07.02.00. A Modern Prodigal
PART II. A MODERN PRODIGAL
1. His First Bad Habits
2. Away To School
3. Breaking The Rules
4. Leaving School
5. Back Home
6. In School Again
7. Back To The Wall
8. On The Road
9. Christmas
10. The Blizzard
11. A Kind Operator
12. New Year
13. A Real Mother
14. Thinking Back
15. The River Road
16. A Boy And His Dog
17. Home Again
18. The Old Kitchen
19. Looking For Trouble
20. The Pig In The Parlor
21. Nearly Killed
22. A Sister Comes Home
23. Keeping A Promise
24. A Song In The Night
25. The Elder Brother
26. Leaving Home
27. The End Of The Trail
28. The Testimony Meeting
29. The Invitation
30. Will He Stick?
31. Back To School
32. Enters Evangelistic Work PART II. A MODERN PRODIGAL The second prodigal is the story of a young man of our own day. This also is a true story. We do not know the name of the ancient Prodigal, the record does not say, but the name of the modern prodigal whose story we wish to give you, was Todd. This was a pet name his mother gave him when a child, and sometimes when she wished to speak to him in a more loving way, she called him Possum-Todd.
Todd was born on a farm in a Southern State. He was the youngest of eight children, and the one next to him was nine years his senior. There was nothing eventful in his child life to make him different from other children, and he was greatly loved by those brothers and sisters who were yet at home.
Todd’s home, though poor and located seventy-five miles from the railroad, was, nevertheless, a Christian home. a place where prayer was wont to be made and where the family Bible held preeminence over the newspaper and the mail-order catalog. One of the first things Todd learned at his mother’s knee was the story of Jesus, the babe born in a manger; the little boy who was lost; the young man from Nazareth who was so unappreciated and misunderstood; the wonderful life that he lived, the death that he died, his resurrection and ascension into heaven fromwhence he would some day return to gather those who had lived for him to be forever his own.
These truths were so implanted in his boyish heart and mind, that skepticism was never able to uproot them. When he was five years of age his father sold out the old homestead and moved west to the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). The country was new, advantages few and the ways of men were wild and rough. It was on this trip, made in the old farm wagon pulled by two horses, that Todd saw his first train. After more than three weary weeks of travel (a trip which can now be made by auto in one day) the journey was ended and the family settled in a small two room log cabin. The country was mostly an open range, the farms were small and far between, the neighbors few and opportunities for schooling pitifully meager. He had but few toys but as soon as he was old enough he was given a horse and saddle, a dog and a gun. Small game was plentiful and he had a good time riding and hunting.
One day when Todd had ridden his pony, a two year old colt, down to the country store and post office a mile from his home, a man gave him a beautiful black dog. He was very proud of it, so he took one of his bridle reins, tied it around the dog’s neck, and tied the other end of the rein to his saddle horn. He turned his pony loose for a moment and it started to walk away; the dog pulled back which frightened the pony and away it ran toward home dragging the dog. Todd followed as fast as he could. When the pony had run about half way home the rein broke releasing the dog but when Todd reached him he was dead. He hurried on home and found his pony safe, but his beautiful dog was gone. When he was six years of age he started to school in a small one room log school house which bore the high sounding name of "Red Mud," christened such bemuse the cracks were daubed with red clay. An opening was sawed in either side of the building for windows with wooden shutters and leather hinges. The seats were made of the plainest boards and some were without backs. His first school book was the old blue back speller like the one his parents had used more than forty years before. School lasted only three months, each student paying one dollar per month for its support.
Todd’s brothers and sisters were in many ways model young men and women, having no bad habits, never swearing, drinking or using tobacco in any way. They were always obedient to their parents, but Todd was different. Whether the difference was due to the fact that being the youngest he was indulged more than the others, will never be known. At any rate he seemed born with a wild and reckless nature, and while from his earliest recollection he was ambitious, and really wanted to make his mark in the world, this pull in the wrong direction throttled his ambitions and caused him to make a long, black, crooked mark instead.