THE NEW OVERCOAT AND WHAT CAME OF IT.
By A. Smith
MR. JOSIAH WINSLOW was a well-to-do farmer who lived near the city of N. He and his good wife, Amanda, had lived happily together on the farm for about forty years. Several years before the time of which I speak they had lost, by death, their only child, a son of about twelve years of age. While tenderly cherishing the memory of the dead, their sympathies seemed never to embrace the possibility that children of other parentage could ever be received into their home and hearts to fill the aching void. During those desolate years of bereavement they sometimes addressed each other as "papa" and "mama," the custom seeming to bind them closer to the tender memories of the past. At about the time my story begins, Mr. Winslow said to his wife: "'Manda, I believe I had better go to N. to-day and buy the overcoat of which we have been talking so long as a necessity. I have $10, which I believe is all I can afford to pay for one. And, as the sleighing is good, I will take a few bushels of apples along to pay for necessary groceries." Accordingly at about ten o'clock Mr. Winslow drove into the city, and after putting up his horse at a "farmer's barn," he walked down the street towards the business part of the town. Presently he met a little girl, thinly clad, and wearing shoes that were out at the toes. She was sobbing, but evidently trying to hide the fact. The farmer halted and said, "What is the matter, little one?" "O, sir," said she, "I am so cold; and my feet ache so hard I could not help crying; but I tried not to, sir!" "What is your name, dear?" "With mama and little Willie in the alley, just around the corner over yonder." In the meantime Mr. Winslow had turned about, and was walking with Lillian towards her home. "This is a cold day for a little girl to be out on the streets. Where have you been?" "I went to carry some clothes that mother and I had washed for Mrs. Sharp, to that big beautiful house you can see on the hill over yonder. That is where Mrs. Sharp lives. She wouldn't give me more than fifty cents for the washing, but mother said it was worth a dollar. Poor mama is sick, and could hardly do the washing. And little Willie is so hungry and cold. When Mrs. Sharp opened the door I saw a pile of cakes on the table, and smelled the good dinner cooking. I felt naughty towards her because she would not let me in to get warm, nor offer me one of the cakes, when I was so hungry and cold. She just took in the clothes and handed out the money, and shut the door." "Where is your papa?" Mr. Winslow said. "O, sir, papa got hurt and was sick a long time, and then died two years ago! When papa could work we all had warm clothes and plenty to eat; and we lived in a nicer house than we do now. And mama used to sing such beautiful things to us about Jesus and the happy land, and lots of things. But she don't sing much now, she gets so tired, and the house is sometimes so cold, and we get so hungry. But we pray every day that Jesus will give us bread, and some clothes to keep us warm, and some wood to keep a fire all the time. O, sir, why don't Jesus come and give us what we asked for? Mama says He will." "He has sent me, dear, to get all you asked for." "O, sir, did He? And can you help mama to get well, too? for I pray every day for her. Do you think Jesus would hear a little girl like me when I pray all alone, my own self?" "Yes, little one, I am sure Jesus has sent me to make your mama well and happy again in a little while." Arriving at the house, Mr. Winslow entered a dingy basement occupied by the family. Taking in the situation, he said to himself, "Josiah, I think, under the circumstances, that an eight-dollar overcoat will be good enough for you." With a promise to return and take dinner with them, he went out and ordered half a cord of wood to be delivered immediately. Then, going to a grocery, he filled a basket with a generous supply of provisions, and returned to the house. Having emptied the basket, he took it over to the barn where he had left his horse and cutter, and filled it with beautiful apples, not forgetting to pile a dozen eggs on top. In the meantime the wood had arrived, and a glowing fire, and a well-spread table, round which the farmer and the family gathered, brought cheer and thanksgiving that are easier to be imagined than described. The children said it was the best dinner they had ever eaten, and Mrs. Avery perceptibly brightened, a fact that Lillian was quick to notice and speak of. After dinner Mr. Winslow said: "Mrs. Avery, I wish to purchase a jacket and some shoes for a little girl about the size of your daughter, and, as I know nothing about fitting by numbers, if you will let her go with me to the store to try them on I will be very glad." Of course the wish was readily assented to. Arriving at the store, he said: "Lillian, I would like to have you select such things as you think such a little girl would like; for if they please you I am sure they will suit her very well." First, then, two good warm pairs of stockings were selected. Then the shoe department was visited, and Lillian drew on one of the stockings, and tried on one of a pair of good calfskin shoes. "I think," she said, "she will be pleased with them, they are so warm and nice." "Put on the other one, too, I want to see how they will look and fit. I think she will need a good pair of rubber overshoes too." Accordingly the overshoes were purchased and fitted, and then Lillian made a move to take them off. "Don't do that yet," said Mr. Winslow, "Come over here to this counter first and try on a jacket. Select one yourself." One was chosen that fitted nicely; but the price made Mr. Winslow shrug his shoulders and say to himself, "She has made choice of a very good article, that's a fact." Then, addressing Lillian, he said: "All the articles you have tried on I have bought for a little girl who is brave enough to go out in the winter storms on errands for her mother. She lives with Mrs. Avery, and calls her mama, and has a little brother by the name of Willie." Lillian was so taken by surprise that she seemed dazed for a moment, then, bursting into tears, she dropped into a chair and covered her face with her hands. Mr. Winslow turned his head away, and the saleslady's eyes moistened with tears. In a moment the little girl dried her tears; and on the bosom of the passing shower there appeared a beautiful bow of promise, for she said, "O, sir, I would rather do without the jacket if only poor mother could have a new dress, or Willie a pair of shoes!" "Keep the jacket," said the farmer, "and pick out a dress pattern for your mother, and Uncle Josh will pay for it; and tell your mother it is a present from her own little daughter." With the help of the saleslady the selection was made, and Lillian, clad in her warm suit, bade her benefactor a pathetic good-by, and departed for her home, into which she carried both surprises and joy. After she had gone, Mr. Winslow said to himself: "There, Josiah, where's your new overcoat? Well, the blessing of the widow and fatherless is worth more to you to-day than any number of overcoats. The Lord helping us, 'Manda and I will continue to make that 'widow's heart to sing for joy,' as Job says, and the blessing of the fatherless shall be ours. We have got a good home, and have plenty of this world's goods, but have no children. Why not lift some of the heavy burdens of the widows and fatherless, instead of leaving our property, when we die, to thankless heirs to be quarreled over and squandered. How blessed it will be in the day of the Lord to hear Jesus say, 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, My brethren, ye have done it unto Me!'" A. SMITH.