Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-07
THE WAY PROSPERITY CAME
TO KITTY.
RY BELLE LOGAN.

Kitty Jones was very fond of flowers
and she was in the habit OF starting
early for Sunday school. so that she
might walk slowly through the residence
portion of Main street and look at the
nicely kept lawns; and on her way home
she always took the other side of The
street and walked just as slowly as she
could without attracting attention. Dowr
on the back street where she lived people
did not care much for such things; fences
were old and dilapidated. and yards were
given I'D to weeds and miscellaneous ac-
cumulations of useless runplsh., lev
eeraniums in broken pots could be seen
peeping hungrily from windows; ana
here and there an occasional layiock OF
'popcorn' bush struggled bravery Tor eN'
istence against the overwhelming ocos o
small boys and goats and chickens:
The Jones yard had somewhat less
rubbish than its neighbors; and in it was
a hardy hydrangea that was the pride
and delight of Kittv's heart. But Iof
some reason the shrub had not oeen DONG
we'll for two or three years; eacn Su1iliiier
found it's blossoms smaller and IT'S shoots
more slender and feeble. Kitty was
afraid it was going to die. and each spring
she would watch it anxiously until the
first green leaves begin to appear
1t was not often that Kitty had an OPP
portunty to go to Main street. Her moth-
err took in washing. and worked from the
first light in the morning until after dark,
and as old Granny Jones was an lnvalld
and almost blind. Kitty was obliged to
remain at home during the week ana look
after her and the house. But on sunday
Mrs. Jones took care of Granny, ana
Kitty always looked forward to these
days as being especially her own.
One spring morning she was out LOOKING
at her hydrangea. when she heard a
hating step come UP the sidewalk. AS II
reached the opening where gate mac
once been. it paused. and thin voice
squeaked: "Why don't We cut it back,
chicken? That's what's the matter"
Kitty looked startled. Old Mac was
supposed to be crazy. and all the chill
dren along the street were AFRAID or NM
He lived in a small hut in the edge OF
the woods. and made precarous living
by trimming hedges and doing odd jobs
about the gardens of the residents OF
Main street. There was a rumor that he
had once been the gardener Of a big estate
somewhere back in the country
Trim it up! Trim it up! Trim 1t up,
chicken he saueaked hercely. That S
But II-won't kill it?' faltered Kit
"Pho. Pho. Folks don't know nothin'
nowadays Here" and the step halted
through the opening and up to the side
of the shrinking child. Look at me,
chicken. That's what's the matter"
And while Kitty looked on in speeches.
old Mac flourished his knife
about the shrub until more than half its
branches lay on the ground in an irregu-
lar circle.
bringin shrubs up like street children,
without no trainin' After this, severe
ly, 'see We take the old flowers off every
fall an then cut back all the branches.
That's what's the matter"
From the gate opening ne squeaked
back over his shoulder:
Pick up them cuttins. chicken. an.
stick EN- in a wet piece O ground. They'll
root. every one of 'em. Now don't We
forget
AS the tap. tap-a-tap of his hating step
sounded down the street. Kitty threw
herself on the ground and sobbed convul-
sively. That the hydrangea could sur
vive such mutilation did not enter hel
thoughts, and she reproached herself bit
terly for having allowed her fear to keep
her from opposing the crazy old man. If
only she had been brave she might have
driven him away and saved the shrub.
But as her grief sobbed itself out she
thought of the rumor which credited him
with being an expert gardener, and the
thought gave her certain degree or
comfort. Perhaps the hydrangea would
not die, after all: perhaps-but she would
not bring herself to quite believe this-the
old man was right and the hydrangea
would really be the better for it's severe
handling. At last she rose and tenderly
gathered up the severed branches and
carried them back to moist corner of
the garden. It only took few minutes
to spade up tiny piece of ground and
put in the cuttings. but she had scarcely
finished when she heard the sharp, queru-
lous voice of Granny calling for her from
the house.
amined the hydrongea daily. and with in
anxiety. April and most of
May passed. and still there were no signs
of life; then one morning she saw that
the buds had begun to swell. and a few
days later tiny green leaves began to
appear AS soon as she was assured of
this fact. she hurried to the garden and
examined the cuttings. They, too, Were
sending out leaves: but when She pulled
some of them up there were no signs of
roots. However. she kept close watch
and by the middle of July found that
nearly every one of them had sent out
a mass of tiny soft little white rootlets.
Kitty was delighted. Her great ambi-
ton was to have a hydrangea hedge in
front of the house: now here 1t was al
most an actual fact. and she danced and
sang about the house crazy as a LOOM"
as Granny expressed 1t.
Not for a single day did she forget to
go out and exult and wonder over the
growth of her big hy-
drangea. By the first of August it had
sent out new shoots at least two feet long.
And then such magnificent blossoms. The
whole neighborhood gloated over them.
and people even came round from Main
street to look and admire.
Only a short distance from where Kit
~ lived was a deep broken gully. which
he village used as dumping ground.
Here the gardeners of the places on Main
street were accustomed to dump the ref
use of their lawns and strawberries and
Kitty had often seen wagon
Dads of cuttings thrown into the gully,
and had scarcely given them a thought.
But the next spring it was different. The
experience with the hydrangeas had given
her new idea, and she kept a sharp
lookout. and from TIME to time carried
armfuls of the cuttings to her moist cor
ner of the garden. She did not know what
he cuttings were, but had a shrewd idea
that some Of them had been taken from
he magnificent shrubs she had so often
admired.
The second spring they were large
enough to transplant, and she set row
If hydrangeas in front of the house and
lown one side, and then transferred some