Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-12-09
A PAIR OF SHOES.

Bertha sat on the floor critically eying
pair OF new shoes; shaking her head,
She said complacently:
Yes. they look pretty nice, very nice,
but" she added with sigh, Il would
have liked pair of red ones. Mamma,
when | was at the store this morning
with grandma l saw a lovely pair Of
red shoes. l asked her to get :hem for
me, but she said she thought you did
not care for colored shoes; now don't
you:"
why, l don't know. my dear" an-
swered Mrs. Bartlett, laughing at
something that had come to her mind
with Rcrthas question. Il guess
grandma was thinking of time when
did like colored shoes"
We'll. | think she was too. for she
laughed and told me to ask you if you
liked them. | guess ii is one of grand
mas jokes. Do tell me what ii is,
mamma. Did it happen when you
were little girl:'
After waiting n moment. her mother
smiiingly ! piled: Yes. it was some
thing when | was a little girl that
made grandma laugh, but We didn't
laugh at the time it happened, you
may see. Get your work, and l will
tell you.
THE shoes that grandma and l
we're thinking Of were purple ones.
brilliant purple, with little fiat heels.
laced UP to the front and reaching just
above the ankles
"Oh dear, how funny they must lave
been" laughed Bertha
Yes, as | look at them now, they
must have been queer little shoes, but
at the time they were bought they were
Just as beautiful in my eyes as the red
ones which grandma refused to buy for
you this morning. When l was little
girl | lived in q small town in Ohio
where my father was the physician.
He had not grown rich, for it was an
exceedingly healthy place. No one was
very rich no one was very poor. l had
played all my life with little girls and
boys brought up just as l was, caring
more for a good time than for fine
clothes.
Il had a playhouse built by a young
uncle, but the furnishings were not
such as children's playhouses have in
these days. My dishes were broken
bits of china and glass, and among
them were some that were so fine in
my childish eyes that they were only
used upon state occasions. Well, as
said, l played and was very happy
with my little friends, never caring for
anything different from what we had.
But one day something new appeared
to us. Hattie Ray. my particular
friend. had a cousin come to visit her
from New York. She astonished US all
by her clothes; never had we seen any
thing 50 gorgeous in all our small lives,
such dainty dresses and silk
aprons with tiny pockets and bows,
such beautiful stockings and shoes
Colored shoes. red and yellow and
brown; for very common wear she had
black ones. These different articles Of
clothing pleased the different fancfes
of the children Hattie told me In con-
fidence she meant to coax her mother
to give her a silk apron with pockets
for her next Christmas present.
But nothing pleased me as did the
shoes. Every night when I went to bed
my last thought was Of those colored
shoes, and 1 resolved to have some red
ones myself when l was nch. 1t was
the fourteenth Of June, just two days
before my birthday, that my mother
called me Into the kitchen where she
was making pies, and said:
"Lizzie. you had better 60 down to
Mr. Stout's. and get n pair Of shoes.
These are too badly worn for Sunday.