Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-05-16
CRADLE.MIE.

--A-
CRADLE.MIE.
ibid YOU hear tho news in the vii
,ce;,n said Peter Jansen to his wife,
no was busy getting his supper ready,
Ee being a laborer in the employment
Il a n%eighboring farmer, and having
inf returned, tired after his days
york; did you hear, Meta, how very
[oon Clas Hermsen's widow has fol-
owed her husband?"
"lNhat's that you sayP" asked the
Woman, setting an earthenware dish OF
oorrjdge on the table: sis hump-backed
Ebristina deadp All, we'll, those two
haven't been separated long; Clas died
h the spring, and Christina.it's just
Tx months later. And that's a very
had hing for Cradle-Mie! what's to be-
rome Of her? She hasn't got q brass
fathlng; she can sew aud knit, but
that about all she car do, and I don't
plieve she can do that over we'll.
Duet. YOU bold children, you," she
kadcd, turning to hertive olive, branches,
whose mouths We're watering, as they
eyed the steaming porridge; "mother
can't do everything at once. Did l
ever hear the like of that! Christina
must have been in the tifties, and Cra-
Ele-Nlie will have been eighteenyears in
The village next Midsummcr's Day.
Let's say grace, Peter, there's no keep
linz the children quiet, and one can't
hear oneself speak with the noise
they're making"
Jansen took his pipe out of his mouth
and put his cap before his face; his wife
gave their tirst-born a nudge, and
lowned at him to shut his eyes.
They said grace. Peter prayed earn
ealy, and out of a very grateful heart;
lie was sure that his neighbor Will
lem, and Willem's wife and children,
lM not got such an abundant meal.
Hehad ended his prayer, but when he
esaght sight, overathe top of his cap,
d his buxom wife, and OF his rosy
checked children, he shut his eyes
b.ain and said, while he raised his
heart in gratitude to the Giver of all
good things: II thank Thee, great and
GOOD God! Amen"
Frau Jansen had said her grace, too
but her thoughts had wandered some
What while she was saying it. Hump
backed Christina was dead; and she
could not help wondering when she
would be buried, and whether any OF
her relations would come to the funeral;
Ell it suddenly occurred to her that
God might have called her away, too,
and how miserably off Peer and the
children would have been without her!
a tear anne into her lett eye at the
fhought-she always cried first with
the left eye-and she felt humbly crate
full for having been spared, and prayed
softly to her Father in Heaven: 81
thank Thee, good and great God.
amen"
The children hsd rapidly got
through their "All eyes wait uton
Thee, o Lord!" and were looking,
with longing eyes, from the dish 81
porrldge 10 their parents, to see ii they
were not ready yet.
Their father put his cap on again,
tEelr mother gave the signal for the on
sIaught 10 begin, and before five MIN
ntes were yer the dish was empty,
an! the porridge had disappeared down
Llelr respective throats.
supper ended, the children were sooA
got to bed. Peter relit his pipe and
Faked together the charred remnants
u wood on the hearth, so that the
Ola c began to flicker up merrily one
Phore' Meta fed the youngest child,
Who was lying in an old %Lasket-work
cradle, and the little fellow made q
pfoalglous uproar over the business.
'Gracious!' said Frau Jansen, look
ns down a]nxiously at her baby. elbow
Young the child is!'
"how so, Netta?:" asked Peter com.
posedly.
How so? just think if you were
VI! OF work, or if you got ill, like ou1
neishbor Willem, or ii God called you
VI Inc away, what would become of the
poor children. Albert, the eldest, is
Just nine, and the little one in the cradle
no. .ot e-even months old yet"
children are Gods gifts, we must
axe item as they GOMEZ" interrupted
o.er and besides. they're getting big.
sei every day, and nearer doing tol
N Isdsel ives, In a couple of years' time
;9lu1t cried his wife. "Smal
1,!aren, small burden ; big children,
: burden; and then you know the
fsalhg: when the litter's too large.
AZ iogwash gets thin.'"
NJ so1tly, Meta! We have never fell
Ihe pinch Of hunger vet, orwanted any.
hing needful, either. I'm in eood
po alII h. ana in good work ; you're in
Le aIf heaven, they're as happy and as
'aai!ilhiy as the fishes in the sea-"
,nat all very we'll, leter; but il
Her ane to happen us some day like the
AYE if, if! God has helped us
n l III. why shouldn't lie help u.
Wo 'ue future? You said Just now there
nna ,too many of the children, bot i
lake IT. IT. IS s'fk, and God were going Il