Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1889-07-01
Mrs. Burroughs Wooden
Box.

Mrs. Burroughs side door. She
dropped her sewing. and hastily step
ped forward to answer the CALL ats
the boy with the black caps. 1 must
give him one of those oranges Arnold
brought home to me-" she said to
herself. ''Boys always like oranges. -
But it was not the ''black-cap'
boy. An anxious, weary-looking
girls face looked up into hers as the
door opened.
go Mrs. Burroughs!" the owner
of the face began.
"Why, Elsie, is it you? Why did
you not come right in, dear? Step in
out of all this heat. How warm you
look, child And / do believe-yes-
you are going to cry? Now, what is
it, my dear?'
go Mrs. Burroughs, / can't stop.
I'm not half through my crusade.
I'm not begging. Will you contrib
ute fifty cents toward purse for the
Staples family? They have been hav-
ing such hard time -Four children
are sick with diphtheria, land the baby
lying dead in tie house, with not one
cent to pay the funeral expenses, now
the mother can't work. Poor Mrs.
Staples is all worn out with her trou-
bles. No one but mother has been
near them to help. The poor woman
says the Lord has forsaken them.
Mother wrote me note, telling me
to canvass the town Immediately, and
raise all the money could. She put
the Kings Daughters motto on the
end, In His name Three girls have
responded to the call for help sent
them; and we have divided the town
in sections, and hope to cover it by
tomorrow noon. But, O Mrs. Bur-
roughs," and the brown head bent
down on the table, 81 never knew
before how hard-hearted people were.
I'm all discouraged, and"
''There, there, my dear ~ came in
Mrs. Burroughs soft tones. "You're
tired. l don't wonder, such a hot
day Just you rest little now, while
L get down my mite
AS she spoke, she stepped quickly
to her china closet and took down
long, narrow box. 1t was divided
into compartments. From one mark
ed ''Charity," she took shining sill
yer dollar, and slipped it into Elsie's
hand.
Elsie's face wore dazed look.
"Why, Mrs Burroughs" she STAN
mered, 81 verify believe you were
ready for me. Had You heard? Did
you"-And she looked from the box
to little Mrs Burroughs smiling face.
''No, dear, 1 hadn't heard; but
yes, l was ready. l hope always
to be. Poor Mrs. Staples and that
dear little babyr' The gray eyes fill
ed with tears, as she thought of an
other little one now lying nnder the
summer grasses. Diphtheria, too
All, yes, she knew!
81 hope l shall always be ready"
she repeated.
''You are the first one that has
been," calculated Elsie. cit has
been just agony for me to hear at
door after door the refusals and ex-
cuses that have been made. People
ten times as we'll able as you cant
afford to remember a soul in sore
need. And such excuses The chill
dren growing so fast and needing so
much, no money to spare Taxes to
be met in the fall, land the cents must
be counted One woman asked me
if they attended her church. No, /
said, they are Methodists.' well,
she drawled, we really have so much
distress in our own denomination /
do not think it judicious to go out
side Henry Stephens, who gave
the land the Northbrook church is
on, who is just rolling in money, told
me be hadn't done no work this sum-
mer, and money was tight. 1 tho't it
was. And this is our nineteenth
century Christianity -
s'There, there, my dear! The world
is not all hard-hearted. Just you 60
and finish your work, and come back
to tea with me, and [ will tell you
the history of the wooden box" And
Mrs. Burroughs put Elsie out the door,
with loving little push.
1t was after the dainty little tea was
over, the dishes washed and put
away, and all of them costly settled
down to enjoy the lingering summer
twilight, that Mrs. Burroughs began
''We used to have grand ideas of
helping the world, Arnold and I,when
we were FIRST married. Somehow, L
think Arnold has done more than l
in all these years. He's more of the
'helping kind. She gave a loving
little glance toward the sofas at o
pale-faced man, whose circumstances
she stopped by going rapidly on:
''The greatest Weakening | had to
the needs of the world was received
one day while visiting the Perkins
Institution for the Blind at South /!
Boston. 1t was pitiful sight to
behold all those dear children, bright,
intelligent as they were, and realize
they were cut off from even the glory
of Gods sunlight. The tears came
to my eyes as watched them. The |
natural history teacher gave one little
girl lizard to classify; and, as she