Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-09-17
The Hack Drivers Little Girl.

Six little girls in Miss Rexford's
school were about the same age
Cora, Ethel, Sally, Edith, Jenny, and
Ruth. Five of them were generally
to be seen together, at recess and
going and returning from school,
but the sixth one, Ethel Stedman,
was not apt to be included in the
good times of the others. This was
not because Ethel was not as pretty
or as bright or as pleasant as the
rest of them or because she did not
wear as dainty frocks. No, it was
all on account of her fathers being
a hack driver. Sally's father was
q doctor, Edith's was a clergyman,
Cora's was lawyer, Ruth's painted
pictures, while Jenny's father kept
a bookstore. These little girls did
not realize that a man who drove
hack for living could be just as
good as if he went around curing
the sick people or stood behind
counter selling books or even preach
ed sermons in a big church. So Ethel
was made to feel that in some way
she was not quite their equal, though
she didn't understand what the reasol
was. 1t would never have occurred
to her that her dear, kind father was
the cause Of all this snubbing.
Day after day Ethel went to school,
wishing she could do something to
make the girls like her better. Final
ly, her chance came.
It was warm and sunshiny when
school opened one afternoon; but
before long it grew cloudy, and, when
the children were let out, the weather
was so threatening that the five
friends hurried along hoping to reach
their homes before the shower. They
had only gone few blocks, however,
when great drops began to fall; and
in a minute it was pouring. There
was no way but to scamper up on the
steps of house, to wait till the rain
should cease but the question that
troubled them was how soon would
it stop. 1t might keep on until night,
and they all lived "a long walk away.
1t thundered and lightened little,
and Cora and Jenny began to cry.
II grew ihSif lam tohS uo"h
in such sheets that the girls could
hardly see across the street Then
a hack came rolling along; and to
their surprise, it stopped right in
front of the steps.
"Girls! girls!" called a familiar
voice; don't you want to ride homer"
Before one of them could answer,
Ethel's father had jumped from his
high seat, and had poor little frighten-
ed Jenny in his arms. He deposited
her on her feet inside the carriage
door; and in a minute or two the
five were all there, half laughing,
half crying, and being whirled along
toward home.
Father came after me; but you
started on ahead, or | should have
asked you to ride then" explained
Ethel; and the five couldn't help feel
ing little bit ashamed to see the
eagerness with which the girl whom
they had all sighted was ready to do
them favor. AS for Ethel herself,
she almost wished shower would
come up every day, it was such
delight to be right among the girls,
and be one of them,
How did you get homer" asked
Edith's father that night.
"Mr. Stedman brought me in his
hack. Ethel asked us all to ride"
And Edith related the circumstances.
"Mr. Stedman is a nice man." said
the clergyman, refleotively. 81 told
some one the other day I didn't
believe there was a better man in
this town than Erastus Stedman.
And he has a good wife, too. am
glad that Ethel is one of your mates.
You'd better invite her to spend some
Saturday with you"
Edith told the other girls what her
father had said; and they agreed that
they had made a great mistake, and
that they would DO their best to rec
tify it. After that there was no lack
of good times" for Ethel Stedman.