Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1892-05-05
WHAT A GIRL DID.
Her Influence for Good in Ancient
Plumville.

Plumvillc "foh dc wah'' was an inter-
esting little village lying in remote
valley Of New England agricultural
district II the soil was thin, the
rocks were thick-so thick, indeed,
that it was a grim joke that shot
gun was needed to get the seed-corn
into the first and between the second.
Owing to this bed rock, the drainage
was poor, and what the drought spared,
sudden showers swept away.
All the young men went west, the
old shoemaker had moved away, and
even the minister had departed,
leaving monumental pair of crossed
poles to bar the entrance to the meetn'
house, And yet these natives-New
England men and women-were not
lacking in shrcwdness and common
sense. They were simply discouraged.
With all their hard labor they never
got beyond the bare necessities of life.
They had no amusement, no expecta-
tons, no hope. The women never had
time to sit down, but spent their days
cooking and washing in the kitchens.
'N iiOnb lOOn was NlNd1o SlOoCly
shuttered, the front steps were over
grown with coarse weeds, and the
front gate refused to open. Every
body came and went by the back door,
along the narrow worn foot-path. No
flowers were cultivated and few
varieties of vegetables News was old
when it reached Plumville, and ex-
cited little moro interest than arch@o-
logical stories Few books were
bought, and those few of kind in
which no rational being could feel an
interest Games of cards were tabooed.
y There could be no social life in so
1sparscy settled region. 1t was
custom for the, farmer who had
'arrants" in the village to bring the
occasional newspaper or rare letter for
the inhabitants on his route So if
brown saw Smith jogging along to-
wards "the Center" he (Brown) knew
that on Smiths return an hour or two
later he would find anything the mail
had brought him in his yard, tossed
there by the obliging Smith.
Once year, perhaps, there would
be wedding, for in Plumville all
widowers speedily replaced their
first" On these occasions it was
usual to borrow white kids from the
doctor, who had sentimentally or eco
nomically for he had himself worn
them at two separate ceremonies) pre-
served his with care.
In the spring of 1880 old Mr.. Elkins
fell sick. His wife had just died, and he
had no children. 1t was an added
burden to tho weary neighbors, who
felt that they must "do" for the old
man. At the best it was fragmentary
service, and tho invalid was alone
many hours out of every twenty-four
The relief was great, therefore, when
somehow or other a nephew's widow,
or cousins daughter, appeared as
nurse and housekecpcr. She brought
niece with hcr--a slip OF freckled
girl about sixteen years old, whose
name was Milly French. Milly as
srmed the care of the chickens, mill1ed
the COW, fed Towscr and as she came
and went about these duties the neigh
bors wondered to hear her singing like
happy bird She threw open the
front blinds and let the sunlight sac
rilegiously stream through the win
dows. She even set the sacred front
door ajar, and sat on the door steps
on pleasant afternoons with her knit
ting work. II tho sunset was very
gorgeous she was seen with idle hands.
The spindling grass was sheared off,
so that the gate would swing back
easily.
ut is enough to make Miss Elkins
turn in her grave" said Neighbor lint.
aAs the summer advanced, all uncon-
eious of Plumville etiquette and con-
sse eycntionality, Milly wandered in the
fields hunting for orchids, or took long
walks to Bacon's woods fetching her
basket full of plants, which she indus
tTiously transplanted in the virgin soil
OF the Ellsins front yard,
"Well, neverl" said Mrs Flint, as
she peeked through an opportune
crivice of her side window. "What
won't she do next?"
But Milly watered her honeysuckles,
propped up her daisies, put rich loan
into the sandy waste, and was re-
wnrded by multitudes of blossoms.
when the hens scratched up her treas
ures, she contrived an inclosure of
nalings that circumscribed their opera
tions BY and by she added trellis
for n wild rose bush, and long tent OF
twine for her fluffy wood-clematis.
Little by little the small house, un-
nainted, but tinted soft, silvery,
weather beaten gray, began to outline
its windows in bright green. and to
throw woodbine garlands all over the
homely porch. Season after season
went by. Milly now had seeds and cut
tings to give away. She carried bouquets
+o the sick. potted root for a friend,
brought jar of mignon ette from Lin
coin, or received pack kage of seeds
from n florist 1t thus ca me to pass
that every house in Plumville soon
hossted flower bed, and in winter
svery kitchen had at least one window
fuu of petunias or geraniums, the
steam of cooking or washing causing
.hom to grow wonderfully. Cold frames
s,r nansies were manufactured; even
,,rawberries and asparagus were at
..mpted. And that these improvements
,nisht not fail, the land about the
hosse was drained, low branches
iorped off, the sink nozzle extended to
safe distance, till light and air and
sryness came to these denizens of the
kitchen.
You would not have known Plum
.p,e Why, the shoemaker, who came
,acl, to stay, pretended he had never
aor IL before. 1t was rumored that {
'ahcr,s cart would come over from
;ncoln once a week, and on the
strength of it the postmaster cleared
off a Shelf and drove six nails in the
,aoss doorstcps But this Plumvills