Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1899-04-20
The Charm String"

1t was a bright moonlight night in
September, and Aunt Roxanna was sit
ting upon her broad veranda with one
OF her little nieces, who had been sent
up from Savannah into the Georgia
highlands to spend the month. They
had watched the passing clouds and
had traced familiar figures in the out
mes OF the many trees of the shady
frons yard. In the lofty elm they found
the cow that jumped over the moon; liz
the cedar, Tom Thumb, and elsewhere
other pets from Mother Goose" Then
little Virginia slipped out of her chair,
placing her hand in her aunty's, said:
20, aunty, you promised to tell me
about your charm stringr'
Well, my darling, you shall hear OF
it now. But first let me tell you what
a charm string was. In my young
days children had no Memoir Book
in which TO keep their little tokens.
They had instead the charm string, or
strings upon which they threaded but
tons that were given to them by
friends. Generally they began by buy
ing a few buttons for their strings.
My home was so far from the village
that / only went in TO school on Mon
days. returning on Fridays: Well, one
Monday, when l arrived at school /
found all my little friends rich with
their new p~laythings. the charm
strings, but had no money TO buy the
first button. and | was unhappy. you
may be sure.
After school. while walking about.
suddenly / spied something green In
the sand. something that looked like a
little roll of grass. and | picked il up.
II was the very thing I had been wish
ing for. ten cents in paper money, and
1t had evidently been lost a long.
long time. was so happy / called all
my little friends TO come quickly and
see what | had found. | said / should
make believe that an angel had
dropped it for me.
We all hurried down into the little
town, and the girls told the merchant
how had gotten my money. He said
that that ten cents would be luck
money and that | should have twice as
many buttons for 1t as it would other
wise buy. He picked the most beauti-
full ones from his box, and thus began
my charm string. After that each one
OF my friends added a button, n il
grew quite long. / used to wrap II
around my neck and admire the light
shining through the many colors of
the buttons.
Years passed and | grew up. but I
still kept the charm string. and / re-
membered the name OF every button
for | named each one that was given
me after the friend who gave IL
Those | bought with the ten cents I
called angel buttons. 1t gave ioy and
happiness 10 every child that came 70
our house; but it had a greater mission
still. One day a neighbor sent for me
to come and help her nurse her very
sick child. She was so sick he doc
tor said that she must take medicine
every hour-and bad medicine II was
and must not be allowed to fret.
We'll, we had a time getting her to
swallow the medicine. but 1t was i'm
possible to keep her from fretting. and
she seemed to be getting worse. Then
went home and got the charm string
and told her all about it. told her
too. that every time she took a dose
OF medicine without fretting she might
choose a button and put it upon a new
string for herself. After that there
was no more trouble. She began with
the angel buttons. and by the time the
medicine was all taken my buttons
were nearly all gone. And then /
made her happy by giving her the
rest Everybody said the lucky charm
string cured her; and it did. because ii
MADE her take the medicine without
fretting herself into a fever"
is that all. aunty? Oh. 7 w;sh =
could have seen it, said little vir-
ginia.