The Morning herald., 1878-11-09
Only A BED QUILT.
BY A. H.,


IT shall never forget" ssida lady one
day to me, "my first, aud I think I may
justly say, my last theft ] en'reated her
u tell me the circumstances, which she
lid and I will try to tell them to you as
u arly in her own language as my memory
will allow: +. -a4-. -.. af -.
When T was between seven and eight
years old, I went to day.school in the
neighborhood and nearl y every morning,
on my way there, | used to stop in at Mrs.
Benefits. to see her little girl, Liszis, the
dearest little thing that / ever knew, about
three years old. .''. p" .... ~.
Cne morning found Mrs, Bennett
making dress for Lizzie OF the most beau,
tful csiico. thong it the prettiest thai
had ever seen. had read of fairies,
princes and genii, and 1lthought it must.
have taken six Of each of Them to have
composed and created such lovely fabric,
I wished had q piece Of it 10 put in
patchwork quilt which | was making but
did moi like 10 ask for any. t.e .4. ..,.-
Oh, how petty it was The longing
grew intense; Mrs. Benns'ts oack was
turned. ! picked up a. threescornered
piece from the floor hid it in my bosom
Y In two or three minutes j was on my
way to school, every now ard then looking
at my beautiful calico, and thinking how
cleverIy had managed to get it. But all
at once il struck me that had stolen it!
and l began to feel very unhappy. At
school / couldn't attend to my lessons
there seemed to be great Jumps in my
throat, and the tri-cornered piece Of calico
In NY bosom ie'l as if it were piercing me
with every point. 80" III
NV teacher asked me il felt sick. 7
was going to reply "Yes," but fortunately
I thought in time: No, will not tell .
lie, besides stealing" So / answered that
| felt very we'll. .H q
II She very kindly told me 10 60 out in the
playground for a little while. Oh, how |
wished she had net been SO kind. said
to myself, "If she only knew what a wicks
ed gil am, would she speak to me
again ?" q. $"tn, .
went out, and determined to get rid of
the calico but where was I to put. it,
Everybody would bs sure to see it. l spied
q hole in post, and thought that that
would do for hiding>plaes. I Isqueesed
it 10, and fancied that / felt happier bat
The bright and beautiful colors haunted me
vet. The children would sse it. must
find some more secure place. ] got it
again, and tried to chew and swallow it.
But it would not do. Oh, how wretchsd I
was beginning to feel ...,
On nay way from school, l had to cross
bridge ever q running stream OF water,
and there thought could get rid Of it.
| threw it ever, and watched il slowly
floating along. Now it whirled in little
eddy; and now came it swimming back
again.
Would it never float out of sight, and if
it did, where would itgo? Wouldn't it be
sure to float right in front of some one who
would know that it was Mrs. Bennetrs calN
leo, and thai I had stolen i'H
While l leaned over the bridge, and
watched it with all the agony Of childish
remorse, itcsught against the root Of bush
which grew upon the bank. Yer, there IT
stuck, where every one would see IT.
was sure they couldn't and wouldn't see
anything else. heard wagon wheels com.
| ins tsward the bridge
/ felt certain that Mrs. Bennett was In
that wagon, aud all my uncles, and aunts,
and play mates, and every one that knew
| me. They would all see the calico, and
know that l had been stealing. | climbed
over the bridge, at the risk of breaking my
asck, crspt down the bank, and hid until
the wagon had passed. r1 .,t. r
When all was quiet l came out Of my
hiding place and tried to reach the calico,
but my arm was too short. l took OFT my
shoes and stockings. Oh, if any one should
zee me now With desperate effort |
reached the calico. But what should DO
With it, now had got it7 While putting
IN my shoes and stockings 1 determined
What to do l ran along towards home
| cached Mrs. Benefits. She was sitting
near the open window. I opened the gate,
went up to the window, threw in the piece
Of calico, and was running away when she
called after me .e.
Sarah, my dear child what ails your,
I hardly dared to turn back, but she called
again. went in slowly. ..s. =,
"Why, Sarah, what is the matter with
you? you look quite pale. What did you
throw the piece Of calico in the wincoN
torF'
81 ssole it," said !, desperately, sxpec,,
ing that she would look Mortified, and tell
81 h.