Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-10-16
Chester's Speech

Chester Thompson did not like to
speak pieces" There are few boys
who really enjoy defamation day in
school, but for Chester the day was
particularly full of terrors He was
not shy or sensitive among his mates,
but when he faced an audience, even
though it was made up wholly of those
same school friends, he promptly for.
got what he had learned, and felt as if
he were walking off a high cliff into
space.
Chester felt ashamed of this weak.
ness and tried hard to overcome 1t, but
with poor success. Now he was face
to face with something far worse than
speaking in school. In only two days
more he must stand in the village
square, beside the new drinking foun.
tain, and deliver an address before all
the people gathered there. How could
he ever do it?
Several years earlier Chester had
Joined the Band of Mercy, and his love
for pets and all animals had led him
to remain member when many OF the
boys OF his age had dropped out. Now
he was its president, and this was why
they had selected him to speak at the
dedication Of the beautiful drinking
fountain that had been given to the
village. His pride would not let him
evade the task, but how he dreaded 1t!
With the help of his teacher he had
prepared a brief address, and as he
said it over and over he was rather
proud of it; but he felt absolutely sure
that every word of it would fly from
his mind In the panic of the moment
That is what Chester was thinking Of
one day while he was walking along
the road just outside the village. He
stopped to watch two men who were
loading cart with gravel. When the
men had filled the cart, one of them
spoke sharply to the horses and they
plunged forward but the rear wheels
were deep in the ditch. and the horses
could not start the heavy load. The
driver again called loudly to them, and
struck them with his whip. AS the
willing span strained again at the tugs,
one of them slipped and fell on It's
side. ..-.
3 Perhaps the horse was discouraged.
Perhaps it was entangled in the har.
ness Anyway, 1t lay there with qulv-
ward and struck it again win his whip.
It was cruel and foolish thing to
do, and the sight was more than Ches-
ter could bear in silence. Indignation
boiled within him, and before he really
knew what he was doing he found
himself beside the angry driver and
speaking to him with great earnest
ness that caused the man to turn in
amazement.
Chester could never remember just
what he said. Fragments of things
that he had learned at the Band OF
Mercy meetings and snatches of his
carefully prepared address for the ded-
ication of the drinking fountain min
gled with the simple and common
sense plea that he made for kinder
treatment for the fallen horse.
The anger left the drivers eye and
he flushed under his tanned skin. We'll
you are right, young man. he said.
"And how you can talk - for little
fellow!"'
Chester and the driver helped the
horse to its feet, patted it's nose, and
removed little of the load, and then
the man drove away with no more
loud words or use of the whip.
Chester said nothing about what had
happened until after the dedication ex-
ercises at the new fountain were over.
When his teacher among many others
congratulated him and told him how
splendidly he had done, he told her
briefly about the driver and the fallen
horse. &c.,
IT knew I could do it after that" he
said. ut wasn't simply that found !
could forget myself and talk when |
had something to say, but 1t gave a