The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-06-13


 aa trAnch of the orphanage. Ordinarily
 he would have turned this task over to
 k1 the rector of theaparticular parish. for in ASX0Y fhese days of his csninenec. the Bishop
 rarely delivered an address upon so in
 AU consequential an occasion But a commit
 tee of the ladies of the diocese, through
 sss whose unfemitting and untdring labors the new cbasity had been made possible, had petitioned the Bishoe b make this address his especial affair." adding the further request that the text Tile praycth best who 1ove4h best be chosen; and in view of all the conttee If ladies had done further what was really his pe pf6jecs he could not decently re fuse the request
 The test was part;euiary dsp,easine to the Bishop The sentimsntal side of religion had appealed strongly 0 hin: He WIS not a hard-heafted man by any means for his charities were many and we'll or sanised and distinctly practical and the entire prot from the doSs whih he bred on his inedd farm was annually tuned over to the home orphanage But he regarded Sl this in che st of mere duty. and he felt very particniar, very vehement, an almost n- domtahse dessaion of the emotiopa side of charity This, pair;ea6 1kat, he was, savored tb him of the lneloarsnnsles and 1ay too dangerously near those feSrile tefdeneies which, by relaxing the vigilance aeains undue sentmentaty, tend to cheapen and de- base life
 He w.ss . conservstiye chnfchm.n rigid adherent of the bet ifAdQps of the church. the most orthodox of the orthodox and this fmnished further reason 
 was not seripfus.L Howeves, there was help for it. The sermon mnst be wsitteA
 So donsteful was the task, that the Bishop essayed it on the eve of bis departufe for his farm that discord A6dld mar his projected weeks rest.
 Ye4, try as he wouId he requisite thoughts eluded him. and he presently became aware that their elusive ness vas being asgluaited bx shris al peculiarly jerky sousd almost liie the cryins of baby. The Bishop besrne restive annoyed, and finally, with a,
 little start of agsrieved snfprise, he realized that the irritating sound existed and troubled the quiet of the nieht beezsea mandate of his had been disobcyed.
 He tourhed an electric bell, and his man came h,r- rying into the room. ~~
 James, to my surprise I perceive that you have failed to oey v implicit instfucions The puppy is still h the house" E The man stuttered over his apology As they were soinx to te farm the day, he had intended taking te poppy with fim and leaving him there where there were 50 many that one more would not matter.
 The Bishop became indignant An ordinary street dog comminoied Of Heaven knows how many different breedb, .on his mDdd farm of thoroughbred dossl It was not b be thought of. >s.s aDnpose of him tomorrow morning without fail, Jamess he con,nnnded
 -But Aow, sirs' Nobody wants him"
 ~Then drown him" s+sfs ~very good, sir" And the man deferentially with drew z: And the good and wise Bishop with little sigh
 
 annoyance that the unwelcom& text which the ad- dress ust be buits stll ioomed before hin-retired to his sleeping apartment He was ridiculosisly snal-so the boy realized the moment he saw him fin one of those hlinding flashes of vision which h some few precious oments of iife transform the face of the earth for the beholderrdc ulously sS l1a desisiousy soft; for of his qualify also ths e kndIng eyes in mysterious way took ik6e And then, before the boy could decide whether or not Ae .vas indulemg m 2. tremendous audac in view of the gorgeous creature in conspic- nous livery upon whose the puppy lay adled, his fingers. drawn toward the tiny creature as by mag net had caressingH touched the fluffy hunched little ball. and had dseovesed its warmth, its quite amazing startling warmth, which indeed, seemed the puppys salient and ultimate qualify in addition being the force that panted and vibrated and trembed through the tender little body
 TAm suddenly the boy became aware that terri ble shocking thing had been communicated to him by the man, something that made vivid and sharply Iimned an impfession his mind that 1t would have been impossible for him to repeat the exact words that bore the s1esssae 10 his ears-thst indeed the mes sase seemed fo have come him through some other than tic oedinary channel of speech. as if picture had been hashed to his brain and etched into it. The ,uppy was <o be drowned drowned in the rivere4s
 The boy shivered uneonscously; unconsciousy, also he hueged his threadbare thin overcoat closely about his fra body. The air of the early spring morning wss and keen. He remembered the biting. bresthess sting of the water upon his face and hands that morning when he had washed in anheated room ereoaratory to delivering the morning newspapers. It seemed to hin the height of merciess cruelty that this delicAte whining little creature, with its luxu s;ous downke and the soft, piteous brown eyes which were almost more human than babys. was to have this warmth wiped away, his fife extinsuishedby Being plunged bodily into the icy waters of the river The dog % the an was informing him. was mere -.~,s~>ns, doU for that reason his master" esired to be rid of him. and the boy with increas- IT feeling of almost physical at the idea mere tv sneu,ered out the one word, Common" thereby eeho;nx that which to him the most incongruous Ahine of sl m this wholly ineongruous affair. He feh dimb, vaguely that there was something radi- cally anss in applying that term to the puppy, with his ineoneeivsble. his miraculous warmth. For the