The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-08-21

! could run right over thistle bed ana
scarcely feel it, and much as ever q
bumblebee could sting through the
thick skin on the bottoms OF them!
But one did sting my great toe one
day, and had to walk on my heel for
some time"
"But you didn't 60 barefoot in win
ter?" Kitty managed to query through
the crack of the door.
mo. Then l had some stout shoes.
sometimes cobbled out OF the legs Of
my fathers worn-out boots; but gen.
orally father bought a calf-skin at the
town where he went to trade once q
year, and Peleg Dingley, the neighbor-
hood cobbler, came and made up the
family shoes. They didn't look much
like your bronze boots" and grandma
laughed at the recollection; 'but 1
thought they were nice.
81 remember when | was a small
tot about six years old, that a great
calamity befell me in The matter Of
shoes-great to me then"
Kitty had now crept from behind the
door, and was hanging on the back Of
grand mas chair.
1T was in 1916, l thi TX, the year
that there was no summer There was
snow and frost every month in the
year, and the boys had to plant corn
and potatoes with their mittens on;
but there wasn't akernal OF corn raised
anywhere in our town, nor scarcely any
thing else, and it looked as though we
would all have to go hungry
well, l had nice pair of soft calf.
skin shoes that year, and twas such
poor times that for all twas so cold |
went barefoot
"One day, along in June, we had all
gone up to Dame Lyddy's school, az
usual-there was "a great log school,
house full of boys and girls. and al,
barefoot like myself. But it was {
bitter day and all the little girls tucked
their brown toes beneath their woolleH
petticoats to keep them warm.
'By and by it began to snow-great
whirling, feathery flakes! The or
was thick and it looked more like Jan.
uary than June. The little girls began
to whimper, for we didn't know how
we could ever get home; but the boys
would dash out into the storm and
SNOWFALL each other for minute, then
dash in and stand about on the great
warm, stone hearth.
well, four or five inches of snow
fell, and just as school was out at night
in stamped Uncle Tim Flint with q
long tow-and-linen pillow case slung
over his back. We thought he had
brought our suppers, but the next
minute he turned the pillow-case up
side down and out tumbled bushel
or two of-shoes! He had been all
about the neighborhood and gathered
up the children's shoes and brought
them to the school-house. Some had
gaping toes, some had no strings,
some were down at the heel. But
didn't we just pounce on those shoes!
I'm sorry to say that there was
some quarreling over them, and Dame
Lyddy had to take down her rod before
peace was restored.
1--WE all got on apair somehow, and
trudged home at last; but, deary me!
mine looked no more alike than pig
and goat. In the scramble | had got
hold of one calf shoe and one cow-skin
shoe with patch on it; one pinched
my toes terribly, the other was 90
large that it kept coming off in the
snow, and it hadn't any string, either.
81 shed some tears over the loss OF
my nice shoes, but the shoes Of the
whole neighborhoOd were so hOpelessly
mixed that father thought it might
lead to trouble to try to look mine up.
Luckily, there were enough remnants
of the calfskin for Peleg to piece me
out pair of slippers, and with them !
got along till father went to town
again. youths Companion.