St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-07-07
for the 1tnuna folks.
Hon. "Dick" !Sorcd tie Chitdrcn

had managed to TO great many wrong
things 1t had been day when the
nurse NOrah. with all her good nature,
had been fairly at her wits end, and had
declared ''Ihc witches was in thm chill
dren :" Lofty, in her liudablc desire I"
help mamma. had pulled LARGE lnk-hot-
tie upon her own curly pate, satnraiinG
L.ir and clothes. While mamma ami
Nnroh were busy removing the marks Of
Mi. terrible catastrophe, Mab2l, being
fired with zeal by the sight OF so much
SOAP AMI wafer, and being also by ma
.ure tidy little housewife, removed all
the dolls furniture from her bic baby
house, and neatly scrubbed the floors,
from .arrct to kitchen, with papa's nice
new toothbrush, using the hard soap
with an III sparing hand, Harry, com
in" in later in the day, lad added a lib
cral contribution to the days disasters by
shooting a hole through the class door OF
the bookcase with his pop@un, and over
turning tho hnwcr-stand, rs he backed
ont OF the room in his diSmay. Alto
mctL cr. both the mistress and the nurse
maid had Il treat feeling Of relief and
res. when the last 9ood-nights were
cchocl family from the tmcn smal! beds
in the chamber beyond the nursery.
Norah had carefully turned down the
gaslight, so that Dick should not chirp
and disturb the little trio Of ''iroublc-
some comforts, 'and had disposed small
towel rack full of aprons airing, At Il safe
distance from the crate, and Lad gone
down to sit in the Kitchen with Bridget.
Mamma had >moothcl her sweet face
into lis usual serene expression, and was
reading the evening papcIS with papa
and for n while everything was safe and
quiet.
Now, when Mr.. West had bought
Dlcl; OF the birl-tancicr two years ago,
the man had repeated over and over
again, ''SpIcndi singer he is, ma'am :;
warranted TO sing 10y daylight CT gas
light" Mrs West did not think much
Of this AT the time, but she soon found
that the lively little fellow would hop
and chirp I'LL night ii he saw the least
spark Of light. Oltcn, when one of the
children was scl, ut NIGHT, Dick would
have to he hung IN another room. such
a singing would he keep up
| On this occasion Dick was deep in
dreams, with his bright eyes closed ami
his s;Iucy head -nn@ly tucked under his
wing, when, in Tie midst OF his slumbcrS,
he was suddenly Weakened hy G@ht.
Instantly he was on t,c, lr@1 instead of
en-, AMI in few seconds was chipping
in very lively tone. Thinking that Il
nocturnal lunch would taste Good. he
bu.ily engaged in eating. Brighter and
brighter CLEANED the light, and presently
ii attracted our wiSr little bird. 80 that
he flew into his RIM, and began Il soft
little SOM. But the li"lt that pleased
Dick WAS fax more dazzling than the or
binary gas-light, for Il live coal had snap
ped from the midst Of the @lOwing fire.
and in a moment the aprons began to
blaze One of them falling oft, lay ON
MabciS li;tIc heap Of clothes, and thcs2
were soon on fire; the chair close by
contained Lotty's clothes, and just be
yond that, through the open doar. was
the foot Of IIarry's white bed. The
three precious lives were stepped in 4
sound, childish slumbcr, while the hearts
around which the little hearts were On
twincd, were beating calmly and uncon-
~ciously in papa's and mammals bo>om~.
Could nothing save them Had they
prayed in vain TO God to watch over
them that night and keep them from
harm Would lie look down from
Heaven aul see them perish without
stretching forth His arm to help
No; God did not bring this great sJr-
row upon our friends lie told little Dirl,
to sing louder and louder yet.
The Children, tired out with thcir
play, slept on. and did not hear the
friendly voice; but Mrs. West, down
stairs, started. :;tnd held her breath to
listen. Why don't you @ on, my
dear - said her husband. "IIark
Georac," said she 81 think hear Dick
singin. :" ''Well, what if he i singing"
"Why, lie never sings unless there is 4
light" "rrohably Noral is up ther,
Cor some reason. What Il little woman
you are to he 50 easily startled about tho
childrcn." So on went the reading, while
up stairs the fire had GOT possession OF
OF lIarry'% hcdclothcs, and the smoke
began to he very thick. Little Dick
seemed to think something was wrong,
but ~ang on braycly, and at last Mrs
West, being afraid he would wake tho
children, told her husband to wait unit
she had been up to see into the mat
ter, promised to he with him AGAIN in t;
moment, and ran up stairs.
Opening the door where her treasure:
were, she was blinded and chokcl by Il
sudden smoke. Beyond, in the adjoin,
ing room, she could still hear her it'll,
Dick. She joined her voice to his, and
Mr. West came flying up stairs, soon fol
lowed by Norah and Bridget and Bridg,
cts cousin, John Thomas, whom tht
dreadful cry of "Firc - had reused in :
moment.
Mrs. West, though almost fainting will
terror, caught up Harry, and made No
rah and Bridget understand that Lotto
and Mabel must also be snatched out o.
bed and Mr.. West, with John Thomas
help, cmpticl the water-pitchers and tho
pals from the bathroom close by. The
little ones, hardly comprehcndin% what
had taken place, were quickly tucked in
mammals bed, and the two servant girl.
ran back to help fill the pals at the taps.
1t was all done 50 quickly, that it hard.
ly took rs long rs it has taken me tc
: write about it.
Mamma had been very courageous un-
i'll everything that she could do had beer
,lnnn md dion .Ln E.It lo,-.. ,..,,..i. I...s