The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1897-08-13
She'd have to stay at home, even II she

uid navy WV.
And now I've reached that part of my
story where Bette gets into trouble
falls into temptation-and do declare
It makes me feel real bad to go on.
What a pity that she did not try harder
to resist the temptation!
1t seems to me, II were little girl,
I wouldn't do such thing as she did for
the world. And that's about what you'll
say, l suppose. when you hear the rest.
But let us Be charitable. Perhaps
we've all of us done things quite as
wrong as this that Bette did, II not
worse. And then you must remember
that Bette wanted to 60 to the picnic
awfully. Besides, she got punished Sc
verely enough In the end for what she
did. For, sooner or later, in some form
or another, punishment and sorrow do
come for wrong-doing.
Well, not to moralize further, the
morning of the picnic came, and Mrs.
Cochran, who really had no idea how
much her Bette was disappointed
! about going to the picnic, hustled off to
her work.
Bette had the "blues" dreadfully after
her mother was gone. She sat down In
the rocking-chair and cried as hard as
ever she could cry for nearly half an
hour. But crying doesn't do any good,
SO herself, for she stopped crying and
began putting the house in order.
She was sweeping Id front of the
big clothes press, where her mother
kept the clean clothes she had "done
up" for her customers until she was
ready to send them home, when sudden
ly the doors of the press flew open.
They never would stay tight shut, as
they should.
The very moment those doors flew
open and Bette glanced in, the press,
she had bright idea" but it wasn't
Ii right idea." and I'm sure 1 wish she
hadn't had it.
There was one bundle of clothes that
belonged to lady named Mrs. Stevens,
and Bettie's mother had not sent the
clothes home yet, because Mrs. Stevens
was out of town, and wouldn't be back
for whole two weeks.
Mrs. Stevens had little girl just
about Bettie's size, and Bette knew
that among the clothes was Lulu
Stevens white muslin dress. She had
seen her mother take 1t off the clothes
horse, fold it, and put 1t away in the
press.
Now, why couldn't she Just take
Lulu's dress, and wear 1t to the picnic?
She did not believe Lulu would care at
all.
She was a real nice girl, and per
haps," thought Bette, some day,
long time afterward, I'll tell her +
wore it."
And then she did 1t. She put that
other girls dress on, took Cora, and off
they started to the picnic.
can't say that Bette had a good time
at the picnic, and 1 can't say that she
didn't, for really don't know how she
did feel in that borrowed dress. But I
shouldn't think she could have enjoyed
herself very much under the circum-
stances. Should you?
One thing know. She didn't dare to
play any of the games with the other
girls, for fear of tearing Lulu Stevens
white dress, and she didn'tdaresit down
on the grass with the rest, for fear Of
soiling it.
| But when, about noon, little Cora,
who had been enjoying herself amaz-
ingly, eating cake and pie and pickles
SPILLED" lot of apple pie all over the
front breadth of Lulu Stevens dress,
Bette became so fdgety that she
couldn't bear to remain at the picnic
minute longer, so she took Cora, and
went straight home.
! Bette had not been o washwoman's
daughter all her life for nothing, and
while she was walking home, she made
up her mind to wash and iron and starch
THAT dress, and put 1t away in the
clothes press before her mother got
home, and never, never, never again
would she put on her mothers custom
ers' clothes.
She was suffering already from her
wrongdoing, you see. But there was
more trouble in store for poor Bette.
And now / have reached the tragical
pdTG OF my btOTy.
BETTE washed and starched the dress,
and hung it on the line to dry, but she
never saw the whole of that dress again,
for while she was trying to rock little
Cora to sleep-who was just as cross as
a bear because of the cake and the
pickles she had eate1--the COW walked
through the barnyard gate, which Bet
tie had neglected to fasten, in her haste
to he off to the picnic, and chewed
Lulu Stevens muslin dress all to pieces.
The COW WAS hungry. and starched
dress was better than nothing at all to
eat.
What Bette did, when she found out
this terrible thing, and what Bettie's
mother did when she found it out, and
what Mrs. Stevens did when she found
1t out, I'll have to leave for you to guess.
But don't you think that Bettie's yield
ing to temptation led to unhappiness
enough that time?-Golden Days.
That Old Combination.
"In view of the bicycle craze" they
were suggesting, do people make
any objection to your coming on pale
horse?"
| Death shrugged his shoulder-blades
leDrecatinpIv