The Mineral argus. [volume] (Maiden, Mont.) 1883-1886, 1885-06-11

| be h ard enough for mother / Just hate
to give up school and pitch into work
Thede, you shall go next winter, any
wav"
.'Shan't we he lonesome next winter?"
cried little Johnny. who had taken no
part i'm the conversation till now; won't
mother be afraid? / want m father
back" and without word of warning
he burst into tears.
Dead silence for few minutes. The
outburst vas So sudden, she knew they
were all weeping. 1t was Jerry again
vino spoke first: Don't let mother see
Us crying. Come, johnny, let's take
Bono aud all go down to the trap
! then she heard them pass ont Of the
house.
Dissolution fell upon that poor woman
for the next hour. Like knife Mates
remark had passed through her heart.
Father could have helped" Couldn't
she help her boys, for whom she was
who prepared their meals and took
care Of their clothes? She wanted
part Of the very best Of their lives.
She thought it all over sitting up far
into the night. II she could create An
interest in some study that should bind
them all together, and in which she
could lead. Was she too old to begin?
Never had the desire to become the
very enter Of interest to them taken
such hold upon her.
A few weeks after she said one
morning at the breakfast table: Boys,
Two been thinking that we might begin
geology this summer and study il, all
of MS together 1 have found text
book; by and by Thede can draw
chart, perhaps. Jerry will take hold,
/ know. and Nate and Johnny can hunt
for specimens. We have an hour Or
two every night.
The children's interest awoke in q
flash. and that very evening the ques-
| ton Olsen scd was one brought bv Nate.
what is the difference betw cen
limestone aud granite?"
A simple one. hut it opened the way
for her, and the first meeting proved
success. She had to study each day to
he ready and wideawake for her class.
They lived in limestone region. Diff
ferent forms Of coral abounded, and
other fossils were plenty. An old cup
board in the shed was turned into a
cabinet.
One day, Nate. who had wandered
two or three miles, brought home u
piece of rock, where curious finger
shaped creatures were embedded.
Great was the delight OF all
to find them described as ortho-
coratites, and an excursion to the
spot was planned for the next holiday.
Question after question led them back
to the origin or the earth. She found
the nebular hypothesis, and hardly
slept one night irving to comprehend it
clearly enough to put before others in
a simple fashion. Her book was al
ways at hand. by and by they classi
fed each specimen, and the best of
their kind was taken TO shelves in the
sitting room.
Her own enthusiasm, in study aroused,
and far from hardship, it now became
delight. Her spirit was contagious.
The boys, always fond of mother"
wondered what new life possessed her,
but they accepted the change all the
same. She found that she could teach
and also inspire the pupils.
They heard of \ gully fiveor six miles
away, where crystals had been found.
Making a holiday. for which the boys
worked like Trojuns, they took their
lunch in farm wagons and rode to the
spot and. il the search was not alto
gether success ,ful, il left them the men,
ory of very happy time.
In the meantime the farm prospercd.
She did all the work in the house and
all the sewing, going out, too, in the
garden, where she raised a few flowers,
am! helped TO gather few vegetables.
Daniel and the boys were bitterly OPP
posed to her helping them.
Mother" said Jerry, "if Won won't
ever think you must go ont I'll do any
thing to make up. l don't want you %
look like these women We see sometimes
in the fields"
She generally yielded: her work was
enough for one pair Of hands. Through
it all ran the thought that her children
were all growing up; they would be-
come educated men; she would not let
them go ahead, not so as to pass her
entirely.
Winter came Now Daniel could see
to the work but these habits of study
were not to be broken.
Boys let Ms form history club,
was the proposition; "it shan't interfere
with your lessons ut school,"
They took the history of the United
States, which the young children were
studying. Beginning with the New
England settlements, and being six in
number, they called each other for the
time. after the six states, persuadine
old Daniel to take his native Rhode
Island.
THAT woman beats all creation" h,