Elizabeth Williams Champney
Witch Winnie's mystery; or, The old oak cabinet; the story of a King's daughter
eBook
( March 2, 2012)
INTRODUCTION.
FOR those who have not read the first vol-
ume of this series, " Witch Winnie, the Story
of a King's Daughter."
We four girls,
Adelaide Armstrong,
Milly Roseveldt,
Emma Jane Anton,
Nellie Smith,
had been chums at boarding school.
o
(Let it here be explained that although my
name is Nellie, I am never called anything but
Tib by my friends.)
We occupied a little suite of apartments in
the tower, consisting of a small study parlor
from which opened two double bedrooms and
one single one. Our family was called the
Amen Corner, because our initials, arranged
as an acrostic, spelled the word Amen, and
because we were a set of little Pharisees, prigs,
and " digs," not particularly admired by the
rest of the school, but exceedingly virtuous
7
8 INTRODUCTION.
and preternaturally perfect in our own estima-
tion.
This was our status at the beginning of our
first school year together, and the change that
came over us, owing to the introduction into
our circle of Witch Winnie, the greatest scape-
grace in the most mischief-making set of the
school, the "Oueen of the Hornets,' has al-
<-^
ready been told. A quieting, earnest influ-
ence acted upon Winnie, and a natural, merry-
hearted love of fun reacted on us, and we were
all the better for the companionship.
The greatest practical result outside the
change in our own characters was the forma-
tion, by the uniting of the " Arrfen Corner'
and the " Hornets," of a Ten of Kind's Dau^h-
o o
ters, who founded the Home of the Elder
Brother, for little children. This institution
was adopted by our parents, who formed them-
selves into a board of managers, but left much
of the working of the enterprise in our hands.*
The Home prospered during the first year of
its existence in a truly wonderful manner. It
was undenominational and unendowed. No
* This Home is a truthful picture of one really founded by
a band of little girls the Messiah Home, at 4 Rutherford Place,
Stuyvesant Square, New York, which is aided in its good work
by different circles of King's Daughters.
INTRODUCTION. 9
rich church or wealthy man stood behind it.
It was entirely dependent on the efforts of a
few young girls, and on the voluntary sub-
scriptions of benevolent people. But it grew
day by day. Little ripples of influence wi-
dened out from our circle to others. During
the vacation our ten separated, and at each of
their homes they formed other tens, who
worked for the same object. Every one who
visited the Home was interested in its plan of
work, which was to help the poor without pau-
perizing them ; to aid struggling women whose
husbands had died, or were in hospitals or
prisons, and who could have no homes of their
own, by providing them with a substitute for
the baby farming, so extensively carried on in
the tenement districts, by offering them, on
the same low terms, a sweet and wholesome
shelter for their little ones. Some wondered
why we charged these poor women anything ;
why the half charity was not made a free gift.
But wiser philanthropists saw the superior
kindness of this demand. The women whom
we wished to aid were not beegars. but
that worthy, struggling class who, overbur-
dened, but still desperately striving, must sink
in the conflict unless helped, but who still
wished to do all in their power for their chil-
10 INTRODUCTION.
dren, and brought the small sum asked for
their board with a proud and happy self-
respect.
One of our own members, Emma Jane An-
ton, on graduating at Madame's, became ma-
tron of the Home, assisted by dear Miss Prill-
witz, formerly our teacher of botany, from
whose heart this beautiful thought had blossomed.
The Home was just across the park from
the school building and we frequently vis-
ited it ; but though we were all deeply inter-
ested in this sweet charity, it did not interfere
with our studies or with a great......
FOR those who have not read the first vol-
ume of this series, " Witch Winnie, the Story
of a King's Daughter."
We four girls,
Adelaide Armstrong,
Milly Roseveldt,
Emma Jane Anton,
Nellie Smith,
had been chums at boarding school.
o
(Let it here be explained that although my
name is Nellie, I am never called anything but
Tib by my friends.)
We occupied a little suite of apartments in
the tower, consisting of a small study parlor
from which opened two double bedrooms and
one single one. Our family was called the
Amen Corner, because our initials, arranged
as an acrostic, spelled the word Amen, and
because we were a set of little Pharisees, prigs,
and " digs," not particularly admired by the
rest of the school, but exceedingly virtuous
7
8 INTRODUCTION.
and preternaturally perfect in our own estima-
tion.
This was our status at the beginning of our
first school year together, and the change that
came over us, owing to the introduction into
our circle of Witch Winnie, the greatest scape-
grace in the most mischief-making set of the
school, the "Oueen of the Hornets,' has al-
<-^
ready been told. A quieting, earnest influ-
ence acted upon Winnie, and a natural, merry-
hearted love of fun reacted on us, and we were
all the better for the companionship.
The greatest practical result outside the
change in our own characters was the forma-
tion, by the uniting of the " Arrfen Corner'
and the " Hornets," of a Ten of Kind's Dau^h-
o o
ters, who founded the Home of the Elder
Brother, for little children. This institution
was adopted by our parents, who formed them-
selves into a board of managers, but left much
of the working of the enterprise in our hands.*
The Home prospered during the first year of
its existence in a truly wonderful manner. It
was undenominational and unendowed. No
* This Home is a truthful picture of one really founded by
a band of little girls the Messiah Home, at 4 Rutherford Place,
Stuyvesant Square, New York, which is aided in its good work
by different circles of King's Daughters.
INTRODUCTION. 9
rich church or wealthy man stood behind it.
It was entirely dependent on the efforts of a
few young girls, and on the voluntary sub-
scriptions of benevolent people. But it grew
day by day. Little ripples of influence wi-
dened out from our circle to others. During
the vacation our ten separated, and at each of
their homes they formed other tens, who
worked for the same object. Every one who
visited the Home was interested in its plan of
work, which was to help the poor without pau-
perizing them ; to aid struggling women whose
husbands had died, or were in hospitals or
prisons, and who could have no homes of their
own, by providing them with a substitute for
the baby farming, so extensively carried on in
the tenement districts, by offering them, on
the same low terms, a sweet and wholesome
shelter for their little ones. Some wondered
why we charged these poor women anything ;
why the half charity was not made a free gift.
But wiser philanthropists saw the superior
kindness of this demand. The women whom
we wished to aid were not beegars. but
that worthy, struggling class who, overbur-
dened, but still desperately striving, must sink
in the conflict unless helped, but who still
wished to do all in their power for their chil-
10 INTRODUCTION.
dren, and brought the small sum asked for
their board with a proud and happy self-
respect.
One of our own members, Emma Jane An-
ton, on graduating at Madame's, became ma-
tron of the Home, assisted by dear Miss Prill-
witz, formerly our teacher of botany, from
whose heart this beautiful thought had blossomed.
The Home was just across the park from
the school building and we frequently vis-
ited it ; but though we were all deeply inter-
ested in this sweet charity, it did not interfere
with our studies or with a great......
- Pages
- 414
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