Norwich bulletin., 1911-08-19
SOCIAL CORNER STORY
Clara Speedwell's Vacation Among the Hills
BY RUTH

I and out of the sunshine which filtered
through the dense foliage gliding spots
| on the tree trunks, walls and earth
| along the road.
| An hour and a half's drive brought
them to the home in the woods, and
| the word antique appeared to Clara
| to be written all over the place; and
when she got inside sweet and clean"
seemed inscribed on everything there.
Clara ran about the farm full of en-
thusiastic delight till supper time and
then sat down to milk and ruSkS and
baked apples; and simple as was the
repast, never had anything taste finer.
| And the evening was pleasantly passed
| in social chatting while Sally, the only
child, played with a pet chicken in the
corner until bedtime and without pro-
| test went off to bed.
The Jacksons proved to be very in
| telligent people, as well as most agree
able; but because Job insisted upon
keeping Leaves of Grass" which he
called "the Gospel of true democracy"
| on the front room table where it was
customary for his neighbors to keep
their Bible, the parson had spoken of
| the family as heather, and although
| they were the kindest of neighbors,
! they were in disesteem among the
| pastors flock.
| What Leaves of Grass had to do
with pure democracy was a subject
Clara took to bed with her, and thought
| it over until she fell asleep; and when
! she awoke in the morning the SPUR
| relS were running on the roof, the jays
| chatting in the trees and the sun shin
| ing brightly into the window. The at
mosphere bore to her the very benson
| of health, and she felt like a new
woman already. She mad hardly
| finished Der toilet when she was called
to plain breakfast and everything
seemed so fresh and clean and whole
some that she was delighted After
| the morning meal she was taken out
| to see Jobs silver Lutte which was a
! little brook of fresh water that came
| purling over TINY boulders between
ferny banks; and Hannah's chair, a rock
! beneath a pine tree the hill which
| rose beside a pond Of purest water,
whero at shutdown the wood-duck
came and swan and fed; a chair from
Adams garden" and who could deny
| it's antiquity
| The country was all that Job Jack
son had claimed it was: and Clara
| Speedwell wandered about the piney
| lands breathing in the balsamic air,
growing every day in strength and
cheer and grace; and she would catch
| herself repeating a verse of favorite
poem which ran
II lift mine eyes to Thy great hills,
| o God
]
7 clearly see thy wondrous hand
That guides in changeless love-"
| And one day she asked permission TO
| take Leaves of Grass from the sit
| ting room table to the hammock that
she might examine it through curiosity
! and understand what the gospel of true
| democracy was. When Clara had set
| tied herself in the hammock. in the
| shade of great pine she opened the
/ ~ h
| eye:
HAS any one thought it lucky to be
born?
| hasten to inform him or her it is
| just as lucky to die, and ! know it."
| Clara had found something new and
mystifying and she let the book fall
| in her lap and closed her eyes to think
! of it. and unexpectedly she fell asleep.
| Then she awoke to d dream presence,
| a gentleman of refined and scholarly
| mien who sid:
| what do Leaves of Grass, signify?"
; 'They form the velvet carpet of
Gods green earth replied. Clara
| And they signify, said her strange
visitor, the Life and the Way"
Leaves of grass take from the mine-a!
kingdom that which man cannot as
! simulate and change it into food for
| animals and for man. and furnish the
/ meats milk etc, which sustain him,
and the hair and fibres which c1othe
! him. Without the aid of leaves of
grass no man could claim his in
heritance of the earth-he would not
! be here to admire the manifold beau
/ ties of nature. Leaves of Grass-the
| Way of Life-is the way of Cod"
| Clara was SO startled that she sud-
denly awoke; but in her excitement
she did not forget her dream visitor
| who had created a new world for ner
and shown her how God was daily pre-
| pairing the way for all his children
| through his realm of vegetable beauty.
| The sky was in the glory of a sunset
such as she had never before witnessed,
| and she heard two voices singing.
| Nearer Home as she had never
heard it sung before; and these words
came floating over the hill:
! Gone sweetly solemn thought
! Comes to me DER and DER:
| Pm nearer home today
| Than I ever have been before
| And Clara ran over the hill and there
sat Hannah in her chair. with Job re-
| clining beside her on the soft pine
| needles and they were giving voice to
the music of their souls, while the
pond below them reflected the splendor
| of the heavens and the birds were
| singing their good might songs
| 1t seemed as if she was in heaven
! instead of among the heather on the
| hills; and after two weeks at HillvIlie
| with the Jacksons she came away not
i only with new strength. but with new
mind and heart, for she could realize
as never before the kinship of nature
and the closeness of her Heavenly
| Father and the meaning of the adj
monition, Judge not lest ye be
/ judged
| Sincere friends parted on the day
| she left: and Clara has always had
| cause for thankfulness that she cast
her lot among "the heather" and had
| been "where ill-thoughts die and good
fare born. out in the fields of Cod