The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-01-22
Riches Have Wings.

Riches Have Wings.
Alice Creighton sat on the back door
step, Smelling corn for her geese. She
was round, rosy girl, just sixteen, and
looked thoroughly in harmony with the
bright afternoon. When che finished
Smelling the corn, she leaned back and
looked about her with long sigh of
content. She was beauty-loving girl,
wise enough to see the beauty in the
common things about her; and so, as
she sat in the doorway, she appropri-
ated to herself all the fairness of the
homely scene. 1t was late in October.
The long slant rays of the sun glorified
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 sun light touched it, and it brought
out glints of gold in Affects tumbled
brown hair, and touched mother Creigh-
toms pale face lovingly, as she sat in
her place at the window. 1t shone i'm
partially, too, on the geese, each one a
gray and white counterpart of all the
other eleven; each standing on one leg,
half asleep in the pleasant warmth, near
the red barn.
When, after long look at the rich
colors about her, Affects eyes rested
again on the geese, they lost their
dreamy look, and sparkled merrily.
Only another month";" she said, laugh
ing. They little know what that
means to them-do they, mother?"
"No, indeed" came the reply from
indoors. If they koew, 1 should ex-
pect to see them take wing and fly
awayI"
Zone month more, benighted geese"
said Alice, with fine flourish of the
corn cobs, "and you will be sizzling in
twelve different ovens, while l shall be
counting my ill-gotten gains" "Ten
times day." interrupted her mother,
laughing" and dancing with impotence
for the first of December and the draw
ing teacher to arrive"
Mother Creighton was always CHEEKY
she had no right to be dreary, she
said. If she could do nothing to help
in the family struggle, she could at
least keep from making it harder; and
80 she smiled when she suffered, and
was gay when the pain left 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 i'll
ness, two years before, and had not
gone back.
Even if she could have been spared
at home, Alice's father could not af-
ford to keep her at the academy with
the added expense of the mothers i'll
ness.
The Creightons 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. Leaving
school did not seriously trouble Alice.
They had plenty of books in the little
house, and she and her mother could
read together as 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 her
first slate and pencil, Alice had made
pictures.
She loved to draw, and she drew well
Her mother and q 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 good teacher in drawing
would come to the academy in the
winter, and Alice had made up hel
mind to take lessons of him. But how
could she earn the money? A family
council was held and it was decided
after much deliberation, that Alice
should raise geese to sell at Thanks
giving. SIT is not dry enough here
for turkeys" her father had said, "but
that pond in the back lot will be Just
the place for geese" And 30 it was
decided; and with much counting OF
chickens, or rather goslings, Alice haG
set an old hen on dozen goose eggs
aud carefully tended her.
And when the twelve yellow goslings
were Matched they claimed still larger
share of her care. She gave it un
grudgingly, looking forward to the tim,
when they would repay her.
As she fed and tended them she offer
made them serve her as models, ant
some quaint sketches Of them decorated
the sitting-room.
Now they were fine fat geese, ant
Alice sat in the door thinking what the,
would do for her in one month more
AS she sat there she heard paculia
noise overhead, and, looking up, saw
large flock of wild geese flying steadil,
southwark. Their queer honkl honk'
floated down through the quiet after
noon air.
ooh, how / wish that we coul,
spread our wings and sail away south
like thatl" Alice said, reflectively.
And then to her geese, " You stupi,
creatures-why don't you join you
fellows and go with them to seek tn
plashy brink of reedy lake, or marge o