St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-12-27
8nr hr Children.
Tabs Trial.
4 STORY FOR THE CHILDREN.


because it had been her grandmother,
many long wears. and had attained dig
nifty and honor 10y the associations: an,
if the name seemed old-tashioned. tn,
cup which came with il was of the lat
est pattern, and ii silver cupand gold
en- promise may sometimes serve t,
make an unmuSical name very -upho-
NOUS. you know.
But Tab thought very little of her
name. ,or of her beautiful. dark ewes. ol
straight nose. or wcll-Shapcd head. ol
of anything else about herself. in fact
save of one unfortunate popularity. and
that WAS her trial Was she lame. did
she Stammcr. WAS she frccklcd. brow
or sandy! No. dear little Uucstioncr
she was afflicted 10y an i'll you would
never think of guessing. so | might is
we'll tell NOu 1T once. Poor Tab she
was unhappy, and often utterly miscr-
able. because she WAS 50 very. very fat.
think Tab thought very little of
herself during the first five Years of her
prosperous Young life The wrctched-
hess began when Aunt Eunice came
down from the hill country" like Il
wolf on the fold, and calculated as she
pccrcd down through her spcctaclcS ut
lIlt tlIlltl. ''~dht'S awe ldbltnN, WHAT
Il whoppcr You be-,
Tab kept out of Aunt Eunice's sight
a. much as possible after that, but for
days and days she puzzled her brain
over the new name.
81 am ii whoppcr. | wonder what
that l. ii must hc something dreadful"
was all Tab could make of it. and final
ly. she went contdcmtially to her coIIS-
iii Will, altcrary youth of II. and asked
Nv hats Il whoppcr" answered Will.
.iocosely, pinching her checks, "why. its
something Incnmmonly large. In short.
you're considerable of IL wh"pper'
Tab never Venturcd after information
again, but she began to dread the ap-
preach of friends and neighbors. and to
fear the visit of ii relative or former
friend of her mothers, us older girls do
the entrance of the examining com
mlttcc at school.
Unfortunately, Tabs father, having
been successful in business. concluded
three Years later to rc-furmi>h their par-
lors, and introduced two long mirrors
between the windows at rithcrrnd. II
was Tabs first view of herself from her
broad shoulders Ia her round, cIlshiony
feet, and she gave one long stare at the
double reflection. What Il square. sol
id figure it WAS but nothing of which
To be- ashamed, if people had been 20
lit" rnough to remember that little girls
have ears, and feelings. also >omew here
beyond them. Tab looked and looked.
and finally turned about like Il law fig
urc III the shop windows. and " hen she
had seen herself AZ she tnmcird others
SAW her. she thought. Hateful Aunt
Eunlce was right. and Cousin Will waS
right; am Il whoppcr;" and she ran To
her room and erred the whole after
noon. OF course. she WAS foolish
enough t" wish she might die. and after
while she gradually stopped crying. to
speculate as To whether ANYBODY would .
be sorry if she did die, and to wonder
II she would come out Il thin. graceful /
little angel. Then she went to sleep
and aw"ke very hungry. and ate such Il
supper as only lean children who wish
t" II" plump. and t" have gondnaturcd
dlmple> that come and 90 whenever
they aIe called. ever ought to eat.
Not long after. Tab, who. like all
people who allow themselves to get
wrongly proud and sensitive. was he
ginning Ia expect diSagrceahlc things,
passed round the corner on her way to
Ella Smiths.
Tw" naughty. idle boys stood in the
door of Il grocer : shop. As She turned
up the street, one of them pnkcd his ell
bow between his companions ribs. ex-
claiming; Look, Bill. My eyes, a'ut
she Il hu>tcr!'
Tab hit her lips and forced back the
tears. and instead of going to Elias
rushed around the square. o>teui>hly to
find her brother Bob. an cnterprising
boy of five.
Bob was making mud-pics with
new Inhahtant of the town.
'''That'S my sister" said Bob, as Tab
approached.
well. she's fat" said the strange
boy with Il broad smile
Yes. answered Bob, compoSedlv:
''hui mothers irving To thin her up
10 he told that she was Il '.buStcr," ,
and that her mother was endeavoling
10y some unknown process to thin her ,
up, and to he told it all in the space of ;
ten minutes. WIS too much for our Tab;
and when another street urchin. lust ;
from an acute attack of conlIn-
drums. looked at her mcditativrly and /
asked his sister why something on the |
street made him think of an elephant, :
She gave up entirely. and WAS obliged ,
to 20 to her friend Ella for comfort or |
,
Ii WAS Il sudden burst of confidence. I
and as Ella WAS two years older. Tab :;
had some hope of being helped in her d
misery. :
Now Ella. | am sorry to say, WAS al e
ways reading very foolish stories, and I
when Tab had exhausted her SORROW II
she said: II
"Tahhie. dear. if You could only t
nave fever and get we'll, YOU know. i
t would he lovely. My cousin Jane q
Iad intimate fever all summer. and Ii
Mas out of her head. and ii was ever so il
unny, and now ma SAYS shes so inter t
sting. But then. You might die. You "
Know" n
Il wouldn't much care" said silly Tab. h
How do they get feverS and things ," h
"Oh, 10y catching cold. guess. Ma v
avs catching cold will do almost any fl
hing. I'm awful sorry for Won, Tab il
he. Let me see. somebody said the %
'thrr day drinking vinegar would make f,
me dreadfully poor" c;
ThOughtleSS. romantic Ella little n
new what dangerous seeds her words v
we're sowing; for that very night Tab, h
utterly recalling the ridicule of the af- II
began IL raid on the vinegar a.
NJ. and even went SO far as To expose u
erself To Il dangerous cold by sleeping Il
4 a strong draught. is
The natural result of an unwholSome e,
let and temperature soon made itself al
manifest. and in few days Tab actu- fo
lily lay nj the point of death. and it al
.a> Il long. long time before she knew co