Finally we resorted to unfair tactics. We put red pepper under our rooster's wings. As he flew up to strike Grandpa's rooster the red pepper got in his opponent's eyes. I will never forget the expression of amazement on Grandpa's face when his rooster showed his coward feathers and ran. He couldn't understand it. When our rooster was left conqueror, Grandpa still looked thoughtful and puzzled. Finally he caught our rooster and discovered the trick. We literally had to run for our lives, and for over a month we did not dare expose ourselves to his unforgiving anger. After a long while we got into his good graces again by humble expressions of repentance and he forgave us, conditionally, and we were f riends again. What a dissertation he gave us on honor and fair play; it is unforgettable. Grandfather had a peculiar insight into the precepts of the Bible and the gift of applying them to practical life. He lectured to boys on political and religious subjects as if they were grown men. He attended church regularly and required everybody else in his family to go, and he spent the balance of the week evaluating and sometimes criticizing, not always unfavorably, the preacher's sermon. He had a great contempt for hypocrisy and what he called misinterpretation of the scripture, and heartily despised theological dogma and senseless church rules. After Parker and I worked with him, in his gunsmith shop, listening to his lectures, I learned to love and get a fair insight in Bible teachings from him. At noon he would throw down his tools and discontinue his discourse for the dinner hour had come, which we had been really waiting for. When he heard grandmother grinding the coffee he quit work, for he knew that was the last act in preparation of the meal. We liked to dine with him because he treated us as grown-ups, permitting us to eat whatever and as much as we wanted to. Grandmother sat at
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