The Tupelo journal., 1910-02-18
THE
NAMESAKE

'Jack, 0 Know 1 wanted nlm calIed
just Henry Arnold. after your father
and NINE" 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 all
innocent child, who cant defend him.
self. with such a name as Ebenezer!'
Eyes, but when you think of the
goods that come with Ebenezer it
seems %improvident to spurn the offer
Of Uncle Eb." he replied. IF our son
is at all like his daddy he'll be glad
to get those dollars Uncle Eb men
lions SO casually"
well, l 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"
Wen 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
into his wife's room he found his wife
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 a ON
bination! Why Nathaniel"
why. you haven't forgotten Uncle
Than"
Il never associated Than with Ma
thaniel."
i've always been Uncle Than's fav-
orite niece. and when he called up on
the long-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 l couldn't help asking him if
baby could be his namesake."
"Ebenezer Nathaniel" repeated the
dazed father.
II al hardly keep from crying when
I think of it. l hope he will be for
giving when he grows up, and will try
to realize that we did 1t for the best.
You know Uncle Than's free to leave
his money any way he chooses. l al
most wish, though, that we didn't
have any rich relatives"
well, / suppose we'd better take
the goods the gods provide" said Jack.
Here's a letter l found In the hall as
l 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
1uttered out as he opened the letter.
"A christening present. How do you
feel, Sue? Could you stand a few
more names?"
What, more Of them?" she cried,
aghast.
Tim a 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
90 MS son II 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"
Perhaps I'm foolish, but l 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 l lived when l was a
little girl and have u 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, Il 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.
We'll, what do you think of that?"
~c11nJ Took