Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1891-04-30
MORNING GLORY.

OuCe upon JlD1e, somewhere, IN Some
body's garden, there grew q Morning
Glory vine. Nobody knew how it came
there, for no one had planted it, but il
was a pretty little thing, with greer
hearts for leaves and cunning little pale
green curls here and there upon its fuzzy
stem.
She wanted to get up off the ground
where she had been all of her short
life, so she crept slowly along to find
something to take hold of that she
might climb high up into the bright
sunlight. She put out her tender ten.
drills and felt carefully along, for she
was blind, poor little thing, and could
not see where she was going.
AS she reached out she felt something
hard. "Ah, perhaps this is something
high" thought the Morning Glory, SO
she crawled up the side quite to the top,
but she was not high at all-not much
higher than the ground--for it was only
a small stone that he had found; so she
sadly crept back down the other side,
and she lay there quite discouraged.
There was an old man who used to
take care Of Somebody's garden, and he
saw this plant growing there and CROP
ing about for support, 80 he fastened a
string from peg stuck into the ground
up to Somebody's window sill, and then
he quite forgot all about it.
The next morning the Morning GLORY
felt more cheerful, and she started upon
her search again. She had not far to go
this time, because the kind old man had
fastened the peg very near to where she
lay; SO she reached about with caution
to avoid another stone, and took hold of
the string.
The poor, sightless little thing did not
know that the old man had put it there
for her, but somehow she felt that it
would lead her to where she wished to
COUP toward the beautiful blue sky
and the great golden sun.
So she climbed along the string, slowly
at first, then faster each day as she be-
gan to know the way, until, like Jacks
bean stalk, she had reached the window
sill.
Now Somebody, the person who owned
the garden, was i'll; 30 ill that he had to
stay always in his room with an ugly
black bandage over his eyes, and the
doctors feared that he might never see
again.
He was very unhappy, and was often
oh, SO very!-cross, and the servants
quite feared him when he spoke to them
in harsh and authoritative voice.
He had no relatives, and he lived quite
alone in his great house, with many peo-
pie to wait upon him, and with ever so
much money to buy things to make him
happy, but the things that one buys do
not always make one happy, and he was
terribly wretched in his big, fine house.
One morning he groped his way to the
open window and put his hand out
upon the side of the frame, and he felt a
little, sharp nail. Now if he had been
gentle the nail would not have hurt him,
for it was harmless little thing, but he
made q rough, impatient movement,
and it caught his finger and bruised it a
little.
This made Somebody very angry, and
he said some very unpleasant things
about the person who dared to put a
nail outside his window, and he felt
about, very cautiously this time, to find
the nail once more, that he might tear it
out.
So he moved his hand slowly along
upon the sill, and the Morning Glory
was reaching her little hand about there
at the same time, and their two hands
met.
One did not look at all like a hand,
but it was one just the same, and the
little green hand grasped the great white
one and they seemed to know and under
stand each other at once, for the little
green hand said to the large white one
very tenderly: "Ohl go you are blind,
tool am SO sorry!"
The great hand did not try to find the
nail after that; it just touched the Morn
ing Glory with soft caress and two
great drops fell upon the leaves. They
felt strangely and not at all like the cool
rain drops which sometimes watered the
Morning Glory, and something told her
that these drops were tears.
Now, after this these two-Somebody
and the Morning Glory-grew to love
each other very dearly, and each day
they would feel about for one another,
and the dainty Morning Glory would
nestle against his bearded cheek and
Somebody would pet her and stroke her
leaves very gently.
And the cheerful hopefulness of the
little green plant helped Somebody to be
a little bit hopeful, too. You see it was
harder for him, for he had not always
been blind, while she had never seen,
and was so used to it that now she hard
ly minded it at all.
One morning the Morning Glory
brought her friend surprise. She had
kept it secret al the while, and now
So