Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1843-05-26
From Grahan,'s Magazine.
A OUR LID.9.
OR THE MOCK MARIA GE.

| rom OraIalliS Nl0gazlnc.
A OUR LID.9. - .4
OR MOCK MARRIAGE.
BY ANN s. STEPHENS. 1@s
eScold. scold, thump, hump. scolJ, scold, away
There is no comfort in the house upon washing
8a@ day." iE a'sf sa.s shas4 aas'a
Nonsense! only wish the writer oi
old bridge on washing d.ys. j. would have
made him sing other words 10 the same
lively air. or am sadly mistaken. iai #
Wasl,ing-day why il was the ha?ries,
! twelve hours nf the week to us children.
| I'VE could scarcely sleep all the night he.
fore FROM frrvent anticipation of the l,0lic
which i, brought. !, was astonishing how
our in,ellec,s ucre sharrene.l. and our in>
genni,y broush, in f"rce I" devise ways
and means for escaping school ON that par
,icuIsr morning. How teso!u'eIy we c""'-
,,eIled healthy appetite /" refuse break
fast; wha, leveri>h checks we borrowed
| from The rude oak leaves that lay conceal
ed beneath our pillows; what hea,'arhes
we plea,.ed-and how very desperate al.
our sympathy were jus. bef"'e the tones
Of I,a, academy bell came sweeping down
from sri0nl hill. II was a new bell. and
the man always rang il unc"'nmonlv long
and loud on Monday morning Z" begin the
week with a flourish, lie said. bu, III US II
seemed an instance Of cruel, personal
| spite ,owa.ds three innocent liule girls
| that had ne. or done him the least harm in
the world.
Though determined inval,ds we were
always gu, Of bed Immediately after day
light on 1wa<hing-day; and one face a,
least might always be seen peeping eager
" though our low chamber window. We
had secretly pushed back the old honey
surkle Vine jus, far enough TO leave SIN
gle pane If glass uncovered. and that COM
manded view Of The foo,-pa,h where our
washerwoman was first seen coming thr"
The pine woods Il blessing on her shor,
scarIr, cloak she always wore it. summer
and winter. 1t has been her grandmo'h
er's; bu, in form aud material void he the
heigh. of fashion in broadway This very
winter. Bless old cardinal once again -
/, has made my heart leap many - fine
morning 10 see It's first brilliant CLEAN
through, the pine bnughs. A nice. tidy old
c, eature was our wa.herwOman one that
AN artist would have ske,ched in spite OF
himself, had he seen her vending along that
shady path. in the cool morning: with Il
kerchi, of brilliant cotton passed neatly
over her cap. and tied beneath the chin
GRAY or Page would have taken fancy
to the old woman, e. Ell bef"re her sad.
| mild face came in view. There was some
,hing picturesque about his raimeni, and
her movements were in fine keeping with
the dewey quie:nde rep"sing among the
dark green E"Iiage through which she was
wholly revealed. or seen only by glimpses,
as she came towards The cottage.
Blu, there was sometimes another object
which almost every young man ut taste,
even though not an artist. would have fan.
cied-for Ida was possessed Of . beauty
So soft and delicate. that il seems natural
To the green woods. almost as the flowers
,ha, spring to lie and perish there. Ida
sweet. pretty l.ida-as we always cal
Il led her, was girl of some ten years old.
when l could remember her coming 10 the
|
The frs, object that | ran remember-f"'
she was inst The creature 10 fasien herself
on The mind If child whose instinct i
vas to love the bsa,,iiuI, and be grea,iu
for kindness Ida came with her moth
er every week for many a year; and it was
10 her that our washing day owed half lis
cheerfulness. The old woman brought
| 4 - cAI, ke
said !; and such care as she took IL make us
happy was never before so successfully
], exer,ed by mortal being before or since.
First she would go IL our mother will
her swee, coaxing smile. and plead for ;
day a, home. I've should be no ,ronb.
. le.' she said, none in the world !; she
would keep us on, in the pine woods. ol
down by the river side. with her mother
all day lnrg. We should certainly wea
our sun bonnets. aud keep our shoes on
!. should never 60 down to the water unless
, she were with ms, nor climb the rocks Il
I tear our dresses. nor carry ,urfin our a
prons to dam up the spring. as we ha.
= done once when company was expected
: In short. she promised all sorts of good he
c lavior for us and ,o do ourselves justice
we seldom brought her into disgrace b.
$ very giaring misconduct. In truth. W
!, found The young girl $" much more agree
# able Than mischief-s" w"manly in he
n cou,rol over our wild spirits. aud yet q
:. ioyousy chIdlike. that we had lille desir
y 10 go hey o,nl her presence.
IS li,la usually prevailed. and always. a
orr mother insisted, for the las, ,i,ne.-
THE mex, week we should certainly got