The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1871-08-25
A True Story.

Lucy lived i'm the country, in little
brown house, nearly half q mile from
any neighbor. She used to play out of
doors by herself great deal of the time,
making mud pies, building stone houses,
watching the birds and feeding the
hens, picking flowers, and enjoying her
self i'm a thousand simple ways which n
happy child can invent who is thrown
upon its own resources. In this life,
which might seem very lonely to our
young readers, she escaped the danger
of bad companions in crowded city
street; but you will see how little faults
and vices may find their way into n
child's heart, even though she has had
no one to initiate but herself.
One day Lucy spied large umbrella
standing in a closet, and asked her
mother to let her play with it; mother
saying "Ies,n Lucy seized il with great
delight, and opening it with some trou-
BILE, staggered around under IL very
proudly. She felt so sure she must APP
pear just like a grown-up person that
the desire to shOD OF and be admired
took strong hold of her. This is moth
ing very wrong in old or young, but II
is a weakness of character which some
times leads people TO make themselves
appear very foolish. Without saying
anything to her mother, our little friend,
who was very short and fat, undertook
the difficult journey over tO Farmer
Browns She tried to take long, dig
nified steps like the minister, but had
to give il up, the umbrella ''wObbled
50. The biz plaything grew very heavy
and unmanagcable, but she toiled on,
| feeling that the eXclamatiOns of praise
at Farmer Browns would repay her fol
all her pains. But when she reached
| the open door of the large Kitchen where
| FARMER Brown and all his men had
| lust seated themselves at their twelve
! O'Clock dinner, she was received, to hcl
great surprise and modification, with 1
/ roar of laughter The Jolly farmer salt
something about II olive tOad-stOoP
that made the little wOuld-be wOman''
cheeks flush Indignantly. Lucy's pleas
ure was spoiled i'm moment, and al
her tiresome walk seemed in vain !
Children sometimes grow older II
thought and feeling i'm single mo
ment; and into this little girls hear
came, like flash, the resolution tina
no one should know how different ;
3 reception she had expected. She nov
Z felt that she was ridiculed object
though just before her heart ha'
, swelled with pride; and she thought sh
, would do anything to deceive tn
Browns into thinking she had been sen
on an important errand. SO she labor
iously furled her mainsail, and entering
the Kitchen, walked up to kind Mr.
{ Brown who with significant look ha
stopped the unEind laugh), and said,
little too rapidly for perfect ease
: "Mother wants to know if you will b
so kind as to let her have some pump
kin seed ?'
1t was Spring-time; and Lucy ha
heard Il great deal said about seeds, an
2 the best places to get the new kinds
q this and that vegetable; 80 this messag
seemed likely one. Mrs. Brown ros
quietly from the table and opening
{ little closet door over the high mantl,
piece, handed Lucy a few seeds in
paper. She then invited the child
, sit down and take some dinner, bU
/, Lucy was too much hurried by til
! pressing nature of her errand; and picl
ing up the hated umbrella, whic
. seemed bigger and heavier than befor'
! she trotted off. But the weight of til
= whalebone monster was nothing to I'll
4 heaviness of her poor little heart; f1
! she knew she had told lie
When she was out of sight of I'll
1 house she sat down by the side of
a great rock to rest and cry. She tried
h quiet her tender conscience with tl
q thought that her untruth could do 4
. harm, and there was no need of sayin
4 anything about it. But there were IL
o seeds What should she do with then
Taking them home to her mother woul
bring ON an explanation. She though
it ali over, and then decided to hiC
y them away where no one could ever :,
= them; so she pushed them far.under IL
q rock, first taking the paper off,
q showed so white on the grass. The
c she walked slowly home, trailing Il
umbrella behind her, feeling someho
that IL was to blame for all this DE
o plexity. She told her mother whe
|, She had been, and how they asked IN
= to stay to dinner, but said nothing mo
y of her short visit.
When Lucy lay down in her little b,
that night, she knew that God had SEE
If her, and could not have approved of h
" conduct. In vain she said to herself.
a don't careI they needn't to have laugh,
sot | had 10 say sOmQthino ~ Th