Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1881-08-12
CATHIL'S STORY.

becn cbfnmonplace so long that it seems
NgoodT-to me, like the Old faces and
PLACES"
hnI;I All, my DEAR" said Aunt Cathie,
'"that contented heart of yours is a
blessing; but something will happen to
you one of these days"
ss,Sathie lived on q lonely country road.
Her father was farmer, whom hard
fortune had followed for many year.
Three sons, older than Cathie. were
buried in the country buryng-ground
beyond the hill. Farmer Brown and
Ibis wife were getting on in years; and,
although they had begun at last to
make head slowly against the current
OF adversely that had set so long against
them. the habits of hard labor and the
Y1strictest economy clung to them still.
They owned their farm, and Cathe was
their only child; but, beyond sending
.her to school in summer and winter,
and allowing her the open space from
the front door to the road for g flower
garden, they felt that they could afford
her no privileges.
Her dresses were of the cheapest ma
terial, her ha + was always braided down
. her back in the same simple fashion,
her shoes were coarse and thick, and
I
istrfnkets of any kind. But Cathie did
not care much for such things. The
.edesire of her heart was to give. Oh.
the dreams she used to dream of the
blessedness of giving! A mine OF mon
4 eywould not have satisfied her long
sRgs to give and give. She might not
Nave been in every instance wise
I giSer, if her dreams had come true;
hut sshe used to lie awake O nights,
= sssHrd plan by the hour, how, and where,
a;and to whom she would give, if for
s.tune should fall TO her. And nobody
n;should ever know where the good gifts
,gwould come from. That would be half
.,.the joy of it: to have her bounty de-
oscend, shower-like, upon the poor and
,fneedy, as if it came direct from heav-
enly places.
y = Her father and mother gave to the
,mipister,, they visited the sick in the
neigh borhood, and fed the tramps; but
Gathie had never had cent of money
HpsEiye away never in her whole life
hQthing but flowers and berries, and
wiring little services, and these seemed
piufuHy small in her eyes. Oh, to give
sS1$ely, roy ally. unreservedly! how hap
.py She swou ID be, if she could do that!
~ Aunt Catharine was q great comfort
1to her namesake. She was poor, like
all of Cathie's people, but she loved
flowers and birds, and all beautiful
things, as warmly as did little Cathie
herself; and she brought rare bulbs, and
roots. and seeds, and slips, and much
sshohely leer, to the child.
.,Cathie's flower garden was sweet the
summer through. Indeed, from March
to December, from crocuses to FROST
flowers, something bright and beautiful
s,beamed up at Cathie from the ground.
szFhere was nothing like her flowers for
S,sfhiles' around They were the pride
and wonder of the neighborhood. And
among them Cathie toiled, when she
was notlat school or helping her moth
@eris for, all this beauty was the result OF
S}pich patient work and faithful care.
Nov, if We're only boy" she
saidtto Aunt Cathie in one of their
sstatks,7 81 should coax father to let me
.ssHise piece OF wheat, or potatoes, and
,aseA them3 and then should nave some
money ofmy own"
..,.i..What do you want with money,
NCathie en asked her mother, who hap.
pened to hear her. Cathie blushed, but
did not answer Immediately.
Don't you have all you want to eat
ana TO wear, my uaughterr
''Yes, mother, l don't want thing
for myself
Nor /, neither, dear. Let us not bt
getting ambitious and discontented, be
cause we are poor"
Aunt Cathie thought of some ambi
tious, dscontented daughters that she
knew, and contrasted them with little
Cathie.
About this time. Cathie was cherish
ing one of her dreams-too sweet evel
to he realized, she felt, but which die
Her good to keep it in her heart.
Oscar Grav, lame boy who liveG
near, her faithful friend, and a scholar
2bRoks and struggling manfully to carr
irdared offer him aid, and so poor, that
'laat times, his utmost efforts seemed
!. hopeless to those who did not realize
i the unconquerable energy that was il
~ him. He had fallen into way of con
ss4iding his pet hopes and dreams to hi
y little neiehbor, partly because he knew
!, that she was as poor as himself and by
I,nopossibility could help him, and part
'ily because he knew that secret with
ssher was safe. Then, too, she was sucl
an intelligent. warm hearted little soul
,itthat it comforted him much to talk will
n her,n h
tsfT He was now pursuing Il certain line
,lnof study in natural history, and hat
= come TO "a deadlock as he express
led it TO Cathie, for want OF ten dollars
= / worth OF books. Now, if she could onl,
.JEbestow those books upon Oscar, in sucl
"a way that he would never guess VIII
: sRaYe them how happy she would be
.ur She could not help planning. and brood
All ing over it, although in her sober " com
'qnnon-sense moments as she calle'
ssi1them, she had no hope of ever bring
neing " about.
',ro.7l' II | were only boy!'' she woul,
think to herself, as she weeded an,
lc Bpaded and iluttered about among he
rtloyely flowers. "Now, | have worke
as hard for you, dear flowers, as bo
sIeworks in his wheat patch, but you ar
.'p0nly sweet and beautiful; you do nc
h1spay. " And then she would smile q
,.aihef mercenary thoughts. AS the sun
,s,her deepened, the garden grew i
,sibsauty hour by hour, until it seemed a
s.1f every twig and stalk bore all tn
ySbloom and sweetness it could hold, an
s.tbs bses and bumming- birds held hig
- s carnival there every day.
arr One day. just after the noon mea
..rCathie was washing dishes in the bao
h.kitchen, farthest from the road, wher
.Gall at once, great commotion SCENE
sdto fill the air about her. She felt
heavy, rumbling jar that shook I'll
house; hoarse bellowings, wild shopt
ssqsad the barking of dogs mingled in th
laundering din that was rolling neart
as she listened. She ran through
the front door with her towel in hs
lanl. and saw, in great dust-cloud,