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diff --git a/24991.txt b/24991.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd31c74 --- /dev/null +++ b/24991.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1154 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Aunt Amy, by Francis Forrester + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Aunt Amy + or, How Minnie Brown learned to be a Sunbeam + +Author: Francis Forrester + +Release Date: April 5, 2008 [EBook #24991] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUNT AMY *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + My Uncle Toby's Library + Aunt Amy. + + + + + AUNT AMY; + + OR, + + HOW MINNIE BROWN LEARNED TO BE + A SUNBEAM. + + BY + + FRANCIS FORRESTER, ESQ. + + AUTHOR OF "ARTHUR'S TEMPTATION," "MINNIE BROWN," ETC. + + + BOSTON: + GEO. C. RAND, 3 CORNHILL. + WM. J. REYNOLDS & CO. + 1853. + + Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by + DANIEL WISE, + + In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the + District of Massachusetts. + + STEREOTYPED AT THE + BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. + PRESS OF G. C. RAND, CORNHILL. + + + + +AUNT AMY. + + +As Minnie Brown was walking one day along the principal street of +Rosedale, she met Arthur Ellerslie, who said to her,-- + +"Minnie, there is a letter in the post office for you." + +"A letter for me!" exclaimed the little girl, her bright eyes flashing +at the bare idea of a letter being sent to _her_. + +"Yes, there is a letter for _you_, Minnie. I saw it myself in the post +office window," replied Arthur. + +"O, I'm so glad! It must be from my aunt Amy. I will run and get it;" +and away she skipped to the post office, with a step as light as a +fawn's, and a heart as cheerful as merry music. It was very pleasant to +see her standing before the little window of the post office, her face +wreathed in smiles, and her hand stretched out, as she said,-- + +"Please, sir, give me my letter." + +"Yes, Miss Minnie, you shall have your letter," replied the good-natured +man who kept the office, and who seemed, by his looks, to share the +child's delight, as he handed her the letter. + +"Thank you, sir," said Minnie; and then, with swift feet, she ran into +the street, and almost flew along the sidewalk. When she reached home, +she was nearly out of breath. Finding her mother in the parlor, she +exclaimed,-- + +"O mother! I've got a letter! I've got a letter!" and throwing her +bonnet on the chair, she eagerly opened the letter, and, after looking +at it a moment, cried out,-- + +"Ma, it's from aunt Amy!" + +"From aunt Amy!" repeated Mrs. Brown. + +"Yes, mother, and she says she is coming to see us next week. O, I am so +glad--ain't you, mother?" + +"Yes, Minnie, I shall be very glad to see my sister." + +"She wants me to write to her directly, and tell her if it will be +convenient for you to have her come. What shall I write, mother?" + +"You may say we shall be very happy to see her at that time." + +"Shall I answer the letter at once, mother?" + +"You may, Minnie. Though, perhaps, you had better let me read it +first." + +Minnie blushed a little, as she handed the letter to her mother. She had +been too hurried, and her mother's request sounded like a kind rebuke. +Minnie's gentle spirit felt it, and she grew more quiet, as she waited +for her mother to read the letter. + +"There, my child, that will do," said Mrs. Brown, giving her the letter +again. "Now you may go to your chamber and write as pretty a reply as +you can to your aunt, inviting her to come, as she proposes." + +Minnie carried the letter to her room, where she had some nice writing +materials of her own. She spread a clean sheet of white paper on the +table, and began her letter. When she wanted a thought, she stood the +pen in the ink-stand while she read over her aunt's letter anew. When an +idea came, she wrote it down, and so kept on until she finished her +answer. + +[Illustration] + +And a nice little letter it was, written in neat style, without a single +blot. Minnie took it to her mother, who said it would please aunt Amy +very much. The thought of adding to her aunt's pleasure increased +Minnie's joy. So, after folding the letter very smoothly, she directed +it in large, bold writing to her aunt, and, with her mother's consent, +took it to the post office. + +When she had placed her letter in the box, Minnie thought she should +like to tell Arthur Ellerslie that her aunt Amy was coming to Rosedale. +So she walked round by Arthur's house. Her gentle rap at the door was +answered by Arthur's mother, with whom Minnie was a great favorite. +Taking the little girl's hand, and printing a kiss on her lips, Mrs. +Ellerslie said,-- + +"Come in, Minnie. I am very glad to see you." + +"Thank you, Mrs. Ellerslie. I came to tell Arthur that my aunt Amy is +coming to see me next week." + +"Is that what the letter was about which Arthur saw in the post office +for you, Minnie?" + +"Yes, ma'am; and I am glad aunt Amy is coming, she is _so_ good. I'm +sure you would love her, Mrs. Ellerslie, if you knew her." + +"If she is like Minnie Brown, I think I should. But will you come in, +Minnie, or will you go round into the garden? Arthur is there, studying +his Sunday school lesson." + +"I'll go into the garden," said Minnie; and she tripped away, to find +her friend Arthur. + +Arthur was seated on a bench, just within the garden gate. He was so +busy with his book he did not see Minnie until she was close to him. +Then he looked up, and when he saw who it was, he smiled, and said,-- + +"Did you get your letter, Minnie?" + +"Yes; and it was from my aunt Amy, who is coming to see me next week." + +"I'm glad for you," replied Arthur; "because I've heard you say you love +your aunt. But come here and sit on my bench, while I read you this +interesting chapter in the Bible." Then Minnie sat down beside Arthur, +and he read some beautiful verses from the book of Daniel. After +listening a while to Arthur's reading, Minnie arose, and said,-- + +[Illustration] + +"I must go now, Arthur. Good by." + +"Good by, Minnie, if you must go," replied Arthur; and then, with a glad +heart, Minnie hurried home again. + +The days seemed very long to the little girl during the next week. Old +Time always seems to move slowly when any one wishes him to quicken his +pace. But, like all other days, they were gone at last; and when the +time drew near for aunt Amy's arrival, Minnie took her work and sat down +by the parlor window. I don't think she did much work, however, for +every sound which fell on her ear caused her to raise her head and look +down the street to see if her aunt's carriage was coming. Sometimes she +laid her work on the table, and went into the street, looking in every +direction, and whispering to herself,-- + +"I wonder why aunt Amy don't come." + +You may think all this was very silly in my gentle Minnie. Perhaps it +was; but you know she was only a child; and I have known some grown up +people to do just as Minnie did when they expected visitors. Minnie's +mother thought of this, and did not chide her daughter. She thought of +her own days of childhood, and only smiled at Minnie's eagerness. + +At last, a carriage, drawn by two noble horses, and driven by a +jolly-looking coachman with a fat, red face, and arms which looked stout +enough to drive a war chariot, dashed up to the door. Minnie dropped +her work, and exclaimed,-- + +"O ma, ma, aunt Amy's come! aunt Amy's come!" + +She was too well bred to rush into the street, as some little girls +would have done. So she waited until the hired girl had opened the door, +and Mrs. Brown had welcomed her sister. Then it was Minnie's turn. She +sprang to return her aunt's kiss, and said,-- + +"I'm _so_ glad to see you, aunt Amy!" + +"And I am happy to see you, Minnie; especially as you look so well and +healthy," replied her aunt. + +Aunt Amy was Mrs. Brown's sister. She was a widow. The grave had taken +her husband and children from her; she was lonely in the world, and her +heart dwelt in heaven with her children, her husband, and her Savior. +She was rich, and delighted to spend her money in doing good. Having +lost the earthly objects she best loved, her life was spent in making +the miseries of the world less, and in adding to its happiness. + +The day after her arrival at Mrs. Brown's, she took Minnie out with her +for a walk through the village. Minnie waited by her aunt's side, and +pointed her to all the changes which had taken place since her visit a +year before. She was pleased to listen to the little girl's prattle, and +their walk was a very happy one. + +The weather being fine, they went beyond the village and down a lane +which led to an old granite quarry on the edge of a fine piece of woods. +On reaching the quarry, they sat down upon a large fragment of granite +to rest themselves, for their walk made them feel a little tired. As +aunt Amy was viewing the scenery around her, she saw a wretched-looking +house, half hid by the foliage of the trees, on the opposite side of +the quarry. Turning to Minnie, she pointed her finger towards it, and +asked,-- + +"Minnie, what house is that yonder?" + +Minnie's eye followed the direction of her aunt's finger until she saw +the cottage, or hovel. She knew whose it was, and so she said,-- + +"That is Mrs. Button's house, aunt. She is very poor." + +"Has she no husband to take care of her, Minnie?" + +"Her husband is a bad man, aunt. People say he used to beat her sadly. +But he has gone away now, and no one knows where he is." + +"Has she any children?" + +"She has a girl about my age; the children call her ragged Kate." + +"Poor child! I think we must call and see her and her mother. Perhaps we +can do them some good." + +"Why, aunt! You don't mean it, do you?" + +"Why not, Minnie? Our Savior, you know, loved to help the poor, and we +must try to imitate him." + +"Yes, aunt, but--" and Minnie paused, as if unwilling to utter all she +thought. + +"But what, Minnie?" + +"Why, aunt, I've heard say that Mrs. Button is a passionate woman; and +they say that Kate swears when Bill Boaster teases her. So I thought you +would not choose to call at the house of such a woman." + +"Perhaps it may not be pleasant, Minnie. But the more wretched these +poor creatures are, the greater is their need of aid and counsel. Come, +let us walk over and see the poor woman; who knows but that we may be as +sunbeams to a dark and desolate spirit?" + +"As sunbeams, aunt! How can we be sunbeams?" asked Minnie, as she walked +along with her aunt towards the cottage. + +"Sunbeams are bright, cheerful things, you know, Minnie. They scatter +clouds and darkness, clothe nature with beauty, and fill the world with +light and joy. Do you understand that?" + +"Yes, aunt." + +"Well, then, if we visit this woman, who is in trouble, and who has a +sad heart, and if we can lighten her burden, and make her heart glad, we +shall do for her what the sunbeams do for the world." + +"O, yes, aunt, I see; and I would try to be a little sunbeam if I knew +how. But here is the cottage." + +Minnie's aunt gave a gentle tap at the door. A gruff voice replied,-- + +"Come in." + +Pushing the door open, Minnie and her aunt entered the cottage. It had +but one room, and that was wretched enough. Many of the windows were +broken, and pieces of shingle were stuck over the holes in the glass. In +one corner stood a miserable bedstead, with a ragged coverlet partially +spread over a dirty bed tick filled with leaves. There was only one +chair, and that was a broken rocker, on which the unhappy mistress of +the cottage was seated. But there were two or three rough stools, made +of pieces of pine slab, standing beside the rickety table. Pointing to +these stools, Mrs. Button, without quitting her chair, said to her +visitors,-- + +"Take a seat." + +Aunt Amy looked on the poor woman with great kindness; and Minnie, +thinking all the time of the sunbeams, did the same. Speaking in gentle +tones, aunt Amy soon found the way to the poor woman's heart, and drew +from her the story of her woes. It had been a long time since she had +heard a voice of kindness, or met with affectionate sympathy like that +now shown to her by Minnie's aunt. It was not lost upon her. Trouble and +sin had long frozen up her better feelings. But under the warmth of +aunt Amy's words of hope and love, the ice melted, and the poor creature +wept freely as she told of her early and better days; of her husband's +fall into evil habits; of her own evil temper, which his bad treatment +had excited; and of her poverty, and sorrow, and despair. + +To all this aunt Amy listened with kind attention. She spoke words of +hope in the woman's ear. She urged her to seek pardon from God for her +sins, to look with faith for better days, until the poor woman's +countenance lighted up, and Minnie said to herself,-- + +"My aunt is really a sunbeam to this woman." + +At last aunt Amy rose to leave. The woman arose, too, with great respect +in her manners. Aunt Amy placed a piece of money in her hand, and +said,-- + +"Now, Mrs. Button, be hopeful. I will send you a few things, presently, +to help you along. I will also try to procure you some plain sewing; and +if you will try to help yourself, and trust in God, he will help you; +friends will rise up around you, and you will yet see better days." + +"Bless you, ma'am, for your kindness. You are the first friend I have +seen this many a year," said the poor woman, while hot tears trickled +down her wan cheeks. + +Minnie and her aunt now left the cottage. The little girl had learned a +lesson, by what she had seen, which she did not soon forget. Her gentle +nature was charmed by the love her aunt had shown to the poor woman. +After walking in silence a while, she said,-- + +"Aunt Amy, I guess you are the brightest sunbeam that ever entered Mrs. +Button's cottage! Why, her pale face brightened up and looked almost +cheerful before you left." + +"You see, then, Minnie, how little it costs to do good. Our visit has +really made the misery of that woman less, and it has done us good. We +can now think of our walk with pleasure, because it has been useful." + +"Well, aunt, I wish I could be a sunbeam to somebody before I get home." + +"Perhaps you may be. Look down yonder lane. There is a little boy +crying. He looks as if he was in trouble. See if you can comfort him +with a kind word or two." + +While Minnie ran to see what good she could do to the weeping boy, a +girl came along, very poorly clad, and carrying a bundle of dry sticks +on her head. Aunt Amy's kind heart pitied the poor child. She stopped +her and said,-- + +[Illustration] + +"What is your name, little girl?" + +"Kate," said the girl, looking earnestly at her questioner. + +"Kate! Where do you live?" + +"Down the lane, in yonder cottage. I'm Mrs. Button's gal." + +"I'm glad to meet you, Kate. I've just seen your mother. I want you to +try to be a good girl, and help her. Do you go to Sunday school?" + +"No. I'se got no clothes fit to wear there." + +"Would you like to belong to one if you could get a new dress?" + +"Don't know whether I should or no. Never was in a Sunday school in all +my life," replied Kate, looking at the lady with a stare of wonder. + +"Well, Kate, I'll send you some clothes and see your mother about the +school before Sunday." + +Aunt Amy now walked slowly on to meet Minnie, who was running back from +her errand of kindness. Coming up to her aunt, with a flushed face and +joyous look, she said,-- + +"O aunt Amy, I'm a sunbeam now! I've made that boy's heart glad." + +"What did you do for him, Minnie?" + +"Why, you see, aunt, he had been gathering a pail of berries for his +grandmother, and was very tired. As he ran along the road with his pail, +he kicked against a stone, fell down, spilled his berries, and hurt his +knee. The poor boy was weeping, and I told him not to cry, for I would +pick up his berries while he rested himself and wiped the dirt from his +clothes. Then I picked up his berries, speaking kind words to him all +the time. He soon left off crying, and when I gave him the pail, he +looked so glad it made me cry for joy; for I knew I was a sunbeam to +him." + +"You are right, Minnie. I am glad to find you so apt a scholar in the +art of doing good. But it is time for us to be going home now; your +mother will feel uneasy about us, we have been gone so long." + +Minnie gave aunt Amy her hand, and they walked to the village, talking, +as they went, about Mrs. Button, and Kate Button, and about getting +some clothes fit for Kate to wear to Sunday school. And I doubt if there +were two happier persons in all Rosedale than they. + +That evening, aunt Amy proposed to take Minnie and her mother, in her +carriage, the next day, on an excursion to a pleasant seaport, about +five miles from Rosedale. This trip promised too much pleasure to be +refused. So it was agreed that they should start early in the morning, +and spend the day in rambling on the sea shore. + +Minnie awaked very early the next morning, and was up and dressed, all +ready for breakfast, before either her aunt or her mother came down +stairs. She was all alive with thoughts of what she should see and do +during the day. Indeed, she was so full of happy excitement she ate +scarcely any breakfast; and I am afraid she thought too much about the +ride while her good father was offering his morning prayer at the family +altar. This was hardly right; but Minnie was only a little girl, and we +must excuse her for feeling like a child. + +After family prayer was ended, aunt Amy's carriage, with its fine horses +and fat coachman, drove up to the door. Minnie smiled, as she glanced at +the jolly-looking driver, while on her way to the carriage. When she +was seated opposite to her aunt and mother, and the horses began to +move, she said,-- + +"Aunt Amy, how good natured your fat coachman looks!" + +"Yes, Minnie, John is a Christian, and that makes him cheerful. He is a +good, careful driver too, and that, with my heavenly Father's care, +makes me feel safe while I am riding." + +By this time, the carriage was rattling rapidly along over the smooth +village street. It soon carried them beyond Rosedale into a pleasant +road, and Minnie was busy all the rest of the ride pointing to the +pretty scenery they passed, and asking many questions about the +mansions, cottages, and farms which met her eye. Thus occupied, it +seemed but a few moments to her before the carriage drove up to the +hotel at which they were to stop for the day. + +Very gayly did Minnie trip along at aunt Amy's side, as that lady walked +down with her to the beach. Mrs. Brown, not being very well, did not +walk with them. Minnie was charmed with the broad, calm sea, sparkling +so brightly in the sun. The splash of the waves, as they came rolling in +upon the sand, and the constant hoarse murmur of the great sea, sounded +like grand music in her ears. + +"Hark!" she said to her aunt; "hark, aunt! The sea roars to-day, yet it +is very calm." + +"Yes, Minnie, that is old Ocean's mildest voice you hear to-day. In a +storm, he speaks in a voice of thunder. You would tremble before it +should you stand where you do now." + +Minnie now amused herself and her aunt by picking up shells, by running +down to the edge of the water, and allowing the returning wave to chase +her, and by digging holes in the sand. Her good aunt sat upon a rock, +watching her movements, answering her numerous questions, and rewarding +her playfulness with smiles. She was a sensible woman, and knew that +children not only need time to play, but that they should also be +encouraged in it by the approval of their friends and relatives. + +But after Minnie had played a long time, her aunt said to her,-- + +"Come, Minnie, you have played long enough for the present; let us walk +back to the hotel." + +When Minnie heard this summons, she did not pout, nor plead for more +time, as a self-willed child would have done; but she looked up to her +aunt with a smile, brushed the sand from her fingers, and said,-- + +"Yes, aunt, I will come directly." + +The moment after, she was standing close to her aunt, ready to return to +the hotel. + +As aunt Amy arose from the rock, which had served her for a seat, she +said,-- + +"We must now sow some good seed, Minnie, before we return home. It would +hardly be right to spend a whole day in seeking our own pleasure without +doing a little good to some one." + +"But how can we sow good seed here on this beach?" asked Minnie, +somewhat puzzled by her aunt's remark. + +"Do you see those little vessels down yonder, Minnie?" inquired aunt +Amy, as she pointed to a distant part of the beach. + +"Yes, aunt, I see them, a little this side of those great rocks." + +"And do you also see those persons on the beach near the vessels?" + +"Yes, I see some men who look like sailors." + +"Well, I have some tracts in this little package; and if we give these +tracts to those seamen, we shall sow some good seed; for the tracts may +lead them to God and heaven." + +"Then sowing good seed means the same as being a sunbeam, don't it, +aunt?" + +"Yes, my child. By speaking a kind word, by smiling upon persons who +need encouragement, or by giving a tract to do the same things for us, +we are sunbeams to those we act upon. So that being a sunbeam or sowing +good seed amounts to one and the same thing. But let us go and sow our +seed." + +They now walked down the beach until they came to the spot where they +saw the sailors. Here aunt Amy gave Minnie a tract to carry to a stout +sailor, who had on a large tarpaulin hat. She ran up to the man, with +one of her sweetest smiles, and said,-- + +[Illustration] + +"Please, sir, will you accept a tract?" + +"A tract!" replied the man, looking at Minnie's happy face with +surprise. + +"Yes, sir, a pretty tract, if you please." + +"Yes, little miss, I'll take it to please you;" and the rough-looking +man stretched out his hand and took the tract, very much to the delight +of Minnie. + +While Minnie was giving her tract to the sailor, aunt Amy gave another +to a fine-looking lad who was on the beach. She also sent one by the +same boy to a sailor; and then she and Minnie set out for the hotel. + +"Now," said aunt Amy, "we shall have at least one pleasant thought +connected with our trip." + +"Only _one_ pleasant thought, aunt? Why, all my thoughts of it will be +pleasant ones." + +"So will mine, my dear. But I shall be most pleased to think we have not +spent the day entirely for ourselves. Our tracts to those men may do +them great good. They may be as sunbeams to light them on the way to +heaven. Isn't that the most pleasing thought of the day, Minnie?" + +"Yes, aunt; but do you think tracts are always sunbeams to those who +receive them?" + +"No, Minnie, by no means. Many persons get no good from them at all. But +thousands have been greatly benefited by them. We must hope and pray +that ours will prove to be as good seed sown on good soil. If not, we +have done our duty." + +By this time they had reached the tavern. Here they dined with Minnie's +mother. After dinner, they took a long ride round the country, and +reached home at an early hour. When Minnie lay down to sleep that night, +she had many happy thoughts about what she had seen and done. But, as +her aunt Amy had said, the thought which gave her the richest pleasure +was, that the tracts she and her aunt had given away might be doing +good. And she fancied how the sailor looked, at his own fire-side, +reading her tract; and how it touched his heart, and made him weep, and +pray, and seek the road to heaven. It was a beautiful fancy, and it made +Minnie's heart swell with a rich joy. She fell asleep thinking she would +be a sunbeam to some one every day of her life. Happy Minnie! She was +learning to taste the pleasure of being kind and good to others. + +The next day aunt Amy bought some things to make up for Kate Button. +Minnie and her mother helped her, by sewing nearly all day upon Kate's +new frock. And they enjoyed themselves too. They kept thinking of the +pleasure it would afford poor Kate to be neatly dressed, and to be a +member of the Sabbath school. Many times during that day Minnie sprang +up from her chair, held up her work, and cried aloud, with a glad +heart,-- + +"O aunt Amy! won't Kate be happy when we dress her up in this nice +frock? It makes me joyful to think of it." + +"That will depend upon the state of her heart, Minnie. Clothing may make +her comfortable; but it takes something else to make either children or +grown people happy besides clothes. If Kate seeks to be good, loving her +Savior, she will be happy indeed. But if not, she will be wretched, +even if we should dress her in silk, and adorn her with jewels." + +"Yes, I know Kate must be good if she is happy. But I think she will be +when she gets her dress, and goes to Sunday school. Don't you, aunt?" + +"We will hope so, my dear. But now let us lay aside our work and take a +walk." + +To this Minnie could make no objection. So she and her aunt walked out +into the shady streets and lanes of Rosedale. On their way, they saw a +poor old soldier, with a wooden leg, hobbling towards them slowly. As +soon as Minnie saw him advancing, she said,-- + +[Illustration] + +"O aunt! here comes poor Corporal Jim, the one-legged soldier." + +"Poor fellow!" replied her aunt. "It must be hard work for him to hobble +through the world on his wooden leg." + +"Yes, aunt; and he is very poor. He lives in a little shanty alone; and +he has not a relation in all the world." + +"Well, let us speak kindly to him, and cheer him on his lonesome way. We +may cast a sunbeam in his path." + +Minnie looked up into her aunt's kind face, and smiled with delight at +the idea of being a sunbeam to poor old Corporal Jim, who, by the way, +was a great favorite with all the children in Rosedale. + +By this time, the poor old soldier was close upon them, holding out his +hat for a gift. Aunt Amy stopped, asked him several questions, and, +finding that he was pious, cheered him with gentle words of hope. She +then dropped a piece of gold in his tattered hat, and passed on. + +Poor Corporal Jim! The kind words of aunt Amy, and the sight of the +piece of gold, went to his heart. Tears filled his eyes. "Heaven bless +ye!" he murmured; and then he hobbled to the roadside, sat down upon a +large rock, and wept for joy. + +Minnie's keen eye had watched the effect of her aunt's words and gift +upon the old corporal. She saw how glad they made his heart. The sight +of his joy caused a stream of rich emotion to flow through her own +little bosom. It filled her so full she could not, for the moment, +speak. But fondly pressing her aunt's hand, she walked on by her side in +silence. As soon as she recovered herself, she said,-- + +"Dear aunt, you have been a sunbeam to Corporal Jim. I saw by his face +that you made him feel very happy." + +"That is just what God expects us to do, my dear, to every one who +crosses our path. If every person in the world would smile upon and help +every body, nearly all the misery and sorrow which make the world +wretched, would be prevented; and every heart would be cheered by the +sunlight of love and sympathy." + +"Yes, but you know, aunt, that every body is not rich enough to give +gold pieces to the poor, as you are." + +"That is true, Minnie; but all can speak _golden_ words, and look with +friendly smiles upon the poor and sad." + +"_Golden_ words, aunt! What are _golden_ words?" asked Minnie, gazing +with surprise into her aunt's face. + +"_Kind_ words are _golden_ words, Minnie, because they are precious to +the heart. They are often worth more than gold to the unfortunate." + +This Minnie could not deny. Indeed, it pleased her very much to think +that she could speak golden words, if she could not give gold pieces. + +Having finished their walk, aunt Amy and her delighted little niece +returned home. After tea, they worked again upon Kate's dress, and it +was decided that they should take it, the next day, with some other +things, to Mrs. Button's cottage. + +So the next day, early in the afternoon, they started for the old stone +quarry, to visit Mrs. Button and her daughter Kate. At Minnie's request, +Arthur Ellerslie went with them to carry the bundle, which was quite a +large one. Aunt Amy was very much pleased with Arthur. As they walked, +he told her all about his history, and she gave him much good advice. + +Presently they reached the cottage. There was quite a change in its +looks since aunt Amy's last visit, a few days before. The floor had been +nicely cleaned, the shingles which formerly covered the broken windows +had been taken away, and clean paper pasted over the broken places +instead. The bed in the corner was "made up." The pine stools were set +along the sides of the cottage; and it was quite plain that Mrs. Button +had been trying to make her poverty appear as respectable as possible. +In her person, too, she was greatly improved. Her face was now clean, +her hair neatly combed, her gown mended, and she wore a hopeful look, +which wonderfully changed her appearance. Her manners, also, were more +civil. When her guests entered, she spoke to them with respect, and +invited them to be seated. Her only chair she offered to aunt Amy. As to +Kate, she seemed to have caught her mother's spirit, and looked as well +as rags and bad habits would allow her to do. + +The gifts brought by aunt Amy were produced, and many kind words of +advice offered by that good lady. Kate seemed half wild with joy when +Minnie spread her new calico frock out for her to look at, and when she +saw the nice little bonnet, the new shoes, and many other things which +were meant for her. Mrs. Button was very thankful. And when aunt Amy +told her of certain plans, which she had arranged through Minnie's +mother, by which she would have employment, and when she placed a bank +bill in her hand as she arose to go, the poor woman was so overcome with +grateful feeling she could not speak. She modestly raised the hand of +her kind friend to her lips, kissed it, turned away, sunk into a seat, +and buried her face in her apron. Aunt Amy found her hand wet with the +poor woman's tears. + +After they left the cottage, Arthur hurried to school. Aunt Amy and +Minnie walked leisurely, and, for a time, silently along. At last Minnie +said,-- + +"Aunt, I am very glad you came to see us." + +"I believe you, Minnie, for you have given me full proof of that. But +why are you glad?" + +"Because you have taught me how to be a sunbeam, and how to speak +golden words. I used to think a little girl, like me, could not do much +good. You have taught me that I may." + +"I am glad to see you so willing to learn, Minnie. I hope you will try +to practise the precious lesson after I return home. Whatever your lot +in life may be, you must always try to be a sunbeam to others. I know a +poor old lady who is so lame she cannot leave her house; yet she not +only makes every one happy who comes near to her, but she contrives to +give a handsome little sum of money every year to benevolent objects." + +"How can she do so, aunt, if she is poor?" + +"She does it by the help of her dog." + +"By the help of her dog!" exclaimed Minnie, laughing. + +[Illustration] + +"Yes; she has a little dog, named Fido. She has so trained the little +fellow that he brings home all the bones he finds in the street. These +she hoards very carefully, sells them at a junk shop, and gives away +the money." + +"That is a capital scheme," said Minnie, clapping her hands, "but I +should never have thought of it." + +"Perhaps not; but you may find other ways of gaining means to do good. +If not, you can make smiles serve for sunbeams, and gentle words will do +for gold." + +"It makes me so happy to be kind, aunt Amy, I think I shall try to be so +always," said Minnie. + +"Do, my dear child, and be kind to _every one_ with whom you have to +do." + +"I must speak kindly to my enemies, too, mustn't I, aunt?" + +"Yes, Minnie, you must; for so Christ has taught us, you know. And there +is nothing like kindness to change enemies into friends. It melts away +their enmity when they see us returning their evil with good." + +"But suppose my heart won't let me love them, aunt, what shall I do?" + +"You must pray to God for aid. He will help you. So that you may be a +sunbeam in the path of the worst enemy who may seek to injure you." + +In a few days after this visit to Mrs. Button's cottage, aunt Amy +returned to her home. Minnie was sorry to have her go, but she knew it +was proper for her to do so, and she did not complain. She felt +lonesome at first; but she did not forget the precious lesson her aunt +had taught her. She had been a good and gentle girl before; now she was +a light in her home, and her presence was as sunshine to all who knew +her, and especially to Kate Button, who became a bright scholar in her +Sunday school. She had her little failings, it is true; but she tried +hard to subdue them; and henceforth the purpose of her life was + + TO BE AS A SUNBEAM, ALWAYS SHINING ON THE HEARTS OF OTHERS. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Aunt Amy, by Francis Forrester + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUNT AMY *** + +***** This file should be named 24991.txt or 24991.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/9/9/24991/ + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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