Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1885-02-20

Non'rfIul good man. RrtihCn Is. but ii
Just seem Il To me tn. Lord had forgot
ten all about H.. an wasn't hclpin' IL,
al all. | Sc Nou re shocked. Miss. an
no wonder. seem Id been Il professor
nigh onto fifteen Years. but mcbbc YOU
ain sui rcd what | suffered that
summer, He'd bought nice frame for
the motto. h,t hadn't hung it up at
all. an it stood on the floor with it>
face to tn" wall. though | could see
Reuben didn't like 81 SEA. il 80.
"Wrll. i,cuhrn worked har,lrr'n
ever see u man work before. an bv
June he Il du~ that well Nou see Wonder.
and people used to come miles To get
water. Tor good water was even >carccr
last summer than Is this; an | no.
tIcrd a pale. timid woman comm for
water. Grivin' the worst looking pair of
horses ynu ever see. She used
to draw ii NJ 10y the pailful.
an set ii in the wagon, an then she d
ret up in the WAGON an empty the pail
INTO Il barrel couldn't bear to see
her work -. poor thing. she WA mt
more II tw"mty-thrvc or four, an | WAS
glad when e Reuben hclpin her one
day. though She Wa Mt an, body YOU
could take fancy t.. Is You can >omr
folks. Bat after spell motto ii She
dIdn COM any more. an Il >h!ftlcsS.
unlik"lN-lookln man used to come for
water. Rrub talked to him often.
an one dlv. after h went away. Rru-
ben : tyS to m: Sarah. SAYS he. the
younc woman that u-cd TO come for
water : sick. Can you 90 an see her
today
"Now. | didn' t want to 90 bt, but
| se,' 'twould di~plcaSr Reuben if |
didn t. 81 put on my sun-bonnrt an
went over. Thc.r Ella m WAS next to
ours. - | Wake | il easy. An such Il
sgh; when got there. There was that
poor Young thing on Il miserable bed.
white an Sick-lookin as ever 5 'c any
body. The Little shanty was bare an
dirty. an the crops worSe'n ours. |
put my head in the door. an She
opened her eyes an glarcd at me.
~ We come to see You, | said. not
knowing what to say. was SO taken
aback
Well she snapped out, look at
me if you want TO, amt no great
5 ght. am II
did You ever. in all Your life? /
was tempted 10 snap back. hut | re-
mcmberci Reuben. an couldn't, so |
says: Il thought mcbbc could help
you
"'l OH cant, size says, 4 little more
civil. nobody cam an such hard.
hopeless voice | hope I'll never hear
again.
My heart achcd for her, so | says:
Yes. the Lord can
''Well. she says, 'mcbbe he can.
but he aint done it much since | come
out here
Thinks |. you're regular heather,
ifthcre ever was one. But then. con-
cluded il WA MT mite worse for her
to say il right out than twas for me to
think il Il hundred times. only | was
afraid To say it on account of Reuben:
an M Il professor. too. | didn't say
any more then. but tell YOU did IA lot
o tn nkin'. went right in an made
her Il cup o tea. an fixed things up.
an after that used to go every dav,
though som times she wouldn't speak
20 me. But Reuben hcar,! from her
husband how glad slc.was To have me
come. They sent fifteen m les for II
doctor, an he sad twas malaria she'd
brought in her system from Michigan.
but knew 'twa'n't anything - the
kind; twas hOmrS:ckncsS, IN one S;"hi
O her mothers face would la dom,
more for her than pounds ct uuininr.
I'VE ell, IN contrast with tho e poor
people our lot didn't seem half so
hard, an began 10 see how selfish
Ed been, SHUT n myself up an pityin'
myself. aa' tn nkin' o hom when pco-
Pile like this Mis- Peters was suiicrin'
for little friendly ad. | didn't feel
very sorry for Mr.. Peters; he was lazy.
| thought, an shifllcs>, but Reuben
talked to him a good deal, an | see
that his place gan to look little more
shp-shapc, and better victuals come
into the hous', an sometimes some
thin for her; but | never dreamed Rru-
hen had anything to do with it,
more II 10 advise and encourage him.
One day when was gettin' ready to
90 the fcter>c- Reuben pointed to our
motto an says: Hadn't you better take
it To the Pcterscs and let them keep it Il
sprll9'"
al knew he wanted it to be the COM
fort to them that it hadn't been to me:
so took it, but that Mis- Peters would
mt have it where She could see it. an
SO there it stood with its face to her
wall, instead o mine. 1t put me out.
too, because Reuben wanted me to take
it to her.
Towards fall Ms Peters began to
pick up consid' rably; she'd had good
vctualS an somebody to do a friendly
turn for her. an the malaria wore off.
but still She was hard an cold an sui
len to everybody. an | didn't know
what TO make of it,
I'VE c,nr last of August, an I'd
been thinkjn' Il good deal about provin'
up on our ella m, an gcttin' the title 10
II. 'TwOuld be six months middle o
September that we'd lived on it an
done all the plowin' an plantin' of
trees that the law requires, but Reuben
never mentioned any thing about provin'
up. So | suggested it to him one day,
an he says quiet an tender like:
Sarah. says he, well have to wa t
another year to prove up. I've well,
I've had To help the Peterscs; the Lord
has helped us YOU know
AN thatwas where most OF our TWO
hundred dollars had gone. just laid
my head on Rcubcn's shoulder an
cried; not that was sorry, either. but
was SO proud o my noble, unsellish
husband. an So sorry I'd grieved him.
We had a long talk about it all then,
an Reuben understood it all. an of
course he for@ave me. The next dav
when | went down TO the PetcrsrS. Mis-
Peters met me ut the door with her
eyes full o tears. an all the hard,
hopeless look gone. %, Mis- Ross
she says, to think of all you an Mr.
Ross have done for uS-strangers to
Va IL A..