The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-10-24
AUNT MATILDA'S OFF-DAYS
BY SUSAN TEALL PERRY.

~ The stalks of corn we're
~ two or three feet higher
than the little girls head, as she
stood with small pail full of water
from the spring.
"You came just in the nick of time.
1 was so thirsty 1 thought I'd have
to leave my work and go for water"
Uncle Jacob had what Picnic
called "a love-light look" on his face
when he put the pail to his lips and
drank of the clear cold water.
Picnic had been crying, and Jacob
knew it as soon as he looked at her
face.
"You see, Picnic, that Aunt Ma
tilda's crab apples did not jell as stiff
as she wanted them to yesterday, and
she had to boil all that stuff over
again. That's what's upset her. 1t
is big job to pour all that jelly out
of the glasses and boil it over twice,
all those glasses to wash and dry"
II washed the glasses, uncle, and
dried them. / didn't mind--only-
only-I wish Aunt Matilda was al
ways pleasant, as she is sometimes.
1 love her SO much when she speaks
in her kind way. She's so very kind
when she is kind"
Folks will have their off days,
Phemie, the best of them"
"But you don't have any off-days,
Uncle Jacob"
Maybe things do not go crisis
cross with me as they do with most
of folks, child"
"Well, your COW broke into the oat
lot, you know, and the bay colt was
lost for a week, and then the army
worms came, and such lots of potato
bugs, and just such sort of things as
those make off-days, don't they?
But you never talked cross or looked
cross about these troubles, Uncle
Jacob"
maybe the Lord gives me large
measure of grace, Phemie. We can't
keep our tempers without his grace,
child. And besides, if had been up
set and made off days for myself,
what good would it have dones Your
aunt does well by you, she gives you
plenty to eat, and she makes you as
nice clothes to wear as any of the
other girls have"
"Oh, yes, Uncle Jacob know it,
but"
Uncle Jacob took the little girl in
his strong arms and Rugged her
close to his loving heart, and then he
gave her about adozen kisses on both
cheeks.
Phemie was the only child of his
dead sister. Her father died before
her mother did, and Uncle Jacob
went out to the far West and brought
the little orphan girl home to live
with him. He knew it was love that
Phemie wanted that morning, as she
stood with such lovely look on her
face among the tall cornstalks. Love
is the greatest thing in the world for
us all.
There had never been any children
in the house where Uncle Jacob and
Aunt Matilda lived, until Picnic
came there. They had lived twenty
years without a child in the family,
and Aunt Matilda had very prim
ways of keeping house, because there
had never been any little busy hands
to put anything out of place. And
Aunt Matilda did her own work, and
not being strong, she got very tired
often, and Picnic had heard her tell
how she seemed to have her nerves all
on the outside of her body. She
spoke kindly at times to Phemie, but
there were great many off days in
Aunt Matilda's life, and the little girl
tried to be very patient and do every
thing she could in the way that would
please her aunt. Aunt Matilda had
even been so kind as to buy Phemie
large doll, and she had made pretty
clothes for it, and it was the little
girls greatest comfort.
She went back to the house, leaving
the little tin pail of water in the corn
field with Uncle Jacob. 1t was her
work, and of course the pleasantest
kind of work, that of carrying a pail
of fresh water to Uncle Jacob, when
he was working far away from the
well. 1t saved him from walking
back and forth and losing his time