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 8 ROE 
 
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 BROKEN BACK. 
 
 -♦•♦► 
 
 SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 
 
 200 MULBERRY-STREET, NKVV YORK. 
 
THE BROKEN BACK. 
 
 Joe Gregg was not a g-oocl boy. 
 At home his parents let him do as 
 he pleased, and at school he made 
 trouble all the time. None of the 
 boys liked him, or cared to play with 
 him, he was so harsh and bold and 
 rough. All the folks who lived in 
 the town knew him, but they did not 
 
4 THE BROKEN BACK. 
 
 praise him. They knew him as a 
 boy who would do any bold bad 
 thing that came into his head. 
 
 Pre liked above all things to tease 
 and abuse the old and the poor, the 
 sick and the lame. Aunt Molty, a 
 poor old woman who lived close by 
 the school-house, was the object of 
 many a cruel laugh and wicked joke. 
 She had to come into the play- 
 ground of the school-house to get 
 water from the well. A hard task 
 it was for her too, for she was very 
 
THE BROKEN BACK. 5 
 
 much bent, and bad to go with a 
 crutch. 
 
 But if Joe was there when she 
 came out he always made great 
 sport of her. "Only look at her," 
 lie would say. " Isn't she a letter 
 S uow, with an extra crook in it?" 
 and then he would go close up 10 
 her, with a loud laugh, and walk like 
 her, and mock her voice and her ways. 
 
 She took no notice of these things 
 for a long time, till one day she 
 turned arouucl and looked at him 
 
6 THE BROKEN BACK. 
 
 with her mild eyes and said slowly, 
 "Go home, child, and read the story 
 of the bad boys and the two bears 
 that came out of the wood." 
 
 The other boys had never joined 
 him in mocking the old woman, but 
 now they spoke out, "Shame! 
 shame !" and Charles Mann came up 
 and said, "Now it is too bad for you 
 to do so, Joe. Don't you know that 
 she lost her health by taking care 
 of her poor sick boy, and lifting him 
 about night and day ?" 
 
THE BROKEN BACK. i 
 
 W I don't care what made her so/' 
 said Joe ; " I know one thing, I would 
 not stay in the world if I was such 
 a looking thing as that. Bo look! 1 ' 
 
 ;4 For shame! 1 ' said Will Bean, 
 "yon may get your own back bro- 
 ken one of these days, who knows?" 
 
 "Never mind that bad boy, Aunt 
 Mollv," said Charles, "we love you 
 all the more for being so kind to 
 your poor son. Let me get the wa- 
 ter for you, ma'am," and he took the 
 pail gently from her hand. 
 
8 THE BROKEN BACK. 
 
 Annt Molly's voice shook, and 
 jthp tears came into her eyes, as she 
 said, .'. ; Thank you, my dear boy; may 
 God bless you. and grant that you 
 may ncyer suiter such thing's." 
 
 « If I should, " said Charles kindly. 
 1 it would be the duty, and it ought to 
 be the wish of spry young folks to 
 help me. And after this we will 
 take turns, and one of us will bring 
 your water each day, so that you 
 need not come for it, won't we, 
 uoys ? 
 
THE BROKEN BACK. 9 
 
 u ~\ T , 
 
 Yes, that we will," went from 
 lip to lip; "and more than that 
 too for good Aunt Molly," cried Will 
 Dean at the top of his voice. 
 
 "God bless you ! God bless you 
 all!" She wiped away her tears, 
 and went back to her poor old house, 
 but its Avails grew more bright to her 
 when she thought of the good-will 
 of those kind boys. 
 
 The master had heard this bold 
 
 attack of Joe upon poor Aunt Molly, 
 
 and to show the lad how great a 
 
 1* 
 
10 THE BROKEN BACK. 
 
 wrong he bad been doing, he said 
 that he should not go out to play 
 with the boys during recess for a 
 week to come. 
 
 While Joe was thus kept from the 
 play-ground, Will Dean, who took 
 the first turn after Charles Mann in 
 getting water for Aunt Molly, was 
 away from the play-ground too, but 
 not for the same cause. The good 
 old lady was telling him the story of 
 her son's illness and death, and his 
 little heart was getting better and 
 
THE BROKEN BACK. 11 
 
 better while lie learned to love poor 
 old Aunt Molly and other good folks 
 much more than ever. But Joe's 
 heart was growing harder and hard; 
 er, while he made up his mind that 
 he would hate more and! more the- 
 master who kept him in, and Aunt] 
 Moll} T , who he said was the cause of 
 it. So good things always link with 
 good to help those who wish to do, 
 right, and evil with evil to make 
 those worse who love to be bad. 
 On the fourth day that Joe had 
 
1*2 THE BROKEN BACK. 
 
 .been kept in, he sat by the open 
 window while the boys were out, 
 ,aad looked at their sports. He saw 
 that the master was busy at his desk, 
 and all at once with a shout he leap- 
 ed right out into the midst of the 
 boys. 
 
 "Now let him catch me if he can ; 
 Jet him punish me again if he dare," 
 jhe cried, and threw up his arms 
 .with a loud laugh, and ran back- 
 ward across the play-ground. All 
 at once his voice stopped ; there was 
 
THE BROKEN BACK. 13 
 
 a heavy plunge, and a loud groan, 
 and be was gone out of sight. 
 
 In a moment the boys ran to the 
 spot. It was the well where Aunt 
 Molly got her water. Some men 
 were at work to clean it out and 
 mend it, and the curb was off, and 
 just at that time the men were away. 
 Joe in his wild and wicked glee did 
 not think of it. He ran back and fell 
 into it. The boys ran up and looked 
 over the top, but the well was very 
 deep, and they could not see Joe. 
 
14 THE BROKEN BACK. 
 
 Charles Mann, who was a brave 
 boy was the first to seize the well 
 rope and tie it round him and go 
 down into the well. The boys let 
 the rope down at the top, and he- 
 went down, down to where Joe lay 
 quite still at the bottom. The water 
 had been drawn out, so that there 
 was very little left, not enough to 
 drown him. Charles took up the 
 poor boj, tied him with himself to 
 the rope, made a sign to those above, 
 and was soon drawn up again. 
 
THE BROKEN BACK. 15 
 
 Now still the boys were when they 
 all saw Joe's pale face, and while 
 they bore him to the house of poor 
 Aunt Molly. 
 
 She had seen him fall, and had 
 come out on her crutch to have him 
 brought to her house, the very boy 
 that had called her such bad names 
 and used her so ill. There he lay 
 on her little bed, and she did all she 
 could for him; as the Bible savs 
 " Do good to them that hate you." 
 
 She brought out her vials, and Look 
 
1G THE BROKEN BACK. 
 
 from her scanty store of old linen 
 some to wrap up his head, which 
 was very much hurt, and she sat 
 down by his side to rub his hands 
 and his feet, praying for him all the 
 while as if he had been her dear 
 friend. 
 
 Some of the boys ran for the doc- 
 tor and some for his parents, and 
 after the doctor had done what lie 
 could the poor boy was borne to his 
 house. They hoped he would live, 
 but they did not know; he was very 
 
THE BROKEN BACK. 1? 
 
 much hurt, how much they could 
 not then toll. It was a sad, sad 
 thing", and a deep gloom hung over 
 the school and all who heard of it. 
 
 The day wore off and school 
 closed, b;j£ the boys waited to hear 
 more from Joe. Mapy of them were 
 still in the playground when Charles 
 Mann came near. They knew that 
 he had been to see Joe, and they all 
 got round him. They saw the 
 tears in his eyes, and that the sobs 
 choked his voice. They feared the 
 
18 THE BROKEN BACK. 
 
 worst, and Will Dean asked, "Is Joe 
 dead?" 
 
 " No, he is not dead. He 1ms 
 looked up; he is able to speak; but, 
 boys!" and Charles burst into 
 tears again, " poor Joe's back is 
 broken." 
 
 There were no dry e} r es among that 
 group of boys for the next half hour. 
 They all went to Aunt Molly's house 
 and told her. and she had them come 
 m, and they talked it all over in great 
 sorrow. Then they all knelt down, 
 
THE BROKEN BACK. 19 
 
 and Aunt Molly prayed that the life 
 of poor Joe might be spared, and 
 that even this sad event might at 
 last do him some good. it is a 
 great comfort to go to God when 
 sorrow comes over the heart, and 
 nothing else could have soothed them 
 as thus to leave the case of poor Joe 
 in the hands of the good Lord. 
 
 And Joe, who can tell his agony 
 of body and mind as he lay for long 
 months upon his bed of pain. But 
 when he rose from it with a bent 
 
20 THE BROKEN BACK. 
 
 and feeble body, and a scar like the 
 mark of Cain on his face, he was 
 changed in heart also, changed for 
 the better. When the boys came to 
 pee him one by one he threw his 
 arms around the neck of each and 
 burst into tears, and could only saj r , 
 « Forgive, forgive 1" 
 
 His first visit was to the house of 
 poor Aunt Molly. They had a long 
 talk, just they two alone. I don't 
 know all they said, but I can guess 
 what it was about, for they read the 
 
THE BROKEN BACK. 21 
 
 Bible and prayed too, and when Joe 
 went away lie begged that he might 
 put his arms about her neck and kiss 
 her old and faded cheek. Ah, Joe 
 was a changed boy. 
 
 After that he spent much of his 
 time with Annt Molly. He begged 
 his papa to build her a neat little cot 
 on his land and let her have it rent 
 free, and almost every day in the 
 year Joe may be seen going over to 
 her cot with some warm nice dish 
 from their own table. He says now 
 
22 THE BROKEN BACK. 
 
 that the young ought to love and 
 care for the old who have done their 
 part in the world. He says it would 
 have been much better for him 
 not to have found this out so late, 
 but because he was so bad it was 
 but just in God to punish him by 
 making him a crooked hunchback 
 and a cripple for the rest of his 
 life. 
 
 I hope all my dear little friends 
 that read this will try to be kind to 
 the old. God loves to see this, and 
 
TUB BROKEN BACK. 
 
 23 
 
 if yon get to be old and helpless I 
 hope that all young folks will then 
 be kind to you. 
 
 DEEDS OF KINDNESS. 
 
 " Suppose the little breezes, 
 
 Upon a summer's day, 
 Should think themselves too small to 
 cool 
 
 The traveler on his way ; 
 Who would not miss the smallest 
 
 And softest ones that blow, 
 And think they made a great mistake 
 
 If they were talking so. 
 
24 
 
 TfTE BROKEN" BACK. 
 
 tk How many deeds of kindness 
 
 A little chid may do, 
 Although it has so little strength, 
 
 And little wisdom too. 
 It wants a loving spirit, 
 
 Much more than strength, to prove 
 How many things a child may do 
 
 For others by his love. 11 
 
 THE EXD. 
 
 36a^o56