78 
7She RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 20, lOlT. 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
"ffoir, in Ijouisc noic?” 
‘’She ncciiiH (I Utile better!'' 
Tliiit inossago came over the ’phone on 
Friday eveniiiK, just as the members of 
the Hope Farm family were separating 
f(pr the night. Early in the year we Inid 
a letter from a woman in the West who 
<ame back to Tiiic li N.-Y. after 15 
\ ears' absence. As a girl she lived in 
New York State. Father took the jiaper 
.■Iml she remembered the talks about the 
l’>ud. Scion and (Jraft. “What has be- 
<'ome of those children?’’ she asked. 
“Since I left home T have lost track of 
them. Now that I have a home and chil¬ 
dren of my own I would like to know 
what they came to.” 
Thk First Ekood.—T hese were names 
given to tin* four childi’cn of our first 
brood. We had one little girl of our 
own whom I i-alled the I>ud. Her mother 
did not want her brought uj) alone, so we 
took in a sm.all boy—a little waif of an 
nncf'rtain ag(‘. We did not adopt him, 
but he was treated just like our own 
child, and “grew ui»” in our home. I 
<-alled him the Seedling I A noted botan¬ 
ist argued with me to prove that these 
names should have been transposed—but 
1 let them go, for we tri(>d to graft good 
things upon the Seedling. Then came two 
4 ither little ones—Mother’s niece and 
nephew, needing home and protection. 
AVe took them in, and I called tlumi draft 
.and Scion. These names may not have 
l)etrayed an.v great knowledge of botany, 
but they seemed to fit the children, al¬ 
though as the little ones grew up we were 
glad to let those names drop out. 
Tiiky ditF.w Up.—T his quartette of 
little ones grew and thrived. It was at 
times rather hard sledding for the Hope 
Farmers in those early years, but youth 
greases the runnei's with hope, and kids 
never know the true taste of tough mut¬ 
ton. They grew on through sickness, the 
wilful ness of childhood, powers of hered¬ 
ity and all the things which confront 
<-ommon children. For they always 
seemed to me just kids of very commoji 
<day. though Mother would at times come 
bac'k from jdaces where other children 
“belmved” and say: “A’on must under¬ 
stand that we have some very superior 
youngsters!” So they grew on until to 
my astonishment they were suddenly 
“grown up!” Of course I realized that 
the VE'kI” would most likely be pretty 
much what Inu- parents were, and it was 
a long-time hope that she would throw 
out our m.an.v undesirable qualities and 
<-oncentrate iii)on the few good ones. Now 
comes our friend asking what has become 
of them—and I cannot answer for all! 
The I’ud is a senior at one of the gi-eat 
Avomen’s colleges, the Graft is with an 
engiiKU'ring party running a new railroad 
Ihrotigh the Arizona Avilderness, the Seed¬ 
ling is a captain in the Salvuition Army— 
the Scion ! ah ! Avho kuoAvs? That is Avhy 
I am AAU'iting this! 
An AMmTious Giur..—Louise Perkins 
^rcAv up a small, rather delicate young 
Avoman. ambitious, clear-brained and Avith 
a quick. actiAm mind. There came a time 
Avhen greater family responsibilities came 
upon iVs all. Her father died, and her 
mother became hopelessly ill, and four 
younger brothers and sisters came to us 
to form Avhiit Ave call our second brood. 
Ea'cii as a young girl T.iouise began to re¬ 
alize the stern resiionsibillties of life for 
I host' little ones. AA’hen she finished high 
school her ambition to be of service to 
this family group became fixed. She 
Avanted to become self-supporting and to 
have a hand in helping Avith these younger 
children. Teaching is the great resource 
of educated Avomen Avho are naturall.v 
fitted for the Avork. and Louise saAV in the 
.school-room her best chance for useful 
service. I think this Avas one of the i-are 
cases Avhere Avomen are Avilling to Avork 
and prepare them.selA’es for true, if hum¬ 
ble service. TiOuise I’erkins Avms timid 
and naturally nervous—not strong or 
with great dominating ])OAA’er. I do not 
lliink any of ns under.stood hoAA much it 
reall.v meant to her to face direc •'simu- 
sibilit.A' and force her Avay througl. 
Thk Te.vchrb.— Mother and i have 
alAvays felt that if any of our cln; Iren 
shoAV real, self-sacrificing desire for an 
education Ave Avill practice any form of 
needed self-denial that tin* child may be 
college-trained. For an education Avorked 
out in that Avay Avill become a glory and 
honor to all Avho liaA'e to do Avith it. So 
Ave felt it no burden, but rather a privi¬ 
lege, to send Louise to the Montclair 
Normal School. Hoav Avell and faithfull.v 
she AA’orked no one can ever realize. I 
often think that mo.st v<‘putations for 
bravery in this Avorld are not fairly 
earned. Some strong, AA-ell-bred. naturall.v 
oi)timistic character, Avith health and heri¬ 
tage from a long line of dominating an- 
ce.stors pushes and ’smashes his Avay 
through obbstacles and acquires a great 
reputation for courage. I think smdi are 
far less deserving than AVomen like Louise 
Perkins, small and delicate and nervous. 
Avho conquer natural timidity and force 
themselves to endure the battle. It is 
even harder to Avin confide7ic<* in .vourself 
—to conquer the inside force.s—than to 
fight the outside one.s. 
A Srcc'ES.S.—Louise did this. She did 
it Avell, Avithout boasting or great com¬ 
plaint and Avithout flinching. At times 
she Avas depressed, for the task seemed 
too much for her, but she ros<' above it 
and Avon. I can only hoi)e that all our 
Hope F.arm childri'ii Avill. when theii- time 
come.s, rise up in like manner Jigainst 
themselves and Avin. She won honors at 
her school, and long befoi-e she expected 
it. on her OAvn little, honest record in the 
school-i'oom, she aauis emplo.ved to teach at 
.$<>5 p(|r month ! It Avas to be only four 
miles from home—amid tin* Ix'st sui'round- 
ing.s—and there Avas no happier woman on 
('.•ii’th than Avas Louise Avhen she Avrote 
us the first jicavs about it. It came jmst 
before Chri.stma.s. There are many 
women who could not see any cause for 
('h)-istmas joy in the thought of long 
yeai's of monotonous and Avearying ser¬ 
vice, but I.ouise saAV in this something of 
the .joy of achievement, for through hou- 
est. trained labor, the outcome of her oaa'u 
patience and determinati(tn, she Avas to 
become self-suporting and a genuine help 
to the childi-en. I presume no one but a 
conscientious and ambitious AA'oman can 
realize AA'hat that means. I know Avomen 
Avho Avould look upon such power of self- 
support simi)l.A' as .selfish fi'c'i'dom. Louise 
saAV in it the jtoAA’er of gn'ater ser\'ice. 
We have tried our best to train our chil¬ 
dren for that vicAV of a life work. You 
may therefore imagine that the holidays at 
Hope Farm seemed like holy days indeed. 
They AA’ere all there except the Seedling 
and the (iraft. and they sent messages 
which h'ft no regret, no sadness to creep 
in out of the jiast. Somehow I hope all 
you older people may know before yoti 
Pjiss on something of Avhat Mother and I 
did about our tAA'o broods as the old year 
passed on. 
Hoav Is Louise?—Y et there it comes 
again—the old question. I came home a 
little later thiui usual on Friday night. 
The night Avas Avet and foggy, and Mother 
met me at the train. One of the little 
bo.A's Avho usually comes for me had gone 
to meet Loui.se. Her first AAmek of school 
Avas over, and she was coming home—a 
teacher! As avo drove in the yard the 
famil.v ran out to meet us—“Something 
has hapi)ened—they AA'ant you on the 
’phone at once !” Ah ! but the.se country 
tragedies may flash upon us Avithout 
Avarning. IlalfAvay home Loui.se had 
been .sti-icken desperately ill, and she noAV 
la.v at the parsonage^—three miles aAva.A'— 
helples.s. .lust as quickly as fingers could 
])Ut the harne.s.s on our fiistest horse 
Mother .and “Cherr.A’-top” Avere driving 
off into the fog and rain. We Avaited until 
they reached the i)ar.son,age and then Ave 
kept the ’phone bii.sy. The poor girl, 
lading home after her first fine AA’eek in 
the school-room, had been stricken with 
an internal hemorrhage—and it Avas 
doubtful if she could lailly! At nine 
o’clock came the message: “,She seems to 
be better.” The little boys Avere coming 
home—and they .soon apiieared Avhite and 
troubled. IMother Avas to stay’’ all night 
and she sent a hopeful me.ssage about 
coming in the morning Avith Louise. We 
Avent to bed to get strength and nerve for 
any emergency. In the early morning 
Mother Avalked into my room and turned 
up the light. We looked at each other 
for a moment. Then there • ere six 
Avords : 
“How is Louise?" 
"She is yone!" 
We said nothing more, but Ave Avere 
both thinking the same thing! 
“The first hrealc iu our hiy family has 
come. How is J.ouisc uoir?" 
There Avas no AA-ay of saving her. 
Human skill and human love had failed. 
She Avas dead ! 
The Fuxku.ai,.—I t Avas a beautiful 
ceremony. There Avere only our oavu 
family and perhaps a dozen friends. We 
all AA'anted it so. I do not like the Avild 
grief and public curiosity so often dis¬ 
played at large funerals. There Avas just 
a great bank of floAveus, a Avhite casket 
and a simple' service over this brave and 
loyal girl. I do not say “poor” girl, nor 
do I dAvell ui)on the sadness of it. I 
thought that all out as Mother and I sat 
at the head of the casket. She died glor¬ 
iously—like a soldier at his duty. She 
dic'd Avhen life Avas young. She had just 
Avon her little battle in the givat Avorld’s 
affairs. She dic'd in the joy of victory 
and in the faith that all things are pos¬ 
sible. The Avine of life Avas Lill. She 
never kneAv the sting of defeat, the .shame 
and meanness of Ltkse friendships and 
ambitions. Avhich luis come to those of us 
Avho lingcu- on the AA'ay. And so at the 
end of it all I a.sked the old questmn 
(Cice more : 
“Hoav is Louise uoav?” 
“She is better! Thank God! She is 
better I” u. w. c. 
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