The Planters' banner. [volume] (Franklin, Attakapas Co., Lou.) 1849-1872, 1851-06-07

and dressing the children. and eatin
breakfast of bread aud milk wit
them. There was no fire, and he pu
every knife and other dangerous thin
on high shelf and gave them SOM
trifles to play with, and promised I
come and play with them at dinne
time. Aad he did play. He playe,
heartily With the little one. and as if h
enjoyed it.eYery day st the noon hour
Many merry laugh the ueighbor
heard from that room when the three
children we're together, and the laugl
was often ioel's.
How he learned to manage, and es
pecially tocaok. nobody knew and be
could him>elf have told little more thar
thai he a.als.,sd to seq how people die
| it, and looked accordingly at every op
portuniiy He certainly fed the chill.
dren well, and himself too. He knew
that everything depended on his health
being kept up. His sister sat on his
knee TO be fed fill she could feed her.
self He was sorry TO give it up, but
he said she must learn to behave So
he smoothed her hair, and washed her
face before dinner, and showed her
how to hold her hands while he said
grace. He took as much pains to train
her to good manners at the table as If
he had been governess, teaching a
little lady. While she remained IA
baby" he slept in the mid lie of the
bed, between the two, that she might
have room, and not be disturbed; and
when she ceased to be baby, he made
new arrangements. He denied himself
hal, which he much wanted. in order
to buy considerable quantity of coarse
dark calico, which, with his own hands,
he made into curtain, and slnug it,up
across part of the room, thus shut
ting off about third part of it.
He contrived to make up little bed
for his sister, and he was not satisfied
till she had a basin and jug, and piece
of soap of her own. Here nobody but
himself was to intrude upon her with
out leave; and he always made her
understand that he came only to take
care of her. Ii was not only that Willy
was not to see her undreSsed A neigh
Dor or Two now aud then lifted The latch
without knocking. One of these one
day heard something from behind the
curtain, which made her call her huS-
band silently to listen; and they always
afterwards treated Joel as If he were a
man, aud one whom they looked up 10.
He was teaching the child her little
prayer The earnest, sweet devout
tpnsS afztl.e boy. and the innocent,
cheerful, fuIitasion or the 1IITfe one.
were beautiful to hear, as the listeners
said
Though so well taken care of she
was not TO be pampered; there would
have been no Kindness in that. Very
early, indeed, she was taught, III a
merry sort of way. to put things in theii
places, to sweep the floor. and to wash
up the crockery. She was handy
lille thing, well trained and docile-
One reward that joel had for his man
agement was. that she was early fit TO
go to chapel. This was great poirt;
as he. choosing to send Willy regularly,
could not 90 till he could take the little
girl with him. She was never known
to he restless. aud Joel was quite proud
of her.
Willy was not neglecte for the little
girls sake. In those days childten
went earlier to the faetnry and worked
longer than they do nou and by the
time the sister was five years old, Willy
became factory boy. AMI his pay put
the little girl to school. Wheu she. al
seven. went To the factory too, Joel's
life was-altagether an easier Que. He
always had maintained them all. from
the day of his mothers death. The
tunes must have been good-work con-
slant and wages steady--or he could
not have done it, Now, when all three
were earning, he put his sister to
sewing schuol for two evenings in the
week and the Saturday afternoons; and
he and Willy attended an evening
school, as they found they could afford
il. He always escorted the little girl
wherever she had to 90 /; into the fac
tory. and home again; to the school
door, and home again; and to the Sum
day school; yet he was himself remark
ably punctual at work and Worship
He was All hnmbie. earnest, doclle pupil
at the Sunday school-quite
unconscious that he was more advanced
than other boys in the sublime science
and practice of duty. He felt that
everybody was very kind to him; but
he was unaware that others felt it an
homer TO be kind to him.
linger on these years when he was
a fine growing lad. in a state of high
content Iinger, unwilling to proceed.
But the end must come. and it is soon
told. He was sixteen, | think, when
he was asked to become teacher in
The Sunday school, while not wholly
ceasina to be scholar. He tried, and
made a capital teacher, and he won
the hearts of the children while trying
10 open their minds. By this he became
more widely known than before.
Que day in the next year, tremen-
ious clatter and crash were heard in
he factory where Joel worked. A dead
silence succeeded. and then several
called out thai it was only an iron bar
hat had fallen down. This was true j:
but the iron bar had fallen on Joeps
head, and he was taken up dead
~.