The Springdale news., 1889-12-20
Ut is lovely, auntie," I could not


 the woman's life-blood that went into it, and of the child's happiness that went into 1t. of the widower and orphan soon to be made by it. Why, think, Hetty, what costly quilt it is! Likely they had to break up cozy home at the East, and sacrifice prop erty and business interests there to come here for her health. And you can buy q beautiful Marseilles quilt for ten dollars! Yes, very good one for five. Five paltry dollars-and think what went into that l walked past the front of the house yesterday, and there were fine hand-knitted cur tains at the windows. Why, even those check gingham kitchen aprons hanging there have cross-stitch em- broidery three or four inches deep. And the rugs that she hangs out on the line every day-all hand work! One has little cloth circles button-hole stitched 10 q foundation-pyramids of them - thousands of embroidery stitches on two-feet- y-three rug! A yard of Moquette or Wilton carpet could be bought for two dollars or less, and you know yourself, Hetty, that it is twice as pretty and durable for a rug
 ''Perhaps she does not do all this work herself. It may be given to her, or she may buy it of poor invalids who can do nothing else
 No. child. she does it herself. 1 see her sit by her kitchen window every day knitting and crocheting, oh! so steadily. It is a north window, too The sitting-room fronts south, and she can not sit there because the sunlight would fade her carpets. The shades are nearly always close down. And the poor child wanders about the l yard looking so homesiek and lonely that my heart aches for him. His clothes are nice and it beautifully, and his linen is starched and polished and fresh every day. She does her own ironing. l see her bending for hours over the ironing board, aud stopping every little while to cough. Look at that line now. Hetty, and see whatshe has before her this week. There are six white shirt waists for the boy, piaited every one. and 10 be done with the polishiag-Iron; then there is that skirt l first showed you, and pair of rufled and tucked and embroidered pillow-shams, and-well. all the rest. It makes me sick at heart 10 see it and l {. li sF I He has nc mother, don't you see? Only a nurse and laundress. She won | let him run the street and get with bad boys. She thinks she is very careful about him. but she stafves his very soul. She has no time to an swer questions for him and help him plan amusemen.s, and sym pathize with him, and he can't play in the dirt because he will soil his clothes. or course the husband has l the same treatment. He has to be very careful about throwing his papers about or making a litter in the house; and when he comes home at night his wife is too tired to talk and coughs a great deal. The cough worries him, and he feels that he ought to do some thing more for her-but he has done all he can. poor man! The doctor has told 1 him to bring her to Colorado. and he | has done so-but she doesn't seem to get much better, and she never will, 1 Hetty, till she stops that everlasting knitting and fancy work and gets into the sunshine, and takes an interest in something outside of her house keep ing. l am going to call on her to- morrow She is new neighbor, you know, and l will tell you beforehand just what l shall find l shall ring the beli, and wait a long time. Then 1 shall hear doors open and shut, and finally the key turned in the front door and 1 shall be let in. The sitting room will be dark and have close. shut-up smell-if it were anywhere but in Colorado it would be musty. The lady will raise shade and let in a little light. taking care to shut out as much sunlight as she can by draw ing the knitted curtains close. The room will be literally crowded with hand made fancy work, and every thing will be painfully neat and un- used. l shall scarcely have introduced myself until she begins to bemoan her lot on account of this dusty country. She will tell me that it is simply i'm possible to keep things clean. and that she wears herself all out trying.
 The call was made. and Aunt Ma tilda came home more indignant than ever.
 Il tell you that woman is dying by inches of fancy work and lack of sun shine and pure air. She tells me that her disease is not hereditary. but she was always delicate child, and it was brought on by hard cold. A hard cold, indeed. How could any one keep any lungs and sit all day by north window crouched over those fendish. shining needless"
 Aunt Matilda's usually mild brown eyes flashed indignantly and then ,.tr