The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-12-24
A GIRL.
Mary Martin, the "Incorrigible,"
and Her Christmas Eve.

: "She must be q good girl; she must b,
neat, and quick, and tidy; she must not ust
bad language; and I like to have then
pretty, or reasonably pretty
Such was the request made by the ex
cellent Mrs Shepard, as she sat, wear,
from walking, In the reception room at the
Orphans Home.
~ have heard you say that BEFORE said
Mrs Metcalf, the good-natured matron
land I have heard ten thousand Other
people say it. So I dare say you have
heard my joke, that you had better 90 to
some institution where they keep young
angels"
Mrs. Shepard laughed a she had laughed
a little rested, the nine girls at that mo.
ment under thefoof were brought in.
But, to say the truth, they were not ar
attractive "lot|' as Mrs. Metcalf, alas,
would have classed them. She had done
her cest.. The rocks were clean and the
dad changed all their names. There was
not q Cynthia Ann nor Bridgetno a Polly
among them all. Every child was named
Maud or Alice or Constance, or by some
other name Ast might please a stated fancy.
5 ia.Stv nfS ni peat ,~stockinags and tidy, even
clean, and a good many of them had a little
cQquettish air, which intimated that neat
clothes were doing them good, and that
b were waking to the knowledge that it
is the business of at least one sex to try and
But, on the other hand, smallpox had done
its worst with some. Bad beer and whisky,
alas, had had their way, with others. With
others there was q certain hang-dog air.
which showed only too well how they had
6een Kicked about by such relatives as they
had hoEANo fhAo - Ali. lrn---
which was so far happy that here nobody
pretended to be q relation.
: One by q the girls came into the parlor
nj talked with Mrs. Shepard. and one by
one they went out, and talked about her.
b the last child had gone, Mrs. Shepard
who had been displaying these goods as best
.'They look nicely, poor little things, but
somehow, I do not fancy any of them.
Where is the girl I saw on the fence, as I
i tOn the fencei.
This was Mrs. Metcalf's exclamation, and
Mrs. Shepard knew that she had made a
mistake-that to climb the fence was a
ssWell, do not take me up,n she said. 81
fence, in the garden"
Mrs. Metcalf's brow cleared. scThat was
two days.
xviii you call her ini liked her face.n
, Mrs. Metcaf coughed. She even blushed.
"sWhy-really-dear Mrs. S~hepard-she-
she-has not been well BROUGHT M. She
came back from Ashby yesterday, and she
mad come back from Bernardston the week
before. She n healthy, and good-natured,
and wilin1s and strong; but-but-they
tell me she lies, and steals, and swears
sometimes, and-and-that she uses bad
Ia0I 1AQ6.
-Ihe truth is, she remembers her
father and mother. She never had any.
was brought up in a poor-house In
Rhode Island, and they were SO good to her
that she wants to go back there. But OF
course she can't go back, because she is old
enough TO earn her living"
docs she swear very badlyl" asked poor
Mrs. shepard, who was afraid of compro.
missing her church membership.
! ITO tell you the truth, never heard hel
say anything worse than devil, but Mrs
Goss-she is Ehe Bernardston lady-says She
swears all the time"
But as the reader knows, the woman who
hesitates is lost. Mrs. Shepard had liked
b pleasant smile of the girl, who was
astCide on the wall Of the Home as she went
"a. She asked to have her sent for, and the
result, which is all that the reader need
care for, was that in the three p. m. train
for Bedington Crossing Mrs. Shepard and
Mary Martin went together.
"The trustees are very particular about
their going to school, said Mrs. Metcalf, a.
she tied the girls scarf round her neck ant
bade her goodby.
tNever fear,h said Mrs. Shepard, ''she
shall go to school enough-whenever it,,
convenient" she added as a salvo to hel
conscience, as she went down the steps.
Mrs. Metcaf heard the first part, and il
she heard the second she never reported il
to the trustees.
A nice time had Mrs. Shepard with Mary
Martin through the next week. 1t was no
convenient" to send her to school; for the
school was two miles away, and the snov
men-folks were hauling wood. The cir
was accustoming herself to chop mince
meat, to feed hens, to skim milk, to work
rotary churn, to sprinkle and iron clothes
and to do ten thousand other things in tina.
svoman's work which is never done,-
ss'She is awful spry," said Mrs. Shepard t.
her husband when he asked for a verdict
But as to the trick of language, the candle
hearer had to acknowledge that her refer
ences to the enemy of souls were too fire
guent. As to veracity, there were occa
trained in some schoolo of a very low sophis
try, if, indeed, she had not been left with
out training n that poor house from whicl
she graduated. Honesty in deed, however
was WQdU MIS- ou6pQ6Iu CHUNG 10 as Tn
center of her life. When one day at din
ner she cut through what vas meant to b
a mince pie, when the crust instantly fiat
tened beneath the edge Of the knife, whel
it appeared that there wa no 'mince'
there, b it was revealed to Mrs. Shepar
what was meant by Mrs. Metcalf and tn
lady from B~ernardston, who had said tina
Mary Martin stole.
Fortunately for Mary Martin, she did NO
Lie when charged with this 'theft." Sh
grinned and hardly said, wen under pres.
ure- that she would try not do it again.
As for Mr.; Shepard, he only laughet
When consulted as to whether a good whiI
ping would do Mary any good, he advise
against the whipping. Mary was shut u
in her WI little room for three hours
until, indeed, the hens made such a ROY
about her captivity, that, to quiet then
Shepard then gave her what, if she ha
kept a journal, she would have called
serious talk" II Mary had kept a %journa
she would have called it a "goo
jawing." In fact, neither of them keI
by giving the lens twice their ALLOWANCE
After tea she was sent to bed at seve
o'clock, by way of further punishment.
Poor Mrs. Shepard watched with tear
nay, with prayers, all the next day fl
tokens of contrition. But such toker
IN Tac ssly t Ismi Il a Which I Lucy si had ds dro Sgle
in the wagon. She could, "jHust as wells
not" have kept it, Mrs. Shepard said, an
sold it to the fir~stpeddler. "But h didn't
she brought it in, just as pleased as an,
thing" On the other hand, when Sill
Pike, the hired man, came in, when Mr.
Shepard questioned him as to the languas
which Mary Used in familiar conversatio
in the barn, he grinned from ear to ear. E
could not remember much-clearly he d
not wish to Ego back' on the child. But /
implied that there was frequent referent
to a place of torment, as well as to I'll
snelny Of souls, as Mrs. Shepard had heal
before, and so reticent was Silas, that 81
ceased in Ter examination from very fes
Of what 1t might elicit.
That evening she went to the Sacramer
lecture with her husband-or tried to. BIZ
when they were passing Deacon Little
house. Miranda Little ran put to tell thel
that rarson Noyes had a sore throat, an
that tbs lecture would be postponed. S
they tuine ID back, and were at home agai
in ar hour from the time of starting, Mr.