"What was the cause of this young man's failure?" reiterated the
preacher. The preacher had a wholesome belief in the value of
reiteration. He had a habit of rubbing in his points. "He blamed the
boss. Listen to his impudence! 'I knew thee to be a hard man.' He blamed
his own temperament and disposition. 'I was afraid.' But the boss brings
him up sharp and short. 'Quit lying!' he said. 'I'll tell you what's
wrong with you. You've got a mean heart, you ain't honest, and you're
too lazy to live. Here, take that money from him and give it to the man
that can do most with it, and take this useless loafer out of my sight.'
And served him right, too, say I, impudent, lazy liar."
Cameron found his mind rising in wrathful defense of the unhappy
wretched failure in the story. But the preacher was utterly relentless
and proceeded to enlarge upon the character of the unhappy wretch.
"Impudent! The way to tell an impudent man is to let him talk. Now
listen to this man cheek the boss! 'I knew you,' he said. 'You skin
everybody in sight.' I have always noticed," remarked the preacher, with
a twinkle in his eye, "that the hired man who can't keep up his end is
the kind that cheeks the boss. And so it is with life. Why, some men
would cheek Almighty God. They turn right round and face the other way
when God is explaining things to them, when He is persuading them, when
He is trying to help them.
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