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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Allis Family; or, Scenes of Western Life, by 
+American Sunday School Union
+
+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: The Allis Family; or, Scenes of Western Life
+
+Author: American Sunday School Union
+
+Posting Date: September 26, 2012 [EBook #8083]
+Release Date: May, 2005
+First Posted: June 13, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALLIS FAMILY, SCENES WESTERN LIFE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Ted Garvin, Erik Bent, Charles Franks and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                THE ALLIS FAMILY;
+
+                       OR,
+
+              SCENES OF WESTERN LIFE
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+_Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858 by the
+AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, in the Clerk's Office of the District
+Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania._
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+_No books are published by the_ AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION _without the
+sanction of the Committee of Publication, consisting of fourteen members,
+from the following denominations of Christians, viz.: Baptist, Methodist,
+Congregational, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and, Reformed Dutch.
+Not more than three of the members can be of the same denomination, and no
+book can be published to which any member of the Committee shall object._
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE ALLIS FAMILY.
+
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Allis lived away out West, on a broad prairie, where Mr. Allis
+was busily engaged in "making a farm." Perhaps some of my young readers,
+who have always been accustomed to see farms already "made," will not
+understand what I mean by "_making_ a farm;" and I will try to tell them.
+
+First of all, let them try to fancy a large meadow, either perfectly flat
+or a little uneven, as large, perhaps, as can be measured with the eye, and
+sometimes without a single tree, or scarcely a clump of bushes. There will
+be no fences in sight, and sometimes no streams of water, but the surface
+of the ground is covered with high, coarse grass. This is what Western
+people call a "prairie."
+
+In order to "make a farm," this ground must be ploughed, or, as Western
+people say, "broken up." Some of the children would smile, I think, if they
+were to see a regular "breaking team" before a "breaking plough." This
+plough is quite unlike that which is used in the older States, and it takes
+five, six, and sometimes as many as eight yoke of oxen to draw it. This
+ploughing is usually done in June. After ploughing, the ground must be
+enclosed, and then it is ready for the seed.
+
+Some people make curious mistakes when they undertake to make a new farm.
+Mr. Allis was one of these persons. He arrived at the little town of B----,
+with his family, late in the fall, and immediately set about looking for a
+location. Several miles from B---- he found a place that seemed to suit
+him. The soil was rich, and apparently inexhaustible; but it was poorly
+watered, and destitute of any timber suitable for building or fencing, and
+there was very little which was fit for fuel. The great thing he thought of
+was a large farm.
+
+After a while he found out his mistake, but it was too late for him to help
+it, for his money was nearly all expended for land. But Mr. Allis was a
+resolute man, and he immediately set himself to work to do the best he
+could. It was a long walk to the grove where he went every day to cut down
+trees for his cabin, and to split rails for his fence, and a whole day's
+work to go twice with his oxen to draw the logs and rails to his farm. But
+he rose early, and was ready to begin his work with the dawn. On rainy and
+stormy days, when he could not be out, he was at work in a shop near his
+house, making doors and window-frames, and cupboards, and other things for
+his new house.
+
+Early in the spring the cabin was reared, and soon all was in readiness for
+the removal of the family, which consisted of Mrs. Allis, Mary, a distant
+relative whose home was with her, and two little twin-daughters, Annie and
+Susie, who were about five years old at this time. These little girls loved
+each other very much, and usually played very pleasantly together. But it
+was sometimes the case that, like other children, they had their little
+troubles, and were selfish, and of course unhappy.
+
+One day Mrs. Allis was very sick, and she called the little girls to her,
+and told them they might go up-stairs and play, but they must try to be
+very good girls, and very quiet, for she could not bear the noise of their
+voices. The little girls loved their mother very dearly, and were very
+sorry that she was so sick. So they promised to be good children, and then
+away they skipped up-stairs on tip-toe, that they might not disturb their
+mother.
+
+At first there was the patter of light feet and a subdued murmur of voices,
+but after a while scarcely a sound could be heard. Thus passed two hours,
+or more, and at last Mrs. Allis sent Mary to see what they were about. Mary
+reported that they were playing very pleasantly together, and seemed very
+happy.
+
+"But what can they be doing, Mary?"
+
+"Oh, they have a whole regiment of ragbabies, besides the kittens, for
+scholars. Susie says they are playing school."
+
+At last it was tea-time, and, when the girls had eaten their supper, their
+mother called them to her.
+
+"Oh, mother! mother! we have had such a nice time."
+
+"Softly, softly, children," said Mr. Allis; "be careful, or you will make
+your mother sick again."
+
+"Are you better now, mother?" said little Susie, going softly towards her
+bed.
+
+"Yes, my dear child, I am much better, and you two little girls have helped
+to make me so."
+
+"We, mother?" said Susie, while her black eyes sparkled at the thought. "I
+wonder how _we_ could make you better, when we have been all the while at
+play up-stairs."
+
+"I can guess how," said Annie. "Mother means we didn't make any noise:
+don't you, mother?"
+
+"Not just that, or rather a good deal more than that; but first tell me
+_what_ you played up-stairs."
+
+"Oh, it was so pleasant: wasn't it? Why, mother, don't you think, we played
+school; and first I let Susie be teacher, and then she let me; and we
+played I was a little girl come to school, and by-and-by, when we got tired
+of that, we got out the dolls, Bessie and Jessie, and the pussy, and then
+we made three more little girls out of our sun-bonnets and Susie's pink
+apron, and then we both played teacher, like Miss Jackson and Miss Williams
+in the academy where we used to live, you know."
+
+"Oh, yes, mother," interrupted Susie; "and, don't you think, sometimes
+Annie would pull pussy's tail and make her say 'Mew,' and we made believe
+that one of the little girls cried to go to her mother."
+
+"Yes," said Annie, "and after a while we made believe she was naughty, and
+sent her home."
+
+"Very well, my dear; I see you have had a very pleasant time,--much more
+pleasant than if you had been cross and unkind to each other, or had made a
+noise to disturb me. I see you have loved one another, and this is what has
+made you so happy this afternoon. Tell me, now, which you had rather be,
+teacher or scholar, when you play school."
+
+"Oh! a teacher, a great deal, mother," said Annie.
+
+"Then why did you not be teacher all the time, and let Susie be the
+scholar?"
+
+"That wouldn't be right. Susie likes to be teacher as well as I," replied
+Annie, timidly.
+
+"But don't you think you would have been happier to have been teacher all
+the time, Annie?"
+
+"I did want to be at first, but then I thought Susie would like it too;
+and, after all, it was just as pleasant."
+
+"I presume it was, my dear, and much more pleasant; no person can be happy
+who is selfish. Do you know what it is to be selfish, my little Susie?"
+
+"Yes, mother; you told Annie and I one day that it was selfish to want
+every thing just to please ourselves."
+
+"Do you love to run about the room, and laugh and play?"
+
+"Oh, yes; you know we do, mother."
+
+"Would you not rather have stayed down-stairs to play to-day?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said Annie; "only----"
+
+"Only what, my dear?"
+
+"Annie means that you were sick, and didn't want us to make a noise; and,
+really, we did try to play just as still as we possibly could."
+
+"Why did you take so much pains to be quiet?"
+
+"You told us to be still, didn't you, mother?"
+
+"I did; but were you afraid I would punish you if you made a noise, Susie?"
+
+"Oh, no, indeed; but we did not want to make you sick," said Susie,
+clinging to her mother, and looking into her face with her loving eyes.
+
+"Then you love your mother, do you, girls?"
+
+"Indeed we do," said the children, in one breath.
+
+"Well, supposing your mother had been well, and some poor sick woman, whom
+you had never seen before, lay here sick in my bed: would it have been more
+pleasant _then_ for you to be very still, so as not to disturb her?"
+
+The girls hesitated a moment, and then Annie said,--
+
+"I think it would, mother; for it would be very cruel to make anybody
+suffer, I have heard you say."
+
+"Then you could love a poor stranger enough to deny yourself some of your
+own pleasures for her sake; and you think it would make you happier to do
+so, do you?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I am sure we should be happier," said little Susie.
+
+"Well, my dear children, I cannot talk any longer now, but I want you to
+repeat this little verse after me until you can remember it:--
+
+   "Love is the golden chain that binds
+      The happy souls above;
+    And he's an heir of heaven that finds
+      His bosom glow with _love_."
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE PRAIRIE FIRE.
+
+
+It was a trying summer for the Allis family. The weather was hot and dry,
+and Mr. Allis, unaccustomed to labour in the fields, often almost fainted
+in the sun. His work seemed to him to progress very slowly. He had no one
+to assist him in sowing and planting and gathering in his crops; for, in
+the first place, there were few people to be hired, and, more than that, he
+had no money to pay his workmen if he had been able to obtain them. Every
+morning he had to go more than a mile with his oxen for water, which he
+brought in a barrel for family use; and it was often nine o'clock before he
+got to his work in the fields.
+
+At length November came and found his summer's work completed. He had no
+barn in which to store his grain, and could only secure it by "stacking" it
+until it could be threshed.
+
+The potatoes, squashes, pumpkins, beets, turnips and other vegetables which
+the garden had produced for winter use were as securely housed as possible
+and protected from the frost; and Mr. Allis began to hope that now he might
+take that rest which he so much required.
+
+For a number of weeks the children had been excited by wonderful lights in
+the sky, just above the horizon. Sometimes eight or ten of these could be
+seen in different directions at once, and occasionally some one of them
+would seem to shoot up suddenly, not unlike the flame of a distant volcano.
+To the eager inquiries of the little ones, they were answered that these
+singular lights were called prairie-fires.
+
+"What is a prairie-fire, father?" asked both the children at once.
+
+"It is the burning of the long coarse grass which covers the prairie in
+summer. This becomes very dry, and then, if a spark of fire chances to fall
+upon it, it is at once all in blaze."
+
+"Does it make a very big fire, father?" asked Susie.
+
+"That depends upon circumstances, my child. If the grass is very high and
+thick, as it sometimes is in the sloughs and moist places, it makes a big
+fire, as you call it."
+
+"Oh, how I wish I could see a prairie-fire close by us! Don't you, mother?"
+
+"I cannot say that I do, my child; they are sometimes rather mischievous
+visitors, and I would much prefer that they should keep at a respectful
+distance."
+
+"Mr. Jenkins told me that a man some ten miles from here had his stacks and
+house and every thing he had, destroyed, a few days since, losing his whole
+year's labour and all his clothing and furniture. The family barely escaped
+with their lives.
+
+"Is there any danger that the fire will come here, husband?" said Mrs.
+Allis.
+
+"There is danger, I suppose; but I hope we shall have no trouble of that
+kind."
+
+"Is there nothing that can be done to protect your property?"
+
+"I shall try to _burn_ up what grows around the house and stack-yard in a
+day or two, I think; but just now it does not seem possible for me to spare
+the time."
+
+One day, not long after, a long line of fire appeared on the prairie,
+several miles distant. It was, however, so distant that Mrs. Allis and the
+children did not feel alarmed, as the evening was still; and they were
+watching it with interest, as the flames assumed various fantastic shapes,
+now darting upwards like tongues of fire, and now weltering and bubbling
+like a sea of melted lava. Mr. Allis had not yet returned from town, where
+he had been engaged all that day, entirely unsuspicious of any approaching
+calamity; and Mrs. Allis was not aware how rapidly the flames were
+approaching her home, until she was startled by seeing a horseman ride
+rapidly to her door and hastily dismount, inquiring for Mr. Allis.
+
+"He is at ----. I expect him home in the course of an hour or so. But what
+is the matter, Mr. Jenkins? Is anybody sick?"
+
+"Matter, woman! Don't you see that prairie-fire yonder? You'll be burnt out
+if you don't stir round lively."
+
+"Burnt out, Mr. Jenkins! What do you mean? What shall we do?"
+
+"Do? Why, we must go to work right away and set a _back-fire_,--as quick as
+we can, too. Call your girl there, and come out both of you as soon as
+possible!"
+
+Not many minutes passed before Mr. Allis reached home. He had seen the fire
+at a distance, and, understanding the danger far better than his wife,
+hurried home as rapidly as possible.
+
+Poor Annie and Susie were sadly frightened. When they saw the smoke and
+fire so near the house and stacks of grain, they cried as if their little
+hearts would break; but there was no one to hear them, for their mother
+could not be spared a moment until the danger was past. Poor children! They
+soon had enough of prairie-fires, and they thought they would be very
+thankful if ever they could see their father and mother and Mary alive
+again. Sometimes they were almost suffocated by the smoke which the rising
+wind drove into the house, and then they thought they should surely be
+burned to death. Still, lonely and frightened as they were, they did not
+attempt to go out. They remembered that their mother had told them not on
+_any account_ to leave the house, and, like obedient children, they did as
+she had told them.
+
+It was two hours--but it seemed much longer to the poor little
+girls--before their mother came in; and then they scarcely knew her, for
+her face was blackened with smoke and dust, her hands were burned sadly,
+and the skirt of her dress torn and burned in many places. Although they
+were excited and curious, yet these good children undressed and went to
+bed, helping themselves all they could, that their mother might rest,
+and trying to wait until morning for all they wished to know.
+
+Meanwhile, Mrs. Allis busied herself, weary as she was, in providing
+a comfortable supper for her husband, who had eaten nothing since
+dinner-time. It was past midnight when Mr. Allis and Mary came to the
+house, and they too were tired enough, as we may suppose.
+
+But, above all, they were grateful to that kind heavenly Father who had so
+mercifully preserved and protected them from harm amid such dangers. Little
+did any of them sleep that night; and it was not strange that the morning,
+which came on wet and showery, found them but little refreshed after the
+unusual fatigue of the preceding night. But the children were awake with
+the first light, and eagerly asking questions about the fire.
+
+"But what is a _back-fire?_" said Annie, when her father had finished
+telling them about the matter. "How do you set a back-fire?"
+
+"Well, Annie, we light _another fire_, nearer the house or fence which
+we are trying to save, and then, with a brush or broom, or sometimes a
+little stick, _whip it out_, so that it cannot burn very fast. When the
+grass is burnt off in this way there is nothing left for what we call the
+'prairie-fire' to burn, you see. If we can do this in season, the house
+or stacks are generally safe."
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE BABY.
+
+
+How tired every one was all day after the prairie-fire! Well would it have
+been if the matter had terminated in fatigue. Early in the day the feeble
+mother had to betake herself to her bed; and on the following morning Mr.
+Allis, to his great surprise, found himself rudely shaken by the ague. Not
+many days passed ere Mrs. Allis and Mary found themselves at the mercy of
+the same annoying visitor. Sometimes the three shook in concert; and then
+you may imagine that the little girls had enough to do to carry water to
+satisfy their thirst. Occasionally the chills would seem to be broken up
+for a few days, and then they would most unexpectedly return. Several times
+Mr. Allis thought himself perfectly well, and once or twice he went to the
+grove a number of miles distant, with his team, for a load of wood, and on
+the way there or back would be attacked with a chill, and it was only by a
+great effort that he reached home. The little girls were quite well; but
+they did not find their prairie home as pleasant in the cold winter as it
+was in the glad summer-time. Oh, how they longed for spring! And when it
+came how they rejoiced over the little lambs and calves in their father's
+yard, and how delighted were they when the first sweet violets peeped
+forth! Still their joy was to be increased: a sweeter prairie-flower than
+any of these bloomed in their humble cabin, opening a fount of untold
+gladness in the hearts of all. One bright morning a sweet little sister was
+presented to the delighted children.
+
+It was long before they could be made to realize that it was their own dear
+babe, and always to be theirs and to stay with them. At last they
+recovered themselves sufficiently to ask its name.
+
+"It has no name, Annie," said her father.
+
+"Oh, mother! mother!" cried the enthusiastic Susie, "let us call it
+_Love!_"
+
+What a blessing that little unconscious one was to all beneath that lowly
+roof! Annie and Susie would sit beside its little cradle and watch it for
+hours; and if permitted to hold the tiny creature for a few moments they
+were never weary of caressing her. Daily and almost hourly they discovered
+some new beauty or perfection in the dear object of their most tender
+regard, and the day of her birth was made an era in the house; for almost
+every thing that was spoken of was said to have taken place either so long
+before or so long after the _Baby came_.
+
+At length a school was opened about a mile distant, and the parents thought
+best that the little girls should have the advantage of attending it
+through the summer. At first they were quite reluctant to go; for they were
+strangers still to the children around them, and the young lady who taught
+them they had never seen until they met her among her pupils. After a few
+days they became very fond of their school and their young playmates, and
+the only drawback to their happiness was leaving the little darling Mary
+for so many long hours every day. But it was soon evident that they learned
+some _evil_ things as well as _good_ things. They grew less willing to
+submit to the gentle control of their parents, and were quite inclined to
+think the rules under whose influence they had been educated were
+altogether _too strict_, fortifying their occasional remonstrances with
+"Mary Jones says so," or "Fanny Adams thinks so." This gave their
+affectionate parents much solicitude and pain.
+
+One evening the little girls came home with a petition that they might "go
+to school barefooted," and, as usual for the last few weeks, Susie said,
+"All the girls go without shoes."
+
+"That, my child, is no reason why _you_ should do so if we prefer you
+should wear your shoes."
+
+"But, mother, it is so warm!" said Annie.
+
+"What would you have thought, Annie, if I had told you to go to school
+barefooted while we lived in Massachusetts?"
+
+"All the girls wore shoes and stockings there, mother."
+
+"But was it not quite as warm there as here, my child?"
+
+"I suppose so; but, mother, all the girls and boys laugh at us so. They say
+we are 'proud,' because we wear shoes and stockings."
+
+"You must not mind being laughed at when you are doing right."
+
+"But I can't see what wrong there is in going barefooted," said Annie.
+
+"You are not now required to see the harm in it. All you have to do in this
+case is to obey."
+
+"But won't you tell us _why_, mother?" persisted Susie.
+
+"No, children, I shall not now tell you _why_. I have my reasons; and you
+must _trust_ me now, and wait for an explanation until some future time."
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+ANNIE'S TEMPTATION.
+
+
+A few days after, Susie was not very well, and her mother thought best to
+keep her at home. Annie, however, was sent to school, as usual. As she was
+preparing to set out, she thought to herself,--
+
+"Now I am going all alone, and mother will never know it; I will not wear
+my shoes to-day." So, when she was just starting, she stole softly round to
+the back-side of the house, and hid her shoes behind the rain-barrel. On
+she skipped, but not so light-hearted and happy as usual. It was her first
+act of wilful disobedience. As she went on she at last repented that she
+had ventured to disobey her kind mother; but something seemed to whisper in
+her heart, "It will do you no harm: your mother will never find it out."
+
+Do any of my little readers know whose voice that was in Annie's heart? It
+was the voice of _him_ who spoke the _first lie_ ever uttered in this
+beautiful world; who in the garden of Eden said to our first mother, "_Ye
+shall not surely die_."
+
+As she approached the school-room, she stopped near a huge pile of rocks at
+the road-side to gather some flowers for her teacher. She found a great
+many, and, among others, some which she had never seen before. As she
+stooped forward hastily to pluck them, she heard a sound close by her.
+Looking quickly about her, she spied a large snake just below her naked
+feet, among the loose stones. Uttering a loud scream, she sprang terrified
+from the spot; nor did she slacken her speed until she reached the
+schoolhouse, her delicate feet cut and bleeding in several places, and a
+large thorn in the side of one foot, which pained her sadly. The girls
+laughed at her fright, and one rude boy ran out, shouting, at the top of
+his voice,--
+
+"Hallo, boys! hallo! Annie Allis has come to school barefooted."
+
+Poor, foolish child! what would she have given if she had only obeyed her
+mother!
+
+The little white feet swelled and ached all the day long. Annie had hardly
+ever felt so much pain in all her life, and there was nobody to pity her.
+But the pain in her feet was nothing to the pain in her heart. How could
+she meet her dear mother, after having so wickedly disobeyed her? At length
+school was out. Slowly and painfully she walked homeward. As she approached
+the house she shook with pain and dread. Down in the little grove at her
+right hand she saw Susie and Mary with the dear little baby, and they
+beckoned her to come to them; but she could not. Oh, how could the guilty
+child look into the clear, sweet eyes of that innocent one, with such a
+load of sin and disobedience on her heart?
+
+Softly--just like a _thief_--she stole round the house, as she thought,
+unobserved. She sat down on the little green mound beside the rain-barrel,
+and reached behind it. Suddenly she started back as if a serpent had stung
+her. Again she reached quite around the barrel, as far as she could stretch
+her little arms; but nothing was there. Then she peered carefully into the
+place; but no shoes were to be found. It is plain now,--quite plain. What
+shall be done? Some one has taken the shoes away! Overpowered entirely, she
+bursts into a passionate fit of crying. Who is it that approaches the
+erring child and so kindly and tenderly inquires,--
+
+"What is the matter, Annie?"
+
+It is the mother, weary as she can be, and made still more weary and
+sorrowful by her little daughter's disobedience. She takes the child into
+the house and lays her upon the bed. The aching feet are bathed in water,
+the dirt is washed from the scratches and wounds, while poor Annie weeps
+and sobs as if her little heart would break. But the ugly thorn would not
+come out: it must ache on until father comes. Silently and sadly the mother
+bends over her suffering child, bathing her aching head. At length Annie
+said,--
+
+"Dear, dear mother, forgive me; and I will never, _never_ want to disobey
+you again!"
+
+I suppose every child knows just what this good Christian mother said to
+her little unhappy daughter,--how she told her that she had offended God as
+well as her mother, and broken his good law. She told her, too, how sinful
+it was to try to deceive, and then comforted her with her full and free
+pardon, and said that her heavenly Father would pardon her even more freely
+than her mother did, if she truly repented of her fault and asked his
+forgiveness with her whole heart. Then she taught Annie to pray, "Lead me
+not into temptation, but deliver me from evil;" and, although the little
+one had said that prayer many times, never, never had she understood its
+meaning so perfectly before: _now_ she felt her dependence on God.
+
+Soon Susie and Mary came in with the baby; and, while they were pitying
+poor Annie and asking questions, they placed the child on the bed beside
+her. There it laughed and crowed merrily and stretched out its little
+dimpled hands, while Annie, unable to smile in return, wondered how it
+could be so happy when she was so wretched.
+
+It was late when Mr. Allis came in; and upon examining the foot he said the
+thorn would have to be cut out in the morning. In vain a soothing poultice
+was applied to the wound. Annie scarcely closed her eyes all night. Worse
+than that: she kept her mother awake, although she tried hard to be patient
+and bear the pain as well as she could. In the morning her father sharpened
+his penknife and cut out the thorn. Of course he was very careful, but it
+did hurt sadly. It was many days before the poor foot got well; and I think
+Annie Allis will remember her mother's "_reasons_" for refusing to go
+without her shoes _for many a day_.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+SUSIE'S TEMPTATION.
+
+
+No sooner had Annie and Susie made acquaintance with some of the children
+in the neighbourhood than they began to make frequent visits at Mr. Allis's
+house. Both father and mother thought it desirable that the little girls
+should associate with other children; but they dreaded the effect of so
+much society and so many new influences on the hearts of the little girls.
+More than this: there were some among those that visited them frequently,
+who seemed to be almost any thing but desirable companions for the
+children. Once or twice Mrs. Allis had observed something in the manners
+and conversation of Jane Smith which led her to suspect that she was a bad
+girl. Accordingly, she told Annie and Susie that she wished they would, as
+much as possible, avoid her society. Notwithstanding all she could say,
+however, Jane was often at the house; and the children became very fond of
+her. She could tell so many interesting stories and say so many witty
+things, and had so much to communicate that was new to them, that they
+seemed almost fascinated by her.
+
+One Saturday afternoon Mrs. Allis was unusually busy, and Jane came to pay
+another visit. In spite of her cares, she, however, contrived to find
+amusement for the girls in her own presence. After tea, Jane took her
+bonnet to go home, and Susie begged permission to walk a short distance
+with her, to gather prairie-flowers. Mrs. Allis hesitated, but at length
+gave her consent, specifying the distance which she might go.
+
+Scarcely had they started on their walk, when Jane remarked,--
+
+"I declare! it's mean in your mother to keep you so dreadful close, just as
+though you didn't know enough to take care of yourself!"
+
+"Mother isn't mean; and you must not say so, Jane, or I shall go right
+home."
+
+"What! You're mad, are you? Well, I'm sure I don't care, if _you_ don't;
+but I'm glad my mother don't do so, anyway!"
+
+Susie now turned the conversation, and told Jane that Miss Wilson was
+making new bonnets for her and Annie. After some questions as to what kind
+of bonnets they were, and how they were trimmed, Jane asked,--
+
+"When are they going to be done?"
+
+"I suppose they are done to-day; but we shall not get them until some time
+next week, for it is too late for father to go to-night, and he is very
+tired besides."
+
+"Why don't you go and get them yourself? I would."
+
+"Oh, it's too far to go."
+
+"Nonsense! It's only two miles."
+
+"But mother did not send me: she would have sent me if she had wished me to
+go."
+
+"Pooh! she thought you would be afraid to go! I'll warrant she would be
+glad enough to see the bonnets home. Come along, now! I'll go with you. You
+know you can't go to meeting tomorrow if you don't get your bonnet."
+
+"Oh, yes: we can wear our clean sun-bonnets."
+
+"Wear your sun-bonnet to meeting! I'd stay at home first!"
+
+"I wouldn't stay at home first! But I _would_ like a new bonnet, too. I
+_would_ go and get it if I thought mother would like it."
+
+"Like it! why, to-be-sure she will! Come along."
+
+With hesitating steps Susie went on. Just before her was the point which
+her mother had made the limit of her walk. She felt no desire to disobey
+her mother; but the thought of surprising her by bringing home the new
+bonnets unexpectedly was quite a temptation. Then it would be so pleasant
+to have them, too; she wanted to see how they looked very much indeed. Why
+could she not walk very fast and get back soon? She looked at the sun, to
+see how much time there would be. It was almost setting; and she
+exclaimed,--
+
+"Jane! I can't go! See; it is almost sundown!"
+
+"It will be light for two hours. There is time enough; we can run, and get
+back before dark."
+
+"What if I shouldn't get the bonnets after all? What would mother say?"
+
+"You'll get them fast enough; and, even if you don't, you needn't tell her.
+She'll never know it! Come along!"
+
+Jane had said _one word too many now_. The frightened child had done the
+best thing she could have done. The idea of deceiving her mother had put
+the matter in an entirely new light, and she ran homeward, without one word
+of reply, as fast as her little feet could carry her. As soon as she
+reached the house she told the story to Annie and Mary, through whom it
+soon reached the mother's ears. She had no more occasion to caution her
+little girls to avoid Jane Smith.
+
+"How much our mother knows! Don't she, Susie?" said Annie; "she told us
+long ago that Jane was a naughty girl; but we didn't see how it could be!"
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE COLD DAY
+
+
+Both Susie and Annie Allis had learned a good lesson, and both of them
+profited by it. They found, each for herself, how much safer and better it
+was to trust their parents and obey their commands, whether they understood
+all about them or not. These kind parents often reminded their little ones
+that their good Father in heaven knew just what kind of parents he had
+given the children, and that he required them to yield a willing and
+cheerful obedience to all their parents' will, unless their commands
+involved the breaking of his holy law. That this would be the case the
+little girls did not fear, and, taught, as we believe, by the good Spirit
+from above, they tried very hard to _please God_ by _honouring their
+parents_.
+
+The winter was quite mild and pleasant, and Mrs. Allis thought best that
+Annie and Susie should continue to attend school as long as the weather
+would permit. It was a long walk for little girls not quite seven years
+old; but when the sky was bright and the path good they did not mind the
+cold air, for they were warmly clad and full of health and animation; they
+ran gayly along, scarcely heeding the distance they had to go.
+
+One morning Mr. and Mrs. Allis had occasion to go to a neighbouring town on
+business, and Mary was left at home alone with the baby. The children rode
+to school with their parents, and, when they got out of the wagon at the
+door of the log school-house, Annie said,--
+
+"Will you get back before night, father?"
+
+"Probably not. If we do we will call and take you home."
+
+The morning was somewhat dark and cloudy, and a dense fog settled in the
+hollows and ravines. Towards noon, however, there was a change; a cold
+north wind began to blow, as it blows nowhere except on the wide open
+prairies, unless it be on the sea. The clouds soon disappeared and the
+bright sun shone out clear and bright. Every hour the cold increased, until
+it became intense. The school-mistress dismissed the children somewhat
+earlier than usual and called them all around the huge fireplace to warm
+themselves. Then, after she had carefully fastened their cloaks and tippets
+and charged them to run home as fast as they could, they started out.
+
+Poor little Annie and Susie had to go alone. None of the children lived in
+the direction of their home; and, worse than all, they had the cold, fierce
+wind directly in their faces. But they thought of no danger while the sun
+was shining so brightly; and so on they went, running backwards to keep the
+wind out of their faces. Somewhat more than half-way home, a little aside
+from the road, lived a family by the name of Staunton. When they were just
+opposite to the house they found themselves very cold.
+
+"Oh, Annie! do let's go in and warm, ourselves," said Susie; "I am so
+cold!"
+
+"I can't stop, Susie," said Annie; "don't you know mother said we mustn't
+stop on the way home from school?"
+
+"Well, I don't think mother would care if we stopped now; I am so very
+cold. Do you?"
+
+"I don't know; I guess we had better hurry home as fast as we can. It would
+be hard work to start again, you know."
+
+At this juncture the wind tore away Annie's cloak, and the little girls
+forgot their cold hands as they chased it away off towards the pile of
+rocks where Annie saw the snake in the summer. Under the shelter of those
+rocks they sat down a moment to put on the cloak. Of course, mittens must
+be laid aside, and the little, stiff, benumbed fingers had hard work to
+fasten the garment, which had lost one of its strings in the encounter with
+the rude north wind. When at last it was made fast with a pin, Susie
+said,--
+
+"I am going to rub my hands with snow, Annie! You know Dick Matthews said
+that he could warm his hands with snow when they were cold!"
+
+Both the little ones rubbed their hands with the snow, and again set out,
+holding each other firmly by the hand. Several times they repeated the
+experiment, baring the little delicate fingers to the biting wind. At last
+they ceased to ache; but the feet were stiff and their limbs tired and
+weary.
+
+"Do your hands ache now, Susie?"
+
+"No; but my feet do, and my face. Oh, I'm afraid we'll never get home!
+a'n't you, Annie?"
+
+"It's hard work to walk, and I can hardly stir one step; when I turn my
+back it seems as if I should fall right down. I do wish Mary would come
+down to the field and open the gate! don't you?"
+
+"Yes, I do; for my hands are just as stiff as they can be."
+
+"There come father and mother, Annie; let's wait and ride," said Susie.
+
+"We'd better go and open the gate. See! there comes Mary! A'n't you glad?"
+
+"I can't stay for any thing; I shall run right to the fire! My feet are
+freezing, almost," said Susie.
+
+At that moment Mary came. She had been watching for the children, and as
+soon as they came in sight she laid down the baby and ran to help them come
+in the house. She set the gate wide open for the wagon, and then hurried
+the girls in to the fire. Soon the parents came in.
+
+"How glad we are to see you, children! We were almost afraid you would be
+frozen. We tried to get home in time to take you in the wagon. Are not your
+hands very cold?"
+
+"Our feet are cold; our hands were, too, but they are not now."
+
+"Not now?" said Mary, hastily drawing off Annie's mittens.
+
+Alas! the little fingers were frozen! Susie's were in the same sad
+condition. And now there was a brisk rubbing with snow, and the most
+intense suffering as the slow-coming warmth returned to the purple hands.
+
+"Annie," said Mr. Allis, when the pain of the hands was somewhat relieved,
+"why did you not stop at Mr. Staunton's and warm yourself?"
+
+"Because, father," said Annie, looking up meekly through her tears, "mother
+has told us _never to stop on our way home from school, and I always try to
+mind what she tells us now!"_
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Allis Family; or, Scenes of
+Western Life, by American Sunday School Union
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Allis Family; or, Scenes of Western Life
+by American Sunday School Union
+
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+
+
+Title: The Allis Family; or, Scenes of Western Life
+
+Author: American Sunday School Union
+
+Release Date: May, 2005 [EBook #8083]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on June 13, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ALLIS FAMILY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Ted Garvin, Erik Bent, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+                THE ALLIS FAMILY;
+
+                       OR,
+
+              SCENES OF WESTERN LIFE
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+_Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858 by the
+AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, in the Clerk's Office of the District
+Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania._
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+_No books are published by the_ AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION _without the
+sanction of the Committee of Publication, consisting of fourteen members,
+from the following denominations of Christians, viz.: Baptist, Methodist,
+Congregational, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and, Reformed Dutch.
+Not more than three of the members can be of the same denomination, and no
+book can be published to which any member of the Committee shall object._
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE ALLIS FAMILY.
+
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Allis lived away out West, on a broad prairie, where Mr. Allis
+was busily engaged in "making a farm." Perhaps some of my young readers,
+who have always been accustomed to see farms already "made," will not
+understand what I mean by "_making_ a farm;" and I will try to tell them.
+
+First of all, let them try to fancy a large meadow, either perfectly flat
+or a little uneven, as large, perhaps, as can be measured with the eye, and
+sometimes without a single tree, or scarcely a clump of bushes. There will
+be no fences in sight, and sometimes no streams of water, but the surface
+of the ground is covered with high, coarse grass. This is what Western
+people call a "prairie."
+
+In order to "make a farm," this ground must be ploughed, or, as Western
+people say, "broken up." Some of the children would smile, I think, if they
+were to see a regular "breaking team" before a "breaking plough." This
+plough is quite unlike that which is used in the older States, and it takes
+five, six, and sometimes as many as eight yoke of oxen to draw it. This
+ploughing is usually done in June. After ploughing, the ground must be
+enclosed, and then it is ready for the seed.
+
+Some people make curious mistakes when they undertake to make a new farm.
+Mr. Allis was one of these persons. He arrived at the little town of B----,
+with his family, late in the fall, and immediately set about looking for a
+location. Several miles from B---- he found a place that seemed to suit
+him. The soil was rich, and apparently inexhaustible; but it was poorly
+watered, and destitute of any timber suitable for building or fencing, and
+there was very little which was fit for fuel. The great thing he thought of
+was a large farm.
+
+After a while he found out his mistake, but it was too late for him to help
+it, for his money was nearly all expended for land. But Mr. Allis was a
+resolute man, and he immediately set himself to work to do the best he
+could. It was a long walk to the grove where he went every day to cut down
+trees for his cabin, and to split rails for his fence, and a whole day's
+work to go twice with his oxen to draw the logs and rails to his farm. But
+he rose early, and was ready to begin his work with the dawn. On rainy and
+stormy days, when he could not be out, he was at work in a shop near his
+house, making doors and window-frames, and cupboards, and other things for
+his new house.
+
+Early in the spring the cabin was reared, and soon all was in readiness for
+the removal of the family, which consisted of Mrs. Allis, Mary, a distant
+relative whose home was with her, and two little twin-daughters, Annie and
+Susie, who were about five years old at this time. These little girls loved
+each other very much, and usually played very pleasantly together. But it
+was sometimes the case that, like other children, they had their little
+troubles, and were selfish, and of course unhappy.
+
+One day Mrs. Allis was very sick, and she called the little girls to her,
+and told them they might go up-stairs and play, but they must try to be
+very good girls, and very quiet, for she could not bear the noise of their
+voices. The little girls loved their mother very dearly, and were very
+sorry that she was so sick. So they promised to be good children, and then
+away they skipped up-stairs on tip-toe, that they might not disturb their
+mother.
+
+At first there was the patter of light feet and a subdued murmur of voices,
+but after a while scarcely a sound could be heard. Thus passed two hours,
+or more, and at last Mrs. Allis sent Mary to see what they were about. Mary
+reported that they were playing very pleasantly together, and seemed very
+happy.
+
+"But what can they be doing, Mary?"
+
+"Oh, they have a whole regiment of ragbabies, besides the kittens, for
+scholars. Susie says they are playing school."
+
+At last it was tea-time, and, when the girls had eaten their supper, their
+mother called them to her.
+
+"Oh, mother! mother! we have had such a nice time."
+
+"Softly, softly, children," said Mr. Allis; "be careful, or you will make
+your mother sick again."
+
+"Are you better now, mother?" said little Susie, going softly towards her
+bed.
+
+"Yes, my dear child, I am much better, and you two little girls have helped
+to make me so."
+
+"We, mother?" said Susie, while her black eyes sparkled at the thought. "I
+wonder how _we_ could make you better, when we have been all the while at
+play up-stairs."
+
+"I can guess how," said Annie. "Mother means we didn't make any noise:
+don't you, mother?"
+
+"Not just that, or rather a good deal more than that; but first tell me
+_what_ you played up-stairs."
+
+"Oh, it was so pleasant: wasn't it? Why, mother, don't you think, we played
+school; and first I let Susie be teacher, and then she let me; and we
+played I was a little girl come to school, and by-and-by, when we got tired
+of that, we got out the dolls, Bessie and Jessie, and the pussy, and then
+we made three more little girls out of our sun-bonnets and Susie's pink
+apron, and then we both played teacher, like Miss Jackson and Miss Williams
+in the academy where we used to live, you know."
+
+"Oh, yes, mother," interrupted Susie; "and, don't you think, sometimes
+Annie would pull pussy's tail and make her say 'Mew,' and we made believe
+that one of the little girls cried to go to her mother."
+
+"Yes," said Annie, "and after a while we made believe she was naughty, and
+sent her home."
+
+"Very well, my dear; I see you have had a very pleasant time,--much more
+pleasant than if you had been cross and unkind to each other, or had made a
+noise to disturb me. I see you have loved one another, and this is what has
+made you so happy this afternoon. Tell me, now, which you had rather be,
+teacher or scholar, when you play school."
+
+"Oh! a teacher, a great deal, mother," said Annie.
+
+"Then why did you not be teacher all the time, and let Susie be the
+scholar?"
+
+"That wouldn't be right. Susie likes to be teacher as well as I," replied
+Annie, timidly.
+
+"But don't you think you would have been happier to have been teacher all
+the time, Annie?"
+
+"I did want to be at first, but then I thought Susie would like it too;
+and, after all, it was just as pleasant."
+
+"I presume it was, my dear, and much more pleasant; no person can be happy
+who is selfish. Do you know what it is to be selfish, my little Susie?"
+
+"Yes, mother; you told Annie and I one day that it was selfish to want
+every thing just to please ourselves."
+
+"Do you love to run about the room, and laugh and play?"
+
+"Oh, yes; you know we do, mother."
+
+"Would you not rather have stayed down-stairs to play to-day?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said Annie; "only----"
+
+"Only what, my dear?"
+
+"Annie means that you were sick, and didn't want us to make a noise; and,
+really, we did try to play just as still as we possibly could."
+
+"Why did you take so much pains to be quiet?"
+
+"You told us to be still, didn't you, mother?"
+
+"I did; but were you afraid I would punish you if you made a noise, Susie?"
+
+"Oh, no, indeed; but we did not want to make you sick," said Susie,
+clinging to her mother, and looking into her face with her loving eyes.
+
+"Then you love your mother, do you, girls?"
+
+"Indeed we do," said the children, in one breath.
+
+"Well, supposing your mother had been well, and some poor sick woman, whom
+you had never seen before, lay here sick in my bed: would it have been more
+pleasant _then_ for you to be very still, so as not to disturb her?"
+
+The girls hesitated a moment, and then Annie said,--
+
+"I think it would, mother; for it would be very cruel to make anybody
+suffer, I have heard you say."
+
+"Then you could love a poor stranger enough to deny yourself some of your
+own pleasures for her sake; and you think it would make you happier to do
+so, do you?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I am sure we should be happier," said little Susie.
+
+"Well, my dear children, I cannot talk any longer now, but I want you to
+repeat this little verse after me until you can remember it:--
+
+   "Love is the golden chain that binds
+      The happy souls above;
+    And he's an heir of heaven that finds
+      His bosom glow with _love_."
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE PRAIRIE FIRE.
+
+
+It was a trying summer for the Allis family. The weather was hot and dry,
+and Mr. Allis, unaccustomed to labour in the fields, often almost fainted
+in the sun. His work seemed to him to progress very slowly. He had no one
+to assist him in sowing and planting and gathering in his crops; for, in
+the first place, there were few people to be hired, and, more than that, he
+had no money to pay his workmen if he had been able to obtain them. Every
+morning he had to go more than a mile with his oxen for water, which he
+brought in a barrel for family use; and it was often nine o'clock before he
+got to his work in the fields.
+
+At length November came and found his summer's work completed. He had no
+barn in which to store his grain, and could only secure it by "stacking" it
+until it could be threshed.
+
+The potatoes, squashes, pumpkins, beets, turnips and other vegetables which
+the garden had produced for winter use were as securely housed as possible
+and protected from the frost; and Mr. Allis began to hope that now he might
+take that rest which he so much required.
+
+For a number of weeks the children had been excited by wonderful lights in
+the sky, just above the horizon. Sometimes eight or ten of these could be
+seen in different directions at once, and occasionally some one of them
+would seem to shoot up suddenly, not unlike the flame of a distant volcano.
+To the eager inquiries of the little ones, they were answered that these
+singular lights were called prairie-fires.
+
+"What is a prairie-fire, father?" asked both the children at once.
+
+"It is the burning of the long coarse grass which covers the prairie in
+summer. This becomes very dry, and then, if a spark of fire chances to fall
+upon it, it is at once all in blaze."
+
+"Does it make a very big fire, father?" asked Susie.
+
+"That depends upon circumstances, my child. If the grass is very high and
+thick, as it sometimes is in the sloughs and moist places, it makes a big
+fire, as you call it."
+
+"Oh, how I wish I could see a prairie-fire close by us! Don't you, mother?"
+
+"I cannot say that I do, my child; they are sometimes rather mischievous
+visitors, and I would much prefer that they should keep at a respectful
+distance."
+
+"Mr. Jenkins told me that a man some ten miles from here had his stacks and
+house and every thing he had, destroyed, a few days since, losing his whole
+year's labour and all his clothing and furniture. The family barely escaped
+with their lives.
+
+"Is there any danger that the fire will come here, husband?" said Mrs.
+Allis.
+
+"There is danger, I suppose; but I hope we shall have no trouble of that
+kind."
+
+"Is there nothing that can be done to protect your property?"
+
+"I shall try to _burn_ up what grows around the house and stack-yard in a
+day or two, I think; but just now it does not seem possible for me to spare
+the time."
+
+One day, not long after, a long line of fire appeared on the prairie,
+several miles distant. It was, however, so distant that Mrs. Allis and the
+children did not feel alarmed, as the evening was still; and they were
+watching it with interest, as the flames assumed various fantastic shapes,
+now darting upwards like tongues of fire, and now weltering and bubbling
+like a sea of melted lava. Mr. Allis had not yet returned from town, where
+he had been engaged all that day, entirely unsuspicious of any approaching
+calamity; and Mrs. Allis was not aware how rapidly the flames were
+approaching her home, until she was startled by seeing a horseman ride
+rapidly to her door and hastily dismount, inquiring for Mr. Allis.
+
+"He is at ----. I expect him home in the course of an hour or so. But what
+is the matter, Mr. Jenkins? Is anybody sick?"
+
+"Matter, woman! Don't you see that prairie-fire yonder? You'll be burnt out
+if you don't stir round lively."
+
+"Burnt out, Mr. Jenkins! What do you mean? What shall we do?"
+
+"Do? Why, we must go to work right away and set a _back-fire_,--as quick as
+we can, too. Call your girl there, and come out both of you as soon as
+possible!"
+
+Not many minutes passed before Mr. Allis reached home. He had seen the fire
+at a distance, and, understanding the danger far better than his wife,
+hurried home as rapidly as possible.
+
+Poor Annie and Susie were sadly frightened. When they saw the smoke and
+fire so near the house and stacks of grain, they cried as if their little
+hearts would break; but there was no one to hear them, for their mother
+could not be spared a moment until the danger was past. Poor children! They
+soon had enough of prairie-fires, and they thought they would be very
+thankful if ever they could see their father and mother and Mary alive
+again. Sometimes they were almost suffocated by the smoke which the rising
+wind drove into the house, and then they thought they should surely be
+burned to death. Still, lonely and frightened as they were, they did not
+attempt to go out. They remembered that their mother had told them not on
+_any account_ to leave the house, and, like obedient children, they did as
+she had told them.
+
+It was two hours--but it seemed much longer to the poor little girls--
+before their mother came in; and then they scarcely knew her, for her face
+was blackened with smoke and dust, her hands were burned sadly, and the
+skirt of her dress torn and burned in many places. Although they were
+excited and curious, yet these good children undressed and went to bed,
+helping themselves all they could, that their mother might rest, and trying
+to wait until morning for all they wished to know.
+
+Meanwhile, Mrs. Allis busied herself, weary as she was, in providing
+a comfortable supper for her husband, who had eaten nothing since
+dinner-time. It was past midnight when Mr. Allis and Mary came to the
+house, and they too were tired enough, as we may suppose.
+
+But, above all, they were grateful to that kind heavenly Father who had so
+mercifully preserved and protected them from harm amid such dangers. Little
+did any of them sleep that night; and it was not strange that the morning,
+which came on wet and showery, found them but little refreshed after the
+unusual fatigue of the preceding night. But the children were awake with
+the first light, and eagerly asking questions about the fire.
+
+"But what is a _back-fire?_" said Annie, when her father had finished
+telling them about the matter. "How do you set a back-fire?"
+
+"Well, Annie, we light _another fire_, nearer the house or fence which
+we are trying to save, and then, with a brush or broom, or sometimes a
+little stick, _whip it out_, so that it cannot burn very fast. When the
+grass is burnt off in this way there is nothing left for what we call the
+'prairie-fire' to burn, you see. If we can do this in season, the house
+or stacks are generally safe."
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE BABY.
+
+
+How tired every one was all day after the prairie-fire! Well would it have
+been if the matter had terminated in fatigue. Early in the day the feeble
+mother had to betake herself to her bed; and on the following morning Mr.
+Allis, to his great surprise, found himself rudely shaken by the ague. Not
+many days passed ere Mrs. Allis and Mary found themselves at the mercy of
+the same annoying visitor. Sometimes the three shook in concert; and then
+you may imagine that the little girls had enough to do to carry water to
+satisfy their thirst. Occasionally the chills would seem to be broken up
+for a few days, and then they would most unexpectedly return. Several times
+Mr. Allis thought himself perfectly well, and once or twice he went to the
+grove a number of miles distant, with his team, for a load of wood, and on
+the way there or back would be attacked with a chill, and it was only by a
+great effort that he reached home. The little girls were quite well; but
+they did not find their prairie home as pleasant in the cold winter as it
+was in the glad summer-time. Oh, how they longed for spring! And when it
+came how they rejoiced over the little lambs and calves in their father's
+yard, and how delighted were they when the first sweet violets peeped
+forth! Still their joy was to be increased: a sweeter prairie-flower than
+any of these bloomed in their humble cabin, opening a fount of untold
+gladness in the hearts of all. One bright morning a sweet little sister was
+presented to the delighted children.
+
+It was long before they could be made to realize that it was their own dear
+babe, and always to be theirs and to stay with them. At last they
+recovered themselves sufficiently to ask its name.
+
+"It has no name, Annie," said her father.
+
+"Oh, mother! mother!" cried the enthusiastic Susie, "let us call it
+_Love!_"
+
+What a blessing that little unconscious one was to all beneath that lowly
+roof! Annie and Susie would sit beside its little cradle and watch it for
+hours; and if permitted to hold the tiny creature for a few moments they
+were never weary of caressing her. Daily and almost hourly they discovered
+some new beauty or perfection in the dear object of their most tender
+regard, and the day of her birth was made an era in the house; for almost
+every thing that was spoken of was said to have taken place either so long
+before or so long after the _Baby came_.
+
+At length a school was opened about a mile distant, and the parents thought
+best that the little girls should have the advantage of attending it
+through the summer. At first they were quite reluctant to go; for they were
+strangers still to the children around them, and the young lady who taught
+them they had never seen until they met her among her pupils. After a few
+days they became very fond of their school and their young playmates, and
+the only drawback to their happiness was leaving the little darling Mary
+for so many long hours every day. But it was soon evident that they learned
+some _evil_ things as well as _good_ things. They grew less willing to
+submit to the gentle control of their parents, and were quite inclined to
+think the rules under whose influence they had been educated were
+altogether _too strict_, fortifying their occasional remonstrances with
+"Mary Jones says so," or "Fanny Adams thinks so." This gave their
+affectionate parents much solicitude and pain.
+
+One evening the little girls came home with a petition that they might "go
+to school barefooted," and, as usual for the last few weeks, Susie said,
+"All the girls go without shoes."
+
+"That, my child, is no reason why _you_ should do so if we prefer you
+should wear your shoes."
+
+"But, mother, it is so warm!" said Annie.
+
+"What would you have thought, Annie, if I had told you to go to school
+barefooted while we lived in Massachusetts?"
+
+"All the girls wore shoes and stockings there, mother."
+
+"But was it not quite as warm there as here, my child?"
+
+"I suppose so; but, mother, all the girls and boys laugh at us so. They say
+we are 'proud,' because we wear shoes and stockings."
+
+"You must not mind being laughed at when you are doing right."
+
+"But I can't see what wrong there is in going barefooted," said Annie.
+
+"You are not now required to see the harm in it. All you have to do in this
+case is to obey."
+
+"But won't you tell us _why_, mother?" persisted Susie.
+
+"No, children, I shall not now tell you _why_. I have my reasons; and you
+must _trust_ me now, and wait for an explanation until some future time."
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+ANNIE'S TEMPTATION.
+
+
+A few days after, Susie was not very well, and her mother thought best to
+keep her at home. Annie, however, was sent to school, as usual. As she was
+preparing to set out, she thought to herself,--
+
+"Now I am going all alone, and mother will never know it; I will not wear
+my shoes to-day." So, when she was just starting, she stole softly round to
+the back-side of the house, and hid her shoes behind the rain-barrel. On
+she skipped, but not so light-hearted and happy as usual. It was her first
+act of wilful disobedience. As she went on she at last repented that she
+had ventured to disobey her kind mother; but something seemed to whisper in
+her heart, "It will do you no harm: your mother will never find it out."
+
+Do any of my little readers know whose voice that was in Annie's heart? It
+was the voice of _him_ who spoke the _first lie_ ever uttered in this
+beautiful world; who in the garden of Eden said to our first mother, "_Ye
+shall not surely die_."
+
+As she approached the school-room, she stopped near a huge pile of rocks at
+the road-side to gather some flowers for her teacher. She found a great
+many, and, among others, some which she had never seen before. As she
+stooped forward hastily to pluck them, she heard a sound close by her.
+Looking quickly about her, she spied a large snake just below her naked
+feet, among the loose stones. Uttering a loud scream, she sprang terrified
+from the spot; nor did she slacken her speed until she reached the
+schoolhouse, her delicate feet cut and bleeding in several places, and a
+large thorn in the side of one foot, which pained her sadly. The girls
+laughed at her fright, and one rude boy ran out, shouting, at the top of
+his voice,--
+
+"Hallo, boys! hallo! Annie Allis has come to school barefooted."
+
+Poor, foolish child! what would she have given if she had only obeyed her
+mother!
+
+The little white feet swelled and ached all the day long. Annie had hardly
+ever felt so much pain in all her life, and there was nobody to pity her.
+But the pain in her feet was nothing to the pain in her heart. How could
+she meet her dear mother, after having so wickedly disobeyed her? At length
+school was out. Slowly and painfully she walked homeward. As she approached
+the house she shook with pain and dread. Down in the little grove at her
+right hand she saw Susie and Mary with the dear little baby, and they
+beckoned her to come to them; but she could not. Oh, how could the guilty
+child look into the clear, sweet eyes of that innocent one, with such a
+load of sin and disobedience on her heart?
+
+Softly--just like a _thief_--she stole round the house, as she thought,
+unobserved. She sat down on the little green mound beside the rain-barrel,
+and reached behind it. Suddenly she started back as if a serpent had stung
+her. Again she reached quite around the barrel, as far as she could stretch
+her little arms; but nothing was there. Then she peered carefully into the
+place; but no shoes were to be found. It is plain now,--quite plain. What
+shall be done? Some one has taken the shoes away! Overpowered entirely, she
+bursts into a passionate fit of crying. Who is it that approaches the
+erring child and so kindly and tenderly inquires,--
+
+"What is the matter, Annie?"
+
+It is the mother, weary as she can be, and made still more weary and
+sorrowful by her little daughter's disobedience. She takes the child into
+the house and lays her upon the bed. The aching feet are bathed in water,
+the dirt is washed from the scratches and wounds, while poor Annie weeps
+and sobs as if her little heart would break. But the ugly thorn would not
+come out: it must ache on until father comes. Silently and sadly the mother
+bends over her suffering child, bathing her aching head. At length Annie
+said,--
+
+"Dear, dear mother, forgive me; and I will never, _never_ want to disobey
+you again!"
+
+I suppose every child knows just what this good Christian mother said to
+her little unhappy daughter,--how she told her that she had offended God as
+well as her mother, and broken his good law. She told her, too, how sinful
+it was to try to deceive, and then comforted her with her full and free
+pardon, and said that her heavenly Father would pardon her even more freely
+than her mother did, if she truly repented of her fault and asked his
+forgiveness with her whole heart. Then she taught Annie to pray, "Lead me
+not into temptation, but deliver me from evil;" and, although the little
+one had said that prayer many times, never, never had she understood its
+meaning so perfectly before: _now_ she felt her dependence on God.
+
+Soon Susie and Mary came in with the baby; and, while they were pitying
+poor Annie and asking questions, they placed the child on the bed beside
+her. There it laughed and crowed merrily and stretched out its little
+dimpled hands, while Annie, unable to smile in return, wondered how it
+could be so happy when she was so wretched.
+
+It was late when Mr. Allis came in; and upon examining the foot he said the
+thorn would have to be cut out in the morning. In vain a soothing poultice
+was applied to the wound. Annie scarcely closed her eyes all night. Worse
+than that: she kept her mother awake, although she tried hard to be patient
+and bear the pain as well as she could. In the morning her father sharpened
+his penknife and cut out the thorn. Of course he was very careful, but it
+did hurt sadly. It was many days before the poor foot got well; and I think
+Annie Allis will remember her mother's "_reasons_" for refusing to go
+without her shoes _for many a day_.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+SUSIE'S TEMPTATION.
+
+
+No sooner had Annie and Susie made acquaintance with some of the children
+in the neighbourhood than they began to make frequent visits at Mr. Allis's
+house. Both father and mother thought it desirable that the little girls
+should associate with other children; but they dreaded the effect of so
+much society and so many new influences on the hearts of the little girls.
+More than this: there were some among those that visited them frequently,
+who seemed to be almost any thing but desirable companions for the
+children. Once or twice Mrs. Allis had observed something in the manners
+and conversation of Jane Smith which led her to suspect that she was a bad
+girl. Accordingly, she told Annie and Susie that she wished they would, as
+much as possible, avoid her society. Notwithstanding all she could say,
+however, Jane was often at the house; and the children became very fond of
+her. She could tell so many interesting stories and say so many witty
+things, and had so much to communicate that was new to them, that they
+seemed almost fascinated by her.
+
+One Saturday afternoon Mrs. Allis was unusually busy, and Jane came to pay
+another visit. In spite of her cares, she, however, contrived to find
+amusement for the girls in her own presence. After tea, Jane took her
+bonnet to go home, and Susie begged permission to walk a short distance
+with her, to gather prairie-flowers. Mrs. Allis hesitated, but at length
+gave her consent, specifying the distance which she might go.
+
+Scarcely had they started on their walk, when Jane remarked,--
+
+"I declare! it's mean in your mother to keep you so dreadful close, just as
+though you didn't know enough to take care of yourself!"
+
+"Mother isn't mean; and you must not say so, Jane, or I shall go right
+home."
+
+"What! You're mad, are you? Well, I'm sure I don't care, if _you_ don't;
+but I'm glad my mother don't do so, anyway!"
+
+Susie now turned the conversation, and told Jane that Miss Wilson was
+making new bonnets for her and Annie. After some questions as to what kind
+of bonnets they were, and how they were trimmed, Jane asked,--
+
+"When are they going to be done?"
+
+"I suppose they are done to-day; but we shall not get them until some time
+next week, for it is too late for father to go to-night, and he is very
+tired besides."
+
+"Why don't you go and get them yourself? I would."
+
+"Oh, it's too far to go."
+
+"Nonsense! It's only two miles."
+
+"But mother did not send me: she would have sent me if she had wished me to
+go."
+
+"Pooh! she thought you would be afraid to go! I'll warrant she would be
+glad enough to see the bonnets home. Come along, now! I'll go with you. You
+know you can't go to meeting tomorrow if you don't get your bonnet."
+
+"Oh, yes: we can wear our clean sun-bonnets."
+
+"Wear your sun-bonnet to meeting! I'd stay at home first!"
+
+"I wouldn't stay at home first! But I _would_ like a new bonnet, too. I
+_would_ go and get it if I thought mother would like it."
+
+"Like it! why, to-be-sure she will! Come along."
+
+With hesitating steps Susie went on. Just before her was the point which
+her mother had made the limit of her walk. She felt no desire to disobey
+her mother; but the thought of surprising her by bringing home the new
+bonnets unexpectedly was quite a temptation. Then it would be so pleasant
+to have them, too; she wanted to see how they looked very much indeed. Why
+could she not walk very fast and get back soon? She looked at the sun, to
+see how much time there would be. It was almost setting; and she
+exclaimed,--
+
+"Jane! I can't go! See; it is almost sundown!"
+
+"It will be light for two hours. There is time enough; we can run, and get
+back before dark."
+
+"What if I shouldn't get the bonnets after all? What would mother say?"
+
+"You'll get them fast enough; and, even if you don't, you needn't tell her.
+She'll never know it! Come along!"
+
+Jane had said _one word too many now_. The frightened child had done the
+best thing she could have done. The idea of deceiving her mother had put
+the matter in an entirely new light, and she ran homeward, without one word
+of reply, as fast as her little feet could carry her. As soon as she
+reached the house she told the story to Annie and Mary, through whom it
+soon reached the mother's ears. She had no more occasion to caution her
+little girls to avoid Jane Smith.
+
+"How much our mother knows! Don't she, Susie?" said Annie; "she told us
+long ago that Jane was a naughty girl; but we didn't see how it could be!"
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE COLD DAY
+
+
+Both Susie and Annie Allis had learned a good lesson, and both of them
+profited by it. They found, each for herself, how much safer and better it
+was to trust their parents and obey their commands, whether they understood
+all about them or not. These kind parents often reminded their little ones
+that their good Father in heaven knew just what kind of parents he had
+given the children, and that he required them to yield a willing and
+cheerful obedience to all their parents' will, unless their commands
+involved the breaking of his holy law. That this would be the case the
+little girls did not fear, and, taught, as we believe, by the good Spirit
+from above, they tried very hard to _please God_ by _honouring their
+parents_.
+
+The winter was quite mild and pleasant, and Mrs. Allis thought best that
+Annie and Susie should continue to attend school as long as the weather
+would permit. It was a long walk for little girls not quite seven years
+old; but when the sky was bright and the path good they did not mind the
+cold air, for they were warmly clad and full of health and animation; they
+ran gayly along, scarcely heeding the distance they had to go.
+
+One morning Mr. and Mrs. Allis had occasion to go to a neighbouring town on
+business, and Mary was left at home alone with the baby. The children rode
+to school with their parents, and, when they got out of the wagon at the
+door of the log school-house, Annie said,--
+
+"Will you get back before night, father?"
+
+"Probably not. If we do we will call and take you home."
+
+The morning was somewhat dark and cloudy, and a dense fog settled in the
+hollows and ravines. Towards noon, however, there was a change; a cold
+north wind began to blow, as it blows nowhere except on the wide open
+prairies, unless it be on the sea. The clouds soon disappeared and the
+bright sun shone out clear and bright. Every hour the cold increased, until
+it became intense. The school-mistress dismissed the children somewhat
+earlier than usual and called them all around the huge fireplace to warm
+themselves. Then, after she had carefully fastened their cloaks and tippets
+and charged them to run home as fast as they could, they started out.
+
+Poor little Annie and Susie had to go alone. None of the children lived in
+the direction of their home; and, worse than all, they had the cold, fierce
+wind directly in their faces. But they thought of no danger while the sun
+was shining so brightly; and so on they went, running backwards to keep the
+wind out of their faces. Somewhat more than half-way home, a little aside
+from the road, lived a family by the name of Staunton. When they were just
+opposite to the house they found themselves very cold.
+
+"Oh, Annie! do let's go in and warm, ourselves," said Susie; "I am so
+cold!"
+
+"I can't stop, Susie," said Annie; "don't you know mother said we mustn't
+stop on the way home from school?"
+
+"Well, I don't think mother would care if we stopped now; I am so very
+cold. Do you?"
+
+"I don't know; I guess we had better hurry home as fast as we can. It would
+be hard work to start again, you know."
+
+At this juncture the wind tore away Annie's cloak, and the little girls
+forgot their cold hands as they chased it away off towards the pile of
+rocks where Annie saw the snake in the summer. Under the shelter of those
+rocks they sat down a moment to put on the cloak. Of course, mittens must
+be laid aside, and the little, stiff, benumbed fingers had hard work to
+fasten the garment, which had lost one of its strings in the encounter with
+the rude north wind. When at last it was made fast with a pin, Susie
+said,--
+
+"I am going to rub my hands with snow, Annie! You know Dick Matthews said
+that he could warm his hands with snow when they were cold!"
+
+Both the little ones rubbed their hands with the snow, and again set out,
+holding each other firmly by the hand. Several times they repeated the
+experiment, baring the little delicate fingers to the biting wind. At last
+they ceased to ache; but the feet were stiff and their limbs tired and
+weary.
+
+"Do your hands ache now, Susie?"
+
+"No; but my feet do, and my face. Oh, I'm afraid we'll never get home!
+a'n't you, Annie?"
+
+"It's hard work to walk, and I can hardly stir one step;" when I turn my
+back it seems as if I should fall right down. I do wish Mary would come
+down to the field and open the gate! don't you?"
+
+"Yes, I do; for my hands are just as stiff as they can be."
+
+"There come father and mother, Annie; let's wait and ride," said Susie.
+
+"We'd better go and open the gate. See! there comes Mary! A'n't you glad?"
+
+"I can't stay for any thing; I shall run right to the fire! My feet are
+freezing, almost," said Susie.
+
+At that moment Mary came. She had been watching for the children, and as
+soon as they came in sight she laid down the baby and ran to help them come
+in the house. She set the gate wide open for the wagon, and then hurried
+the girls in to the fire. Soon the parents came in.
+
+"How glad we are to see you, children! We were almost afraid you would be
+frozen. We tried to get home in time to take you in the wagon. Are not your
+hands very cold?"
+
+"Our feet are cold; our hands were, too, but they are not now."
+
+"Not now?" said Mary, hastily drawing off Annie's mittens.
+
+Alas! the little fingers were frozen! Susie's were in the same sad
+condition. And now there was a brisk rubbing with snow, and the most
+intense suffering as the slow-coming warmth returned to the purple hands.
+
+"Annie," said Mr. Allis, when the pain of the hands was somewhat relieved,
+"why did you not stop at Mr. Staunton's and warm yourself?"
+
+"Because, father," said Annie, looking up meekly through her tears, "mother
+has told us _never to stop on our way home from school, and I always try to
+mind what she tells us now!"_
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Allis Family; or, Scenes of
+Western Life, by American Sunday School Union
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ALLIS FAMILY ***
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