Year: 1876

The Boy, the Beetle, and the Dog.


"a sketch from Mark Twain's "Tom


SHwyor."l


The minister gave out his text and
droned along monotonously through OH
argument which was SO prosy that many
q head by-and-by began to nod-and
yet it was an argument that dealt in
limitless fire and birthstone, and thin
ned the predestined elect down to al
company so small as to hardly be worth
the saving. Tom counted the pages Of
the sermon; after church he always
knew how many pages there had been,
but he seldom knew anything else
about the discourse. However, this
time he was really interested for little
while. The minister made a grand and
moving picture Of the assembling to-
gether of the worlds hosts at the mill
lenium, when the lion and the lamb
should lie down together and little
Guild should lead them. But the patllos,
the lesson, the moral Of the great spec
tacle were lost upon the boy he only
thought of the conspicuousness of the
principal character before the unlocking
nations; his face lit up with the thought,
and he said to himself that he wished
he could he that child, if it was tame
lion.


Now he lapsed into suffering again as
the dry argument WAS resumed. Pres
emily he bethought himself of a treas
ure he had, and got it ont. 1t was
large black beetle, with formidable
jaws-a "pinch bug" lie called it. 1t
was in a percussion cap-box. The first
thing the beetle did was to take him by
the finger. A natural flip followed,
the beetle went houndcring into the
aisle, and the hurt finger went into the
boys mouth. The beetle lay there
working his helpless legs. unable to
turn over. Tom eyed it, aud lpnged for
it, but it was safe ont of his reach.
Other people, uninterested in the SER
mon, found relief in the beetle, and
they eyed it too.


Presently vagrant poodle dog came
idling along, sad at heart. lazy with the
summers softness and the quiet. weary
of captivity, signing for a change. He
spied the bestle, the dropping tail lifted
and wagget. He surveyed the prize;
walked around; smelt of it from safe
distance; walked around it again; grew
bolder, and took closer smell, then
lifted his lip AMI made gingerly snatch
at it. but missed it, made another and
another; began to enjoy the diversion;
subsided to his stomach with the beetle
between his paws, and continued his
experiments: grew weary at last, and
then Indifferent and absent minded.
His head nodded, aud little by little his
chin descended aud touched the enemy,
who seized it. There was a sharp yelp,
a lirt of the pocdle's head, and the bee
tie fell couple of yards away and lit
on its back once more. The neighbor-
ing spectators shook with a gentle in
ward JOY, several faces went behind
fans and handkerchiefs, and Tom was
entirely happy. The dog looked fool
ish, and probably felt SO; but there vas
resentment in his heart. too; and
craving for revenge. So he went to the
beetle and began wary attack on it
again: jumping tit from every point of
a circle, landing with his forepaws
within an inch of the creature making
even closer snatches at it with his
teeth, and jerking his head until his
ears dropped again. Bnt he grew tired
once more, after awhile; tried to amuse
himself with fly, but found no relief:
followed an ant around, with his nose
close to the floor. and quickly wearied
of that; yawned, sighed, forgot the bee
tie entirely, and sat down on it. Then
there was wild yelp of agony, and the
poodle went sailing up the aisle; the
yelps continued, and 80 did the dog; he
crossed the house in front of the altar;
he flew down the other aisle: he crossed
before the door; he clamored no the
homestretch; his anguish grew with his
progress, till presently he was woolly
comet, moving in its orbit with the
CLEAN and speed of light. At last the
frantic sufferer sheered from its course
aud sprang into its masters lap: he
flung it out Of the window, and the
voice of distress quickly thinned away
and died in the distance.
Tom Sawyer went home quite cheerful,
thinking to himself that there was some
satisfaction about divine service when
there was bit of variety about it. He
had but one marring thought; he was
willing for the dog tn play with his
but he did not think it was
all right to carry it off.