  A man was fishing by the river. Splashes near by, round the bend, sounded now and then. David grumbled mildly to himself. Voices rose suddenly, and the splashing ceased. Presently a small boy came breaking through the bushes. "Well, Sammy?" said David inquiringly. "It's mean," said Sammy, in an explosive fashion. "A boy came and spoiled all my fun. Now I haven't anything to do." "Too bad," said David. "How was it?" "I was throwing stones at the biggest bullfrog you ever saw. That boy came along and made him jump." "Anything else?" asked David. His voice was calmly indifferent. "He said I was a coward," added the small boy. "So you are!" said David. "The meanest kind of coward I know." Sammy sat down on a flat rock to consider this astonishing remark. David drew up a lively fish, which he killed with a sharp blow on the back of its head. "What did you do that for?" asked Sammy, glad to change the subject. "To save his feelings," was the brief answer. "Ho!" said Sammy contemptuously. "He hasn't any feelings." "Nonsense!" said David in sudden wrath. "Does he wriggle? Yes. Why? Because he suffers out of water. I've caught him to eat, and I owe it to him not to make him suffer any more than is necessary. What did that boy say to you about the frogs?" "He said frogs were good for something in the pond." "So they are," said David. "When they are growing up they live on the decaying weeds and the rubbish which would be dangerous if left in stagnant water. What else did he say?" "He said they were pretty," said Sammy scornfully. "That's true, too," said David. "That boy knew a good deal. They are as handsome as they are harmless. Did you ever know of a frog's doing any harm? Well, that's more than can be said of boys." Sammy was silent for a minute. "They don't know much," he said at last. David looked round quickly. "Now who told you that?" said he. "In the first place, if ignorance were any excuse for tormenting a poor creature, I might make you wretched for an hour or two. Fortunately for you, it isn't. We don't have to stop and ask what you know before we can be kind to you. But you make a mistake if you think frogs are stupid. See how well they dive and swim! I have been trying all summer, and I can't dive like that. They don't ever go down on their shoulders and stick their heads in the mud. I taught a frog to come and eat out of my hand. That was a brave thing for him to do. He knew as well as you know what some boys would have done to him." Sammy was beginning to look ashamed. "There's just one thing more," said David. "When you have to kill anything, kill it as quickly as you can. Don't let it suffer pain. There isn't any excuse for half the suffering there is in this world. Did you ever hear the story of Theodore Parker and the frogs?" "No," said Sammy; "I should like to." "When he was a little boy, perhaps less than four years old, he had to go home alone by a frog-pond where he had seen boys stoning frogs. He raised his hand to throw a stone at a frog, when he heard a voice say, 'Don't.' He looked all around but could see no one, and he raised his hand again to stone the frog. Again he heard a voice say, 'Don't.' Still he could see no one. He was frightened, and running, home to his mother he told her about it, and asked who it was that said, 'Don't.' She took him on her knee and told him that it was the voice of God speaking in his heart, and that if he would always listen to it he would grow up to be a good man." "Will you take me fishing this afternoon?" said Sammy, after a long pause. "No, I will not," said David with emphasis. "I don't go fishing for fun, and I have here all that I need." "May I go swimming with you then?" persisted Sammy. "Of course you may," said David cordially. "We'll see if we can swim any better than the frogs. I haven't much hope of it, but we can try." "All right," said Sammy as he rose to go. He had gone not more than thirty feet before he stopped. "I won't stone them any more, David," he called back over his shoulder. Then he went on into the woods. I would not enter on my list of friends, |
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