Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1884-09-26


v,cw 'i >u'f nItter-. ";hn,~i that ,l"v ha..
"an"fi..'r II L. sister
1T ia l''"r i">i child" sail Becky. Tn,
-"iHG :" t'%r it tonight. IT. parents are
poorer than ur are: you can $40 tia. bv its
hare ,~.'. an'! "niv one n;tlr frrk. poor
thing Nru bold Der, Eirk. while I cook
,unl"r. drln'r beg it, MEX. - don't fret. -
AMI hen. i.r,'piny her ring finer out OF
Ni"lt. E"'Gy fried the ham and mndn gravy
alrl c'i' !'rr;l. and sent for two ccni.' wnIt i,
"i n'ii--" iici. .id'lcoU>iy Diluted, made a
quart ri MIX nnd watcr-ari tried - '.. very
cirrriiI;
The l'-t ciiild cried. hut Perky fed il and
soon '"'lN"idi I" talk; then came a story of a
TIN "''-- ;.rH: Il ''lriN>v woman
Til" Youngest. who iiai chpwe,i the red kid
acIr,i aS Interpreter Soon it was discovered
that >~nic w"lAnn. described a, nasty" had
taken away The rhiid's hluc dress ,n,! other
garments. arai had whipped her.
l"''iY isrrirc, itcn'Iy.
"fhrt dress was blue, Nick" she cried. Il
knew il Wai1lt h"ir;-a tipSv ragged woman;
al9l i,sis- ti'.t own th".n thing, don't come
paVnii!-,. -
Tif',l >!' pIuSr'i. the secret was out Nick 5
eyS ind danced toward her wedding ring. and
ifttH i'cstl Ia h'r fa"r.
"Oh Beck :" he crici "B.rkv. we didn't
tIinl.-"
Becky flushed scarlet.
u dIdn't mean t. tell" She cried: ''but now
lis out lni married all the same thank God
II wa' at III" irlwn>h"pl saw the blue dress ="
And She t,'l'i yhr,n Of the woman whom she
had watched and II her suspicious It's n
Ecnicel oh!kl yui can see: and if We can but
Ind lis nam" ont. We may save some one
trouble we've never had Think OF one of
ours icinS gone all night, Nick"
Ill" bahy's name seemed to he Minnie
Smith, Though M. s" might he ANYTHING
Else. and putting the children all to bed, all in
n rev. like ;hc lIttl, ogr,'S in the fairy tales,
tavr that they had no crowns on. Nick and
his wife started OF to the pawnbroker's
The man was Soolnaturoi, and looked at
the garments. They We're marked NJ. s.
Il III right, them sad Becky. They ar,
the chi!dS, and they were stole And if We
can but find lis poor mother, we'll save her
more than any but mother can tell"
But think of all the Smiths" said the
Iawntnoker. ''TEeres thousands of EN-
And thousands" said Becky. But thes.,
men-the i"'iicc--;hcy may know
And ont went Nick and Becky to question
tho guardians of the night, until at last,
'tc>ilalrlng of an answer they were turning.
hninrward, when a blaze of light from an
open door fell over them, and they saw on the
G,c a weeping woman and tall, handsome
min.
''!lush. we will find her if she is alive said
tie man.
Ny precious little Minnie" cried the
worG.n.
Thcn Nick and Becky gave sort of little
cheer of unison.
Its them said Becky; them, certain
sure. oh. mum, if your name is Smith, and
You ve lost little girl we've found her
And then The cobblcr and his wife were
pounced upon and the story told
liz half an hour the six poor little ogres
without CROWNS were aroused from their
slumbers by an arrival, and the odd baby in
their midst was taken out, TO their distress
and CONSERVATION, for they had counted on
keeping her.
And Nick anI Becky forgot their own
troubles in the parents Joy And Nick said
it was like poetry" and Becky said it was
like a play"
And ~ it waS-one with happy ending
for what should the lady do but beg and pray
becky 10 l"H nef Wtat SHE would Ike best,
and Becky confessed that to have her
wedding ring back was the hope of her life;
and this he'd to the cause of its pawninc and
all the story of poverty and sorrow. Then
the dark hours ended and day broke: and
there was food il the house and fire: and as it
happened that baby Mnnie's father needed
just such an honest man for such work as
poor Nick could do, he gave the place tc
the cobhler: and from that day there was
enough and to spare in the little home. I've.
cause of the simple goodness shown baby
Minnie.
$50 it's never time thrown away to do a
kindness to any one" says Becky often, ''for
somehow You always are rewarded for it. If
I'd left the little lost bcggars child. as
thought it, III the street, and never stopped To
care for it-as might have done in such
troublc-where would Nick have been and
the children and me this nightl Not that |
did anything but what Christian ought but
| rec how we were paid for it."