The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1890-01-02

to raw-starch and can iron them BY the
supper fire."
: How white and clean and sweet thew
were! AS Phrosy gathered them into -.
st1my-awkward bundle in her arms she
could not help bending her head to In
male the smell Of outdoors" las she
called it) that came from them.
They smell differently from Chinese
washing, she Us thought There's one
thing certain-poor as we are, Ben,s
shirts are always the incest done up in
town, " and then, as that thought passed
through her mind It left an inspiration
behind it. sSas.*s5 4s
That night after supper when Rem
was resting himself from his DAYS labor
BY ''puttering"r' around the chicken
house and Backyard generally; and Mrs.
Miller was chatting with q: neighbor
who had opportunity dropr@a in, Phro-
~, pleading an errand at the store.
slipped away from them all and proceed
ed to put her inspiration: to the test of
practicality. s<5 :, -. =. :
1T might be good idea, said kindly
Mrs. Jenkins, to whom she had gone in
her emergency, ''but there's SO many O.
them plaguey Chinese around that it
brings prices down dreadful, and most
folks don't care how thing IL done so it
is done cheap" <Sf
':But my things don't smell Of opium
and. nastipess as the Chinamen's do, !"
averred Phrosy, stoutly, ''there must be
come one who would rather pay . little
hig her and have things nice"
''Such folks is scarcer than diamonds
In dust heaps" was the sententious re-
ply: II would myself, of course, but
old Ma'am Gilman has kind of got q
mortgage on me, and though she's failing
dreadful and don't send things home fit
to be seen some weeks, kinder can't 20
back on her all atfonce." 7 ~ !:
"Of course not" assented .Phrosv, un.
hesitatingly, "that isn't what 1 want at
all. But-see here-you ask Joe to in
quire around up to Loren's mill and do
believe he'll find something for me. l
don't dare to say word to Ben or he'd
fly all to pieces-nor you needn't tell
Joe who 1t is that wants the things
just let him say some one who'll do
them the best they can be done and
needs the money"
"All right" said Mrs. Jenkins, ''I1l
keep it as still as mice, whether it turns
out we'll or not. You come by to-mor-
row night and I'll tell you the verdict. y
And so, full of hopes and fears and fond
imaginings, Phrosy went home.
The next night Mrs. Jenkins met her
with her broad face beaming. "I've got
six for you," she said, delightedly, "and
six times two bits is dollar and half!
you are in luck, Phrosy! faint one of
the mill hands either, but young fellow
that has bought out the old Bradbury
ranch. He's been up to the city for the
last week and more and come home with
about carload of dirty things-it's
been that hot up there, Joe says, that
you can't keep nothing decent two min
utes, and old Mrs. Bulgal that cooks up
there don't know beans about doing up,
so the grist naturally comes to your mill,
and I'm glad of it for one.''
"And l for two," answered Phrosy,
gleefully, and then with a light and
thankful heart she took possession of
her somewhat bulky bundle and went
merrily> homeward.
The next day six white and antic
shirts fluttered upon the miller's clothes
line-the next day-stiff and shiny and
odorous only of Heavens pure breezes-
they went to their owner, and Joe
brought back to his mother in return
the silver which looked to Phrosy
brighter and better than silver ever
looked before. He brought something
else, too-an overgrown bundle of shirts
which had evidently seen sorrow and
had not lived the lives that aristocratic
white shirts ought to live.
These belong to the mill boys" he
explained; ''they got sight at the
others and nothing to do but they must
send these down-they're pretty hard
lot, (meaning the shirts and not the
mill boys), "but guess your old woman
can get 'em clean, mother"
And his mother, chuckling little as
she thought of her old woman" took
the bundle and informed her son that
any thing of the kind was welcome until
further orders.
That week, in the neighbors' estima-
ton, Ben Miller fairly blossomed with
shirts, for the number of those useful
and ornamental garments that hung on
the Miller's line was something abso-
lutely unprecedented.
Thirteen shirts :fer one Door work
ing-man is the worst i ever heardu' as
severated the woman next door, whose
propinquity gave her, in her own esti-
<i0n ,piD IN ~ Sn;- -
with more frankness than manners. y
II wouldn't slave myself to death for
the sake of Ben's vanity if 1 was his
sister,"
But Phrosy smiled serenely.
Il don't call Ben over vain myself
she answered, land I'm sure am not
shaving myself to death or near it for
any one, and as long as I'm satisfied l
don't see what difference the size of my
washings ought to make to any one
else." And with this the officious and
would-be inqulsitive neighbor was forced
to retire discounted.
Phrosy went to the picnic under Mrs.
Jenkins protecting wing Zone of Mrs.
Miller's whilom cronies consenting glad
~ to come and spend the day with her),
and she had on. fresh pink lawn and
ribbons to match and looked for all the
world like q peach-blos som.
The picnic was near the ''old Brad
bury ranch" and its new owner-a tall,
sunburned, masterful young fellow with
plain, sensible face and a pair of eyes
that seemed to Phrosy the kindest that
she had ever seen-made them welcome
to his home and was as hospitable as a
true Californian always Island some
way Phrosy was shyly. conscious, after
the first, that those kind eyes looked a
trife more kindly upon her than they
did upon some of the more noticeable
girls.
Phrosy was always one of the useful
ones and when it fell to her lot to over
see tho arrangement Of thelunch her
new acquaintance very quietly olsen
gagged himself from the others and de-