The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-12-16

tall ed wildly about a missing button;
aud Miss Arkwright puzzled her brains
not little 10 guess what il was that
the child so positively denied having
touched, and why she so pitifully
begged to be believed.
The good doctor wondered, too, what
was weighing on the childish mind;
and Tabitha started with guilty blush
when her father asked her one night:
What is this about a button that
distresses Orpah so mueA? Do you
know anything of ~"
"She stole my prettiest button" an
swered Tabitha; "and we wouldn't
speak to her for it at school"
"Are you sure?" asked her father, o
frown resting on his grave face.
Those are but poor re sons to
Judge an orphan child so harshly on"
he said, as Tabitha told her story; and
! he was beginning to reprove her for
her unkindness when he was called
| away TO patient, much to the little
girls relief.
That day TaDitha resolved to put
her desk in thorough order and at re-
cess she took out all her books and
pencils, and raised the paper that she
had neatly laid in the bottom.
Something fell from its folds and
ratified on the floor.
40, Tabitha! Look" cried Lois, as
she picked something up, her face
bright with happiness.
A crimson flush overspread Tabitha's
face as the girls burst into chorus of
ordinations, and for moment L am
afraid she wished, in the depths of her
heart. that the button had never been
found, and Orpahs innocence proved.
Better impulses came to her soon, 1
am glad to say, although it was hard to
bear the reproaches of her schoolmates.
And so we have been treating Orpah
badly all this time for nothing said
one.
Another time you ought to be sure
! you are not mistaken before you call
any one a thief" said another.
Taking the button, which had been
the cause of so mu h trouble, in her
| hand, Tabitha ran home. Father"
she cried, repentantly, 81 did make a
mistake. / found the button just now
under the paper in my desk. VIII you
take me 10 see Orpah, and let me tell
her it was a mistaken"
| The Doctor shook his head, sadly.
II am afraid it is too late for Orpah
to know that her innocence is estab-
lished."
why, father?" asked Tabitha, in
startled tones.
"She is sinking rapidly, and tonight
may be her last. You cannot see her,
but promise you L will give her your
message ii her consciousness return
before the end.
AS her father went away, Tabitha
threw herself PROSTATE on the grass, in
an agony Of remorse and contrit.on.
Perhaps Orpah would die without ever
knowing how she repented of her I'M
kindness and hasty Judgment. Poor
little motherless Orpah! Tabitha felt
as if she could never forgive herself
for her injustice
Evening and bedtime came, but still
her father did not return, and Tabitha
sobbed herself to sleep.
Father how is she?" was her eager
yet fearful question as her father came
home early in the morning, looking
weary and wan after his long nights
vigil
THE crisis is past, and / think she
will live now," was the answer that
brought tears of JOY to Tabitha's tear
stained eyes.
1t was long time before she could
go to see Orpah; and when at last she
was admitted to the sick-room, and saw
the frail shadowy-looking form propped
up on the pillows, all that she had
wanted to say went away from her, and
she could only murmur broken words
of sorrow and love as she clasped the
! thin hand.
Sweet-tempered Orpah forgot all the
pain that Tabitha had caused her, and
joyfully accepted the proilered friend
ship. When at last she was able to re-
sumo her place among her schoolmates,
a loving welcome awaited her, and she
felt that their kindness far more than
atoned for their injustice. But Tabitha
never forgot the lesson she lear ed
that sad evening, when she feared she
might never see her little schoo. mate
again; and she often tells her little
granddaughters the story, that they
may beware of nasty Judgment.
Chemistry Of Growth.