The Teton peak. [volume] (St. Anthony, Idaho) 1899-1904, 1904-01-07

VI WILL
Have you ever heard tell of Deacon il
And his freckle-faced boy, Johosaq
And the terrible snow that fell orc
Till it covered the house tops, pretty
I And starved the sheep and froze the
| And haven't you ever heard tell %
The storm set in as a great surpris.
| And the flakes of q most remark
size.
They came a-futtering out of the
Till they filled the fields and leveled
lanes
And drifted against the window pane
And banked the houses snug and rig,
Till they shut out just about all the /
And folks burned candles day and MIG
10 hear this story as one should,
1t must be thoroughly understood
That Deacon Pratt was of Puritan stoci
With a faith as fixed as the Pyinou
Rock,
And he never had met force or sho,
That swerved his will the merest nit.
For black is black and white is whit
Ana wrong is wrong and right is risilt
Said the Deacon: Keep that thought
sight
And you'll find your way by day c
night"
Though in all things else SO circumspe
The Deacon owned one grave defect:
But where is the man who is quite CT
rect?
lis more than a mortal dare expect
And some are candid enough to say
it is better that men are made that wa,
w hpr
and one good weakness, without a doub
Makes the rest of the moral structu.,
stout
He loved tobacco, the Deacon did.
And never was found without his quid
But he tried his best to keep it hid.
For the Deacon clearly reasoned that
The sly. keen-eyed Jehosaphat.
on seeing the sire take his chew.
Might some time dare to try it. too
Which the Deacon vowed would never
So the boy was made to understand
lie would have his packet scundIy tanned
IL ever he dared to taste or touch
Inc thing the Deacon loved so much;
ana as far as the world had seen q.
heard,
The Deacon never broke his word.
As | was saying. the snow came down
III the Deacon, who'd planned to driv
to town
nat very day, was quite shut in.
And, as a punishment for his sin
He hadn't so much as a single chew
80 what In the world was the man to do :
tie was all of a tremble: his nerves o..
long
Were quite unstrung. and the WOOL
seemed wrong.
Ihe outward sign of an inward grace
mat sometimes shone on the Deacon
face
Seemed gone forever, and in its place
was sorry look of deep dismav
And those who got in the Deacon's wa.
we're quite surprised at the things he'd
say;
ma once ne kicked at the old house cat
IN fact, did several things Tx that
w hich didn't appear exactly right
N one VINO posed as a shining iight.
The Deacon. in seeking a substitute
nor the noxious weed, chewod burdee
root,
And cinnamon, licorice, sassafras
cloves, boneset, peppermint-alas,
ne nave willingly chewed pitch-pina
or anything else. no matter what
sweet, sour, bitter cold or hot
III only 1t would have touched the sno.
Inc snow kept coming more and more
III the Deacon, l fear, he almost swore
OF ne ruined and fretted and said. "Rv
George.
This is worse than the suffer,ra - W.,
ley Forge: '''-
For, though I've plenty of food ~,
ioou anu
There's something dearer than both 90
those VI
Boys are their fathers born again
ana precept is forgotten when
example fills the eyes of men.
i'Ae sire IKE SON. the youth had
% use the weed he should have snurned
ooWn IN his heart the Deacons bow
" Ell knew ne held the keys to low
Du'' an! ne dare not rouse the ire
me nerce. the all-consuming fire
ne laying on OIL hands desire
)f that stern Puritanic sire.
~ saying to him. You shall share
ny s'och' since l have some to spare"
In, ne Deacon verged upon collapse
Vhen wondrous thing occurred nov
haps per-
: was sent IN answer to his pryaer
,or when he rose up from his cbair
!, joyous spectacle, lying where
nc was sure to see it, now what f,o 20,
think 10 you
ne Deacon saw, and quick as w;r,.
'iipped into his pocket? Twas a twist
- eopaceo half as big as his fist,
ma the Deacon saying his last Amen ;.
rave one swift glance at the bow and
y reason of instinct, clearly know
nc ta run and knew that his boy did.
I'D he trounce that youngster ,on. an,
good. -'ts ana
should? uiitan
smiled eu ana
Il way that meant God bless vo,
5 ms trembling knees resought the floor
once morei" i''hhs
ma mat Is how, SO I have heard
nat the Deacon came to break hi -,
Boston Globe.