The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1890-07-16


still about her, led her to a seat.
"They are only thoughtless," said,
with a parting caress; Z" they will be
withstanding | tried to speak gently, l
was filled with indignation at their cru
city.
Ruth's family knew were very
poor. Her father had inherited II fair
amount of property, but honest and
mple-hearted as child, he had
trusted too much to others, who had
taken advantage of his lack of business
shrewdness, until the last acre of the
family estate had been lost and his wife
and children reduced to poverty. Nat
urally weak and inefficient, his heavy
losses seemed to completely break his
courage, and but for the energetic,
Woodworking mother the family would
have suffered even for food.
There were four younger children
than Ruth, and it must have cost a Sc
we're struggle to provide so many with
sufficient clothing even for comfort,
and it was no wonder Ruth so seldom
had a new dress.
Her garments were always clean,
though patched and darned as long as
they would hold together.
She was slender, delicate child of
eleven years, whose large. active brain
was draining too freely her vital powers /;
but she was so quick and bright, such a
fine scholar, holding her place easily
among those two or three years older
than herself, that my pride and pleas
ure in her talents blinded me to the
fact that her love for study was wearing
out her frail little body.
She was so gentle and patient, so un-
selfish and affectionate, that l had be-
come strongly attached to her, and
praised her gifts perhaps little I'M
wisely, as it made my opinion of the
the dizziness of the others more con-
spicuous.
Anna Ransom and Matte Barber
were particularly backward and slow to
learn. They both came of families no
members of which had ever been dis
tinguished for scholarly tastes or ability
The fathers of both girls were men
whose whole souls wore absorbed in
the pursuit of the almighty dollar.
Annals mother was vain and silly, car
ing for nothing so much as fine cloth
ing, while Mrs. Barber had been a
hired girl " in the family of her hus-
bands father, and that fact only made
more ridiculous the lofty way in which
she looked down on those of her neigh
bors who were poorer than herself.
l had noticed the silly way in which
some of the girls treated Ruth, but had
before no idea of the extent to which
her school-fellows carried their cruelty
What | had just heard touched me very
deeply, for l, too, knew poverty; had
worn old dresses and lived on plain and
scanty fare, but no one had ever been
so thoughtless or cruel as to reproach
me with it.
My father had been a clergyman,
honored and respected by all who knew
him, and, when his early and sudden
death left my mother alone, with five
little ones dependent upon her, we felt
the pinch of want; but we had always
been treated with kindness and respect.
L had been taught to look upon honest
poverty as no disgrace, and the scorn
and contempt with which poor little
Ruth was treated aroused my deepest
indignation.
Soon after calling the school to order
l sent Ruth out upon an errand, and
then repeated to the scholars the con-
versation | had just overheard. | gave
no names, but dwelt earnestly upon
the injustice of such conduct, and ex-
pressed the hope that this might be the
last time | should be panied by such
unkindness in any of my scholars.
The two girls had the good grace to
look ashamed at the reprimand, but l
feared the impression would be but
temporary.
During my four-mile walk home that
night my mind was filled with thoughts
of Ruth. All my happy exaltation of
the morning was gone; even the
precious twelve dollars in my pocket
were almost forgotten, for the sorrow
of dear little Ruth was uppermost in
my mind.
On reaching home 1 poured all my
troubles into the ears of dear, sympa-
thizing mother, who was to me the en-
bodiment of all earthly wisdom.
Possibly they are more scornful to
Ruth because they are jealous. You
are not quite wise, dear, to praise her
so freely and openly" was my mothers
gentle comment
But how can | help praising and
loving her when she is so bright and
lovabe and others so stupid and vain?"
81 know, dear; but try and not make
the contrast quite so sharp between
them"
returned to my school on Monday
morning with new resolutions.
81 will be more discreet in future,
and give them no occasion to ill-treat
Ruth" | said to my mother at parting
but | will praise and pet her all the
more when we are alone, for the dear
child seems so sad and friendess."
BE wise as serpent and harm
less as a dove,'" mother quoted, as she
kissed me goodbye.
Ruth met me at the school-house
door with her smile of welcome and
with the usual bunch of flowers. No
matter how poor might be the inside of
their house, Mrs. Mason and Ruth
were such ardent lovers of flowers that
their yard looked like fairyland through
all the warm season.
tho dow mnra IN I oau fha4 D1tl,