The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-31
INNS EXPERIENCE.

that chair right by the door SOS you can
get the breeze"
And Aunt Jane beamed at me over her
silver-rimmed spectacles and hitched her
own chair aslttle to one side. in order to
give the full benefit of the wind that was
blowing softly through the white-curtained
window. and carrying into the room the
heavenliest odors from a field of clover
that lay in full bloom just across the road.
For it was June in Kentucky. and clover
and bluegrass were running in sweet riot
over the face of the earth
yes, I'm a-piecin' quilts again. she
said. shipping away at the bits of calico
in her lap. II did say | was done with
that sort o work; but this mornin' 1 was
rummagin' around up dn the garnet, an
come across this bundle of pieces, an
thinks 1, I reckon it's intended for me to
piece one more quilt before die / must
a put EN- there thirty years ago an clean
forgot em. an I've been settin' here all
the evenin' cuttin' 'em an thinkin about
old times.
Jest feel o. that" she continued, toss
dng some scraps into my lap. They amt
10 such caliker nowadays. This amt your
fve-cent stuff that fades in the first wash
in an wears out in the second. A caliker
dress was somethin worth buyin an
worth maxim up in them days. That blue
Powered piece was a dress i got the spring
before Abram died. When I put on mourn
IN it was as good as new, an / give it to
sister Mary. That one with the green
ground and white figger was my niece
Rebecca's. She wore it the first time to
the county fair the year 1 took the premium
on my salt-risn' bread an sponge cake.
This black an white piece Sally Ann Flint
give me. I ricolect twas in blackberry
time. an I'd been out in the big pastur
pickn' some for supper, an I stopped in
at Sally AIMS for drink o. water on my
way back. She was cuttin' out this dress"
Aunt Jane broke off with a little soprano
laugh.
Did I ever tell you about Sally AIMS ex-
perience?" she said, as she laid two three
cornered pieces together and began to sew
with her slender, nervous old fingers.
To find Aunt Jane alone and IN a rem
iniscent mood! This was delightful.
do tell me-" said.
Aunt Jane was silent for a few moments.
She always made this pause before begin
ming a story. and there was something i'm
pressive about it. used to think she was
making an invocation to the goddess of
memory.
a" Twas forty years ago." she began, mus
ingly. AN the way of it was this. Our
church was considerably out O. fix. 1t need
ed new roof. Some o. the winder lights
was out, an the floor was as bare as your
hand. an always had been. The men folk
managed to git the roof shingled an the
winders fixed. an us women in the Mite So
ciety concluded we'd git cyarpet. We'd
been savin' up our money for some time.
an we had about twelve dollars. / recollect
what a argument we had, for some of uS
wanted the cyarpet an some wanted to give
it to furrin missions, as we'd set out to do
at first. Sally Ann was the one that settled
1t. She says at last-Sally Ann was in favor
of the cyarpet-She says, We'll, If any of the
heather fails to hear the Gospel on account
of our gittin' this cyarpet they'll be saved
anyhow, so Parson Page says. An if we
send the money an they do hear the gospel
like as not they won't repent, an then
they're certain to be damned. An it seems
TO me as long as we amt sure what they'll
do we might we'll keep the money an git
the cyarpet. never did see much sense any
how says she. in givin people chance TO
damn themselves.
advice. an was talxin' about app'intin'
a committee to go to town the follerin'
ell at once Lizabeth Taylor-she was our
They amt no DU use apFpi.intin' that com, ON.
mttee. The moneys gone, she says. sort
bureau drawer. an when I went for it
yistddy it was gone. I'll pay it back if
with that she got up and walked out O. the
room, before anyone could say word, an
we seen her goin' down the road lookin'
straight before her an walkin' right fast
An we've set there an stared at each
other in a sort O. dazed way. could see
that everybody was thinkin' the same
thing, but nobody said a word, till min
1ster's wife-she was as good woman as
ever hv t,6 says. Judge not, t.. ,u,
sermon to us. Then Sally Ann spoke up
an says. For the Lords sake don't. let the
They're always sayin that women amt fit
TO handle money. an for one don't want
to give EN- no more ground to stand on
So we agreed to say nothin' about 1t,
an all of us kept our promise except Milly
Amos. She had mighty little sense to he
about two months, she'd about lost that
little. So next mornin' ] happened to
meet Sam Amos an he says to me, Aunt
Jane, how much money have you women
got lords the new carpet for the church,
looked him square in 1T the fb face an S Mt
Society of Goshen Church. Sam Amos?
Cause if you are, you already know how
you've got no business KNOWN. An
furthermore says /, there's some women
that can't keep secret an promise, an
some that can, an can. An that settled
well, 'Iizabeth never showed her face
wards, an a more pitiful-lookin' creatur'
you never saw than she was when she come
out to prayer meetin' the night Sally Ann
give her experience. She sat way back in
the church. an she pale and peaked
as If she had been through a siege of ty-
phoid. l ricollect it all as If ii had been
Yesterday. We'd sung Welcome, Sweet
Hour. an Parson Page prayed pra'r, an
then called on the brethren to say anything
they might feel called on to say concernin'
their experience in the past week. Old
Uncle Jim Matthews begun to clear his
throat. an / knew as well as l knew my
name he was fxin' TO git up an tell how
precious the Lord had been to his soul. jest
like he'd been dom every Wednesday night
for twenty years. But before he got start
ed here come 'Ijzabeth walkin' down the
side aisle an stopped right in front o the
pulpit
live sonethin' to say she says. It's
been on my mind till l can't stand it any
longer. I've got to tell it, or I'll go crazy.
Ii was me that took that cyarpet money. |
only meant to borry it. / thought sure I'd
be able to pay it back before it was wanted
But things went wrong. an / amt known
peaceful minute since, an never shall again,
reckon. i took it to pay my way up to
Louisville. the time l got the news that
Mary dyin'.'
Mary was her daughter by her first huS-
ban. you see. I begged Jacob to give me
the money to go on says she. an he
wouldn't DO IT, I tried to give up and stay,
hat lest couldn't Mary was all I had in
the world and maybe you that has chill
dren put yourself in my place an know
what 1t would be to hear your only child
calm to you from her deathbed an you
not able to go TO her I asked Jacob three