The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1889-06-21
"A sEMISEsCESCE.

i ~ - ~ NHA lE%tNFEA hAC8 :
too, that the dinner was well cooked, and
the feeling Of satisfaction which possessed
my soul more than compensated ME for
the extra labor and care ! had had in pre-
pairing It. had seated my little girl, five
years old, fresh and sweet in her clean
starched dress, in her high chair, and was
about 70 turn to go into the parlor to cali
them to dinner, when a sudden cry from
her made me look back. She had, by
some terribly u~nluciy accident, overturned
a tureen Of gravy, and the greasy liquid
was rapidly spreading itself over the table.
My temper rose in a twinkling, and an
angry expression rose to my lips. Twas
overweight with work and excitement,
for a dinner party was net a common &C.
eurenee in cur quiet household. and our
guests were those Of whom, to tell the
truth, | stood somewhat in awe. 4 minute
before, everything was so auspicious, and
now, what should l dol It seemed a drop
too much for my tired ncrves-many drops
too much for my tableeloth. | was about
to jerk my child down angrily from the
table, when a blessed influence held ME.
| eaught the expression on her face.
Such a sorry, frightened, appealing look, |
never saw, and suddenly a picture Of the
past came, and stood out wildly before my
minds eye. Ny chiId's face revealed feel
ings which l had experienced twenty years
before.
saw myself a little nervous girl. about
eight years old. in the happy home Of my
childhood. It was a stormy afternoon in
winter. 1t was when coal-oil lamps were
first introduced, and father had bought 4
very handsome one. The snow had drifted
against the kitchen windows. so, although
it was not yet night, the lamp was lighted.
Mother was sick in bed, up stairs, and
we children were gathered in the kitchen,
TO keep the noise and confusion away from
her. | was feeling very important, helping
to get supper; at any rate, | imagined I
was helping, and in my o~fIiciousness I
seized that lamp and went down to the
cellar for some butter. / tried to set it on
the hanging shelf, bnt alas. / didn't give
it room enough, and down it fell on the
eemented floor.
| never shall forget the shock that it gave
me. l seemed almost paralyzed. I didn't
care to go upstairs, and | was afraid 20
stay down there, and to make it worse I
heard fathers voice in the kitchen. He
had cautioned us all, again and again, to
be careful of that lamp, and, now. there it
lay, smashed to piecesl But his voice
seemed to give mo the impetus | needed to
go up, and meet the scolding or whipping,
or both, which | felt sure awaited me, and
which I really felt | deserved. So I crept
up over the dark stairway, and as entered
the kitchen I met father with such a stern
look on his face that | was frightened. |
saw that there was no need to tell him
what had happened. lie had heard the
crash, and if he hadn't, I guess my face
would have told him the story. The child
rem stood silently around, waiting to see
what father would do, and saw by their
faces that they were horror struck, and
that lamp had been the subject of too much
talk and wonder to be smashed without
creating a sensation.
As for me, l felt Sc frightened, so con-
fused and sorry that | couldn't speak.
But upon glancing again at father saw
the angry look die ont OF his eyes, and
one of tenderest pity take its place. I
doubt not that he saw the same look on my
face then that | saw in my ehild's face ton
day. In a minute he had lifted me in his
arms and was hugging ne close to his
breast. Then he whispered, @, SO kindly,
| can hear his voice now;
Never mind. little daughter, we al.
know twas an accident, but I hope you
viii take the small lamp when you go down
TO the cellar again.
O! what a revulsion OF feeling I expert
enced. Ii was such a surprise to me that
| was suddenly overwhelmed with feelings
Of love and gratitude, and burying my face
in his whiskers, 1 sobbeG as if my heart
was breaking. No punishment could
have affected me half so much, and moth
ing can ever effaee the memory of 1t from
my mind.
How loved my father to-day, as the
sight Of my own little girls face brought
all SO freshly before me- viii she love as
dearly, | wonder, twenty years or more
from now, because moved by the God
given impulse that stirred my fathers
heart in that long ago time, | was able to
press the little frightened thing TO my
heart and tell her kindly that l knew she
didn't mean to spill the gravy, and that
I knew she would be careful another time,
VIII sko be helped by it, when she is a
mother, as | have been helped to-day? @,
how impossible for parents to estimate the
effect of these seemingly little events II
it had taken as long for this to pass
through my mind as it does for me to
tell it. my dinner would surely have been
cold. and my guests tired Of waiting. But
was all done in q twinklmg. and buoyed
up by a new and sudden strength. | quickly
wiped off the soiled cloth, spread a thickly
folded clean one over the place, and called
my company 70 dinner. Strange to say,
the awe | had been feeling for my guests
was gone. | felt easy and tranquil, and