Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1873-04-25

mence work this afternoon"
agreed! agreed" was the reply
from all as they fastened to their rooms
for the money, and to invite all the rest to
join them if they wished, Half an hour
later nearly all the girls gathered in the
schOOl-room, They proceeded to form a
Young Ladies' Benevolent Society, by
electing a president, secretary and treas
urer, and committee of six, whose duty
would be to purchase material for the
work, cut and prepare it ready to make
up, and attend to all the business of the
society as they should direct. Permission
was given two of the committee to pur-
chase the flannel at once, by kind-hearted
Madam, who was delighted to find her
wild, frolicsOme girls were planning some
thing really useful and good, for once.
When at the appointed time they all gath
cred around the long table covered with
the bright scarlet flannel, there was such
chattering, so much to say and laugh over,
it seemed as if they would never get to
work. But they did, at last, and the
bright needles flew in and out until, to
their surprise and delight, the f1annels
were finished The day was finished, too,
piest they had ever spent.
Monday afternoon, during their walk,
three of the committee took occasion to
pass by Granny Tweeds door. The two
little girls were playing outside the gate.
Grace asked them how their grandmother
was, and chatted with them so pleasantly
they didn't notice that the other young
ladies were taking very accurate measures
of the length of their poor little arms,
and their thin cotton skirts. They even
managed to get the size of their shoes,
which were sadly out at the toes. AT
length Grace dropped paper of sugar
plumS into the little red hand of the eldest,
and with a pleasant goodbye" the young
ladies passed on, and were soon relating
their success to the rest of the society. 1t
was wonderful to see the interest with
which those gay young girls commenced
the work of fitting up those motherless
little ones. Two complete suits were made
for each, bright plaid dresses for Sunday
wear, and dark delaines for everyday.
They made warm flannel underclOtheS,
and purchased bright scarlet stockings,
and warm, thick shoes for each. They
made thick, heavy sacques for them, on
Madam's sewing machine, and expended
the last money left in their treasury for
some little hats and gloves. They were
so enthusiastic over their work, and had
been so careful not to let it interfere in the
least with their studies, that Madam was
greatly pleased, and said she would like
to add her mite, to make the gift complete.
So that very day she brought in a dress
pattern of black alapaca, thick, warm
shawl and a close, old lady's bonnet,
which would be very nice, indeed, for
granny to wear to church. The girls were
so delighted they could scarcely
refrain from literally devouring
Madam with kisses. At last the
work was finished, and the gar
ments laid one by one, neatly folded, into
an old trunk, the girls adding, at the last
moment a pound of tea, and candy
enough to keep the little girls sweet all
winter. The trunk was closed, the key
turned in the lock and left there, and then
it was sent by trusty man with instruc
tiOns to take it into the house, and if
Granny asked where it came from, to tell
her "the Lord sent it." She was not at
home, however, and the little girls were at
some neighbor's house, but the door was
not locked, so the trunk was set inside,
and when Granny came home, there it
was, with a neat little card upon the top,
upon which was written, "F'Or Granny
Tweed" The next day was the Sabbath.
Madame Gazin and her pupils were
at length seated in their accustomed place,
and every fair young head had bowed it.
self for a moment in prayer-a good old
rule which could not be broken with i'm
punity then; the next moment, at least
fifty pairs of bright eyes were turned, not
on the minister, but upon the little corner
in the gallery where sat Granny Tweed in
her new bonnet and shawl, wondering,
awe-stricken look upon her her care-worn,
wrinkled face, down which, one by one,
great tears rolled, and fell unheeded upon
her toil-worn hands. The two little girls
were not crying-no, indeed. Their
little faces were shining with the un-
wonted scrubbing they had received, and
fairly radGant with delight, as they smooth
ed down the folds of their pretty plaid
dresses, or gazed admiringly at each
others hats, or swung their feet back and
forth so they could see their brilliant red
stockings as we'll as the neatly laced shoes.
They pulled off their gloves just for the
fun of putting them on again, and finally
a, happy thought struck the youngest,
''per7dpS there aods q pocket IN the DRESS"
She commenced an active search, and sure
enough there was one. She plunged her
hand into its hidden depths, and the next
moment shriu little voice ran through
the church, "Oh, mym as she pulled out
cunning little handkerchief with lace all
around it, and, with it, half dozen lem
on-drops which ratified over the floor with
great noise.
Granny pounced upon the child and
gave her good shake, upon which an eX-
preston of the deepest solemnity fellupon
| the happy little face, and the eldest didn't
venture to try her pocket for fear of con
sequences if she should happen to find
something as nice. Never before did
Madam Gazin's pupils behave so badly in
church as they did that particular morn
| ing. If they tried ever SO hard to Tx their
attention on the minister, their eyes would
wander away to that happy group In the
gallery, and when that shrill "Oh, my"
rang through the church, there was more
than one irrepressible giggle smothered in
dainty lace-edged handkerchief. A
grieved, rebuking glance from Madam
| hushed them at once, and altogether they
cot along with it much better than could
| be expected.
The next day Grace Kimball and Flor
ence Percy obtained permission to call on
| Granny Tweed.
The old lady received them very kindly,
wiped off some chairs for them to sit on,
| and soon they were chatting away to-
gether very sociably.
"By the wav, Granny" said Grace,
chow nice you all looked yesterday in
church! We couldn't keep our eyes away
from you, and Madam had to scold us well
for not paying better attention to the SER
mon"
swell, Pm afeared / didn't get much
| good o. the sermon / was just a saying
Thank the Lord! thank the LOrdh over and
over again, all the time. You see, miss,
I've been having powerful bad time OF
it this fall, had the rheumatis' SO | couldn't
Go much. and was ,maZin, feared should