With a long sigh he laid down the finely written sheet and took from the
sheaf the two papers she had spoken of. Then while the gale roared without
and shook his window, and while the bust of John Calvin looked down at him
from the book-case at his back, he followed his two grandsons on their
first incursion into the domain of speculative theology.

He took first the paper of the older boy, painfully elaborated with heavy,
intricate capitals and headed "Elisha and the Wicked Children--by Mr.
Allan Delcher Linford, Esquire, aged nine years and six months."

* * * * *

"This lesson," it began, "is to teach us to love God and the prophets or
else we will likely get into trouble. It says Elisha went up from Bethel
and some children came out of the city and said go up thou Baldhead.
They said it Twice one after the other and so Elisha got mad right away
and turned around and cursed them good in the name of the Lord and so 2
She Bears come along and et up 42 of them for Elisha was a holy prophet of
God and had not ought to of been yelled at. So of course the mothers would
Take on very much When they found their 42 Children et up but I think that
we had ought to learn from this that these 42 Little ones was not the
Elected. It says in our catchism God having out of his mere good pleasure
elected some to everlasting life. Now God being a Presbiterian would know
these 42 little ones had not been elected so they might as well be et up
by bears as anything else to show forth his honour and glory Forever Amen.
It should teach a Boy to be mighty carful about kidding old men unless he
is a Presbiterian. I spelled every word in this right.

"Mr. Allan Delcher Linford."