The Penn's Grove record., 1894-09-14
NUMBER s.

q IN tne voice.
"Did the Oracle propose a better
way Of making c~itizens?:" said the
quiet voice. The voice was quiet,
but the eyes were atire.
Il can't remember that she pro-
posed anything to do The world
seems just a dreary, helpless, hope!
less blunder, and I've been battered
against a great stone wall, not a
CLEAN Of light through it nor even a
Granny where one could get a foot
hold to climb up to the light" :
"Ahcm!" said Aunt Jane, "talk is
cheap"
Then there's Mrs Mulligan, you
know, auntie., I've done her IRE.
parable injury because l. made up
some unbleached cotton for the twins
and didn't charge for the stuff, and
she a poor WILDLY, the mother OF six
1t Is 'pauperizIng the masses again,
I'm told. She works ten hours a
day, six days to the week. The end
OF her ambition is to keep off the
town. and she does it, and il Lydia
Mary or Maria CIendennin had one
tenth o. her grit we might thank
our stars. What's my coarse,
scratchy cotton cloth balanced
against the CHEEKY uplift she gives me
every time l see herr"
Whats this friends hobby? She
doubtless holds the cure-all In her
hands," said Aunt Martha.
Eyes" answered the girl With a
sigh, sit is a patent process of taXa.
tion this time which is to even things
up-or down. In the new order OF
things every laborer will own his
home; chubby cherubs will replace
puny babies; s%eltlshness and vice, rum
and gambling, even laziness will flee
away, and, presto! there's the miIlen.
mum like magic. She drew a beauti-
full picture Of domestic bliss. You
could almost see the Kettle steaming
on the fire, and smell the tea and
toast; and then she sat down and we
all clapped-and-and--l came
home"
"Another club to be formed, l con.
clude," said Aunt Jane d1yly
mo, only another committee. /
felt the symptoms in the air, and so
l hurried off for fear Of Infection.
But what is to become of me, auntie?
L belong to seven organizations now,
trying in one way and another to lift
that awful incubus, the masses The
committees and subcommittee and
auxillaries make me think of those
jelly-like poIyps floating about in
warm south seas A bit breaks oil
here, there, and on every side, and
away they 10, brand-new independ-
ent creatures, ready to divide up into
hundreds more. Pm so tied up with
red tape, l daren't sew a button on a
Dorcas petticoat without consulting
a chairman. I'm Just discouraged;
there's such a mountain and my pick.
ak Is so small"
Aunt Jane was very quiet. The
room was very still. A lump of coal
settled in the CRATE. The clock licked
loudly on the mantel. A pinkish
glow spread yer the SNOW in the
winter sunset light The peace Of it
all was stealing into the troubled
heart, the heart of a true woman
feeling her way.
- ASHbNN @ANhU pthS SEOhNs
when l was a girl" she said,
'leagues and women's clubs weren't
the fashion. Women we're wives and
mothers and sisters then; now they
are presidents, secretaries, and dele.
gates. However, the temperance
movement made Il great stir, and I
was caught In the swirl. Being of
the Society OF Friends, l was used to
women speaking when moved to il
by the Spirit, but all the ma hinery
the bylaws, the parliamentary
terms Of our temperance society
was new to me and most fascinating.
Thee knows Cousin Sarah Grant,
Maria? We thought her very old.
fashioned and narrow. minded because
she took no active part In our society.
-Four boys she had then in round.
abouts, and she thought her temper
ance work was there. So Id, fine
men they are, as thee knows; and all
total abstinence.
All the morning l had kept close to
the fire, writing a long paper for our
next meeting. 1t was fun Of statis-
tics and long words, and was calcu.
lated to tell the society a great deal
they already knew, / just tingled to
talk 1t all owe and show my public
spirit In contrast TO Sarah's lack Of
enthusiasm. So l picked my way
over the snowbanks to her house.
In those days on Saturday morning
thee might look for a lady in her
kitchen, and sure enough l found
her there making coffee by the gal
Ion. The ~horse-cars ratified past her
door every ten minutes, and as each
one rounded the corner out ran little
Jim Riley with a car of hot coffee.
Those poor drivers, she said, must
have something hot in such singing
weather, else they'd slip into tho
rumholes' / said not a word. Some,
how my statisti al paper didn't seem
so all important. I went home and
it shriveled into a b ack cinder in the
crate fire."
"Oh! Aunt Jane, I'm so glad you
did something silly. / only wish /
could wipe out my mistakes SO easily,
But l must do something to straight'
en- this crooked world, or simply
loath Marie Clendennin."
keep at 1t, child. Keep at it till
thee dies, and after, If the Lord sd
wills. But don't peer at thy wori
through a telescope, and don'tsp cad
thyselt out too thin Clouds Of steam
pulling from the locomotive look very
pretty, but the work is done down
below with the pressure on n point.
And, dearie, don't thee worry thy dear
head about the masses They ara
Gods masses after all, and He'll d"
His part. Thy part is to shake thy
bit OF the mass asunder into atoms,
and put thyself, thy whole self, into
the atoms where they touch thee.
That work begun. never stops,
Loosen the red tape a bit where it
ties thee down, and take up for a
motto the brave old English words,
DO the next thynge.' I've been
working on it every day these fifty
years past, and there's always been
q next, and there always will be,
kbapLr TnA IN v Dpct