The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1878-03-01
what Johnny Found.

together with their mamma since their
papa died. 1t had been long, hard
time. A time of hard. hard work for
the poor mamma, and not Only work but
worry, which is far worse. For she had
been sure that the cottage in which she
and her little children were left mt her
husbands death would be hers, their
own home but upon looking for the
title deed a few days after it was no.
where to be found.
Where could it be? She was sure she
could lay her hand right upon it. But
no search would bring it to the light.
She turned over everything throughout
the house for days and days, like one
distracted. For she now remembered
that it had not been put upon record in
the Office of the County Clerk, and,
though every dollar of the money had
been paid over, yet she had not one
scrap of paper in all the world as evil
dence.
After weeks and weeks of anxious
search she had gone to Mr.. Baker, of
whom her husband had bought the
place. He was cold, hard, money
loving man, and her interview with him
showed her her situation plainly. She
was homeless as well as a widow
If she "could produce n record of
the transaction" Mr.. Baker said, she
would make it all right, of course; but
no business man could be expected to
give her credit for the payment of a
sum of money for which she had moth
ing to show"
She had sunk down utterly under this.
In losing her husband she had seemed
to herself to suffer all there was to
suffer, but here was n new depth of suf-
fering reached. No one to love and
provide for her and the little ones any
more, and 9aOl0 not even roof over
their heads, or shelter from the
storms Seeing how hard she took it,
Mr.. Baker, generous man, told her she
might live in the house foi season, or
until she could "turn around" by which
he meant until she could get work to
help herself.
But there was no time to grieve-in-
deed is it not always better when there
is not ?-for there were not more than
two quarts of -four in the barrel, and
perhaps half peck of potatoes i'll the
house, to say nothing of butter, tee
WOOu, All Lut bLiLSS ndPpltI
families call necessaries. Her hungry
little children For them she must get
up and go and seek work. She went.
She found it, of course, such as it was
washing, scrubbing and coarse sewing
among ner neighbors-she VINO had al
ways hired her rwn washing and scrub
bling done while her husband lived, and
sometimes coarse sewing also, for papa
and the children were dreadfully hard
upon Clothes" she used to say, smiling
to herself. A coarse shirt would not
last the hearty CHEEKY papa long, in his
heavy work, while the little ones ran
through theirs almost without stopping.
But what mattered it, when papa, every
now and then, brought home upon his
shoulder "A whole piece of cotton cloth !!
And now
The poor mother was always looking
for the lost title deed. She could not
give it up. She felt she must find it,
and, strange as it may seem, she felt in
spite of all disappointments that she
could come across it some day. She
would often use up her last remaining
inch of candle hunting through the
house at night, (poor woman she had
little other time) for the missing paper
OF course the children knew of the
dreadful loss. Their peor mamma talked
TO them of it by the hour. She talked
to them freely of all her worries and
anxieties; and the little girl of and the
little boy of 6 grew strangely old in this
time of trouble.
The house was queer ramb-
ling one, well built, and well
finished, only there happened to
be one large, light, airy room
upstairs which had somehow been left
merely inclosed that is, left unfn-
ished-with the tiynbers all ont to view.
There was not bit of ceiling or plaster
ing, and not even what is called a
"baseboard" above the floor. The floor
itself was good, but the boards, many
of them, did not go out to meet the clap
boards and thus left great holes which
went away down between the lower walls.
nobody knew quite where. One of its
windows opened upon the roof of the
swing part" of the house, and also upon
the roof the piazza which extended along
the front. There, with the rafters all
laid bare. what splendid place for d
swing The children had seized upon
this room, carrying all their plaything,
there, and appropriating it generally tc
their own use.
But if the room had so many advan
tages for n play-room it certainly hat
some disadvantages, as Johnny anC
Minnie shortly found out. Ii tn,
children could swing from morn
ing till night; if Johnny, young mon
key could go from the window ant
perch himself upon the peak of the kitch
en- roof any hour in the day Minnie
dared only sit in the window and watch
HIM, he also lost his ball, his jack
and his marbles "down behind til,
floor" Various treasures of Minnie's
too, followed. A beautifully embroid
cred dolls night-cap, various pieces o
her tea-set, and once, O her dolls bed
quilt, so pretty she felt she couldn't Civ
il up. But she was obliged to, for moth
ing had been recovered from thos
mouths" which, as Johnny said indig