Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1876-02-04

think to herself, YES, ii is my funeral.
We have just buried my good name"
Silently, one with a white face, the other
with a red one, Roxy and her mother did
up the work. Then Roxy went up to her
room again. She took a sheet of foolscap,
and made IL into four sheets of note paper.
She wrote and printed something or each
Sheet aud folded all the sheets into letters.
Then she went down stairs. Two of the
little letters she handed 10 her mother.
Then, bonnet in hand, she stole out of the
fl ont door. At the gaze she looked down
the road toward the village up the road
toward Mr.. Markham's. She started to-
ward Mr.. Markham's. She got over the
road marvelously; for the child was wild
10 get the thing over with. She was going
up the path to the house when sho saw Mr..
Markham hooing in the garden. She went
to him, thrust a note Into his hand, and
was oil like dart.
1t was long, hard. lonely run down to
the village. How lonely in the grove st the
hollow treei How like a thief, with the
bundles on her arm! No little girls pock-
ct would hold them, nothing but great
Judas-bag. She went straight to tho stone
store. Ii was just sunset. How thankful
she was 10 find nobody in tho store but Mr.
Hampshire himself, reading tho evening
paper. lie looked mp and recognized the
red little face. He glanced at the bundles
as she threw them, with letter, down on
the counter, aud whisked out through the
door. He called after her, "IIere, here,
Roxy; here my dear! Come back. have
some figs for your
But 10 Roxy came back. He heard her
little heels clatterng doYn the sidewalk
fast as she could go. So he got up and
read the letter, for it was directed to him
self
Here are the four notes Roxy wrote:
DEAR FATHER:-I Will paye you every
Cent il live. shall always be a Good
Girl, and never banker after Only what
have got. Please forgive Me, and Not Talk
it Over with mother. 1t will mako her
Sick. Roxy"
"DEAR MOTHER PLEASE love me until
1 am Bad once More. If / ever, Ever,
should be Bad again, then you may give
me up. Don't get Sick. Roxy"
MIR. MARKHAM:-I havo been Very
Wicked. lave made father and Mother
wretched. l am sorry. Please don't he
Hard on Me, and Set everybody against
me, because My Mother would settle right
down and be very Sick. am only Little
girl, and a Big Man might let me go. /
have taken the Things back to the Store.
Also father has Paid for them. You may
Want something some day, and do Wrong
to get it, and Then you will know How
good it is. II GILDERsLEEvE."
MIR. HAMPSHIRE PLEASE not tell the
folks that come into the Store what did.
| want Chance to be good. If you ever
hear Of my stealing agaiu, Then you can
tell, of course. r. GILDERsLEEvE."
And here is what they said:
Mr.. GiiderslceUe (crying.) "Here, moth
er put this away. Never speak OF it to her.
Poor child. did mean TO whip her."
Mrs. GiiderSIeeve (crying.) "Boss her
heart, Tom, this is true repentance! Our
child will not soon forget this lesson. Let
us be very good to her"
Mr.. MARKHAM Cau2hing.) young ssuce-
box! But there's true grit for you! Well,
don't think shall stoop TO ipjure child.
Let it go. Pm quits with Tom now, aud
We begin again even"
Hr. Hampshire (aughing.) "She'sa nice
little dot, after all. l don't see wha. pos
sessed her. I'd like to show this to Maria
guess l won't though, for il is partly my
business to keep the little name white"
And none Of them ever told. When
Rosy was an old woman, she related to me
the story herself. The name was kept
white through life. Such a. scrupulous,
kindly, charitable old lady! The only
strange thing about her was, that she never
could cat anything Favored with cinnamon,
or which had raisns in it, Wide Awdke.