The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-11-26
PART lin THE COTTAGE.

PART lin THE COTTAGE.
Thanksgiving was not much ola day in
the Poor-house. The old women did not
| knit, and those who were able usually
went to meeting, and sat in the gallery,
and they all had sumptuOus dinner OF
boiled beef and Indian pudding. Natural
ly there was not much excitement among
the recipients of all this bounty. But the
excitement of that particular Thanksgiv-
ing Day began in the rherning, when the
handsome sleigh and prancing horses OF
Lawyer Anthony stopped at the door, and
he and his wife and another lady came
into the house and asked for all the
family. .----.
They came ina miserable group don't
ask me to paint them land seated them
selves timidly around the edge of the
room. |.t -. ;
The lady rose. to speak, and then for the
first time they knew her. Happiness had
rolled the weight of years off from her,
and save for the silver hair that showed
under her modest bonnet, and the faded
gray eyes, with the heaTt-brOken look in
them, they would hardly have known her.
She was neatly clothed in a black dress of
some soft material. and the faded old shawl
was replaced by "a comfortable cloak.
''Dear friends" she began, but broke
down, sank into a chair, and raised her
hand TO Mr.. Anthony, who took her place,
and made the remarks she had planned. to
make herself. He told them of her good
fortune. He invited, in her name, her old
friend Sally Wilder to come and pass the
rest of her DAYS with her, in her own old
home, which her husband had bought
when she was bride. and which she had
now bought back. He also. in her name,
invited the young girl, Lofty, to come and
live with her two old friends. And he
asked the whole family to take Thanks
giving dinner with her that very day.
Long before he had finished Lofty was
on her knees before her old friends, and
Sally-but, dear me, | never can tell how
people feel. How would you feel in Sal
ly's place? ST.. = Z
Of course they all went to the dinner,
especially as Mr.. Anthony sent his sleigh
three times to carry the old folks and little
children over. And of course they had a
splendid dinner, since Mrs. Anthony gave
up her own Thanksgiving dinner TO make
this perfect success. 1t was not in Poor
house style either, but commencing in the
regular way with oyster soup, proceeding.
according TO the time-hOnOred ways ofOur
ncestors-through roast turkeys and
chicken pies, fianked by all possible vege-
tables, and winding up with tremendous
plum puddings, and mince pies, and
pumpkin pies, and oh, blessed comfort of
agei-a good cup of tea.
Hannah sat at one end of the table too
happy to eat, and Sally, with a beaming
face, at the other.
Poor souls-broken-hearted and tired
out. most of them-they enjoyed the day,
i h,a to tl,nir~ Il oil
ready invited to dinner on the next
Thanksgiving,
Now commenced happy days in the lit
tie brown cottage. Old Sally, nicely dress
ed in flannels and warm merinO dress, was
enthroned in the most comfortable arm
chair the village afforded presented by
Mr.. Anthony, in the warmest and sunni
est corner of the kitchen, while Hannah,
more nervous and uneasy. was as cOmfOr-
tably placed in a warm stuffed rocking-chair
the other side of the open fire. Lofty, in
stalled maid of all work, and happy as th:l
day was long, went around her dainty
housework singing snatches OF her own
native country airs, and growing plump
and handsome every day.
The outer world was represented by
Lotty's twin brother Carlo Benini-short-
ened to Charley Ben by plain Yankee
tongues that hadn't time. in the driving
business of life, to wrestle with the quirks
of Italian pronunciation. He had been
left with Lofty at the Poor-house ten years
before, when their mother came, sick
stranger, to the town, and died the next
day. But for two or three years he had
been separated from his sister, and work
ing for his board and clothes.
Now, however, Hannah had invited him
to share their home, and his master was
induced to pay him wages. So his life
was frightened with the rest. -a
1t was very happy family, as said,
and for genuine, heartfelt happiness you
must 90 to those who have reached some
quiet haven after long years of buffetlns
the tempests of life.
| would prefer not to mention Hannah's
sons and their wives. For the credit Ofhu-
manity | would rather not tell how Johns
wife came to see her the very day she
heard the news, and was $50 glad mother
was going to have the old home! 1t would
seem so natural to see her there, and little
Benny would be so p.eased to come up and
see grandma and bring her some nuts he
had gathered himself" s 4AsA
And nv cheeks burn with shame for
him, when tell how George-who hadn't
a room. nor a corner at his comfortable
table for his heart-broken old mother in
her DAYS of poverty-came over in the
evening, and said how sorry he had al
ways been that it was so, and offered to
send her milk every day, as they had more
than they could use, and also proposed to
invest her money for her.
And shudder to think of the lessons
of avarice taught those grandchildren who
came up every day with milk or butter, or
a few nice apples, for the grandma they
had never heard spoken of before.
s. And blush for my sex whenI tell how
Williams wife came up and pried around
in the closets and everywhere, and sug-
gested to " MOTHER that she'd better be
cautious about inviting too many to share
her money, because she might not have
enough for herself. TH-tlft
1t is pleasanter to turn to the old lady
herself-my heroine-who received all
these advances with quiet dignity. and who
answered all this advice and prOUestatiOn
with the remark that . she loved them be-
cause they were her sons, and she had
held them in her arms when they were
HELPLESS babies, and motheFIove could en-
dure1 much: and she loved aieir children
because they were theirs but her money
what she had-was in Lawyer Antho-
nv's hands. and he would investitfor her ;
and when she died it would be left to help
the destitute.' .-'-l u -
Let us turn from this humiliating pic
| ture of human nature, the worst thing
about which is that it is true. ~ .--
"a Pleasantly the years rolled by. Lofty
! no longer Lofty Ben, but CariOtta Benini
besides making the whole house bright
with her cheerful ways all these years,
went to school, and grew into sweet
tempered, seif-reliant woman, tender
hearted to all the poor, but tender beyond
words to her aged benefactor and her old
/ friend. r..--
Carlo, her brother, advanced from the
very foundation to positions of trust ir
! business, accumulated meansto commence
! for himself, and in the course of year: