The Westerly echo, & Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1854-1858, 1855-10-18
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WESTERLY, R. l., THURSDAY, OCTOBER1S, 1855


nothing in the world but violots that had
lain all night in mountain dew, as they
filled with tears Of mingled fright and
sorrow, while looking down on her ket.
tie she exclaimed
''Oh, my strawberries! my s,rawber.
ries /! they're all spilled =
''l'm very sorry, my little GIRL said
|, going to her side, that Tiger should
have behaved SO badly; but don't cry
for the tears were raining on her fin.
gers, and wen try and remedy the
matter some way. What were you 60
ing TO do with the Strawberries =
= was going to take them home tc
mamma, she answered with another
sorrowful look at the rccumbent kettle
and she was to make me big straw.
berry cake. You see its my birth day
sir
''Ah thar makes the loss still more
affective | suppose. Well, won't you
tell me your name, and how old you
are =
May, May Brooks, sir. You SEE
they named me SO because my birth day
comes this mouth. l shall be eleven
10 morrow
81 thought she was the visible iucar
nation of tuc months sweetness ant
beauty, but only replied
Well, May, | know a place abou
half mile from here, where the straw
berries grow a great deal thicker, ant
about six times as large
6 You do! you do . she answered
and her blue eyes grew larger as they
fastened on my face. 'Oh, how wish
| could get some of them y
Well, you shall, May. The vines
are private property, aud belong to a
gentleman with whom | am acquainted,
SO We can fill your kettle in little time,
and you shan't lose your berries after all.
But first we had better go and rest
awhile under the shadow of that great
tree yonder. You must be tired,
think, picking berries in the sunshine
She did not answer, but she laid her
little brown hand coniingly in mlne -
We bad a long chat under he .ol shad-
ows of the great hickory tree, and I was
more deeply than ever interested in my
companion \ lew simple qacStions of
my asking, drew from her b,ef, but
lucid history OF her life. She had ncth-
er father, brothr or sister, and lived all
alone with her mother, in the little
brown cottage at the foot of the lane
Tn y were poor, very poor, how pret-
tly the red lips li,p'd the avowal with
out thought Of shame, for all the
money they had was with her father that
dark night when he went down in the
great sea waves But her mother sold
vegetables from their little garden, and
did plain sewing in the winter, so they
got along very well, only
''OuIy what, May = asked, as
laid my hand on her golden hair.
why, you see,' she said, dropping
her voice little, Il want to 20 to
school next winter, aud mother wants to
have M, too, for I've read all the books
at home, and gou, twice through rhc
geography, out she cau't teach me any
more, and it costs so much to 60 to the
academy-oh you've no idea what a
sight of money it takes y
g Hop much, May
g -Four dollars y quarter, and then
there are the books, and the pencils, and
the paper-oh, dear But the little
ciouled face grew bright again, : nam
ma says if l can pick blackberries
.s;::;amoh this summer to pay for tn.
schooling, she'll contrive somehow to
get the other things. Don't you think
| can /: Blackberries grow very thicK
round here
81 don't doubt but you can, 1 an,
swered, repressing smile as l looked
into the Questioning eyes Of the speaker
And now, Mr. -, what's your
name ? Wour you tell me about your
selfi'
And I told her Of my mother, whom
I could lust remember lying cold and
white in the cofin, with the spriug roses
round her-of the years passed in the
p,ay old farm house with the little glrl
olv s;stor Of NV boyhood,