Osage Valley banner., 1880-04-15
now LuTIE's LOVER FOUND HER.

THAT afiernOoRwc had both been pick
ing up pine.cones, Lutte and |, 10 finish
out our piGipre- frames, and fancy bas-
kcls. There was TO be Bazar IN the
village. the following week, for the ben
hit OF tho poor; and the good ladies,
who had the charge Of the preparations,
were IN need OF All sorts OF pretty
tiiles.
Lutte and l, hearing Of this, set 10
work mahiag frames and baskets. All
the girls, In the neighborhood, were en-
gagged at some sort Of fancy work aud
the greater part Of them Intended Their
articles as gratuiluus contributions. But
Lutte aud / were too poor for that. We
werc too proud % ask, or 30 receive, the
value Of one fnrtlring as charity, and
not one Of the committee would have
dared 10 offer f.; but We were obliged
to demand pay for whatever work We
did, and it was very willingly given.
Lutte, who was an exceedingly busi-
ness like littio person, weni down 10 See
Miro, fitahugh, Who was at the head of
the charitable committee, and arranged
the matter 50 tie satisfaction of all con
cerued. We were 10 make as many
frames and baskets as we liked, and 10
receive o reasonable price for them.
Such q Uiianoc 70 get money was seldom
offered " US, and we went To work In
earnest, and war0 busy from morning
until far into the night
Mrs Fitzhngh viii pay rs Il shilling
apiece for the frames, and twenty. fYe
cents for the baskets, and we can com
pleto at least dozen of them. That'll
tss ,,tnI,., .ti,ftlf,,f,.g al Hftr.I,- ,,,a,.
ters, said Lutte, counting on her pref
", slender hugers, her brown eyes Shin
ing with animation, "why, Bess, we
shall get rich"
"Yes, dear, we shan do fdmously,"
/ said, bat sigh slihod the laughter on
my lips, as / thought how many needs
there were for eyUy shilling We could
make.
But wa set about our work with brave
hesrts and willing hands. We were al
ways thankful for employment, Lutte
aud |; but there was not much In our
liue to be had IN the neighborhood.
People, for the most part, did their own
plain sewing, and fancy sewing, too, for
that matter; but occasionally Lutte
made a bonnet Tor neighbOr, work
for which she had particular aptitude
and some experience. There was
drudgery 10 be done, TO be sure, but
even If we had been willing, mamma
would not have allowed us 70 60 out az
houscmaids. No" she said, "we will
never stoOp t0 that.
Poor mamma, sitting In her easy
chair, In the corner of tho little brown
cottage, her white, handsome, helpless
hands crossed upon her lap; unable 70
make one step; with no employment,
no amusement, but her dreams Of
brighter days gone by, aud the sunny
glimpse of green hill, and winding river,
beyond the Windows
II was dreadfully dull for her; for
there had been time when she was tho
happy wife of an adoring husband, the
pretty, stylishly-robed. mistress of a
home, WHICH lacked nouo Of life's best
Injuries.
But all that was past and gone. Poor
papa was in his grave, Hundreds Of
miles away, and the pretty home, with
all It's Injuries and attractions, had
passed into other hands. How the
change came about, matters little, for
this lifeis full Of changes; but that au-
tunin day, when Lutte and I went ont
10 gather pino-cones, We had only the
latticed window shut In from the road
by It's rude stone wall, and what our
hands could earn, snd poor mamma
was q helpless Invalid. 0aE
We had not lived in the cottage q