p. 734 | THE GIRL WHO SMILES by Mary A. Gillette

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 12, 1901

THE GIRL WHO SMILES.

By Mary A. Gillette

The wind was east, and the chimney smoked, And the old brown house seemed dreary; For nobody smiled, and nobody joked, The young folks grumbled, the old folks croaked, They had come home chilled and weary.

Then opened the door, and a girl came in; Oh, she was homely — very; Her nose was pug, and her cheek was thin, There wasn’t a dimple from brow to chin, But her smile was bright and cheery.

She spoke not a word of the cold and damp, Nor yet of the gloom about her, But she mended the fire, and lighted the lamp, And she put on the place a different stamp From that it had without her.

Her dress, which was something in sober brown, And with dampness nearly dripping, She changed for a bright, warm crimson gown, And she looked so gay when she so came down They forgot that the air was nipping.

They forgot that the house was a dull old place, And smoky from base to rafter, And gloom departed from every face, As they felt the charm of her mirthful grace, And the cheer of her happy laughter.

Oh, give me the girl who will smile and sing And make all glad together! To be plain or fair is a lesser thing, But a kind, unselfish heart can bring Good cheer in the darkest weather.

— Mary A. Gillette.