Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-12-05

.0ooAe' An "oA ~AeA som6Ats Aau uOt no
ticed. @ E@5
Such war "a, coy room as it was
The autumn sunshine came in through
the east aAd south windows, dancing
over the. soft, gay carpet. as If to test
its bri Shtness with the glowing flame
in t.he great old-fashioned Franklin
steve. Perhaps the chairs and tables
f.tood a trifie prinly in their places,
but not spack Or spot was to be found
on their polished surfaces; and you
might have turned every picture on the
wall and searched in every corner, but
neither dust nor cobweb would have
met yonr inquisitive eye A pleasant,
sunny room was Mrs. Catharine Ali
sons sitting ROOM But that small, old
lady, who lay on the sofa in the warm.
est corner of the room, had little OF
sunshine about her. !.
A fretful experience shone in her
sharp, dark eyes and the lines about
her thin lips were not pleasant. The
other lady, also elderly, who sat oppo-
site Mrs. Allison, seemed more in keep
ing with the surroundings. Peace was
written all over the fair placid face, in
the kindly eyes, the firm, sweet mouth,
the faded, wrinkled hands, now knitting
with the unhurried grace which belongs
only to the aged. Mrs. Eunice Foster
seemed an impersonation of the calm
autumn day without.
cts week to Thanksgiving, she
said as she counted the stitches on her
seam needle.
Mrs. Foster made this brief remark
in half apologetic tone, rs if she rath-
er expected to be contradicted, OF called
to account in some way for her state
ment; for Mrs. Allison WAS in the habit
of differing from other people at first,
whether she was Of their opinion or not.
But at present she was too much occu-
pied with her own grievances to dissent
as she usually did.
"Well, I must say don't feel special
ly thankful" said Mrs. Allison, draw
ing the afghan over her knees. 1--WE
just had one trouble after another all
this year. There was that cheating
tenant on the upper place; and then me
laid fiat o my back in the very hottest
of the summer; and what with the
drought and poor season the crops are
failure. Now, here I am with q
sprained ankle, and nobody knows when
I can put foot to the ground--if ever
can-and all my business, and the whole
place going to rack for need Of some
one to look after things" And Mrs.
Allison drew q long sigh of self pity,
and wiped her eyes upon very fine
1inan-cam hric handkerchief
Mrs. Foster glanced around the
bright room, 50 full of comforts, and
| even Injuries; then out upon the trim,
well-kept grounds, and beyond to the
wide fields where the stacked corn was
standing in low rows, She thought of
the stores of untouched provisions in
the great, neat, house, and how easy it
was for the thin, withered hands near
her to trace q few words upon paper
which would turn that paper into mon
ely value. She thought how a little
spared from Mrs. Allison's abundance
would bring pleasure and thankfulness
into less favored homes; she thought
how her friend had it in her power to
uplift some bowed with toll: to add
comfort to some sick chamber, and
sparse larder, and thinking thus, Mrs.,
Foster sighed, too.
"And what are you signing for,
Eunice?" said Mrs. Allison, sharply.
eff am not thankful, I'll own to it,;
and you need not sit there looking like
a funeral.
"Was I looking gloomy?" said Mrs.
Foster, with q little laugh, for she I'M
derstood Mrs Allison's moods too we'll
to be offended at her plainness of speech.
II m sorry you have so much trouble.
Catherine, but things will mend after
awhile"
1T is to be hoped they will. But
my foot and ankle don't seem to i'm
prove at all, and I am almost sure I'm
going to have spell of rheumatism,
my back and shoulders are so stiff. I
hardly closed my eyes last night"
Dear, DEAR" said Mrs Foster, SYM
pathetically. "Now, did you ever try
turpentine l1nimeut? Just the yelk of
an egg we'll beaten, two wine-glassfuls
of turpentine, and wine glass of strong
cider vinegar; when they're we'll mixed
three vine glassfuls of water stirred in
little at time. It's just splendid
liniment. Father thinks there's nothing
liks it. It's too bad about your ankle,
but as I was telling father, it's mercy
you didn't break your leg"
,"Humph! !" was Mrs. Allison's sole and
ungracious rejoinder.
eyes, we all have our troubles" con-
tinued Mrs. Foster, wiping first one
and then the other of her glasses, and
looking thoughtfully into the fire.
"Some of us have one kind, and some
another; but the Lord generally deals
out to us just the kind He sees fit for
us. For a good many years He saw
best to give me poor health, but then a
woman never had kinder, more at
tentive husband than I had to care
for me, and the children, too. I wor-
ried a good deal about them, but they
| got along about as well as if had Zen
| around. Now the Lords given you a
few troubles" "r< .~.-
! "a fewl" groaned AIRS. Allison.
| "Well, He's given you sprained an
kle, but He's given you rep covered
sofa to lie on. You want to be around,
and looking after things, to be sure;
but think how much better off you are
than poor Mrs. Vaughn, lying where
she knows she'll never get up, and all
! her poor children needing mother so
| sadly. The Lord sent the drought on
your land, too, but all your crops are
not spoiled, like Mr.. Wheeler's, by that
dreadful hailstorm and then his house
burnt to the ground. sAh, Catherine,
your back May ache, but the Lord has
given you very soft pillows to rest on
some folks haven't even straw"
Oh, yes, Eunice," said Mrs. Allison,
moving uneasilv. You always see the