1883.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
191 
How Nellie Won the Day. 
BY ASNES OAKB. 
Gray clouds drifted across the sky, and a chill 
wind swept over the fields, and whistled round the 
comer of the old red school-house ; but the group 
of children, clustered about the door-step, noticed 
neither, so interested were they in some object that 
they were examining. 
“ It will be the greatest fun, alive !” exclaimed a 
large boy, in a muffler.—“ Indeed it will!” assented 
a rosy-cheeked girl, whom her companion called 
Maggie.—“ And how she will jump !” squeaked 
little Tommy Green, who had a cold in his head.— 
“ There comes Nellie Lawson,” cried two or three, 
going above him in the spelling class. “ You 
needn’t preach to us, Nellie Lawson, and we shan't 
ask your consent to the trick.” 
“ No, indeed !” said most of the group, who did 
not care to lose their sport.—“And if you give 
Ruth a hint, beforehand, we will have nothing 
more to do with you,” added Maggie.—“I’m no 
tell-tale,” answered Nellie, with some spirit, as she 
turned off down the road, leaving the mischievous 
youngsters to prepare this unkind surprise for their 
schoolmate. 
That same afternoon, as Miss Allis, the school¬ 
teacher, was wending her way toward her board¬ 
ing-place, at Auntie Piper’s, she was overtaken 
by her pet pupil, Nellie Lawson, who, with her 
scarlet hood falling back on her shoulders, and her 
covered her face with her hands; but they were- 
surprised, when, in place of the repulsive rat, they 
beheld a dainty lunch, neatly packed in a box, and 
on top a netted purse, through which might be seen 
the gleam of silver, while on a slip of paper were 
written the two words, “April Fool.” 
“ This is some of Nellie Lawson’s work, I know !”' 
exclaimed Ben, angrily; but none of the others 
echoed his tone, as they caught a sight of Ruth’s 
grateful face, and Nellie said softly, “ Yes, 1 know 
I have rather turned the laugh against the school, 
but I am sure you will enjoy my joke more than 
the one you planned, even if you have all been 
April fooled;” and going to Ruth’s side, pressed 
her to taste the good things, “ for I know by your 
looks you need them,” she whispered. 
as a sweet-faced maiden emerged from the school- 
house ; “ let us tell her about it.” 
“ What are you all talking and laughing about ?” 
asked the new-comer; “can’t I know the joke?” 
“ Of course you can,” said Maggie. “Just see 
this rat, that Ben Mott has caught,” and the boy 
with the muffler swung a gray rat round by the 
tail. Nellie gave a half-suppressed scream, and 
then, seeing that the animal was dead, asked, 
“ What are you going to do with it ? ”—“ Why, to¬ 
morrow is the first of April,” explained Ben, “ and 
we intend to pla} 7 a trick on that shabby Ruth 
Baker.”—“ She is dreadfully afraid of rats and 
mice,” continued Maggie, “ almost goes into a fit, 
at the sight of one,—so we are going to do this fel¬ 
low up in a nice parcel, and put it in her desk. She 
will think it is something Auntie Piper has sent her 
by Miss Allis, and it will be fun to see her scared 
when she opens it—don’t you think so ?”—“ No, I 
don’t!” responded Nellie, while her cheeks glowed, 
and her eyes flashed, “ and I think it is mean to 
treat a poor girl like Ruth so. She is smarter than 
any of us, if she does wear patched clothes, and 
live in a tumble-down old shanty, and it might do 
her a great deal of harm.”—“ Nonsense ! ” shouted 
Ben, angrily ; for he had a grudge against Ruth for 
fair hair streaming in the wind, came running 
down a side-path to meet her. “ Oh, Miss 
Allis ! ” she panted, quite breathless, “ I was 
so afraid I might miss you; and I want to 
ask a favor.” 
“What is it, Nellie?” inquired the teach¬ 
er.—“ Only to lend me the school-house key, 
until to-morrow morning, when I will be sure 
and bring it very early.”—“ But what can 
you want of it ? ”—“ It is a secret, Miss Allis; 
but, truly, I will do no harm.”—The teacher 
smiled at the girl’s earnestness, as she drew 
the key from her pocket, saying, “ I think I 
can trust you, Nellie ; but don’t fail to be on 
hand, in good season.”—“Oh, no, indeed! 
and thank you so very much ! ” and with a kiss, 
and a wise 6hake of her little head, Nellie bade her 
teacher “good bye,” and started towards home. 
The Widow Baker’s home was a miserable 
place, the cold air pouring through the wide cracks 
in the boards, and laughing at the wee bit of fire on 
the hearth, that seemed too timid, even to crackle. 
“This is a poor shelter,” groaned Mrs. Baker; 
“ but I fear we may even have less, for not a pen¬ 
ny’s rent have I paid for three months, and farmer 
Mott has threatened to turn us out.” 
So it was with a sad heart that Ruth started fof 
school, trying to plan some means by which she 
could earn enough, at least, to keep starvation 
from the door. The scholars were all in their 
places when she entered. Opening her desk, she 
saw a package in one corner, and—not observing 
the boys nudging each other, and the girls giggling 
behind their “ readers,”—supposed Auntie Piper 
bad kindly sent her a turnover, as she occasion¬ 
ally did. Carefully she untied the string, and un¬ 
folded the paper. Ben Mott stole up behind, and 
peeped over her shoulder, while the others watched 
eagerly. They were not disappointed, for the girl 
uttered a startled “ Oh !” sat down suddenly, and 
“ Let me take some home to the children,” 
begged the girl, and she explained, in a few words, 
the sad condition of her family. The well-fed boys 
and girls instantly scattered in every direction, 
each tried to outdo the other in bringing from their 
own lunch baskets, sandwiches, biscuits, pies, cake, 
etc., to heap upon Ruth’s desk, until there was 
much more than she could carry—and she fairly 
sobbed from excitement. Miss Allis, watching 
the proceedings, forgot to ring the bell until long 
after time. That afternoon, as Mrs. Baker stood 
by the window, she uttered a cry of despair, at the 
sight of farmer Mott’s wagon coming down the 
road, “ For,” she said to Peter, the oldest boy, 
“ be has come to turn us out, and where we shall 
go, Heaven only knows ! ” Sure enough, Mr. Mott 
soon appeared on the threshold. “See here!’’lie 
shouted, “haveyousome money for me?”—“N-n- 
no, sir!” stammered the poor widow,—“but ” 
“Well, that’s all right, for it’s April fool’s day, 
you know ; but what do you mean by allowing any 
of my tenants to freeze and starve ? Here is a cord 
of wood; don’t you dare to bring me any rent, 
until that young man is old enough to earn it.” 
And with these words, the bluff farmer hurried 
off, leaving Mrs. Baker speechless. She was roused 
by the entrance of Ruth, followed by a procession 
of boys and girls, bearing baskets and pails, and 
who in a twinkling set to work, like a band of good 
fairies, making up a roaring fire, spreading the ta¬ 
ble, with Ben Mott the leader of them all, while his 
face fairly beamed with satisfaction. Fun and 
jollity prevailed on all sides, and Nellie, hugging 
Ruth rapturously, exclaimed, “Isn’t it just the 
loveliest April fool that ever was heard of?” 
As the twilight shadows fell softly over the 
country-side, and the happy children—leaving the 
Bakers sitting by a cheerful fireside—wended their 
% way to their own comfortable homes, Ben Mott 
whispered to Miss Allis, “ Nellie Lawson’s ‘ fool 
ing ’ is worth twenty of my stupid rat tricks.” 
