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Show A LECTURE ON A SPOON. Thu IIIr.il Man Got It, bat Failed to Comprehend b Word of It. "I romombor," said tho rccountcr of tho party, "a dispensation of what might bo called Spartan justice It happened when I was a boy and mado a lasting Impression, ns liicidonts of tho kind do on n youthful mind. "Our folks nt home had somo old silver spoons that had becu In con-slant con-slant scrvico for generations, nnd wcro small nnd thin, nnd carried in their shallow bowls tbo mnkes of ovcry tooth in tho family. Each spoon had a history his-tory and au association, ns spoons did hnve in those days, and they wero looked nftor with" tho greatest care. My mother placed them undor her pillow every night; and tho wholo family fam-ily would bo regularly awakened by a midnight clnttcr ot rattling spoons, ns thoy Imd a restless habit of falling out of bed; so their valuo was enhanced by tho innuy sleepless nights thoy cost. "Woll, ono of those prcctous spoons was missing, and thoro was n great to do over It. The sorvants wero all questioned, but no ono had scon tho missing spoon. That night n colorod girl, who had bcon taken in somo months beforo by my mother, nnd who wns a bright nnd rather precocious charactor, told ot seeing a now hired man on tho'prcmises hiding something iu his jackot. Sho even essayed to find the jackot, and, suro enough, between be-tween the lining nnd tho outsido was found tho lost spoon. "My mother was so happy in rccor-ing rccor-ing her property that sho wanted the man to go scot treo. Not so my father, fa-ther, who was a solemn church-goer. 'I will giyo him nJcjUunj-ontlio sin of sfealiug.' ho said, 'arid keep litni, ns ho is a useful man. I am vory suro ho will nover steal from us ngaln.' "I nccompanlcd my father to tho kitchen, whero tho man was raking ashes oror tho coals of a hot Urn and was proparlng to go to bed. Ho vat submissively still ns my fathor appeared, appear-ed, carrying a largo bible, aim ho listened to tho lecture that was dollv-cd dollv-cd with an unmoved countonanco. I slept and awnkonod sovcral times beforo be-foro it was finished. My father's solemn, sol-emn, monotonous voico affected mo liko a soporllio and I did not try to fathom thu languugo bo used. "Tho culprit was a German, nnd I havo since learned ho did not understand under-stand ouo word my father said to him, nor even the nature of tho accusation against him, I thought theu as I listened to my father's bass tonos In that grim monologue, that tho punishment punish-ment was adequato to tho sin, I had bcon lectured myself, nnd would havo confessed to almost anything to havo cscaned tho consequoucus. "Tho lecture was supplemented by a prayer, in which my futhor Implored, divine forgiveness for tho offender. Tho Gorman took it all In good part aud remained in his situation, but was no doubt carefully watched. Somo years aftor tho colored girl acknowledged acknowl-edged that sho hid tho spoon in tiro jacket In order to get rid ot him and-gratify and-gratify her love for mischief. As ho never alluded to It in any way wo could not toll what he thought of the services ser-vices of that night, or how much of the long moral lecturo had been comprehended. com-prehended. But I am certain, he nover understood tho criminal nature of tho occasion." Detroit Free Press. |