Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-02-12

u
nlorseless manner. The poor little foreigner
were the5fore informed that day was dood
ll'tie tlngs, and day muzent dry 10, for rev
wouia ave niEe warm Iupper" And whs-
.ner they understood it or not, the " little
unS. ceased to shiver or cry, and looked
wonderingiy about with small editions Of
.usI .%.,a na0,ners a great eyes; and the old man
MS moustsche as il thawed In the
neat OF tne pine FIRE, and made many bows
ana looked that woridless gratitude which can
not be interpreted
out tne little wife said nothing: only she
leaned on her umbrella, and ga.es =, ~ ~
tner as sne gave her orders 10 the sery.nt.
aOs prepsrSa.On aaI s nc OF sleeping room and nb-
erai meal ior the wayfarers; and thew o.,.d
at me, as stirred up the Ere with imTsns.
energy, toetween ourselves, tried 70 hustle
Oh the recollection Of that cruel speech v;,s
first met their appeal,) and made her hus-
band SIT down SO close TO the FIRE that his legs
were nearly scorched through bis threadbsre
trousers aud so continued gazing at every
one, until at last she could stasd il no longer,
and hlnging away her umbrella, she cast her.
self on my astonished mothers neck, and
sobbed out heap of Polish blessings. thai.
IL there Is any virtue in benediction. will
canonize her when she dies.
L swear to you that when all was over. and
they were sleeping soundly, went to q re-
mote corner and wept bitterly for the wrong
ho0 cO OOIt IQeIQ.
Well, they staid with us that nigh. and the
neXt'and the next and my mother got up a
inscription among the neighbors And We
rlgged them all ont in good warm clothing
bought them tickets on the cars 10 Boston. and
one nne frosty morning, we ell sailed down 10
the depot, and saw them all of on their Jour
ney, and 1 tell you there was q waving of
nands, and Polish gesticulations, and far, Ear
In the distance, We caught a glimpse of ths<
great umbrella, with the little woman still
hounshing 1t by way Of farewell.
we heard nothing of our Polish friends for a
wnoie year Often over the freside We would
talk about them, and our neiehbors sneered
at Us and wondered if our spoons were safe,
and moralized upon foreign imposture and in.
gratitude. My mother got much for her char
lty; but none OF US minded, for there was some
thing SO true in the ways and manners of
those poor wanderers, that il would have been
impossible TO distrust them
Well, Christmas came. Winter again. large
logs glowing hercely on the hearth, and mis-
tietoe and ivy swinging merrily in the hall.
AGAIN the uplands were sheeted in white;
again the old oak was naked and sorrovinu.
again we were seated around the fre listening
to the snorting Of the wind as it tore over the
hills like a mad stesd
In the midst of a deep silence that fell upon
US all, there came a rat -tat-tat- Ia. at the hall
docr- 1t was an enthusiastic rat tat-tat. IL
was strong, determined and eager. went 10
the door. L had scarcely unbarred, or took a
peep at the new conner, when it seemed as if q
whiriwlnd with a bonnet on its head secured
past me and swept into the parlor The next
moment heard great commotion. Sobbine
and laughing, and broken English, all svept
along, as ID were catara act of Polish Ii was
the little pale woman with the great ewes. No
longer pale though, but ruddy cheeks; and the
eyes, TINS time, looked larger and brighter
than ever, through their tears. They had
been ever since in Boston, she breathIesslv
told Us, and had been doing well, thanks 10
the blessed lady who helped them to get there.
Ihe husband nodded medaliops, she com-
posed polkas, and their only daughter TAUGHT
music, and they had saved three hundred dol.
lars, and bought piano with il. And she
had said to herself that on Christmas night
she would come and speak her gratitude to
the blessed lady who had sheltered her and
her little ones; so she set eff in the cars. and
here she was. And then commenced pulling
Things out OF her pockets. Christmas presents
IOr Us all There was q scarlet fortune teller
Tor Llzsie, and curious csrd-case for Fanny:
and wonderful embroidered needle case for
my mother; and there wa sa beautiful umbrel-
la TOR Mr. John, as she intimated, producing
an enormous parachute. She knew be would
like 1t, because when she was here last year
thanks to the blessed lady who had sheltered
,ner-she had seen him looking very much at
her umbrella, and she would have offered IL
to him then, but was ashamed, il was 80 old.
But this was new one, and very large.
And then she kissed us all round, and pro-
duced an elaborate letter from her husband
TO my mother, In which she was compared 10
Penelope, and one or two oclassical personapes
and told US everything that had happened to
them since they had left US, until having
talked herself into a state of utter exhausta.
tion, she went of TO her bedroom, where she
was heard praying in Indifferent English that
we might all ascend to Heaven without any of
the usual difficulties.
She and her family are still in Boston. vhers
they make quite respectable income And
every Christmas sees her arrival with presents
for the blessed lady, and her eyes and her
gratitude are as large as ever.
Ii is, you see, a simple Winter Story.