When “the crowd” was with us The Pilot read us all sorts of tales of adventures in all lands by heroes of all ages, but when we three sat together by our fire The Pilot would always read us tales of the heroes of sacred story, and these delighted Bill more than those of any of the ancient empires of the past. He had his favorites. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, never failed to arouse his admiration. But Jacob was to him always “a mean cuss,” and David he could not appreciate. Most of all he admired Moses and the Apostle Paul, whom he called “that little chap.” But, when the reading was about the One Great Man that moved majestic amid the gospel stories, Bill made no comments; He was too high for approval.
By and by Bill began to tell these tales to the boys, and one night, when a quiet mood had fallen upon the company, Bill broke the silence.
“Say, Pilot, where was it that the little chap got mixed up into that riot?”
“Riot!” said The Pilot.
“Yes; you remember when he stood off the whole gang from the stairs?”
“Oh, yes, at Jerusalem!”
“Yes, that’s the spot. Perhaps you would read that to the boys. Good yarn! Little chap, you know, stood up and told ‘em they were all sorts of blanked thieves and cut-throats, and stood ‘em off. Played it alone, too.”
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