Year: 1861

A June sun shone, hot and glaring on a
low brown house, that stood very near a
sandy road, in one Of the farming districts
of New Hampshire. Not a tree nearer
than the next field, which, by way Of COM
pliment, was called the orchard, but few
struggling morsing glories and one or two
puny astors well known to the mistress
of the house as China oysters in box un-
der the window, told that even here were
some dim, i'll understood yearnings after
beautiful objects, Near the broad fiat
doorstone three yellow haired chubby chill
dren were making dirt pies. not one of
them old enough to walk the two miles
that lay between them and the dirty school
house. Inside the house sickly discour-
aged looking woman was trying to coax an


obstinate baby of half a year old to 60 to
sleep. Poor Mrs. Plummer, as the neigh
bors called her, with no hauds but her own
to do chore-was it any wonder that the
flies were helping themselves to the ro-
mains of the slovenly breakfas. that the
milk things still remained where her hus-
band left them before sun rise; that the
attempt she made at washing only amoun-
ted to confused litter of tubs and soiled
garments, and that amidst it all, obliged
to sit down by the screaming child she had
only heart enough to darn, disconsolately,
the heel OF an old stocking that ought to
have gone to the rags months ago?


Frances Plummer and John her husband
had been married six years, and everybody
agreed that they Lad had hard row to
hoe. TO be sure his father bad left him
the old house, the rickety barn behind it,
and one or two acres of rocky sandy soil !;
but even this was not all paid for, and if it
had been it wouldn't have been worth
much for, as John said, There wasn't an
acre of pasturing on it, and his poor COW
had to pick up her scanty living most any
where, But they married young and full
of hope, they thought the work of build
ing up modest fortune would not be too
hard for them. Somehow or other they
did not get along they had bad seasons ;
the farmers cut down the wages of their
hired men, and when the children multi
piled SO fast, the wife grew weak and all
ing, and JOHN found, as the years went by,
they only made out to get poor living.
The Spring of 1861 had, however, looked
little better for them, for John bad seeu-
red small farm two or three miles from
home, to carry on at the halves, and be
hoped by autumn to have something in bis
pocket wherewith to help to pay off the
mortgage. But in spite of this good for
tune Frances, as she sat rocking the cradle
thought her husband had seemed anxious
/ and silent for the last few weeks, and her
mind, always foreboding, grew troubled
with sense of some new grief that was tc
befall them The stocking dropped from
her fingers, and it was some minutes
before she discovered that her child had al
! last worried itself into restless slumber


She got up weariedly and attempted to
bring some order out of the chaos that
reigned around her. Perhaps you think
/ she and her husband were rather weak
sort of bodies. but if you ever tried to gel
your daily bread off from eighty two acres
of New Hampshire rocks, with house ana
four babes for capital, you will have lit


tie charity fer that kind Of weakness.


Hour by hour the morning wore away
and although the noisy children trooped
in one after another, woke the babe, and
undone 8 great part Of her work, still By
soon. which brought dinner and her bus