Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1909-12-30
THE
NAMESAKE

/ Jeos AACAiy hAhOiu, aitCi yOui
and mine" regretfully sighed the
mother Of the baby as she laid down
the letter her husband had given her
to read. What a shame to saddle an
innocent child. who can't defend him
self, with such a name as Ebenezer!"
YES, but when you think of the
goods that come with Ebenezer 1t
seems improvident to spurn the offer
OF Uncle Eb." he replied. IF our son
IL at all like his daddy he'll be glad
to get those dollars Uncle Eb men,
lions SO casually"
| We'll, / suppose he'll have to be
Ebenezer Henry Arnold Hammond,
for of course your Uncle Eb will want
his name to be first, but l shall al
ways call the baby Henry
Well call him anything you say,
but name him Ebenezer we must.
Don't be downhearted about IT. dear.
Ebenezer already begins to sound
quite distinguished as | reflect upon
the glory of the bank deposit that goes
| with It,"
That evening when the father stole
gazing at the baby with a countenance
OF smiles and tears.
Jack" she said, II want to intro
| duce you to Ebenezer Nathaniel Henry
| Arnold Hammond"
"Ebenezer Nathaniel! What . COM
bination! Why Nathaniel?"
why, you haven't forgotten Uncle
Than"
Il never associated Than with Ma
thaniel."
1--WE always been Uncle Than's fav-
| orite niece, and when he called up on
the ong-distance to-day and asked
what the baby's name was to be, as
he wanted to know on account of the
alteration In his will made necessary
by the new member of the family, of
course / couldn't help asking him II
baby could be his namesake."
"Ebenezer Nathaniel" repeated the
dazed father.
Il can hardly keep from crying when
l think of 1t. l hope he will be for
giving when he grows up and will try
to realize that we did II for the best
You know Uncle Than's free to leave
his money any way he chooses. I al
most wish, though, that we didn't
have any rich relatives"
We'll, I suppose we'd better take
the goods the gods provide" said Jack
Here's letter found in the hall as
| came in. It's from Grandmother
Hammond. Let's see what she has to
say about her great-grandchild. Here
what's this?" A pink slip Of paper
fiuttered out as he opened the letter.
"A christening present. How do you
feel, Sue? Could you stand q few
more names?"
What, more of them?" she cried,
aghast
I'm very proud old woman
writes granny. 1T is with the great
est pleasure that make out my first
check for John Henry the fourth, for,
of course, the great-grandson of my
dear husband will bear his name, as
do his son and grandson"
"Ebenezer Nathaniel John Henry
Arnold Hammond" burst forth the
young mother why, Jack, it's i'm
possible!"
Nothing appears to be impossible
In the naming line, dear Our boy
will have as many names as a crown
prince"
"PeI haps I'm foolish, but I want to
give up the christening party we had
planned. couldn't bear to invite
people to hear us burden our child
with that awful list of names. When
I'm strong enough to travel, let's take
baby and the nurse and go up into the
country where / lived when was a
little girl and have our old clergyman,
Mr.. st. John, baptize him."
"Just as you say. DEAR" answered
Jack.
A month later, when Jack, with the
baby in his arms, stood with Sue by
The baptismal font In the little country
church, he said in answer to the ques-
ton of the old minister, "Ebenezer
Nathaniel joni Henry Arnold"
whats that? I'm a little hard OF
hearing" said the minister, as he took
the child from its father
"EbeneZer Nathaniel John Henry
Arnold" repeated Jack, bringing out
the last two words strongly in an en-
deavor to make himself heard above
the surprisingly lusty cry of the baby
Smiling into the distorted little face,
the clergyman gently touched the
small forehead and said, II name thee
Henry Arnold"
| A little later, when the young par
ents found themselves alone with their
son on the church steps, they gazed at
each other with astonished and de-
lighted eyes.
WELL what do you think of that?
asked Jack.
II think he is the dearest old min
lister in the world" replied his wife.
But, Sue, what about all those as
sets that young Henry Arnold here
has gathered In on false pretenses ?"
We'll, we're not to blame because
poor old Mr.. st. John is 30 deaf, are
|