Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1904-07-20

er had put by little hoard OF saw
ings. She had heard somewhere That
schooling was better in the north"
and northward, accordingly, she bent
her steps when the choice came to be
made. There was as much care and
thought expended, as many anxious
searchings of heart, on the selection
of this child's place of education as
if he had been heir to a million of
money, with public school and uni
versity career before him.. Marget
had no standard whereby to measure
the mental fitness Of teacher
though luck served her there also
but she had sure instinct for faces.
and she pitched upon kind and gen.
tie woman, into whoJe care, with
many fearful exhortations, she en-
trusted little jim
1t was not SO easy to be cheerful
on those long tramps, now that there
were no little feet pattering along
side; but Marget had high quality
of courage, and she met her troubles
with SO brave front that they nad
no power to dash her spirits. There
was yet much to do, and she must
only work the harder to cure her
loneliness. 1t was not merely the
steady outgoing for the boys keep
and schooling that had TO be met
there was his apprenticeship to be
thought of, and money to be saved for
that. Marget was punctual to the
day in her payments to the good
schoolmistress; she would not miss
her monthly visit to little Jim, even
if she had to walk fifty miles to COM
pass it; but never week passed
without it's added mite to the store
that was to launch her boy upon the
world. The field of her labors had
tended more and more northward,
ever since her mind had been bent
on seeking for better schooling; and
when Jim was finally established in
his northerly home Marget forsook
her old haunts altogether, as carrying
her too far out of the reach Of the
boy, and made new connection
among the farming folk of the Fell
country.
Just outside the village Of Langto1,
stretches of grass on either side, is
Ingleton's Farm. The house stands
well back behind it's trim patch OF
garden, but beyond II the farm build
ings come down close to the road.
Just within the hedge, against the
Shipper, there is an old lean-to shed,
long ago fallen into disuse, which
only awaited an interval of leisure or
a spell of unusual activity on Farmer
Ingleton's part to be pulled down.
Two years ago Marget's wanderings
came to an end, and she took UP her
abode in this she'd She had been in
stalled there some days before any
one discovered ner, and she was al
ready as much at home as if she had
lived there all her life. When it was
understood that she meant to live
here altogether, it became quite a
scandal among the responsibilities OF
the neighborhood, and the farmer
was sternly taken to task by the vicar
for aiding and abetting Marget il her
refusal to go decently to the work
house. But Ingleton carried very
tender heart beneath a rough exterior
and his sympathies were altogether
on the side of the old woman.
give no fancy for the worknouse
myself" he said to his wife; "and
they would not let her stop here.
They'd send her to Worcestershire,
and we don't know what sort OF a
place they have there. So long as
Marget keeps the place clean, and
lights no fire inside tho shed, she's
welcome to STOP"
So he refused to cooperate with
the vicar and patched up the old shed
to make it waterproof. With little
straw and bundle of sweet hay as
bedding and an old packing case or
two in lieu of furniture, Crazy Mar
get was as proud of her dwelling as
if it mad been palace; and on line
days she might be seen, with a fire
lighted close to the roadside brook,
hanging her washing, out on the
hedge in serene Indifference OF all
laws of vulgar etiquette.
1t was in these circumstances that
I made her acquaintance. | came
upon the little encampment one day,
and thought it so picturesque that |
sat down to make sketch. In time
Marget and l became quite intimate,
and I discovered that her greatness
was nothing worse than a mania for
cleanliness. She would walk miles
on the promise of bit of soap, and
it was the one thing she had ever
been known to beg for. BY degrees l
drew from her all her story, but in
speaking Of her son she showed
certain amount of reserve. She was
very proud of him. He was son any
mtoher might be proud OF, she told
! mo He had never given her any