Rosa's Quest: Or, The Way to the Beautiful LandWright, Anna Potter
Religion
Rosa's Quest: Or, The Way to the Beautiful Land
Wright, Anna Potter
Christian life -- Juvenile fiction
"My old neighbor over on the south side wants me to come tomorrow and
stay till Monday. Bein' that I've had it so awful hard, I jest guess
I'll do it, and you can git along the best way you can. Let me see: I'll
go tomorrow afternoon, and be gone all day Saturday and Sunday and till
late Monday afternoon. I'll leave you fifteen cents apiece to live on,
and I guess you won't starve."
Instinctively grandpa and Rosa cast a glance at each other. At last
their opportunity had come, and a better one by far than for which they
had dared to hope!
The time intervening between the reception of the letter and her
departure, Mrs. Gray spent mostly in giving directions to her two
charges, as she delighted to call them.
After having gone down the first flight of stairs, she called back:
"Rosa, I'll lick you sure if you git another speck of grease on that
there floor, while I'm gone."
But Rosa heeded not. Tomorrow she and grandpa would start for the
beautiful land and mother, for Jesus had paid all the fare.
[Illustration]
V.
THE WAY SOUGHT.
Early the next morning Rosa and grandpa were up, eagerly preparing for
the events of the day, their every motion evidencing a subdued
excitement, while joy beamed from their eyes.
"I'm going to make you some tea, grandpa, 'cause it's cold, and I think
you'll feel better to drink it. Mis' Gray told me I shouldn't touch it,
but since we're going away, I guess it won't make no difference. We may
have to travel a good ways, you know. Mother used to drink tea, when we
could afford it, before starting out to work all day. My, ain't I glad
we're going to find mother! And she won't be coughing no more. I want to
see her so bad. Of course Mis' Gray has been good to give me a home, but
I'd rather be with mother. She's different some way, and I love her so.
It seems so long since she went away."
"Thank you, dearie, fer this tea; it's real bracin' like, and I can't
remember when I've had none before Tom used to git it fer me, and
anything else I wanted.
"Yes, I'm mighty glad we're a-goin', mighty glad, fer I'm a-gittin'
homesicker all the time. I think we'll find Tom, too, and Tom's mother.
There's a lot I want to tell 'em. Sary's so busy, she don't have no time
to talk to me.
"Last night I dreamed ag'in that I wuz in the little white meetin' house
with the steeple a-pintin' straight up. The green vines a-wavin' in the
breeze wuz a-growin' all over it, and the roses smelled so pretty. And
the man wuz a-readin' out of the Book, Rosa. Wish I could read, then I'd
know it fer myself."
"What was he reading about, grandpa?"
"Dunno as I can tell you, child, only somethin' about a river, and a
tree by it, and fruit, and the folks don't git sick no more, and--well,
I can't tell you, Rosa, but hurry up, let's start! When we git there,
we'll know all about it then."
"Here, grandpa, put this bread in your pocket, please. P'rhaps we'll
need it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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