Story Hour Readings: Seventh Year

AN ADVENTURE IN BROTHERHOOD

In an ancient city of the East there were seven brothers
who were constantly quarreling among themselves. They
fell out about the way their father divided his property
among them; they argued about the number of camels
each had a right to; they disagreed over the management 5
of their business; and altogether they behaved so
rudely to each other that their acquaintances came to speak
of them as the "unbrotherly brothers."

Their father was much grieved over the actions of his
sons, and he pondered long what means to take to teach them 10
a lasting lesson. At length he called them together in
his own house and spoke to them in this manner:

"As you know, I still have much wealth of my own. The
whole of this I shall bequeath to that son of mine who can
perform a task I have to set. Should two or more succeed,15
the property will be divided equally among the winners.
But before any of you can take part in this contest, each
must pledge himself to live up fully to any lesson he may
have exemplified here this day. Are you willing to make
me this promise?" 20

Each stepped forth in turn and gave a solemn assurance to
his father that come what might he would be true in spirit
and in deed to any lesson that the test might bring forth.

The father then took from a chest a bundle of seven sticks,
ingeniously tied together. "In accordance with what I 25
have said," he told them, "whichever of you breaks these
sticks shall be the winner of the prize."

Each tried in turn, beginning with the youngest. Each
tugged and strained in vain. At best the bundle could only
be bent. Finally the turn of the seventh came, and he
too was unsuccessful. They all said the task could not be
done and agreed that they had failed. 5

Thereupon the father took the bundle, sought out the
end of the cord that held the sticks together, and unwound
it at a single pull. Seizing each stick separately he broke
all seven, one after another, before his astonished sons
could protest. 10

"Now," said he, "those broken sticks are you, my seven
sons. As long as you hold together, nobody can break your
friendship or your reputation. When you fall apart, anybody
can make broken reeds of you. Need I say more
about the lesson that you have pledged yourselves to learn 15
in spirit and in deed?"

The rebuke touched the seven brothers. They agreed to
forget their petty grievances, thanked their father for the
lesson he had taught them, and gladly joined in a big feast
he had had prepared. And thereafter all who knew them 20
spoke of them as "the seven blood brothers."

THE PRAYER PERFECT

By James Whitcomb Riley

GET OUT OR GET IN LINE

By Elbert Hubbard

If all the letters, messages, and speeches of Lincoln were
destroyed except that one letter to Hooker, we should
still have a good index to the heart of "The Rail-splitter."

In this letter we see that Lincoln ruled his own spirit;
and we also behold the fact that he could rule others. 5
The letter shows frankness, kindliness, wit, tact, wise
diplomacy, and infinite patience.

Hooker had harshly and unjustly criticized Lincoln,
his commander in chief, and he had embarrassed Burnside,
his ranking officer. But Lincoln waives all this in deference 10
to the virtues that he believes Hooker possesses, and promotes
him to succeed Burnside. In other words, the man
who had been wronged promotes the man who had wronged
him, over the head of a man whom the promotee had wronged
and for whom the promoter had a warm personal friendship.15

But all personal considerations were sunk in view of the
end desired. Yet it was necessary that the man promoted
should know the truth, and Lincoln told it to him in a way
that did not humiliate nor fire to foolish anger, but which
certainly prevented the attack of cerebral elephantiasis to 20
which Hooker was liable.

Perhaps we had better give the letter entire, and so here
it is:

"Executive Mansion, Washington, January 26, 1863.
Major-General Hooker:
General:— 5

I have placed you at the head of the Army of the
Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what appear
to me to be sufficient reasons, and yet I think it best for
you to know that there are some things in regard to which
I am not quite satisfied with you. 10

I believe you to be a brave and skillful soldier, which,
of course, I like. I also believe you do not mix politics
with your profession, in which you are right.

You have confidence in yourself, which is a valuable, if
not indispensable, quality. 15

You are ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds,
does good rather than harm; but I think that during
General Burnside's command of the army you have taken
counsel of your ambition and thwarted him as much as you
could, in which you did a great wrong to the country and 20
to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer.

I have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your
recently saying that both the army and the government
needed a dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in
spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only 25
those generals who gain successes can set up dictators.
What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk
the dictatorship. The government will support you to the
utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than
it has done and will do for all commanders. I much 30
fear that the spirit you have aided to infuse into the army,
of criticizing their commander and withholding confidence
from him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist you as
far as I can to put it down. Neither you nor Napoleon,
if he were alive again, could get any good out of an army
while such a spirit prevails in it. And now beware of
rashness; beware of rashness, but with energy and sleepless 5
vigilance go forward and give us victories.

One point in this letter is especially worth our consideration,
for it suggests a condition that springs up like 10
deadly nightshade from a poisonous soil. I refer to the
habit of sneering, carping, grumbling at, and criticizing
those who are above us.

The man who is anybody and who does anything is
surely going to be criticized, vilified, and misunderstood. 15
This is a part of the penalty for greatness and every great
man understands it; and understands, too, that it is no
proof of greatness. The final proof of greatness lies in being
able to endure contumely without resentment. Lincoln
did not resent criticism; he knew that every life must be its 20
own excuse for being; but look how he calls Hooker's
attention to the fact that the dissension Hooker has sown is
going to return and plague him! "Neither you nor Napoleon,
were he alive, could get any good out of an army
while such a spirit prevails in it." Hooker's fault falls on 25
Hooker—others suffer, but Hooker suffers most of all.

Not long ago I met a college student, home on a vacation.
I am sure he did not represent the true college
spirit, for he was full of criticism and bitterness toward
the institution. The president of the college came in for30
his share, and I was supplied items, facts, data, with
times and places, for a "peach of a roast."

Very soon I saw the trouble was not with the college,
the trouble was with the young man. He had mentally
dwelt on some trivial slights until he had got so out of
harmony with the institution that he had lost the power to
derive any benefit from it. No college is a perfect institution—a 5
fact, I suppose, that most college presidents and
college men are quite willing to admit; but a college does
supply certain advantages, and it depends upon the students
whether they will avail themselves of these advantages
or not. 10

If you are a student in a college, seize upon the good that
is there. You get good by giving it. You gain by giving—so
give sympathy and cheerful loyalty to the institution.
Be proud of it. Stand by your teachers—they are doing
the best they can. If the place is faulty, make it a better 15
place by an example of cheerfully doing your work every
day the best you can. Mind your own business.

If the concern where you are employed is all wrong,
and the Old Man is a curmudgeon, it may be well for you to
go to the Old Man and confidentially, quietly, and kindly20
tell him that he is a curmudgeon. Explain to him that his
policy is absurd and preposterous. Then show him how to
reform his ways, and you might offer to take charge of the
concern and cleanse it of its secret faults.

Do this, or if for any reason you should prefer not, then25
take your choice of these: Get Out or Get in Line. You
have got to do one or the other—now make your choice.
If you work for a man, in heaven's name work for him!

If he pays you wages that supply you your bread and
butter, work for him—speak well of him, think well of 30
him, stand by him, and stand by the institution he represents.

I think if I worked for a man I would work for him; I
would not work for him a part of the time, and the rest of
the time work against him. I would give an undivided
service or none. If put to the pinch, an ounce of loyalty is
worth a pound of cleverness. 5

If you must vilify, condemn, and eternally disparage,
why, resign your position, and when you are outside,
damn to your heart's content. But, I pray you, so long
as you are a part of an institution, do not condemn it.
Not that you will injure the institution—not that—but 10
when you disparage the concern of which you are a part,
you disparage yourself.

More than that, you are loosening the tendrils that
hold you to the institution, and the first high wind that
comes along, you will be uprooted and blown away in the 15
blizzard's track—and probably you will never know why.
The letter only says "Times are dull and we regret there
is not enough work," et cetera.

Everywhere you find those out-of-a-job fellows. Talk
with them and you will find that they are full of railing, 20
bitterness, and condemnation. That was the trouble—through
a spirit of faultfinding they got themselves swung
around so they blocked the channel and had to be dynamited.
They are out of harmony with the concern, and
no longer being a help they had to be removed. Every 25
employer is constantly looking for people who can help him;
naturally he is on the lookout among his employees for those
who do not help, and everything and everybody that is a
hindrance has to go. This is the law of trade—do not
find fault with it; it is founded on nature. The reward 30
is only for the man that helps, and in order to help, you
must have sympathy.

You cannot help the Old Man so long as you are explaining
in undertone and whisper, by gesture and suggestion, by
thought and mental attitude, that he is a curmudgeon and
his system dead wrong. You are not necessarily menacing
him by stirring up discontent and warming envy into strife, 5
but you are doing this: You are getting yourself upon a well-greased
chute that will give you a quick ride down and out.

When you say to other employees that the Old Man is a
curmudgeon, you reveal the fact that you are one; and
when you tell that the policy of the institution is "rotten," 10
you surely show that yours is.

Hooker got his promotion even in spite of his failings;
but the chances are that your employer does not have the
love that Lincoln had—the love that suffereth long and is
kind. But even Lincoln could not protect Hooker forever. 15
Hooker failed to do the work, and Lincoln had to try some
one else. So there came a time when Hooker was superseded
by a Silent Man, who criticized no one, railed at nobody—not
even the enemy. And this Silent Man, who ruled his
own spirit, took the cities. He minded his own business and 20
did the work that no man ever can do unless he gives
absolute loyalty, perfect confidence, and untiring devotion.

Let us mind our own business and work for self by working
for the good of all.

(Used by permission of Elbert Hubbard II, East Aurora, N. Y.)

JOHN MARSHALL OF VIRGINIA

By John Esten Cooke

Among the great men of Virginia, John Marshall
will always be remembered with honor and esteem.
He was the son of a poor man, and his early life was spent
in poverty; but he was not afraid of labor, and everybody
saw that he was a person of more than common ability. 5

Little by little he rose to distinction, and there was
scarcely any public office in the gift of the people that he
might not have had for the asking. He served in the legislature
of Virginia; he was sent as envoy to France; he was
made Secretary of State; and finally he became Chief 10
Justice of the United States. When he died at the age of
eighty, he was one of the greatest and most famous men
in America.

My father knew him well and loved him, and told me
many things about him. He was very tall and thin, and 15
dressed very plainly. He wore a suit of plain black cloth,
and common yarn stockings, which fitted tightly to his legs
and showed how thin they were. He was a very great
walker, and would often walk out to his farm, which was
several miles from Richmond. But sometimes he went on
horseback, and once he was met riding out with a bag of
clover seed on the saddle before him.

His manners were plain and simple, and he liked to talk
about everyday matters with plain country people and
laugh and jest with them. In a word, he was so great a man5
that he never thought of appearing greater than other
people, but was always the same unpretending John
Marshall.

It was the fashion among the gentlemen of Richmond to
walk to market early in the morning and buy fresh meats 10
and vegetables for their family dinners. This was a good
old fashion, and some famous gentlemen continued to do
so to the end of their lives. It was the habit of Judge
Marshall, and very often he took no servant with him. He
would buy what he wanted and return home, carrying his 15
purchases on his arm; and on one of these occasions a little
incident occurred which is well worth telling.

Judge Marshall had made his purchases at the market
and was just starting for home when he heard some one
using very rough and unbecoming language. He turned 20
round and saw what was the cause of the hubbub. A
finely dressed young man, who seemed to be a stranger,
had just bought a turkey in the market. Finding that
it would not be carried home for him, he became very angry.
Judge Marshall listened a moment to his ungentlemanly 25
talk, and then stepping up to him asked very kindly,
"Where do you live, sir?"

The young man looked at the plainly dressed old countryman,
as he supposed him to be, and then named the street
and number where he lived. 30

"I happen to be going that way," said Judge Marshall
with a smile, "and I will take it for you."

The young man handed him the turkey and left the
market, followed by Judge Marshall. When they reached
the young man's home, Marshall politely handed him the
turkey and turned to go.

"What shall I pay you?" asked the young man. 5

"Oh, nothing," answered Marshall. "You are welcome.
It was on my way, and no trouble at all." He bowed and
walked away, while the young man looked after him,
beginning now to see that he had made a mistake.

"Who is that polite old gentleman who carried my turkey 10
for me?" he asked of a friend who was passing.

"That is John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United
States," was the answer.

The young man was astounded and ashamed. "But
why did he offer to carry my turkey?" he exclaimed. 15

"To give you a reprimand and teach you to attend to
your own business and behave like a gentleman."

This little anecdote will show you the character of John
Marshall; and I cannot believe that it was his wish merely
to reprimand the foolish young man. He was too sweet-tempered 20
and kind to take pleasure in reprimanding anyone;
and I have not a doubt that he carried the turkey
simply from the wish to be obliging.

—Stories of the Old Dominion.

OPPORTUNITY

By Edward Rowland Sill

BOY WANTED

By Dr. Frank Crane

(Used by special permission of the author.)

A boy who stands straight, sits straight, acts straight,
and talks straight.

A boy who listens carefully when spoken to, who asks
questions when he does not understand, and does not ask
questions about things that are none of his business. 5

A boy whose finger nails are not in mourning, whose
ears are clean, whose shoes are polished, whose clothes
are brushed, whose hair is combed, and whose teeth are
well cared for.

A boy who moves quickly and makes as little noise about 10
it as possible.

A boy who whistles in the street but not where he
ought to keep still.

A boy who looks cheerful, has a ready smile for everybody,
and never sulks. 15

A boy who is polite to every man and respectful to every
woman and girl.

A boy who does not smoke cigarettes and has no desire to
learn how.

A boy who never bullies other boys or allows other boys 20
to bully him.

A boy who, when he does not know a thing, says, "I do
not know"; and when he has made a mistake says, "I'm
sorry"; and when requested to do a thing immediately
says, "I'll try."

A boy who looks you right in the eye and tells the truth 5
every time.

A boy who would rather lose his job or be expelled from
school than tell a lie or be a cad.

A boy who is more eager to know how to speak good
English than to talk slang. 10

A boy who does not want to be "smart" nor in any wise
attract attention.

A boy who is eager to read good, wholesome books.

A boy whom other boys like.

A boy who is perfectly at ease in the company of respectable 15
girls.

A boy who is not a goody-goody, a prig, or a little
Pharisee, but just healthy, happy, and full of life.

A boy who is not sorry for himself and not forever
thinking and talking about himself. 20

A boy who is friendly with his mother and more intimate
with her than with anyone else.

A boy who makes you feel good when he is around.

This boy is wanted everywhere. The family wants him,
the school wants him, the office wants him, the boys and 25
girls want him, and all creation wants him.

JOHN LITTLEJOHN

By Charles Mackay

THE DISCONTENTED PENDULUM

An old clock that had stood for fifty years in a farmer's
kitchen without giving its owner any cause of complaint,
early one summer's morning, before the family was
stirring, suddenly stopped. Upon this, the dial plate (if
we may credit the fable) changed countenance with alarm; 5
the hands made a vain effort to continue their course;
the wheels remained motionless with surprise; the weights
hung speechless; and each member felt disposed to lay the
blame on the others. At length the dial instituted a formal
inquiry into the cause of the stoppage; when hands, wheels, 10
weights, with one voice, protested their innocence. But
now a faint tick was heard below from the pendulum, who
thus spoke:

"I confess myself to be the sole cause of the stoppage;
and I am willing, for the general satisfaction, to assign my 15
reasons. The truth is, that I am tired of ticking." Upon
hearing this the old clock became so enraged that it was on
the very point of striking.

"Lazy wire!" exclaimed the dial plate, holding up its
hands. 20

"Very good!" replied the pendulum. "It is vastly
easy for you, Mistress Dial, who have always, as everybody
knows, set yourself up above me—it is vastly easy for
you, I say, to accuse other people of laziness! You, who
have had nothing to do all your life but to stare people in 25
the face and to amuse yourself with watching all that goes
on in the kitchen! Think how you would like to be shut
up for life in this dark closet and wag backward and forward,
year after year, as I do."

"As to that," said the dial, "is there not a window in
your house on purpose for you to look through?"

"For all that," resumed the pendulum, "it is very dark 5
here; and although there is a window, I dare not stop, even
for an instant, to look out. Besides I am really tired of my
way of life; and if you wish, I'll tell you how I took this
disgust at my employment. This morning I happened to
be calculating how many times I should have to tick in the 10
course of only the next twenty-four hours; perhaps some
of you, above there, can give me the exact sum."

The minute hand, being quick at figures, instantly replied,
"Eighty-six thousand four hundred times."

"Exactly so," replied the pendulum. "Well, I appeal to 15
you all, if the thought of this was not enough to fatigue
one? And when I began to multiply the strokes of one
day by those of months and years, really it is no wonder if
I felt discouraged at the prospect; so after a great deal of
reasoning and hesitation, thinks I to myself, I'll stop!" 20

The dial could scarcely keep its countenance during this
harangue, but resuming its gravity it at last replied:
"Dear Mr. Pendulum, I am really astonished that such a
useful, industrious person as yourself should have been
overcome by this suggestion. It is true you have done a 25
great deal of work in your time; so have we all, and are
likely to do; and though this may fatigue us to think of,
the question is, will it fatigue us to do? Would you, now,
give half a dozen strokes to illustrate my argument?"

The pendulum complied, and ticked six times at its 30
usual pace. "Now," resumed the dial, "may I be allowed
to ask, was that exertion at all fatiguing to you?"

"Not in the least," replied the pendulum; "it is not of
six strokes that I complain, nor of sixty, but of millions."

"Very good," replied the dial; "but recollect that although
you may think of a million strokes in an instant, you
are required to execute but one, and that however often 5
you may hereafter have to swing, a moment will always
be given you to swing in."

"That consideration staggers me, I confess," said the
pendulum.

"Then I hope," resumed the dial plate, "we shall all 10
immediately return to our duty; for the maids will be in
bed till noon if we stand idling thus."

Upon this the weights, who had never been accused of
light conduct, used all their influence in urging him to
proceed; when, as with one consent, the wheels began to 15
turn, the hands began to move, the pendulum began to
swing, and, to its credit, ticked as loud as ever; while a
beam of the rising sun that streamed through a hole in the
kitchen shutter, shining full upon the dial plate, made it
brighten up as if nothing had been the matter. 20

But when the farmer came down to breakfast that morning,
he looked at the clock and declared that his watch
had gained half an hour in the night!

TWO SIDES TO EVERY QUESTION

In the days of knight-errantry and paganism, one of
the old British princes set up a statue to the goddess of
Victory in a point where four roads met together. In her
right hand she held a spear, and her left hand rested upon a
shield. The outside of this shield was of gold and the inside 5
of silver. On the former was inscribed, in the old British
language, "To the goddess ever favorable"; and on the
other, "For four victories obtained successively over the
Picts and other inhabitants of the northern islands."

It happened one day that two knights completely armed, 10
one in black armor, the other in white, arrived from opposite
parts of the country at this statue, just about the same time;
and as neither of them had seen it before, they stopped to
read the inscription and to observe its workmanship.

After contemplating it for some time, "This golden 15
shield—" said the black knight.

"Golden shield!" cried the white knight (who was as
strictly observing the opposite side); "why, if I have my
eyes, it is silver."

"I know nothing of your eyes," replied the black knight; 20
"but if ever I saw a golden shield in my life, this is one."

"Yes," returned the white knight smiling, "it is very
probable indeed that they should expose a shield of gold in
so public a place as this! For my own part, I wonder that
even a silver one is not too strong a temptation for the 25
devotion of some people who pass this way; and it appears
by the date that this has been here above three years."

The black knight could not bear the smile with which
this was delivered and grew so warm in the dispute that it
soon ended in a challenge; they both, therefore, turned
their horses and rode back so far as to have sufficient space
for their career; then, fixing their spears in their rests
they flew at each other with the greatest fury and impetuosity. 5
Their shock was so rude, and the blow on each
side so effectual, that they both fell to the ground much
wounded and lay there for some time as in a trance.

A good druid who was traveling that way found them in
this condition. The druids were the physicians of those 10
times as well as the priests. So he stanched their blood, and
brought them, as it were, from death to life again. As soon
as they were sufficiently recovered he began to inquire into
the cause of their quarrel.

"Why this man," cried the black knight, "will have it 15
that yonder shield is silver."

"And he will have it," replied the white knight, "that
it is gold."

And then they told him all the particulars of the affair.

"Ah!" said the druid, "my brothers, you are both of you 20
in the right and both of you in the wrong. Had either
given himself time to look at the opposite side of the shield,
as well as that which first presented itself to view, all this
ill feeling and bloodshed might have been avoided. Allow
me, therefore, to entreat you by all our gods, and by this 25
goddess of Victory in particular, never again to enter into
any dispute till you have fairly considered both sides of the
question."