Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-06-02

Don't do it. and if you listen to him
all sorts Of bad times begin" This
struck her imagination forcibly; the
"Naughty CrossS,' as she named him,
became a foe to resist on every occa-
sion. II won't be cross, IwiW mind my
mamma" were often her audible an
swers to secret impulses. 1 always
looked tenderly at her when she in
clined to disobedience, and said: "You
good, sweet little girl, the Naughty
Gross is trying to make you do wrong"
Often l would a~postrophi2e the Naughty
Cross, saying sternly: $50 away! leave
this good grip This spirited address
frequently served as a diversion and
ended all trouble. Sometimes she
would join with me in exercising the
tempter, even giving herself a rousing
slap in moments of righteous wrath,
saying: "Go away! Iwont be naughty
Under cover of rebuking the Naughty
Cross I was able to be far more severe
and make more telling points than
would have been possible in addressing
her; yet she herself-the ultimate core
of her-never was wounded or de-
pressed by it. 1t was always, in her
mind, a struggle between an upright
little girl and a temper. Her ems Of
honor and rectitude grew and bios
somed, in spite of frequent episodes of
discipline.
Gradually she took the matter
and more into her own hands, and often
came out triumphant from severe per-
sonal struggles. One day she
turned away with a sullen frown
in response to a maternal sugges-
ton, and went to the window. I
watched and waited. In a few minutes
she came back with sweet, ~upturned
face: els dis q pleasant little face,
mammal" And when I kissed her she
explained: "De Naughty Cross tried to
come in, but l went to de winner and
asked Jesus to send him off,"
She felt that she had a strong ally in
Jesus, and appealed to Him for help
with perfect confidence.
Before she was five years old self
discipline was established; she wrestled
with and subdued her own bad inn
pulses, and who shall say that her
prayer of faith was not directly an
swered? Of course this refers to her
interior condition. Outwardly she was
no paragon. She was robust, noisy,
liable to mistakes of all sorts, full of
social atrocities and altogether child
like.
The best and sweetest phase of this
development was that we antagg-
onized each other; even in our most
tragic moments all my energies seemed
directed against the Naughty Cross, and
she seemed to feel that we were COM
rades in warfare with a mutual enemy.
She has a tremendous will, but she has
never found it out, because it has never
been opposed to mine. She has a
capacity for obstinate defiance that
would have been a dreadful element in
family discipline, but she has had no
chance to develop It. Now, her will
and obstinacy, if developed, will be
used against the temptations of life,
never, 1 believe, in opposition to her
mother.
I found that to forewarn her often
averted trouble. If she came in hot,
tired and dirty from play, I would ex-
claim: "The Cross will be here In q
minute! He sees you are hot and tired,
and he knows you hate to be washed;
he thinks: 'Now I'll catch her! Now III
make her naughty"
"He won't" would be her heroic re.
spouse, as she patiently underwent the
penance of the ash-bowl.-Mary II.
Barton, IN The Continent.