Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-09-27
AUNT MATILDA's OFF DAYS.
Susan TEAL Perry in Ev anrelist.

Is AUNT MATILDA'S OFF DAYS.
Susan TEAL Perry in Evangelist.
It's one of your Aunt Matilda's off
days, Phemie. Don't mind her, child.
said Uncle Jacob, who was cutting corn
lin the field.
The stalks of corn were two or three
| feet higher than the little girls head.
! as she stood with a small tin pail ruiz
of cold water from the spring.
You came just in the nick of time.
! 1 was so thirsty thought would have
Ito leave my work and go for water.
| Uncle Jacob had what Picnic called
"a lovelight look on his face when he
| put the pail to his lips and drank OF
the clear, cold water.
| Picnic had. been crying, and Uncle
Jacob knew it as soon as he looked at
ther face.
You see, Phemie. that Aunt Mattl-
da's crab apples did not jelly 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 big
job to pour all that jelly out OF the
glasses and boil it over twice, all those
glasses to wash and dry.
81 washed the glasses, uncle, and
dried them. 1 didn't Enthusiastically
IL wish Aunt Matilda was always
pleasant, as she is sometimes. L 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,
Picnic, the best of them"
But you don't have any oft-days,
Uncle Jacob"
.Maybe things do not go as crisis
cross with me as they do with most
folks. child"
well, your COWS broke into the oat
Hot, you know, and the bay colt was lost
| for a week, and then the army worms
came. and such lots of potato bugs
i and lust 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 large
measure of grace, Phemie. We can't
keep our tempers without his grace,
lchild. And besides. if 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
4 to eat, and she makes you as nice
clothes to wear as any of the other girls
| have J.
ooh, yes, Uncle Jacob, I know it,
/ but
Uncle Jacob took the little girl In his
strong arms, and Rugged her close to
1 his loving heart, and then gave ner
| about a dozen kisses on both cheeks.
i Picnic was the only child of his dead
4 sister. Her father died before her noun
Ter died, and Uncle Jacob went out to the
| far west and brought the little orphan
| Girl home to live with him. He knew II
| was love that Phemie wanted that
| morning, as she stood with such lovely
/ look ON her face among the tall corn
| stalks. Love is the greatest thing IN
| the world for us all.
There had never been any children In
! The house where Uncle Jacob and Aunt
Matilda lived. until Phemie came there.
They had lived twenty years without
child in the family, and Aunt Matiida
| had very prim ways OF keeping mouse,
because there had never been any ittie
busy hands to put anything out OF place
And Aunt Matilda did her own work.
ard rot being strong, she got very tlrea
often, and Picnic had heard her tel
| how she seemed to have her nerves all
| on the outside of her body. She spoke
| kindly at times to Phemie, but there
were great many off-days IN Aunt
Matilda's life, and the little girl tried
|! tc be very patient and do everything sne3
could in the way that would please her
| aunt. Aunt Matilda had even been SO
kind as to buy Phemle q large doll, ana
| size had made pretty clothes for 1t, ana
Int was the little girls greutest comfort.
| She went back to the house, leaving
| the little tin pail of water in the corn
| field with Uncle Jacob. 1t was her work.
and of course the pleasansest kind OF
work, that of carrying pail of fresh
water to Uncle Jacob, when he was
working far away from the we'll. II
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 Pheniie went into the kitchen
| there was pan of potatoes on the table
| to pare and some sweet corn to husk for
| dinner She sat down by the big table
and began to pare the potatoes. Aunt
| Matilda was straining her Jelly and put
| ting it into the glasses; she had trout
I lied look on her face, and when Phemte
lasked how many potatoes she should
| pare she spoke up in sharp way and
! said, 81 should think you'd pared the
potatoes long enough here to know
without asking" So the little girl put
what she thought would be the right
number In the kettle.
| Such botlering time as I've had
with the Jelly" Aunt Matilda spoke out;
"it's just enough to try the temper of a
saint. l never had such a job of it be-
fore in my whole life"
Somehow Picnic thought Aunt Ma
| t.lda meant that she was to blame for 1t
IN some way, because it was the first
| time she had ever been there at the Jelly
making.
Uncle Jacob came In. but he did not
1 say much Phemie had noticed that he
never did when Aunt Matilda had Off
days.
| After the dinner work was done up,
Phemie went to her little bedroom, over
the Kitchen, and got her doll. She had
| named the doll Sarah, after her mother.
/ Sarah" she said. 1--WE will go out to-
gether and sit down under the lilac
bushes by the parlor window. You've
been shut up here all day. ] was busy
| with the work, or / should have taken
| YOU down before. Aunt Matilda is in
awful trouble about her jelly"
| 1t was a sunshiny place under the lilac