Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1895-11-02
y OILY was o little pauper. That
- means life In q poorhouse, with
lts e,o a., voo,,,. non ran food and

~ OILY was o little pauper. That
means life In q poOrhouse, with
Il Its bare rooms, coarse food and
coarser company.
Granny Smith was the very oldest
pauper. She had loved and looked after
Polly ever since she was found, a
tiny baby In a bnsket, on the poor.
house steps. When Granny died, g.
year-old Polly felt very lonely.
All that Polly knew, Granny Smith
had taught her. She was charged to
keep her face and hands clean, not to
steal or tell lie, and never to marry
man who drank. so you see Polly had
wise counsel: and, better still, she
meant to heed It.
There were plenty Of children at the
poorhouse, but Polly did not seek their
company. They called her "stuck-up"
and 'queer'' when she refused to 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,
who was always spilling his?
Mr.. Norton, the poorhouse keeper.
was kindly man, but he had no time
to look after the children In his charge.
He knew Polly as the "basket baby"
and Mrs. Norton sometimes pointed her
out to visitors. declaring 1t n shame that
such pretty, well.bchaved child
should be left to come up there.
In the meantime, Polly mourned for
granny, and sewed her torn apron with
q darning.needle out Of the work-box
which was now her own. 1t was oil
granny had to leave, and was a relic
OF days when she was not q pauper,
and she talked to the thimblc about It.
The work.box was carefully guarded
by its owner-a hard matter-but one
day silly Sam dragged 1t from Its hid.
ing place, and tore small piece Of the
faded silk lining. Polly rescued 1t and
cried 30 hard that Sam was sorry and
offered her two snails. 1t was while
Polly was trying to repair the damage
that Eve 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.
'I'll plant 'em and see," said Polly,
crawling on hands and knees to cap.
ture them. "I'll plant 'em outside OF
the poorhouse grounds, for granny
wouldn't want her flowers to be pau.
pers. I'll 60 to the field where It's dug
up and nothin' planted an bury 'em In
the far corner. The sun makes flow.
ers grow very fast, and there Is sucl,
lots Of 1t here" she said, looking we'll
pleased. "There's no house hero an
guess the ground don't belong to any.
body. These flowers amt going to be
paupers, anyway"
Polly knew little about planting
seeds. She made hole with her Ast
dropped them In on top of each other
covered we'll with dirt, and waited fol-
sun and rain to do the rest. Many
stolen visits to the corner Of the field
were made before Polly saw any signs
OF growth, 80 when small. green
stalk appeared, It was hailed with de-
light. How fast It grew!
When the plant In the field bore vel
low blossoms, P0lly's heart filed with
pleasure. They were not pretty low
ers, but they seemed like a part OF
granny. When the flowers faded Polly
hoped more would soon follow, but
bloomlng.time appeared to be over. I,
was quite while before she discov
cred fuzzy little balls ON the stems OF
the faded blossoms. aud Polly won.
dered what It could be.
"They amt cabbages. an apples dom,
r""7 on the ground" she said. feeling
them gently. "Maybe they're coke
nuts"
But whatever they were they did no,
continue to thrive. Bugs ate up the
leaves, stems witheled and died. and
with them the unknown fruit. How
ever, one green globe, twice % large
40 the rest, defied bugs and blight. and
steady increased In size. BY Septem
ber the globe was 90 large a. q bushe
basket and its color was not golden
yellow.
TITS surely gettin' ripev' cried Polly
delightedly, on seeing It after q wecl
Of rain had prevented daily visits. III
know what It was! But It Amt pau
per. anyhow"
She gave Ito shining surface loving
pat 40 she left It, and attracted by thu
sound Of whistling. saw at q distance o
man, who was sitting on q pile oil
stones directly in the homeward path
In an instant the thought came to hel
to ask this man about her unknown
treasure. II he looked friendly. Now
Polly could have hardly found q more
kindly man than Mr.. Allan. and HI
showed bis friendliness 40 she drew
near. by asking Il It wasn't . pretty
hot sun for little girl without bon
net Polly didn't own q bonnet. 30 she
dug her feet In the soft earth, and said
she liked the sun because 1t made
things grow.
80 does the rain, but we can't stand
too much Of It." laughed Mr.. Allan
1.-THE crops look pretty well soaked"
1t was now or never with Polly, q
she said:
my crop IL looking lovely, an thinl
It's most ripe"
Mr.. Allan looked amused.
"Your crop. hey? What is it--pop
c0rnr
III you would please come and tel
me what II IT," said Polly, earnestly
"Maybs its . cskenut but maybe I
amt"
"cocoanutl Don't got your heart OF