American citizen., 1878-08-10
NOTHING TO DO.


she did not have to go to school. AL
though glad enough to stay at home,
she could think of nothing in particular
to do, and after breakfast she wandered
around the house aimlessly for awhile.
She finally strayed into her fathers
study. No one was there. On the ta-
BILE was the unfinished sermon, just
where her father had left it. Kit glanced
over the neatly written pages, but did
not attempt to read them. Then she
went into the sitting-room; but her
mother was not there, for she had gone
out also. Kit returned to the study,
feeling trifle lonesome; and, for lack
of better employment, she built bright
fire on the hearth. She placed the back
log and fore-log in their places; and,
this done, she sat down in a big chair to
enjoy the blaze. She had not sat there
long, when she heard queer rustic,
and, turning toward the door, she saw
were signing at a tremendous rate;
and finally one of them said quite plain
ly:
-" She promised to hem us the first
day she could; and she hasn't thought
of US once"
Kits conscience reproached her. She
was just going to excuse herself, when
a pair of thick-soled walking boots shut
fed in.
Seven buttons off," they groaned
dismally; &C and she declared she would
sew them on the first day she had time"
Kit felt much ashamed; but she could
think of nothing to say, SO she sat very
still, blushing, however, good deal.
for the crash towels and the walking
boots were staring at her most unpleas-
antly.
The silence was growing oppressive.
The towels and the shoes stared and
stared, until poor Kit felt very much
like crying; and she would have done
so had not her attention been attracted
by a funny scraping sound out in the
hall. The towels bent their heads for
ward to look; and the shoes turned
themselves squarely around, as there
entered Kits upper bureau drawer.
Such a looking thing as it was! 1t was
crammed full with ribbons, pins, bits of
jewelry, collars, cuffs, morsels of very
sticky taffy candy, fancy work, chest
nut shells, handkerchiefs, gloves, some
apples, notes from the schoolgirls
little of every thing, in fact; and it
seemed as though Kit had stirred them
all together like pudding. The crash
towels laughed disagreeably, and the
boots squeaked in disdain.
"She was going to put me in order as
soon as she had time,'' said knob of
the bureau drawer, meaningly. Bang!
From off shelf dropped fat History
Of the United States, and as it landed on
the floor its leaves opened at the ac-
count of the settlement of New York by
the Dutch, in 1910.
Kits cheeks grew redder yet. She
had promised her father to read that,
sometime when she had nothing else to
do; and here she had dwadled away
nearly whole morning in trying to
amuse herself. She looked sadly at the
unhemmed towels, the grinning shoes,
the disorderly bure3u-drawer, and the
History; and they looked at her in such
disagreeable way that Kit put her
hands up before her face and began to
sob. Straightway the shoes hopped up
and commenced to kick her, the crash
towels slapped her face, the bureau
drawer flung apples at her, and the fat
History climbed up on top of her head
and began to push her into the fire.
With great effort, Kit tried to get
away; and at last she succeeded in roll
ing off her chair to the floor. Then she
woke up. She moved her eyes and
stared round the quiet room; and after
second she realized that she had been
dreaming. Straightway she rose and
went to her own room, took the six
crash towels out of the basket, and
hemmed them till dinner-time.-Carl
Waring, in the Independent.