Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1874-07-25
The Widows Son.

| xAO "AOOW'6 0OAs
| In little brown, one.story, wood
On house, nestled among the trees .
the foot of a hill. lived the Widow
j Wood. She lived al alone. save hsa
little boy. her only child. JQhaay
Her hu1hnnd Mas,a Poer, havisnsrk'
|ing man. Who had coatr;ssd 10 psJ
for their little home. having 0ss cew
land kept bis gsrdea in good ORDER;
when he was suddenly removed BY
death. Johnny was too young to re.
member his father. and his neighbors
lived ut y distance, and Sc. he and biz
widowed mother were al to each
her. The school house was far off,
too, but as soon rs his little legs had
got long enough. Johnny was found
at school. Early i'll the morning,
washed and combed, he would kiss
his mother for 4 long day, with his
little dinner basket hung on his arm.
while she, charging him to he "a good
boy" would turn back to her lonely
home, to spin or to weave, or to do
something by which to earn pit
tauce toward their support. Some
tunes she would so out to meet him
toward night when she thought it
time for him to come home, and then
hand in hand, little Johuny would
tell his joys and surrows, how the
boys called him q baby" aud u
"milksop," because he stvutly defcn-
drI his mother, and then how Miss
ri, rson praised him as her model
little buy"
II doul think they ought to langh
at us if ws are poor, 10 YOU mother"
why. n.. 4ol ii ". d. as we'll as
We c.n."
And It's no disgrace to eat ry.
.,i-s is it molhcr?"
Certainly not. if We caunvt afford
10 have wheat"
rusy rmsw anu rdn GRO xrv,,7y-.,
they 10. because | ain little AMI fsc-
bic. Ic.n't fight them; bat | tell
yoa What. mother. III grow. and I'll
be y good scholar, and be a doctor or
i lawyer, and then We will live in
dig hoase, and YOU sl.al! dress like u
lady, xnl IL! have good clothc,, and
"v' Ii eat wheat. and see ii they will
laugh any more"
"Wvll. johnny. you be a good boy,
Az learn to love your books, and |
will do all can tor you"
The widow wiped tear silently
from her face, and felt that this little
coniiins boy MAS dcarcr to her than
all the wealth in the world.
So she silcutIy toi.el and deniel
herself everything possible. and
kept her child at school. When he
had learned all they could teach him
in the little red school. house, she sent
him t, an academy. He was the
poorest boy il tn. school, and poor
est dressed and fed. People wonder
ed why Widow Wood should 'kill
herself with work. just to keep that
great boy at school" They said. "hs
had better b. earning something for
his mother" But the widow kept
silent, and toiled on. At length the
tim. came when Johnny was ready to
90 to college. Could she ever meet
the expense?: She had earned and
saved something every year BY hel
loom, in view Of this possibility.
! After he had entered college. she
MIXED and drove her own COW X
pasture. cat her owa wood all winter
and one day in the week, sometimes
two. went out washing. Soon it be-
gan to be whispered around that "th'
widow boy was doing WE'LL" ane
then that lie was fine scholar" ane
the day he graduated. the first schol
ar in his class, the poor mother tool
his arm after the exercises OF th'
d..y were over, and with tears ant
smiles walked with him through tn,
streets Of the city, the hAppiest laoth
er in all that city.
! A few years after, she saw hiu
t taking u commanding position in hi
| profession --one of the most honorsC
and distinguished men in our country
She did see him in his elegant house
, surrounded by great library, and
s most gifted family Of children, an
: she did live with him, and lean apo:
!, him as a strong staff, but / am nc
p sure jhat she WAS really haprie