Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1885-12-03
It WINS Thanksgiving week. Miss

It was Thanksgiving week. Miss
White never invited company to
Thanksgiving dinner. She feared that
some of her nice china might get
nicked, and that was too precious: she
! could not run the risk. Some kind
neichbor always remembered her, and
she took her turkey and pumpkin pie
under some one else's vine and tig-tree.
Blu this year those words on the big
tree haunted her, until she made ia.
NOUS resolve-a resolve which brought
about the jolliest Thanksgiving she
had ever known, and which surprised
every one, and most of all Miss White
herself
There were at least dozen children
employed in the factory, poor, neglect
ed little things, with pinched faces and
hungry eyes. They worked early and
late, and lived in row of tumble
down tenements on the outskirts of the
village Very early on Wednesday
morning, long before the factory whis-
tie had sounded, Miss White might
have been seen trudging along the road
in the direction Of those wretched
homes. Before she returned home, all
the factory children in the row had
been invited to take dinner with her on
Thursday.
What busy life she had! Preparing
dinner for dozen remarkably hungry
Youngsters was to her formidable I'M
dertaking. But her heart was in it
and she worked as she never had
worked before. The cat looked on in
astonishment; his hair fairly stood on
end most of that day. Before the shades
of night had fallen, the kitchen table
really groaned with its unusual burden,
but it was happy groan. There was
the largest blue platter piled up, mount
ain high, with frosted doughnuts; there
were half dozen delicious pies, pump
kin, apple and mince; there were cram
berry tarts by the wholesale, and loaves
of bread enough to supply whole
army; and in the foreground among
the other goodies, were two monstrous
geese-the flowers of her fiock-all
dressed and ready for the oven. Yes,
Miss White, in her zeal to do good. had
even gone so far as to sacrifice couple
of her feathery treasures.
She was too tired to 60 to church on
Thursday morning, but there was more
of thanksgiving in her heart than there
had been all the years before when she
had never failed to be present at the
regular service.
Of course, the children all came at
the appointed time. And, oh! how
they did eat! 1.-The geese, the pies and
the doughnuts vanished in jiffy,"
Miss White said, and every one Won
dered what a jify could be, but nobody
asked, so those who did not consult
Webster's unabridged have kept on
wondering to this day.
After the dinner had been disposed
of, the merry diners-out were invited
into the parlor, where Miss White re-
newed her youth, recalling the games
of long ago, and joining in them heart
lily with the children. She even so far
forgot her dignity as to take the part
of ''old Nanny Tipsytoe," and act
ually ran through the rooms, followed
by her noisy guests. While they were
in the midst of ''Puss in the Corner"
in came the village pastor, who, hear
ing the hubbub, had rushed in to see
what was the matter, shouting as he
came:
d" Has the SIN or the moon tumbled into the
sea,
Or what is the matter?-pray tell unto me-"
But he showed his approval of the
sport by joining in the merry games.
So they frolicked and laughed until the
dinner was well digested, and then they
were ready to do full justice to the
fruit and nuts which appeared on the
scene.
When, before nightfall, the children
babe their kind hostess Goodbye" it
was with the cheering assurance that
they had never before in all their lives
had such a perfectly splendid time.
The next day Miss White examined
her china critically, but failed to dis
cover single nick. However, she did
have q game of 'spot on the carpet
all by herself. But she seemed to find
pleasure in that. for as she scrubbed
she sang, and the song told the story
of that sweet peace and happiness
which is sure to follow each effort we
make to do good to those around us.
She seemed to hear echoed the words
she had read so often with Indifference,
but which now were specially sig
nificant: "Inasmuch as We have done
it unto one of the least of these, We
have dome If ,,nto ma - Th;.ouo In.