River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1889-05-30

into four-feet lengths and laid away.
The barrels were rolled TO one side. the
cans and cracked kettle put by them
selves with tbs rusty pans and leaky
tin pail which they found slowed under
the rubbish The great stump was
immovable. but it's just as well,
said Lou. c0nsolingly, ''for think we
can make it ornamental" Then the
two went to work with their garden
ralles till every stick, stone and straw
was removed. and a clean. grassy plot
\ Of ground rewarded their exertions.
Lou looked over the field OF opera
tions with exultant eyes. "Do you
think you can saw these barrels in
two?n she asked. little anxiously.
/ There was a tired look on Lynn's face;
/ the May day was soft and warm, and
/ the unusual exercise told on his relaxed
muscles. Lou was quick to read the
signs OF rebellion. Il mustn't dis
| courage him at first" she thought,
land really / care more about amusing
him than do about the work | think
we've done enough for one day." she
[ said, hanging up her rake, ''but must
have some paint. VIII you go to the
shop for me. Lynn, ana get ten cents
worth of red lead? We have oil,
varnish aud brushes here" and when
I the boy asked. curiously: What are
you going to do with it?" she smiled,
provolIingly. and answered: You will
[ see tomorrow"
The next morning she took him TO
I the woOd-shed. where lay the cans
whose tops she had neatly removed at
/ the kitchen fire during his absence.
On the workbench stood the pail of
red paint which she had prepared. and
she patiently taught him to paint the
cans neatly and smoothly. II was like
a new play; and Lynn became so inter-
ested that it was with difficulty she re-
strained him from ornamenting the
wOOd-shed ceiling and the barn and
I fences when his task was done. She
gave him permission to bring in the
cracked kettle. the pail and pans and
exhaust his ingenuity upon them; and
as. when this was done, he still lOnged
/ like Alexander for more worlds to con-
qucr. she sent him to transplant some
( bitter-sweet vines on the orchard bOr-
ders and set them along the fences
which bounded two sides of their gar
den, intermixing them with a wild
grapevine and Virginia creeper from
the woods.
Two busy weeks followed. Lynn
became so enthusiastic over his work
that he fairly grudgcd the hours which
his father insisted upon his devOting
% his other duties; while the boy in
turn stoutly insisted that his father
should not go near the scene of his la
bOrs tin permission was given him-a
command easily Obeyed, as Mr.. But
Ier's business kept him busily engaged
from early morning till twilight.
Lynn was growing quiet, industrious
and less aggressive. His aunts and
grandmother looked on approvingly
as he bent over old magazines, vol
umes Of landscape gardening and 9th
er miscellauies, searching for plans
and ideas. There were deep cOnsulta-
tiOns and mysterious whisperings.
/ A4dA = VI AGUAtlGSo AOAAs liz ITS VI uASNuuI-
agement, and. at last, triumph,
One afternoon, in the early June,
Mr.. Butler. who had given himself
half holiday. was invited to accom-
pany his mother and sisters to tea
I drinking TO be held in the
Addition prompted Lynn. as Lou
hesitated for name. That's the
way it Is in the papers always. Sim
mons additionr Jones additiOnr and
if this isn't an addition 10 the Butler
plantation. then I'd like to know what
it is.
The guests stopped on the borders of
the enchanted land in surprise. Where
once had lain pile If refuse, giving
I birth and sustenance tn -ough previous
/ summers to colony of giant weeds,
was wide stretching space of velvety
! grass, freed from every intrusive plant
ain, bUrdock or nettle. The vines
/ along the fences were putting forth
tender leaves; at their intersection a
/ thrifty lilac intermingled its purple
I plumes with the fragrant gold of
late towering currant The despised
barrels had become by iudiciOus man
agement four rustic tubs; the two stand
. ing upon the ground filled with gerani-
uus. verbcnas and chrysanthemums,
which promised later bloom. while
those perched alOft on the twisted
+ sticks which Lynn had driven solidly
/ into the ground held masses of trailing
+ vines selected from Louis abundant
+ stores, which billOwed up in featherv
/ green aud draped their rough supports
/ with verdure. The old kettle. shining
7 brayely in its coat of red. was suspend
! ed from three twisted sticks and
+ adorned with whey beauty a. grateful
+ To the eye a TO the most appetizing
compound cOncocted at any real gypsy
( campfire to the hungry stomach. \
rustic flower-stand supported the cans
Lynn had 50 lavishly decorated, each
filled with some blooming plant. while
at the summit a small Oleander tree
with rosy blossoms gave dignity and
F character to the rejected tin pail.
The bricks and stones piled artistically
around a mound of earth supported
several thrifty varieties of sedum, in
terspersed with the snowy sprays of
sweet alyssum; and the old rake,
+ driven upright in the earth, was trel-
Used with cords intended as a support
for the sweet peas and morning glories
+ lifting their heads bravely from the
/ mold below.
But the browning glory of all was
the old stump. which had become the
thing of beauty Lou had prophesied.
i Its decayed heart had been followed
/ out. filled with earth and set with
+ crimson cOleus. golden feverfew. snowy
daisies and great clusters of crimson
+ gerauiums. The graceful KenilwOrth
7 ivy draped its sides, and wood violets,
4 blue and white, filled the interstices
/ between its branching roots. After
I lingering survey of these beauties. and
I the rustic seat Lynn had constructed
f with much care and WEAKNESS of mind
and body. Mr. Butler had but fleet
T ing glance To bestow on the round
f table in the center OF the plat with its
dainty tea service and Accomplishments
al cakes and jellies
You've worked a miracle, LOur' he