His aunt had required him, from the time when he was
proficient enough to do so, to read at least a part of a chapter
in the Bible every night. Beginning with Genesis he had reached
Leviticus and had made up his mind that the Bible was a much more
difficult book than "Scottish Chiefs," not withstanding the fact
that Ivory helped him over most of the hard places. At the
present juncture he was vastly interested in the subject of
"rods" as unfolded in the book of Exodus, which was being studied
by his Sunday-School class. What added to the excitement was the
fact that his uncle's Christian name, Aaron, kept appearing in
the chronicle, as frequently as that of the great lawgiver Moses
himself; and there were many verses about the wonder-working rods
of Moses and Aaron that had a strange effect upon the boy's ear,
when he read them aloud, as he loved to do whenever he was left
alone for a time. When his aunt was in the room his instinct kept
him from doing this, for the mere mention of the name of Aaron,
he feared, might sadden his aunt and provoke in her that
dangerous vein of reminiscence that made Ivory so anxious.
"It kind o' makes me nervous to be named 'Rod,' Aunt Boynton,"
said the boy, looking up from the Bible.
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