Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-11-01
THE LITTLE RUNAWAY.
BY MATTE WINFIELD roRREY.


Jennie Ray was five years old, and had
always lived in the city. She had never
INDUCED in a good run over the soft,
green grass in fact, she had never seen
us much of natures carpeting as you
could spread over your parlor floor, be
cause the city streets were all covered
with stones-little round ones in the
middle, where the omnibus and car
riages jolted and rumbled along, and
big flat ones along either side, where
Jennie and her mother walked when
they went out for a little shopping ex-
cursion.
Jennie had the oldest ideas of the
country, having gathered them from
her little picture-bookS. She thought it
4 level tract of land, with blue cows
standing in the shade of red trees, and
yellow houses situated in the midst OF
beautiful flower-gardens. She thought
all the roads lay through shady groves,
that they were bordered with primroses
and buttercups, and that it must be the
most delightful thing in the world to
wander forever along them.
Had she asked her mother to explain
to her what she did not understand, she
would have found out what wrong opin-
ions she had formed, for her mother had
always lived in the country until her
marriage. But Jennie, like many other
little girls, thought she knew almost as
much as any one else, 50 she never said
a word, but just kept turning the sub
iect over and over IN her mind, and
getting further and further away from
the truth.
Jennie had grandmother, nice,
cheerful old lady, in the whitest of ker-
chiefs and the finest of black bomba-
zine dresses, and she lived in the coun-
try. Jennie had not been to visit her
since she was Il baby, and so small that
she could remember nothing about it
but grandmother had been in the city a
great many times, SO that her little grand
daughter knew her very well, and had
learned to love her much.
One morning in early spring, little
Jennie Ray sat at the window of her
mothers neat sitting-room, watching the
people and the wagons in the street.
ooh, DEAR" she thought, how tired
am of seeing all these things and of
hearing the noise the carts make iolting
along. If | We're II man, I'd pick up
every stone in the street, carry them
off and sink them in the sea, so they'd
never, never get back to CRATE and grind
and thump under the wheels. | wish
we lived in the country, where there
were no dusty streets, nor hot pave
ments that fairly burn through the soles
of your shoes, nor high brick walls that
shut out all the air. [ wonder how far
it is to the country? Perhaps it is a
mile. | think | could walk mile. If
| should start this morning, could get
10 grandmothers long before dinner
time, and come home again before
night Yes, indeed, long enough before
the darkness came | should walk in and
tell mamma where | had been, and then
wouldn't she be surprised? | think I'll
start right off without telling her any
thing about it, because she might think
| was too small to go alone. won't let
her know it until [ walk in tonight :;
then she'll say, Why, Jennie, where
have you beeng And | shall answer,
I've been to see grandmother, and she
sent her love to you and papa, and
wished | had brought you both along "
You see Jennie was about to do a very
naughty act, and she did not wish her
kind mother to know anything about
it, She forgot there was One who saw
her, One whose all-seeing eye is ever
upon us.
1t is always wrong for children to do
anything they dare not tell to mamma
and papa and before you have finished
this story you will see how many diff
culties Jennie Ray got into, and how
much trouble and sorrow she caused
her dear parents by this one naughty
act.
She stole softly out of the front door,
tied on her hat as she ran along the
street, smoothed down her white apron
and congratulated herself that she was
fairly on the way to the country. OF
course she did not know the way out of
the city, any more than she knew the
way to the moon, but she dio not think of
that; her head was so full of The strange
and wonderful things she was to see at
her grandmOther's that she Just walked
straight on down this street and up that,
turning this corner, and that one, and
the other, sometimes running, then
walking lelSurely, but always thinking
to herself somewhat after this fash
ion =
Il wonder how soon | shall get to
the country? OF course. shall know
it by the blue COWS, the red trees and
the yellow houses | wonder if the
country is as large as the city? How
many streets there are here, and what
a long one this is? There must be
nearly hundred houses in New York.
| guess I've passed fifty of them al
ready. Oh, there's some grass now! |
wonder if that is the country ?" stop
ping in front of handsome house
whose grass-plat looked green as emer-
aid "Tll go in and step on it but I
don't think it's the country, because
there are no blue COWS or red trees,
and this house isn't yellow, it's brown
stone"
Jennie tugged at the gate, but it re-