News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1882-03-02
THE "4SUNNY SIDE"
Wisdom in the Words of Little
Watercress Seller.
From the London Queen. ]

| From the London Queen.]
She is only little watercress seller -
not an ideal pleasant girl out of q
picture, but just commonplace little
nineteenth century maiden. Her face
is not beautiful nor her dress
picturesque, yet have long loved her,
though till lately we had never ex-
changed word. I love her for her
own sake, and for the sake of the lesson
which she has taught me; though am
an old man, weary OF the wisdom of the
world, and of that making of many
books which has no end, and she is but
| child. l work in a prosaic place, a
| dull London street, where the light is
never of the best quality, having to
filter its way through the heavy smoke
blanket in which, spite of ali our modern
theories of health and life, we allow our
metropolis to be swathed. AS my eyes
are not what they were, now have my
Office table pushed near the window, and
there sit, surrounded by tracts of paper,
oceans of ink, and pens enough to make
railroad; trying to do my duty in that
state of life to which I was called, dear
me how many years ago? Whenever,
then, I lift my eyes-they tire more
quickly since the almond blossoms began
to show above them-I see q ceaseless
stream of human life flowing past my
window. A double stream more or less
full according to the hour and the
weather, but never wholly still. You
might as we'll stand on the embank-
ment and wait till all the water had
poured away as watch in this city lane
till all the people have done passing.
I find them when I go down in the
morning, I leave them at night when I
stay late at the Office, and only reach
my quiet home as the dinner bell rings
on and on they.go. Human life-human
faces But it was not of these I meant
to speak, only one of the most frequent
passers blythe little girl who sells
water-cresses, and sometimes maybe
snowdrops and sweet violets. I am at
my Office early, as one who feels that
| Old Time and he must soon part COM
pany, and had, therefore, better make
the most of each other. But 1 must be
early indeed to be at work be-
fore my little maiden, in her
rounds, passes along the dingy street
with her little bit of country stuff in
basket deftly arranged. Busy is she,
like all the other passers by, but not to
pause as she enters the streets to take
quick glance round and see if there be
any sunshine (watery or smoky though
it be it is sunshine still. and the cats
know it and judiciously promenade or
sit purring in it's gleam). and eheerfully
then-even if it be late in the day and her
basket heavy with unsold green stuff, as
will now and then happen-cheerfully
down the sunny side she goes, crying,
''Watercresses " or "Sweet vi'lets, as
the case may be.
It is for this deliberate choice 1 love
her-for this that I watched day after
day-till recently, in the fresh autumn
morning, I felt moved by an irresistible
impulse to open my window and call to
the child.
"Why did she do so % asked, hav-
ing brought thanks to her lips and
brighter smile to her eyes by purchase
of some of her wares and the answer
1 received gave me food for thought.
Please, sir. I'm SO little, and mother
says sun makes thirgs grow"
Not a bad recipe, is it? Most of us
might grow more into the full stature of
the self we were meant to be, of that
image in which man was made, if, in
place of hurrying along with downward
faces and knit brows in the shadow of
disappointment and regret, seeing only
the rough stones before US, we would
deliberately and perhaps with an effort,
elect to walk on the sunny side of our
way. Most of us-but am an old man
now and inclined to moralize. Why
should grow into modern Polonius ?
Well, well, have not far to go now !;
perhaps T may as well try to travel for
the rest of my journey along the sunny
side.