The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1866-11-08
NN EsOTA ITH URSDAY Y ,31' NOVEMBER sa1s86. >
rs SHE AaHEROINEI?u

be:orc tn" r"hlicoizl, have.puzzlcd oye.
f't FROM morning until sMght,, have
df teamed ,ab"ut j., and can find no So
LUTON thereof! aA:, a,-.Y.,a s,t;:..
T., Her urmc was Minnie Blake, and
Eshc lived among the hills No matter
what, hills, There arc u great many in
this country unknown to lame, and she
lived among some of these. She dwclt
in rough frame house, and there was
plenty more like it. among these hills.
That situation was bleak, and the soil
so poor that the old men and small
boys did all the farm work, while the
rest Of the people worked in the mines
ander the hills or in the factories OF
the diosy, smoky town that lay near
them. The last were tho aristocracy,
and they looked down upon the miners
who were "toreign" and Glow"
The people never "carricd tt cir lives
about them like Clogs. hard labor was
not "dull pain to them (unless they
were rheumatic) J they did not look at
strangers with "pitiful, dumb, animal
eyes," they did not stalk along with
Lands over their brows and hearts,
"pressinS down their miseries to keep
them SILENT Nothing Of the kind.
For relief to their. physical miseries
they resortcd to intoxicating liquors,
and as q soother of mental miseries,
opinions were pretty equally divided,
between the Bible and the tavern
They did not "strive to make out the
problems Of their lives :, for they had
extremely vague ideas in regard to.
problems, and life to, them was a sim
pie thing enough.
They got pretty fair wages, and ate,
and drank, and slept, and talked poll
tics, and some said prayers, and some
did not, and they all expected to go to
heaven when they died: They shut:
fled along through life, half educated
and happy, and &soothy, aud concelted;; J;
got married, and died, and that was the
end of them Let them 80 for it il;
clear that such unnatural specimens Of
the ,laboring class eau be of no manner
of use in a story. - ..>:.. ...r.:.5n; j..
Minnie Blake worked in a factory.
She was not in the habit Of standing by;
tho looms, and thinking how they were
crushing the beauty and sweetness of
her lite (she did not know that they
were, she was 50 stupid,) not did she
wonder if they were "weaving the web
of her destiny y nor did she walk
along the whirlius wheels with great
thoughts whirIing through her dizzy
brain. If she had done these things,
her wages would have been docked and
she knew it. =
Neither did size i've on fruit and
cream in the summer ; and in the win
ter on "corn cakes tinted delicate
brown, and spread with golden butter"
The fruit that grew on the hills was
scraggy and sour, and the grass thin
and poor, and half the year Minnie saw
no butter. Mush AID mofasses, and
bacon and brown bread. constituted her
ordinary food. When the war broke
out, she did not urge her only brother
to go and pack his knapsack With smil-
ing lips and fearful eyes, not she. For
when ut last he was drafted, she hid
him in the day in neighbor's barn,
and when he was dragged out and
marched of, she nearly cried her eyes
out. And, after his first battle, when
he was reported, "missing," she did not
60 into state Of musing melancholy,
and fancy him lying in lonely spot,
in tar off forest, with his u1usket
resting at his side, and the waters
ola still brook ripping gently over his
still feet. The picture that filed her
mental vision was room in a Canada
tavern, with the "miss,ng" one seated
ut table with other choice spirits,
playing the instructive game of poker,
and with still other choice spirits in
junk bottles on tie tables. Aud SO she
dried her eyes and was content. =:
! It was. plain enough so far that Min
ME was no heroine, and so different was
she from any other factory girl who ever
lived or breathed-in books that if I
| had not seen her last week, Ishould be
disposed to believe that she never did
exist at all, but that 1 dreamed all that
I am going to tell you. -; .at .s&
| One pleasant Sunday morning: some
twoGor three: summers ago, Minnie went
to church arrayed in her. best. She
wore blue dress, not because it was
''the color of truth and heaveh," nor
because it was "the outward symbol Of
the deep, liquid purity of her soul, moi
for any other reason of this kind, which
factory girls have for wearing blue l;
but simply because it cost ten cents
less in the yard than any other Of the
nice goods at Pools: store. She also
wore straw bonnet trimmed with green
rosettes, black silk shawl, and pink
kidfgiqves :, This was. ,A1innlc's ide~sgi
elegance j ! hnoww that working girls
who have any claims to be hefoincs,
have an intuitive perception of what is
refined and Harmonious, and it gricve<
me much to be compelled to admit that
Mirpieshad- not: <1 < Il
| have been particular ia describin.
4 her dress, not that it has anything t
| do with the incident I am about to re-
! late, which would have happened all .ht
same whether she wore baizc or broad
cloth, but because 4 heroine's dress il
4 always described when any thing is 60
ing to, happen to her. Minpic. had
bright, active face, and looked prett,
in spite Of the conjunction Of pinl
blue, green, and black upon her small
person. 49,.
l. When she arrived at church .sh
found nearly all the congregation as
!" sembled, but the service had not begun
: 50 after settling her dress and openini
her fan, she lool ed dcnurely aroun'
> to see what was to be seen. And I'll
first sight that met her eyes so arrcstc'