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Sticking To The Point

Sticking To The Point image
Parent Issue
Day
6
Month
January
Year
1871
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

A friend of mino who was in business and in need of a clerk, advortised ; ut out of the wholo nuinbcr of those ho presented thomselvcs, only one simt tiie door tight as ho went out of he office. This ono was immediately called back and omployed. A little while afterward anothor riend, a successful lawyor, advertised as follows : WANTED.- A yoiins man to wnrk n nn attorncy's office, aud nlsu t.i reud Uw m bis loigujx1. pply to John -Smith, 13 Dunlap Strooi. B- . It was the conviction of my friond liat wliat is moKt desired in a lawyor s a certain cool judgmeiii, which bolds on to the main point ia a givon caso, and allows no sido issues to warp tho mind from its anchored positioii. I lave often hoard him say, " In tbo end, he lawyor who, hittiug tlie nail on tbo load, keeps driving it until it is counersunk in the conviction of both judge and jury, is tho pleader who succeotls )ost at tho bar of justiee. I always for my .-.. ■ Ij youBg nu n as have this quality, and 1 almost inva-. iably find it lodgod iu minds that are nclined to stick to the point." On the day following the publication of tho abovo notico, Mr. Smith had in ho forenoon a dozen applieants in perou. He bade them wait his pleasure ; hen, when they wcro all soated around liua, ho addressed them as follows : " Bcfore we procecd to business, my young frienoL I wish to toll you a tory." Of courso no ono objected to this. " Ou Deacon Whito's barn," bogan kir. S., " thero perchod ono evening an owl. The deacon was slightly supertitious, and not fancying the hooting of tho lugubrious visitant, ho took hi.5 jun, stolo out softly, got within good ■ange, levoled his gun at tho oininous ntruder, and firod. Now, the barn was old and full of chinks and holes, and it being a vory dry time, tho treacherous wadding immodiately set firo to tho hay inside, and in an instant the ontire fabric waa in fiamos. " Oh, dear ! dear !" cried the deacon, ' how can I relcaso all my cowk and ixéia and yearlings, and my sheep and lorses, in scason to save thora?" for he wind was high, and, as it alwaya ïappens, it incroased in froshness as ;he fira gfiincd in fury. " Help ! holp !" he shouted. " Did tho folks hear him in the ïouse?" askodAlfred. (I shall cali tho applicants by tlieir christian names.) " Not directly," said Mr. Smith. ' Tho deacon lost no timo in getting ut tho cattle. He found them frantftj with tcn'or and uninanagoable. WMle ngaged in unloosing a stout young juli, the latter suddenly turned hia ïorns and pk-rced him." " I'm gored ! I'm gored !" ho exlaimcd in agony, just as his terrortricken wife camo to the rescuo. " Did he dio ?" " He was inj ured soriously," resumed ú.r. Smith.. " Feeling faint, he was obliged to go and lio down. The woman ran for a doctor. When eho returncd, tho piteous bellowing of tho torturod and dying cattle feil on het ears. The thrillmg thought quickly struck her, was her husband possibly in the burning ruins ? Had ho venturcd boyond his strength again, and fallen a helpless victim ï" " O, my husband ! my husband !" "Did he answer?" inquired Charley, with anxious face. " Aras he in tho firo ?" askod David. " Tliore was no roply," continued Mr. Smith, " savo froiu tho crackliug timbera and moans of' tho doomed animáis. Prosently sho heard tho voico ol' her only son among the flames." "Help! help !" he cried. " Tho mothev's beart w.i. ready to break, sho hastoned to the rosoae of her darling boy." "Did sho save him ?" askcd Eihvin. ' O, I hopo sho didn't get burned herself," said Frank. " Picase toll us sir, whethnr (lioy wero burned to death," pleaded Grant. "AVell," rosumed Mr. Smith,' "tho poor deacon diod of his wounds." " Too bad," eaid Hemy. " Ho was a brave man." "And his son was badly biu-nud." " O, awful !" exclaimed Isoao. "And Üm v,idiw's cloüios caught firo, bui, luckily, one of tho noighbers (tliore wero nope living very mrir) ai-rived at tho sceno of destruction just in season to extjagiÜBh tlir Ünmes." "Good, good!" exclainiüd Jamos. "He threw the buffalo in the wagon over her, I supposo." "You aro right," said Mr. Smith. " And ho released ono of the bost liorsüs." "Was he burnod at all?" aslted Karl. "Onlj a littlo scorched," snid Mr. Smilli. And eo the narrator went on until ho had depieted the consequences in dotail of tlie sad evont. Then ho pauscd. Eis nudifors were silent. Their eympathies had been deeply touched. Each one seomed silently pitying tho poor alflictod family. But ono boy had sat unmoved throujjh tho wholo story, and snid nothing. And now that the narati-o waa llmshed, and a pauso had como, he deliberaiely lookod iato Mr. Sinitli's face in a straightforward nianncr, and askcd- "Did he hittheowl?" This was tho youth that stuek to tho point, and tho one that tho lawyer eeloctod from tho twolve. ïhe story had sinrply been manufaotured for effect.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus