CHAPTER IV
THE sun rose upon a tranquil world, and beamed down upon the peaceful village like a benediction.
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Breakfast over, Aunt Polly had family worship: it began with a prayer built from the ground up of solid courses of Scriptural quotations, welded together with a thin mortar of originality; and from the summit of this she delivered a grim chapter of the Mosaic Law, as from Sinai.
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Then Tom girded up his loins, so to speak, and went to work to "get his verses." Sid had learned his lesson days before.
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Tom bent all his energies to the memorizing of five verses, and he chose part of the Sermon on the Mount, because he could find no verses that were shorter.
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At the end of half an hour Tom had a vague general idea of his lesson, but no more, for his mind was traversing the whole field of human thought, and his hands were busy with distracting recreations.
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Mary took his book to hear him recite, and he tried to find his way through the fog:
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"Blessed are the-a-a-"
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"Yes-poor; blessed are the poor-a-a-"
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"In spirit-"
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"In spirit; blessed are the poor in spirit, for they-they-"
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"For theirs. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they-they-"
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"For they-a-"
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"For they S, H-Oh, I don't know what it is!"
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"Oh, shall! for they shall-for they shall-a-a-shall mourn-a-a-blessed are they that shall-they that-a-they that shall mourn, for they shall-a-shall what? Why don't you tell me, Mary?-what do you want to be so mean for?"
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"Oh, Tom, you poor thick-headed thing, I'm not teasing you. I wouldn't do that. You must go and learn it again. Don't you be discouraged, Tom, you'll manage it-and if you do, I'll give you something ever so nice. There, now, that's a good boy."
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"All right! What is it, Mary, tell me what it is."
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"Never you mind, Tom. You know if I say it's nice, it is nice."
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"You bet you that's so, Mary. All right, I'll tackle it again."
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