River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-12-18
What Edna's Grief Accomplished


something like that, and she loved
to go.
And why shouldn't she like it,
with her clean dress and clean
hands, and clean, cheerful face
that smiles lovingly into SO many
other clean, happy faces; and with
all the pretty songs that she learned
SO easily, and with all the pretty
cards and beautiful picture story
papers that she could carry home;
and with all of the kind words and
and loving greetings and sweet
sympathy that their teacher, Miss
Lovejoy, always had ready to scatter
like rays of sunshine among them.
Why shouldn't she love to go to
Sunday-school? Of course she
would.
And so when it came the hour for
Sunday-school and Miss Loveioy
was already in her place at the
seats where her little sweethearts,
as she sometimes called them, would
gather preparatory to going into
the little room," it would not be
long until they would all be with
her, and | am sure that most of
them just wished that there were
more sides to Miss Lovejoy, SO that
they could each of them sit next to
her. But they had learned not to
be rude about having the two covet-
ed seats, one on either side of her.
This matter had been quietly settled
in this way: First come first
served" and so most of them were
at Sunday-schoo1 early.
But to-day Edna was very thought
full during lesson. She was always
thoughtful and attentive, and scarce
ever failed to recite the Golden Text
without a slip.
But to-day she seemed not only
thoughtful, but even sad.
Once or twice she turned her head
away when Miss Lovejoy was talk
ing over the story of the lesson; it
was not because she was not paying
attention that she turned eWay her
head, but to hide little tear that
was stealing out of her great big
blue eyes.
And Miss Lovejoy noticed her,
and after the lesson was over tried
to find out what it was that made
Edna SO sad, but Edna could not
tell her, and SO she just gave her
tender goodbye kiss, and breathed
a prayer that God would wipe away
the tears from little Edna's eyes,
and tried in this way to lift the
sympathetic sadness from her own
heart.
When Edna got home she did not
run to find mamma or papa to have
them read the stories in the paper
she had brought home, but ran to
the bedroom and buried her face in
her hands and sobbed as if her
heart would break. And when din
ner was ready, and she didn't come
when mamma called in a CHEEKY,
ringing tone, "Dinner!" mamma
went into the bedroom to see why
her little girl didn't come.
When she found Edna in her
heart-broken grief she sat down
and took her in her arms and said:
What is it that troubles my dear
little gir1?"
At first it was hard for Edna to
think of telling even mamma, but
she knew her mamma loved her,
and hoped her mamma might help
her, though she could not see how,
and so after little she sobbed out
in the most pitifu1 tone that little
girl of five summers ever had to
use:
My papa can't go to heaven!
My papa can't go to heaven! My
papa is drunkard and can't go to
heaven"
And then mammals tears began
to mingle with the tears of her little
girl, tears like those that had Sec
reilly fallen, oh, so many time, for
the same cause, and-what should
she say? Nothing. And so they
wept.
And papa heard it all from his
chair in his sitting-room. His head
fell upon his breast, and his heart
began to break. Almost as in a
dream he said to himself:
/ "Can't1go to heaven Can't go to
heaven! My papa is drunkard
and he can't go to heavenl"
And just then and there he re-
membered that was just what the
Bible said about the drunkard,
And-was he? Yes. He was a
drunkard.
He wept and prayed; for he re-
membered verse that had once