The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-07-22
Aunt Jessie's Shawl.

Aunt Jeaaie's Shawl.
"What a pretty shawl that is, Aunt
Jessie!" said Carol leaning her cheek
against the soft, fluffy wool.
'Yes," answered Aunt Jessie. q
think a great deal of this shawl, for
your Uncle James brought it to me
from the Shetland islands
"Oh, DO tell me about" exclaimed
Carol, strengthening up suddenly to
listen.
"Well, about two years ago your
Uncle James went Over to the Shet-
land islands to buy some ponies"
Carol nodded. She knew the little
Shetlands that ran about the pastures
and sometimes took her for a ride or
a drive, and her especial pet was
Jack, the dearest little Shetland Of
them all.
while your uncle was in the larg
est Of the islands some one told him
of an old lady who had four Shetland
ponies, SO he went to see her. She
lived ten miles from Lerwick. in a
little cottage Of one room, and was
very poor. When Uncle James went
in she was sitting on one side of an
open peat fire, busily knitting, and up
on the other side were Is or 20 chick
ems, who seemed quite as much at
home there as the old lady did.
When Uncle James went out with
her to look at the ponies she took her
knitting with her. and kept buSily at
work while she walked about and
talked, for these Shetland women Of
the poorer classes are never idle
They even knit as they go to and from
market. They load their goods, usu
ally peat, which is used for fuel. on
the patient little ponies, and then walk
beside them. knitting as they go. The
Shetland women are known all over
the world for their beautiful knitting,
especially for the shawls that they
make.
Before he left. Uncle James told
the woman that he would like very
much to buy the shawl that she was
making to take home to his wife. but
he could not wait for her to finish it.
"'Oh, well, you can pay me for it
now, and | will deliver it to you when
it is finished the woman said.
"Uncle James was not in the habit of
doing business with strangers in that
way, but the woman spoke so simply
and earnestly that he decided to trust
her; and since she was SO poor he was
willing to pay her the price of the
shawl, any way, even though he
might never see it again. So he gave
her the money and told her the name
of the boat on which he was to sail
from Lerwick, and the date Of its sail
ing. Then he went away. and was so
busy about the ponies that he had
bought in different places, and getting
ready to take them away on the boat
that he had almost forgotten the
shawl. But Just before the boat sailed
a girl came UP to the dock and in
quired for him. When he came to her
she took a bundle from under her arm
and in it was this shawl. which the
woman had sent just as she had prom
ised The girl had walked the ten
miles to bring it to Lerwick. and
would walk all the way back again. "
"My!" exclaimed Carol. with a long
breath.
''Uncle James was as much pleased
with the honesty of the woman as
over the beauty of the shawl itself,
and he was told on his trip that the
people of the Shetland islands are al
ways fair and honest in all their deal
ings, and that the woman would have
trusted him just as readily as she eX-
pected him to trust her.
$50 the ponies and the shawl came
home on the same boat, and this wom-
an who made my shawl was the very
one who also owned your favorite
Shetland, Jack."-Julia d. Cowles. in
the Youths Companion.
Great Alaskan River.