The weekly Oskaloosa herald. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Iowa) 1855-1885, 1872-06-27

1
frightened. She was at heart good
woman and loved her husband and
children. She would have been a
tender wife and mother if the demon
OF horse-cleaning had not taken pos
session of her. ... ...---.. ...--...-.
Bridget was sent at aouce Tor the
Doctor, and Susan was taken on hel
mothers lap, and alternately scolded
and petted. . &C.,. .......
what possessed you to touch it
There, don't cry, the doctor will
give you something to make you bet
ter. Why did you touch it
Il was so thirsty-I thought it was
vinegar, and like vinegar very
much ....,. ..
The child had seen Bridget use
vinegar to clean the copper kettle,
and thought the cup contained some
of that acid. . ..... ......E
But l told you vinegar was not fiji
to drink. There, there, do not cry.
Twas so-thirsty, and-Bridget
Wouldn't give me-a drink
Mr.. Cleanwell went home to a sad
household. Poor little Susan lay in
bed, with her mother attending her.
The doctor had come and gone,
leaving directions for the treatment
of the child. Her mouth was badly
burned inside, as well as her chin
and hands, where the solution had
touched them. The physician could
not tell her how far the internal inju.
ny extended, but Susan kept moan.
ing /:
90, it burns, it burns y
The room where Susan lay pre-
scented forlorn appearance. 1t was
Mr.. and Mrs. CleanwelPs bedroom.
Mrs. Cleanwell herself was vigorous
ly scrubbing the paintwork when the
accident happened to Susan. The
pail of suds and the brush lay on the
floor, which was damp in several
places. The bedstead stood in the
middle of the room the bureau was
moved out from its place. In fact
everything was out ofits own place,
and took up the place of something
else. Poor Mr. Cleanwell was al
most overcome Nothing but the
suffering and danger of the little girl
prevented him from expressing his
feelings in language unbecoming a
husband and father. He bent over
Susan, calling her pet names, and
begging her to tell him what hurt
her. She could hardly answer him,
and in despair he went out to seek
further advice.
The little Cleanwells were in a
state of CONSERVATION below, where
Bridget was meekly giving them
their supper On coming from
school they were informed that their
little sister had poisoned herself with
potash. They told their compan-
ions in the street, and the report
spread through the nelghborhood.
Two or three neighbors, acquaint'
ances of Mrs. Cleanwell, came In to
inquire and condole. One of them,
Mrs. Petit, kindly put away the
cleaning utensils and pushed the fur
niture into proper places. She offer
ed to help in any way, but there was
nothing in particular for her to do ;
SO, after some kind advice to Bridget
and the children, she went home.
Mr.. and Mrs. Cleanwell sat up all
night doing what the doctors ad
vised the father full of smethered
indignation-the mother repentant
and longing to cry out her sorrow
and receive Der husbands forgive
ness !; but both waiting to see what
the end might be.
In the morning Mrs. Petit sent to
inquire. The answer was
I'VE can see no change
Little Susan lay quiet, no longer
able to speak, and little hope was
entertained of her recovery.
Mrs. Cleanwell had leisure to weigh
in the balance the relative value OF
house cleaning and health during the
long, sad days that followed. Then
her sincere repentance, and deter.
mination to act differently in the fu-
ture, were rewarded by the recovery
of little Susan.
There were other troubles to con-
tend with, but they seemed light In
comparison with the great fear that
had overshadowed them. Mrs.
Cleanwell had an attack of rhenma-
tism, and the little Cleanwells were
afflicted with heavy colds.
'What heartless wife / have
been,' Mrs. Cleanwell said one night
when her husband was suffering rom
the effects of her obstinacy. But |
hope it is all over. If Susan had
died, l should have felt that muir
dered her. Your illness, too-that
is on my conscience. When shall l
see the end of my folly?'
Don't grieve about the past. L
can bear this, since Susan, my little
pet, is spared. But l must tell you
Mrs. Pettit's plan. I believe l ex-
pressed myself pretty freely to Mr..
Petit on this subject of house clean
ing. was SO angry, so indignant,
l was obliged to open my heart to
some one. He told me that he new
er knows anything about cleaning,
though the house is always in order.
/ asked him how Mrs. Petit man
aged. He promised to ask, and did
SO. This is her method: She hires
woman, and only has one room up
set at time. She begins after Mr..
Petit goes to business. She never
does any cleaning herself : but she
overlooks the work, and puts the
drawers and closets in order. The
room is in perfect order again before
Mr.. Petit returns in the afternoon.
The next morning another room is
attacked, and so on until the work is
DONE .... .... ......
B Excellent! in future Mrs. Pettit's
plan shall be my plan ....
And it was. Mrs. Cleanwell kept
her house as neat as ever, but in a
more reasonable way. She learned
that it was not necessary to risk the
health of the household in order to
do the half-yea cleaning. When
ever she inclined to return to old
ways, she thought Of little Susan ly-
ing white and speechl ess, poisoned
through her neglect and perverse-
ness.