The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1875-12-25
HEART-OF-GOLD.
A LEGEND OF CHRISTMAS TIDE.

and thin, poor child, that it was pitiful to
see her working as hard as any farm ser
want.
She had big, startled-looking eyes and
sorrowful, patient smile.
The rich farmers who met her of an
evening coming out of the woods, poorly
clad and laden with heavy burden, had
offered more than once, when they had
been lucky and got high price for their
grain, to buy her good petticoat of stout
fustian.
But she always answered: 81 know a
poor old woman who sits in the church
porch and who has nothing but ragged
gown to wear in this bitter December
weather. Buy her woollen shawl and l
shall feel warm tomorrow when see her
covered
This it was which made the people call
the child Heart of Gold.
Heart Of Gold had once upon a time had
a fine cradle covered with lace and a room
full of toys; but one morning her mother
did not come to her as usual when she
awoke, and as she lay crying in her cot,
some one else came and told her that one
! of Gods angels had taken her mother away
/ to heaven.
/ So Heart of Gold dried her eyes.
Only a month before her father, too, had
gone away, and the poor little thing thought
it must have been him who had come down
! from the sky for her mother, and that
when they were in heaven together they
would miss their little daughter SO much
that they would send an angel for her, too,
/ before very long.
! She never could remember how she came
! to lose her toys and her little white crib.
From rich little lady she became poor
neglected, half-fed child, and no one seemed
| to wonder at the change.
! All she could recollect was finding her
| Uncle Uric and her Aunt Ulrica beside
her bed one morning, and feeling very
much frightened because they did not
smile at her or kiss her.
| Ulrca dressed her hurriedly in some
coarse stuff or other, and Uric, holding
her by the hand led her on her tender,
stumbling feet over rough and stormy
road, and into the miserable hovel where
she now lived. That was all.
Only now she was always very tired of
nights.
Uric and Ulrica had once been better
off, too; but Uric loved boon companions
and nights spent in drinking, while Ulrica
/ IL
| long hours devoted to vain efforts to make
herself young and pretty, SO that there
came a time when the cellar ran dry, and
when even the looking lass was sold to
buy bread.
Forgetting that their poverty was the
result of their own folly, they accused
everybody else of having caused their ruin,
and found a horrible satisfaction in seeing
still greater suffering than their own.
Poor Heart-of Colds rags and bruises
and hollow little stained cheeks were
source of savage delight to this wicked
pair.
They laughed at the child when she came
back from the well, tottering under the
weight of the heavy pitcher she could
hardly carry in both her thin red hands,
and they beat her if she split so much as
drop of the water, saying that bad chill
dren deserved to be punished.
But they beat her so cruelty that it was
easy to see the correction was unjust.
Little and weak as she was Ulrica made
Heart of Gold do all the hardest work,
sending her to CLEAN in the scorchng mid
day sun and to pick up sticks in the rain
and snow.
And when the child came in she had to
do all the sweeping and securing in the
cabin before she was allowed to eat the
miserable crusts that had been thrown
aside for her.
But Heart-of Gold never complained
| The old happy time when her mother took
care of her and loved her and curled her
long hair was so far away now that it SEEM
ed only natural to her that she should cry
every day.
So she accepted blows and dry bread as
part Of her life, and it surprised many
grave people to see so young child feel
such great pity for the sufferings of others
without appearing to think of her own
misery at all.
Well, one wonderful Christmas-tim it
happened that Uric and Ulrica, being
merry with beer, gave Heart of Gold
splendid new penny, and told her she
might go and play for the rest of the even
ing.
Heart of Gold thanked them and set off
slowly towards the town, feeling very much
embarrassed by her penny, and having no
idea how to set about playing.
Soon she reached the principal street,
where there was a shop on the left side,
near the church, full of dolls and play
things
This shop was so beautiful at night when
all the lamps were lit up, that the children
used to dream of it as sort of paradise.
And that evening, cold as it was, a party
of rosy little urchins were standing open
mouthed before the window, beating on the
window with their longing fingers and try
ing to get as near as possible to the wonder
full things inside.
Heart-of- Gold envied their boldness, and
it was some time before she could summon
up courage to take a peep herself.
She stood gathering her fluttering rags
about her, and hiding her bare feet in the
darkest corner she could find; but at last
she crept timidly into the lit-up street,
holding her new penny very tight and
after rapturous gaze at the parti- colered
treasures in the magical window, tried to
pick out with her eye the toy she intended
to buy.
At last she decided on large doll, which
had real golden hair, and glistening white
dress just like the Holy Virgin.
Heart-of- Gold felt quite dazzled by the
; thought of having such beautiful crea-
ture for her very own, and began to fancy
the conversations she would have with heI
doll when they were by themselves; but as
she stood hesitatinp shyly about entering