News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1895-11-21
RICHES HAVE WINGS.

Alice Creighton sat on the back
doorstep, Smelling corn for her geese,
She was a round, rosy girl, just six
teen, and looked perfectly in harmony
with the bright afternoon. When
she finished Smelling the corn, she
leaned back and looked about her
with a long sigh of content. She was
beauty-loviDg girl, wise enough to
see the beauty in the things about
her; and So as she sat in the door
way, she appropriated to herself all
the fairness of the homely scene. 1t
was late in October. The long slant
rays of the sun glorifed the red and
gold of the maple trees, and made
the fallen leaves in the grass look
like precious stones on bed of green
velvet. The creeper that covered the
back of the house glowed crimson as
the sunlight touched it, and it
brought out glints of gold in Alice's
tumbled brown hair, and touched
Mother Creighton's pale face loving
ly, as she sat in her place at the win
dow. 1t shone impartially, too, on
the geese, each one a gray and white
counterpart of all the other eleven;
each standing on one leg, halt
asleep in the pleasant warmth, near
the red barn.
When after long look at the rich
colors about her, Alice's eyes rested
again on the geese, they lost their
dreamy look, and sparkled merrily.
"Only another month"; she said
laughing. "They little know what
that means to -them-do they,
mother?"
"No, indeed" came the reply fl ON
indoor. eff they knew, should eX-
pect to see them take wings and fly
away!"
Zone month more, benighted
geese" said Alice, with fine flourish
of the corn-cobs, "and you will be
sizzling in twelve different ovens,
whileI shall accounting myilI-gotten
gains" "Ten times a day." inter
rupted her mother, laughing, land
dancing with impatience for the first
of December and the drawing teacher
to arrive"
Mother Creighton was always
cheery-she had no right to be dreary,
she said. If she could do nothing to
help in the family struggle, she
should at least keep from making it
harder; and so she smiled when she
suffered, and was gay when the pain
lett her.
But she would never be able to
walk again-indeed, it was nearly a
year, now, since she had left her chair
by the window. Father placed her
there in the morning, and lifted her
back to her bed at night. Alice had
left school at the beginning of her
mothers illness, two years before, and
had not gone back.
Even if she could be spared at
home, Alices father could not afford
to keep her at the Academy, with the
added expense of the mothers illness
The Creighton's owned their coy
little home; but they had suffered
heavy losses, and aside from the
house and an acre of ground about
it, owned little else.
Father worked hard to keep that
and earned their simple living. Leav.
ing school did not seriously trouble
Alice. They had plenty of books in
the little house, and she and her
mother could read together much as
they wished. But she had one real
trouble, which her father and mother
knew and shared, but could not help
From the time she had owned heI
first slate and pencil, Alice had made
pictures.
She loved to draw, and she drew
well. Her mother and teacher in
school had taught her all they could
and now she wanted to know more
If she could only study she felt that
she could create some of the beautiful
pictures she loved to dream of.
Early that spring it had been an
nounced that agood teacher in draw
ing would come to the Academy in the
winter, and Alice made up her minG
to take lessons of him. But how
could she earn the money? A family
council was held and it was decided
after much elaboration, that Alice
should raise geese to sell at Thanks
giving. at is not dry enough here
for turkeys" her father had said
"but that pond in the back lot viii
be just the place for geese" And sc
it was decided; and with much count
ing of chickens, or rather goslings
Alice had set an old hen on a dozer
goose eggs and carefully tended her
And when the twelve yellow gos
lings were Matched they claimed q
still larger share of her care. She
gave it ungrudgingly, looking for.
ward to the time when they would
repay her.
AS she fed and tended them she
often made them serve her as models,
and some quaint sketches OF them
decorated the sitting-room.
Now they were fine fat geese, and
Alice sat in the door thinking what