The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1891-09-19
LITTLE EDNA'S STORY.


"a Little Girl and Was Naughty
I'm going to tell you a story about
my gran'ma.
You'd think gran'mas would always
be good, but they aint. / mean they
are when you know them. but you
don't know them till they're grown-up
ladies with gray hair and red cheeks
and spectacles. It's when they're not
gran'mas yct-when they're little like
me, mean-and then | guess they're
bettcr'n | am.
I'd like to know real gran'ma when
she was little.
Gran mas name was Orissa-only
now we call her Gran'm Foster-and
she had to spin tow. She had to spin
twenty rolls every day, ten rolls in the
morning and ten in the afternoon.
She used to do it up over the kitchen
in the llitchen-chamber, and her
mother-that's my Great-gran ma
Hooper-used to bring the rolls up to
her and leave her there all alone to
spin her stint" And Orissa didn't
| like to spin very well.
Well-and there was a fireplace in
| Ullt anu liO OiAN va
built a fire there, and there was fire.
board that covered the fireplace all up
so you couldn't see it. And gran ma
Orissa-found that there was hole in
the fire board just big enough so she
could put her hand in.
And one day-it's sprising what
gran'mas will do when they're little
one day Orissa just hated spinning, m
she'd spun six rolls, N she looked at
the other four, n she took one of them
n began to chew it,
1t was so big that her mouth was
| full at first but she chewed n chewed
till at last it was only wad, and then
she took and put it right through that
| hole in the fireboard and dropped it in
the dark behind, where she knew that
no one would ever find it. SO she
didn't have to spin that roll.
Well-and then she took another roll,
and she chewed that up n dropped it
through the hole. And then she didn't
dare chew any more, so she spun the
other two rolls but when she came tc
the other ten that she had to spin il
the afternoon she chewed one of then
and dropped it through the hole.
And that was the way Orissa kept
doing every day. She didn't dare put
as many through the hole as she wanted
to, only one or two at time.
Her mother kept wondering why
what Orissa spun didn't come to more
but Orissa never told her why. She
didn't dare.
But her mother thought Orissa was {
good girl. Mothers most always dc
think you're good just as long as they
can, YOU know; and Orissa's motheI
would say what a good girl she was tt
spin, and Orisssa would feel just "a
mean when she thought about the
chewed-up rolls bacllof the tireboard.
Well-after awhile Orissa's mother
thought she'd s'prise her with a new
dress. it was only calico, but calico
was real precious then.
Why, Gran'ma Foster-Orissa-ne
had had a bought dress all her life
They made all the cloth at home, ant
a calico that was bought was real pre-
cious.
So one day her mother said "Orissa
you've been such good girl spinning
I've bought you dress, and then she
showed her it. Grandma Fosters go
piece of it now in an old quilt, and i
was two blues-dark blue and ligh
blue-and yellow and white.
1t was pretty, and Orissa laughed ant
hoped up and down, she was so glad
And then--all of sudden-she remem
bered about the chewed-up rolls. Their,
were good many of them by that TIM
in behind the fire. board Orissa stopped
hopping. But she didn't tell her mother
And her mother made the dress witt
gathers round the neck, and it hat
shoulder-straps and a full waist
think gran'm must have looked funny
And she used to wear the calico t.
church Sundays because it was so pre-
cious. Gran'ma says she always used t
go two miles to church, and she used t
; carry her shoes in her hand and g
, barefoot till she was pretty near, ant
then she'd walk through brook an
put her shoes on. That's the way lot
of the children did then to save thei
shoes, because shoes were precious a
well as calico.
And all the other little girls though
Orissa's bought calico was so fine, an
they looked at it and wished they ha
one, stead of dresses out of cloth thei
mothers had made at home. But Oriss
Just hated that calico dress.
; She hated it worse n worse ever
time she wore it. l know why. Don
you?
She thought the minister looked {
her every Sunday when she sat i
church with that calico dress on, and
Just seemed as if he must know a
about those chewed-up rolls, somewa,
And Orissa felt worse N worse \
l acOrSe every time she heard her mothC
say she gave her the dress because sh
was such IA good girl spinning, N on
Sunday, when she was getting read,
Orissa Just couldn't stand it any lpnge
and she cried m cried m cried, n tol
, her mother all about the chewed-u
: rolls N everything.
And her mother looked at her, y
t said: "Why, OriSSaP
And that day Orissa had TO go
Y church in her old dress, for her moth,
didn't let her wear her calico again fC
whole month to punish her; and II
a the little girls looked Mt Orissa an
said; "Why' What you got on yo,
= old dress for?"
but Olissa didn't care She was .