Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1901-07-02

best kind of an American citizen; others
were born so, but he was one from choice
Then the Civil War broke out and l could
see he was uneasy thinking he ought to
enlist, but he would not do so until he had
saved enough money to keep me comfort
ably, and so matters went on until the
second year of the war. | remember 1t
was the Goth of March previous to your
birthday. The last think he whispered
to me was: If baby comes call it indie
pendence. That name will answer for
boy or girl, and it fits so well on Day "
Il partly believe he meant it for joke
to make me smile instead of cry, but
there was no time to explain, for the next
minute he had kissed me and was gone.
I need not tell you how lonely and anx-
ious | was The time went on to those
dreadful days in the first week of July,
1863. Yes, your father was at Gettys-
burg. How anXiOusly | watched the pa
pers and on the third-that's nine years
ago to-day-the evening paper brought
the terrible news to me, as to many an
other woman. There was the list OF the
dead. and there was his regiment; there
was his company and there was his name
james Day. No other man named Day
in that company; there. could be no mis-
take. He had been killed in the first of
the fighting. l can see those fearful let
tiers now when l shut my eyes
Here Mrs. Day broke down, and little
Pen could not say a word, only strOked
her mothers hand silently After a min
ute Mrs. Day controlled herself. Next
morning. the morning of July /, you
came. my darling. my comforter, and this
is the reason you are Independence Day
l could not give you any other name. You
are your fathers own child-his hair. his
eyes, even his intense nature, are yours.
Now that she knows, | am sure my little
daughter will be as brave as he was, and
proud of her name because Of him. Re
member always, dear. not a boy of them
would laugh if they knew the real story.
So it happened that when Miss indie
pendeuce Day went to school on the
morning of July ;, there was a certain
new dignity in the child's bearing; when
roll call came her voice had lost its petu-
lance and had gained an unknown sweet
ness, withal a ring that reminded one of
clear toned bell. Something in her air
said, You may tease me as much Is you
| like. | Shan't mind, for I've got Il secret,
and we all know that when boys find
teasing does not tease they stop. This
is not all however. nor even the best part
of the story. One day before her tor
mentors had grown tired of stirring her
/ up as they called it she CHANGED TO wear
Il string of coral beads Jack Lyman,
the would-be wit of the school, snatched
at it rudely, calling out, Here's Indies
| coral strand" Seeing her look of per
/ plexity he added mockingly: If yer don't
/ know what that means, better jjne a
! girls missionary s'ciety.'
/ Stung by the contempt in his voice,
reSolute little Independence made up her
/ mind she would know what it meant OF
/ course she asked her mother. and, though
/ Mrs. Day was not over wise on mission
airy topics, she had heard Bishop ,Heber' 5
/ grand old hymn and explained its mean
/ ing as best she could. The story took
/ hold of the child with 4 strong fascin0-
[ ton. She never would put On those beads
/ again, but she often took them out Of
/ their box and looked 1T them with some
+ thing like affection, repeating softly 10
{ herself, Indies coral strand She al
ways said Indies, not India's, as if it
/ were a personal possession.
/ God sometimes uses small means TO ac-
( compliSh great purposes. BY such little
! things the girl's interest in missions was
/ awakened. 1t grew as she grew TO wOm-
+ anhood. and India became the country
/ Of her dreams. Her twentieth birthday
found her motherless, with no duty to
/ bind her 70 this side Of the world; il found
/ her also strong in purpose To live her
life in that far-off land. working for its
. people. If, mingling with this devotion,
. was a lurking thought that no heather
would ever learn 10 call her 10y her Chris
tan name. who viii blame her?
Thus It was that little Independence
/ Day grew up 10 be 4 self-reliant woman,
and on this 4th OF July she is too far
away for mischievous boys 70 twit her
about her red hair or her name and too
happy in her work TO care If they did
Indianapolis News.