Made a Reputation.
An Erudite Man's Conversation with a Boy aiid the Result. Some good men are naturally such teachers, and so hill of benevolence, especially toward the young, that they cannot help spreading wisdom wherever they go. That the seed may fall on stony ground is \oroved by a- story which a gentleman, who went hunting far into the interior of Nova Scotia, tells in a letter. The hunter was cafcried 16 miles at night by a boy 16 years old and a horse 15 years old. The ride was tedious, and the boy driver was inclined to fall asleep. The hunter, therefore, thought to interest him in something. _ " 1 see we are going due west," he said. " How do you know that? " asked the boy. " Were you ever here before? " " No; but there is the North Star." " How do you know it's the North Star? " " Why, there are the pointers." "What pointers?" The hunter explained, and told the boy how to find the North Star. Then he pointed out two of the planets. The boy seemed wide awake now, and the hunter went on to give him his first lesson in astronomy, telling him how Jupiter waa 1300 times as large as the earth, and how Mars showed changes of seasons—how it had bays and.apparent canals, and so forth, and how it was supposed by many to havo intelligent inhabitants. When, after his hunting, the stranger returned to the town where he had hired the conveyance and the boy, he found that the people seemed to have a certain humorous interest in him. It was so evident that he was the object of some curiosity or joke that he made inquiries, and finally found a man who could tell him. "Why," said his informant, "you've made a great reputation for yourself round here." " In what way? " " Oh, the kid that drove you over to the other night came back the next day and told all the ' settlers' at the hotel that of all the liars lie ever heard, you were the slickest." " What lie did I tell him?" " The boy said that you pretended to know the number of mile,s to the sun, and that you pointed to a star that you said was called 'Jumpter,' and that you said that it was ISuO times bigger than this world, and that you pointed to another star that you said was one where folks lived. "Oh," says that boy, "you ought just to hear him! He's a peach. Old Haskins ain't in it with that feller for lyin'. I tell you he's the biggest liar in Nova Scotia. I'll point him out to you when he comes back." The boy had pointed him out, and he was at that moment enjoying the reputation of the champion of all the liars who had ever conic to Nova Scotia. —Country Gentleman.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW18980922.2.197.1
Bibliographic details
Otago Witness, Issue 2325, 22 September 1898, Page 61
Word Count
480Made a Reputation. Otago Witness, Issue 2325, 22 September 1898, Page 61
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