UC-NRLF 
 
 ND THANK 
 
 B 3 3EI EflM - H 
 
 [SH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA 
 
A 3 ." 
 
 or 
 
THINK AND THANK 
 
 A. TALE 
 
 SAMUEL W. COOPER, 
 
 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA. 
 
 1890. 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1S90. 
 BY THK JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY ov AMERICA. 
 
 PRESS OF 
 
 EDWARD STERN & Co., 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
7 
 
 /"7S7; 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Brother in Need, , 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Troubles at School, 6 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 A Talk with Uncle Moses, 11 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 George Owen's Revenge, ... 17 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 A Bully's Downfall, 27 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 A Mystery Cleared Up, 38 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 A Story of a Lion Hunt, 47 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 The Snow-fight at Kings Common, 61 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Swimming Match, 7f> 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 An Evening at Home, 83 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Mosen a Captain, 06 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 The Choice of a Life, 105 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 The End of a Day, 117 
 
THINK AND THANK. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 A BROTHER IN NEED. 
 
 "Give it to the Jew!" 
 
 A fair-haired lad stood confronted by a score 
 or more excited boys, who jeered and tormented 
 him with that persistent brutality which comes 
 of persecution. He was not " one of them," else 
 surely he would have found some defender against 
 their unfair attacks. 
 
 His only advantage lay in the fact that his 
 back was to the wull ; but with so many enemies, 
 this proved only a small protection. Some of 
 them made passes with their fists, as if to strike 
 him in the face and body ; others pinched him or 
 threw dirt and balls of paper at him, and all, in 
 turn, taunted him, and the end of their cries was 
 the same: 
 
 " Give it to the Jew ! " 
 
 The afternoon sun shone full upon the boy as 
 
 1 
 
2 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 he stood there bravely; there was nothing to 
 show his fears, save a nervous twitching of the 
 lips and eyes. Poor little chap ! He was not more 
 than ten years old, and his weakness should have 
 proved a sure defence. But his name had been 
 enough, and the other scholars had soon begun 
 towards him, in their way, the same kind of perse- 
 cution that their fathers had practised toward his 
 people for so many centuries. 
 
 "How is young Father Abraham, to-day?" 
 cried a burly, shock-haired fellow, who seemed to 
 be the leader of the boys. " Where are Moses and 
 Isaac and Jacob and the others of your great 
 tribo?" "Where are your asses upon a thousand 
 hills?" " Where is your big brother?" 
 
 "If he was here, George Owen, you would 
 none of you dare treat me so," the little fellow 
 answered, his voice trembling with emotion. 
 "Because I'm a Jew, it's no reason for you all to 
 get at me at once." 
 
 " Come on, Mr. Isaacs," Owen scoffed and 
 squared off at him as for a battle, and then sud- 
 denly slapped him in the face with his hand. 
 
 Abraham swung the books, at the end of his 
 strap, over his head, and the boys who were near, 
 including Owen, sprang back in fear ; but not for 
 
A BROTHER IN NEED. 6 
 
 long, and they once more gathered about, like 
 flies, annoying him in all the small ways they 
 could think of. 
 
 Again and again he beat them off, only to 
 have them return with laughter and mockery. 
 He was sore at heart and bitter tears came to his 
 eyes, but he would not beg them to have pity on 
 him ; the spirit of his race was with him, and he 
 bravely kept up the battle. At last, while a 
 number attacked him on one side, Owen, on the 
 other, seized the books and tore them away, leav- 
 ing Abraham almost defenceless. 
 
 u You're cowards," the boy cried. " And you 
 don't dare fight me single-handed ; I'll fight you 
 all, one by one." 
 
 " You will, will you ?" Owen said. " Stand 
 back, boys, and let me have a crack at the beggar 
 of a Jew. I'll show him something.'' 
 
 As they drew away, he aimed a blow at Abra- 
 ham which, had it taken effect, would, beyond 
 doubt, have knocked him down ; but the boy 
 was too quick and sprang aside his adversary 
 running into the wall with the force of his as- 
 sault. He turned, the sun was in his eyes, and 
 Abraham struck him full upon the side of his 
 head with his fist a blow that staggered him, 
 
4 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 though the hand that gave it was weak and! 
 unused to fighting. 
 
 Some one in the crowd was fair enough to 
 cry, " Well done, Jew !" and the bully, blind with 
 mortification and rage that a boy half his size 
 should have met him so, rushed again, wildly, at 
 his opponent, and the two clinched. They strug- 
 gled for a few moments, until the weight of Owen 
 was too much, for Abraham, and he fell heavily 
 beneath his foe, who, disregarding all the laws of 
 school warfare, struck him with his fist in the 
 face. 
 
 How long the others would have allowed such 
 brutality, was not to be known, for, before many 
 blows had fallen, some one cried : " Here comes 
 Moses," and a boy ran across the school-yard, and 
 flinging aside those who stood in his way, took 
 the bully by the neck and dashed him violently 
 to the earth. 
 
 Abraham was uninjured, save for a bruise or 
 two. Moses helped him to his feet, then turned 
 and looked calmly at the crowd that now stood 
 silent before the tall muscular figure and the 
 bravery of the boy. 
 
 " You are a set of low, miserable curs, to treat 
 a little fellow so," he said, deliberately. 
 
A BROTHER IN NEED. O 
 
 He spoke no other words to them, but there 
 was passion in the voice ; the clear eyes flashed ; 
 and about the mouth was a set look of fearless 
 strength that caused them to fall back, quietly, 
 as he passed across the yard with his brother. 
 
 " You had better let Moses alone, Owen," said 
 Noel Hilton, the boy who had called out the 
 cheering words to Abraham during the fight. 
 *" Look, he is all bone and muscle !" pointing to 
 the retreating figure, as Owen arose. " You can 
 lick his little brother, after he is tired out, but 
 Moses is nearly as large as you, and I fancy he will 
 be boss of the school, now, if you don't take care." 
 
 Noel Hilton was a boy of great wealth and 
 likely to come into a title in later life. He was a 
 fop in his dress constantly appearing with some 
 new and fanciful article of attire, yet a well-knit, 
 manly chap, withal, who, while he seldom quar- 
 relled with his school-fellows, managed, in some 
 way, to maintain his independence, never hesitat- 
 ing to speak his mind and stick up to it, too, on 
 all subjects which interested him. 
 
 Perhaps custom had rendered him privileged, 
 for Owen made no quarrel with him, and said, 
 sullenly, by way of answer: 
 
 " We'll see about that* 
 
t> THINK AND THANK. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 TROUBLES AT SCHOOL, 
 
 Moses Montefiore and his brother had been at 
 this school less than two months. It was called 
 St. Denis, and situated in Kennington, a part of 
 the City of London. The boys knew the school 
 as " Denis," without any prefix ; most of them 
 found that there was very little of the saint about 
 the place. Moses and his brother were day-schol- 
 ars; that is, they lived at home, and attended 
 only during study hours. Many of the scholars 
 lived at the school, while others boarded at the 
 houses near by. 
 
 Moses Mocatta, the uncle of the two boys, had 
 prepared them at home for school life, and they 
 also had attended a primary class before coming 
 to St. Denis. Moses was among the first boys 
 in the fifth form ; Abraham, some few years 
 younger, was in the third. In their studies they 
 did well; two healthy, manly lads, anxious each 
 to do his part at school and be good friends with 
 the other boys. 
 
 Yet their lives were made troubled and un- 
 happy by distrust and dislike. 
 
TROUBLES AT SCHOOL. 7 
 
 This was a hundred years ago, and the Jews, 
 throughout England, as elsewhere, were the 
 subject often of open persecution ; at all times 
 they were held up to the scorn and derision of 
 those who called themselves Christians. Under 
 the law they could not hold land, or have 
 any place in the Army, or in the Government ; 
 and there were special fines and penalties laid 
 upon them if they engaged in certain kinds of 
 business. 
 
 Thus it was that the English boys took up the 
 cry of the older people, and had delight in annoy- 
 ing their Jewish school-mates. 
 
 So far, by quiet manners and care, they had 
 avoided any general outbreak with the others; 
 but had been compelled to endure much. 
 
 Moses was a sturdy, determined lad, able to 
 defend himself, but his fair-haired brother, whose 
 sweet face and almost girlish ways made him an 
 easy subject to tease, was constantly in trouble 
 and needed protection. 
 
 Between the day scholars and the boarders a 
 rivalry existed, which, as time went on, grew 
 fiercer. George Owen was the ringleader among 
 the latter, and never lost an opportunity of annoy- 
 ing his enemies ; indeed, even the smaller boys of 
 
THINK AND THANK. 
 
 his own party were made miserable by his tor- 
 tures. He had an able assistant in one of about his 
 own age Richard Doughty generally known as 
 Dick Dough. 
 
 As Moses was about leaving the school-yard, 
 a day or two after their studies had begun, he 
 heard cries of pain coming from a group of small 
 boys, among whom he saw this fellow. 
 
 He hurried forward to find out what was the 
 matter. 
 
 "Dick Dough is twistin' Joe's thumb, 'cause 
 he won't be his fag," one of the small boys told 
 him. 
 
 Moses looked over the heads of the surround- 
 ing crowd and saw a little fellow lying on the 
 ground, moaning and crying, while his tormentor 
 bent over him and twisted a cord about his 
 thumb, until it almost cut through the flesh. 
 
 " I am u day-scholar, and I don't have to fag 
 for you," he cried. " Get one of the boarders !" 
 
 Moses pushed the boys in front of him aside, 
 and said : 
 
 " That's the rule here. Why don't you let him 
 alone. You have no right to torture him so." 
 
 A face, red with anger, glared up at him. 
 
 " I'll give you a taste of it next, you Jew brat," 
 
TROUBLES AT SCHOOL. 9 
 
 and Dick, in his passion, gave the cord an extra 
 twist. 
 
 " You boys are all home boarders," Moses said; 
 " help me." 
 
 Dick, thinking a united attack was to be made 
 on him, jumped to his feet, furious with rage, and 
 made a wild rush at Moses ; Joe, in the meantime, 
 escaping. 
 
 Montefiore dodged the angry blows aimed at 
 him, but it would have gone hard with him, had 
 not one of the monitors come up at the moment. 
 
 "What's this row here, Dick Dough?" he said. 
 " You are always fighting." 
 
 " It's the Jew, who interfered when I was play- 
 ing leap-frog with the other boys." 
 
 The monitor looked critically at Moses. 
 
 " They oughn't to let such people come here," 
 he said. "But we can't have any fighting. If 
 the Jew annoys you again report it to me." 
 
 " He was twisting a small boy's thumb off with 
 a cord and twister," Moses said. 
 
 " None of your taVe-telling here," the monitor 
 scowled. t 
 
 Even the little fellows, who had been looking 
 011 with interest, did not seem to mind the injus- 
 tice of the thing and paid no attention to Moses 
 
10 TPIINK AND THANK. 
 
 as he left the yard. He was a Jew, and they did 
 not 'care for him. 
 
 But, the next day, the boy felt happy when 
 Noel Hilton, one of the most popular. among the 
 day-scholars, said to him : 
 
 "I saw that rumpus, yesterday, out of one of 
 the windows. I want to tell you, I'm with you. 
 Dick's a brute. You can count on me to back 
 you up now. The boarders have no right to use 
 the day boys for fags, and this plaguing the little 
 fellows is mean work, anyhow." 
 
 After this, in his indifferent way, Noel was 
 always Moses' friend, and took his part whenever 
 there was a chance. 
 
 About this time Isaac Goldsmid, Moses' chum, 
 came to the school. He was a quiet, even- 
 tempered fellow, but very determined ; and, 
 together, the boys grew to be feared. They were, 
 seldom apart, and Isaac soon took his place with 
 Moses in the fifth form. This companionship 
 and the careless friendship of Noel Hilton were 
 the only reliefs of school life. 
 
 With George Owen and Richard Doughty as 
 leaders, the scholars of all classes took up the cry 
 against the Jews, and no one lost a chance of tor- 
 turing them in all the little ways of school boys. 
 
A TALK WITH UNCLE MOSES. 11 
 
 It was not that they had any true reason ; not 
 that the Jews troubled them ; nor were the ring- 
 leaders in the attack such very bad boys; but 
 when once the cry of persecution was begun, it 
 grew as days went by, and boys took part in 
 it, who would have been ashamed to do other 
 less dishonorable acts. To annoy the Jews was 
 surely not wrong, for their fathers laughed when 
 they were told about it, and even the teachers 
 always sided with the other scholars. 
 
 The three boys were thus cut off from the rest 
 by an invisible barrier, raised by older hands. 
 Full of life and spirits and boyish fun, they were 
 left out of all the amusements and sports. 
 
 It was a hard and bitter life. Boys love com- 
 panionship ; and the cruelty of losing all its 
 pleasures and being set apart to be tortured, ren- 
 dered the days at the school miserable, and made 
 Moses rebellious and sick at heart. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 A TALK WITH UNCLE MOSES. 
 
 " Uncle, why do the other boys hate us so ?" 
 Moses Montefiore was talking with his uncle, 
 Moses Mocatta, of the troubles at the school, and 
 
12 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 asked the question, not that the thought was new, 
 but because it was a subject always forced upon 
 him. 
 
 His uncle had answered the query many times 
 before. He was never tired of telling his nephew 
 about his race, while he watched the brave boyish 
 eyes, that seemed to drink in and treasure every 
 word that he spoke. 
 
 After synagogue, on Friday evenings, when 
 the children were blessed, while Moses sat at his 
 mother's knees, Uncle Mocatta had begun his les- 
 sons ; not that they seemed lessons, for he had 
 woven into pleasant stories the legends of his 
 people and their leaders. Afterwards, when the 
 boy came to think, and questioned, he taught him 
 the love of mankind, told of his race and their 
 sorrows and persecutions ; of their faith un- 
 changed in all the centuries that had passed, and 
 of the day when they should return to their own 
 land of promise flowery and fertile as in days 
 gone by. 
 
 So, when his pupil was confirmed and read 
 his lesson aloud from the Book of the Law, there 
 was a depth and power in his ways that made the 
 Rabbi notice him as he had never noted others. 
 
 And his mother, Rachel, how proud she was 
 
A TALK WITH UNCLE MOSES. 13 
 
 of her first-born ; yet, sometimes, when she saw 
 the gravity of the boy, she was fearful, lest her 
 son grow old beyond his years, and from over- 
 thoughtfulness on one subject see but one side of 
 life. 
 
 Then Uncle Josh, who had left his law office 
 to go with a party of colonists to Africa, had come 
 home, filled with marvellous tales of storms at 
 sea, of pirates, of insurgents in the ranks of his 
 party, of attacks by Indians, of the dusky kings 
 and strange kingdoms of far-away lands, where 
 there were fierce and curious beasts and birds of 
 gay plumage stories of all things that boys love 
 to hear about. And Moses never grew tired of 
 them it mattered not how often they were 
 repeated. He dreamed of strange adventures, 
 and thought he was a soldier, like his uncle, 
 leading his troops into the fiercest battles. The 
 king, feeling that this roving life had unfitted 
 Joshua Montefiore for his old work, in apprecia- 
 tion of his bravery, had offered him knighthood, 
 which he declined. He asked, instead, a commis- 
 sion in the regular army. The request was 
 granted, and he, first of his race, was regularly 
 enrolled in the king's forces. 
 
 Now, Moses wanted to become a warrior, too, 
 
14 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 and fight ,the battles of his king ; and he was 
 filled with the glory of England, and knew in 
 his heart the bravery of her people and wished 
 to be 'a free man among them. 
 
 And the battle had begun, not with the 
 enemies of his king and country, but with the 
 very soldiers whose banner he wished to lead to 
 victory. So it was that he came to his uncle, once 
 more, with the words that had become a cry of 
 the heart, rather than a question : 
 
 " Why do the other boys hate us so ?" 
 
 Knowing the trouble of the lad's heart, Uncle 
 Joshua made no attempt to answer him directly. 
 
 "Moses," he said, "you say you wish to be a 
 soldier. I want you to be one not with a red 
 coat and white cockade, but a leader in a good 
 cause, where there is always fighting to be done." 
 
 "What is it, uncle?" 
 
 " I will tell you, some day, but now I want you 
 to know that to be a soldier, either of your kind 
 or of mine, you must first conquer yourself; after 
 that you must conquer your friends, then your 
 fellows, and, finally, the enemies of your people." 
 
 " Where' does George Owen come in ? Shall 
 I fight him first?" 
 
 "Not if }'ou can avoid it; but if you are 
 
A TALK WITH UNCLE MOSES. 15 
 
 forced to defend yourself, I hope you will beat 
 him so badly that it will be the only battle of 
 that kind you will ever have to fight. Remember, 
 patience and forbearance before the contest will 
 make you doubly strong should the fight come." 
 
 " Uncle, the whole school is against us. I 
 think I have a fair chance for first place in the 
 form this term ; but the boys jeer me and seldom 
 talk to me. The best T can hope for is to be left 
 alone. I feel like leaving, and getting rid of the 
 whole thing. Other boys have hard enough times 
 with their enemies, but I tell you, with the whole 
 school against you, it is too much for any one 
 fellow." 
 
 " It would be cowardly to leave ; you won't do 
 that?" 
 
 "No, I suppose not; but I should like to, 
 sometimes " thoughtfully. 
 
 " Conquer them, instead ; by brains, by force 
 of will, by calm persistency ; if necessary, by your 
 animal strength ; more than all, by teaching 
 them to know you as one fearless and deter- 
 mined in your faith and manhood but conquer 
 them. When they are yours, then come and talk 
 to me about being a soldier." 
 
 Truly, it was no easy task that his uncle had 
 set him. 
 
16 THINK 'AND THANK. 
 
 Mr. Sever, the Head Master, wished to be just, 
 but was unconsciously infected with the prevail- 
 ing feeling against the Jews, although he seldom 
 found anything in the conduct of either Moses or his 
 brother of which to complain ; the tasks that were 
 set them were never slighted. The monitors, how- 
 ever, were tyrannical and unjust. They made it a 
 matter of course to believe all tales and complaints 
 against the oppressed ones, and to disregard their 
 word. 
 
 George Owen, after his quarrel, doubled his 
 hate, and lost no opportunity of persecuting his 
 enemies, and stirring up the others to plague 
 them with all manner of annoyances. 
 
 They called rhymes at the boys ; spit-balls 
 would strike them unawares; and, when Moses 
 was absent, his brother was pinched and hustled 
 about the yard with a cruelty that was never- 
 ceasing. If any complaint was made by the 
 teachers as to broken desks, or marked books,or 
 bent pins placed upon chairs, or noises in the 
 class-rooms, Moses or Abraham Montefiore or 
 Isaac Goldsmid were almost certain to be blamed 
 for the offence. But hardest of all to bear were 
 the contemptuous words, and to have always the 
 ,cold shoulder turned by those who had no cause 
 whatever. 
 
17 
 
 As the days went by, and Owen found that 
 Moses avoided him, he grew more and more 
 offensive ; finally he, in his anxiety for revenge, 
 devised a plan to bring his enemy into disgrace 
 before both masters and scholars. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 GEORGE OWEN'S REVENGE. 
 
 "By whom was this mouse brought here?" 
 
 It was Professor Heath who spoke. 
 
 During class hour, William Day, who sat next 
 to Moses, had let loose a white mouse, that he 
 had been keeping in his desk as a pet. 
 
 The little animal ran swiftly up the aisle, 
 towards the Professor, and when it had almost 
 reached him, sat up and looked about gravely. 
 
 Always on the alert for fun, the boys had 
 noticed the escape of William's pet, and watched 
 it, with half hushed titters and great interest. 
 
 The Professor, busy looking up a reference, 
 at first did not notice the trouble. But when the 
 mouse sat up comically before him, as if for a 
 lesson, the whole class burst into a roar of 
 laughter. 
 
18 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 Then the Professor looked up, saw the cause 
 of the disorder, and asked the question. 
 
 " It came from under that desk," George Owen 
 said, pointing towards Moses. 
 
 " Is that animal yours, sir ?" asked Professor 
 Heath. 
 
 ''No, sir; it is not," Moses answered. 
 
 " You may do two hundred lines, and be con- 
 fined two hours, after school." 
 
 For some unknown reason, Professor Heath 
 had an especial aversion to Moses. He never lost 
 a chance of inflicting punishment and presumed 
 guilt upon the slightest suspicion. 
 
 " Henry Wingate and William Day, you may 
 catch this poor creature and take it out. We will 
 not go on until that is done. The other boys 
 may keep their seats." 
 
 Then William Day, with the most innocent face 
 in the world, with great ease, captured his own 
 pet, and said he would keep it in his desk until 
 school was over. 
 
 This is how it happened that Moses sat in the 
 class-room that afternoon as evening came on. 
 He had finished his task of two hundred lines, 
 and was now only awaiting the expiration of the 
 two hours' confinement. Every one else had left 
 
GEORGE OWEN'S REVENGE. 19 
 
 the room. The soft light of the setting sun crept 
 through the windows of the old school, and made 
 the boy feel lonely and deserted. Bitter thoughts 
 were in his heart, that he should have marks 
 made against the average of which his mother 
 would have been so proud, and be compelled to 
 suffer for what he had not done. 
 
 It was quite dark in the corner where he sat, 
 but, in the half-light, he could see clearly over 
 the whole school. 
 
 Presently, some one looked through the door. 
 Moses saw that it was Arthur Snape, a first form 
 boy, who was Owen's fag. He was a timid little 
 fellow, and his constant ill-treatment by Owen 
 had made him sneaky. Moses thought he ap- 
 peared especially guilty now, for he crept down 
 the row of desks, looking nervously about him 
 until he reached that of George Owen. This he 
 unlocked with a key he took from his pocket, 
 and put in a book and a box about six inches 
 square. He then locked the desk, and quickly 
 left the room, not knowing that Moses was there. 
 
 The second hour of confinement was soon 
 over, and Moses gathered up his books to go 
 home. While he was at his desk, he was certain 
 that he heard a sound like the gnawing of a 
 
20 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 mouse, coming from Owen's desk, which was 
 across the aisle from his own. He thought little 
 of it at the time, however, as it was a very com- 
 mon thing for the boys to keep pets of various 
 kinds in the school-room despite the danger of 
 punishment. 
 
 Next morning, Professor Heath was somewhat 
 late, and strode nervously up the aisle. He 
 looked irritated, and was evidently in a bad 
 humor. There was a spirit of expectancy on the 
 faces of several boys, that Moses did not notice. 
 
 The Professor laid his books down rather 
 noisily, took a key from his pocket, and tried to 
 unlock the desk. Something was the matter. 
 He fumbled with the lock, and cried angrily that 
 some one had been meddling with it. 
 
 All was silence. 
 
 The Professor muttered to himself, and then, 
 with a loud exclamation, forced up the lid. 
 
 As he did so, a large rat jumped out, almost 
 in his face, and. with a shrill shriek, scampered 
 over the floor. 
 
 The Professor dropped the lid with a crash 
 and started back in astonishment, uttering a cry 
 of mingled fright and rage. He grew livid with 
 anger. 
 
GEORGE OWEN'S REVENGE. 21 
 
 The outburst of laughter by the scholars was 
 checked, and died away in a murmur of fear as 
 they saw the effect of the joke. But the worst 
 was to come. 
 
 The Professor opened his desk once more. 
 The boys could not see him as he gazed into its 
 depths. When he closed the lid and looked over 
 at them again, there was less of anger than of 
 desperation on his face. 
 
 " Do any of the boys know what was done with 
 the roll of manuscript, taken from this desk ?" 
 
 There was no reply. 
 
 "Answer me, at once," he cried, growing angry 
 again. " It was a life-work of mine. I can never 
 replace it." 
 
 But the boys were too frightened to speak. 
 
 He' searched under his desk, and on the floor 
 under the seats near by. Suddenly he stood up 
 with a book in his hand. It was a well- 
 thumbed volume. 
 
 " Whose is this ?" he thundered. " Who brings 
 cribs into this school ?" 
 
 Silence again. He turned over the leaves. 
 
 " Moses Montefiore, come here !" 
 
 Moses at once went up to the desk and stood 
 firmly before him. 
 
22 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 "Did you break open my desk?" 
 
 "No, sir; I did not," Moses said, quietly, but 
 with a trembling voice. " I know nothing of it 
 at all." 
 
 " Then, how is it that I find under my desk a 
 crib with your initials in it?" and he held up the 
 book, and pointed to some letters scrawled there. 
 
 " I do not know, sir," Moses said. But, in his 
 heart, he thought of Arthur Snape, on the evening 
 before, with the box and book; and then the 
 sound from Owen's desk. 
 
 " Do you mean to tell me you do not know ?" 
 Professor Heath cried, growing more furious with 
 each denial. " You were punished for having a 
 mouse here, yesterday, and now, not content with 
 breaking open my desk and putting a rat in it, 
 you steal my manuscript, that is worth more to 
 me than your whole life. Go to your seat, sir. 
 I shall report you to the Head Master to be 
 flogged before the whole school this afternoon." 
 
 Moses went back to his place, hot and defiant 
 with the injustice put upon him, but knowing 
 how serious the matter was. 
 
 To be flogged before the whole school by the 
 Head Master was a punishment reserved only for 
 a serious offence, and second only in disgrace to 
 
23 
 
 expulsion. The monitors and professors had 
 power to punish by caning ; but, so far, Moses 
 had escaped this indignity. And now, to be 
 flogged before the whole school for something that 
 he had not done ! What would his mother say ? 
 And Uncle Moses? 
 
 The hours wore slowly away. Moses could not 
 study, and he missed in his recitations on the 
 simplest things. It was not fear of physical pain 
 that troubled him, he cared nothing for that ; it 
 was the disgrace. 
 
 His punishment was reserved for the end of 
 the day, when all the classes were assembled 
 together for the closing of school. 
 
 The Head Master, who was a narrow-faced, 
 hard-looking man, heard the complaint and 
 report of Professor Heath, and then called Moses 
 before him. 
 
 The boy never forgot the scene. At the 
 announcement of his name there was a murmur 
 from the school, that, as he left his seat and strode 
 towards the Master, died into silence. 
 
 As he passed the first form boys, Moses caught 
 the eyes of Andrew Snape. There was a pitiful 
 look in them of fear, of sorrow, of guilt ; and 
 Moses was certain that this boy, as Owen's fag, 
 
24 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 had done the thing that he was about to be 
 punished for. 
 
 " What have you to say ?" 
 
 It was Professor Sever's voice, in cold, severe 
 tones, merciless, as of a mind made up. 
 
 " I did not have anything to do with breaking 
 open the desk. I knew nothing about it, until 
 the Professor came in -this morning." 
 
 " Where did this book come from ?" 
 
 " I do not know, sir." 
 
 " Why does it have your initials in it?" 
 
 " I do not know, sir ; I never use a crib ; I 
 never saw it before. Any one who could write 
 might put those letters there." 
 
 " Do you know who did this thing ? or whose 
 book this is ?" 
 
 " I do not know, positively ; but I think I 
 could point out the boys who did it." 
 
 Moses cast his eyes over the school. George 
 Owen refused to meet them, and looked down, 
 while he picked nervously at his desk with a pencil. 
 
 " What a mean, cruel face," Moses thought. 
 " He is always telling lies on me. What do I owe 
 him that I should be disgraced like this for 
 him ?" and he thought of his mother, and knew 
 how it would hurt her. 
 
25 
 
 Then he turned to his judges. As he did so, 
 his eyes again met those of Andrew Snape. The 
 little fellow seemed fascinated by the scene, but 
 his face bore in it the anguish of a condemned 
 criminal. It seemed to Moses to be saying : 
 
 "Don't tell; please don't tell! I couldn't 
 stand it." 
 
 " Well, give your information !" said Professor 
 Sever. 
 
 "I am not certain. I could not tell on them, 
 anyhow. I am not a tell-tale." 
 
 The Head Master addressed the school : 
 
 " Is there any boy here who can tell where 
 this manuscript is that has been lost? It is a 
 work of such value that no money could buy it. 
 Does any one know anything of it ?" 
 
 But the school was silent. 
 
 Professor Heath and the Head Master con- 
 sulted together in low tones. Finally, the latter 
 said to Moses : 
 
 " Take off your jacket." 
 
 It was quickly thrown off. Two of the moni- 
 tors were called up to hojd him. 
 
 " You needn't hold me," Moses said. " I will 
 not move." 
 
 There was something so fearless about the boy 
 
26 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 that his judges told the two assistants they might 
 stand back. 
 
 The boy set his teeth as the Master came for- 
 ward and raised the pliable cane. He could never, 
 afterwards, forget it all. The faces of the scholars 
 curious and gaping with the cruel interest of 
 school boys ; the thoughts that surged in his brain ; 
 the heated anger ; the humiliation, then the hiss 
 of the stick as it descended and the vile pain of 
 the stroke. He knew not how many times it rose 
 and fell, but he was certain that he made no 
 outcry. 
 
 Flogging is brutal ; it debases both master and 
 scholar. There is a devil in the hearts of most 
 men that arouses with the taste of cruelty, like a 
 beast of prey over blood. It makes them more 
 furious with their failure to evoke signs of pain. 
 Professor Sever was not different from other men 
 in this way. Moses was stubborn and would not 
 show his suffering by tears or cries, and so the 
 Head Master did not cease his brutality until his 
 arm was tired, and the back of his pupil covered 
 with great welts that burned like the tracks of a 
 red-hot iron. 
 
 " You may replace your jacket." 
 
 The boy was almost fainting with pain; but 
 
27 
 
 he pulled himself together, by a great effort, and 
 strode down the aisle to his place. 
 
 The other boys looked at him curiously. It 
 had been their custom to cry as loud as they were 
 able, and thus, by making the punishment seem 
 severe, escape the worst. They had never seen a 
 boy beaten as this one was, yet he uttered not a 
 sound through it all and they felt that here was 
 a lad different from themselves, and something of 
 the admiration for a hero came over them. For 
 many a day, afterwards, they talked together of 
 the nerve of the Jew. 
 
 But the agony of the physical pain was noth- 
 ing to the mental torture of Moses. His mind 
 was bitter; the world was all wrong to him, and 
 he wished he might die for very shame ; for, with- 
 out wrong-doing on his part, he had been flogged 
 by the Head Master before the whole school ! 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 A BULLY'S DOWNFALL. 
 
 In the indignation of her heart, at the story of 
 her son's trouble, Rachel said that Moses should 
 not return to the school. 
 
 "But, mother," he said, "I had rather go 
 
28 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 back; I couldn't leave now; I didn't do it, and 
 time will show it so to everybody. I will fight it 
 out, no matter what happens." 
 
 And his mother knew that it was for the best 
 that he should not give up. The flogging of 
 scholars, in the days of which I write, was not 
 considered of very serious moment by parents, 
 even when it was done without much cause. In 
 this case, however, it had hurt Rachel deeply to 
 hear of this injustice to her son. She felt it to be 
 one of the petty race prejudices from which she 
 had so often suffered and which she knew so well 
 the bitter of which was to be for always the 
 heritage of her son. 
 
 Moses had thrown himself down upon the rug 
 in front of the bright wood fire, and his head was 
 resting on his mother's knees. 
 
 So they sat in silence for many moments. 
 Was it wrong, she wondered, to love her boy so 
 dearly to worship any one so, save God; to feel 
 in her heart such wild anger at those who injured 
 him. The fire crackled merrily, and a warm glow 
 of light was about him. After a time she laid 
 her hand on his head. 
 
 " I am glad you are going back, my darling," 
 she said, softly. "I am glad you are to be a 
 
29 
 
 manly man. Keep on bravely ; the sky will be 
 brighter soon. You will be cleared of all this 
 trouble, and will win the boys to your side in the 
 end." 
 
 " With all my efforts I have only one friend, so 
 far, except Isaac, and that is Noel Hilton. Isn't 
 it strange, mother, that a boy who is such a swell 
 and fop should be so independent in his likes?" 
 
 " He's not a bully ; a swaggerer is not always 
 a coward, Moses, and fashion in dress does not 
 always change a boy's heart. To have Noel on 
 your side is a good beginning. Keep on, dear 
 boy, and the others will turn at last." 
 
 "That's what Uncle Moses says; but I have 
 been trying so hard, and look what has been done 
 to me!" 
 
 "I know; but you must not be out of heart. 
 If there were no trouble, there would be no credit 
 for fighting it." 
 
 "All boys have troubles, but not as many as 
 we do. This is the sort we can't help. I try so 
 hard to be kind, and because they can call me a 
 Jew they hate me." 
 
 Rachel knew of the many trials there must be 
 in all lives, no matter how free from care they 
 seem, and her heart was full of sorrow and love 
 
30 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 for her brave boy. She leaned down and kissed 
 his hair softly, and whispered to him words of 
 comfort; and he felt at peace, and had new 
 strength for the morrow's battle. 
 
 The next morning, Moses and Isaac Goldsmid 
 set off for school together, Moses very stiff and 
 sore in body, and his heart bitter and rebellious, 
 yet quiet, with determination. 
 
 " Who did the trick?" Isaac asked. 
 
 " I am certain it was put up by Owen ; and 
 that poor little sneak, Snape, helped carry it out." 
 
 And Moses told all he had seen in the school 
 room, the evening before the trouble. 
 
 " How did that crib, with your initials in it, 
 get there ?" 
 
 " That was part of the plan, no doubt. Owen 
 wanted to get even with old Heath, and hurt me 
 at the same time, and he put my initials in the 
 crib, and purposely left it on the floor, or got 
 Snape to do it." 
 
 "What was it the Professor lost?" 
 
 "Something about 'Oliver Cromwell/ I be- 
 lieve. He has been at it for years ; looked up a 
 lot of references and stuff. It's a big loss to him. 
 I wish I could find it for him. It's no wonder 
 the poor chap's mad." 
 
A BULLY'S DOWNFALL. 31 
 
 " I think you will have to fight Owen before 
 he'll learn to let you alone. If you can thrash 
 him, and clear yourself of this bother with old 
 Heath, things might come all easy." 
 
 " I believe I can lick him, if I have a fair 
 chance. He's a miserable, sneaky scamp." 
 
 The class was unusually quiet on this day. 
 The punishment of Moses had had a sobering 
 effect on the boys. They looked at him curiously, 
 and at recess several of them asked him how he 
 felt. Noel, in particular, was very kind to him. 
 
 " I know you didn't put that joke up on old 
 Heath," he said. " It was Owen who did it ; it's 
 because you thrashed him so that he's trying to 
 hurt you this way. You'll have to lick him 
 again, I fancy, before you'll get rid of him." 
 
 George Owen seemed in particularly good 
 humor. He did not speak, but his laughter, as 
 he passed with Dick Doughty, was evidently in- 
 tended for the ears of his enemy. 
 
 How bitter Moses felt towards him, no one 
 can know. There was something so contemp- 
 tible about all that Owen had done, that he 
 loathed him, rather than hated with the spirit 
 of anger. To look upon this boy, who could drag 
 a little fellow into his plans, deliberately conspire 
 
32 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 % 
 
 to put the blame for his own offence on another, 
 and then jeer about it, made Moses sick with 
 disgust. 
 
 " How is your Jew friend's back ?" Owen said 
 to Noel, later on. 
 
 " Like yours would be, if the guilty one had 
 been flogged," Noel replied, sharply. 
 
 " Look out you don't get your own sore," 
 Owen cried, angrily. But he went on without 
 any attempt to fight about it. 
 
 The loss of his manuscript had made Profes- 
 sor Heath more nervous and irritable than ever ; 
 but Moses was unfailing in his studies and reci- 
 tations, and life began to drift back into the old 
 ways. 
 
 George Owen was not satisfied. The boys 
 in his set taunted him sometimes, that he was 
 afraid of the Jew in a fight, and Noel had annoyed 
 him by telling him that if he did not look out 
 Moses would beat the life out of him. 
 
 Several days had passed and it was a half holi- 
 day. A large number of the scholars gathered 
 about the doors to talk over their plans for sport. 
 A slight snow had fallen in the night, and some 
 few snow balls were being thrown about. 
 
 Moses and Isaac Goldsmid crossed the yard 
 
A BULLY'S DOWNFALL. 33 
 
 * 
 
 together on their way home. Isaac stopped for a 
 moment to talk with Hilton, and his companion 
 lingered waiting for him. A number of snow 
 balls fell about him, but the} 7 " came from a 
 distance and missed their mark. 
 
 Presently Owen, urged on by the taunts of his 
 companions, made a hard ball of slush and mud 
 and approached close to Moses, with the evident 
 intention of throwing it at him. 
 
 " Don't throw that at me, or I'll hurt you/' 
 Moses said, fiercely. 
 
 Almost at the same instant he was struck with 
 the missile on the side of the head, and the slush 
 and mud spattered all over him. 
 
 An attack from such a source stung him to 
 anger. 
 
 " You shall pay for this," he cried. 
 
 "A fight ! a fight!" was heard from several boys, 
 and in a moment a crowd surrounded the com- 
 batants. 
 
 There was nothing to be said between them. 
 In an instant Moses threw off his coat, and Owen 
 did likewise. 
 
 Goldsmid stood by his friend to see fair play, 
 and Hilton backed him up. 
 
 Owen was championed by his lieutenant, 
 
34 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 Richard Doughty ; yet, though he was the bully 
 of the school, the dislike to the Jews was so deep 
 that he had the support of most of the larger 
 fellows. The little boys, it is true, from the many 
 cruelties put upon them by Owen, were in 
 sympathy with Moses, though they dared not 
 say so. 
 
 " I want you to know that I intend to see a 
 fair fight, according to the rules," Hilton said, 
 that every one might hear. " There has been 
 enough meanness towards Monti in this school, 
 and if you fellows are gentlemen, you will see 
 this thing fought square." 
 
 " That's so that's so " came from a number 
 of voices. 
 
 Fighting was not considered much of an 
 offence at the school, provided it was fairly con- 
 ducted. So much interest was taken in wrestling 
 and boxing, and like sports, that an affair with 
 fists was looked upon more in the light of a trial 
 of strength than a serious matter. The monitors 
 and teachers did not interfere unless it was 
 absolutely necessary. 
 
 The two boys were not well matched in size. 
 Owen was heavier and stronger. To the careless 
 eye he was a certain victor in the coming contest. 
 
35 
 
 But one used to measuring fighting values would 
 have seen in him many defects. He was clumsy; 
 his legs were not as well put together as his arms 
 and body, and, in a contest of endurance, his 
 powers were uncertain. 
 
 His antagonist, on the other hand, though 
 slight, was perfect in his physical development. 
 He had the clear health of his race. His straight, 
 muscular legs, the tense lower arms, displayed as 
 he rolled up his sleeves, and the general air of 
 compact strength marked him as one whom Owen 
 might well fear. 
 
 " Take time ; play out his wind," Isaac said, as 
 his friend stepped out and threw up his fists. 
 
 Owen, though not a coward, would gladly 
 have avoided this fight. But he knew his place 
 in the estimation of his followers depended on 
 success ; and their taunts and the excitement had 
 aroused him to wild anger. 
 
 He rushed furiously at Moses, who dodged 
 him. Again and again this happened. 
 
 " Hurrah ! Hurrah for Owen ! The Jew's 
 afraid," cried Doughty and two or three others. 
 
 " Hold your jaw," Noel said ; " the fight has 
 not begun yet." 
 
 At last, as Moses sought to avoid his enemy 
 
36 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 once more, his foot slipped and his opponent 
 struck him, as he fell, a hard blow on the side of 
 the face. 
 
 This success was greeted with applause by the 
 bully's followers. 
 
 " Keep it up," Isaac said, after Moses had 
 recovered. " You have winded him badly, now. 
 A little more, and then you can fight him to win. 
 Don't get rattled by anything. Science and pluck 
 will tell. Don't hurry." 
 
 The next round, and the next after that, 
 passed w r ith a few blows upon the body of each ; 
 much avoiding and parrying by Moses and wild 
 pursuit by Owen. 
 
 " Now," Isaac said to Moses, in low tones, "give 
 it to him ! End him, once and for all. Your whole 
 future here depends on it. Don't fail." 
 
 It was a fight now ; blows fell upon both, hard 
 and fast, and when a pause was called, neither 
 could be said to have the advantage, although 
 Owen was the most severely punished his face 
 bore the marks of two or three straight-out hits. 
 His endurance was fast leaving him. 
 
 Again the boys met. 
 
 Owen tried to rush in upon his adversary and 
 blind him with the rapidity of his attack. He 
 
37 
 
 aimed more than one foul blow, but Moses parried 
 well, avoided his wild rushes, and when chance 
 offered, struck him on the side of the head and 
 knocked him down with the suddenness that 
 told of a hit from the shoulder. 
 
 Owen did not rise for some seconds. 
 
 "Do you give up?" Isaac asked of Doughty. 
 
 "What do you take us for?" Dick answered. 
 "We are just beginning." 
 
 "He's beaten; tell them we are satisfied," 
 Moses said to Isaac. 
 
 " Remember all he has done to you ; the flog- 
 ging you got. This means your peace of life. 
 You owe him nothing for lies and tattling. Give 
 him enough this time. Show him who you are, 
 and stop his bullying forever." 
 
 Owen stood up once more. His eyes were 
 inflamed with anger, and the bruises on his face 
 made him a very ugly-looking enemy. But his 
 wind was gone, and he began to feel that defeat 
 was on his track. 
 
 He could not get a blow on Moses' face, and 
 struck him but twice lightly on his body. Once, 
 twice, thrice he was struck himself hard, honest 
 blows, filled with some return for his misdeeds 
 to Moses. Each time he grew weaker. He lost 
 
38 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 his head; he saw the disappointed faces of his 
 followers, knew that the victory was leaving him, 
 made one wild rush in his anger, and then 
 received such a blow in the face that it was half 
 a minute before he knew that he was lying flat in 
 the mud, with Dick Doughty holding his head, 
 and the crowd closed in about them. 
 
 The fight was over. 
 
 Owen's days of bullying were ended, so far as 
 Moses was concerned. The Jew had beaten him 
 by his science, pluck and endurance. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 A MYSTERY CLEARED UP. 
 
 Do not look upon life as a fight, you who have 
 read the preceding chapter. Rather think and 
 know the world as a place where kindness and 
 determination can do more than all else. Happi- 
 ness cannot be found in crushing others, even 
 though they are your enemies. To each one, I 
 say, lend your efforts towards the time to come, 
 when, as men, you will live with help in your 
 hearts for each other, when life will be more to 
 you than a struggle for wealth and selfish desires. 
 
A MYSTERY CLEARED UP. 39 
 
 Then, if you are forced into a quarrel, you will be 
 doubly strong. Fight fair, be open and win. 
 
 Moses had been patient, he had endured until 
 his life became miserable, and when the time 
 came, the battle was his and the bully of the 
 school was conquered. 
 
 But his victory was more than that. It was 
 not a mere brawl between two quarrelsome boys 
 that he had taken part in. That one could so 
 calmly bear the insults heaped upon him day by 
 day; that he could take a flogging for another's 
 ill-doing and not tell or cry out; that, when the 
 battle was forced on him, he had displayed 
 such calmness, such skill and, above -all, had 
 beaten the braggart and bully who controlled the 
 class it was more than the downfall of Owen- 
 it was a conquest of almost every boy in the 
 school. 
 
 It was useless now for the defeated one or his 
 second, Dick Doughty, and the few cronies they 
 had, to try and stir up strife against the Jew boys. 
 Victory was on their banners. It needed not 
 Noel's help to show the truth ; many of the others 
 did not like those whom he defended, but they 
 stopped their petty annoyances. Even the most 
 brutal and careless had an involuntary respect for 
 
40 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 one who, in his boyish strength and bravery, 
 could patiently endure so much. 
 
 And so, if life for Moses was not easy, it, day 
 by day, grew less hard. He had hope now in his 
 heart. He could see the effects of his efforts, and 
 he planned to succeed, in time, in many ways. 
 
 For the masters were still against him. Pro- 
 fessor Heath mourned, day and night, over his 
 lost manuscript. It had been his pet; the years 
 he had spent on it endeared it to him beyond any 
 one thing else in the world. He had not the 
 heart to begin the work anew. 
 
 Moses knew of this from the talk among the 
 boys, and he could almost forgive the unjust 
 flogging he had received when he thought of the 
 sorrow of the loss, to one, the results of whose time 
 and labor had vanished, by reason of the vicious 
 spite of a school boy. He felt sure that if the 
 manuscript had not been destroyed Andrew 
 Snape knew where it was, and he determined to 
 find out from him about the fact. 
 
 The little fellow was still in mortal fear of 
 Owen. It was evident that his tormentor held 
 over him the wrong he had done, and threatened 
 to put all the blame on him, should he fail to do 
 as ordered. 
 
A MYSTERY CLEARED UP. 41 
 
 How to get the truth from him, and recover 
 the lost- manuscript was now the question 
 with Moses. It must be done without letting 
 the boy have time to see Owen, in case he con- 
 fessed. If he did so, the manuscript, if in 
 existence, would be hidden in another place or 
 destroyed. 
 
 Montefiore kept a careful watch for his chance 
 to speak to Andrew alone, but the boy avoided 
 him; Owen, too, seemed always on the lookout 
 lest he should peach. 
 
 At last, one day, Andrew was ordered to stay 
 in two hours, after school, as a punishment for 
 missing recitations. That afternoon Moses found 
 that Owen was to play cricket on the grounds out 
 of town; and he felt this was to be his looked-for 
 opportunity. 
 
 As evening came on, he found Andrew alone 
 in the school room. The boy was sitting at his 
 desk, with his head in his hands, and did not 
 notice Moses as he came up softly behind him. 
 The poor little fellow was crying and in evident 
 great distress. 
 
 "Andrew," Moses said, putting his hand on 
 his shoulder. 
 
 The boy started up quickly. 
 
42 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 "Let me alone," he said, trying to shake him- 
 self free. 
 
 "Snapej I want to talk with you," Moses went 
 on. 
 
 "What is it? I ain't done nothin' to you. I 
 don't know anything about it." 
 
 To Moses this was a confession of guilt. 
 
 " Andrew, I am sorry for you. I don't want to 
 hurt you. If I had, I would have told Professor- 
 Heath that I saw you, the day before the trouble, 
 in the school room with a box with a rat in it, 
 and that crib." 
 
 " I didn't have nothing to do with it. It was 
 all George Owen. He did it." 
 
 " He made you do it, you mean. I know the 
 truth, and you had better tell me all about it.' ; 
 
 "I didn't do it, I tell you. I don't know 
 nothin' at all about it." 
 
 "I will give you a chance, Andrew. If you 
 will tell me all, and give me the manuscript of 
 Professor Heath, I will not say a word about you 
 being in it, or Owen either. If you don't, I shall 
 tell the Head Master all I know to-morrow." 
 
 The mention of the Head Master was too 
 much for Snape. For days his nerves had been 
 overwrought with the wrong he had done, and 
 
A MYSTERY CLEARED UP. 43 
 
 the weight of the lost manuscript on his mind; 
 now he broke down completely. 
 
 "Oh! don't tell on me; don't tell. It was all 
 George Owen. I didn't mean to do anything 
 wrong. I will tell you everything. I can get 
 the manuscript for you right off. Oh! don't tell; 
 please don't tell on me." 
 
 It was just as Moses had suspected. The plot 
 had been arranged by Owen, who had made his 
 fag break open the desk with a chisel, put the 
 rat in, and leave the crib with Moses' initials 
 in it on the floor, and then bring away the 
 manuscript that he knew the Professor prized so 
 highly. 
 
 " Where is the manuscript, now?" Moses asked. 
 
 "It's in my box, up-stairs. I will get it right 
 away, and I'll be glad when it is gone, too. Oh! 
 don't tell on me; don't tell. I couldn't stand a 
 flogging and all the fellows knowing." 
 
 "See that you don't say anything to Owen 
 about this. I intend to give the writing back to 
 the Professor to-morrow. If Owen threatens you, 
 tell him you have told me all about it, and that, 
 if he touches you, you will tell me, and I'll report 
 the whole thing to the Head Master." 
 
 Andrew's time of punishment was up in a few 
 
44 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 minutes, and Moses went with him and got the 
 manuscript. The little boy was almost happy to 
 get it out of his box, and seemed to be easier in 
 his mind, now that Moses had taken up the task 
 of returning it. 
 
 The next day, when Moses was called up for 
 recitation, he carried the precious roll with him. 
 
 "Professor Heath," he said, as he held it out 
 to him, " I have found your manuscript." 
 
 The Professor was so overjoyed at its recovery 
 that he had no thought for anything else. He 
 took the roll and examined it. It was uninjured. 
 
 "Where did you get this," he asked, finally. 
 
 "I got it, sir, by promising not to tell. I 
 cannot break my word." 
 
 " Well, you have been punished for taking it, 
 I shall not punish you for bringing it back. You 
 may go to your seat. I am not convinced that 
 I have not made a mistake about you." 
 
 At recess Moses found Owen alone, and spoke 
 to him about the trouble. 
 
 "I want to tell you, now," he said, "that I 
 have known that you did this from the begin- 
 ning. I didn't want that poor little Snape to get 
 punished, and so you have been saved. But if 
 you ever bother that boy in the smallest way, 
 
A MYSTERY CLEARED UP. 45 
 
 or I catch you doing any mean tricks to any of 
 the little chaps, the Head Master shall know all 
 about it. You have been a mean enough sneak to 
 me, but that doesn't so much matter. I want you 
 to let the little fellows alone." 
 
 Owen mumbled something about not doing it, 
 and then slunk away. He discharged Andrew 
 as his fag the next day, and never spoke to him 
 again, so fearful w r as he of trouble. The smaller 
 boys generally did not suffer as much ; and, in 
 some mysterious way, it got to be a by-word with 
 them when Owen did anything to them, to say: 
 " I will go and tell Monti about it." 
 
 Little Snape had been ailing for some time 
 and was out of sorts; now that the winter 
 weather had set in he seemed worse, and, after a 
 wetting from playing in the snow, had caught 
 a violent cold that turned to fever. For many 
 weeks he lay ill too ill, indeed, to be removed 
 from the school. His mother came down to 
 stay with him, and, at last, nursed him back to 
 convalescence. 
 
 One day, when all the school was ready for 
 dismissal, the Head Master came forward and 
 said: 
 
 " Moses Montefiore, come here.' 1 
 
46 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 Moses came up to the desk, frightened and 
 fearing some new trouble. 
 
 The Head Master spoke to the school. 
 
 " Boys, I am a harsh man sometimes, but I 
 try to be just. I want to make a correction and 
 an apology for a mistake. This boy, Moses 
 Montefiore, was flogged not long ago for breaking 
 open the desk and stealing a manuscript of Pro- 
 fessor Heath's. He was entirely innocent. He 
 bore like a hero the flogging he got, rather than 
 tell on a poor little fellow, who was led into doing 
 the wrong by an. older head. The little lad has 
 been near to death, and has told us what he did ; 
 but asked that he be not required to tell the name 
 of the real offender. If that boy is here now, he 
 should hide his head for shame. He is a dis- 
 honored coward, and I can only hope that he will 
 leave us or reform his ways. For Moses Monte- 
 fiore I have nothing but the highest praise ; and 
 I ask his pardon before you all for my mistake. 
 He found and returned the manuscript to Pro- 
 fessor Heath, when, but for his efforts, it might 
 have been lost for ever." 
 
 Professor Heath then came forward and took 
 Moses by the hand and thanked him cordially, 
 and asked his pardon for the injuries done. 
 
^ v 
 
A STORY OF A LION HUNT. 47 
 
 There was a great murmur in the school, and 
 Moses did not know what he said by way of 
 answer, for his heart was too full of excitement 
 and joy. 
 
 When he reached the school yard, there was 
 a crowd of boys there, who, when they saw him, 
 called out : 
 
 " Three cheers for Moses Montefiore !" 
 
 And all who were there joined in the cry of 
 applause. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 A STORY OF A LION HUNT. 
 
 " Uncle Josh has come !" 
 
 It was Moses' sister, Sarah, who opened, the 
 door, one day, and told him the welcome news. 
 
 Uncle Josh was a great favorite with his 
 nephews and nieces. They would climb on his 
 knees and search through his pockets, and always 
 found sweetmeats or presents of some kind hidden 
 there. Then, too, he was full of laughter, and 
 had many wild tales of adventure about days 
 spent in Africa. 
 
 To-night he had come in quite unexpectedly, 
 home from his troops, on a short furlough. 
 
48 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 When Moses entered the sitting-room, his 
 uncle had drawn his chair before the blazing fire; 
 the light shone on his brass buttons and red coat 
 with dazzling effect and lit up his smiling face, 
 tanned, like leather, by exposure to the sun and 
 storm. 
 
 His nephew thought what a fine soldier he 
 was brave, Jiardy and frank. 
 
 "And how is my young captain ?" his uncle 
 cried, clasping his arms in his hands and holding 
 him off that he might look well at him. " AVhat 
 a great boy you are growing to be. You will be 
 as big as I am, soon; then you shall join the 
 army, too, and come with me to fight the king's 
 battles." 
 
 "No, no; don't tell him that," Rachel said. 
 " He is my first-born. I could not let him leave 
 me. Beside, I think it brutal, the way you kill 
 people." 
 
 " But I am going, mother," Moses said, defi- 
 antly. " I won't work at anything else, I tell you 
 that. You know I want to be a soldier, I always 
 have." 
 
 " That is the way to talk," Uncle Josh said, 
 laughing. " You will be a great fighter some 
 day." 
 
A STORY OF A LION HUNT. 49 
 
 ' I know Moses won't leave me, unless I wish 
 it," his mother said, putting her hand lovingly 
 on her son's head ; he, for answer, caught and 
 kissed it, and they went into supper, her arm 
 about his neck. 
 
 " It is time for children to be in bed," Rachel 
 said, an hour later, after the children had romped 
 about the floor with the soldier and had climbed 
 up on his knees to rest. But he put a great arm 
 about each little girl and held them both close 
 to his heart. Abraham sat on an arm of his 
 chair, while Moses lay on the rug before the lire 
 sometimes gazing thoughtfully at the blazing 
 logs, sometimes into the bronzed face of the 
 warrior. 
 
 " We won't go until we've had a story," the 
 two girls cried, nestling closer. 
 
 " "What shall it be ? A fairy story, or about 
 the ocean, or about wild beasts, or what?" 
 
 " Tell us about the island and the savages 
 where you went in the ship," Abraham said. 
 
 "What will you have, Moses," Uncle Josh 
 asked, noticing that he said nothing. 
 
 " Well, I think about the lion hunt in Africa, 
 when you got lost there in the wilderness." 
 
 " Yes, uncle, tell us about lions and tigers 
 
50 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 and how they roar," Sarah said, lisping her 
 words so childishly that the hunter laughed 
 and roared like a lion so loudly that she was 
 afraid. 
 
 "All right, lions and tigers it shall be; 
 hold tight to me that they may not carry you 
 off." 
 
 The children huddled together closely. Their 
 father and mother sat at one side of the fireplace 
 and were happy in seeing the joy on the faces of 
 those so dear to them. There was no light save 
 that of the blazing logs heaped high in the 
 chimney, and ghostly shadows danced over the 
 walls of the room. 
 
 " When the colony on the island broke up, we 
 sailed for the coast of Africa, where all the people 
 are black, and it is so warm they only wear a bit 
 of rough cloth about them, instead of regular 
 clothing. Near to the coast we found a trading 
 post of just two or three huts, built of sticks about 
 as thick as my finger, stuck in the ground, with 
 the roofs of great leaves ; and there was a fort, 
 with a high fence around it, made out of large 
 bamboo trees. 
 
 " The traders were Englishmen, who gave 
 cheap knives, beads and bits of cloth, and such 
 
A STORY OF A LION HUNT. 51 
 
 things, for ivory. With them they had a black 
 man, who could understand both English and 
 the gibberish. 
 
 " When we reached there, the traders were 
 organizing a party to go up the great, broad river 
 into the interior to get ivory, for they had heard 
 of a king, far away, who had a hundred elephant 
 tusks of great size and value. Jack Deane, Bill 
 Hook, Tom Brady and myself, of our party, 
 volunteered to go with them. We wanted to see 
 the country, and the traders were glad enough to 
 have us. There was danger in travelling ; and 
 with our muskets, pistols and cutlasses, we were 
 a great addition to their forces. 
 
 " There were three boats two large ones, 
 made out of the trunks of trees, and a canoe, 
 made of hides and bark, in which my men and 
 I went by ourselves. We had a lug sail that we 
 rigged, whenever the wind was favorable, and it 
 saved us much hard work with the oars. 
 
 " You would have liked it, Moses. Monster 
 alligators lay in the mud on the banks, or swam 
 about like floating logs. We fired at them many 
 times, but the bullets glanced off their thick- 
 hides. 
 
 " Once a huge fellow ran his back against our 
 
52 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 boat, and almost upset it. He passed by, turned 
 and was about to attack us again, when Tom 
 placed his gun close to his eye and fired. There 
 was a wild splashing of water, as the great tail 
 lashed the waves, and our canoe rocked so that 
 we had to hold on to the seats to avoid being 
 thrown out. Then the smoke cleared away, and 
 we saw the beast sink slowly out of sight. He 
 w r as certainly dead. 
 
 " Beautiful cranes flew up from the high reeds, 
 as we passed by ; in the woods, along the shores, 
 innumerable parrots chattered, and monkeys 
 swung themselves down from limb to limb, to 
 gaze gravely at the intruders. Once a drove of 
 deer stood quite near in the water by the bank, 
 and looked at us with such trusting eyes that I 
 would not let my men shoot at them. 
 
 " At nights we encamped in such dry spots as 
 we could find. We carried the three boats on 
 shore, and made a sort of fortress or barricade. 
 Outside of this we built a ring of fire, that the 
 sentries kept blazing all night. We could hear 
 the crashing of the undergrowth oftentimes, and 
 howls of animals. Great eyes would be seen 
 glaring out of the blackness, but they made no 
 open attack on us; the fire kept them off. 
 
A STORY OF A LION HUNT. 53 
 
 "The stream gradually grew narrower, and 
 the current was sometimes so swift that three men 
 had to row to force the boat ahead. The banks, 
 in places, were almost free from trees or bushes, 
 and we could catch glimpses of plains and forests 
 beyond. 
 
 "At last, our black guide told us that on the 
 morrow we should certainly reach the land of 
 King Teecoo, to which we were bound. 
 
 " The next day was long and hot, but towards 
 sun-down we came in sight of a few huts on the 
 shore ; then men were seen waving their hands 
 to us from a kind of wharf built out in the 
 stream. 
 
 " Upon our arrival, after some talk between 
 them and our interpreter, we were escorted to the 
 king's palace, in the midst of a village. His hut 
 was much larger than the others, and around it 
 guards with long spears, stalked slowly and 
 gravely up and down. 
 
 " This was a very savage tribe, and only the 
 prospects of a great trade with the king could 
 have induced us to take the risk of a visit. 
 We had instructed the interpreter that he was 
 to say nothing of our fire-arms. These savages 
 did not know what they were, and we wanted 
 
54 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 to surprise them. There must have been a thou- 
 sand of them about the building, and, as we stood 
 at the palace door, they crowded around, and exam- 
 ined us and our belongings with great curiosity. 
 Presently the king's head man came out, and see- 
 ing the crowd, flew into a violent passion, and 
 poured forth a torrent of words. I don't know 
 what he said to them, but they fled away in great 
 haste. 
 
 " We were then led into a great empty-looking 
 hall. The king sat on a platform, with a dozen 
 guards about him. Our interpreter had a short 
 consultation with him, the result of which was, 
 that we were all put under guard, in a separate 
 hut. Some fruit and raw meat were brought to us, 
 and there we stayed until the following morning. 
 
 " We learned that King Teecoo had not said 
 what would be done, nor made mention of our 
 being put in prison ; but there we were, and what 
 to do we did not know. We held many consulta- 
 tions, but could not decide on any plan. It was 
 useless to attempt to escape in the face of the diffi- 
 culties about us. 
 
 "In the morning we were all again taken 
 before King Teecoo. 
 
 "This time he was surrounded by hag-like 
 
A STORY OF A LION HUNT. 55 
 
 witches old shrivelled women, with long finger 
 nails and white hair, in startling contrast to their 
 black faces, who crouched and moaned and mum- 
 bled wildly to themselves. Our interpreter was 
 called up before his High Mightiness. 
 
 " We watched the proceedings with great curi- 
 osity. We could not understand, even from the 
 actions, what was going on. The king talked, 
 the interpreter talked, and the witches kept up 
 their cries. 
 
 "At last the interpreter came among us again. 
 
 " ' The upshot of the whole matter is that there 
 is a large lion, that lurks somewhere on the out- 
 skirts of the village, that has killed a great many 
 of the king's subjects. This beast is such a scourge 
 that he is looked upon as a god, and when the 
 witches were consulted yesterday, as to Avhat was 
 to be done with us, they decided that we must be 
 offered to the lion, one by one, as sacrifices, to 
 appease his wrath/ 
 
 "We had another consultation. 
 
 " ' Let's tell the king there is but one favor we 
 ask ?' I said ; * that we be allowed to go into the 
 bush without being bound, and that our arms 
 shall not be taken away.' We called our guns 
 walking sticks. 
 
56 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 "There was a grim kind of smile on his 
 majesty's face as he granted the request. To-night, 
 he said, the offerings must be begun, and we 
 could decide among ourselves who should go first. 
 
 "This question we settled by putting as many 
 grains of rice in a hat as there were white men in 
 our party. One grain was colored red. The man 
 drawing this was to go out that night and meet 
 the lion. 
 
 " One, two, three, four, five grains were drawn, 
 all white, and it was my turn. I put my hand in 
 the hat, grasped a grain and drew it out. 
 
 " It was red. 
 
 " That night I was led forth to the outskirts 
 of the town. Bill Hook had loaned me his two 
 horse-pistols; I had two of my own and my 
 musket, in addition. The natives pointed to a 
 beaten track running into the jungle. It would 
 have been death on their spears to have refused 
 to go on, so I grasped my gun firmly and left 
 them. 
 
 " Fortunately, it was a clear night, and the 
 African moon, at its full, was overhead. No one 
 can know the whiteness of that light it was like 
 a ball of silvery fire. The path was open, at first, 
 but soon became overgrown and dense with under- 
 
A STORY OF A LION HUNT. 57 
 
 growth. I determined, as soon as I got out of 
 hearing of the blacks, to find a safe spot, near the 
 path, and wait for the lion to pass me. I, at last, 
 discovered a hillock, covered with long grass, 
 elevated two or three feet above the surrounding 
 land. 
 
 " On this I made my bed for the night. 
 
 " For a long time I kept a watchful eye on 
 every bush ; my ears strained to catch a sound of 
 intrusion. There were noises of a thousand kinds, 
 near by and far away. I could hear the cry of 
 birds, flying over or chattering in the thicket; 
 African beetles droned about me and crickets 
 chirruped in the grass. A huge death-watch 
 ticked loudly at my feet. 
 
 " I was conscious, at last, that the heavy sum- 
 mer air and the fatigue that I had been under, 
 were making me drowsy. 
 
 " From my doze I was quickly awakened by 
 a crackling of the underbrush. I seized my 
 gun, which lay beside me, and looked in the 
 direction of the noise. Some huge beast was 
 coming up the pathway, as yet in dense shadow. 
 I could hear the sound of his breath and quick, 
 angry snorts. 
 
 " It was not until he was within a few feet of 
 
58 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 me that he passed out of the bushes and into the 
 open glade. The moon shone full upon him. 
 He stood without motion, save the nervous lash- 
 ing to and fro of his tail. There was a yellowish 
 mass of mane and a body larger than I had ever 
 dreamed of. He looked straight towards me. I 
 was crouched in the midst of the reeds, where he 
 must have scented me out. 
 
 " My hand shook as I lifted and cocked the 
 gun. Should it miss fire, I felt certain I was a 
 dead man. I raised the musket stealthily and 
 aimed. The only visible target, now, was his 
 head, and I felt that any ball would have glanced 
 harmlessly from that skull. In one of my pistols 
 was a great charge of slugs. At this short range 
 I might blind him. I quietly drew the weapon 
 from the holster. At this moment I saw the lion 
 suddenly crouch, and, knowing he was about to 
 spring, fired. 
 
 " There was a tearing and rending of the 
 underbrush, mingled with cries and roars and 
 mewing of the great cat in pain. Gradually all 
 sounds ceased, and I felt that the danger had 
 passed for the moment. 
 
 " Nervously and fearfully I awaited the dawn. 
 At the first faint streak of light in the sky, I 
 
A STORY OF A LION HUNT. 59 
 
 started down the path for the village. I had not 
 gone far, when I heard a sound ahead of me. 
 I stepped to one side and waited. 
 
 " There was a roar, then the crying of the lion, 
 and I knew the beast was about to pass me again. 
 He came creeping along the path from the village, 
 stopping every now and then to put his paw up 
 to one of his eyes, which I could see was entirely 
 shot away. Nearer and nearer he came, until at 
 last he saw me. The cry of rage, a mingling of 
 a scream of anger and a roar, was awful. I raised 
 my musket, although I determined not to fire 
 until he was almost on me. 
 
 " Nearer he drew, stopping now and then to 
 wipe with his soft paw the blood from his eye. 
 This gave me a fair shot behind his foreshoulder. 
 In my anxiety and haste I shot to the left and 
 only broke his leg. He rushed at me on three 
 legs, no longer able to spring. When almost at 
 my feet, I fired one of the pistols full in his face. 
 He rolled over, and after a few feeble struggles 
 lay still. 
 
 "A party of the natives soon after came out to 
 search for me, expecting to find only my bones. 
 Together we made a litter of young saplings, and 
 carried the huge animal to the village. 
 
60 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 " When we were gathered before the king, he 
 punched the lion with his fingers to see that he 
 was quite dead, and asked how it had happened. 
 They all pointed to me, and I stepped forward. 
 We were outside the palace, in a sort of a public 
 square. I determined to let the king see what a 
 wonderful man I was. My musket was loaded 
 with a charge of slugs, and flying towards us was 
 a huge crane, very low down. He must have 
 been six or seven feet across the wings, and 
 offered an easy mark. When he got overhead, I 
 raised my gun and fired. The bird fell at my 
 feet. At the discharge, the king and his followers 
 prostrated themselves, their faces to the ground, 
 their arms spread out in front of them. 
 
 " ' Tell him there is no danger,' I said to the 
 interpreter. * Say we only hurt our enemies, 
 and that those who are our friends the fire-king 
 protects. 
 
 "And so his majesty was conquered and 
 treated us well, and we became great friends with 
 the natives, and took away with us enough ivory 
 to make our fortunes." 
 
 Esther lay fast asleep in the soldier's arms'; 
 Sarah blinked dreamily. After their mother 
 
THE SNOW- FIGHT AT KINGS COMMON. 61 
 
 had taken them off to bed, Moses' father and his 
 Uncle Josh talked together for many hours, while 
 he lay on the rug, and their words came to him 
 drowsily, as from far away. He dreamed of 
 strange adventures in strange lands, where there 
 were black men, and yellow and red cranes, and 
 he and Uncle Josh floated down a great river in a 
 boat, and shot alligators. And then Moses, too, 
 was fast asleep. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 THE SNOW-FIGHT AT KINGS COMMON. 
 
 Moses, Noel Hilton and Isaac Goldsmid were 
 tramping home from school, one day in mid- 
 winter. About noon the flakes had begun to drift 
 slowly down, and, now, the snow was quite deep. 
 It was growing colder and the wind blew sharply. 
 The storm had set in for all night. Winter was 
 in the air everywhere. 
 
 Of late, life at school had changed for the 
 better for Moses and his friends. They were 
 treated like the other boys, now, both by comrades 
 and masters. They were taken into the sports, 
 and Moses, from his strength and skill, gradually 
 came to the front in the various games that were 
 
62 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 gotten up. There was something about him that 
 made him a leader among his fellows. 
 
 " To-morrow, we must have some fun, if this 
 keeps up," he said, as they plowed through a drift 
 at the corner of the street. "We will have a 
 battle with the town-boys out at Kings Common. 
 If it only drifts deep enough to-night we will 
 build a fort there." 
 
 " It is a half holiday, too," said Isaac. " We 
 can get a great crowd together and have a regular 
 war." 
 
 "We will fix it up at recess to-morrow, and 
 arrange the whole thing." 
 
 That night Moses got out an old book of his 
 uncle's, on military tactics, and studied the best 
 way of massing troops in victory and defeat. 
 Isaac stayed with him all night. At ten o'clock, 
 when they went to bed, Moses scraped the frost off 
 the window pane and looked out. 
 
 "Still snowing, like everything," he said; "it 
 will be three feet deep to-morrow." 
 
 And such a storm as it was! The next morn- 
 ing the oldest inhabitant looked out in wonder. 
 Snow everywhere drifted in some places above 
 the windows of the first stories of the houses. It 
 was some time before the streets became passable. 
 
THE SNOW-FIGHT AT KINGS COMMON. 63 
 
 The boys did not reach school until after the 
 opening hour. The drifts were high and the 
 walking difficult, but they plunged on, laughing, 
 and threw handfuls of the snow at each other, and 
 the way did not seem long. The clouds were 
 breaking away. It was just cold enough to be 
 inspiriting. 
 
 After the school had assembled, the Head 
 Master called for attention. 
 
 "In view of the most unprecedented fall of 
 snow to-day, we shall dismiss the school at noon, 
 instead of one o'clock." 
 
 When the boys were free, what shouting there 
 was, as they rushed into the yard, piled, in 
 places, many feet high with snow. 
 
 Our three boys got some of the larger fellows 
 together, and told them of their idea about the 
 snow-fight. John Hornby, William Day, Robert 
 Johnson, Joe Harris, Richard Doughty and 
 George Owen were among the active ones. There 
 were no longer any open hostilities between the 
 latter two fellows and Moses and his friends. 
 Owen was always a ready boy in any sport, and 
 Moses and he were thrown together often. A 
 crowd soon collected about them, and all wanted 
 to talk at once, each with a different plan. The 
 
64 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 uproar was great. All were willing for the fight, 
 but they could not agree among themselves. 
 
 Moses got up on a box and spoke to them. At 
 first they would not listen. 
 
 " Hold your noise," Noel screamed. " Let's 
 hear from one at a time. Go on, Moses." 
 
 " My plan," Moses said, " is to go out to Kings 
 Common and build a big fort, make a lot of snow 
 balls, and then when the boys get out of the mill 
 they will give us a battle. It will be a grand row; 
 much more fun than fighting among ourselves." 
 
 This plan was agreed to, by a unanimous vote. 
 The boys dispersed to get shovels and loose boards 
 with which to throw up their fortifications, and 
 boxes to make the snow into bricks. 
 
 When they reached the Common, which was 
 not far from the school, they found it was in 
 capital condition. Against the high wall, at the 
 back, the snow had drifted, until it was quite cov- 
 ered ; while a large part of the ground in front 
 was swept bare by the high wind. . It only needed 
 their efforts for an hour or two to make the place 
 into a field of battle. 
 
 " Let's make a square fort." " No, a round frv* 
 is better." 
 
 There were many views. Moses had drawn 
 
THE SNOW-FIGHT AT KINGS COMMON. 65 
 
 his plan of the fortification on a sheet of paper. 
 It was like this: 
 
 SIDE FORT. 
 
 The boys crowded about him to see it. 
 
 " You see," Moses said, " a triangular fort like 
 this is best, because the attacking party can't 
 climb over the walls so easily ; not able to get at 
 them fairly. Then we can protect the whole 
 range of walls easier in this shape, and we can 
 have an entrance at either side, so we can sally 
 out and pursue the enemy. These smaller forts, 
 on each side, are the places where the sharp- 
 shooters are placed to protect the entrances, and 
 where the boys can stand who are to go out after 
 the enemy to repulse them from the walls and 
 take prisoners." 
 
 It seemed a good plan to the others, and was 
 agreed on, at once, no one else having anything 
 definite to offer. Moses had explained the whole 
 idea to Noel and Isaac, and, together, they laid off 
 the distances. There were so many boys, that 
 
 5 
 
66 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 when they were all put at work, properly, they 
 carried out the plans in a very short time. 
 
 The result gave them the wildest pleasure. It 
 was better than they had expected. It was like a 
 regular fort. The snow had been beaten into 
 boxes about two feet square, and the blocks piled 
 up on one another. This made a wall of snow 
 that would resist a severe attack. 
 
 " We must have a supply of snow balls," 
 Moses said ; " four or five hundred will not be too 
 many." 
 
 By four o'clock everything about the fort was 
 in readiness for the attack. 
 
 All told, the school-boys numbered nearly 
 fifty. Many of the smaller boys were ruled out 
 as being below the age of recruits. 
 
 The army gathered within the walls of the 
 fort. 
 
 " We must have a eommander-m-chief," Noel 
 said. 
 
 Then a wild discussion took place. There 
 were various favorites. Finally, the choice of a 
 leader fell on John Hornby. He was the largest 
 and strongest boy at the school, and as he was 
 preparing himself for the army, was supposed 
 to have some knowledge of warfare. He was a 
 
THE SNOW-FIGHT AT KINGS COMMON. 67 
 
 manly, determined fellow ; but lacked quickness 
 and judgment. Noel, and one or two others, 
 made a fight for Moses for the place, but it was 
 without avail. The boys admitted that the fort 
 was well planned, but they did not care for Moses 
 to lead them. In deference to his followers, how- 
 ever, Hornby made him captain of one of the 
 smaller forts. 
 
 In a short time the town-boys began to gather. 
 They were led by a boy named Machin. Con- 
 sultation was held between the leaders, and it 
 was agreed that if twelve men of the attacking 
 party got within the walls of the fort, the victory 
 was to be considered won and hostilities were to 
 cease for the time; the capturing party to hold 
 the fort until it was retaken. 
 
 The armies were about equal in number, but 
 the town-boys were larger and stronger and more 
 reckless. 
 
 " They will beat us, if it comes down to a 
 simple matter of brute strength. It will take 
 science to hold this place against those fellows." 
 
 It was Isaac who spoke to Moses. He was his 
 lieutenant in the side fort. 
 
 Presently his words were shown to be true. 
 The engagement that followed " was short and 
 
68 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 sharp. The town-boys made a united attack at 
 one of the entrances. Hornby, supported by 
 Doughty, Owen and Harris, fought manfully and 
 hurled the invaders back, in a hand to hand 
 conflict; but the enemy was too strong; the school- 
 boys were beaten and the fort captured in a 
 five minutes fight. 
 
 For that afternoon the sport was over. The 
 town-boys were well pleased, and said they would 
 be ready, the following afternoon, to defend their 
 capture against all attacks. 
 
 At recess, the next day, a great discussion 
 took place, as to who should lead the school forces 
 in the attack on the fort that afternoon. 
 
 " Moses planned that fort, and it is a good one. 
 I say we make him our captain this afternoon," 
 Noel said. 
 
 Richard Doughty and George Owen were both 
 anxious for the honor, but they were not popular 
 with the others. After a fierce contest and debate, 
 the question was put to a vote and Moses received 
 a large majority. 
 
 He at once appointed Noel Hilton com- 
 mander of the right wing, Isaac Goldsmid of the 
 left, and John Hornby as his first officer, in the 
 main body. Doughty and Owen were both given 
 
THE SNOW-FIGHT AT KINGS COMMON. 69 
 
 important places. They were good fighters, and 
 Moses was too brave not to be honest. 
 
 A spy from the enemy's camp reported that 
 they had soaked the walls of the fort with water, 
 and it was now frozen hard. Also that they had 
 made a large quantity of frozen ammunition. 
 There was danger in the air. 
 
 At the second recess, the boys were all em- 
 ployed in soaking snow-balls and laying them 
 out to freeze. They felt they must be prepared to 
 meet the enemy on equal terms. 
 
 When school was dismissed there was wild 
 excitement. All the school-bags and baskets 
 were 'brought into use to carry the ammunition 
 to the field of battle. 
 
 Moses carefully arranged the plans of cam- 
 paign with his officers. He addressed the army 
 and begged them to follow their leaders, not to 
 fight wildly ; and, above all, never to know 
 when they were beaten. The honor of the whole 
 school, he said, depended on their winning this 
 battle. None of the frozen balls were to be used, 
 unless the town-boys first began with that kind 
 of ammunition. 
 
 The enemy soon assembled and occupied the 
 fort in great numbers. 
 
70 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 Moses was everywhere, among the attacking 
 army, giving directions and showing the boys 
 that it must be a matter of science if the fort was 
 to be recovered. 
 
 Back of the wall, in front of which the fort 
 was built, was a large factory yard. Moses had 
 examined this, and found it quite free from snow. 
 There was a shed built against the wall, on that 
 side, and it was easy to climb up on it and look 
 over into the fort. A tall, slow fellow, Roger 
 Clerk, with four other boys, was detailed to lie in 
 wait in this yard, and, when summoned, to climb 
 on the shed and pour cold shot into the fort. All 
 this was secretly arranged, Moses being the only 
 one who knew of it, outside of those taking part. 
 
 A large beam of wood was secured, and three 
 boys were appointed to use it as a battering ram 
 on the main wall. 
 
 At last all was in readiness. 
 
 A red handkerchief was raised from the fort 
 the signal that the engagement was to begin. 
 
 The town-boys had received re-enforcements. 
 The walls were black with them. It was a 
 formidable task to attack them. Moses knew that 
 unless skill was used they could never hope to 
 regain the lost fort. 
 
THE SNOW-FIGHT AT KINGS COMMON. 71 
 
 The invaders advanced in an unbroken 
 line to the left of the fort. They were greeted 
 with a volley of snow balls, even before they were 
 fairly within range. But few were returned 
 only enough to make the appearance of a fight. 
 Nearer and nearer they approached, while the 
 firing was incessant. Then a retreat was sounded, 
 and they withdrew out of reach. Again and 
 again this was repeated. Three men of the 
 attacking party were disabled, and a number 
 wounded, but only enough to make them angry. 
 
 The third time they were withdrawn; there 
 were loud complaints from several boys. 
 
 "Keep quiet," Noel said. " Don't you see we 
 are playing them out of ammunition? When 
 our time comes, we will have a big advantage, 
 for they haven't much extra snow in the fort." 
 
 The battle now began in earnest. 
 
 The main army, led by Moses, made a united 
 assault on the left entrance. Noel, with a detach- 
 ment, was appointed to attack the side fort, in 
 order to occupy the sharp-shooters and save their 
 cross-fire on the others. Isaac was in charge of a 
 corps, whose duty it was to cover the boys who 
 worked the ram, from the fire from the main fort 
 and the side fort on the right entrance. The ram 
 
72 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 was to be used against the wall near the head of 
 the fort on the right. 
 
 With wild cries, the main body approached the 
 fort and strove for entrance on the left. The air 
 was white with snow balls. Again and again, the 
 boys tried to scale the walls, but they were ice- 
 no foothold could be gained. At the entrance, a 
 strong body of troops beat off the invaders' fierce 
 attack, and captured two prisoners. Noel, indeed, 
 with his corps gave the side fort all it could do to 
 avoid capture, and the main army was free to 
 attack without cross-fire. 
 
 The battle was fierce. Neither side could gain 
 an advantage. But the intrenchments the in- 
 vaders had built so strong on the day before were 
 now the great obstacle against them. 
 
 Moses was in the midst of the fight. One eye 
 was almost blinded by a ball that struck him, but 
 he encouraged the boys and cheered them on with 
 cries, in spite of the pain he suffered. If the 
 victory was to depend on his attack at the left, 
 however, he felt they were beaten. He wondered 
 what Isaac and the battering-ram were doing, and 
 whether it was time to summon his re-enforce- 
 ments. He had appointed a small boy as his aid, 
 to wait on the Common, where he could see the 
 
THE SNOW-FIGHT AT KINGS COMMON. 73 
 
 effect of Isaac's attack and report to him. He 
 now saw this boy running towards him. 
 
 The attack by the main body had been so 
 fierce that it needed all the strength of the men 
 in the fort to beat them off, and while the 
 troops under Isaac had been seen in the begin- 
 ning, yet their purpose was not fully known, and 
 they were left to the attention of the side fort. Not 
 until it was too late was the mistake discovered. 
 
 Three strong boys, with a huge beam of wood, 
 rushed at the main fort near its point. They were 
 too far away from the side fort to be very much 
 hurt by its fire, and Isaac's men kept all their 
 assailants well occupied. 
 
 Bang ! bang ! bang ! the icy covering gave 
 way a hole; two or three more strokes of the 
 ram and the wall would be down. A frozen ball 
 struck one of the invaders in the head, and he 
 fell as if shot. 
 
 " No matter, once more, lads, with all your 
 might." 
 
 It was Isaac who took the vacant place. 
 Crash ! the wall gave way. One more stroke 
 and it was down for some two or three feet. The 
 boys dropped the beam and, taking their fallen 
 comrade, retreated to a safe distance. 
 
74 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 This breach in the wall was announced to 
 Moses by his aid. He gave three long whistles 
 with his fingers ; in a moment, the five boys who 
 had been concealed in the factory yard appeared 
 on the wall at the back. They were overstocked 
 with ammunition and fresh for the fight. They 
 poured a raking cross-fire into the fort, and, 
 under cover of this, Moses, with a detachment of 
 men, re-enforced Isaac, and attacked the enemy's 
 right once more. 
 
 In the fort the soft snow had given out, and 
 solid balls of ice flew in the air. It was danger- 
 ous. It needed no command now to the invaders 
 to return these deadly missiles. Wounded men 
 were everywhere. Boys limped about the field 
 or held their heads; some lay on the ground 
 groaning. But the excitement was so intense 
 that no one thought of pain or danger. 
 
 The terrific assault with frozen balls from the 
 boys, high on the shed over the works, was doing 
 deadly destruction the walls of the fort were left 
 unguarded. Moses sent his aid to Noel to tell 
 him to make a united attack on the right, while 
 he entered the breach in the wall with his men. 
 
 The invaders displayed new vigor. At the 
 left entrance there was a hand to hand conflict 
 
THE SNOW-FIGHT AT KINGS COMMON. /O 
 
 going on. Joe Harris was rolling over and over 
 in a terrible wrestling match with Tim Machin, 
 while Doughty and Owen together were beating 
 the front ranks back with great bravery. 
 
 The odds w r ere now against the town-boys. One 
 after another gave up to nurse the wounds made 
 by the fire from the boys on the shed, and the 
 attacking party drove their enemies back into the 
 fort. At the same moment Moses entered the 
 break in the walls made by the battering-ram. 
 He sprang to the top and raised a white handker- 
 chief. It was a signal of a victory and a truce ; 
 but so fierce was the contest that it was some time 
 before the fighting could be stopped. There were 
 so many wounded, however, that both armies were 
 finally glad for a chance to rest. 
 
 The damage had been great. Moses had his 
 cheek cut open ; one of his eyes w r as quite closed 
 and he was bruised in many places. One boy 
 had broken his arm, while red spots on the snow, 
 here and there, told of noses that had bled from 
 the battle. 
 
 But the school-boys had won. 
 
 The next day, when school assembled, there 
 were but two or three missing at the roll-call; 
 but the class was like an army of veterans. Many 
 
76 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 limped painfully; bruises were on numerous 
 faces, and great strips of plaster decorated the 
 countenances of several boys. 
 
 The Master announced with a smile that no 
 more snow ball fights must take place. The 
 owner of the factory back of the wall, annoyed 
 by the uproar, had the fort torn down that day 
 and all chances of renewing the battle at Kings 
 Common were done away with. But for many 
 months were the doings of that campaign talked 
 over. 
 
 " You ought to have been with us when we 
 took the fort from the town-boys at Kings 
 Common." 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 A SWIMMING MATCH. 
 
 Two years at school. 
 
 Moses had taken a mercantile course, and 
 graduated with honors. The term had ended. 
 When summer was over, he was to go into John- 
 son's provision house, to learn business ways and 
 fit himself for a tradesman or merchant. 
 
 He looked back on the days past with mingled 
 pleasure and regret. Life at school, at first, had 
 
A SWIMMING MATCH. 77 
 
 been nothing save sorrow ; but now, at leaving, 
 all was changed. He had many friends among 
 those who had formerly scoffed at him. It was 
 like tearing himself away from a battle-field, 
 where he had won a victory. He had the feeling 
 of satisfaction in his heart of having done some- 
 thing for himself and others of having con- 
 quered a difficulty and he was sad to leave the 
 place. 
 
 To-day, the whole school, masters and scholars, 
 were to go out into the country, along the Thames, 
 where the boys might swim and play to their 
 hearts' content. It had been the custom, for 
 many years, to take this excursion before the 
 final exercises at the closing of the term. It was 
 a re-union a chance for last words and the 
 cementing of friendships for after life; it was 
 looked forward to and talked over for many days 
 beforehand. 
 
 The weather was sunny and warm. When 
 they reached the farm-house at which they were 
 to alight, the boys rushed madly through the 
 fields, laughing, joking and playing all manner 
 of tricks upon each other. 
 
 Horseham Meadow was a large open field, on 
 one side of which was a wooded hill. The river 
 
78 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 ran near by, and the banks were shelving and 
 gravelly just the place for swimming. Half a 
 mile up the stream was a public boat-house. 
 
 " Let's hire some boats and have a row/' 
 Hornby said to Moses. " Noel and I can take 
 one boat, and you and Isaac the other. It would 
 be a good thing to get some exercise before we go 
 swimming ; we can row back here and have fun 
 with the boys who are swimming." 
 
 " I'll go if the others are in," Moses said. " But 
 I don't know much about rowing." 
 
 They made their way up the stream. The 
 banks were sweet with summer flowers. Startled 
 frogs jumped from the grasses and plunged loudly 
 into the water. The rattle of the kingfisher was 
 heard as he darted swiftly from tree to tree or 
 dived after his prey. Now and then, they came 
 on lone fishermen, who grunted unintelligent 
 replies when asked how many fish they had 
 caught. 
 
 On reaching the boat-house, it was but a few 
 minutes before the boys were in the boats and on 
 their way down the river. Moses had never- 
 rowed before, and made his friends laugh by 
 taking his seat with his face towards the bow. 
 When they got off, he made many mistakes, and 
 
A SWIMMING MATCH. 79 
 
 several times fell over backwards. It was some 
 time before he could get in the way of the thing. 
 Isaac had had very little experience between 
 them they made a very sorry exhibition. Noel 
 and Hornby soon left them far behind. It was 
 not long before they saw a third boat put out from 
 the boat-house ; when it drew near, the oarsmen 
 proved to be Moses' old enemies, George Owen and 
 Richard Doughty. These two rested on their oars. 
 Both had lived in the country, and knew all about 
 boats. They seemed to be in a reckless humor. 
 
 " You don't get on very fast," Dick Doughty 
 said. " You fan the air too much. The blade of 
 the oar is made to go into the water." 
 
 " They think they are in a flying machine," 
 Owen sneered. "Some people think they do 
 everything well, but they don't." 
 
 "Let them be," Moses said, as he saw that 
 Isaac was about to fling some answer back. 
 " What's the use. They are spoiling for a quarrel. 
 Let's try it again." 
 
 So they rowed awkwardly down the stream. 
 The new arrivals would not leave them, but went 
 leisurely along, making all kinds of jeering 
 remarks about their mistakes. 
 
 At last, the boats arrived at the bank where 
 
80 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 the boys were bathing. There were not many of 
 them in the water yet, and all wanted to be taken 
 out rowing. Moses and Isaac took them off, two 
 at a trip, and gave them short rides across the 
 stream and back. 
 
 After a time, as they were about starting out, 
 and Moses was standing up with an oar in his 
 hand, he heard a cry and turning saw that 
 Owen and Doughty were rowing recklessly 
 towards him. Moses called out a warning but they 
 either did not hear him, or did not care, for, in 
 another instant, there was a crash of the boats. 
 He tottered, tried in vain to keep his balance, 
 stuck the oar deep in the water without getting 
 any support, then dropped it and found himself 
 diving after it. He came to the surface, almost 
 at once, and swam ashore, choking and blowing 
 the water from his mouth. He was a sad picture, 
 dripping wet, and the boys, when they saw there 
 was no danger, roared at him. 
 
 " You did that on purpose, George Owen," he 
 said. " I'll pay you out for it see if I don't. 
 You've broken the boat, too." 
 
 "It's your own clumsiness. You don't know 
 anything about boats; you oughtn't be allowed 
 to have one." 
 
A SWIMMING MATCH. 81 
 
 " We were standing still, and you ran into us. 
 You are a coward ; and I say you did it on 
 purpose." 
 
 Moses was getting angry. But he found he 
 must get his clothing dry before he was in a con- 
 dition to discuss the matter. 
 
 " You had better take that boat back to the 
 house, Isaac," he said. " Pay the man for the 
 damage to it. That side is badly strained and 
 it is not fit to use any more. I'll take off my 
 clothes and dry them in the sun ; you come 
 back as soon as you can, and we will go in swim- 
 ming." 
 
 The sun was very hot, but Moses knew that it 
 would be a long time before his clothes would 
 dry. However, he hung them on the bushes, 
 near by, then went in swimming. He had learned 
 the art in the large pool in the gymnasium at the 
 school, had practised until he could sustain him- 
 self without fatigue, for a long time, and was a 
 fast and vigorous over-arm swimmer. 
 
 It was a capital spot for the sport. There was 
 a shelving beach of gravel, where the sun shone 
 free, and a few hundred yards farther down, 
 there was a steep rock, under the trees, and, 
 beneath, a deep hole a fine place for diving. 
 
 6 
 
82 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 The water was somewhat cool, but Moses did 
 not mind it; full of life and spirits, he swam 
 among the boys and soon forgot his anger at the 
 ducking he had received. 
 
 Even in the short races that they took while 
 playing about, there were only two or three boys 
 who were in any way his match. John Hornby 
 was a much faster swimmer, but he puffed and 
 sighed so, after his efforts, that Moses wished for 
 a chance to test his endurance. 
 
 Presently, Dick Doughty and George Owen 
 hauled up their boat on shore and came into the 
 water. Without making any direct challenge, 
 they tried to draw Moses into a race with them, 
 but he paid no attention to their efforts. It was 
 not long before Isaac Goldsmid and Noel Hilton 
 came back from the boat-house. Moses went out 
 to see them. 
 
 " It took all the cash we had to make it right 
 with that boatman," Isaac said. " Those duffers 
 who did the damage ought to pay for it." 
 
 " Never mind, let them be," Moses said. " It 
 is not worth while fighting about it, with such 
 fellows as that. We'll divide the loss. Come on 
 in." 
 
 Soon they were all three racing up the stream. 
 
A SWIMMING MATCH. 83 
 
 Noel and Moses were evenly matched, but Isaac 
 soon fell behind. 
 
 " Let's get Hornby and Joe Harris, and have 
 a race up to that rock and back," Noel said, point- 
 ing to a rock up the stream, on the opposite side. 
 
 It was soon arranged and they made ready 
 for a start. Doughty and Owen overheard the 
 plans, and they also prepared to take part. Isaac 
 acted as the starter. 
 
 '''Are you ready/' he cried. 
 
 "All ready," Noel answered. 
 
 " I will count one, two, three and go then 
 you start." 
 
 At the word they were off. There was no 
 chance for any one to claim a foul ; they all made 
 so much noise in their struggles that it would not 
 have been heard. 
 
 Hornby and Doughty forged far ahead, in the 
 first few minutes ; the other three were together. 
 Moses' heart beat fast with excitement, but he 
 remembered his experience, and kept up an even, 
 careful" stroke. It was to be a long race at least 
 half a mile in all. He felt confident that the 
 leaders could not retain their advantage. 
 
 Half-way to the rock, that was fixed as the 
 turning point, Joe Harris had fallen to the rear, 
 
84 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 while the others maintained their places. Then 
 Moses began to slowly lessen the distance between 
 himself and the leaders. George Owen held his 
 own. 
 
 At the rock, the swimmers were so near 
 together, that the boys who stood on the shore 
 to watch them could not tell who was ahead. 
 
 Hornby was puffing and blowing like a gram- 
 pus, and, despite his efforts, fell slowly behind ; 
 but Richard Doughty easily kept the slight 
 advantage he had, and Moses and he crept 
 slowly ahead of the others, with no variance in 
 the distance between them. After a little, as 
 Moses turned over, he looked backward and saw 
 that Joe Harris had left the race entirely and 
 swam ashore, and that Hornby was also disgusted 
 and making his way to the other bank. Owen 
 was still following, but the distance between him 
 and the two boys was rapidly increasing, and he 
 seemed to be laboring greatly. The victory lay 
 between Moses and Doughty, and to the latter 
 our hero now turned all his thoughts. 
 
 Doughty was one of those boys who are born 
 wiry and strong. He did not trouble himself about 
 exercise or regular hours, yet he had a physique 
 that was the admiration of all who saw him. Now 
 
A SWIMMING MATCH. 85 
 
 his. endurance was being put to the test; so far, 
 he stood it well. Moses was urging him on ; 
 every muscle the boy had all the knacks he 
 had caught in the art, were brought into play. 
 The constant exercise in the gymnasium had 
 hardened him he was still swimming with a 
 full, easy stroke. His brain was quiet now; he 
 was determined to win. The old-time pluck that 
 he had shown when he had stood the flogging, 
 and when he had fought Owen, was once more at 
 his heart. 
 
 They had covered more than half the distance 
 from the rock to the starting point. 
 
 Moses had slowly drawn up on his adversary; 
 they were swimming side by side, almost neck to 
 neck. 
 
 Doughty was panting and laboring ; he hurled 
 himself onward with great over-hand strokes, the 
 water surged about him wildly ; but the training 
 was beginning to tell. The months of work with 
 dumb-bells and on the parallel bars, made the 
 muscles of the boy at his side as hard as iron, and 
 there was a calm strength in his stroke that had 
 in it the look of victory. 
 
 The boys crowded the bank and began to 
 cheer. The interest was intense, both swimmers 
 
86 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 felt new excitement and energy. Dougnty thrust 
 himself ahead wildly, then, after a little time, fell 
 behind again. A hundred yards or more and the 
 race would be over. The fierce spirit of contest 
 had aroused Moses' blood; there was no question 
 of fatigue about him now. On and on with steady 
 stroke. In another instant he would begin the 
 wild race on the home-stretch, and he felt that he 
 should win. 
 
 " Help ! help ! " a smothered voice back of 
 him. 
 
 He saw the boys on the shore crowd together 
 and point over the water with anxious looks. He 
 turned his .eyes. No sign of Owen ! Only some 
 ripples over the quiet surface of the river. 
 
 In an instant Moses turned, and retraced his 
 course with nervous strokes. All thought of the 
 race vanished from his brain; in its place, he felt 
 that strained, anxious horror that comes to every- 
 one in the face of possible sudden death. He 
 kept his eyes ahead, scanning the water for a 
 sight of Owen. No sign ; and he had certainly 
 passed the point where the boy had gone down. 
 
 Then, as he turned over, he saw a sight, that 
 all the sadness and suffering he witnessed in 
 after years did not drive from his remembrance. 
 
A SWIMMING MATCH. 87 
 
 A body rose slowly to the surface, only a few feet 
 away. The limbs moved, nervously, and the 
 hands were clutching wildly for some support. 
 Bubbles arose from the mouth, and the eyes, wide 
 open, were set in the glare of despair. Death 
 seemed looking from them. 
 
 Moses felt a chill at his heart, and, for a 
 moment, could not move. But he recovered him- 
 self. He remembered the terrible stories he had 
 read, where the drowning man clutched his savior 
 in a mad grasp and dragged him to death. 
 Fortunately Owen's head came near to him, ere 
 he sank again, and Moses fixed one hand in the 
 great shock of hair, then forced himself away, 
 wildly, with the other. Owen struggled his 
 hands violently renewed their efforts to grasp his 
 rescuer but in vain. 
 
 The boys on the shore were so much inter- 
 ested in watching the course of events, that, at 
 first, they did not have sense enough to put off in 
 the boat that was drawn up near by; but when 
 Moses cried loudly for help, so many of them 
 rushed madly to the rescue, that it took some time 
 to get the boat in the water and decide who 
 should go in it. 
 
 Moses felt chilly ; a strange stiffness shot 
 
88 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 through his legs. Owen struggled, and several 
 times almost succeeded, in grasping him ; but the 
 vice-like grip in his hair never loosened, and the 
 pain of it probably aided Moses to hold him and 
 keep him off. 
 
 But it could not last much longer. The boy 
 felt in his heart that the end of all things was 
 near at hand; a carelessness as to consequences 
 came over him. His limbs refused to move, and 
 he was chilled to the bone. He could not keep 
 the grasping arms away. Suddenly they seized 
 him, and he felt that he was sinking for miles 
 below the surface. Then he heard Mr. Sever say: 
 
 " He will be all right now." 
 
 He was lying on the bank, in the hot sun, the 
 teachers and boys about him. 
 
 " What became of Owen," he asked, feebly, 
 after he had been rubbed and slapped with the 
 palms of several hands until his skin was in u 
 glow. 
 
 "He's all right, or will be in a little while. 
 The boat saved you both." 
 
 A wagon was got from a neighboring farm- 
 house, and the two boys were driven back to the 
 coaching station together. There was not much 
 conversation between them. 
 
AX EVENING AT HOME. 89 
 
 "Look here, old chap, I am sorry for the 
 things I have done to you," Owen said, at last, 
 just before they reached the station. " I'd been 
 drowned if it hadn't been for you. There is not, 
 another fellow would have done it." 
 
 He held out his hand, and Moses grasped it 
 warmly. 
 
 He saw there were tears in his former adver- 
 sary's eyes. 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 AN EVENING AT HOME. 
 
 Amid all the trials of the world the troubles 
 at school, the unmerited punishments, the dislike 
 of his fellow-scholars, and the strain of defeats, 
 Moses had been comforted always by the sweet- 
 ness of his home life. His mother and father 
 were ever ready with the deepest love to help 
 him, and Uncle Moses watched over his progress 
 with a heart as kind as it was determined and 
 just. So, too, Uncle Josh, on his visits, cheered 
 the boy by his jolly ways, and lightened all his 
 cares w r ith the hopes and encouragements that he 
 held out. Now, having conquered so many of 
 the difficulties that beset him, and with these 
 
90 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 helping hands about him, Moses was almost happy. 
 To be sure, there were little troubles, now and then, 
 but with them a sense of freedom and power, 
 and life was filled with more meaning to him. 
 
 At this time he was perhaps somewhat back- 
 ward among girls, as boys are apt to be. He had 
 not the shyness or false bashralness that is often 
 seen ; but was very reserved, and found little to say. 
 So, one day, when his sister Sarah told him she 
 was going to give a party on her birthday, and 
 that he must look his best and try to be jolly, she 
 was greeted with a very wry face. 
 
 "Whom are you going to have?" he asked. 
 
 " Only a few. Bessie Johnson, Esther Gold- 
 smid; your friend, Judith Cohen, and four or five 
 others." 
 
 " What are you going to do, when you get 
 them here?" 
 
 " Play games, and have something to eat. 
 What more do you want ?" 
 
 " Well, I'll be here, of course ; but I don't care 
 about it much." 
 
 "But you love me, don't you?" his mother 
 said, smiling. She laid her hand against his 
 cheek, and he leaned his head over on it. It felt 
 soft and cool ; his face was so warm by the fire. 
 
AN EVENING AT HOME. 91 
 
 " Girls I don't see the use of. They are bothers 
 and they can't talk about anything." 
 
 " You are always the silent one, when they are 
 about," Sarah said. 
 
 " I think all manly boys are," her father 
 broke in, looking up from his book by the fire. 
 He was a reserved man, but took a quiet, sweet 
 interest in all his children, not the less deep that 
 they had beside the double care of Rachel and 
 Uncle Moses. 
 
 " But it would be so much better if they were 
 not," Rachel said. " I want Moses to be natural 
 and pleasant, manly in all things," she pressed 
 the hand tightly that held her own. 
 
 " I saw Mr. Johnson to-day, and I have made 
 arrangements for you to go into his store to learn 
 business," Moses' father said. " They cannot bother 
 you then, Moses. You can say you are too busy 
 and haven't time to attend to them," laughing. 
 
 " Why don't you take me in with you, father? 
 I'd much rather be in your store." 
 
 "I should spoil you," his father said, smiling. 
 " You will get a better training outside, where you 
 have some one to correct you." 
 
 " I wish you would let me go into the army. 
 That's what I want most." 
 
92 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 "Why there is no place for you there. We 
 are forbidden everything, except trade." 
 
 " But look at Uncle Josh." 
 
 " He has special privileges, you know." 
 
 " Well, he says he can get them for me, too." 
 
 " I want you to learn business first. It will 
 be time enough to talk of war hereafter." 
 
 Sarah and little Esther were filled with excite- 
 ment on the evening of the birthday. Uncle 
 Moses and Uncle Josh were among the guests, 
 and none of the children enjoyed it more than 
 the great soldier, with his laughter and jollity. 
 In Blind-man's-buff, he rushed wildly to and fro, 
 and when he seized a little girl, he was not con- 
 tent with kissing her, but put her on his shoulder, 
 and carried her triumphantly about the room. 
 
 After supper when they were all gathered 
 about the fire, and apples were roasting and nuts 
 cracking in the ashes, the children insisted that 
 he should tell them of a new game. " Something 
 warlike," Esther said. 
 
 " My games would all be too rough for you," 
 he said, "'but you might have a play with soldiers 
 in it." 
 
 They all wanted this, and were so persistent 
 that at last Uncle Josh consented to help them. 
 
AN EVENING AT HOME. 93 
 
 With a bit of wire and two shawls, he arranged 
 a stage for his drama. Moses, Judith Cohen, 
 Uncle Moses and Rachel were to be actors. 
 
 There was much hurrying to and fro, on the 
 part of Rachel, hunting costumes, and helping 
 the two uncles to arrange the scenery. The 
 audience was in a state of wild interest, long 
 before the play began. 
 
 At last Uncle Josh commanded silence. 
 
 " This is a play without words," he said. "So 
 I will explain the scenes as we, go along. The 
 first picture shows a young soldier called away 
 to the wars. He is bidding his sweetheart good- 
 bye." 
 
 He drew the curtains. 
 
 Moses was dressed in an old uniform of Uncle 
 Josh, and such a tall fellow had he grown that it 
 almost fitted him. He was holding out his arms 
 to Judith, who stood near with her handkerchief 
 to her eyes. Presently she looked up. How 
 pretty she was in her childish innocence! A 
 slight girlish figure, ruddy complexion, black 
 hair and clear bright eyes. Moses threw his 
 arms about her, and she sobbed bitterly on his 
 gay uniform. 
 
 There was great laughter and applause on the 
 
94 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 part of the audience; and they could not ( rest 
 quiet until the actors were again ready. 
 
 "The next scene," said Uncle Josh, "shows his 
 sweetheart at home with her mother. The post- 
 man comes in with a letter and bad news." 
 
 Judith sat by a table, sewing, and Rachel 
 opposite. The girl looked up, nervously, every 
 now and then. There was a loud knock, that 
 made them both start; and then a second, louder. 
 Rachel went to the door. The postman came in 
 Uncle Moses. After much search he produced 
 a letter. Judith opened it hastily, and then fell 
 back in her chair, sobbing wildly. 
 
 " I must take part in the next scene," Uncle 
 Josh said ; " so you will have to see for yourselves 
 what it is about." 
 
 When the curtain rose, the old soldier was 
 seen, with sword in hand keeping off an army 
 of foes impersonated by Uncle Moses, while he 
 half carried Moses off the battle-field, seriously 
 wounded. 
 
 In the final act, as before, Judith was seen at 
 her work, but this time without Rachel. She was 
 dressed in mourning. A knock came, and she 
 went hastily to the door. A soldier entered 
 limping with a crutch, and his arm in a sling. 
 
AX EVENING AT HOME. 95 
 
 She fell back, crying and frightened, and her 
 love'r, dropping his support, knelt at her side. 
 
 In the excitement of the play the crutch 
 struck the candle on the table, and knocked it on 
 the floor at Judith's feet. It was not extinguished 
 in the fall, and in an instant, the flame had 
 caught her light dress. Moses saw it, and with 
 his hands beat out the fire before it could gain 
 headway. 
 
 It all happened in a moment, but the audience 
 were breathless, and the actors came forward, 
 amidst a burst of applause that was very real and 
 heartfelt, on the part of the older ones, at least, 
 who knew the serious danger. 
 
 " I have ruined one of your best dresses, 
 Sarah," Judith said, sorrowfully. " But you must 
 be glad it did not burn it all up." 
 
 " I am gladder it did not burn you," Sarah said. 
 
 When the visitors had all gone, and the 
 family was once more gathered about the 1 fire, 
 the moment before going to bed, Uncle Moses said : 
 
 " Well, Moses, do you still find girls a nuis- 
 ance ?" 
 
 His nephew blushed and laughed. 
 
 "Oh!" he said, "they are not so bad to play 
 soldier with." 
 
96 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 <? 
 
 MOSES A CAPTAIN. 
 
 "I don't like tea and groceries as a steady 
 business," 
 
 Moses sat with Isaac Goldsmid in the latter's 
 comfortable room, in his home at Morden. 
 
 " Why don't you come with us ?" Isaac said. 
 "Gold and precious stones are not as nice as the 
 army, but you might like it better than where 
 you are." 
 
 " Can I get a place, do you think ?" 
 
 "Ask Uncle Moses ; he has the say, you know. 
 He says there is always a chance for good boys 
 in our business," Isaac answered, laughing. 
 
 The friendship between the two had grown 
 deeper as time went on. Isaac was becoming a 
 shrewd, careful financier. He was, besides, vastly 
 interested, not only in business questions, but 
 in good works. The welfare of society was as 
 much to him as personal wealth. His influence 
 was always for the best. 
 
 " Don't go into the army," he said, when his 
 friend spoke with him about it and it was many 
 times. " You can do more out of it than in it. 
 
MOSES A CAPTAIN. 97 
 
 \ 
 
 There is such great work to be done here ; I 
 cannot see much good in war." 
 
 Moses had begged, in vain, to be allowed to 
 take up the trade of arms, but those about him 
 were not willing to have it so. His father had 
 articled him to a firm of which his neighbor 
 Robert Johnson was the head, and Moses had 
 faithfully served as an apprentice in the business. 
 He still longed for the army ; but certainly to be 
 in his uncle's store with Isaac Goldsmid was 
 better than his present position. Moses' uncle 
 was a partner with Isaac's father in his business, 
 and it was easily arranged that he should have 
 a place with them, among the gold and jewels of 
 one of the largest brokerage houses in London. 
 
 He had grown in the year since leaving 
 school. He was nearly six feet in height, and by 
 constant exercise had kept himself muscular and 
 erect. He was a man in his stature and almost 
 one in his thoughts. Happy by nature, his great 
 flow of animal spirits, his lively conversation and 
 gentle manners soon made him a great favorite 
 with his new employers. The utmost confidence 
 was reposed in him, and he was entrusted with 
 the care of vast sums of money and bullion and 
 precious stones. 
 
98 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 There was one person about the office who did 
 not like Moses, and Moses soon grew to have a 
 feeling of distrust for him. This was Henry 
 Bland, one of the clerks. He was hard-working 
 and accurate in his ways; but, without any definite 
 reason in his heart, Moses had that instinctive 
 distrust of his sincerity, which so often exists 
 without one being able to explain why. 
 
 The doubts that he held were one day much 
 increased. 
 
 He was making a short cut through a side 
 street, when he saw Bland coming out of a drink- 
 ing-house, with two flashy men, who looked like 
 professional gamblers or sharps. He spoke to 
 him and passed on ; but he was sure there was 
 an agitated look on the clerk's face that showed 
 that he felt he had been detected in suspicious 
 company. Moses' doubts were greater when 
 Bland came back to the office. 
 
 " Those were a couple of fellows I went with 
 to see a sick man, who belongs to the same society 
 as I do," Bland said, with a hard look of pretended 
 innocence on his face. 
 
 The fact that he felt it necessary to offer such 
 an excuse, without any one having accused him, 
 was, of itself, enough to condemn him; but Moses, 
 
MOSES A CAPTAIN. 99 
 
 knowing him to be the only support of his mother, 
 did not have the heart, on such bare suspicions, 
 to speak to his uncle about the matter. The mere 
 taking of a drink with two sporting men was not 
 of itself enough to show him to be a bad clerk. 
 
 It was oftentimes necessary that large sums of 
 gold and precious stones should be carried to 
 other banking houses or customers, and it was 
 Moses' duty to act as escort to the man that took 
 the valuables. Bland was occasionally this mes- 
 senger. With the jewels or money in a case or bag, 
 he would walk ahead, while Moses followed, fully 
 armed, on the lookout for sudden attacks. These 
 trips were exciting, at first, and every corner 
 seemed a hiding-place for a highwayman. But 
 as time went on, Moses ceased his vigilance and 
 the matter became quite commonplace. 
 
 Now that his suspicions as to Bland's steadi- 
 njss were aroused, Moses watched him carefully, 
 and in following him along the street w r as always 
 ready for trouble. For a long time, however 
 nothing came of it. Bland was more than ever 
 attentive to all his duties ; there was in no way 
 the slightest cause for complaint. 
 
 It happened, one day, that a large purchase of 
 diamonds had been made by a customer of the 
 
100 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 house. They were to be a gift to a foreign 
 princess on her marriage, and were worth a 
 fortune. It, was arranged that Bland should 
 carry the jewels, and that Moses and Isaac should 
 go with him as escort. At the last moment, Isaac 
 was detained, and, as the delivery was a matter 
 of time, Moses and Bland started without him. 
 
 Their customer lived in another part of the 
 town, and, by the busy streets, the way was long. 
 A much shorter route could be taken by means of 
 the back streets and alleys; into these Bland 
 turned. Moses was about to remonstrate with 
 him on the danger of these secluded ways, but 
 his fears seemed foolish, and he said nothing. 
 His personal bravery sometimes made him indif- 
 ferent to risk. He kept a sharp lookout, however. 
 In his coat pocket was a pistol, ready for action, 
 and, in addition, he carried a heavy stick, loaded 
 at the end with lead. 
 
 At the corner of a small street, crossing the 
 one they were on, was a low, dingy dram- 
 shop. The upper windows were closed, and 
 there was an air of darkness and dreariness about 
 it, heightened by the fact that a light shone over 
 the door leading into the bar. It was a house 
 that, at night, Moses would have thought of in 
 
MOSES A CAPTAIN. 101 
 
 connection with murders, and hurried by; a 
 house that, even in the daylight, struck him with 
 a feeling of suspicion. 
 
 , At the corner Bland paused. There was no 
 one in sight. 
 
 "Shall we turn down this way?" he asked, 
 nervously. 
 
 Moses thought it strange that he should put 
 such a question ; he knew Bland was familiar 
 with every street about there, and must have 
 known that their way lay directly ahead. 
 
 " Certainly not; go right on," Moses replied. 
 
 Then he heard the sound of the opening of a 
 door, quietly, and before he could turn, his stick 
 was wrenched from his grasp, his arms pinioned 
 to his side, and he was struggling with some 
 unknown enemy. A second assailant seized 
 Bland, and was evidently trying to rob him 
 of the jewelry. 
 
 The attack was so sudden, so unexpected, that 
 Moses was taken by surprise. The grasp of the 
 man who held him was like a band of steel. In 
 vain he struggled to free himself. He strained 
 every nerve and muscle in an effort to throw the 
 fellow over his head, only to be met with a 
 strength and weight that proved it useless to try 
 
102 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 and rid himself in that way. Then he endeav- 
 ored to twist himself out of the vice-like grip. 
 
 A violent struggle followed. Over and across 
 the pavement, around and around they whirled. 
 Moses was mad to desperation when he saw that 
 Bland was on his back in the street, the second 
 robber going through his pockets. In a moment 
 more he would have the case containing the 
 diamonds. 
 
 Again the struggle with his assailant began. 
 
 Moses noticed that the cellar window of the 
 house projected into the street, somewhat, and 
 was without a grating. There was room enough 
 for a man's legs to go through. He forced the 
 robber backwards toward it. In the excitement, 
 his assailant did not suspect the object. He found 
 himself hurled against the side of the house; 
 then his foot slipped and he dropped down- 
 ward, letting go of Moses in the shock of his 
 descent. 
 
 Meanwhile, the second robber had taken the 
 case from Bland, and was making off with it. 
 Moses left his late assailant, and bounded after 
 him. He had always been a fleet runner, and 
 before the thief had crossed the street, he felt 
 someone throw his whole weight on him, and, in 
 
MOSES A CAPTAIN. 103 
 
 an instant, he was struggling on the ground in 
 the grasp of a man as strong as himself. 
 
 Moses now had a chance to use his weapon. 
 He drew the pistol from his pocket, and using it 
 as a billy, struck the man on the head. Ere he 
 could raise it for a second time, the other robber, 
 having climbed out of the window, again attacked 
 him this time with his own cane. 
 
 Moses fired his pistol, but in the excitement 
 and struggle missed his aim. The man rushed 
 at him and struck a fierce blow with the stick. 
 For a moment, the three struggled furiously 
 together. The odds were against Moses and he 
 would certainly have suffered had not help 
 arrived, the pistol-shot having attracted the 
 attention of several persons. 
 
 In a few moments, the streets were as filled 
 with people as before they had been empty. Both 
 the robbers were captured and taken to the lock-up. 
 Bland was nowhere to be seen. The diamonds 
 were safe, but Moses suffered many weeks from 
 the blow on the head he had received from the 
 cane. 
 
 The robbers were afterwards convicted, and, in 
 their testimony, Bland was shown to have been 
 led by them into the crime. 
 
104 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 But he had fled to parts unknown and was 
 never caught. 
 
 It so happened that the customer who had 
 purchased the diamonds was the Lord Lieutenant 
 of Surrey County, and a great friend of Uncle 
 Josh. So pleased was he with the bravery of the 
 boy that he sent for him that he might thank 
 him. When he learned of his military ambition, 
 he questioned him as to his knowledge of tactics 
 and the science of arms. Moses did not know the 
 meaning of it all, at the time ; but one day he 
 received a letter with the official stamp of the 
 government, which told him that his majesty 
 had appointed him a lieutenant in the militia of 
 Surrey County. 
 
 Moses' happiness was too great for expression. 
 The trouble with Napoleon had begun, across the 
 channel, and the militia was put on a war foot- 
 ing. There was incessant drilling, training and 
 marching, but never too much for Moses. And 
 those about him came to look upon him as one 
 fit for a commander kind, yet firm, with a 
 thorough knowledge of every detail of his duties. 
 
 After a time, the captain of the company 
 accepted a commission in the regular army, and 
 Moses Montefiore w r as given his position. There 
 
THE CHOICE OF A LIFE. 105 
 
 was not one of his comrades, who did not feel in 
 his heart that the most fit man had been chosen 
 for the place. 
 
 How happy he was on parade. What a 
 glorious life was open to him. His broad shoul- 
 ders, his six feet 01 manhood, his clear, flashing 
 eyes, made him admired by all, as he marched at 
 the head of his men. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 THE CHOICE OF A LIFE, 
 
 " Uncle, they have made me a captain in the 
 militia. Don't you think I could get a commis- 
 sion in the regular army, now ?" 
 
 " You still wish to give up gold and precious 
 stones for military glory ?" 
 
 " Do you think I can ever be fond of trade 
 when there is a chance for the other ?" 
 
 " But you have been very successful. There 
 is no better man in our house than yourself. I 
 should not know what to do without you. You 
 will grow wealthy if you keep at it." 
 
 "Oh! but I don't care for that, so much; I 
 want the life of a soldier. Look at me, Uncle! I 
 can be proud of my strength without conceit, can 
 
106 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 I not?" and he stretched his arms over his head, 
 while his Uncle was silent in admiration. 
 
 He was fully six feet in height, with a heavy 
 figure of perfect proportions; he held his head 
 with that erectness that came from his long, self- 
 imposed military training. His eyes were deep ; 
 there was a possession in their glance that forced 
 his listeners to hear him. His features, in their 
 clear outlines were as if cut from stone, and his 
 ways, in all things, were those of a soldier. There 
 was about the whole man that over-abundance of 
 life and animal strength that made his uncle 
 feel a thrill of pleasure in his heart when he 
 thought of him, in the uniform of the guard, 
 marching to battle. Surely God had made this 
 boy to be a leader of men ! 
 
 " I never can like the confinement of trade," 
 Moses w r ent on ; "I want to be out in the open 
 world. When I hear the sound of a trumpet or 
 the tramp of troops, my heart beats, and I want 
 to throw down the diamonds on the floor, spring 
 over the counter and join the admiring crowd 
 that follows after." 
 
 " But think of the hardships, the sufferings, 
 and the difficulty of success to any one more so 
 or you, because of your race." 
 
THE CHOICE OF A LIFE. 107 
 
 " Look at Uncle Josh, though. He is one of 
 us, and, yet, he might have a ' Sir ' to his name 
 did he wish it so. I don't think of the toil ; I am 
 made for that," and he clutched his great muscular 
 hand, nervously. " Besides, there is almost as 
 much opposition against us in trade as in the 
 army." 
 
 They were at the house of Asher Goldsmid, at 
 Morden, having been invited to dine with a 
 number of distinguished guests, among whom 
 were Lord Nelson and Uncle Josh. Uncle Mo- 
 catta said no more, at the moment, for dinner was 
 announced. He had not spoken seriously to 
 Moses for some time on the subject of his ambi- 
 tion for arms. His nephew had worked faith- 
 fully, with great success, and he had trusted that 
 years would remove the longings for military 
 glory. But it seemed to have burned in his 
 breast during all this time, and had now broken 
 out, the more fierce that it had been so long 
 confined. 
 
 At dinner, Lord Nelson and Uncle Josh had 
 many military stories to talk over, and, finally, 
 his uncle spoke of Moses and his wish to enter 
 the army. 
 
 " If he is as fearless and indomitable as his 
 
108 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 uncle, and as brave as he is big, I think we can 
 do something for him/' Lord Nelson said, glancing 
 over at Moses. 
 
 A look of pain passed over Rachel's face, but 
 her son did not see it ; and, after dinner, over their 
 coffee and cigars, he spoke to his Uncle Josh again 
 about the matter. 
 
 " Could I get a commission in a regular corps, 
 do you think?" he asked, anxiously. " There will 
 be great wars soon, and I must be in the battles. 
 I am of age now, and they have made me a 
 captain in the militia, you know ; but that is 
 not exactly regular, and I will have no chance 
 there." 
 
 "I am certain the king will grant my request, 
 if I ask him to let you serve him. On my return 
 from Africa, when I declined the honors he 
 offered me, he told me that if he could ever do 
 me a favor I might ask it. And his Lordship 
 will say a word for you, no doubt." 
 
 Lord Nelson, after a time, spoke with Moses 
 about his wish. 
 
 "It has always been my hope, since I can 
 remember," the young man said. " It is in my 
 heart; it will always be there. I am hardy and 
 strong and I feel the force of will in me to compel 
 
 V 
 
THE CHOICE OF A LIFE. 100 
 
 success in the army. I know I will succeed there, 
 if I am not killed." 
 
 The Admiral was impressed with the physical 
 beauty of the youth, and his fearless, earnest 
 ways. He felt, as he looked at him, that the 
 military instinct was there. "Soldier" was 
 written in the face and eyes. 
 
 " I will make it a personal matter," he said ; 
 "and, coupled with your uncle's request, and your 
 position in the militia, it will certainly be easy 
 to arrange it. There are chances opening now 
 which may give you plenty of fighting and 
 glory." 
 
 Moses' heart was filled with wild exultation. 
 The longings of his life, it seemed, were all to 
 come true. He felt the blood bound in his veins. 
 He had that strange animal desire to use his 
 great strength upon something, that he might 
 show the joy that was in him. Away with gold 
 and jewels and ledgers, bonds and stocks and 
 loans! Out into the open field of battle, where 
 foes did not lurk, but were seen and known at 
 once ! Life, free and untrammelled ! Victory for 
 his country in her cause ! Fame with her crown 
 of laurel ! 
 
 That evening, in the library of his father's 
 
110 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 house, at Kennington, Moses sat before the fire 
 with his arm over the back of his mother's chair. 
 His hand caressed her hair, and, now and then, 
 she would reach up her own small one to be held 
 in his firm grasp. Under the lamplight his 
 father was playing with Horatio and Sarah, while 
 Uncle Moses sat in a great easy chair, near by, 
 lost in thought. 
 
 The logs crackled merrily upon the hearth- 
 stone, and to Moses the sound was like the firing 
 of musketry, and he heard in his ears the blare 
 of trumpets ; he dreamed of marching troops and 
 great battles, where he won honor and glory and 
 came home with decorations on his breast and 
 his mother kissed his hand. 
 
 "Do you wish so much to leave me?" she 
 asked, softly. 
 
 " Mother, some of us are born for one thing, 
 some for another, and when the longing is in our 
 hearts, it seems best for us not to beat against it. 
 You know how much I love you, don't you ?" 
 
 " You have been the best boy in the whole 
 world," she said, gladly yet sorrowfully; "but I 
 want you to stay with me. It is not death that 
 I fear for you ; but you could do so much more 
 with your life in other ways." 
 
THE CHOICE OF A LIFE. Ill 
 
 " What way, mother?" 
 
 " Since the time of the first legend of our race, 
 mankind have asked themselves the same ques- 
 tion: 'Why are we placed here on earth? why 
 must we suffer? to what end is it all?' To every 
 one the question comes sooner or later. To evade 
 the answer is to herd with the brutes ; to answer 
 it only according to the fierce desires of the body, 
 or the longings of the mind, it is but little better; 
 only to him who gives to it his heart and soul 
 can be known even a part of the truth." 
 
 " But, mother, I have always loved the soldier's 
 life. I am made big and strong that I may stand 
 its hardships ; and you see I have conquered the 
 feeling against me, so that they have made me a 
 captain in the militia. Lord Nelson and Uncle 
 Josh will both help me to get a commission in 
 the regular army. Why can I not work out my 
 life in that way ?" 
 
 " I do not say you cannot ; but I ask you, my 
 dear boy, to take the reason of life to your heart. 
 How can your own best be lived as a soldier with 
 arms and war, or as one who battles for a truth ?" 
 
 "But what am I to do? Is it to be grind- 
 grind-grind, all the years, to lay by money or a 
 life of fire and action and freedom ?" 
 
112 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 Uncle Moses, who had been quietly listening 
 to the discussion, now spoke. 
 
 "Moses," he said, " you know how much inter- 
 est I take in our race. The books that I have 
 written have shown you some of it, but more than 
 all those, you know it from my teachings to you. 
 I have watched over you from the day of your 
 birth ; you know the concern I have had in your 
 studies and my love for you. I have seen your 
 progress with a heart of joy if you were my own 
 son, I could not care more for you." 
 
 "I can never thank you enough," Moses 
 murmured. 
 
 "I have hoped to see in you one who might 
 take up the work of your people, and help to free 
 them from the bonds thrown about them by 
 tyranny and persecution." 
 
 " Oh ! if you could only see the way," Rachel 
 said, clasping Moses' hand tightly in both of her 
 own. 
 
 "Our nation," Uncle Moses continued, "is the 
 greatest of the world. It has seen the Pharaohs 
 pass away and the Empires of Assyria, of Babylon, 
 of Persia, of Macedonia, and of Rome fade into 
 nothing. Greek art, philosophy, legislation and 
 civilization have risen and fallen in a short period 
 
/'"' 
 
 OF r 
 
 
THE CHOICE OF A LIFE. 113 
 
 of its life. The Ptolemy s and Csesars were mere 
 passing shadows beside it ; nations and sects that 
 have persecuted us are long gone and forgotten. 
 To-day we pursue our traditions unchanged, with 
 faith and hope in our hearts, in the belief that 
 the light will come at last. We have been the 
 teachers of the world for thousands of years, in 
 spite of persecution ; yet, with all our efforts, we 
 are trodden down, now. by the powerful, all over 
 the earth, because we only believe a part of their 
 faith." 
 
 "What could I do?" Moses said, thought- 
 fully. 
 
 " I will buy you a position in the Board of 
 Brokers ; the number of our race which can be 
 admitted there is only twelve, but I can arrange 
 a place for you. If you will work, with your 
 abilities and opportunities, you can make a for- 
 tune and then devote your life to your fellow-men. 
 What soldier's life can be as great as that of the 
 man who marches forth to battle for the good of 
 his race and of mankind; to fight oppression and 
 persecution and suffering ; and, in the place of 
 triumphal arches, to raise schools and colleges ?" 
 
 " I fear I should not be able to accomplish all 
 that!" 
 
 8 
 
114 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 "But the motive of your life," his mother 
 said, softly. "Think of what I told you. Live 
 up to the best in your heart." 
 
 " Our people have made the world nobler and 
 better in all its history," Uncle Moses went on. 
 "Our faith is the corner-stone of the Christian 
 religion ; the laws, the philosophy, the poetry of 
 our books, have left an influence on all mankind 
 and taught them the unity of God, purity of 
 human life, and charity to everyone and yet we 
 are despised. They have put upon us the bonds 
 of slavery; they persecute us when we try to 
 break them, and, after taking away our rights, 
 condemn us, because we do not become great. 
 There is work here for all of us. The task is 
 before you, Moses. Use your life to help your 
 fellow-men, to rescue your race and make the 
 name of Jew known over the world for what he 
 is the most intelligent, industrious and faithful 
 of all men." 
 
 " I know, but I think I am meant for a soldier, 
 somehow." 
 
 " War, as you mean it, at the best, is cruel," 
 said the soft voice of her whom Moses loved so 
 well. " Many things must be done at command 
 that make my heart sick to think of. Whether 
 
THE CHOICE OF A LIFE. 115 
 
 he believes in his country's cause or not, the 
 soldier must fight the same. Battles may he 
 unavoidable, they may be glorious; those who 
 fight them may be good and faithful and pure ! 
 but oh ! the sorrow, the sufferings they bring. If 
 you can only see your life so, it must be that you 
 leave us ; but will you, for the sake of those who 
 love you, who honor you, think w r ell before you 
 choose ?" 
 
 "You know I will, mother." 
 
 <% You have for your motto a very old and 
 homely saying in our family : ' Think and Thank.' 
 Be thoughtful and kind ; be courteous, and, for 
 your star, keep the walls of the Holy City before 
 your eyes." 
 
 "But there have been kind and thoughtful 
 soldiers, whose battles were fought for the welfare 
 of all the generations after them." 
 
 "That is true ; all I ask of you is thought ; to 
 choose the best way to live your life. It will 
 always be a comfort to you to be doing the best 
 you can, in the best way you can. There is one 
 safeguard for us all. Remember, that no one can 
 ever detach himself from his relation to others. 
 His influence will be felt, not alone in the present, 
 but upon the future destiny of the world. The 
 
116 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 responsibility of our lives is in their help or hin- 
 drance to those about us those who come after us." 
 
 His mother put her arms about his neck and 
 kissed him, and he clasped her close to his heart. 
 
 Were his dreams to pass away for ever ? Must 
 he give up the glory of arms ? Should the troops 
 march by, on their way to strange lands, to see 
 strange peoples and fight the battles of his 
 king, and he not be there? Must he crush out 
 the wild longing that beat at his heart, to go into 
 the world and, by the strength that was in him, 
 conquer and subdue the enemies of his country ? 
 
 Sitting so, in the dim light, no one ever knew 
 the struggle that passed over him, between the 
 love for the glorious life he had planned and 
 that set out for him by the stern fates. 
 
 In the silence that followed his mother's words, 
 he listened to a drum, afar off in the streets of the 
 town. It grew fainter and fainter, and, at last, as 
 he strained his ears to catch the dying sounds, he 
 found that what he heard was only the ticking 
 of the clock on the wall. His mother's fair face 
 looked up at him, and he felt her kisses, soft 
 and warm, and gazed into her eyes, deep and 
 true, and filled with a great love for him. 
 
 The fire died away, and only embers glowed 
 
THE END OF A DAY. 117 
 
 on the hearth; the rattle of musketry in his ears 
 ceased, and no army went by, with banners and 
 music the dream of fame passed away with the 
 smoke of the logs that he watched with thoughtful 
 eyes. 
 
 And then Moses made his choice. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 THE END OF A DAY. 
 
 An old man sat in an easy chair, on the lawn 
 of his country-place, and his eyes looked out to 
 the setting sun. 
 
 Spring and Summer had flown away, and 
 Winter was at hand ; when the morrow dawned a 
 hundred years would have passed over his 
 whitened head. He did not notice the autumn 
 flowers, the changing colors of the trees or the 
 waving grass in the meadow. Down in the 
 woods the squirrels and rabbits played as merrily 
 as in days when he had wandered here, his heart 
 full of youth's ambitions, and wild longings to be 
 a soldier and fight the battles of his king. 
 
 He fell to musing. While the warm October 
 air whispered to him, he found himself lingering 
 
118 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 with faltering footsteps over the pathway of his 
 life. 
 
 Though so many days had gone by, what was 
 his reward? 
 
 He was no statesman, holding in his hand the 
 welfare of nations, nor a poet, bearing a wreath 
 of laurels; he wore no gaudy uniform, nor were 
 there any ranks of armed men ready to obey his 
 word of command ; he could not recall the rattle 
 of musketry or the roar of cannon amid conquests 
 on bloody fields of battle the dreams of his 
 youth, as he had dreamed them, had not come 
 true. 
 
 Yet he lived over again perilous adventures 
 by land and sea; in strange countries and amid 
 strange people he stood, once more, before gov- 
 ernors, cardinals, ambassadors, kings or emperors, 
 to wring from them the rights of his race; he 
 suffered, amid scenes of sorrow that almost 
 broke his heart, and marched, without arms or 
 army, in the enemy's country, amid storms and 
 dangers, to the rescue of his down-trodden 
 brethren. Even in his heart, grown placid with 
 the weight of so* many years, these memories of 
 his life stirred up the spirit of old that had called 
 him to the field of war. 
 
THE END OF A DAY. 119 
 
 He had worked for his race with a pride in the 
 glory of their achievements that had made princes 
 bend to him; he had thought, loved and acted 
 according to the faith of his forefathers, the truth 
 and the law; he had done good in all the ways 
 that life offered to him, and thousands whom he 
 had freed from persecution, lifted up their voices 
 in prayer to him, while colleges and hospitals 
 that he had erected were monuments to many 
 busy years of toil. 
 
 He felt the touch of the sword which had 
 knighted him for work done in the cause of 
 humanity ; and upon his forehead rested the 
 crown of good deeds. 
 
 And then he knew it was no dream, for in his 
 hands were messages from many lands and peo- 
 ples of the world, that told him of the reverence 
 he had won not from his own race alone, but 
 from those who, in the days of his youth, had 
 counted all men of his nation as enemies. 
 
 The times were changed since then. 
 
 Those who had been forbidden to follow any 
 but the limited pathways of trade, now were set 
 at liberty to achieve success on such broad 
 avenues as they might please; then, they were 
 slaves, to be beaten to earth and condemned 
 
120 THINK AND THANK. 
 
 because they did not climb the heights of fame; 
 now they were free among men to work out their 
 destinies, according to the truth that was in their 
 hearts. 
 
 Moses Montefiore was glad and murmured a 
 prayer and thanksgiving that God had been 
 gracious to him and granted him power to do 
 good to those who suffered and were oppressed ; 
 and he saw how small must have been his con- 
 quests under the banner of arms, compared to the 
 victories for his race that had been given into 
 his hands, as a soldier in a greater cause. 
 
 The sun set in a mass of cloud, gleaming with 
 a thousand rays of crimson and purple and gold, 
 and a bright light shone over the world ; there 
 fell a great peace upon the old man's heart, as he 
 watched the radiance of the day pass away; and 
 he saw that night was at hand, and he was 
 weary and dreamed he heard his mother's voice 
 calling him, and he longed only to lie down and 
 rest. 
 
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