The new age., 1907-02-23
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"ToodIes."

He had another ana DeIter udnC'
and In good time it came to light, ana
was entered in the Sunday school class
book; but ''Toodles" was the name ne
gave, and Toodles was the name Dy
! which he had gone during the greater
part of his life; and Toodles is the
only name by which he shall be known
to the readers of this article.
"Where do you live?" asked the
teacher.
around the corner" was his reply.
1t was the only residence given for rec
ord. But what corner he lived around
is not yet known; he lived mostly
"around corners" and had picked up
miscellaneous fund Of Information
there.
Toodles liked the Sunday school. TO
some of the boys with plenty OF home
privileges, Sunday school was COM
monplace blessing, II blessing at all !;
but Toodles counted 1t among the lux
uries of his scant life. 1t is cheering
to the heart of Sunday school teach
er to have an appreclative pupil. 1t
more than compensates for some uncon-
ventionallties in the matter of apparel
and speech.
There is no place for the recording OF
the deficiencies of Toodles. Indeed,
they are forgotten. His was loyalty
and enthusiasm that would have hid
|
been multitude to hide. There were
not many; 1t is hard now to believe
that there were any.
Toodles became a dlligent propagan-
dist. He brought more boys Into the
Sunday school than did any other mem
Der. There was not even a teacher who
had 80 many to her credit. And Too
dies recruits, brought In from his own
stratum Of society, he regarded as un-
der his care, and they looked to him as
their leader and representative
Then came the earthquake and the
fire.
The church of eight hundred members
seemed to have disappeared In night.
There was a hardly a member whose
home was not burned and whose busi-
ness was not destroyed. Scores Of them
left the city, and hundreds removed to
other portions of the town or to the
suburbs, or camped in the parks and
slept between the graves in the ceme-
teries. The beautiful walls Of the church
uAr h~y fba 1sfh Iyn Nd
blackened by the fire.
In time temporary place of meeting
was found, and a Sunday service was
held, pathetic contrast to the over
flowing services of the days before the
disaster The Sunday school was re-
organized on the same day. A pitiful
handful Of children appeared, and the
question was what to do. Could the
boys and girls be found? Could enough
of them be assembled to make a Sun
] day school in the heart of the burned
district?
Then entered TOodles. He had walked
thirty-nine blocks to get there, and was
late. But the school informally re-
solved itself into session with Too
dies. There was not camp within or
about the city which he had not Wis
ited, and he knew just who were there.
He was able to give lists from memory
of more of the church families than
even the minister knew. He knew where
the boys were.
The minister and the superintendent
and the teachers got out their note
books and sat at the feet of Toodles.
Among the most encouraging facts in
the reorganization of that Sunday
school was the practical assistance
given by this waif. And the minister
said, Brethren, 1t always pays to help
a boy; you never know how soon he
will be able to help you. Who Of us
supposed when we took this little lad
off the street, and gave him what we
could In the Masters name, that 80
soon we should find him one of our
best helpers?"
They thanked God for Toodles, and
took courage.-Youth's Companion.