The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-10-31
I'VE Want a Graza.board for Ma

whose pinched face betraved bunger
anu whose clothing could scarcely be
calieu oy the name, dropped into a car
Pehter shop on Grand River Avenue
/ the otner day, and, after much hesita-
/ ton, explained to the foreman
I'VE want to get a grave-board for
ma. She died last winter and the
/ graves are so thick that we can't batdIv
! find hers no more We went IN Iasr
/ Sunday, and we came awful near NOT
/ finding il. We thought we'd Get a
grave board, so we wouldn't lose the
grave. When we thought we'd lost il.
Jack, he cried, and Bud, she cried, and
my chin trembled so l could hardly
talk"
"Where is your father ?" asked the
carpenter.
"Oh, he's home, but he never goes up
there with us, and we shan't tell him
about the board. guess he hated ma,
for he wasn't home when she died, anu
he wouldn't buy no coffin nor nothing.
Sometimes, when we are sittin' on the
doorstep talkin' about her, and Jack
aud Bud are cryin', aud / re-
memberiu' how she kissed us all afOre
she died, he says we'd better quit that,
or we'll get what's bad for US. But We
sleep upstairs, and we talk and cry in
the dark all we want to. How much
will the board be Pr
The carpenter selected something ct
for the purpose, and asked
Who will put it up at the grave ?'
"We'll take II upOn our cart" replied
the boy, ''and l guess the graveyard
man will help Us put 10 up"
"1ou want the name painted on il,
don't you ?"
"Yes, sir, we want the board white,
and then we want you TO paint on it
that she was our ma, and that she was
torty-One years old, and that she died
the 2d Of November, and that she's gone
to heaven, and that she was one of the
best mothers ever was, and that We are
going TO be good ali our lives aud go up
where she is when we die. How much
will il cost, sir ~
/ How much have you got ,"
WELL" said the boy, as he brought
out little calico bag and emptied its
contents on the bench, "Bud drawed
the baby for the woman next door aud
earned twenty cents; Jack, he weeded
in the garden and earned forty cents,
aud he found five on the road; / run OF
errands and made kites and fixed a
I boys cart and helped carry some apples
! in store, and / earned siXty-five cents,
sir, and pa don't know we've got il,
cause we kept it hid in the ground un-
der a stone.n
The carpenter meant to be liberal, but
he said
"a grave-board will cost at least three
dollars"
The lad looked fIom his little store OF
metals TO the carpenter and back, real
lied how many weary weeks had passed
since the first penny was earned and
saved, aud suddenly walled out:
"Ihen We can't never, never buy one,
and mas grave will get lost"
But he left the shop with tears Of
gladness in his eyes, and when he re-
turned yesterday, little Bud and Jack
were with him, and they had a cart
There was not only a head board, but
one for the foot of the grave as well, and
painter aud carpenter had done their
work will full hearts, and done it we'll
"Ain'tit awful nice? Nicer than rich
/ folks have" whispered the children, as
the boaris were heing placed on the
cart. "W0u't the grave look nice,
though, aud won't ma he awful glad ?iI
Ere this the mothers grave has been
marked, aud when night comes the
three mOtherless oues Will cuddIe close
together aud whisper their gratitude
that it cannot be lost to them, even in
the storms and drifts of winter.