Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1894-1895, 1895-10-25

y OA<4@I WAS Il niue DJuDtI.
means life in Il poorhouse, will
Il is bare rooms. coarse food anC
coar>er company.
Granny Smith was the very oldest
p3uper She had loved and looked after
Polly over since she was found, {
tiny baby in Il basket. on the poor
house steps. When Granny died, s
yearold Polly felt very lonely.
All that Polly knew. Granny Smith
had taught her. She was charged tC
keep her face and hands clean, not tC
steal o. tell a lie, and never to marry 4
man who drank. SO You see Polly had
wise counsel: and. better still. she
meant 70 heed it.
There were plenty of children at the
poorhcuSe. but Polly did not seek their
company. They called her "stuck-up
and queer" when she refused 20 join
in teasing the ''luny" inmates. which
made sport for the others. Yes. Polly
was queer, or why did she sometimes
push her cup of milk over to silly Sam
VINO was always splitting his?
Ar. Norton. the pOOrhouse keeper,
was kindly man. but he had no time
"a look after the children in his charge.
He knew Polly as the basket baby
and Mrs. Norton sometimes pointed her
cut 10 visitors. declaring il IA shame that
such d pretty, well-behaved child
should be left to come up there.
IN the meantime. Polly mourned for
granny, and Sewed her torn apron with
a darning- needle out of the work box
which was now her own. Ii was all
granny had to leave. and was 4 relic
Of days when she was not Il pauper,
and she talked TO the thimble about it.
The work-b box was carefully guarded
by its owner-a hard matter-but one
day silly Sam dragged il from its hid
ing place. and tore n small piece of the
faded silk lining. Polly rescued it AMI
cried so hard that Sam was sorry and
offered her two snailS. 1t was while
Polly was trying to repair the damage
that FIVE or six large white seeds fell
from under the torn silk. Could they
be seeds of some of the flowers that
bloomed long ago in granny's garden.
III plant 'em and see" said Polly.
crawling on hands and knees to cap
ture them. iii plant EN- outside of
the poOrhOuse grounds. for granny
wouldn't want her flowers to be pau
pers. III go To the field where it's du.
APP and nothin' planted an bury 'em in
Tie far corner. The sun makes flow
eIS grow very fast. and there is such
lots or i here, she said. looking well
pleased There's no house here an |
T,'fass the ground don't belong 10 any
body. These flowers amt going to be
l'aupers. anyway"
Io!ly knew little about planting
s"q.ls. She made Il hole with her list.
dropped ,hem in on top of each other.
covered well with dirt. and waited for
sun and rain to do the rest. Many
stolen visits 10 the corner of the field
wer" made before Polly saw any signs
OF growth, so when Il small. green
.>iah. appeared. II was hailed with de-
light How fast 1t grew,
When the plant in the field bore vol
low blossoms, Polly's heart filled with
pleasure. They were not pretty flow
ers. hut they seemed like n mart of
granny When the flowers faded Polly
hoped more would soon follow. but
blooming time appeared TO be over. 1t
WAS quite 4 while before she discOy
cred FUZZY little balls on the stems of
he faded blossoms. and Polly won
3ercd what it could be.
they amt cabbages. an apples don't
on the ground she said. feeling
them gently. Maybe they're coke
nuts"
But whatever they We're they did not
continue to thrive. Bugs ate up the
leaves. stems withered and died. and
sFitn them the unknown fruit. How
aver, one green globe. twice as large
D. The rest, defied bugs and blight, and
STEADY increased i'm size. BY Septem-
Der the globe was as large as Il bushel
basket, and its color was not golden
yellow.
NIt's surely Settin' ripe. cried Polly.
delightedly. on seeing it after week
of rain had prevented daily visits IF
knew what it was. But it amt pau
per. anyhow"
She gave its shining surface n loving
pat rs she left it. and attracted by the
sound OF whistling. saw mt a distance Il
man. who was sitting on a pile of
stones directly in the hOmeward path.
In an instant the thought came to her
To- ask this man about her unknown
treasure, if he looked friendly. Now
Polly could have hardly found a more
kindly man than Mr.. Allan, aud he
showed his friendliness as she drew
near, ny asking If it wasn't a pretty
hot sun for q little girl without a bon
net. Polly didn't own bonnet, so she
dug her foot n the soft earth, and said