The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1885-12-23

the children too. / worried about them,
but they got along about as well as if
had been around. Now the Lord has
given you a few troubles"
"a few!' groaned Mrs. Eyre.
"Well, he's given you a sprained
ankle, but you have arep-covered sofa to
lie upon. You want to be around and
looking after things, to be sure; but
think how much better off you arc than
poor Mrs. Vaughan, lying where she
knows she'll never get up, and all her
little children needing a mother so sadly.
The Lord sent the drought on your land,
but all your crops are not spoiled like
Mr.. Wheeler's by the hail; and then his
house burned to the ground. Your back
may ache, but the Lord has given you
very soft pillows to rest on some folks
haven't even straw"
"Oh, yes, Eunice," said Mrs. Eyre,
moving uneasily. "You always see the
best side of everything. 1t is very easy
for you to talk, but you don't know half
the care have. You know my hus-
bands affairs had all to be Strengthened
up by me'-this with an air of triumph
and have to look after everything /;
no one seems to manage properly. This
is a world of trouble"
"Oh, yes; but you know we desire a
better country, that is heavenly. If we
only reach that other world, these
troubles will soon be very small; but I'll
tell you q good thing to do if you don't
feel thankful yourself-but know you
will after you think quietly a whie-see
if you cannot make somebody else thank
full. Now 1 must be gong, or father
may think Pm going to stay all
night. But will you try the liniment7
I'll make some and send it over the first
thing in the morning"
eff you please" was Mrs. Eyre's reply
in a softened voice. And Mrs. Foster,
having endeavored to give medicine to
soul and body, bade her friend good
night.
81 wonder if spoke too plain" she
said, as an hour or two later she talked
over her visit with "father."
'Not bit, not bit, said Mr.. Foster,
heartily. ''Folks can take your plain
talk better than most peoples soft talk ;
and Mrs. Eyre ought to hear plain talk
ing once in while. She's plain enough
herself"
Whether Mrs. Foster was too plain or
not, Mrs. Eyre could not forget her
words; and when the old lady was finally
helped to her ? DOM and to bed, she could
not sleep, but began to think over her
friends suggestion that she make some
body else thankful" And Mrs. Eyre
was Christian, albeit she confessed her
self an unthankful one, She was a Bible
reader, too.
81 have not sufficiently considered the
poor, and therefore perhaps the Lord
has withheld his strength from me.
Make some one else thankful2'-where
shall begin"
To be sure, there was her poor neigh.
Dor, Mrs. Vaughan, wasting away with
an incurable disease, and her poverty
did not admit of procuring deiicacies
which might tempt the fitful appetite.
Mrs. Eyre bethought her of the many
jelly glasses and the canned fruits in her
closets, and mentally set apart portion
for the invalid. There, too, was
the Wheeler family, who had lost
their home by fire, and who were now
receiving the half-welcome shelter of a
brother's overcrowded house. The ten
ant house ON her upper place was empty;
why not offer it rent free to honest John
Wheeler for the winter2"
"And Walter-my poor Walterm And
now tears not entirely for herself came
into Mrs. Eyre's sleepless eyes. If any
one ever crept into the tenderest corner of
her heart it was her young brother
Walter. She had married q cousin, and
had not changed her maiden name.
Walter, many years younger than her
self, had been left to her care by their
dying mo.her. and she had given the boy
all o mothers care. He never knew
how dear he was to his fault-tinding
sister, and when come to mans estate he
could no longer endure the incess mt
contradiction aud fault-fnding of her
home, and he sought another home and
employment in a city. Then he added
to his offense by taking to himself wife
without confding in his sister. For a
while he and his wife tried to keep up
the family intercourse by letters, but
MIS-. Eyre grew colder and colder, and
at last all communication ceased between
them. But no one knew how the sisters
heart yearned for her young brother.
She had heard that he was in straight
enod circumstances, that sickness had
entered his home. Was it the eldest or
youngest child that had died: Some
one had said Walter himself had been ill
what he might have expected, going to
live in city-and his wife had been
doing sewing for people. 1t was good
thing she knew how; but-she was an
Eyre. They must be helped some way.
And the next morning Mrs. Eyre found
a way, as the reader already knows; and
by the time Thanksgiving came it was
surprising how many ways she found in
which to make others thankful.
When Thanksgiving came bright and
clear she was amazed to see her parlor
door open, and in came Walter and Bes-
sic and Ethel, and Walters are were
about her and Bessie's kisses were on her
cheek.
"We thought we must come TO tell
you how you had helped us, how thank
full you have made us" said Bessie
"And oh, it was so kind of you, dear
Cphf1IN