Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1878-07-25
tiattet on tie top 81 his head SO lang as

mattef on the TOP D1 DIS neRQ 80 !QHg Us
he could keep enough to cultivatea pigtail.
This was necessary, as he meant to set up
for Chinese mandarin, and was already
embroidering gown for the purpose on
spare nights,And / felt when they read read.
me the letter, that it was jacks turn
now tosmake merry, mother hearts
were sick and sad. IN 5*'s31
If he had only sent me one little line! !:
He showefed gifts tp6n 6tiier .peUple-.
chests 5ftea and parcels of silk; lovely
bits Of decofated China big soft b9eautl-
full shaw.s7of. Grape. He sent gewgaws
and gold I'd 90 mahy others; If he had
only given me one little word 1ns;:
They must have told him I had been
sorely punished; that my mischievous
gayety he had whitfield out like the fame
of a candle; that even the beauty iof which
he had been So proud and fond was gone
every bit of 1t gone. Sleepless nights
and useless repining, long wearisome
days, and endless years filled with wild
yearning for that which seemed forever
hopeless, had robbed me Of all. The old
bloom of the heart took with it the Grim
son cheek, the laugh ttg eve; and the
light,eiastic step. Even MY hair fell otit.
Alas! poor HE, the flesh fell irom my
bones AS limited before, it was not
very allufihg object that greeted me In
the glass on the morning of my twenty
seventh birthday. "ArQint thee, witch!"
+ cried, and wiped away with the hard-
towel some salt tears that fell upon the
dimity bureau cover. and upon the grave
of sad sweet memories. Then l put on
my ugly brown dress, and the hideous
bonnet to match. and went off to the
church, pausing at the portal to look
longingly over at the cool, quiet graves
of some of OUT old neighbors. A soft
wind stirred the long grass there, few
birds hoped lightly and tearlessly about.
How calmly, IlmlA sfhile the dead
WI 10 do not therefore Rrieve!"
"The Yea OF heaven is Yea,'' [ said,
and went or mi 10 the church, where the
ladies we're GROUPED around the straw
berries that had just arrived. I took
possession of a whole crate of these, send
ing the young pretty maidens home to
recruit for the evening.
There were few faint polite remon-
strances when / declined to take any
active part in the evenings entertain
ment. I'VE must leave that part to the
young and attrattlve," said, and there
are abundant of acqtiestehce. I had
the consolation OF hearing several re-
marks upon itiy extraordinary good
sense; and practical capability.
was gtaceousl y allowed after I had
hulled Whole crate of strawberries, to
hold q step-ladder aid some nails for
Mrs. Smith, the apothecary's wife, while
she hung some gorgeous drapery, and
otherwise deformed the cool gray walls
of our little chapel, so that l was pretty
we'll tired when went home at light
fall. Mamma met me at the gate, and
looked at me so dolefully that burst out
Nevef, mind; mamma said; II
WON'T look so cadayerous after I'm rested
and dressed for the evening"
But I'm afraid was rather painful
object for the gaze of dotlng and once
ambitious mother, even when had don
ned nv black silk, and was ready for
the evening. My hair was neither crimp-
ed or curled. You see, had depended
upon that switch, which was bought 70:
purposes of that kind, and failed me ig
ANONYMOUSLY at the last moment. My
head ached. and could not bear many
hait-plns thrust, into my acalp' in no 9TH
er way wotlld the obstinate thing be in
duced to stay ON. MAMMA was heart
broken, and I was disappointed; but
even inaniinate articles become perverse
at times. l thought perhaps the switch
was grieving over a beloved and lost
head of which it was once part and par
Gel, and forgave it, and left it to its
perYerseness from that time onward.
When l reached the church I was i'm
mediately siezed upon Tor something
they called "the grocery counter AN
innovation brought about by the advent
OF d well-to-dU grocer In OUT miist,
widower. stock raiser, ana a man af-
flicted with many maladies, of which he
loved to talk. He had generously sent
down from the city, in pound packages
and tin cans, samples Of his available
goods, and pfop6sed this grocery coun-
ter" to the young ladies, which they de-
spised and would have none of.
The grocer himself found favor in their
sight. They fitted about him, filled his
button holes with boquets; his pockets
with bonbons: they looked up in his
face, atd tried to talk to him, poor child
rem! as best they could. But they ap-
pealed to me to take the ugly counter,
with its solid pound packages for home
necessity, and / took it with an ILL con-
cealed avidity. The truth was, kind of
heart-sickness seized me when thought
that the evening mhst be passed in max
ing myself general agreeable, and I felt
that to wander about this place, distort-
ed out of its sweet SAVIOR of goodness
and quiet Sabbath rest so dear to a
weary soul--to wander about among the
flags and w"eaths and tents and arbors,
while smile for one,a nod for another
was like the protracted and agonizing
pilgrimage Of lost soul beyond the
borders OF the Styx.
SO I speedily put myself behind the
counter, which comfortably hid more
than half my tall, gaunt figure. and was
SO glad of the shelter that found my
self becoming interested in these de-
spised parcels piled up before me. 1 de-
termincd, if I could, to make my mission
a success, so that and other poor weary
women might have this refuge to fly to
in these gala seasons of Misery.
l. The successful grocer, who had not
been very we'll pleased with the open
ingratitude for his bequest, took heart and
frightened up when he saw ME giving an
air of smartness' to his goods. He extri-
Gated himself from bevy Of young and
fair ones, and came generously over to
help me. In sheer gratitude began to
prais his young colt that was pasturing
in field adjoining our garden, and h.
remained with me. Shortly after, when
he found that queer feeling in his head
agreed with the same discomfort in nv
own poor Uranium he brought a chair
behind the counter, and in low tender
voice he deailed to me the interesting
diagnosis Of his pet malady.
On the ether side OF me the ministers
son, who was home from college, aud suf-
fering from that period of egotism which
comes to young men Of his kind, remained
during the eutire evening, to show his
contempt for the young, the fair, the
frivOOus A few old married friends