Was it a shiny black cane with a gold head? No. I think you never saw
a cane like this one. It was made out of a small balm-of-Gilead-tree.
It belonged to John Reed. He taught school. He was eighteen years old.
When vacation came, John walked home. It was forty miles, and a pretty
long walk. But there were no railroads in those days, and John did not
like to ride in a stage-coach.
He thought he could walk more easily with a cane to help him. So he
made this cane I am going to tell you about.
When he got home he stuck this cane into the ground in the lane, and
then forgot all about it. But the cane was alive! When John stuck it
into the ground it began to drink up the water from the soil.
Tiny green leaves sprouted out all over it. John saw it one day. How
surprised he was! It grew all summer long. The next year the branches
began to grow; and year by year it grew larger and larger till it was
fifty years old.
Then John Reed was sixty-eight years old; the little children called
him "Grandpa Reed."
[Illustration: GRANDPA REED.]
They called the great balm-of-Gilead-tree in the lane "Grandpa's
cane." They used to like to put their arms about it and look up into
the branches. They thought it wonderful that a cane should grow into
such a big tree.
Then came the great Civil War. Your mamma or auntie can tell you about
it. There were a great many wounded soldiers, and the people used to
send bandages and lint for their wounds. Do you know what lint is? It
is made of linen cloth. It is soft, like wool.
Grandpa Reed had a little granddaughter Clara. Clara saw the women and
girls making lint, and she wanted to make lint too. But aunt Mary said
she was not big enough to make lint.
[Illustration: CLARA.]
"But I will tell you," said aunt Mary, "where you can find some nice
lint;" and she took her out to the great balm-of-Gilead-tree in the
lane.
Now you have all seen the soft, white pussy-willows. Well, the pussies
are the willow flowers; and the balm-of-Gilead-tree has pussies too.
But they are not soft and white; they are brown. They look like brown
caterpillars.
After the blossoms wither the seeds come. These seeds are covered
with wool like that on the dandelion's ball.
The wind blows this wool from off the trees, and there it was that
morning. The ground was white with it.
"There is the lint," said aunt Mary, and she gave Clara a bag to put
it in.
It took a great many bits of wool to fill the bag. But Clara was
patient, and worked diligently, and when the bag was full, she went
with aunt Mary to carry it to the soldiers' camp.
Clara gave it to the surgeon. He said the balm-of-Gilead lint was much
better than the linen lint. So "Grandpa's cane" and little Clara
helped the sick soldiers to get well again.