The Southern herald., 1915-02-12

name though had you made inquiry
~ stoddard Anderson Of any boy
n the town in which he lived-and I
myself lived there, handy boy in the
Aim old days-you doubtless would
nave been informed that nobody of that
name lived there. Your juvenile In
formant, however, by way Of gratui-
tons intelligence, might have gone
an to state that two families Of An
Aarsons resided there-"Old Do-good"
Anderson, the preacher, and his
brother. John. But had you asked
for "Tod" Anderson, or simply TOD"
your boy would have known Tod;
yOur boy, in all likelihood, would have
had especial reasons for remembering
Tod, although his modesty, perhaps,
might not allow him to inform you
now Tod had "waxed 1t to him more'n
Onct!" But he would have told you,
A I tell you now, that Tod Anderson
was the preachers boy, and lived at
the parsonage. Tod was a queer boy
stoddard Anderson was named in
honor of some obscure divine his IA
ther had Joined church under when a
boy. It was a peculiar weakness Of
the father to relate the experience
Of his early conviction; and as he
never tired Of repeating 1t, by way
Of precept and admonition to the way
ward lambkins of his flock, Tod mas
tered its most intricate and sacred
phraseology, together even with the
father's most religious formulas, to a
degree of perfection that enabled him
to preside at mock meetings in the
hayloft, and offer the baptismal serv'
fee at the "swimmin' hole"
In point of personal or moral re-
semblance, Tod was in nowise like his
father. Some said he was the picture
Of his mother, they who could remem-
Der her for she fell asleep when Tod
was three days old, with her mother
arms locked around him SO closely
that he cried, and they had to take
him away from her. No-Death had
taken her away from him.
II needs now no chronicle to tell
how Tod thrived in spite of his great
loss, and how he grew to be big,
fat, two-fsted baby with a double chin,
the pride and constant worry of the
dear old grandmother into whose care
he had fallen. 1t requires no space
In history's crowded page to tell how
he could stand up by a chair when
eight months old, and crow and laugh
and doddle his little chubby arms
till he quite upset his balance, and,
pulling the chair down with him,
would laugh, and cry louder than
ever, and kick, and crawl, and sprawl,
and jabber; and never lift a whimper
OF distress but when being rocked to
to sleep. Let a babyhood Of usual in
teTest be inferred-then add a few
more years, and you will have the
Tod Of ten l knew.
0 moral, saintlike and consistent
Christian, what is it in the souls OF
little children so antagonistic to your
own sometimes? What is 1t in their
Tayward and impulsive natures that
you cannot brook? And what strange
tlncture Of rebellious feeling is it that
embitters all the tenderness and love
you pour out so lavishly upon their
Stubborn and resentful hearts? Why
Is 1t you so covetously cherish the COM
mand divine, children, obey your par
ents," and yet find no warm nook
within the breast for that old house
less truth that goes wailing through
the world:
A boys will Is the winds will,
ana the thoughts of youth are long, long
thoughts?
Tod went to school-the thriftless
Iod!-not wholly thriftless, either;
or, although he had not that apt way
q sktmming like swallow down the
Phcid rills Of learning, he did pos
sess, in some mysterious strength, a
most extraordinary knack Of acquiring
Just such information as was not
aught at school, and had no place
within the busy hive Of knowledge.
Tod was q failure in arithmetic
iod couldn't tell twice ten from twice
steEnity. Tod knew absolutely moth
ng Of either Christopher Columbus
q the glorious country he discovered
e1pfessly for the use Of industry and
learning, as the teacher would have
aad him implicitly believe. Tod
Soaidn't tell you anything Of John
smith, even, that very noted captain
.no walks cheek by jowl with the
eusky Pocahontas across the illimitar
Ole fancy Of the ten-year-old school
10y Of our glorious republic. Tod
aneW all about the famous Captain
Aidd, however. In fact, Tod could
sing his history with more lively in
crest and real appreciation than his
fellow schoolmates sang geography
me simple Tod once joined the geo.
Ssaphieal chorus with:
I'd a Bible in my hand,
AS i sailed as I sailed,