Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-09-27
THREE LITTLE EMIGRANTS.

Near the little German village of
Neiderdorf lived a man whose name
was Herman Abt. His wife Ursula,
worked with her husband to till their
small strip of garden-land, and took
care of the cottage home and the chill
co dren. They were an industrious, happy
family. yet sometimes the father seemed
etroubled; and when Ursula would ask
him why he sat so silent and sad by the
fireside, he would reply:
at is about the children am think
ing"
But Ursula knew that the children
had good pumper-nickel and sauer-kraut
and potatoes, and now and then bit of
meat; their clothes were warm and
clean, and their wooden-soled shoes
such as other peasant children wore.
Besides, they were rosy and merry and
stout Ulrich was ten years old. AL
ready he could take the vegetables to
market in his dog-cart, and no boy
IN the parish school was as bright as he.
What, then, could trouble the heart of
the father?
One frosty December night Ulrich
came from the village with letter in
the pocket of his blouse. 1t was not Of
ten that messages from the great,
bustling world came to the peaceful cot
tage, and wife and children drew curl
--ously around the table while Hermann
broke the seal.
':It is from Hans Schaffer, who went
to seek his fortune in America" he
said.
The letter was slowly read aloud. 1t
told of prosperity in the New World,
and promised help if Hermann and
Ursula would come to Illinois to make a
home as he had done.
Ursula laughed at the thought.
''Ach, 4lein - she exclaimed, eve
shall stay in the Fatherland. Are we
not quite comfortable and happy now?'
Then she carried her two little girls
off to bed, and told them a story of a
naughty child who stuck her finger in an
unbaked Christmas cake and could not
pull it out again.
But the father did not sleep that night,
and all the next day he worked as if he
were dreaming. And so, indeed, he
was. He was dreaming of a land of
foreign speech and foreign customs,
where industry was bountifully re
warded; where freedom was more of a
fact than a theory; where the bondage
of caste was broken; where his VI
rich, who loved his books, might become
u great man; where Elsie and little
Gretchen might live broader life than
their supplemented mother had ever
dreamed of. After two days the doting
father told his boy the dream.
my child" he said, for a long year
/ have been trying to decide-nOw it is
.sdone. The mother and l must go to
America. AS soon as we find work and
!. get bit of a home and gold enough,
ehoI 10
~Over the seas. Americans are friendly
Ito strangers, and the dear God will care
for thee
Ulrich was glad and confident. But
=alas! for poor Ursula! The mother
heart was well-ngh broken ut the
Thought of leaving her children, her
home and native land. Yet soon she,
too, began to be eager to verify the
promises of the New World, and be-
tween smiles and tears the. decisive
letter was written. Their simple pre-
parationS were soon made. February
came, and brought the parting day.
Zurich, Elsie and Gretchen were to re
main with their Aunt Katrina.
1T shall not be long, my children, .
=said the father, with quivering lips, as
he lifted little Gretchen in his arms.
mo, no; it shall not be LONG, - sobbeG
poor Ursula, with tears pouring down
her cheeks. 1T shall be before tbs
~Christmas-time, for we will work day
and night, and save every groschen t.
send you"
The months in the New World went
swiftly by. AT first the language and
customs seemed very hard to under
stand, but day by day, with unfaggins
industry, the father and mother toileC
zand studied. Hans Schafer, true to hi.
ypromise, had found work for his friends