"Say Fellows--" Part 1

"Say Fellows--"

by Wade C. Smith.

Introduction

"My teacher told me to write a composition on the last picture I looked at," said Henry, a sixth grader, when he came in from school the other day. "I had seen a picture of a fire engine," he added, "so I wrote:

"'With a clatter of hoofs and a whirr of wheels, the fire engine dashed around the corner. The driver was crouched low in the seat. He was driving like Jehu.'

"But I could not spell Jehu, so I went to my teacher and asked, 'Please, how do you spell Jehu?'

"'Spell what, Henry?'

"'Jehu.'

"'What in the world are you trying to say, boy?'

"'I am trying to tell how fast a fire engine driver goes--as fast as a chariot driver in the time of King David, I think it was.'

"'Well, Henry, I think you had better say the engine driver drove as fast as an ancient charioteer.'"

"And did you?" I asked.

"No, sir; I said, 'he was driving like mad.'"

It is plain that this grammar-school teacher had never heard of the Bible character who had interested her pupil, but the author of this book knows how to spell "Jehu" to a questioning boy, or to a "gang" of boys, or to a Sunday-school cla.s.s of boys.

Is there any boy who does not have a motor in his mind? A writer of a method article in a recent issue of _The Sunday School Times_ related an incident of a chap whom he described as "a motor-minded boy." He said that he was sitting on top of a school desk at recess, kicking back with his heels, and when asked what he was thinking about, replied: "I was wondering, if my legs were horses, how fast they would go!"

It was with a realization of the fact that when a cla.s.s of Sunday-school boys a.s.sembles, their instinct is of one accord to turn their legs into horses and to drive them as Jehu drove his pair of Arabs, that our paper requested Wade Smith to take charge of its Lesson Help for boys' cla.s.ses. The management realized the truth of the statement of Dr. Walter W. Moore, President of Union Theological Seminary at Richmond, Va., when he said that Mr. Smith was the most versatile man whom he ever knew.

Although Mr. Smith was already contributing to its columns "The Little Jetts Teaching the Sunday-school Lesson," he was asked also to undertake the difficult but important task of writing the lessons for teachers of, and students in, boys' cla.s.ses. His highly acceptable performance of this work is but another evidence of his versatility.

Out of his own richly eventful and happy boyhood, as well as his experience as a Christian father and a lifelong student of boys, small and grown up, Mr. Smith wrote the chapters of this book. They appeared week by week under the t.i.tle of "Say, Fellows--" Letters from our readers have testified to their helpfulness. The writer of this Introduction teaches two Sunday-school cla.s.ses--one composed of his two boys in their home preparation for Sunday school, and the other an Adult Men's cla.s.s in the church to which he belongs. When his own boys have finished studying their lesson in their Quarterlies, they almost invariably come to their father and say, "Now read us what Mr. Smith says, and then we will be ready for the lesson."

On two occasions I recall introducing the lesson to my adult cla.s.s by recounting Mr. Smith's striking stories out of his own experience about the boy who was drowned and restored to life, ill.u.s.trating the Resurrection Lesson (See page 60), and of his first and last deer hunt (See page 76), and both times the attention of the men was gripped in an unusual way by these remarkable incidents. No doubt, hundreds of teachers have had similar experiences in making use of Mr. Smith's ill.u.s.trations.

So great has been the helpfulness of the "Say, Fellows--" lessons that the demand has come for their publication in the delightful book form in which they now appear. In expressing my own pleasure that these lesson treatments, having served their immediate purpose, are now to be rescued from yellowing files and preserved under the covers of a book, I am but voicing the hearty sentiment of the entire staff of the paper.

May G.o.d's rich blessing rest upon the pages of this book as it takes a deserved place in the libraries of lovers of Motor-minded, Jehu-driving boys.

HOWARD A. BANKS, _a.s.sociate Editor "The Sunday School Times."

Philadelphia, Pa._

Contents

1. BUILDING 13

2. WORK 16

3. INVISIBLE! 19

4. MR. ALMOST 22

5. FIs.h.i.+NG 25

6. SHOWING OFF 28

7. KEEPING FIT 31

8. QUESTIONING 34

9. LOYALTY 37

10. A GOOD SPORT 40

11. FEASTING 44

12. STEWARDs.h.i.+P 47

13. TALENTS 50

14. FIGHTING 54

15. DRIFTING 57

16. RESURRECTION 60

17. KNOWING HOW 63

18. FRIENDs.h.i.+P 66

19. ALABASTER 69

20. TELLING IT 72

21. READY! 76

22. REMEMBERING 79

23. GETTING EVEN 82

24. GREATNESS 85