Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-08-10
Misesllans.
FROM Harper's for August.
Only C1OdhOppers.

"Iwish you wouldn t call the child Lii
said my mother g it jars upon every nery
in my body. She was christened Lily
Lily - mimicked my father, and lau ghe
uproariously: " nice-looking lily she is ,
My poor mother made no reply; sh
could not refuse to acknowledge that the nam
was entirely unsuited to the gaunt. gawk
girl of fifteen that buttered her father
bread with hand almost as brown an
brawny his own.
g Not but that she suits me well enough
added my father, as he noted a hot fius
leap into my face. "I'd rather have YOU a
you are, my girl, than any lily of them all
You know they toll not, neither do the,
spin, and that kind of thing wouldn't suit
poor farmer like me-,
My father patted n<upon the shoulder a
he went out into the field, but the riotou
blood fingered in my face, and while wash
ing the greasy dishes and pans that accumu
late so rapidly in farm kitchen, declared
to myself that the lilies had good time o.
it, and no wonder they were so pretty they
had nothing to do, and were arrayed glori
ously every day. / decided that nothing
could be more unjust than the way thing
were parceled out n asis world, and slammed
every Individual plate, and ratified every pan
until mother called out that was 20 driving
her crazy
Then father came in again he looked
tired and discouraged, and went with a
weary step into the sitting-room. where
mother lay upon the lounge, and Patience
Clark, the dressmaker, droned on necessarily
with the small news of the village.
It's no use talkin',' said father, +" ]
can't manage that team and plow the field
alone; it's as much as man can do to keep
the plow in the ground with those stones and
stubbles, let alone guidin' that skittish
mare"
d Farmin's poor work nowadays, Mr..
Ware" said Patience Clark.
''It never was anything else that / can re
member" said my mother.
And my father, heaviDg huge sigh, MUIR
INJURED under his breath. 80 Jobs comforters, -
and came out into the kitchen again.
Lii, he said, g wish you were boy
80 For the hundreth time, father
" And yet wouldn't change you for a
rude lad of your ago but there's that pcsky
fve-acre lot - Then he sighed again.
9 Father" said i, fiinging down the dish
towel, - can drive the horses, and you shall
plow; wait minute, and I'll get my sun
bonnet
Father laughed at the idea, then he re-
fused outright but seeing me tie my sun
bonnet and let down my sleeves, ray of
hope lighted up his face; then he said, 4,
" What will your mother say"
Z" She won't know anything about it, and
Martha III be through with her washing and
can finish up the dishes" | started out to
the field, and father followed me to the fur
row, where the skittish mare was quietly
chewing a bit of loose harness. ! picked up
the reins and father the plow- handle, and
away went cheerily. The mare was used
to my voice, and gentle as a kitten. | was
thinking what a nice breeze there was, and
how pretty the apple blossoms looked, when
II
Halo, Mr.. Ware That's tough work
for a girl
My father stopped the horses with jerk.
- suppose 'tis,'' he said - but this
pesky field, John, is so mortal full of stones
and stubbles, and the critter knows Lis
voice bat run in the house, LII
- No, no, father, amt bit tired - with
an indignant look at John Bates.)
- Let me try a hand at the plow, Mr.
Ware, and do you drive a Bit
% Well, if you will, John, F" said my father
resigning his plOw, and taking the reins
from my hand. 9 Run in the house, Ii,
and rest" | ran in the house, and this is
the way | rested finished washing and
wiping the dishes, folded down the clothes,
mopped up the kitchen, helped 10 milk six
cows, made biscuit for tea, set the table,
cleared everything away again, and helped
Martha get things ready for an early break
last, 20 LDaJ we cOulQ
in the morning. L murmured to myself,
:" Why should we only toll, the roof and
crown of things?" and entered the sitting
room just in time to hear Patience Clark say,
" She was so glad Lily was girl that boys
were worked to death upon FARM
"Dear, dear - sighed my mother, " it's
impossible to make Lily look graceful; but
do slope the shoulders little more, Miss
Clark"
- If do they'll pucker and bag replied
the dressmaker, - for she's as square as
square can be-
{" She's like her father said my mother.
And finding they were not ready to try on
my dress, 1 went out in the porch, where
father was smoking his pipe.
- Softly" he said. - Look, Ii, at that
fellow on the clothes -linei'' At that moment
a food of music poured from the throat of a
belated blackbird that rocked to and fro up
on the rope before US a robin was cheated
into taking up the refrain, and the frogs
commenced to thud, the moon climbed up in
the wan sky, and father and | sat there ST.
lently for hours. At last he said, as we
went into the house, - It's pretty place,
Ii we must take care of the farm" And
on his death-bed, four years later. his last
words were, '' Take care of the farm, Lii
But how was girl of nineteen to take
care Of farm, an invalid mother, and a lame
brother? The place was In wretehedly poor
condition and my father had literally lost
his strength and broken his heart in striving
to clear off the mortgage Thedear old farm
was ruin, in fact; and | used to think
sJmetlmcs the very outside lovelIness of 1t
~cszs bitter mockery. Why were the tan
gled flowers so beautiful, and the gnarled
old trees so iancifully fair ? The ground was
one mass Of stones, and the trees bore the
knottiest fruit that ever was seen and, toll
as You might, it seemed impossible to get
living and pay the interest money, let alone |
the principal. Then the parting with father
was bitter wrench. felt as if there was
not much left to live for. until the night OF
the funeral, when little Dolph stole into my
bed, poor little lambkin Adolphus was
ioollsh name for him, too but as hugged
my little brother in my arms, and quoted
his wild sobbing, | vowed to myself that It
was better, alter all, was not lily and
that would take care of mother and Dolph /
ana the iarm somehow
W hen Patience Clark was making up the |
mourning | heard her say something to
mother about - book-learnin' and % rooms /
IN Tue village; and | knew the meaning OF
Il Tnen mother stopped crying after supper,
anl grew quite cheerful over her cup OF
Lily" she said, in her languid way, |
my poor child, trust there are happier |
uAys IN store for US. Thanks to the educa- !
uOh which 1 insisted upon your having, you
may DC able 70 take the place of Miss Glib !
oOns az The village school. We Will sell this
village -
MY heart came up in my throat.
oh' mother - 1 said g father told me
- axe care of the farm and | should die
cSoped up in that hot room with lot of dirty |
children -
al mother set down her cup of tea, went
ny upon the lounge, and commenced
,b,, iou rather be among cows and pigs
sa,d among your fellow-creaturesl !" she /
nsr You're like your father; and he