The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1889-10-04

fSEtz}HHf5tff2{Y <f4S&EAA483V pliSA 6AS Din"
SS3s&SSISS 32S S I2S|S$#SA lady that washes
$aSs aSssg&SS }S%&$s&S&#&62t aX,ho will suit you.
|S62$SS could keep house
sSS s|s31S ySnt away we Ill in
E s$ff&SS 1R26 &sz zsaes@9sAAa s}istcr Julia, 81 ludy
jE|1l|I||||| lIlS1I1I ] 4, WY, Slio will Is
szgSR ], l,eat with the family"
a5&;l@]5a 8S8s@ ditto Western way of
Ssa#S8S sip,urmotllcr, quietly. eff
a#SSa s S@3Ssyy tdrk vol, wo can manage
}y33saz SS&I$S So United day III "wash-lady"
#H&S5SffH535Syy d@essssS ,f5xpectcd Il bold caricature
S8Sw gs Sstyle, who would mako us
f44S&y much she had condcsccndod
n saS 5ya.Mg to do our washing, but when
g~4SSYnltlo knock came Mt our back door,
ro1sd we answered 1t on massc, there on.
q quiet littlo woman with soft
: brown hair just touched with gray.
t'Tell her to como in and eat her din
ner, mother had said, when We rose
from tho table.
But she Ind cleared off u little place
OH the kitchen-tablc and set u cup and
plate there, and no p%crsuosions would
induce her to como into the dining-room.
When her work was done sllo took her
pay and went AWAY rs quietly MS she
Dame, but she Ind made two promises
one to little Charlie, our lame boy, that
she would bring him Il gingerbread
horse, and ono to mother of q recipe for
domestic dye-stun. All tho week little
Charlie frotted for the wash-lady to
come and bring tho gingerbread horse.
s.She will never think of it again."
mother said to him, and then ho went
intolone of his baby tcmpers, and cried
OUT
"Sho will! Sho will! 1 know she will,
\ cause she's II ladyW
She Ind it when she camc on tho day
we expected her, and Inevcr saw Il hap
pier child than Charlie was. She Ind
not asked him TO kiss her, or make
friends, but when he lifted his pitiful,
trembling lips to hers she took him in
her lap and kissed The soft brown curls
and the white, waxen hands.
Hes a bonny BARN." she said-did
urco guide, but he's M lang for this
world"
But mother toldher how much better
he vas since VIC Ind the cast made for
him, and tho great doctor had straight
cncd his back.
Nlargie, that wns the namo she gave
ns, said no moro but went out to her
tubs and bent over the stcaming waves
all day, and, as before, finished her
work neatly and dcftly.
This time, as We watched her in llcr
ne,lt plaid shawl and tidy bonnet, going
through the gate Oh her way home, we
all felt as if we had met with n personal
loss.
"Why not have her como and do tho
ironlng?" suggested Sister Julia. But
mother said she Ind only the one day
to give us; hcr time was Ill taken up.
Shes other folks wash-lady," said
little Charlie fretfully. 81 ant her all
the time my self"
When II neighbor called again we
told her how much we liked Margie,
* and she related some Of her history. 1t
appeared that she had n household-an
old feeble mother, and q weak, invalid
husband, who was mildly demented.
She cared for them both, md Kept
hers somfofttehs ~ BY tho labor ,efaaer
lands, while sho5 helped many others. III
small ways, andby her cheerful, sin
cerc life.
nSlle is Il Indy" said mother emphati-
cally, so lady in the truesb meaning Of
the word, and in its old Saxon sense,
loaf-givor.
"Qncen Of two hands, misquotod Julia
approximately.
She was our wash-lady for seven years.
BY and by she came ind did odd chores
at times, took her turn at nursing our
sick, advised, helped, comforted. What
she was to rs she was to many other
families in tho village. There mover
was, there never could be, n moro un-
selfish creature. When someone rcmon-
strntcd with her for her devotion to her
f%rctfnl, ill-conditioned husband, and
suggested sending him to m asylum,
she answered simply
"And gang all tho rcst Of my days
alone? No! Nal I'd DO that lonesome
without the puir mon, L could M live.
It's better sac"
But II morning her ~''gudcmon''
oversight, md in this world Weakened
no more. Ono VOC followed on nm
others heels. The doting old mother
died within q week, and Margio was in
deed left alone"
They all-the families who had known
her, l mean-tried to induce Margie TO
give up her little homo and 60 live with
them. 1t was Il selfish offer, but Margio
dld not know her own worth, so sho
H"'S 'icIh olculV lOT nll ulCy OuCrGu.
But she kept her littlc home.
"ior my ways arc not your ways. 7
said simply: 81 maun 1.-Two alone"
But h was never alone. It was not
that she had angelic company, as sho
well deserved, butif there was any poor
nc'cr-do-wcll, my lass who had boon
thrust aside, q poor 'sfeckloss'' baby
likely. to go to tho county-house,
MGrgic took it home.
II maun just stay tccl Providence
opens q door,"
And Providence opened many n door
for Margie.
1t was the winter after our Charlie
dicd--fell asleep with his little hands
fast locked in Morgie's-that Julia took
one of her dear, patient hands in hers,
and s"id with apitying infection Of
I. SolCC -" IVI.ln. ..Hrt. l..HN .I-N.. RI