Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1872-01-26
WHOLE NO. 341.
A Little Sermon.
From the Sunday School Workman.

UAo"A3 oHowy u0y3 tHe LdIu WdS
late, the ladies' room dark and
smoky, and the dozen women, old
and young, who sat waiting impa-
tiently, looked cross, low-spirited,
or stupid.
Just then, a forlorn old woman,
shaking with the palsy, came in
with basket Of small wares tor
sale, and went about mutely offer
ing them to the sitters. Nobody
bought anything, and the poor old
soul stood blinking at the door a
minute, as if reluctant to 60 cut in
the bitter storm again. She turned
presently and pokcd about the room
as if trying to find something, and
then lady in black, who lay as if
asleep on sofa, opened her eyes,
saw the old woman, and instantly
asked in a kind tone: "Have you
lost anything, ma'am?"
"No, dear, I'm looking for the
heatin' place, to have warm, fore
/ go out agin. My eyes are poor,
and don't seem to find the furnace
nowhere" .1
''Hcre it is" and the lady led her
to the steam radiator, placed a chair
and showed her how to warm her
feet.
"Well, now, amt that nice?"
said the old woman, spreading her
ragged mittens to dry. "Thankee,
dear; this is proper comfortable,
amt it? I'm most froze to-day, be-
ing lame and aching, and not sellin'
much, made me sort of down-heart.
ed like"
The lady smiled, went to the
counter, bought cup of tea and
some sort of food, carried it herself
to the old woman, and said, as re-
spectfully and kindly as if the poor
soul had been dressed in silk and
fur:
wont you have cup of hot tea?
1t is very comforting such a day as
this"
"Sakes alive! Do they give tea at
this depot?" cried the old lady in a
tone of innocent surprise that made
smile 60 round the room, touching
the glummest face like streak Of
sunshine. "Well, now, this is just
lovely" added the old lady, slipping
away with a relish. 'sThat does
warm my heart"
While she refreshed herself, tell
ing her story meanwhile, the lady
looked over her poor little wares in
the basket, bought soap, pins and
shoestrings, and cheered the old
lady by paying we'll for them.
AS watched her doing this I
thought what a sweet face she had,
though l had considered her rath-
er plain before. l felt dreadfully
ashamed Of myself that had grim
ly shaken my head when the basket
was offered to me; and, as 1 saw
look of interest, sympathy, and
kindness come into faces around
me, l did wish that l had been the
magician that called it out. 1t was
only kind word and friendly act;
but somehow it frightened that
dingy room wonderfully. 1t chang
ed the faces of dozen women; and
/ think it touched dozen hearts,f for
l saw many eyes follow the plain,
pale lady with sudden respect; and
when the old woman, with many
thanks got up to go, several per-
sons beckoned to her and bought
something, as if they wanted to re-
pair their negligence.
There were no gentlemen pres
ent to be impressed by the lady's
kind act; so it was not done for ef-
feet, and no possible reward could
be received for it, except the thanks
of a poor old woman. But that
simple little charity was as good as
a sermon, and think each traveller
went on her way better for that
half-hour in the dreary station
Ten Hard Dollars.
Those people who are interested
in hard money will perhaps be
protited by reading the following
story from the CAristia,s Weekly,
by DIR. Spaulding:
"My father was poor man. A
large and growing family was de-
pendent on him for its daily bread.
Coming home one wintry evening
from weeks toll in neighboring
town with ten hard earned dollars
in his pocket, he lost them in the
light snow. Long and fruitless was
the search for them. After the
snow was gone, again and again
was the search renewed, with the
same result. The snow fell and
melted again for a whole genera
tion, and still the story Of the lost
dollars was fresh in our family
circle; for silver dollar to poe
man in those days was larger tn
(afAi ai88GCSs: ~ aunn,.~-
"About mile away lived ane
father of a family in similar
cumstances. He, too, knew how
much = dollar cost dug out Of the
heart of a rocky farm. At least once
or oftener every week for forty
years he had occasion to pass our
door, giving and receiving the COM
mon neighborly salutations, and
every time with weight increas-
ingly heavy on his conscience. But
all such pressure has its limit, and
when that is reached the crash is
the greater for the severity Of the
! strain. In this instance it was as
when an old oak rends its body and
breaks its limbs in falling. 81.
! ''One day, completely broken
down, he came to my father in tears,
confessing: Il found your dollars
lost in the snow forty years ago.
They have been, hard dollars osme,.
and l can carry them no4 lenger ~.
am come. to returns thens, and ask
your forgiveness, and as soon = IS L
can l will pay you ha interest,", u
"The scene was like. that. -x'hen
Jacob and Esau met over the ford
Jabbok. -----.--------r~-.-4
she did not live long enough. 10
pay the interest, but quite long
enough to furnish practical com,