News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-09-23
HER SIMPLE STORY.
But it stopped All Racy RecitaIs Among the
Men that Day.


Men that Day.
Three men sat in one end of draw
! ing-room car telling stories. They ap-
peared to be good stories, too, Judging
by the frequent laughter and slapplng
OF knees and eXclamations of surprise.
In the middle of the Car was a Young
woman, the wife of one of the story.
telers. She did not appear happy.
Her face was very solemn, and black
ewes sparkled beneath her troubled brow
and cast angry glances in the direction
of the merry trio. Finally she rose from
her seat with a determined look on her
face, approached the group of story
tellers, and somewhat pettishIy in
quired:
Henry, what are You doing here''
''Telling stories. A~st;ear-innocent
stories, you know"
''Why have you not invited me to join
you, instead of letting me sit back there
alone2"
because I didn't know you liked
stories, my dear. Women never do
Besides, it is the rule that every man In
a crowd must tell a story. I-ou couldn't
do that, you know"
Couldn't |, thought"
Catching the drift of the lady's re-
marks, the other members of the trio at
once insisted that she take the vacant
seat and initiate herself as one of them
| by telling story. The lonely woman
sat down and prepared to pay her way
with an anecdote.
81 don't know what kind of stories
q hol, of +al1 -har
| they get off in a corner bv themselves. :"
| she began; "but from the fact that they
neglect their wives in order to be alone,
judge they must be queer stories, not
dignitied ones for middle aged men to
relate, and not overburdened with the
truth If, in my ignorance, I tell
commonplace story, and truthful one
as well, you must forgive the fault and
attribute it to my inexperience
AS she gave her companions these
rather severe but not altogether unmer-
tied raps they looked at each other out
of the corners of their eyes and would
have spoken in self-defence had she not
Immediately begun her anecdote
Some years ago." she said, "before
| was married, most laughable incident
occurred at our house in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa. My little sister, then three years
of age, was an exceedingly lively child.
She ran all over the place, and found it
impossible to sit still minute except
when she was asleep-one of these ire
sponsible, uncomfortable little Jump
abouts. Next door to our house was a
church, AMI the parsonage was also close
by. The minister used to make a good
deal of little Genevieve. and she thought
him one of / er best friends. 1t was n
everyday trick for her to steal out of
the house and run over to the parsonage
or the study in the rear of the church to
see her indulgent and fond favorite, the
pastor.
One Sunday-and mind ou this is a
true story | am telling you morning
services were in progress at the church,
and little Genevieve was at home with
me. Carrying out mothers instructions,
| took my little sister into the bath room
anduprepared her for kSer bath 1t was
a warm summer morning, ana through
the open windows of the church came
the words of the good man, eloquent
and not too low voiced in the delivery
Of his sermon. happened to ste, out
of the bath loom few moments to find
some towels or something, and on my
return little Genevieye was not there |
llurriedly looked into the other rooms
of the house., and then, fearing the
worst, rushed out the front door, along
the sidewalk, and up the steps leading
to the church vestibule. | arrived there
just in time to see that little thing fly
ing up the aisle of the church towards
the pulpit IS fast as her short legs could
carry her, and as naked as when she was
born. | did not dare follow her, and
| almost tainted with excitement, and
probably would have done so had [ not
found relief for my agitation in burst
of weeping.
GAS | afterward learned, the congre-
cation was so much astounded that no
one tried to stop Geuevieve, and she ran
to the altar rail, holding out her hands
to the minister whom she loved 50 well.
There the good man met her, took her
to his breast and carried her down the
aisle to the vestibue. saying as he went:
"'May the Lord bless this little angel
and keep her heart always as innocent
and pure as it is this moment. AS Jesus
said, "Sutfer little children to come I'M
to me, Tor of such cherubs as this is the
kingdom of heaven, may the Lord bless
and preserve this fearless flower
$50 saying, over and over, with i'm
pressiveness and affection, the minister
walked slowly to the vestibule and de-
llvered little Genevieve into my aims.
This, gentlemen, is my little story.
You think it very iaughable2 Oh, so do
l. We made merry over it for many a
day. and little Genevieve would say
that she loved the minister more than
ever, because he had called her his little
| angel.
But, gentlemen" !" the lady continued
after pause, ''please do not laugh any
more. Imust add a word to my story
Three weeks from the occurrence of this
pretty incident, which made little Gene
We've the best known and best loved
child in our town, there came another
bright morning, when the birds were
singing and the plants and trees waving
with the sighs of a gentle, intermittent
wind. The old church was filed to the
doors, and outside were hundreds who
could not gain entrance, but who stood
with uncovered heads as little Genevieve
again approached the altar to meet her
favorite, the pastor. This time she came
to join the angels for sure, and never to
return to us again"
Here the story teller gazed intently
out of the window, winking fast over
her black eyes. One of her listeners be-
came suddenly inte ested in his news
paper, Willie another sought drink of
water and then took seat in the other
end of the car. The were no more
stories told there that day.
The Niagara whirlpool.