Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1890-11-14
THE STORY OF PEG.

/ She was only a wee bit of Ioosier
girl, and yet she looked for all the
world little witch as she fitted in the
sunshine hither and thither about the
old Indiana farm.
1t was the only home that Peg had
ever known-and right well she did
know it, every nook and corner.
From the time she could walk alone,
until she was ten years old, Peg, in
her snowy pinafore and big sunbon-
net, had carried dads morning lunch
to him, and found the new-laid eggs
for mother on her way back.
How the child enjoyed the little
frame house with its white walls and
green blinds, and the monster barn
with its great haymows! How she
revelled in the orchard and the pas
turc! How she loved the woods, with
their wealth of ferns and wildfowers
Yes, her Young affections were all CEN
tered in the old farm, of which the
hay and the horses, the hens and the
flowers, were to her as necessary to
make it lovabl9 as were mother and
dad.
And always in her little brown
hands Peg carried sweet flowers, until
the neighbors considered the daisy,
applc-blossom and mignonctte as much
part and parcel of the child as her
own long, wavy golden hair.
But one day there came cloud. and
sudden end to Pegs happy child-life.
Dad died, and then it was found that,
owing TO business reverses and the in
dorscmcnt of false friends note, the
old homestead was heavily mortgaged.
Mother and Peg had to leave the
farm to those who were almost strang-
crs, while they went out into tie great
heartless and busy world to earn a
living.
They drifted to Chicago. where
mother made scant CROUCH wages with
the needle, which she could ply so
skilfully.
But poor mother, although she tried
to work and be cheerful for the sake
of her little daughter, was sick at
heart. She yearncd for the old home,
the old times and the old faces.
BY the time Peg was twelve years
old, the girl mad TO seek work in a
paper box factory, TO eke out the liv-
ing, which grew scant er as mothers
health grew poorer; and in another
year little Peg was the breadwinner
for two.
When Peg was fifteen she felt like
an old womanmold in trouble. and
disappointment, and heartaches. Fer
maps, ~ eic Hdu not DccH slmple
country girl, she might have made
some friend among the neighbors; but
neither she nor mother thought the
more respectful c folks very neighbor-
ly, while those who were willing to
lvisit them were certainly not desirable
acquaintance.
So when, five years after they went
to Chicago, mothers tired and broken
heart stopped beating, Peg was quite
alone amid the thousands of the big
and bustling city.
And Peg was not very strong either.
She was such little bit of thing,
and she found it hard work to keep
up witm't tnt's '0ut1fu1iea1Ihy girls who
worked beside her at the factory.
When mother died size felt worse and
grew homesick for the old Indiana
farm. The factory work seemed
harder than ever
One Saturday afternoon, when the
hands were paid, the foreman told
Peg that they would require hey, s@yYi-
ces no longer.
Elm sorry, my GIRL" he said, "but
you cannot do the work. You ought
to take a rest"
Peg looked at the meagre sum of
money in her hand, and wondered
how long she could rest with such a
reserve fund, and no wo k in view.
Poor Pcgl
All through the following week the
weary child wandered up and down
the streets of the great Western city,
seeking work and finding none.
BY Saturday evening her money
was all gone, and there was no more
coming to her. She hadn't felt like
going back to her dingy room. She
wandered aimlessly about, up one
street and down another.
1t was late in the spring, and it was
nearly eight O'Clock before it grew
dark. About that time she saw lights
in a small church.
Ii was a Saturday night prayer-meet,
inc and the sin0inO CAUGHT Pegs ear.