Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-01-04
MISS FAITHS ADVICE.

All 1CO Il ~ L IL ~ Al ~ AN(A<s
Miss Faith sat In close companion
ship, IN usual. with her familiar spirit,
. piece OF crocheted edging Her touch
upon the inaxes Of tangled thread was
very ger,tle, even endcaring. and her
look Of content ~ she held IL up and
noted Its effect rs whole seemed vast.
ly out Of proportion to the cause. Miss
Faith was still pretty. with the pathetic
beauty held as tiotsam from the wreck
Of years Her hair was pret,ier a. silver
than IL had ever been as brown, and =.
eyes, though they had lost their vivid
glow and eagerncss, bad gained kindly
sympathy. Her tenderness had even ex-
tended to the crocheting in her hand
and impaired something to that usually
very impereonal object that her fancy
had fretted into thinking q response.
She passed her hand affectionately over
Il now, "a the figure Of pineapple,
much hconv.ntionalized, repeating itself
like history again and again, fell In seal
lops TO the floor Its most done, she
thought II can go back TO the oak leaf
pretty soon.
A change In the crochet pattern was
the chief diversion Of Faiths life. that
ran ON as monotonously to the observer
rs the tune Of the famous harper who
played upon only one string. To an ant
the coming Of stick or stone may be
q great event II IL not hard to under
stand how life that consists IN taking
infinite pains with many little things
may get its sips Of excitement. interes,
and novelty from change in pattern
Of crochet. The examination Of the work
appeared 10 be satisfactory, aud Faith
laid IL on the table Mt her side. This tn
BILE was devoted to the uses Of her art,
nor was ever profaned by the presence
Of any irrelevant substance. There were
rows Of spools upon IL, drawn mp in
lines like soldiers ready TO receive an
attack. hooks Of various sizes lying like
weapons by their side and various rolls
Of lace. the finished product OF theii
warfare Faith regarded them with ap.
proval, bat her hand that had lain upon
the table fell away from the accustomed
task, and she sat idle, watching the red
coal, the shadows the lAmplight threw
upon the carpet and listening to the
clatter tha. Mary. her maid Of all work.
was making as part Of the dishwash.
ing.
"It's . kind Of jugglery she g"es
through with those dishes, thought
Faith regrctfully, "a sleigbt Of hand
performance. to see how many tricls
she can do before one Of them will
break" But her face did not cloud, fol
she had learned resignation. She had
surrendered to Mary the dishes and nil
the rest Of the household divinities that
she had served 70 deftly and carefully
for years that she might be more at lei
sure to while away her time in her own
innocent fashion.
She wondered. a. she sat staring
duly at the blaze. how the crocheting
had come to mean 30 much to her and
could not think for the instant, then
half remembered, saddened little, lost
the thread u memory again, recovered
il and fell to musing, her elbow resting
on the table, her cheek in her palm
She could hardly believe now that q
certain few years Of her life had ever
really happened They must have be.
longed to some other and wandered
willfully into her own. tor there was
no home for them In hers or likeness
unto anything they brought Was it su:
They had gone 30 utterly, 50 complete
", and abe was happy now IN her own
harmless way, far inland, out Of all
reach Of storm and reef. She was still
looking vaguely. half wistfully, at the
fire when her doorbell rang and some
one had entered the room and was hur-
rying to her side.
Aunt Faith" said . girlish. tremu-
lous voice, 1--WE come to ask You TO
help me. Mother said you had suffered
like this once and you had learned to
forget. and ! thought perhaps you could
Ahow me the way"
Faith looked down upon the slight
figure crouched there, sobbing. and laid
her hand gently upon the brown head.
but she did not understand about the
suffering.
"What il it, Grace?" she asked.
"Oh, it's Phill' she cried. "He
doesn't care for me any more. He's tax
ing Jennie Thompson now, aud cant
bear it. Mother said other women had
to bear such things. but she'd always
been happy. and I could come to you.
You could help me, she said, looking
up appealingly. "You could teach me
70 forget"
Yes" said Faith slowly.
Then il came back TO her, all her own
little story. and Q dim, broken memory
Of the first heartache and her own long
ing to forget
Poor little girl, whispered Faith,
stroking the beautiful mass Of tangled
hair. "How was it I learned to forget!
Let me think. Yes, ! remember now
Wait minute. dear Twill show you.
Faith slipped ont Of the room and soon
returned. bringing three rolls OF very
broad crocheted lace.
"Can you crochet, Grace!"
"Not very much. said Grace. won
deringly.
"Well, I will teach you This 10 the
way I learned to forget The needle
dips In and out. and the sunlight and
firelight shine ON it, and the lace grows
and 10 90 pretty. aud il brings comfort
When began, oouldn' { see the needle
-oh, how long ago that isEfor the
tearA That was when knew he would
never come again. aud ! had my wed
ding dress al ready-it's grown yellow
In . chest iu the garrett But after
awhile the lace took up my trouble
drop by drop till It was gone, and l
couldn't tell you today where It ia So
Ill teach you. dear. These are the three
rolls did in the three years, one for
each. They . yellow now, you zee. "
Faith opened one aud spread It ont
It was an intricate pattern. very bread.
'.It's hard to do. she said, "but that
/ IL all the better for the forgetting. II
I'd been . man. l should have gone
Il . .r,~ 80 <x{c. Iswo offan tf0u0hf IL