The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-01-04

board, in the tiny kitchen. There were
a lew groceries-coffee, sugar, a ham, a
lew potatoes.
mice ones, they are, too," said she to
herself. smiling a pleasant smile. "And
she is SO fond of them," with a glance
of unutterabie tenderness toward the
room where slept the child.
When all had been neatly disposed of,
she came back to the table and began to
unwrap the various packages, but
paused, and glanced over her shoulder
with apprehension. Then she drew her
stiff. high-backed rocking. chair go that
it interposed between the table and the
bed; and taking off her shawl, threw it
over the back to. form a screen. "For
she might wake" che whispered.
She did not heed the involuntary
SILVER that crept over her thinly clad
form, but returned eagerly to her work
The first opened was'a small package of
tea, one luxury she had allowed herself.
Her counteuance fell as she examined
it.
"How very dear" shs said. GIVE
done wrong. l ought to have gone
without it; but I did SO long Tor u cup
of tea"
There was a great pathos in the apol.
ogy with which she sought to quiet her
conscience concerning this unwontet
lapse from self-denlal, but the widow
was unaware of it.
Next came forth q pair of small, now,
shining. shoes and a pair oil warm stock
the corner, where on were already ar
rayed achild's uudergarments, spotless
white, a print dress, evidently newly
made and a fresh, bright-colored wool
en- sacque. The shoes and stockings
completed the little toilet and the wild
ow stood, with clasped hands and
moist eyes, regarding them.
How pretty she will look" was her
thought. No more fortunate mother,
imagining her darling arrayed in costly
%draperies, ever experienced a more ex-
quisite thrill of pleasure. She held up
her thin, toil-worn fingers and viewed
them.
Sat least you have gained her that
much" she said, with a sort of triumph.
But the pleasure was gone, and u pain
as keen, followed it. How keen, let
those mothers say who have suffered,
not for themselves, but for their chill
dren.
But it was not yet time for sad reverie.
Rousing herself, she continued her task
OF love.
The next investigation brought forth
q fine orange, w large apples. and
three sticks of candy. 1t happened that
fruit was unusually dear, that winter,
and to buy these had taxed her slender
resources to their utmost. Unc,e Ben's
package was found to contain a fearfully
and wonderfully colored assortment Of
confectionery, at which the widow shook
hnr haoI n,1htf111u rrpyo~ tto- r.
rectness of her doubt, by tasting a cherry
whose sugared coat having dissolved left
behind it q chalky core which reminded
the faster of something she vaguely re-
membcred to have seen somewhere in
poetry, about certain Dead Sea fruits.
The ASSOCIATION was classic, but incon-
gruous. The widow laugheda little, and
then she sighed.
Poor old Ben" she said, "you have
thrown away your money. No you
haven't either; you have put it out at
She laid the gift carefully upon the
mantle, where it would attract the
child's notice, and committed the APP
Piles and three slender sticks of candy
to the hollow OF the little stocking that
hung beside the fire. The seed cakes,
taken from q hidden store, to make
which secretly, she had robbed herself
of sleep, helped to round it out; and the
orange, which was toolarge to &c inside,
balanced its golden sphere perilously at
the top.
After that, she took, from a secret
corner of her drawers, a book; q chilh's
s%tory-book, boarded carefully these
many years. Somebody had given it to
Bessie when she was a baDy. She had
never seen it, but she could read quite
we'll now, and she should have it. Neat
~ wrapping it II paper-ingenieus ex-
pedient OF love to proloMg delighted an
ticipatiOn-she placed it beside the
stocking,
A second research in the drawer dis
covered a bundle of ~gay-colored scraps,
and with these in hand the widow pro-
ceedeu to draw forward a large wooden
box upon the floor, whose open side
had been pushed to the wall, thereby
disclosing within a venerably ancient
plaster OF Paris doll, surrounded by q
motley company of rag dolls ofall shapes
and sizes, all put to bed and neatly Gov
cred up beneath iillputian patchwork
counterpane. The box occupied the
corner, under which hung the little
stocking, and upon its top lay a calico.
covered cushion, on which a kitten was
uoAluSs II WluO" pldCCu ZIG UullulE
within and pushed the box back to its
place carefully, without disturbing the
kitten, lingering thenra moment to view
the whole.
There are NIL her treasures" she said
at last; "all but the dog, and he is in his
bed of straw that she gathered and made
for him herself. Well, she'll have plen-
ty to do, dressing her dolls tomorrow"
She sighed again and turning away,
sat d Own, wrapped her shawl about her
shoulders, and took up the work she
had laid by. All was done that she
could do, and now the spectres which
had retreated for a while into the shad-
owed n of the little room, crept
forth aud stood at her elbow, and whis-
pered in her ear; Knocked her with the
past. tainted her with the grim and
barren present, and froze her blood
with terrors for the future.
1t was not so much that her larder
was lean, OF that her clothing was scant,
or that her back ached, and her fingers
trembled with WEAKNESS in her efforts
to compass even that slender portion of
the worlds goods which was hers. Many
we're poor beside her, she reflected: 1t
was equally as hard for them as for her.
But she longed for a little human sym-
pathy and fellowship. Had some one
of the wealthy neighbors. in a charitable
mood, entered her humble home, laden
with all Of food or clothing that she
could have found in her heart to desire,
she would have thanked them
it Is true. for the sake of the
child, but the proud spirit would have
WINGED undor its burden Of gratitude.
But were there only one among them
to come into tho silent ROOM, and sit
down in the empty chair at her side; to
look 1t her with warm, kindly human
eyes, to take her BY the hand and bid
her bear and hope-ah, then-and as
the salt tear trickled drop by drop upon
her work ehe glanced up unconsciously
to where Uncle Ben's gilt lay upon the
mantel. The kind-hearted old negro
had unwittingly touched to the quick