Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1903-03-19

hold them, she said; please put them
on my pillow" and then for the first
time Miss Boyd noticed that the small
hands were shrunken and misshapen
and lay on the bed as If lifeless.
The child looked at them with a sad
little smile. "Mutter says they will
not always be So" she said. Some
day shall go to Gods country and He
will touch my poor hands and make
them all well. Then l can gather vio-
lets for myself-when I'm in Gods
country"
Many day after this found Miss
Boyd at the bedside of the little suf-
ferer, and the violets always came
with her. There was only one thing
the little one loved better than the
violets, and that was her fathers vio-
lin.
He was a stolid old German with
sleepy blue eyes-sleepy except when
he was bending over little sister or
his beloved violin. Then he seemed
transformed, and a world of love and
tenderness shone in his face. play
about the country, vater," little sister.
would say when her pain was very
great, and Miss Boyd would close her
eyes and listen to brooks babbling
through green meadows, the glad
voices of birds and the low grooming.
of summer winds. She could almost
smell the violets and see the blue of
June skies as the man breathed the
country into his violin. And gradu-
ally the lines Of pain on the child's
face would disappear and only the sad
eyes told the story Of anguish.
ut is always So" said her mother.
'The vaters violin can soothe her bet
ter than anything else. But it will not
be long ere the great Water takes her
in His arms and socthes her forever"
A week had passed and Miss Boyd
had not called at the house, when one
day Freddy said, Miss Boyd, our little
sisters going to die, and mother wants
you to come tonight if you can" Miss
Boyd found wonderful change in the
little child. The look Of pain and suf-
fering had gone from the eyes, and in
its place was a light which only the
whispers of messengers from Gods
country could have brought.
"She does not suffer-" said the mo-
Their. "The doctor says she will go to-
night, and we wanted you"
And so the mother and father and
the good teacher" sat by the bedside
watching and waiting while little sis
ter passed into the silent land. Only
the Textbook of the clock and the
shortened breathing Of the child broke
the stiffness of the room.
Suddenly she half raised herself.
1.-THE country" she said, and trem-
blingly the water took his violin-but
alas! the babbling Of the brook had
the sound of tears running through 1t;
the songs of the birds were hushed and
sad; the low grooming of the winds
was changed to sobs and means. All
the anguish of the fathers breaking
heart was voiced in his violin. The
music ended with chash, and, lean
ing over the little misshapen hands,
the strong man wept.
Never mind, vater," whispered the
child, 1.-The good God will not let you
forget the gladness-some day you will
play it again." and with q little sigh
she slipped from the arms of the weep
ing earthly father into the arms of the
Heavenly Father-into Gods country.
Our little sister is all we'll now"
said Freddie to his schoolmates the
next week. Mutter says she runs in
the meadows and gathers violets for
herself now-away up there in Gods
country"
The gladness has not yet come back
to the waters violin. Sometimes,
though, there is a little throb Of joy,
like a laughing spirit struggling to be
free, and the mutter will say, with
tears in her eyes, ZACH! the gladness-
some day he will play 1t again"