The Grit-advocate., 1900-05-18
THE YELLOW
TOMATOES.

liu6 oppOSllt llltie 6lil Win hiCShASS
and blue eyes, Her name was Bertha
Henderson, which was difficult name
for .Dominicus to remember But 1t
was not at all hard for him to remem-
ber the dear little girl with freckles.
She wore tiny black tassels at the top
of her shoes. and white aprons, ruff
fed and tied upon the shoulders with
large, airy-looking bows, and the ends
Of her smooth braids were tied with
ribbons now the color of the violet and
now the color Of the rose.
Dominicus said to himself that in
Amsterdam he had never known any
little girl SO freckled and So dear.
Il wish she would look at me-"
thought little Dominicus Van Brunt
But he thought 1t in Dutch, although
when he spoke aloud he managed to
make himself understood in English.
1t must be confessed that little Amert-
can children are too egotistical to be
polite. Thinking as they do that they
are nodded on the right pattern. they
are inclined to regard all children dif-
fering from them as curiosities. They
considered the round-faced Dutch boy,
with his shy ways and deferenttal
manner to the teacher. strange little
fish indeed. And no one in all the
school was more amused than the
dainty Bertha, who looked at him CO.
verify out OF her gray-blue eyes. How
ever, she did not laugh at him. so
Dominicus. who did not know that she
was amused. and who perceived only
her aspect Of gravity. thought ner
kinder than the rest, and was grateful.
If only she would have spoken to him,
>pr looked at him as If she were his
1friend, he would have nothing more to
ask-he could even have been patient
with that terrible English language
which every one around him was jab-
bering.
He determined to do something to
call the attention of his freckled
hearts-own to himself, and one day he
hurried into the schoolroom the first
minute the doors were opened and laid
three pear-shaped yellow tomatoes on
her desk. The scholars came. saw the
pretty vegetables and had little trou-
BILE In deciding from what source the
tribute came For who else in fash
ionable suburb would have yellow to-
matoes. except the son o4 the Dutch
gardener? The school INDUCED in
unrestrained giggling, but Bertha, in
stead of participating, shot defiance
from her gray-blue eyes. and, turning
with an adorable smile toward Do
minicus, carefully fitted one OF the
yellow tomatoes into her red mouth,
and devoured it in the same spirit In
which a loyal subject drinks to his
king. 1t was evident that Domtnicus
had been right Bertha was different
from the others. His happiness stained
the amiable boys face scarlet, and
while the other boys jeered at him
number of them felt distinct pang Of
jealousy. They were quite alive to
the extraordinary favor which had
been shown him.
From that day on Bertha, the daugh-
ter Of a prosperous lawyer and little
maid distinctly conscious of her social
opportunities, and Dominicus, the son
Of the man who rased garden truck.
we're friends. There came day when
Bertha, having reached the proud age
Of 10, gave birthday party on her
fathers lawn, and insisted on having
Dominicus among her guests-a Ia
nous day for Dominicus. in which he
saw his princess in all the glory OF her
best white frock, with her hair crimped
down her back, and had the rapture OF
eating cream tarts in her company!
But there was yet prouder day in
which Dominicus was permitted to re-