Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-03-25
But when she proposed another quilt,
Mrs. Webster fatty refused to makq

! Early one Saturday morning, as
| Mrs. Webster was Strengthening up
her little room, the matron came to
her and said There Is one OF your
numerous friends In the sitting room,
whom think l never saw before
! Charlotte had never seen her before
either: but when she looked at the
rosy blonde young woman with the
kindest mouth and the sweetest eyes,
she felt cheer in her heart she had
not felt since the quilt trouble.
! II am Mrs. Mason-Mary Mason
and l used to go to school to your
daughter, Miss Elizabeth, and loved
, her. so much" The rosy checked
young matron took Charlotte's hands
and kissed her on the forehead, just
, where the gray hair was parted.
II love any one who loved Eliza
BETH" The old lips trembled as she
! said the dear name.
How do you think I found your"
queried the younger woman. II found
you by log cabin quilt. We had bet
ter sit down for I have a lot to tell"
Charlotte seated herself in the big
plush armchair. II would love to hear
about you and most of all about Eliza
BETH"
Mary Mason, clasping the old hand
in her young one, began:
II went to school to Miss Elizabeth
for three years, and l learned more
in those three years than in all the
rest of my school life. 1t was not her
duty to teach us practical things, but
remember she told us how to make
0fP n vori1 10 ho
girl who could bring the best loaf. She
showed US how to cut shirt waist
and put it together and offered prize
to the girl who could make the best
fitting one. did not get the prize,
but she said that mine was good, and
she took the blue bow at her collar
and pinned it on me. have that blue
ribbon still. remember how she
talked about her mother and what she
meant to her in inspiration and en-
couragement - how she knew how to
do everything and was never idle a
moment, but was always finding
things to do for others.
/ 81 married when I was eighteen;
after three years my husband died,
leaving me with a little boy and baby
girl and only few thousand dollars
life insurance. If it had not been for
the useful teaching of Miss Elizabeth
I do not know what I should have
done. We have been poor enough as
it is. My little boy, eiGs,t years old,
sings in the choir at St. Stephens
church, and gets fifty cents week.
but the training and the kindness or
the choirmaster have been far more
than the money. During that cold
spell he brought me quilt that he
said the ladies of st. Stephens wanted
to give me on account of their appre-
citation of Williams services In the
choir. I loved that quilt, for 1t re-
minded me of one that Miss Elizabeth
showed ma how to make and l never
had the patience to finish. asked
who made the quilt. and when found
that it was Miss Elizabeth's mother, 1t
seemed so precious, l determined to
see you and tell you how I appreciated
it and how 1 love you for Miss Eliza
beth's sake.
"Now comes the fairy tale part OF
my story. An uncle who went out
west when I was a baby died and has
left me his money. I can hardly be-
lieve it, but I want you to come and
help me use 1t. I want to live IN the
country and have all kinds Of country
things that you know about and
don't, We will have an automobile, so
the children can come to school, and
YOU can teach them all the things that
their teachers can't teach them"
Charlotte's eyes had long since over.
flowed, and the thin, hard-worked ola
hands still kept tight hold on the
plump little one. In trembling voice
She said, 81 amt mite of use now;
I'm too old"
IF you will only help me make my
little Cora into a second Miss Eliza.
beth, YOU will do more for me than |
can ever do for you"