STORY OF A GOOD LITTLE BOY. 59 



he would like to catch him shoving him again, and then pretending to help him 

 up. This was not in accordance with any of the books. Jacob looked them all 

 over to see. 



One thing that Jacob wanted to do was to find a lame dog that hadn't any- 

 place to stay, and was hungry and persecuted, and bring him home and pet him 

 and have that dog's imperishable gratitude. And at last he found one and was 

 happy; and he brought him home and fed him, but when he was going to pet 

 him the dog flew at him and tore all the clothes off him except those that were 

 in front, and made a spectacle of him that was astonishing. He examined 

 authorities, but he could not understand the matter. It was of the same breed 

 of dogs that was in the books, but it acted very differently. Whatever this boy 

 did he got into trouble. The very things the boys in the books got rewarded 

 for turned out to be about the most unprofitable things he could invest in. 



Once, when he was on his way to Sunday-school, he saw some bad boys 

 starting oflF pleasuring in a sail-boat. He was filled with consternation, because 

 he knew from his reading that boys who went sailing on Sunday invariably got 

 drowned. So he ran out on a raft to warn them, but a log turned with him and 

 slid him into the river. A man got him out pretty soon, and the doctor pumped 

 the water out of him, and gave him a fresh start with his bellows, but he caught 

 cold and lay sick a-bed nine weeks. But the most unaccountable thing about it 

 was that the bad boys in the boat had a good time all day, and then reached 

 home alive and well in the most surprising manner. Jacob Blivens said there 

 was nothing like these things in the books. He was perfectly dumbfounded. 



When he got well he was a little discouraged, but he resolved to keep on 

 trying anyhow. He knew that so far his experiences wouldn't do to go in a 

 book, but he hadn't yet reached the allotted term of life for good little boys, and 

 he hoped to be able to make a record yet if he could hold on till his time was 

 fully up. If everything else failed he had his dying speech to fall back on. 



He examined his authorities, and found that it was now time for him to go to 

 sea as a cabin-boy. He called on a ship captain and made his application, and 

 when the captain asked for his recommendations he proudly drew out a tract 

 and pointed to the words, " To Jacob Blivens, from his affectionate teacher." But 



