Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1869-03-05
Comforting the cocklcs ofthe Heart.

n
!, Sitting in station the other day, I la
! a little sermon preached to me in the way
like and I'll report it for your benefit, be
: cause it taught one Of the beautiful lesson
which we all should learn, and taught it il
such a natural simple way, that no on
could forget it. It was bleak, snowy day
the train was late; the ladies' room dari
and smoky; and the dozen women, old aA'
young, who sat waiting in,patientiy, all look
ed cross, low-spirited, or stupid, felt al
three and thought, as | looked round . tina
my fellow-beings were avery upamiabll
and unintcresting set. ;,- s355as sfdeai.g
Just then q fororn old woman, shaking
with palsy, came in with, a. basket of little
wares for sale, and went about snutely offer.
ing them to the sitters Nobody bought
anything, and the poor old soul stood blink
ing at the door a minute, as if reluctant to
60 out into the bitter storm again. She
turned presently, and poled about the room
as if trying to find something; and then a
pale lady in black, who lay as if asleep on
a sofa, opened her eyes, saw the old woman,
and Instantly asked, in kind tone Have
you lost anything, ma'am?"
mo, dear I'M looking for the heatin'
place to have warm fore I goes out agin
My eyes is poor, and don tseem, to find the
| furnace nowheres"
Here it is and the lady led her to the
steam radiator, placed chair, and showed
her how to warm her feet b. i5ta .ssan4
well !, now; i ain + that nice 81 said the
old woman, spreading her aggedtnittensto.
| dry. ':Thanky, dear; this is proper COM
Portable, ain % it? NJ most ,frozc to-day,
bein' lame and wilnbly and not, sellin'
much, makes me sort of down hearted. 10 i
The lady smiled, went to the counter,
bought a cup of tea and some. sort of. food,
carried it herself to the old woman, and said,
as respectfully and kindly. as if the poor
soul had been dressed in silk and fur
".Won't yon have a cup.efhot tea ? It's very
eonlfortingaslch "a day aA4this.;' ie29a 4GT
'Sakes alive! Do they give tea to, this.
depot? Z" cried the old lady, III a tone of in.
nocent surprise that made smile go round
the room. touching the gllunmest face like a
streak Of sunshine swell, now, this is
jest lovely" added the old lady, slipping
away Nlti L Ills uOCS WdEnl LuG
cookies OF the heart" ....~. .....- ...;,s.
While she refreshed herself, telling her
story meanwhile, the lady looked over the
poor little vares in the basket, bought soap
and pins, shoe-strings and tape, and cheer
ed the old soul by paying well for them. ir
As watched her doing this, thought
what a sweet face she had, though I'd con
sldered her rather plain before. / felt dread
fully ashamed of myself, that I haa grimly
shaken my head when the basket was offer
ed me; and, as / saw look of interest,
sympathy and kindness come into the dis
NAL faces all around me, did wish that l
had been the magician to cali it out. It
was only G lind word and friendly act
but somehow, it frightened that dingy room
wonderfully It changed the faces Of dogs
en- women; and, think ii touched dozen
hearts, for | saw many eyes follow the plain,
pale lady with sudden respect; and when
the old woman, with many thanks, got up
to go, several persons beokoned to her, and
bought something, as if they wanted to re-
pair their first negligence. ,sa 'l
Old beggar-women are not romanaic i
heat'ief are cups q Tea, boot-lac1ng, and coll
ored soap there were no gentlemen present
to be impressed by the lady's kind act; so it
wasn't dole for effect, and no possible re-
ward could be received for it, except the an
grammatical thanks Of u raggedold woman
But that simple charity was as good as a ser
mon to those who saw it; and think each
traveller went on her way better for that
half hour in tie dgeary station can tes-
THY that one Of them did :; and nothing but
the emptiness Of her purse prevented her
from comforting the cookies Of the heart"
of every forlogn old woman she met for
week after,