Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-12-21
Of us, seen dimly in the dark as they
move round our bed. 1t is very consol-

Of us, seen dimly in the dark as they
move round our bed. 1t is very consol-
ing.
In the day we learn our letters and
are troubled because we cannot see
why know should be know and
psalm psalm. They tell us it is SO
because it is so. We are not satisfied.
We hate to learn. We like better to
build little stone houses. We Gun build
them as we please and know the rea-
son for them.
Other joys, too, we have incompara-
bly, greater than even the building Of
stone houses.
We are run through with shudder
of delight when in the red sand we
come on one of those white wax flow
ers that lie between their two green
leaves fat on the sand. We hardly
dare pick them, but we feel compelled
to do so; and we smell and smell till
the delight becomes almost pain. Att
erward we pull the green leaves softly
into pieces to see the silk threads run
across.
Beyond the "kopje" grow some pale
green hairy leaved bushes. We are SO
small they meet over our head, and
we sit among them and kiss them, and
they love us back. 1t seems as though
they We're alive.
One day we sit there and look up at
the blue sky and down at our fat lit
tie knees, and suddenly it strikes us:
Who are we? This 1-what is it? We
try to look in upon ourself, and ourself
beats back upon ourself. Then we
get up in great fear and run home as
hard as we can. We can't tell any one
what frightened us. We never quite
lose that feeling of self again.
And then new time rises. We are
years old. We can read now, read
the Bible. Best of all, we like the
story of Elijah in his cave at Horeb
and the still small voice.
One day, a notable one, we read on
the "kopje" and discover the fifth chap.
ter of Matthew and read it all through.
1t is new gold mine. Then we tucE
the Bible under our arm and rush
home. They didn't know it was wick
ed to take your things again if some
one took them, wicked to go to law,
wicked to- We are quite breathe
less when we get to the house. We
tell them that we have discovered
chapter they never heard. We tell
them what it says. The old wise peo-
pie tell us they know all about it. Our
discovery is mares nest to them.
but to us it is very real The Ten Com
mandments and the old 'eThou shalt,
we have heard about long enough and
don't care about it, but this new law
tsetssrs on fire. =; We Will deny ourseis.
Our little wagon that we have made
we give to the little Kaffirs. We keep
quiet when they throw sand at us, feel
ing, oh, SO happy. We conscientiously
put the cracked teacup for ourselves at
breakfast and take the burned rooster
cake. We save our money aud buy
threepence of tobacco for the Hotten-
tot maid who calls US names. We are
exotically yirtuous. At night we are
profoundly religious. Even the tick
ing watch says, Eternity, eternity,
hell, hell hell" and the silence talks
of God and the things that shall be.
Occasionally also unpleasantly shrewd
questions begin to be asked by some
one, we know not whom, who sits
somewhere behind our shoulder. We
get to know him better afterward.
Now we carry the questions to the
grown up people, and they give us an
swers. We are more or less satisfied
for the time. The grown up people
are very wise, and they say it was
kind of God to make hell and very low
ing of him to send men there, and, be-
sides, he couldn't help himself, and
they are very wise, we think, SO we
believe them. more or less.
ITO he rontinupd