People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 November 1895 — A Hard Old Brick. [ARTICLE]

A Hard Old Brick.

"What is this place?” “This, my child, Is a brickyard.” “Whose brickyard Is this?” “Oh, It belongs to me.” “Do these big plies of brick belong to you, pa?" "Yes.” “Do those dirty men belong to you, too, pa?” “No, there is no slavery in this country, those are free men.” "What makes them work so hard?" "They are working for a living.” "Why do they work so a living?” “Because they are poor and are obliged to work.”

“How is it they are so poor when they work so hard?” “I don’t know.” “Don’t somebody steal what they own?” “No, my child. What makes you ask such ridiculous questions?” “I thought perhaps some of that dirty clay got in their eyes and blinded them. But pa, don’t the bricks belong to them after they have made them?” “■No; they belong to me.” "What are bricks made of?” “Clay.” "What! That dirt I see doWn there?” “Yes, nothing else.” “Who does the dirt belong to?” “It belongs to me.” “Did you make the dirt, pa?” “No, my child, God made it.” “Did he make it for you specially?” “No, I bought it.” “Bought it of God?” “I bought it like I buy anything else.” “Did the man you bought it of buy it of God?” “I don’t know; ask me something easy.” “Anyway, it’s a good thing you’ve got the land, isn’t it, pa?” “Why, my son?” "Because you’d have to make bracks for a living, like those hoi rid men. Shall I have to work for a living when I’m a man?” “No, my boy. I’ll leave the land when I die.” “Don’t people turn into clay when they are dead?” “What remains of them is clay.” ■ “When are you going to die, pa?” “I don’t know. Why do you ask?” “Oh, because; I was only thinking what a tough old brick your clay would make.”—Ex.