Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1904-07-20
Crazy QlaTget.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
By J. 7. K. Tarrey.

q By J. 7. Z. Tarpey. Z
lts757s1s1s7s7s1s7575l5757s7s7s1
Forty years ago, in picturesque
little cottage set deep among the
Worcestershire apple orchards, man
lay dying. In the outer room group
of neighbors sat round the fire, talk.
ing in hoarse whispers. In the sick
chamber tie young wife was alone
with her husband, her baby clasped
close to her breast. the tears falling
unchecked down her face as she
leant forward listening to his labored
breathing. Presently the sick man
stirred, his eyes Enclosed, and he
tried to speak. A fit of coughing
choked his utterance,. and brought q
couple Of the women in from the out
er room. One of them moistened his
lips with water. and raised his head
a little. When all was quiet again
they went out, leaving the door ajar.
Eth, how it do shake the life out
o. em!"-the hard whisper came
plainly to the young wife's ear-"e'll
go off on the next fit, surely"
Il been here nigh on three hours"
grumbled another voice; the doctor,
g wur main sure ED be dead afore
noon. l favor daylight for layin' 'em
out" ~
The young woman rose softly, laid
the sleeping baby in the cradle, and
closed the door; then she took her
place again by the bed, and gathered
the hard rough hand, that lay so
nervelessly on the quilt, into her own
trembling fingers. The mans eyes
opened again and CLEAN of tender
ness came into his face that before
had expressed nothing but dumb suf-
fefIng.
"Marget, poor lassl" he whispered,
Il be very near gone"
Marget bowed her face upon the
pillow.
"Oh, Jim, Jim," she moaned under
her breath, take me an baby, too"
A waek later the little cottage had
new tenant. In farming districts
there is no place but the workhouse
for the laborer's widow; the cottage
was only there for the accommoda.
tion of the servants on the farm and
the new ploughman had borne incon-
venience enough already in getting
temporary shelter for himself and his
family in the scattered hamlet during
Jim's brief illness. When 1t was
found that Marget did not mean to
go to the Workhouse, a weeks grace
was all that was allowed her, and
within that time she had made ready
to face the world with her child.
There was no difficulty about the
removal; the furniture Of the little
homestead-the mingled record Of
such patient thrift, such simple, de-
cent pride-was sold to pay the fu-
neral expenses and to discharge the
few debts that had grown during the
hpalIy SIX days after her husbands
powers incident to his ofnhreshold
Ri alat-ss - r6;sr+coantrys monme, with
her baby slung gipsy-wise across her
back, and all her worldly possessions
IN a bundle over her arm.
For mother and child there began.
that day, strange and wandering
life. Marget had one purpose stead
lastly in view. She had vowed that
Jim's child should never see the in.
Side of workhouse, she meant to
clothe, feed, and educate him by her
own labor, and when the time came
she would give him a trade that would
make him independent of her. No
TASK was too heavy, no work too
rough for Marget. All through the
summer she labored in the fields, do.
ing mans work for woman's wage
Little Jim would lie snugly asleep in
his shawl, made fast to the bough
Of a tree, Graded by the winds, and
with the birds song for lullaby;
and at night they slept, costly enough
in the hayloft.
In winter the case was harder
Ihere Was scarcely work on the farms
Tor the regular farm servants; but
Marget could put her hand to any
thing, from cleaning and scrubbiAg
to mending and making of clothes;
she had quick instinct for oppor
tunities, too, and convincing, per
suasive way of pointing them, SO tina
she often got a job where anothe:
might have failed. There was anoth
er trait of hers that made her a ia
vorite With the farmers wives; thai
was her scrupulous cleanliness. PooI
Marget! her history about this time
seems to have been largely struggle
against dirt. At the END of long
days work she would beg for a BIZ
, OF soap, battle herself and her child
and wash their garments. The wo
men she worked for, though they ap
preciated the practical advantage tt
themselves. of this extravagant devo
tion to soap and water, were little
contemptuous of it. Floors should b.
scrubbed every day, of course; chill
dren once week, and clothes in due
season; but to extend the principle
of daily washing to ones own person
was to outrage nature. 1t was THU
eccentricity. combined with her proud
independent spirit and her wandering
life, that earned her the nickname Of
Cray Marget" even among those
who gladly employed her.
BY the time that Jim was ole
enough to be sent to school his moth
er had put by little hoard of say
ings. She had heard somewhere tina
schooling was better in the north,
and northward, accordingly. she ben
her steps when the choice came to b.
made. There was as much care ant
thought expended, as many anxious
searchings of heart, on the selection
of this child's place of education a.
If he had been heir to a million Of