Mr. Clay looked inquiringly, and said: "You don't understand me. I came to see you about that debt which I am owing the bank."
"You don't owe us anything."
"Why! how am I to understand you?"
"A number of your friends have contributed and paid off that debt, and you do not owe this bank one dollar."
Tears rushed to Mr. Clay's eyes, and, unable to speak, he turned and walked out of the bank.
(1720)
In my journal of Friday evening, July 3, 1863, I made the following note, "At eight o'clock this morning hundreds of rebels were seen standing on their fortifications. Both armies laid down their arms. About noon I went with part of my company (H. 33d Wis.) near the enemy's fort, which was hardly more than 200 yards from our line, and there the blue and the gray chatted pleasantly for a full hour. The meeting was so unrestrained and amicable as to make the scene exceedingly interesting and touching as well. My boys gave the contents of their haversacks to the rebels whom they had been fighting for nearly forty days and nights, and the defenders of the city deeply appreciated the kindness."—Nicholas Smith, "Grant, the Man of Mystery."
(1721)
See Friend, A True; Preservation;
Training Children.
KINDNESS OF THE POOR
A touching story of how the poor help one
another comes from one of the Claremont
Crusaders. A man, destitute and homeless,
had been found by him shivering on the
Thames embankment. He gave him a ticket
which would provide a night's shelter at
Medland Hall. An hour or two later the
man ran up to the Crusader. "I have just
done a job," he said, "for which I earned
sixpence. Take this ticket back. It will help
some other chap."
(1722)
Kindness, Oil of—See Lubrication, Effective; Sunshine.
Kindness Rewarded—See Recompense
for Kindness.
KINDNESS STIMULATING DEVOTION
In Mrs. Pickett's memoirs of her husband, General George E. Pickett, of the Confederate Army, she relates this incident:
As my Soldier was riding toward Sailor's
Creek, a woman ran out of a house and
handed him something to eat. He carried
it in his hand as he rode on. Presently he
came upon a soldier lying behind a log, and
spoke to him. The man looked up, revealing
a boyish face, scarcely more than a child's—thin
and pale.
"What's the matter?" asked my Soldier.
"I'm starving, General," the boy replied. "I couldn't help it. I couldn't keep up, so I just lay down here to die."
"Take this," handing the boy his luncheon; "and when you have eaten it and rested, go on back home. It would only waste another life for you to go on."
The boy took the food eagerly, but replied: "No, Marse George. If I get strength enough to go at all, I'll follow you to the last."
He did, for he was killed a few days later at Sailor's Creek.
(1723)
KINDNESS, THE POWER OF
"Provo Canyon" is one of those grandly
picturesque mountain ravines which abound
in Utah. In the solitude and sublimity of
this cañon a mountaineer named W. W.
Ferguson lived a hermit's life. In the winter
months his log-cabin was, in consequence of
the deep snow, shut entirely out from intercourse
with human beings. But he was not
companionless, this mountain man—for he
made friends with the wild animals and birds.
He was their friend and they grew fond of
him. They learned to recognize his voice,
and not to be afraid at his approach. They
would eat food from his hands, the pigeons
and magpies flying from afar when he called
them—the little squirrels playing about him
like tame kittens.
A year ago a New York gentleman, on a pleasure trip, called at Mr. Ferguson's cabin, and seeing the mountaineer with his bird and animal friends on such good terms, said:
"My friend, you have some power—some charm which these creatures obey. If you will tell me the secret I will give you a hundred dollars."
The hermit, smiling, assured the traveler that the only secret was the kindness with which he always treated them. "They have learned," he said, "that I am their friend, and I have never betrayed their friendship."
(1724)
KINDNESS TO ANIMALS
In the woods near Walden Pond, Henry
D. Thoreau built a house. It was a surprize
to the raccoons and squirrels in the woods,
