18 BOYS OF THE BIBLE.

“Good to make men of!—Excellent! —Excellent! So may it
be! The angel that redeemed me from all evil bless the
lads.”

The birthday party was a grand success. The young
fishermen were out very early, and they returned well-laden
with the spoils of the river, as was proved when the fish they
caught formed quite an ample part of the evening’s feast.
The boating in the afternoon was enchanting; a gentle breeze
made the river cool. In the evening quite a large party
gathered; the Chinese lanterns made the garden look quite
romantic. A little before ten o’clock Dr. Amos Sutton made
a little congratulatory speech, and told in quite a pleasant way
the story of the morning’s talk with the boys under Wilson’s
maple tree, and wound up by saying that truthful, honest,
earnest boys were the only materials out of which it was pos-
sible to make upright, honest, godly men.

* * x * *

How the years have come and gone since the night of
that birthday party! For full twenty years Dr. Sutton has
been in his quiet grave in the church-yard on Enderby hill.
Dead—and yet ever living in the tender memories of those
who knew and loved him!

What of the five boys who met that July morning long
ago, and rested under the shade of Wilson’s big maple? What
sort of answers did their lives give to Dr. Sutton’s conundrum?
Two of them gave their lives for the land they loved so well.
In the hour of her peril they went forth to fight for her flag.
One was shot dead at Gettysburg; the other died of wounds
in the Wilderness; the third of that group is a judge in one
of our Western courts; the fourth is engaged in the service
of our public schools, and the last has spent many happy years