The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-17
Childish TerrOrs.

1t was Just o'clock, and Kitty had
been put to bed. Her mother had seen
that the air of the room was fresh and
cool, and that she was properly cover
ed. She mad heard her say her pray
ers, kissed her goodnight, put out the
.light, and had come downstairs per-
fectly at rest concerning the comfort
,of her little daughter. The child was
four years old, healthy, sturdy, and
merry, and apparently afraid of moth
ing; but lifted with an imagination
!. of the scope of which her mother had
no idea.S
At II o'clock that night I passed
Kitty's door on the way to my room,
and stopped for a minute to assure my
self that my pet was sleeping quietly.
AS I listened, 1 heard stifled sob.
Hastily entered the room, | lit the gas,
and turning to the bed saw a pltltul
sight. The little ones eyelid's We're
swollen with weeping. Her pulse and
temperature denoted good deal OF
fever, while the expression of her
countenance showed abject fright. L
instantly took the trembling little
creature in nv arms, and exerted eV-
cry soothing influence / possessed TO
comfort her. After time she was
able to tell me in broken way what
was the trouble.
"Maggie IA thirteen-year-old cousin
says that am such bad girl that l
never can 60 to heaven. She says l
never can't get in, and I'll have to
stav outside always, and without are
dogs, and" with shudder, "sorc'ers
she readed me that place in the Bible
where it says so, and" with a pltlful
sob, "I'm so 'fraid."
felt like dealing instant justice to
the malicious Maggie who had done
this mischief, though that would not
help my poor Kitty. But, my darl-
ing" said 1 cheerily, "you know you
are going to heaven, because God new
er leaves his little lambs outside"
"Sometimes Pm bad" she answered
mournfully.
"But when you have been naughty,
you ask God to forgive you, and he al
ways does,n said re-assuringly.
This did not suffice to entirely com
fort her, however, though she was
growing calmer. She reflected a mill
ute. ;,
"You are going to heaven, aren't
you, aunty ?" said she.
"Certainly I am," l answered posi-
lively. ;.
"And you'll take me wiv you, won't
YOU ?n she continued more confident
ly as she recalled various times when
l had overruled numerous objections,
and "takeu her with me-" to her in
finite delight. :,
"Of course Twill take you with me, y
/ answered decisively. And then, at
last, the strained muscles relaxed, and
the excited nerves quoted, and she
sunk to sleep in my arms, starting up
, to inquire: "Sorc'ers can't catch me
now, can they ?"
Poor child! What dreadful visions
that word had presented to her minds
eve cannot say, but she had been
haunted for three long hours by such
terrors as grown people never know,
and afterward found that she Kept
these frightful fancies locked within
her little breast for more than week,
and on. the night Of which l have
written the accumulated horrors had
completely overwhelmed her.
Says that acute and gentle writer
and physician, DR.. Oliver Wendell
Holmes, speaking of children: 1.-The
first instructive movement of the little
creature is to make cache, and bury
i'm it it's beliefs, doubts, dreams, hopes,
and terrors." The most careful moth
er cannot always keep her child from
hearing injudicious or frightful stories.
It may overhear them, or may misun-
derstand harmless narrative, as well
as have one told it through deliberate
malice. The world, to al imaginative
child, is full of wonders, strangeness,
and terrors, while its powerof express
ing its sense of these things is very in
adequate, SO that it often retircs within
itself and bears in helpless silence
troubles from the weight Of which an
older and stronger heart might well
shrink. Blessed is that child whose
mother understands this tendency OF
the shrinking little spirit, and by the
presence of her love wins its heart oi
hearts so that it willingly contides in
her, and she can protect it from such
torments.-Babyhood.