Two Great Gentlemen

Fleming was a kind and hard-working farmer who was liked by one and all. One day he heard a cry for help coming from a distance and immediately ran to see who was in distress. He was shocked to find a young boy frantically waving his hand, crying for help as he was stuck waist-high in a pond of

quicksand. Fleming knew that the boy was slowly sinking into the sand. He acted quickly by tying a rope on one end to a tree and the other end around his waist. He went close to the boy and gave him his hand and started pulling him out all the while shouting for help.

Passers-by ran to help the courageous farmer who was risking his life to save the little boys life. The boy was then taken indoors, given a wash, fed and made to wear fresh clothes. Fleming then asked the boy for his address and sent him home with a servant.

The next morning a well-dressed man arrived in a beautiful carriage and knocked on Fleming’s door. The gentleman introduced himself as the father of the little boy who Fleming had saved the previous afternoon. He thanked Fleming profusely and offered to help Fleming in any way he wanted as a token of his gratitude. 

Fleming told the stranger that he had not done anything extraordinary and it was his duty to save a life. Just then " Fleming’s son ran into the house. The gentleman immediately told Fleming that he would like to fund the boy’s education. 

“Let him opt for any course that he wishes to study. I will bear all the expenses. Am sure with such a fine father, he will grow up to be a fine young man”, the gentleman said.

After a lot of convincing Fleming agreed to the idea. Fleming’s son was brilliant in academics and attended the best schools and graduated in medicine and went on to win the prestigious Nobel Prize for discovering Penicillin. He was none other than Sir Alexander Fleming.

Many years later the gentleman’s son was stricken with pneumonia and he was saved from certain death by administering Penicillin. And the person whom Alexander saved was none other than the great statesman Sir Winston Churchill. And the gentleman who paid for his education was Lord Randolph Churchill.