The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-03-02

ceived the money Tor fifteen black
hogs, and was feeling rather cheerful,
Rebecca made known her wish.
"Want a place for little trash,
hey7 Well, if you'll clear it up and
keep it cleared up, you may have a
patch out there back of the wood
she'd"
GAS big as this room?" asked Re-
becca, sagely.
Eyes, but not a mite bigger. The
more ground the more weeds, ye
know"
"Thank you, pal I'll look out for
the weeds-just see if I don't" and
Rebecca flung her arm about her ia
theirs neck, kissed his tanned cheek
in the exuberance of her gratitude,
and skipped away to write her order
to the catalogue man. Kisses were
rather rare in Rebecca's family, and
that light warm touch On his cheek
somehow made the world seem very
bright and sunny to "Pa Brown"
By sunrise Rebecca was at work on
her "patch." The clearing was not
pleasant task, for the spot had been
a dumping-place for old shoes and
broken dishes, and general rubbish;
but Rebecca had shovel, lake,
wheel barrow, and pair of stout, en-
thusiastic arms. By noon, in spite of
stops for baby-rocking and potato
pairing, the patch was cleared and its
dimensions proclaimed by sticks from
the wood-pile, sharpened and driven
into the ground.
That afternoon it was happy little
girl who walked mile and half to
the post Office to dispatch precious
letter. Five cents for the money-or-
der and two cents for stamp left
her just three pennies-for luck! At
ter superior April suppers come
early in the country-Rebecca had
time to wheel four loads of we'll rotted
manure from the barnyard and spread
them over that portion intended for
the berries and currants, and she
made one corner particularly rich for
the pansies.
The next morning she was up and
out again with the sun. But had the
fairies been at work in the sober, old
back yard7 For there was her gar
den all beautifully spaded from end
to end, and raked as smooth as a
floor.
"Oh, Pa Brown what have you
been doing7" she called out to her
father, who was scrubbing his face
and hands at the washbench on the
back porch.
"Oh, | thought I'd give you little
-off-just little starter, ye
know" answered Pa Brown from the
depths of crash toweling: "but amt
going to foller it up, mind ye"
"Of course notl I'll do the foller-
ing up, ! guess. And thank you,
ever so much, Pal"
"You're welcome" said Pa Brown.
In three days Rebecca's package of
plants and seeds arrived at the post
office, and the bliss of opening it, ex-
aiming the already freshly budding
things, and finding an extra packet
of asters among the flower seeds,
made very bright spot in the little
girls sober life.
The weather of the following week
seemed expressly tempered to the
wants of freshly-planted things
cloudy skies, moist air, and just
enough sun-glimpses to keep the
birds and violets in happy frame of
mind. Rebecca was very new be-
ginner, and she would have made the
usual beginners mistake of planting
things too closely together if she had
not studied her catalogue and obe-
diently followed its wise commands.
AS for the pansy seeds, some little
girls would have sown them two
inches deep, and left them to die in
the struggle to reach up into light
and air; but Rebecca just scattered
them on the surface of the mellow,
moist soil, pressing them slightly
with shingle, and over them she
spread piece of old white muslin,
with stick in the center to raise the
cloth slightly, and a stone laid on
each corner to keep it in place. This
cloth kept the soil moist and the wee
baby pansies from being scorched to
death by the sun, or blown out of
the ground by cruel winds. The
asters and mignonette were sown a
little deeper, while the sweet peas
went almost three inches under
ground, and were given at once row
of alder twigs to climb on, so that