The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1899-10-19
AUNT MATILDA's OFF DAYS.


It's one of your Aunt Matildas of
days, Phemie. Don't mind her, child,
said Uncle Jacob, who was cutting corr
/ in the field.
The stalks of corn were two or three
feet higher than the little girls head
| as she stood with a small pail full OF
water from the spring.
You come just in the nick of time
was so thirsty 1 thought I'd have tc
leave my work and go for water"
| Uncle Jacob had what Phemie called
put the pail to his lips and drank OF
the clear, cold water
! Phenfe had been crying. and Jacob
knew it as soon as he looked at heI
| face.
You see, Picnic, that Aunt Ma
1 tilda's crab apples did not jell as stiff
as she wanted them to yesterday, and
she had to boil all that stuff over
again. That's what's upset her. 1t is
a big job to pour all that jelly out of
/ the glasses and boil it over twice, all
those glasses to wash and dry"
I Il washed the glasses, uncle, and
dried them. I Didn't mind-only-only
I wish Aunt Matilda was always
pleasant, as she is sometimes. 1 love
her so much when she speaks in her
kind way. She's SO very kind when
she is kind
Folks will have their off-days,
Phemie the best of them"
But you don't have any off-davs,
Uncle Jacob
Maybe things GO not go as crisis
cross with me as they do with most of
folks child"
We'll. your COW broke into the oat
lot. you know, and the bay colt was
lost Cor a week. and then the army
worms came, and such lots of potato
bugs, and just such sort of things as
those make off-dayS, don't they? But
you never talked cross or looked cross
about these troubles, Uncle jacob
Maybe the Lord gives me a large
measure of grace Phemie We can't
keep our tempers without His grace
child. And besides, if 1 had been upset
and made off-days for myself what
good would it have done? Your aunt
does we'll by you, she gives you plenty
to eat, and she makes you as nice
clothes to wear as any of the other
girls have
"oh yes, Uncle Jacob, know it.
bur
Uncle Jacob took the little girl in
his strong arms and Rugged her close
to his loving heart, and then he gave
her about a dozen kisses on both
cheeks.
Phemie was the only child of his
dead sister. Her father died before
her mother did, ami Uncle Jacob went
out to the far west and brought the
little orphan girl home to live with him.
He knew it was love that Phem1e
wanted that morning, as she stood with
such lovely look on her face among
the cornstalks. Love is the greatest
thing in the world for US all.
There had never been anv children
in the house where Uncle Jacob and
Aunt Matilda lived, until Phemie
came there They had lived twenty
years without a child in the family,
and Aunt Matilda had very prim ways
of keeping house, because there had
never been any busy hands to put
anything out of place. And Aunt Ma
tilda did her own work. and not being
strong. she got very tired often, and
Phemie had her tell how she seemed
to have her nerves all on the outside
of her body. She spoke kindly at times
to Phemie. but there was q great
many off-days in Aunt Matilda's life,
and the little girl tried to be very pa
tient and do everything she could IN
the way that would please her ssunt:
Aunt Matilda had even been SO Kind
as to buy Phemie a large doll, and she
had made pretty clothes for it, and IL
was the little girls greltest comfort.
She went back to. the house, IeaV-
ing the little tin pail of water in the
corn field with Uncle Jacob. 1t was
her work, and of course the pleasant
est kind of work. that of carrying
nail of fresh water to Uncle Jacob,
when he was working far away from
the well. 1t saved him from walking
back and forth and losing his time
from his work, and then Uncle jacob
was always so loving and kind when
she brought him the water.
When Phemie went into the kltenen
tbara was pan of potatoes on the
taI71e to mare and some sweet corn to
h11sk for dinner. She sat down by
the big table and began to pare the
POTATOES. Aunt Matilda WAS straining