Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-12-27


HaG through q latticed win
az IN dow, have conspired with
ASf&<l natures charms to tempt
ALVTR me to disregard nv faith
er's injunction that
should do no literary work during my
sojourn of few weeks at his home.
These trees, with their tender leaves
and ithesome boughs swaying to and
fro; this emerald-hued plat Of grass,
stretching broadly before me; the gar
den, green and airy, the cherry buds.
apple blossoms and May flowers. are
responsible for the transgression. They
peep at me so coquettishly that I am
quite convinced they are laughing be-
cause this inyigorating breeze, which
enhances their complexion, makes such
pitiful havoc of mine.
[ noticed how caressingly the dew
lay on the bosom of every leaf and ev-
cry blade of grass, and nestled within
the folds of the fair young flowers.
There was love in everything; beauty
everywhere Even the cow-bells. con-
demned for their discordant Jingle, had
music in them this morning. Tinkle.
tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, so far away that
the rustic of my garments drowned
their voices. The larks, alarmed and
indignant at my trespassing, put their
little heads together and scolded me
pitilessly; and Old Sol, patiently bid
ing his time to rise, lay hidden be-
meath a coverlet of red and yellow
clouds.
The situation was peculiarly novel
to me. The wind and the motion OF
the hammock intoxicated me. and ]
fell into half-wakeful revery. con.
sistlng mainly of q review of my sunny
childhood, not day of which / would
fam forget. In this retrospection saw
myself from little girl Of five sum
mers, with tousled curls about a brown
face, through all the stages of my life,
permitting my mind to follow the chain
OF years, link by link, to this time, and
| was still five years old, I realized,
however, that others, who had PLAYED
a part in the melodrama of nv life.
had grown older and changed with
times progress, while I remained the
same; the expanse of years were but
days in my fancy. And thus, envel-
oped in misty dream, felt the touch
OF . soft hand on my face, and real
child voice lisped:
Five kitheth, mamma! I am five
yearth old to-day"
That familiar voice, with it's childish
infection, was all that was needed to
break the spell, and when J. opened my
eyes l looked into a pair as blue as
hyaclnths, and remembered that I am
o woman now, and my successor is the
least of the "three little maids, dressed
as Enthusiastically for their make blieye'
calls, which are received with becoming
meekness by every member of the
household.
With my awakening comes the rather
unpleasant reality that I am but a
guest in my fathers house, and, being
a grown up one, am presumably to put
away childish things, and also, the in
dulgent reign which I had, by junior
ty, believed to be my own, had be en-
transferred to the little maid who sup
| planted me therein five years ago.
But since I have outgrown the char
acteristics of childhood, I am still
young enough at heart to enter into
them and teach the three little maids
how to enjoy them at their fullest. Ii
we could improvise a playhouse, it
would be a variation in the routine OF
dolls and long dresses; SO l straight
way set my precocious fancy to work,
and with the help Of willing hands and
plenty Of good-humor, not to mention
architectural skill, we were soon re-
| W. rIoI NV loud Of
citation from the juvenile trio. You
know at grandpa's there are inexhaus-
tible resources of pleasure; and it is
gratifying to see with what relish the
three little maids enter into the spirit
of every new device What care they
for the sun and wind? The fact that
when few weeks later they shall re-
turn home, bearing on hands and face
1lnmistakable signs Of exposure, has
not feathers weight with them now.
There is q charm in these bits OF
china, which she has been slowing
away for months in anticipation Of the
rustic palace which adorns her spacious
lawn in the form Of a muslin tent.
This fragmentary dinner service, en-
bracing every conceivable shape and
design, is arranged in painful precision
on the crude pine shelves which serve
for both china closet and buffers pan
try. A pair of bricks supporting a
block of wood personates range. It
is seldom that these little culinary art
lists seek rest from their manifold du-
ties, but when they do SO they fling
themselves in the most uncomfortable
attitudes upon divan, which is posing
as late pattern OF mahogany and
brocatelle; but which is, eaah'e nous,
only pine box covered with carpet,
and of home manufacture as we'll.
Yet the shapeless dishes, rude stove
and impromptu furniture, homely as
they are, do not become monotono,ls,
as do the toy services, miniature
range and tapestried furniture, which
they frequently abandon at home.
Their vehicles are the swings, of which
there are three, due to grandma's con
sideration, and the hammocks that
| HANG we'll scroanad from the range OF