The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-07-21
AN EXPLANATION FOR MAMMA


I wonder il mamma remembers the
morning she came out into the garden OF
6 o'clock. I remember it very well.
Willie and I were wedding the straw
berry beds, and eating any odd berries
that were left. Stanton was hoeing car
rots, and pretending they were as nice
to eat as Strawberries. Mary WAS max
ing up basket of red and white currants
to send to a sick friend, and May and
Hope were wedding among the phlox and
mignonette.
Presently looked up with jump
MUNICH, MUNICH, close beside me, hidden
by the grapevine trellis! 1t made my
hair stand up straight, for there was
Blossom, our. red zheifer, chewing the
early Minnesota Corn that was. nearly fit
for eating. A fsw-steps off Glover and
Primrose we're standing, one on the lawn,
and the other biting the ends of a. grape
,tvfne.. ~ =.
III called the rest of the boys and we each
picked up stalk of corn that they had
overlooked, and Stanton ran and brought
some salt, and they followed, followed,
until we got them safe into the barDyard
and closed the gate with big bang. Then
we tied them in and went back to our
work, after we had discovered that every
head of early cabbage, had been eaten.
Z Presently out came rnamms. She
walked straight up ito the tall white liz
iee, that smell so nice, and bent over
them as. if she were saying her prayers,
THIN che pulled a few weeds from around
their stalks, picked late rose that grew
near, and began to look around. She is
always SO pleased over our gardening.
First of all she saw the big deep foot-
marks over the melon hills; then some OF
of the little blue nemophila looked up
"broken and reproachful," May said af-
terwarde; and then she saw the cabbage
patch; and then she called to us:
"Boye, have the COWS been in the gar
dep?"
"Yee, ma'am," piped Norman, who al
ways is glad to tell any bad news.
She glanced at the corn, followed the
tracks, and then questioned:
GLOW did they get in?"
And that was Question we could not
answer. Everything looked rigbt-the
orchard fence, the barnyard gate, all Sc
cure Yet there they had been for hours
and the garden was nearly ruined. No
body was to blame, and after the men,
folks had searched in vain for the loop
hole, we went in to breakfast.
And mamma, what do you think made
me remember? Why, there was heap
ed.up dish of blackcap rsspberries on
the table for breakfast, and suddenly it
flashed on my mind that the night before,
Herbert Tatey and 1 discovered a bush,
just loaded, by the lane fence, where the
COWS came down to be MIXED. We sat on
the fence to eat them, and it slipped and
sank little; the bush WAS bent little
too as we picked them; and then we
went away in hurry to have game of
la crosse. There was a shower at day
break, and the raspberry bush would
rise up and cover the place that slipped,
80 nobody would see it. But I remem-
bered. After breakfast went down and
looked. They had come over that place.
1 didn't tell mamma then. knew she
would say it was letting the slipping go
that night that did it, and that it was
hiding a SIN, and it was sure to come to
light some day,-iust as it did at once. 1
wonder what she would call the bush
that rose up and covered the place. Well,
if she sees this she will know I really
didn't mean to hide; but it takes some
courage for a fellow to tell on himself.
But that is just how they got in, ss sure
rs my pame's jimmy L. jack.