like a hook; explaining to me that he was going to dig for worms to put
upon it, that he might fish. I shook my head, saying, "No." Jack nodded
his head, and said "Yes." I said "bad;" Jack said "good;" and then I
took up his little red hand, and pretended I was going to run the hook
through the flesh. He snatched it away in a fright, saying "Bad, bad!"
but I nodded, and said "Good, good!" He said, "Bad Mam, hurt Jack!" and
I answered, "Bad Jack, hurt worm: God made Jack--God made worm." He
shook his head, and said, "No;" and what do you think was the reason he
gave? He reminded me that God is high up above, and that the worms come
from below, under the ground. The little fellow did not know that the
world is round; he thought it was flat: still less did he then
understand that God is everywhere, and made all things, above and
beneath. Then I told him that the Lord did so; and that worms and other
things were put into the earth by him, even as we were made to walk upon
its surface. Jack considered a little; and then said the worms were
rolled up in the world as apples were in a dumpling, and that they eat
their way through the crust. It was an odd idea, and made me smile; on
which he said, "Good," and told me he would fish with a piece of meat or
bread for a bait.

[Illustration: THE TADPOLE OR YOUNG FROG.]

Next morning, Jack came to me, and after reminding me of this, he asked
me if God also made the little newts, tadpoles, and frogs, and other
things that he had seen in the muddy ditches? I replied, "Yes, all."
"Did God make fishes?" "Oh yes," I answered, "he made fishes and every
thing." Then, in a very lively manner, he made me understand, that if
God did not like to have him hurt the worms, neither would he like to
have him hurt the fish. "Poor fish!" he said, showing me how its mouth
would be torn by the hook; and then, to my surprise, he got a small