The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1907-05-18

things in your room Just because you were sick.
GU guessed you wouldn't spoil her dresses. 1t
made you very cross but of course you were too
proud to say word about it. If she didn't want
to wear them, she needn't. You did ask her to go
down III the parlor and play the piano, and she said
by and by. Everything seemed to be ''by and by
when you were sick, music. Baby Brothers-oh
you were worried wasn't Mother afraid he would
forget you, and stop loving you if he didn't see
you! No, Mother said that be would never forget
you, and that he would always love you always
love you. Mother had said again gravely, you
were to believe that all your life And then she had
gone out of the room to tell him everything you
had gust said, you s'posed so as to help him re-
member.
Then came time when you. grew very much
better You had walked across the room three
times yesterday, and once the dav before. and five
times otday You almost well. They left
you alone IN the room now, when they wanted to
tend to anything about the house The Doctor
had told you yesterday that he wasn't coming to
see you any more, and that pretty soon you must
come to him. You were sitting up in a big
chair by the window, all wrapped up in nice warm
comfortables. On the window-sill was big
Ger of foatingisland with pink islands, Great-aunt
Harriet had sent down to you that morning You
had eaten lot of it, and there was heaps left for
another person. (Shall you ever forget those gen
erous portions that always came down from Great
aunt Harriet's! No skipping from that Queen of
ter you had eaten all you could of it. you had sold
Father ten cents worth of charotte-russe that had
come from the same lavish giver-you had to do
something TO make money when you sick and
couldn't run errands or brush peoples hair. You
looked again at the foating-island with pink isl
ands-lots left for another person. Another per-
son. Of course, of coursel Such joyful thought!
Your Baby Brother! You would forgive him for
not coming to see you. Day after day Mother
had said that next day he would come. You just
couldn't wait another minute. 1ou would surprise
him! You would go to see him, and you would
take him the big saucer of foating-island with
pink islands Che had been so good, you remember
now that you had never heard him cry all the
time you had been getting WELL y, and it would be
just as If you were coming home from a party with
an orange doughnut for him
You listened very carefully. There wasn't
, sound IN the house. Everybody busy. No
would catch you. Up you got from your chair.
Out of the you tottered, of the bio,
bright cOmfortables trailing from your shoulders,
the saucer Of foating-isand with pink islands held
tightly in two thin little hands, and down to the
nursery you started on your poor little errand of
love.
Remember how you smiled happily as you
thought of that the other day, the Wonderful Day,
when you had taken all your bestowed treasures
down that same hall to that Baby Brother
(but very little very new them that every one
had longed for and prayed for till at last God had
let him come? He'd be gladder to see you this
time. you guessed. Specially since you had been
sick and were going to see him the very first
one of all, and with big saucer of Great-aunt
Harriets foating-island with pink islands! He'd
look up from the floor the minute he heard you
and then he'd knock his splendid block houses, and
across the room he'd toddle to meet you, and OH
how he'd kiss you and love you!
Slowly, very slowly Git was such hard work to
waikiki you went down the long hall. You had al
most reached the nursery. The door stood wide
open. Oh, so tired, but with little heart beating
hard with JOY, you went two or three steps farther
and peeped into the room Why-was this the right
room. -why-everything was different The
little white crib wasn't there The wicker high
chair" was gone. There were no block houses
There Baby Brother down the floor
laughing up at you. But instead-there was Moth
er in that same black dress you hated, sitting down
in front of a table her head bent over on her arms
sobbing as if her heart would break And on the
table was little woolly dog with shoebutton
eyes, and half-worn-out blue and white worsted
boy-doll, and broken little rattle.
And then-it seemed as if something snapped
inside your heart And in one swift, terrible
binding instant you understood.
Half a lifetime ago! Yet has it ever really
ceased the bitter, aching longing for
"a little one asleep