St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-12-30
A BAG WITH HOLES.
ROSE TERRY COOKE.


could not think-nOw they had it! Yet
before Mrs. POtter's Uncle Ebenezer
died, they had lived just as many 9TH
err people live. Uncle Eben had never
helped his niece at all since he gave
her n modest outfit and hundred dol
lars in cash, when she married ROwley
Potter, young fellow who was get
ting good wages in the great rifle fac
tory at II.
Louisa was pretty, capable, bright
girl then; but that was twenty years
ago. Now she was a thin, sallOw, fret
full woman. Potter still worked III the
"rifle shop" as they called it, but he
had only dollar day more wages
than when he was married, and there
were four children. Lofty, eighteen
years old, pretty, pert and vain, work
ed in hosiery. Tom, sixteen, was in
a nut-andbOlt "shOp;" Idalia, a girl
of fourteen, was "cash girl" in
Holmes 81 Harper's great dry goods
store. Tom and Lofty paid their
board. "Idy" clothed herself, she
could get bargains and remnants so
cheap; when she should be promoted
into a ''sales- lady," she too, would pay
like the others. The fourth child, lit
tie Davy, was only ten he went to a
public school.
When Aunt Pratt was left widow,
she made up her mind to sell the farm
and board somewhere she had no
children, but she did have rheumatism
enough to tire her with its aches and
stiffness more than family of the
noisiest boys and girls could have tired
her. The farm was good one, well
improved, the house and barns in thor
Ough repair, and there were six cows
and two horses, AS we'll as plenty OF
farming implements. She got forty
five hundred dollars for the whole.
The neighbOrs said it was worth more;
the buyer said it was worth less so
shrewd Aunt Pratt considered the
price fair.
Then there was fifteen hundred dol
lars in Dalton bank the slow accu-
mutation of butter money. egg money,
the sale of poultry and calves; six
thousand dollars in all and every cent
of it her own. Squire Hart of Dial ton,
who was executor of the will, invested
the money in safe ways ut six per cent,
and Mrs. Pratt began to look about
her for home. She knew that Lou
lisa Potter had felt hurt about her I'm
Gle Pratt's will he only left to her her
grandmOther's mahogany furniture,
and the savings bank book i'll which
he had deposited the profits made out
of the Friesland hens and the white
heifer calf she left in bis hands when
she married. sum amounting to a
hundred dollars now.
But Louisa and her husband had eX-
pected more, and Mrs. Pratt was just
woman, capable of understanding 9th
er peoples feelings; SO she did not
wonder. After much thought, and
without any suggestion from them, she
proposed to come into III. and board
with Louisa. So they gave up to her
LOtty's front bed room, and put Lofty
in with Ida and as they cooked and
ate in the same room where they sat
at evening, Aunt Pratt's rocker, her
fOOtstOol, her small round table and
her work basket were established in
the sunny south window, where she
could look down into the street and up
into the sky for this tenement was
on "a corner, and the POtters had the
third-stOry fiat.
1t was IL great change for Aunt Pratt,
but she was woman brought up i'll
the old New England fashion to dc
what she perceived to be duty, how
ever unpleasant or painful, without
shrinking or complaint; and she had
made up her mind that it was her duty
to help the POtters.
She missed the fresh air of the farm
the quiet of her own house, the new
milk, the sweet butter, the good bread
1. Il, Il Chn Ia
after day, in her window, knitting oil
mending, her big Bible open on the
stand, and her thoughts very busy
with the things around her, as well as
with the things that are above. Fol
Aunt Pratt had made resolution to
leave her money in the way it would
do her relatives most good, and she
must study them and their customs
before she could discover what that
way was. She soon found out that
they were always in debt. Potter had
good wages, Lofty and Tom were OF
his hands, Ida had only her board Civ
en- her, and Davy was inheritor OF
Toms old clothes and his fathers too
1t seemed to Aunt Pratt that there
must be leak somewhere that she did
not discover at once.
She was reading her Bible in course,
and one day came upon verse in the
prophecy of Haggai that seemed to ex-
plain the situation to her, and opened
her eyes. The next day Lofty came
in shivering she had caught severe
cold, and huddled over the cook stove
wrapped in an old shawl, cOughed anC
sighed and scOlded all day, till she
was too hOarse to speak.
"Have you got on your winter fan
nels 7" asked Aunt Pratt, for it was
November.
"Flannels l guess not. haven
got any,"
"Why, LOtty!"
"Well, poor folks can't have every
thing. I'd got to have a winter suit,
and there was such lovely one at the
Boston store satin petticOat, with
drapery of camers Naturalization
mean, but awful pretty-and a real
splendid basque, satin vest and gilt
buttons only twenty dollars. l tell
you Aunt Pratt, it was swell and nc
mistake; but couldn't afford ffannels
after that"
sis it thick dress ?" queried Aunt
Pratt.
"No, not very not so thick as this
shop dress but | don't mind that.
amt cold blOOded."
"And your shoes, are they thick ~
"Oh, they're just cheap boots thick
soles do cost so. My best ones are
French kid with lovely high heels
They can't have thick sOles."
"And have you got warm petit
coat 2"
"Mercyi don't want to be al
bumped up with things! I've got al
old felt skirt, and a striped cambria
for every day, and four white ones
trimmed with edging."
Aunt Pratt shook her head.
"A hole in the bagi A hole in the