Stories Worth Rereading

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I did not want her to go, but it was another lesson for me. God could plan
better than I could. She had her little girl with her, and as we reached
the cabin, she said, "I will wait out here."

I do not know what I expected, but the man greeted me with an awful oath.
Still it did not hurt; for I was behind Christ, and I stayed there; and I
could bear what struck him first.

While I was changing the basin of water and towel for him, things which I
had done every day, but which he had never thanked me for, the clear laugh
of the little girl rang out upon the air.

"What's that?" said the man eagerly.

"It's a little girl outside waiting for me."

"Would you mind letting her come in?" said he, in a different tone from any
I had heard before.

Stepping to the door, I beckoned to her; then, taking her hand, said, "Come
in and see the sick man, Mamie." She shrank back as she saw his face, but I
assured her with, "Poor sick man! He can't get up; he wants to see you."

She looked like an angel, her bright face framed in golden curls and her
eyes tender and pitiful. In her hands she held the flowers that she had
picked from the purple sage, and, bending toward him, she said: "I'm sorry
for 'ou, sick man. Will 'ou have a posy?"

He laid his great, bony hand beyond the flowers, on the plump hand of the
child, and tears came to his eyes, as he said: "I had a little girl once.
_Her_ name was Mamie. _She cared for me_. Nobody else did. Guess I'd been
different if she'd lived. I've hated everybody since she died."

I knew at once that I had the key to the man's heart. The thought came
quickly, born of that midnight prayer service, and I said, "When I spoke of
your mother and your wife, you cursed them; I know now that they were not
good women, or you could not have done it."

"Good women! O, _you_ don't know nothin' 'bout that kind of woman! You
can't think what they was!"

"Well, if your little girl had lived and grown up with them, wouldn't she
have been like them? Would you have liked to have her live for that?"

He evidently had never thought of that, and his great eyes looked off for a
full minute. As they came back to mine, he cried: "O God, no! I'd killed
her first. I'm glad she died."

Reaching out and taking the poor hand, I said, "The dear Lord didn't want
her to be like them. He loved her even better than you did, so he took her
away. He is keeping her for you. Don't you want to see her again?"

"O, I'd be willing to be burned alive a thousand times over if I could just
see my little girl once more, my little Mamie!"

O friends, you know what a blessed story I had to tell that hour, and I had
been so close to Calvary that night that I could tell it in earnest! The
poor face grew ashy pale as I talked, and the man threw up his arms as if
his agony was mastering him. Two or three times he gasped, as if losing his
breath. Then, clutching me, he said, "What's that you said t'other day
'bout talkin' to some one out o' sight?"

"It is praying. I tell Him what I want."

"Pray now, quick. Tell him I want my little girl again. Tell him anything
you want to."

I took the hands of the child, and placed them on the trembling hands of
the man. Then, dropping on my knees, with the child in front of me, I bade
her pray for the man who had lost his little Mamie, and wanted to see her
again. As nearly as I remember, this was Mamie's prayer:--

"Dear Jesus, this man is sick. He has lost his little girl, and he feels
bad about it. I'm so sorry for him, and he's sorry, too. Won't you help
him, and show him how to find his little girl? Do, please. Amen."

Heaven seemed to open before us, and there stood One with the prints of the
nails in his hands and the wound in his side.

Mamie slipped away soon, and the man kept saying: "Tell him more about it.
Tell him everything. But, O, you don't know!" Then he poured out such a
torrent of confession that I could not have borne it but for One who was
close to us at that hour.

By and by the poor man grasped the strong hand. It was the third day when
the poor, tired soul turned from everything to him, the Mighty to save,
"the Man that died for me." He lived on for weeks, as if God would show how
real was the change. I had been telling him one day about a meeting, when
he said, "I'd like to go to a meetin' once."

So we planned a meeting, and the men from the mills and the mines came and
filled the room.

"Now, boys," said he, "get down on your knees, while she tells about that
Man that died for me."

I had been brought up to believe that a woman should not speak in meeting,
but I found myself talking, and I tried to tell the simple story of the
cross. After a while he said:--

"Boys, you don't half believe it, or you'd cry; you couldn't help it. Raise
me up. I'd like to tell it once."

So they raised him up, and, between his short breathing and coughing, he
told the story. He had to use the language he knew.

"Boys," he said, "you know how the water runs down the sluice-boxes and
carries off the dirt and leaves the gold behind. Well, the blood of that
Man she tells about went right over me just like that. It carried off about
everything; but it left enough for me to see Mamie, and to see the Man that
died for me. O boys, can't you love him?"

Some days after, there came a look into his face which told that the end
had come. I had to leave him, and I said, "What shall I say tonight, Jack?"

"Just good night," he said.

"What will you say to me when we meet again?"

"I'll say, 'Good morning,' over there."

The next morning the door was closed, and I found two men sitting silently
by a board stretched across two stools. They turned back the sheet from the
dead, and I looked on the face, which seemed to have come back nearer to
the image of God.

"I wish you could have seen him when he went," they said.

"Tell me about it."

"Well, all at once he brightened up, 'bout midnight, an' smilin', said:
'I'm goin', boys. Tell her I'm going to see the Man that died for me;' an'
he was gone."

Kneeling there with my hands over those poor, cold ones, which had been
stained with human blood, I asked that I might understand more and more the
worth of a human soul, and be drawn into a deeper sympathy with Christ's
yearning compassion, "not willing that any should perish."--_Mrs. J. K.
Barney_.

How Wonderful!

He answered all my prayer abundantly,
And crowned the work that to his feet I brought,
With blessing more than I had asked or thought,--
A blessing undisguised, and fair, and free.
I stood amazed, and whispered, "Can it be
That he hath granted all the boon I sought?
How wonderful that he for me hath wrought!
How wonderful that he hath answered me!"
O faithless heart! He _said_ that he would hear
And answer thy poor prayer, and he _hath_ heard
And proved his promise. Wherefore didst thou fear?
Why marvel that thy Lord hath kept his word?
More wonderful if he should fail to bless
Expectant faith and prayer with good success!

--_F. R. Havergal_.

OUR GRASS RUG AND--OTHER THINGS

Our house isn't so very nice. We own it, of course, and that is a great
deal, as mother has often reminded us when we grumbled. But we girls always
thought there were some drawbacks even to that, because we couldn't ask a
landlord for new paper or fresh paint, and as for us--we never had money to
spare for such superfluities.

There are only four of us,--mother and Jack, Rose and me. We children have
been busy all our lives trying to get educated, so we could keep mother in
luxury after a while. In the meantime, she had done with bare necessities,
for the life-insurance father left wasn't large enough to take any liberty
with. Mother has things spick and span. No palace could be more beautifully
kept than our home, but the furnishing is nothing whatever to boast of.

Our room was almost the worst of all, with its odds and ends of things.
"Other girls have silver-backed hair-brushes!" wailed Rose one night,
regarding her old one with a scornful glance.

"Yes, and chairs that don't tip one over," I added, as I managed to save
myself from a fall.

"Isn't it horrid to be poor, Meta?" said Rose.

"It's no joke." I was very grim because I had bruised my hand on the
rickety chair, and tomorrow was music-lesson day, as I remembered.

It was then and there we rebelled. Not so mother could hear us--we weren't
mean enough for that! She'd have been only too glad to help matters if she
could. So we had our indignation meeting by our two selves. We said we'd
had enough of old furniture and cheap sash curtains, and we decided it was
time to act.

Having reached this decision, we proceeded to carry it out, and we
surprised ourselves with the speed of our achievements. My hope lay in
music, Rose's in arithmetic. I trailed around the neighborhood, next day,
looking for scholars, and Rose betook herself straight down to the Cowans,
who had been hunting for a "coach" for their twins. We had discussed the
Cowan possibility some time before, but Rose declared then that she
couldn't spare a minute from the demands of her studies, while I knew it
would keep me busy to be graduated on schedule time without doing anything
outside.

It makes a difference when you get interested in something for yourself. As
soon as ever we girls viewed these occupations in the light of furnishings
for our room, we felt sure we could squeeze them in--and we did. I got six
beginners, and Rose captured the Cowans, root and branch--four instead of
two; for it seemed they were not proficient in mathematical pursuits, and
their mother was delighted to get them off her distracted hands. All our
friends know that Rose adores sums and problems, and she didn't need any
other recommendation.

Well, we did it! It wasn't easy, either. If my half-dozen aspirants for
fame escaped shaking till their teeth chattered, it wasn't because I didn't
ache to administer it. And Rose feared her hair would be white before the
end of the term. You see, when there's a certain amount of housework you
feel obliged to do, and when your studies fairly clamor for attention the
rest of the time, it sets your nerves all awry to keep the tempo for clumsy
fingers that go just half as fast as they should; or to teach over and over
again that four times five are _always_ twenty.

But I suppose all these trials helped us to appreciate our possessions when
we did get them. They were just as sweet and dainty as we had hoped. We got
two single beds--white enamel with brass trimmings--and a pretty mirror in
a neat frame. Our old dressing-table looked like new with fresh drapery,
and there were full-length curtains to match. Two cunning white rockers,
two other chairs, and a little round stand made us feel simply blissful. We
painted our book-shelves with white enamel paint, and did our woodwork
ourselves. Jack painted the floor a soft gray that would blend with
anything, and after it was dry we laid on it one of our chief treasures. It
was a grass rug, in two shades of green, with a stenciled border and a
general air of elegance that almost overpowered us. It was large enough
almost to cover the floor, and we stenciled green borders on our curtains
and drapery in the same Grecian pattern.

It seemed too good to be true as we stood in the door and viewed the
landscape o'er after we had it done. "It isn't often that our dreams come
true!" sighed Rose.

"But this one has," I assured her.

She nodded happily. "Yes, and it's just as nice as we thought it would be!"

"Won't it do our hearts good to 'give notice,' as the cooks say?"

"I can hardly wait to tell those awful Cowans that they may get along as
best they can. I'm so tired of them, Meta!"

"I know you are. I wouldn't mind the music so much if I had time. But it's
dreadful when your own studies drag like millstones about your neck. I'm
not clever at learning as you are, Rose. I have to work for what I get. So
I shall tell them, next Tuesday, that I've decided not to teach any more
till school's out."

Jack stopped on his way down the hall to look over our shoulders. "Huh!" he
said, if you know what that means.

"Doesn't it look lovely?" asked Rose, her face all full of dimples. Rose is
as pretty as a picture, anyway, and when she smiles, you can't help smiling
back. Jack patted her cheek, and said, "It certainly does," and then he
passed on abruptly.

"Something doesn't suit him!" I declared as he shut his room door behind
him. "I can't imagine what it is, and it's of no earthly use to ask him."
It wouldn't have been. You can't worm a thing out of that boy till he gets
ready to tell.

Mother came up the stairs just then waving a note in her hand. "It's from
Helen Hunt!" she announced joyfully. "She is going to spend a day and a
night with us next week on her way to Grovesport. I shall be so glad to see
her." Mrs. Hunt and mother have been friends more years than Rose and I
have lived, and they very seldom meet any more. So we girls were almost as
glad as mother was, because that dear woman doesn't have as many pleasures,
as she deserves.

After we went to bed that night, we planned the surprise. The visitor
should have our lovely new nest, and we'd go and camp in the shabby old
guest-room. We knew it would please mother, for she hadn't had so pretty a
place to entertain Mrs. Hunt in for many years. It did please her, too, so
much that she almost cried, and she hugged us and thanked us till we felt
very happy and self-satisfied. Jack was standing by, and he said "Huh!"
again, in that same queer tone. Then mother turned and hugged him, and Rose
and I said to each other how strange it was that Jack should be jealous of
his own sisters.

It shone the day she came--the room, I mean, though the sun was on duty.
too. Mother went to the station to meet her, and, as she started out, she
called back, "Children, if any of you have occasion to go into my room
while I'm gone, be sure to shut the door when you come out!"

We answered "All right!" all three at once, and then Rose said, "How funny!
What do you suppose made her tell us to do that?"

"I can't imagine," I replied, and then Jack smiled. If it had been anybody
but our jolly old Jack, I'd have said his smile was sarcastic; but no one
ever accused that boy of anything so ill-natured. Then he said in a quiet,
even voice: "It doesn't take a Solon to see through that. She wants to make
sure that Mrs. Hunt doesn't see the contrast between her room and the one
across the hall. She might not understand--or approve."

And with that he took his cap and went out.

Stunned? I guess we were! Rose and I stared at each other as if we'd seen a
ghost. Then we put our arms around each other and went up-stairs without a
word. It was mother's door we opened, and we stood there and gazed as if
we'd never seen that room before. She had been darning her carpet again. We
could see the careful stitches and the frayed edges her art couldn't quite
conceal. "She has polished her furniture, too! See how it shines, Meta. She
tried to make it look its best." Rose's voice was mournful, so I tried to
speak up cheerfully.

"To be sure she did, and succeeded!" Then we turned, and both of us choked
back a sob at what we saw. She had taken our discarded dressing-table
drapery, cut out the best portions, ruffled it daintily, pressed it neatly,
and put it on her own bureau. Our worn-out sash curtains, nicely laundered,
veiled her book-rack.

"Meta, our mother--our precious jewel of a mother! We've taken everything
for ourselves and left her the rags!"

Rose had her head on my shoulder, and by that time I was crying as hard as
she was.

"No wonder Jack was dissatisfied!" I sobbed. "Rose, why didn't he tell us?"

"O Meta, why did we need telling? That's what breaks my heart. Even our
rickety chair fixed up and set back in the shadow! O, I can't stand it!"

"We've got to!" I stiffened up grimly. "We've got to stand it, and it
serves us right. But we'll make it up to her as soon as Mrs. Hunt is gone!"

"Yes, if we can live till then!"

"I think we'll manage to. Mortification won't kill us in twenty-four hours.
We'll make her sleep in there tonight, and they can have one cozy visit in
suitable quarters. Monsters!"

Rose didn't resent the epithet. She knew it was appropriate.

We did some thinking that night. I never felt so utterly insignificant in
my life. We realized at last that there are other ways to show love than
letting its object do all the sacrificing, all the giving and enduring,
while the one who bestows it revels in selfishness. We didn't say anything
then, but mother wasn't allowed to touch that supper, only the portion of
it that filled her own plate, and she didn't wash a dish after it, either!
If Rose and I sat over our books an hour after our usual bedtime, in
consequence, it hurt no one but ourselves, and we deserved it.

They had a lovely time together. We could hear their soft voices rise and
fall, with once in a while a ripple of laughter, till we dropped off to
sleep. The next night, mother went back to her own room. We didn't say a
word to prevent it, though it hurt us to think of our old duds in there for
mother to use.

Next day the early morning post brought a note from Mrs. Hall, an old
neighbor, urging mother to meet her down-town at ten o'clock. There was
some important shopping on hand, and mother's advice was indispensable. The
dear thing didn't suspect that her daughters had frantically besought Mrs.
Hall the day before to concoct some scheme that would clear the coast at
home. "All day, Mrs. Hall!" we pleaded. "We've planned a surprise for her,
and it will take a good while to arrange it."

Mother didn't see how she could be spared to go, but we assured her that
since we'd be at home, she wasn't needed at all. If this struck her as a
most unusual state of affairs, she was too polite to say so, and, true to
her habit of helpfulness, she dressed and went to Mrs. Hall's rescue.

We didn't waste any time, I assure you. We couldn't paint her floor then,
but Jack stained it around the edges where it wouldn't have to be walked
on, and the grass rug covered the rest. We burned the made-over rags. It
did our hearts good to see them crisp and turn to ashes.

Into the attic went the ugly old things, and across the hall came the
pretty new ones,--curtains, dressing-table, chairs, every single dainty
belonging, even the drapery from our book-shelves. Teddy Ward came in and
helped carry things, and Jack worked like a beaver. He didn't need any
urging, either. If ever a boy's face shone like a full moon, Jack's did
that happy day, though he stopped at least a dozen times to hug his
sisters. "What a beast I was to think you could be as selfish as all that!"
he exclaimed once, "I ought to have known better!"

"But we were just that selfish, Jacky," we told him. We didn't mean to sail
under false colors. "We'd never have thought, if it hadn't been for you."

"Yes, you would. The first jolt would have waked you up. Lend a hand here,
Meta!"

It was done at last, all cozy and fresh. Rose stopped in the door. "It
looks like mother," she said, and her voice was husky. "It's pure and sweet
like her!"

"The other one looks pretty forlorn, girls. What are you going to do about
it?" Jack had a hand on our shoulders as he spoke, and we felt his
sympathy.

"Do?" we chirped up as brisk as millionaires. "Why, furnish it, of course."

"We have one bed to start on," Rose reminded him. "That's a big help, and
the floor and woodwork are still painted. How are we to do it? Lessons, to
be sure. Cowans and scales!"

"Thought you wanted to quit." Our brother looked troubled, for all his
satisfaction.

"My son, we have changed our minds. Our most ardent desire now is to keep
on," I told him. Rose smiled drolly. "I am seriously considering
refurnishing the entire domicile," she remarked. "The Cowans are good for
the next twenty years, judging from their present attainments, and it's
fine practise for me!"

We didn't give mother a hint till after supper. It was hard to wait, but we
made ourselves do it so everything would come about quite naturally. She
took her bonnet and wrap up to put them away, and we three tagged, as
softly as if we had pads on our feet, like cats. She opened her door and
gave one bewildered glance, then she turned and saw us. "It's yours, Lovey,
every bit!" we told her.

"Darlings, I couldn't!" she said. "Your hard work--your dear new treasures!
I couldn't permit such a sacrifice, my darlings!" We just would not cry,
though the lumps in our throats made our voices sound as if they belonged
to some other family.

"They aren't _our_ new treasures, they're _yours_."

"Who has been making sacrifices all our lives?"

"We love you so--you couldn't hurt us by refusing, Lovey!"

"There is no question of refusing." Rose spoke with great emphasis. "This
room is hers, once for all, and there is no more to be said about it."

We tucked her into her pretty white bed that night, and we kissed the dear
face on the ruffled pillow. Jack came in for his good night, too, and we
all stood looking down at her, so happy we couldn't talk. She lifted her
arms--those arms that had worked so hard for us--and gathered the three of
us to her at once. "My darlings!" was all she said, and we crept out
softly, knowing we had received her benediction.

Yes, we are getting our second collection of furniture into shape slowly
but surely. But we have learned that there are more precious things to be
had in homes than beds and chairs, or even green grass rugs. We have
them--the precious things--so, now that mother's room is accomplished, we
can wait very happily for the beds and chairs--Rose, and Jack, and
I.--_Elisabeth Price, in St. Nicholas, copyrighted by the Century Company,
1913_.

* * * * *

"The tender words unspoken,
The letters never sent,
The long-forgotten messages,
The wealth of love unspent,--
For these some hearts are breaking,
For these some loved ones wait;
Show them that you care for them
Before it is too late."

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