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Stratton-Porter, Gene, 1863-1924

"A Daughter of the Land"

"
Then they went home and prepared a good supper and had such a fine
time they were exalted in heart and spirit. When Nancy Ellen
started home, Kate took the baby and climbed in the car with her,
explaining that they would go a short way and walk back. She went
only as far as the Peters gate; then she bravely walked up to the
porch, where Mr. Peters and some of the boys sat, and said
casually: "I just thought I'd bring Little Poll up to get
acquainted with her folks. Isn't she a dear?"
An hour later, as she walked back in the moonlight, Henry beside
her carrying the baby, he said to her: "This is a mighty big
thing, and a kind thing for you to do, Mrs. Holt. Mother has been
saying scandalous things about you."
"I know," said Kate. "But never mind! She won't any more."
The remainder of the week she passed in the same uplifted mental
state. She carried the baby in her arms and walked all over the
farm, going often to the cemetery with fresh flowers. Sunday
morning, when the work was all done, the baby dressed her
prettiest, Kate slipped into one of her fresh white dresses and
gathering a big bunch of flowers started again to whisper above
the graves of her mother and Polly the story of her gladness, and
to freshen the flowers, so that the people coming from church
would see that her family were remembered.


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