Episode 10 - Beautiful Joe - Marshall Saunders

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Chapter nineteen, A Band of Mercy. A few evenings after we came to
Dingley Farm, Missus Wood and MissLaura were sitting out on the veranda,
and I was lying at their feet. Auntie said, Miss Laura, what
do those letters mean on that silverpin that you wear with that piece of

(00:23):
ribbon. You know what the whiteribbon means, don't you? Asked missus
Wood. Yes, that you area temperance woman, doesn't it? It
does? And the star pin meansthat I am a member of a band
of mercy. Do you know whata band of mercy is? No,

(00:44):
said miss Laura. How strange Ishould think that you would have several in
Fairport. A crippled boy, theson of a Boston artist, started this
one here. It has done agreat deal of good. There is a
meeting to row, and I willtake you to it if you like.
It was on Monday that missus Woodhad this talk with Miss Laura, and

(01:07):
the next afternoon, after all thework was done, they got ready to
go to the village. Made Joego, asked Miss Laura. Suddenly said
missus Wood, he is such agood dog that he won't be any trouble.
I was very glad to hear this, and trotted along by them down

(01:30):
the lane to the road. Thelane was a very cool and pleasant place.
There were tall trees growing on eachside, and under them among the
grass, pretty wild flowers were peepingout to look at us as we went
by. Missus Wood and miss Lauratalked all the way about the Band of

(01:53):
Mercy. Miss Laura was much interestedand said that she would like to start
one in Fairport. It's a verysimple thing, say it, missus Wood.
All you have to do is towrite the pledge at the top of
a piece of paper. I willtry to be kind to all harmless living

(02:15):
creatures and try to protect them fromcruel usage, and get thirty people to
sign it. That makes a band. I have formed two or three bands
by keeping slips of paper ready andgetting people that come to visit me to
sign them. I call them correspondingbands, for they are too far apart

(02:38):
to meet. I send the membersBand of Mercy papers and I get such
nice letters from them telling me ofkind things they do for animals. A
Band of Mercy in a place isa splendid thing. There's the greatest difference
in Riverdale since this one was starteda few years go when a man beat

(03:00):
or raced his horse and anyone interfered. He said, this horse is mine,
I'll do what I like with him. Most people thought he was right.
But now they're all for the poorhorse. And there isn't a man
anywhere around who would dare to abuseany animal. It's all the children.

(03:23):
They're doing a grand work, andI say it's a good thing for them.
Since we've studied the subject, it'senough to frighten one to read what
has sent us about our American boysand girls. Do you know, Laura,
that with all our brag about ourschools and colleges that really are wonderful,

(03:46):
we're turning out more criminals than anyother civilized country in the world except
Spain and Italy. The cause ofit is said to be lack of proper
training for the youth of our land. Immigration and has something to do with
it too. We're thinking too muchabout educating the mind and forgetting about the

(04:06):
heart and soul. So I say, now, while we've got all our
future population in our schools, saintsand sinners, good people and bad people,
let us try to slip something betweenthe geography and history and grammar that
will go a little deeper and touchthem so much that when they are grown

(04:29):
up and go out in the world, they will carry with them lessons of
love and goodwill to men. Alittle child is such a tender thing,
you can bend it any way youlike. Speaking of this heart education of
children as set over against mind education, I see that many school teachers say

(04:49):
there is nothing better than to givethem lessons on kindness to animals. Children
who are taught to love and protectdumb creatures will be kind to their fellow
men when they grew up. Iwas very much pleased with this talk between
missus Wood and Miss Laura, andkept close to them so that I would

(05:12):
not miss a word. As wewent along, houses begin to appear here
and there, set back from theroad among the trees. Soon they got
quite close together, and I sawsome shops. This was the village of
Riverdale, and nearly all the buildingswere along this winding street. The river

(05:34):
was away back of the village.We had already driven there several times.
We passed the school on our way. It was a square white building standing
in the middle of a large yard. Boys and girls with their arms full
of books were hurrying down the stepsand coming into the street. Two quite

(05:57):
big boys came behind us, andmissus Wood turned around and spoke to them
and asked if they were going tothe Band of Mercy. Oh yes'm said
the younger one. I got arecitation, don't you remember? Yes,
yes, excuse me for forgetting saidmissus Wood with her jolly laugh. And

(06:18):
here are Dolly and Jinny and Martha. She went on as some little girls
came running out of a house thatwe were passing. The little girls joined
us and looked so hard at myhead and stump of a tail and my
fine collar that I felt quite shyand walked with my head against Miss Laura's

(06:41):
dress. She stooped down and pattedme, and then I felt as if
I didn't care how much they stared. Miss Laura never forgotten me, no
matter how earnestly she was talking,or playing a game, or doing anything.
She always stopped occasionally to give mea word or look to show that

(07:03):
she knew I was near. MissusWood paused in front of a building on
the main street. A great manyboys and girls were going in, and
we went with them. We foundourselves in a large room with a platform
at one end of it. Therewere some chairs on this platform and a

(07:24):
small table. A boy stood bythis table with his hand on a veil.
Presently he rang it, and theneveryone kept steel. Missus Wood whispered
to Miss Laura that this boy wasthe president of the band. And the
young man with the pale face andcurly hair who sat in front of him

(07:45):
was mister Maxwell, the artist's sonwho had formed this band of mercy.
The lad who presided had a ringing, pleasant voice. He said that they
would begin their meeting by singing tohim. There was an organ near the
platform, and a young girl playedon it, while all the other boys

(08:07):
and girls stood up and sang verysweetly and clearly. After they had sung
the hymn, the president asked forthe report of their last meeting. A
little girl, blushing and hanging herhead, came forward and read what was
written on a paper that she heldin her hand. The president made some

(08:28):
remarks after she had finished, andthen everyone had to vote. It was
just like a meeting of grown people, and I was surprised to see how
good those children were. They didnot frolic or laugh, but all seemed
sober and listened attentively. After thevoting was over, the President called upon

(08:50):
John Turner to give a recitation.This was the boy whom we saw on
the way there. He walked upto the platform, made a bow,
and said that he had learned twostories for his recitation out of the paper
Dumb Animals. One story was abouta horse and the other was about a

(09:11):
dog, and he thought that theywere two of the best animal stories on
record. He would tell the horsestory first. Amen in Missouri had to
go to Nebraska to see about someland. He went on horseback on a
horse that he had trained himself,and that came at his whistle like a
dog. On getting into Nebraska,he came to a place where there were

(09:35):
two roads. One went by ariver and the other went over the hill.
The man saw that the travel wentover the hill, but thought he'd
take the river road. He didn'tknow that there was a quicksand across it,
and that people couldn't use it inspring. In summer there used to
be a signboard to tell strangers aboutit, but it had been taken away.

(09:58):
The man got off his horse tolet him graze, and walked along
till he got so far ahead ofthe horse that he had to sit down
and wait for him. Suddenly hefound that he was on a quick sand.
His feet had sunk in the sandand he could not get them out.
He threw himself down and whistled forhis horse and shouted for help,

(10:22):
but no one came. He couldhear some young people singing out on the
river, but they could not hearhim. The terrible sand drew him in
almost to his shoulders, and hethought he was lost. At that moment,
the horse came running up and stoodby his master. The man was
too low down to get hold ofthe saddle or bridle, so he took

(10:43):
hold of the horse's tail and toldhim to go. The horse gave an
awful pull and landed his master onsafe ground. Everybody clapped his hands and
stamped when this story was finished,and called out dog story, the dog
story. The boy bailed and smiledand began again. You all know what

(11:09):
a roundup of cattle is, soI need not explain. Once a man
down south was going to have one, and he and his boys and friends
were talking it over. There wasan ugly black steer in the herd,
and they were wondering whether their oldyellow dog would be able to manage him.
The dog's name was Tige, andhe lay and listened wisely to their

(11:30):
talk. The next day there wasa scene of great confusion. The steer
raged and tore about and would allowno one to come within a whipp's touch
of him. Tige, who hadalways been brave, skulked about for a
while, and then, as ifhe had gied up a little spirit,
he made a run at the steer. The steer sighted him, gave a

(11:52):
bellow, and, lowering his horns, ran at him. Tige turned tail,
and the young men that owned himwere frantic. They'd been praising him
and thought they were going to haveit proven faults. Their father called out,
don't shoot Tige till you see wherehe's running to. The dog ran
right to the cattle pen. Thesteer was so enraged that he never noticed

(12:16):
where he was going, and dashedin after him. Tige leaped the wall
and came back to the gate,barking and yelping for the men to come
in and shut the steer in.They shut the gate and petted Tige and
bought him a collar with a silverplate. The boy was loudly cheered and
went to his seat. The Presidentsaid he would like to have remarks made

(12:39):
about these two stories. Several childrenput up their hands, and he asked
each one to speak in turn.One said that if that man's horse had
had a docked tail, his masterwouldn't have been able to reach it and
would have perished. Another said thatif the man hadn't treated his horse kindly,

(13:01):
he would have never come at hiswhistle and stood over him to see
what he could do to help him. A third child said that the people
on the river weren't as quick athearing the voice of the man in trouble
as the horse was. When thistalk was over, the President called for
some stories of foreign animals. Anotherboy came forward, made his bow,

(13:26):
and said, in a short,abrupt voice, my uncle's name is Henry
Worthington. He is an Englishman,and once he was a soldier in India.
One day, when he was huntingin the Punjab, he saw a
mother monkey carrying a little dead babymonkey. Six months after, he was
in the same jungle, saw thesame monkey, still carrying dead baby monkey,

(13:50):
all shriveled up. Mother monkey lovedher baby monkey and wouldn't give it
up. The boy went to hisseat, and the President, with a
queer look in his face, said, that's a very good story, Ronald,
if it is true. None ofthe children laughed, but missus Wood's

(14:11):
face got like a red poppy in. Miss Laura bit her lip, and
mister Maxwell buried his head in hisarms, his whole frame shaking. The
bowie who told the story looked veryangry. He jumped up again. My
uncle's a true man and never tolda lion his life. The President remained

(14:37):
standing, his face a deep scarlet, and a tall boy at the back
of the room got up and said, mister President, what would be impossible
in this climate might be possible ina hot country like India, doesn't heat
sometimes draw up and preserve things.The President's face cleared. Thank you for

(14:58):
the suggestion, he said, Idon't want to hurt anybody's feelings. But
you know there is a rule inthe band that only true stories are to
be told. Here we have fivemore minutes for foreign stories. Has anyone
else one? End of chapter nineteenA Band of Mercy, Chapter twenty stories

(15:24):
about animals. A small girl withtwinkling eyes into merry face got up just
behind miss Laura and made her wayto the front. My grim fatter says
she began in a piping little voicethat when he was a little boy,

(15:46):
his father brought him a little monkeyfrom the West Indies. The naughty boys
in the village used to tease thelittle monkey, and he runned up a
tree. One day, Dave wasthrowing stones at him, and a man
that was painting the house droven away. The monkey runned down the tree and

(16:11):
shook hands with demand. My grandfatter saw him, She said, with
a shake of her head at thePresident, as if he was afraid he
would doubt her. There was greatlaughing and clapping of hands. When this
little girl took her seat, shehopped right up again and ran back.

(16:32):
Oh, I fordot, she wenton in her squeaky little voice. My
drand Fatter says that afterward the monkeyupset the painter's can of oil and rolled
in it, and then jumped downmy drandfather's flower barrel. The President looked

(16:53):
very much amused and said, wehave had some good stories about monkeys.
Now let us have some more aboutour home animals. Who can tell us
another story about a horse? Threeor four boys jumped up, but the
President said they would take one ata time. The first one was this.

(17:15):
A Riverdale boy was walking along thebank of a canal in Hoytville.
He saw a boy driving two horses, which were towing a canal boat.
The first horse was lazy, andthe boy got angry and struck him several
times over the head with his whip. The Riverdale boy shouted across to him,

(17:41):
begging him not to be so cruel, but the boy paid no attention.
Suddenly the horse turned, seized histormentor by the shoulder, and pushed
him into the canal. The waterwas not deep, and the boy,
after floundering about for a few seconds, came out, dripping with mud and

(18:03):
filth, and sat down on thetowpath and looked at the horse with such
a comical expression that the Riverdale boyhad to stuff his handkerchief in his mouth
to keep from laughing. It ishoped that he would learn a lesson,
said the President, and be kinderto his horse in the future. Now,

(18:26):
Bernard, howe your story. Theboy was a brother to the little
girl who had told the monkey story, and he too, had evidently been
talking to his grandfather. He toldtwo stories, and Miss Laura listened eagerly,
for they were about Fairport. Theboy said that when his grandfather was

(18:49):
young, he lived in Fairport,Maine. On a certain day he stood
in the market square to see theirfirst stay age coach put together. It
had come from Boston in pieces,for there was no one in Fairport that
could make one. The coach wentaway up into the country one day and

(19:12):
came back the next. For along time, no one understood driving the
horses properly, and they came inday after day with the blood streaming from
them. The whipple tree would swinground and hit them, and when their
collars were taken off, their neckswould be rawing bloody. After a time,

(19:37):
the men got to understand how todrive a coach, and the horses
did not suffer so much. Theother story was about a team boat,
not a steamboat. More than seventyyears ago, they had no steamers running
between Fairport and the island opposite wherepeople went for the summer. But they

(20:00):
had what they called a team boat, that is, a boat with machinery
to make it go that could beworked by horses. There were eight horses
that went around and around and madethe boat go One afternoon, two dancing
masters, who were wicked fellows thatplayed the fiddle and never went to church

(20:25):
on Sundays, got on the boatand sat just where the horses had to
pass them as they went around.Every time the horses went by, they
jabbed them with their pen knives.The man who was driving the horses at
last saw the blood dripping from them, and the dancing masters were found out.

(20:48):
Some young men on the boat wereso angry that they caught up a
rope's end and gave the dancing mastersa lashing, and then threw them into
the water and made them swim tothe island. When this boy took a
seat, a young girl read someverses that she had clipped from a newspaper.

(21:11):
Don't kill the toads, the muglytoads that hop around your door each
meal. The little toad doth eata hundred bugs are more. He sits
around with a spect meat until thebug half neared, then shoots he forth
his little tongue like lightning, doublegeared. And then he soberly doth wink

(21:37):
and shut his ugly mug, andpatiently doth wait until there comes another bug.
Mister Maxwelle told a good dog story. After this, he said the
President need not have any fears asto its truth, for it had happened
in his boarding house in the village, and he had seen it him say

(22:00):
elf. Monday, the day beforebeing washed day, his landlady had put
out a large washing. Among theclothes on the line was a gray flannel
shirt belonging to her husband. Theyoung dog belonging to the house had pulled
the shirt from the line and tornit to pieces. The woman put it

(22:22):
aside and told him master would beatinghim. When the man came home to
his dinner, he showed the dogthe pieces of the shirt and gave him
a severe whipping. The dog ranaway, visited all the clothes lines in
the village till he found a grayshirt very much like his master's. He

(22:47):
seized it and ran home, layingit at his master's feet, joyfully wagging
his tail. Meanwhile, mister Maxwell'sstory redone a bright faced bowl week called
Simon Gray got up and said,you all know our old gray horse ned

(23:11):
last week. Father sold him toa man in Whyntville, and I went
to the station where he was shipped. He was put in a box car.
The doors were left a little opento give him air and were locked
in that way. There was anarrow sliding door four feet from the floor
of the car, and in someway or other, Old Ned pushed this

(23:33):
door open, crawled through it,and tumbled out on the ground. When
I was coming home from school,I saw him walking along the track.
He hadn't hurt himself except for afew cuts. He was glad to see
me and followed me home. Hemust have gotten off the train when it
was going full speed, for hehadn't been seen at any of the stations,

(23:57):
and the train men were astonished tofind the doors locked and the car
empty. When they got to Hoytville. Father got the man who bought him
to release him from his bargain,for he says, if Ned is so
fond of Riverdale, he shall stayhere. The President asked the boys and

(24:18):
girls to give three cheers for OldNed, and then they had some more
singing. After they had all takentheir seats, he said he would like
to know what the members had beendoing for animals during the past fortnight.
One girl had kept her brother fromshooting two owls that came about their barnyard.

(24:44):
She told him that the owls woulddestroy the rats and mice that bothered
him in the barn, but ifhe hunted them, they would go to
the woods. A boy said thathe had persuaded some of his friends who
were going fishing to put their baitworms into a dish of boiling water to
kill them before they started, andalso to promise him that as soon as

(25:10):
they took their fish out of thewater, they would kill them by a
sharp blow on the back of thehead. They were all the more ready
to do this when he told themthat their fish would taste better when cooked
if they had been killed as soonas they were taken from the water into
the air. A little girl hadgotten her mother to say that she would

(25:33):
never again put lobsters into cold waterand slowly boil them to death. She
had also stopped a man in thestreet who was carrying a pair of fowls
with their heads down, and askedhim if he would kindly reverse their position.
The man told her that the fowlsdidn't mind, and she pursed up

(25:57):
her small mouth and show owed theband how She said to him, I
would prefer the opinion of the hens. Then she said. He had laughed
at her and said, certainly,little lady, and had gone off carrying
them as she wanted him to.She had also reasoned with different boys outside

(26:21):
the village who were throwing stones atbirds and frogs and sticking butterflies, and
had invited them to come to theBand of mercy. This child seemed to
have done more than anyone else fordumb animals. She had taken a round
of petition to the village boys,asking them not to search for birds eggs,

(26:45):
and she had even gone into herfather's stable and asked him to hold
her up so that she could lookinto the horses mouths to see if their
teeth wanted feeling or were decayed.When her father laughed at her, she
told him that horses often suffered terriblepain from their teeth, and that sometimes

(27:08):
a runaway is caused by a metalbit striking against the exposed nerve in the
tooth of a horse that has becomealmost frantic with pain. She was a
very gentle girl, and I thinkby the way that she spoke that her
father loved her dearly, for shetold how much trouble he had taken to

(27:32):
make some tiny houses for her thatshe wanted for the wrens that came about
the farm. She told him thatthose little birds are so good at catching
insects that they ought to give alltheir time to it and not have any
worry about making houses. Her fathermade their homes very small so that the

(27:56):
English sparrows could not get in andcrowd them out out. A boy said
that he had gotten a pot ofpaint and painted in large letters on the
fences around his father's farm, sparethe toads, don't kill the birds.
Every bird killed is a loss tothe country. That reminds me, said

(28:22):
the President. To ask the girlswhat they have done about the millinery business.
I have told my mother, saida tall, serious faced girl,
that I think it is wrong towear bird feathers, and she has promised
to give up wearing any of themexcept ostrich plumes. Missus Wood asked permission

(28:45):
to say a few words just here, and the President said, certainly,
we are always glad to hear fromyou. She went up on the platform
and faced the room full of children, Your boys and girls, sheep again.
I have had some papers sent mefrom Boston giving some facts about the

(29:08):
killing of our birds, and Iwant to state a few of them to
you. You all know that nearlyevery tree and plant that grows swarms with
insect life, and that they couldn'tgrow if the birds didn't eat the insects
that would devour their foliage. Allday long, the little beaks of the

(29:30):
birds are busy. The dear littlerose breasted grossbeak carefully examines the potato plants
and picks off the beetles. Themartins destroy weevil. The quail and grouse
family eats the chinch bug. Thewoodpeckers dig the worms from the trees,

(29:51):
and many other birds eat the fliesand gnats and mosquitoes that torment us.
No flying or crawling creature escapes theirsharp little eyes. A great Frenchman says
that if it weren't for the birds, human beings would perish from the face
of the earth. They are doingall of this for us, and how

(30:14):
are we rewarding them? All overAmerica they are hunted and killed. Five
a million birds must be caught everyyear for the American women to wear in
their hats and bonnets. Just thinkof it, girls, isn't it dreadful?
Five million, innocent, hardworking,beautiful birds killed that thoughtless girls and

(30:40):
women may ornament themselves with their littledead bodies. One million bubble lynx have
been killed in one month near Philadelphia. Seventy song birds were sent from one
Long Island village to New York millinersin Florida, cruel men shoot the mother

(31:03):
birds on their nest while they arerearing their young because their plumage is prettiest
at that time. The little onescry pitifully and starved to death. Every
bird of the rarer kind that iskilled, such as humming birds, orioles
and kingfishes, means the death ofseveral others. That is, the young

(31:26):
that starved to death, the woundedthat fly away to die, and those
whose plumage is so torn that itis not fit to put in a lady's
fine bonnet. In some cases,where birds have gay wings and the hunters
do not wish the rest of thebody, they tear off the wings from

(31:48):
the living bird and throw it awayto die. I am sorry to tell
you such painful things, but Ithink you ought to know them. You
will soon be Men and women,do what you can to stop this horrid
trade. Our beautiful birds are beingtaken from us, and the insect pests

(32:09):
are increasing. The state of Massachusettshas lost over one hundred thousand dollars because
it did not protect its birds.The gypsy moth strip the trees near Boston,
and the state had to pay outall this money, and even then
could not get rid of the moths. The birds could have done it better

(32:30):
than the state, but they wereall gone. My last words to you
are protect the birds. Missus Woodwent to her seat, and though the
boys and girls had listened very attentively, none of them cheered her. Their
faces looked sad, and they keptquiet for a few minutes. I saw

(32:55):
one or two little girls wiping theireyes. I think they felt sorry for
the birds. Has any boy doneanything about blinders and check reins? Asked
the President. After a time,A brown faced boy stood up. I

(33:15):
had a pick neck last Monday.He said, father, let me cut
all the blindness off our headstalls withmy penknife. How did you get him
to consent to that, asked thePresident. I told him, said the
boy, that I couldn't get tosleep for thinking to him. You know,

(33:36):
he drives a good deal late atnight. I told him that every
dark night he came from Sudbury.I thought of the deep ditch alongside the
road, and wished his horses hadn'tblinders own. And every night he comes
from the junction and has to drivealong the river bank where the water has

(33:57):
washed away the earth, till thewheels of the wagon are within a foot
or two of the edge. Iwished again that his horses could see each
side of them, for I knewthey'd have sense enough to keep out of
danger if they could see it.Father said that might be very true.
Yet his horses had been broken inwith blinders, and didn't I think they

(34:19):
would be inclined to shy if heever took them off, And wouldn't they
be frightened to look around and seethe wagon wheels so near. I told
him that for every accident that happenedto a horse without blinders, several happened
to a horse with them, Andthen I gave him mister Wood's opinion.
Mister Wood out at Dingle Farm.He says that the worst thing against blinders

(34:44):
is that a frightened a horse neverknows when he has passed the thing that
scared him. He always thinks itis behind him. The blinders are there,
and he can't see he has passedit, and he can't turn his
head to have a good look atit. So often he goes tearing madly
on, and sometimes lives are loston account of a little bit of love

(35:07):
fastened over a beautiful eye that oughtto look out, full and free at
the world. That finished father,He said he'd take off his blindness,
and if he had an accident,he'd send the bill for damages to mister
Wood. But we've had no accident. The horses did act rather queerly at
first and started a little, butthey soon got over it, and now

(35:31):
they go as steady without blindness asthey ever did with them. The boy
sat down, and the President said, I think it's time that the whole
nation threw off this foolishness of halfcovering their horses eyes. Just put your
hands up to your eyes. Membersof the band, half cover them,

(35:53):
and see how shut in you willfeel, and how curious you will be
to know what is going on besideyou. Suppose a girl saw a mouse
with her eyes half covered, wouldn'tshe run? Everybody laughed, and the
President asked someone to tell him whoinvented blinders. An English nobleman shouted a

(36:17):
boy who had a wall eyed horse. He wanted to cover up the defect.
And I think it is a greatshame that all the American horses have
to suffer because that English one hadan ugly eye. So do I say
it? The president? Three groansfrom blinders boys. All the children in

(36:40):
the room made three dreadful noises awaydown in their throats. Then they had
another good laugh, and the Presidentbecame sober again. Seven more minutes,
he said, this meeting has gotto be let out. At five sharp.

(37:00):
A tall girl at the back ofthe room rose and said, my
little cousin has two stories she wouldlike to tell. The band very well,
said the present aunt, bring herright along. The big girl came
forward, leaving a tiny child thatshe placed in front of the boys and

(37:22):
girls. The child stared up intoher cousin's face, turning and twisting her
white pinafore through her fingers. Everytime the big girl took her pinafore away
from her, she picked it upagain. Begin nanny said the big girl

(37:43):
kindly. Well, cousin Eleanor saidthe child, you know Topsy Griham's pony,
Well, Topsy would run away,and a big big men came out
to Papa and said he would trainTopsy. So he drove her every day

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and beats her and beats her tillhe was tired, but still Topsy would
run away. Then Papa said hewould not have the poor pony whips so
much, and he took her outa piece of bread every day, and
he petted her. And now Topsyis very gentle and never runs away.

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Tell about Tiger, said the girl. Well, cousin Eleanor said the child.
You know Tiger, our big dog. He used to be a bad
dog, and when Doctor Fairchild droveup to the house, he jumped up
and bid at him. Doctor Fairchildused to speak kind lead to him and

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throw out bits of meat. Andnow when he comes, Tiger follows behind
and wags his tail. Now giveme a kiss. The girl had to
give her a kiss right up therebefore everyone. And what a stamping the
boys made. The larger girl blushedand hurried back to her seat, with

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the child clinging to her hand.There was one more story about a brave
Newfoundland dog that saved eight lives byswimming out to a red sailing vessel and
getting a rope by which the mencame ashore, and then a lad got

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up, whom they all greeted withcheers and cries of the poet. The
poet. I didn't know what theymeant till Miss Wood whispered to Miss Laura
that he was a boy who maderhymes, and the children had rather hear
him speak than anyone else in theroom. He had a snub nose and

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freckles, and I think he wasthe plainest boy there, but that didn't
matter if the other children loved him. He sauntered up to the front with
his hands behind his back, ina very grand manner. The beautiful poetry

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recited here today he drawled, putsome verses in my mind that I never
had till I came here today.Everyone present cheered wildly, and he began
in a sing song of voice.I am a band of mercy boy.
I would not hear a fly.I always speak to dogs and cats when

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e'er I passed them by. Ialways let the booties sing. I never
throw a stone. I always givea hungry dog a nice fat's meaty bone.
I wouldn't drive a bob tailed horse, nor hurry up a cow.

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I then he forgot the rest theboys and girls were so sorry. They
called out pig, goat, calf, sheep, hens, ducks, and
all the other animals names they couldthink of, but none of them was

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right. And as the boy wehad just made up the poetry, no
one knew what the next could be. He stood for a long time,
staring at the ceiling. Then hesaid, I guess I'll have to give
it up. The children looked dreadfullydisappointed. Perhaps you'll remember it by an

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next meeting, said the president anxiously. Possibly, said the boy, but
probably not. I think it hasgone forever, and he went to his
seat. The next thing was tocall for new members. Miss Laura got
up and said she would like tojoin their Band of Mercy. I followed

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her up to the platform while theypinned a little badge on her, and
everyone laughed at me. Then theysang God bless us our native land,
and the President told us that wemight all go home. It seemed to
me a lovely thing for those childrento meet together to talk about kindness to

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animals. They all had bright andgood faces, and many of them stopped
to pat me as I came out. One little girl gave me a bit
biscuit from her school bag. MissusWood waited at the door till mister Maxwell
came limping out on his crutches.She introduced him to Miss Laura and asked

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him if he wouldn't go and taketea with them. He said he would
be very happy to do so,and then missus Wood laughed and asked him
if he hadn't better empty his pocketsfirst. She didn't want a little toad
jumping over her tea table as onedid last time he was there. End

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of Chapter twenty Stories about Animals.