The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1899-05-27
The Charm Strinr.".

The Charm String"
1t was 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
mad traced familiar figures in the out
lines OF the many trees of the shady
front yard. In the lofty elm they found
the COW that jumped over the moon: in
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:
~, aunty, you promised to tell me
ABOUT your charm string!'
We'll, my darling, you shall hear of
1t now. But first let me tell you what
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 / arrived at school 7
found all my little friends rich with
their new playthings, the charm
strings, but had no money to buy the
tlrst button, and I was unhappy, you
may be sure.
After school, while walking about,
suddenly I spied something green in
the sand, something that looked like
little roll Of grass, and I picked it up.
1t was the very thing I had been wish
ing for, ten cents in paper money, and
it had evidently been lost a long,
long time. was so happy I called all
my little friends to come quickly and
see what I had found. I said should
make believe that an angel had
dropped it for me.
I'VE 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 I should have twice as
many buttons for it 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, and it
grew quite long. I used to wrap it
around my neck and admire the light
shining through the many colors of
the buttons.
Years passed and I grew up, but I
still kept the charm string, and re-
membered the name of every button.
for I named each one that was given
me after the friend who gave it.
Those I bought with the ten cents I
called angel buttons. 1t gave Joy and
happiness to every child that came to
our house; but it had greater mission
still. One day neighbor sent for me
to come and help her nurse her very
sick child. She was so sick the doc
tor said that she must take medicine
every hour-and bad medicine it was
and must not be allowed to fret.
well, we had time getting her to
swallow the medicine, but it was i'm
possible to keep her from fretting, and
she seemed to be getting worse. Then
I went home and got the charm string
and told her all about it. I 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 harm
string cured her; and it did, because it
made her take the medicine without
fretting herself into a fever 5sz s.
..@ us that all, aunty /? Oh, I wish I
could have seen it!'' said little vir-
ginia. @5 Nh 3;: II, Will ssf ID Il ...sz