Chapter X: Part 10

Thus Bono went on overflowing with kindness the whole world. The good brook ran among the vineyards, and the grapes hung in rich clusters; it ran through the fields, and the grass turned to deeper green; the trees said, “He waters us; let us shadow him.” The great oaks and sycamores bent kindly over the brook, and their branches screened it from the heat of the sun. The shepherds often wanted wood, but they said: “Let us not cut down the trees that shade the brook, for it is a good brook. It turns our mills and waters our fields and flocks. God be thanked for the running water!” Thus the brook that worked for everybody was loved and protected. It grew larger and ran in the Guadalquiver, and there helped to water larger fields and turn larger machinery; it ran to the ocean and foamed beneath the keel of mighty ships and was diffused over the whole universe of God. It sent up so many vapors to heaven that they returned in plentiful showers bringing back more than they carried. Thus the brook that watered, not expecting any thanks or profit, but because it was duty, was loved and blessed.

But how fared it with Malo who had retired into himself to take care of himself and left his channel dry and dusty? For a while he had more water than he knew what to do with. He was obliged to work night and day raising his banks to keep it in. He labored a great deal harder to keep the waters from breaking out and doing good to some one, watering some poor man’s perishing crops, than he ever did before in watering and fertilizing a whole province. Meanwhile, in the plains below, the grass withered, the mill stopped, the flocks died, the shepherds cursed the brook, and some of them cursed God. But Malo said: “Let them curse. I’m for myself. I’ve water enough.” But by and by a fire at which some shepherds were cooking their dinner got away from them, and the wind being high ran up the dry bed of the brook in the withered grass and dry leaves, and burnt up the forest on the sides of the hill that fed the pond and all the trees that shaded it. The sun, then pouring in with meridian heat, began to shrink the waters. There being little motion in them since they had ceased to run, they putrefied and the fish perished. Snakes, lizards, and all vile creatures came to live there. Instead of flowers and foliage, bullrushes, reeds, and the deadly aconite grew there. As the waters grew less and less fewer vapors went up from it and less rain came down. After a while it mantled over with a green scum, and malaria began to rise from it. People began to die in the neighborhood; malaria got among the soldiers in a garrison near by, and the doctors said, “It is the pond; it must be drained.” Then all the country round about and the soldiers came together and drained it dry, and brought down earth and rocks from the mountain, and filled up the bed of the lake that there might be no more stagnant water.

Thus it fell out to the brook that was determined to benefit only itself. It lost all. It had both God and man to fight against. For if men are not always grateful, they are not often slack in repaying injuries. Let us follow the example of the industrious brook, and by it learn in blessing to be blessed.

A COMPLETE LIST OF ELIJAH KELLOGG’S BOOKS

[With the exception of “Norman Cline,” all these books are published by Lee and Shepard, Boston. “Norman Cline” is published by the Congregational Sunday-school and Publishing Society, Boston.]

Good Old Times; or Grandfather’s Struggle for a Homestead. First published as a serial story in _Our Young Folks_ in 1867; published in book form in 1878.

Norman Cline. 1869.

ELM ISLAND STORIES

Lion Ben of Elm Island. 1869.

Charlie Bell, the Waif of Elm Island. 1869.

The Ark of Elm Island. 1869.

The Boy Farmers of Elm Island. 1869.

The Young Ship-Builders of Elm Island. 1870.

The Hard-Scrabble of Elm Island. 1870.

THE PLEASANT COVE SERIES

Arthur Brown the Young Captain. 1870.

The Young Deliverers of Pleasant Cove. 1871.

The Cruise of the Casco. 1871.

The Child of the Island Glen. 1872.

John Godsoe’s Legacy. 1873.

The Fisher-Boys of Pleasant Cove. 1874.

THE WHISPERING PINE SERIES

The Spark of Genius; or the College Life of James Trafton. 1871.

The Sophomores of Radcliffe; or James Trafton and his Bosom Friends. 1872.

The Whispering Pine; or the Graduates of Radcliffe Hall. 1872.

Winning his Spurs; or Henry Morton’s First Trial. 1872.

The Turning of the Tide; or Radcliffe Rich and his Friends. 1873.

A Stout Heart; or The Student from over the Sea. 1873.

FOREST GLEN SERIES

Sowed by the Wind; or The Poor Boy’s Fortune. 1874.

Wolf Run; or The Boys of the Wilderness. 1875.

Brought to the Front; or The Young Defenders. 1876.

The Mission of Black Rifle; or On the Trail. 1876.

Forest Glen; or The Mohawk’s Friendship. 1877.

Burying the Hatchet; or the Young Brave of the Delawares. 1878.

THE GOOD OLD TIMES SERIES

(Including “Good Old Times,” first mentioned above.)

A Strong Arm and a Mother’s Blessing. 1881.

The Unseen Hand; or James Renfew and his Helpers. 1882.

The Live Oak Boys; or The Adventures of Richard Constable Afloat and Ashore. 1883.

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Transcriber's Notes

Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations in hyphenation, spelling and punctuation remain unchanged.

The duplication of the title immediately before the frontispiece has been removed.

Repetition of the sidenote “Journal” on each page of the section devoted to the Journal has been removed.

Italics are represented thus _italic_.