The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-17
mother will show me how to manage this

mother will show me how to manage this big house-won't you. motherr'
 Johns mother arose stifiy, with that look of pain about the lips which comes from hurt at the heart.
 You can soon learn it." she said turn ing away. "I suppose I can manage to busy myself about something when my work is taken out of my hands,"
 Ellie started up and hurried to her room. A flush of indignation and of despair had come over her.. Surely she had been pa tient and sweet tempered. Surely she had done har very best to please John s mother and to reconcile her to the new condition of things! And here, already. everything had broken up in wrangling and discord. Ellie threw herself down upon the bed and buried her face in the pillow. She and John might have been so happy but for this. She wept hot, re- sentful tears. Truly, 1t was best, as she had always heard. for young married peo- pie to have a little home of their own, with no third party near to SOW the seeds of trouble. This was her first day in her new home-and perhaps she had years and years of life before her-and she did love John so, and might have made him so happy, if it had not been for this
 And if she loved John, did not his moth- CT love him-that quiet, undenonstrative woman. whose feelings ran deep. And there was grandma, whose life was torn up by the roots in her old age-and 1t js so hard for old roots to set themselves in new soil. And-why, that was what had happened to Johns mother, too-hef life had been torn up by the roots!
 When Ellie arose she had forgotten her self and her griefs. She was thinking o1 two lonely old women downstairs, the 1f,.E,. AaAr ktnv, each breeding over her own sorrow
 Never mind about me-" Ellie was say ing to herself, as she bathed away the tears from her eyes, T will try to make them happy"
 When she came down, after a little, she was lugging a large white sack, stuffed to bursting.
 Look what I found in the closet in my room. grandma!" she cried, cheerily. All this sack of scrapsF'
 Those are for the rag-man," said Johns mother, briefly. Perhaps she had been thinking, too. for her voice had lost a little of it's coldness.
 Grandma was already lingering the scraps wistfully.
 They'd make a mighty pretty quilt" she said. T used to make quilts all the time-scraps of the children's clothes, from their baby clothes on up. Ellie don't know anything about 1t. That was before her day. They've sort O gone out of fashion now" u.
 She had spoken rather at than to John ns mother as though with timid little de- sire to conciliate her.
 How I'd like to have one of those old quilts." cried Ellie, with tender interest Made of scraps of my old dresses, granu- ma-and maybe some of Johns oaoy dresses, mother-and a piece of my wed ding dress right in the middle. rnat would be something John and could keep always"
 .srhese 'ud make a mighty nice ntne- piece" said grandma refectively. She was stiIl regarding the odds and ends of cloth that lay across her lap.
 Johns mother had approached insensi- bIy.
 something that was almost like softness in her voice Tt was years ago-I knew them all-Nine-Piece and Irish Chain ana Chariot Wheel and Magnolia Bloom and I could find scraps of Johns little clothes. I'll show you some of his little dresses, Elinor-you'd never think he was ever that small, looking at him now"
 Ellie's arms were around her-the pretty young face was laughing tearfully up at her. The very idea of seeing Johns cum ming little baby clothes! And it was Johns mother who had kept them all these years!
 "We could do the quilting in Johns old playroom"-his mother was melting more and more-"I haven't had much time to sew. Maybe it'll help me to sit down a little"
 I'd like to make quilts again" said old Mrs. Vedder, looking up wistfully over her glasses.
 Mrs. Mayfield had arisen to go on some errand, but she sat down again