Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-10-01
Miscellany,


[Among the poor children who were sent into th
)untry last year by the Childrens Week Associatio
as one little waif who in all her life before bad ney
seen anything pleasanter than the noisy, dirt
reefs in the lower part Of the city. Bckeuiug Of
,tal disease, the scenes Of that one bright wee
aunted her, aud she begged to see the farmer9 wifi
whose care she had been aud when the good won
d entered the bare garret where the little suffere
y, the child cried out feverishly, "Is 1t all ther
i'll 7' and wanted to hear about every place and crea
ire she had there seen. The kind woman took tn
iild back with her into the country, where In tn
idst Of loving care surrounded by the beauty o
irly summer, she peacefully diedl
She sat where the great elms shadow
Across the doorway fell;
She heard the drip Of the bucket
In the hollow Of the we'll
The pleasant rasp from the garden
or busy spade and hoe,
Beyond in the sunny meadows,
Her mates ran to and fro
The chirping robin on the bough
Was for one moment still,
Deep dipping into cherries wine
His thirsting yellow bill.
whirl Of pale gold butterflies
AHghting on the stone,
With flicker Of their hlmy wings,
In quiyering silence shone
Thousands Of them in the meadows
Before her mates had flown:
know not II she understood
These were for her alone.
At eve, when the COWS aud children
Came home from feld and vale,
In the wonder Of the sunset
The child sat dumb and pale.
They clamored for the evening meal;
She neither asked nor stirred,
But took what the housewifegaYe her
And ate without word.
Such morns and moons and nights were hers
For six glad summer days;
Then back to the city'B cropping life
or dearth and fret and trays.
Six breathless days Of mute delight,
And then-the binding pail
Six days land just to think for whom
The good God made It ALL
She lay where the dull walls shadow
Fell on her bed Of straw,
with the largest eyes in the thinnest
Face that you ever saw.
''Is it all thero still :" she murmured.
And wrung her feeble hands
The woods, and the long bright meadows,
The door where the elm-tree stands7
DO the cows come home when the sunset
Makes that great FIRE at night7
DO they give you pals and pals Of milk
Is II just as sweet and wbite7
"when I've been selling my papers,
I've tried TO see It all;
But couldn't, for the dirty street,
The noise, the dingy wall
They staid with me always-alWGys;
They shut out feld and SKY.
Tel me- those things you planted,
Did they come up by-and-by7
"The stream that ran by the roadside,
The lambs asleep on the hill,
want 80 much-so much-to know
II it is all there still"
"Why shouldn't you come to 1t, my child ?"
The kindly housewife said;
And soon the shadow Of the elm
Fell on that patient head.
The farmer took the wasted hand
Upon his own broad palm,
And cleared his throat ere he could ray,
You're welcome to the farm"
He held her while the goodwife MIXED
The sleek and healthy kline;
He made her pleasant seats beneath
The oak and fragrant pine,
And carried her from place to place
She seldom spoke word,
But smiled and gazed, and grew, he said,
mo heftier'n a bird"
OF summers scents and sights and sounds
The child's soul drank its MI,
Till berries dArksned on their vine
By field and wood and hill.
And then, one night-the sun had built
Its great Are in the west
"Yes, have seen II all, A" she sighed,
And now want to rest"
o Life, SO bright when thou art freei
In bonds 30 drear and diml
Who frees thee to one little child
Hath loOsed its bonds from Himl
Il. p. GustdJson IA HaTlcr's Jor October.