Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1882-07-12


Among the poor children who w.re sent into t
lntry last year by the Children's Week Associate
one little wait whb ia All r lite before had new
n anything pleasanter than tue noisy dirty sire,
'ease, the scenes Of that one bright week haunt
:, and she begged to- see the farmers wife I'm who
bare garret where the little sufferer lay, the ch
led out feyertshly, " Is 1t all tars still p and wal
,ts 70 near s AoTht every place and creature she =
into the country, where, in the midst of lovi
re, surrounded by the beauty OF early summer i
loefully died.l
She sat where the great elm's shadow
Across the doorway fell;
She heard the drip of the bucket
In the hollow of tho we'll.
The pleasant rasp from the gardsn
OF busy spade and hoe,
Beyond. in the sunny meadows,
Her mates ran to and fro.
The chirping robin on the bouAh
Was for one moment still.
Deep dipping into cherrles' wine
His thirstins yellow bill
whirl of pale gold butterflies
Alighting on the stone.
With flicker on their filmy wings,
In quivering silence shone.
Thousands of them in the msa lows
Before her mates had flown;
know not If she unders TODD
These were for her alone.
At eve, when the cows aud children
Came home from field aud 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 housewife gave her,
And ate without word.
Such morns aud Moons aud nights were hers
For six glad summer days;
Then back to the city's cropping life
or dearth. and fret and trays.
Six breathles days of mute delight,
And then-the binding pail
Six days !-and Just to think for whom
The good God made 1t all!
She lay where the dun wallis shadow
Fell on her bed OF straw,
With the largest eyes in the thpuest
Face that You ever saw.
Is it all there still ?" she murmurel,
And wrung her feeble hands
The wools, aud the long bright meliJws.
The door where the elm tree stands 3?
Do the cows come home when the sunset
Makes the great flre at night?
Do they give you pals and pals of milk
Isit Just as sweet and white ?
When I've been selling my papers,
I've tried to see it all;
But couldn't for the dirty street
The 1ise, the dingy wall
They staid with me always-always;
They shut out field and sky,
Tell me. those things you planted,
Did they come up by and by?
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 it, my child ."
The kindly housewife said;
And soon the shadow of the elm
Fell on that patient head.
The farmer took that wasted hand
Upon his own broad palm,
And cleared his throat ere he could say.
You're welcome to the farm"
He held her while the good wife MIXED
The sleek and healthy kline,
lie 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
No heaftier'n bird"
OF summers scents and sights and sound
The child'ss Jul drank It's fill,
TIL berries darkened on the vine
By field and wood and hill
And then, one night-the sun had built
Its great fire in the west
Yes. have seen 1t ALL" she sighed
And now want to rest"
o life. 30 bright when thou art free
In bonds. SO drear and dim,
Who frees thee to one little child,
Hath loosed its bonds from him
II. B. GuStatSon. in Harper's Maga, me