That Sunday as the congregation dribbled into church much amusement and some pleasure was felt at the sight of the grave-faced little boy in a spotless sailor suit who stood upright as a dart upon a chair ringing the bell with care and precision, pink with the importance of his mission.
A nod from Tom as he came out of the tiny vestry in his robes told him when to stop, and he climbed down to the floor, tied up the rope so that no one should play with it, and crept to his place by Aunt Betty's side.
"He won't find it dull any more now he has his own work to do," thought Tom at the end of service, and Tom was right.
There was no keener churchman in the township than little Jack.
CHAPTER VI
MINISTERING CHILDREN
Jack's life seemed full of happenings at present, but the greatest of them was the advent of the bush brother. There was really more to tell father than the page of ruled copy-book paper upon which his weekly letter was written could compass. With the stimulus of that weekly letter his writing progressed by leaps and bounds, and expression did not seem so difficult when Aunt Betty told him to try and put down on paper the very things he would just say to father were he there to talk to, but it must be owned that the spelling, even with constant prompting from Aunt Betty left much to be desired.
"ive a chum a little gurl not so big as me we dus lesuns at wunce, but she nos nothin but her letters."
Then a few weeks later:
"a man has cum a parsun, but not like ours hes a bush bruther and hes tort me ring the bell so now I go quite erly to church on sunday and ring quite regler."