A new Mayor was elected and a huge function was to be held in the Town Hall to celebrate.
The new Mayor was Mr Jenkins whose father had been the village blacksmith. He used to make farming tools and shoe the horses for everyone in the village. Young Wilfred Jenkins had learnt the trade too before he went to college to read law. Now Wilfred was the Mayor.
The guests began to come in and slowly the hall filled up. Many people came up to Mr Jenkins, wished him and congratulated him. He met everyone, shook hands and greeted all the guests present there.
Mrs Logan had been watching the new Mayor receiving his guests and there was a flame of anger in her heart. Old Jenkins used to work in a shed on her farm shoeing the horses and doing other heavy work. And here was his son being treated with so much respect and reverence, as the new Mayor!
People began to take their places as some people went up to the table on the dais. Mrs Logan saw that Wilfred Jenkins was seated at the centre, the place of honour.
A lot of people with mikes and little notebooks rushed to the front. They were the reporters and the journalists who would write about all this in the newspapers and the magazines. The Mayor was being asked questions. Some people were sending up questions written on the pieces of paper too.
Mrs Logan wrote down a question and sent it too. Mr Jenkins read aloud each question and then answered it.
He got Mrs Logan’s question too. He read it through carefully and looked around. It did not take him long to see Mrs Logan sitting there with a smile on her face.
“Your father was the village blacksmith, Mr Jenkins. He shod our horses, repaired wheels and made tools for our farms. I hope you will remember that always.”
“My father was the village blacksmith,” said the Mayor, “He used to run his workshop in Mrs Logan’s shed. He taught me how to shoe horses, repair wheels and make farm tools. I can still do all those things. But he also taught me how to read, sent me to school and college, and made me work very hard. I am very proud of my father. I hope I have all the qualities that my father taught me.”
People clapped and cheered. Mrs Logan’s face was red. Her effort to shame Mr Jenkins had failed miserably.
Moral: Humble beginning can bring about great results.
