Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-11-25
LITTLE BARBARA.
A STORY FOR CHILDREN.


there arc other neao stories Of little lost
children quite as pretty as that one, and
true too Here is one that i heard some
where not long ago.
There were three young children who
lived in u cottage in very lonely place.
1t WAS so quiet place that sometimes tor
days together they nevLr saw any other
faces except their own and their fathers
and mothers; especially in winter; when
the snow lay deep upondthe ground. Oft
en-. then, not a sound would be heard
from morning to night and not footstep
would pass their door.
The little house stood high upon hill.
side and in these lonely days the children
would sometimes say to one another, 81
wish we lived down in the village; 1t
would be so much merrier there" And
they would often go about quarter of
mile from the cottage, where they could
sec good way down the hill, and would
stand there watching the little specks Of
people below, and wondering what every
one WAS doing, and thinking that it must
be very pleasant, when the snow lay so
deep that they could not play out in the.
wood TO have the nice village street to run
about in, and to be ableto look through
the cottage windows at the bright fires
blazing within. In the summer they never
longod to 20 to the village, for then they
had plenty of delights at home. They
were very poor--so poor that they Oft
en- had not bread enough to cat, nor clothes
enough to keep them warm, but yet in tie
summer they were always happy. Z IL did
not matter To them then, that 'their' little
lrocas were thin, and their little shoes
worn; il hardly seemed to matter eyed
that their porridge came SO soon to an
seemed neverto be enough for all Of Them :;
for were there not always wild fruits IN
the wood, aid THOUSANDS Of red and purple
berries good to eat? They used
to cat lhdm by the hour together I;
and by the hour together, too, they would
gather the beautiful wild wood flowers
and pL,y with them, and make chains and
garlands Of them, sitting on the grass or
on The moss Mt The roots of tho great trees,
They would often spend the whole of long
summer days like this, ncverwandering so
far away from holnn but that their moth
cr's voice could reach them if she stood
at the outskirts OF the wood and called,
but yet often ont Of sight for hours to-
gether, hidden hy the thick branches or
sometimes almost buried amidst the
brushwood and the long green grass.
Some day should like to walk straight
forward, whole miles into the forest" the
eldest of the childrdn would say some
times to her mother; but the mother
would always very cautiously shake her
head }. i have Hvcd here for ten yars,
my dear" She would answer land have
nevor once been for miles. into the for
est"
They were two girls and a boy. The
eldest girl Barbara, was four years older
than the others; she was almost nine
The other girl came noXt--a httle thing
of FIVE, called Liz2y; and Then came the
boy Dayid, whowas scarcely -four, The
two young oes were always given into
Barbara charge when they went for their
long play days into the wood, and very
tender, careful nurse she was to them
She was a. sweettempered, thoughtful,
sensible little thing, with q grave, pretty
face, and curious womanly ways such as
the chldeu of poor people often get when
they are very young. She was so used to
having her, mother depend upon her, and
trust in her watchtulness and good sense,
that think for nearly couple of years
back she had almost forgotten that she
was Il child, and had got to have quite the
staid manners OF grown-up person. II
don't know what | should do without
Barbara the mother would often CRATE.
fully say. Is. .li.'.. .-...|
II had been summer, but the summer
was almost gone, and the leaves
were all yellow in the wood, and the
days were getting cold The children
liked the early part of autumn dearly,
for the fruits were ripest then, and the
flowers brightest; but when the days
began to grow very short, and November
winds blew, and dead leaves lay thick on
the damp ground, then IL was sometimes
rather dreary in the forest and they were
ohen glad to come home, and play instead
by Their own ireside.
at viii soon be writer now in real
earnest the mother said, one evening
when they had been forced TO close the
cottage door because the wind blew IN SO
coldly and She sighed rs she said II for
the winter oNen brought them hard times,
and both she and the children would have
il summer always if they could,
1t bad been raw wintry day. For
several hours rain had been falling, and
then after the rain there CaUp a sudden
frost that made all the ground almost as
slippery as glass They sat waiting IN The
freight iol the father TO come home.
They looked for hin always su0n after
nightfall but tonight il had been quite
dark Far more than an hour and vel he
had not come. Again and again The
mother went IL the door to listen tor him,
but there Was no sound az any step COM
ing near. Ii was almost eight o'clock