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The act, on the part of the man, was one of spontaneous kindness, and scarcely thought of again; but, by the child, it was never forgotten
Years went by, and through toil, privation, and suffering, both in holy and mind, the boy grew up to manhood. From ordeals like this, come forth our most effective men. It kept free from vicious associates, the lad of feeling and mental activity, becomes ambitious, and rises in society above the common level. So it proved iu the case of this orphan boy. He had few advantages of education, but such as offered were well improved. It happened that his lot was cast in a printing office, and the young compositor soon became interested in his work. He did not set the types as a mere mechanic, but went beyond the duties of his calling, entering into the ideas to which he was giving verbal expression, and making them his own. At twenty-one he was a young man of more than ordinary intelligence and force of character. At thirty-five he was the conductor of a widely-circulated and profitable newspaper, and as a man respected and esteemed by all who knew him.
During the earnest struggle that all men enter into who are ambitious to rise in the world, the thoughts do not often go back and rest meditatively upon the earlier time of life. But after success has crowned each well directed effort, and the gaining of a desired position no longer remains a ⟨subject⟩ of doubt, the mind often brings up from the far-off past most vivid recollections of incidents and impressions that were painful or pleasurable at the time, and which are now oen to have had an influence, more or less decided, upon ⟨the⟩ whole after life. In this state of reflection sat one day ⟨the⟩ man we have here introduced. After musing for a long ⟨time⟩, deeply abstracted, he took up his pen aud wrote hastily; ⟨and⟩ these were the sentences he traced upon the paper that ⟨lay⟩ before him:
"How indelibly does a little act of kindness, performed
