Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-04-27

could se tbs great tullEn opening IN the graz
and hough Of the apple trce swaying In tho
wind. A chafsinch chung 10 the bougb and
swung 10 and fro singing. The door stood
open, with the broad. bright day bcansing
through, and Betees little world came
streaming In With 1.-THE world which dwelt
In the half dozen cottagcs that fringed this
green lane Of hers like beavers nests pushci
out under the leaves on ~ the waters ctlgc
They came, ~pms dx or eight of them, an
women, trim, clcan, plain Brabant p4ssxsnts,
hard working, kindly of nature and shrewd
In their own simple matters; people who
lahorcd In tho fields all tho day long, or
worked themselves blind over tho lace pillows
In the city.
"You arc too young to 1.-Two alone, Bebcc,s
said the first of them. my old mother shall
come and keep house for you"
"Nay-bctter come and 1.-Two with me, Be-
bee, said the second. II win give you bit
and drop, and clothing, too, for tho right to
your plot of ground"
THAT Is 10 cheat her" said the third.
"Eiark hero, Bebce; my sister, who b q lone
woman, as you know well, shall come and
bidc with you, and ask you nothing nothing
at all--only you shall just give her crust,
perhaps, and a few flowers to sell sometimes"
mo, no" said the fourth, THAT will not
do. You let me have the garden and the hst,
l'ebce, and my sons shall till the place for
you, and will live with you myself, and
leave tho boys the cabin-so you will have
all the gain, do you not see, dear little onef'
"Poohl" said tho fifth, stoutcr and better
clothed than the rest "You are all eager for
your own good, not for hers Now I-Father
Francis says we should all do rs we would be
done by-l will take Bebco TO live with me,
all for nothing; and we win root the flowers
up and plant It with good cabbagcs and pota-
tocs and salad plants And will stable my
cows In tho hut to sweetcn Il after dead
man, and will take my chance Of making
money out OF IL, and no one can speak
more fair than that when ono secs what
weather Is, and thinks what insects do; and
all the year round winter arsl summer, Be
bee here will want for nothing, and havo to
take no care for herself whatever"
She who spoke, Nero Krebs, was tho
best TO do woman In tho little lano,
having two cows Of her own and earrings Of
solid silver, and green cart, aud a big dog
that took the milk into Brussels She was
heard, therefore, with respect, and short
silence followed her words
But II was very short; and a hubbub Of
voices crossed each other after II as the speak.
ers grew hotter against ono another and
more eager TO convince each other Of the dis
interestedness and delcacy Of their offers Of
aid
Through It all Bebco sat quite quiet on tho
edge of the little truckle bed, with her eyes
fixed on the opplo bough and the singing chat
finch.
She beard them all patiently.
They were all her good friends. friends old
and true This ono had given her cherries
81
her little waxen Jesus at tho Kermcsse
The old woman In the blue linen skirt had
taken her to her first communion Sho who
wanted her sister to have tho crust and the
flowers, had brought her beautiful painted
book Of hours that had cost whole franc
Another had given her the solitary wonder,
travel and foreign feast Of her whole life-a
day fifteen miles away at the fair at Mechlin.
Tho last speaker Of all had danced her on her
knee hundred times in babyhood, and told
her legends, and let her ride In tho green cart
behind big, curly coated Tambour
Bebec did not doubt that these trusty old
friends meant well by her, and yet certain
heavy sense fell on her that In all these coun-
sells there was not tho same whole hearted
and frank goodness that had prompted tho
gift 30 her Of tho waxen Jesus and the Ker.
messe of Mechiin.
Bebee did not reason, because she was too
little a thing and too trustful but she felt in
a vague, sorrowful fashion that they were
all OF them trying to make some benefit out
Of her poor ittlo heritage with small regard
for herself ut the root of their speculations
Bebeo was a child, wholly child, body
and soul were both as fresh In her as golden
crocus just born out of tho snows But sho
was not u little fool, though people somo-
times called her so because she would sit In
the moments of her leisure with her blue eyes
Oh the far away clouds like thing in
dream
She heard them patiently till tho cacklo Of
shrill voices had exhausted itself, and the six
women stood on the sunny mud floor Of tho
hut eyeing each other with venomous gances;
for though they were good neighbors at all
times, each, in this matter, was hungry for
the advantages to bc got out Of old Antoine's
plot of ground They were very poor; they
toiled in the scorched or frozen fields all
weathers, or spent from dawn to nightfall
porting over their cobweb lace; and to save
sou or gain n cabbage was Of moment TO
them only second to tho keeping of their
souls secure Of heaven by Lenten mass and
Easter psalm.
Bebee listened to them all, and tho tears
dried on her checks, and her pretty rosebud
lips curled close TO one another
"You arc very good, no doubt, all Of you,"
she said at last. "But cannot tell you that
am thankful, for my heart Is like stone,
and think 1t Is not so very much for me as
1t Is for the hut that you are speaking. Per
haps it is wrong for me to say so-yes, l am
wrong, am suro-you are all kind, and am
only Bebee. But you see he told mo to live
here and take care Of tho flowers, and l must
do it, that Is certain will ask Father
Francis, II you wish; but II he tells me that
am wrong, as you do, shall stay hero all
the same"
And In answer to their expostulations and
condemnation, she only said the same thing
over again always, In different words, but to
thu same steadfast purpose. The women
clamored about her for an hour in reproach
and rebuke, she was baby indeed, she was
little fool, she was a naughty, obstinate
child, she was an ungrateful, willful little
creature, who ought TO be beaten till she was
blue, IL only there was anybody that had the
right to do 1t.
"But there is nobody that has tho right"
said Bebee, getting angry and standing up
right on tho floor, With Antoines old gray
cat in her round arms "He told me to stay
here, and he would not have said 80 II 1t had
been wrong; and am old enough to do for
myself, and am not afraid, and who is there
that would hurt me, Oh, yes, so and tell
Father Francis, if you like do not believe
he will blame me, but II he do, must bear It,
Even II he shut the church door on me, l will
obey Antoine, and the flowers will know ! am
right and they will let no evil spirits touch
me, for the flowers are strong for that; they
talk to the angels In the night"
What uso was 1t to argue with little idiot
like thiSi Indeed, peasants never do argue,
they use abuse
Ii Is their only form of logic.
They used it to Bcbee, rating her soundly,
us became people who were old enough to be
her grandmothers, and who knew that she