Dime Story

We tell a tale, ’tis all in rhyme,
To show how boy earned a dime:
A parson who his flock did feed,
On written sermons he did read.

One day at top of pulpit stair
He was thrown into despair,
For he had forgot his paper,
And his thoughts were but as vapor.

But fortunate his own dear wife,
Who often soothed his ills in life.
She found sermon on the table,
And found a boy who was able

To deliver it in good time,
By promising to give him dime.
The boy to church did quickly run,
And he the dime then fairly won.

So he went back to parsonage
And demanded then his wage;
The wife she asked the little vermin
If he had delivered sermon.

Said he, “My contract I did cover,
I gave it to parson to deliver,
And he delivers it with feeling.
And the poor folks’ hearts he’s healing.”