Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-09-18
Our WaSh-Lady.

see. We did not know her then II Wac
"A neighbor calling at our house VINO
asked my mother if she had trouble
about the weekly wash, then she said
Il will send YOU the lady that washes
for me. / am sure she will suit you.
We do not think we could keep house
without her"
| After the caller went away We all IN
dulged in little mirth.
sFThe idear' said sister Julia, ga lady
TO do our washingl Why, she viii ex-
pect us To wait on her"
s.She Will want to eat with the family,
remarked another.
| 1T Is only polite Western way of
speaking" said our mother, quietly ''f
she does her work well, We can manage
the rest"
Onthe appointed day our ''wash-lady'
came. We expected a bold csricature
of modern style, who would make us
feel how much she had condescended
in coming to do our washing, but when
gentle knock came at our back door,
and We answered 1t en- masse, there en-
tered "A quiet little woman with soft
brown hair lust touched with gray.
Tell her to come In and eat her din
ner," mother had said, when We rose
from the table.
! But she had cleared off little place
/ on the kitchen-table and set "A cup and
plate there, and no persuasions would
induce her to come into the dining-room.
| When her work was done she took her
pay and went away as quietly as she
came, but she had made two promise
one To little Charlie, our lame boy, that
she would bring him gingerbread
/ horse, and one 10 mother of recipe for
/ domestic dve-stuff All the week little
] a Er..#aI 8. the IA lady tn
/ come and bring the gingerbread horse
! .sShe viii never think of II again,
mother said to him. and then he went
into one of his baby tempers, and cried
/ out
..She Will She Wilt know she viii,
cause she's ladyl''
! She had II when she came on the day
We expected her, and never saw hap
pisr child than Charlie wEs- She had
not asked him to kiss her, or make
| friends. but when he lifted his pitlful,
/ trembling lips To- hers she took HIM III
| her lap and kissed the soft brown curls
[ and tine white, waNen hands
Hes a bonny BARN, she said-did
j say she was "A Scutchwoman? IAN he's
unco guide, but he's na lang for this
world
But mother told her how much better
he was since we had the cast made for
him. and the great doctor had straight
ened his back.
Nargie. that was the name she gave
rs. said no more but went out To her
| tubs and bent over the steamlng waves
all day, and, as before, finished her
work neatly and deity.
This time, as We watched her III her
neat plaid shawl and tidy bonnet, going
through the gate ON her way home, We
all felt as If We had met with personal
loss
why not have her come and do the
ironng2" suggested Sister Julia But
mother said She had only the one day
to give us: her time was all taken up.
..She's other folks wash-lady, said
little Charlie frctfully. Il ant her all
the time my own self.
When our neighbor called again We
told her how much we liked Margie,
and she related some of her history. 1t
appeared that she had household-au
old, feeble mother, and weak, invalid
husband. who was mildly demeutcd.
She cared for them both, and kept
them comfortably by the labor of her
hands, while she helped many others in
small ways, and by her cheerful, sin
cere life
''She Is "A lady," said mother emphati-
cally, "a lady IN the truest meaning of
the word, and in its old Saxon sense,
1oaf-giver.
Queen of two hands, misquoted Julia
appreciatively.
She was our wash-lady for seven years.
BY and by she came and did odd chores
NJ times, took her turn at nursing our
sick, advised, helped, comforted. What
she was to us she Was to many other
Families in VILLAGE There
was, there never could be, IA more I'M
selfish creature. When someone remon-
strated with her for her devotion to her
fretful. ill-couditioued husband, and
suggested sending him TO an asylum,
she answered simply
And gang all the rest of my days
alone? No, Ma! I'd be that lonesome
/ without the puir mon, could ma live.
It's better sac"
But one morning her ..gudemon"
oversight, and IN this world wakened
no more. One woe followed on an
others heels The doting old mother
died within week, and Margie was in
/ deed left alone.
They all-the families who had known
I her, L meau-tried to induce Margie to
/ give up her little home and go live with
/ them 1t was a selfish offer, but Margie
/ did not know her own worth, so she
/ gave them credit for all they offered.
| But she kept her little home
/ ''FOr my ways are not your ways.
maun be under my ain roof tree" She
/ said simply Il maun live alone"
But she was never alone 1t was not
/ that she had angelic company, as she
/ well deserved. butif there was any poor
ne'er-do-weu, any lass who had been
thrust aside, a poor ''feckless' baby
/ likely to 90 To- the county-house,
Nargie took II home
1T maun Just stay teel Providence
J opens door"
And Providence opened many a door
for Nlargie.
IL Was the winter after our Charlie
died-fell asleep with his little hands
fast locked IN Margie's-that Julia took
| one of her dear, patient hands IN hers,
and said with a pItying infection of
| voice.
''Nlargie, you're whitening away"
lit maun be the soapsuds, they
shrivel my flesh, but they're guide and
! wholesome to be in, she said IN her
| quiet way.
But We soon knew that it was some
thing else that was stealing over Marg1e.
| We could hear her singing low over the
! washing, but 1t was no longer of ''Claver-
| house or Bonnie Prince Charlie" Ii
was that sweet and mournful strain,
| '.The Land of the Leal "
One day she did not come. We went
TO the little home-it was all in order,
but Margle was away To the Land of the
| Leal. She was the elect lady now
| Mrs NJ l. Rayne, IN Detroit Free
J Press.