly right
In WHO posed d shining light.
The Deacon. in seeking substitute
For the noxious weed. chewed burdock
And cinnamon. ljcorice. sassafras
Gloves. b9uteet, peppermint aAast
He'd have willingly chewed pitch-pine
knot
Or anything else. no matter what
Sweet. sour. bitter cold or hot
II only it would have stoueaed the spot"
The snow kept coming more ard more,
Till the Deacon, fear he almost swore
iol he fumad and frettea and said, by
George,
This is worse than the suffering a VAL
ley Forge:
For, though I've plenty of food and
There's something dearer than both of
those.
Boys are their fathers born again,
And precept is forgotten When
t.Namp!e fills the eyes Of men,
Like sire like SON, the youth had
learned
To use the weed he should have spurned
Down in his heart the Deaeon,s boy
Well knew he held the keys to joy.
But ah. he dare not rouse the ire,
The fierce the all-eonsumina fire,
The laying -on-of- hands desire
OF that stern Puritanie sire
BY saying to him, You shall share
My stock. since have some TO spare"
The Deacon versed upon collapse
When wondrous thing occurred, per-
haps
Twas sent in answer 10 his pryaer
For when he rose up from his chair
0 joyous spectacle, lying where
He was sure TO see it, now What do you
think
The Deacon saw, and quick as wink
Slipped into his pocket? Twas a twist
OF tobacco half as big as his fist,
And the Deacon saying his last "Amen+"
Gave one swift glance at the boy and
then
By=re of instinct clearly knew
The truth, and knew that his boy did,
too.
Did he trounee that youngster long and
gO0sL
A. 4tiff-neckea. true-bue Puritan
shnud2
All na, Ills drawn face beamed and
smiled
In way that meant God bless you.
child.
AS his trembling knees resought the floor
And he said: Let us all give thanks
oHee moret
And taat is how so I have heard.
That the Deacon came to break his word.
Boston Globe.