



Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David E. Brown and the
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  OUR KATIE.




  PUBLISHED BY THE

  AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,

  150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK.




  OUR KATIE.


  [Illustration: "She taught us how to live, and--Oh, too high
                 The price of knowledge--taught us how to die."]


Katie was born in Ireland, but at an early age her parents emigrated to
this country and settled in Brooklyn, not a great distance from the Lee
Avenue Sabbath-school. She was one of a family of ten children, of whom
several were older than herself, yet from her earliest childhood she
appeared to be a ruling spirit among them. Naturally quick and apt to
learn, she readily adapted herself to the manners and customs of the new
people she was with, and it was her earnest desire that her family
should do the same.

Katie was not beautiful, nor even pretty, but there was an earnest look
in her large dark eyes, and an expression of frankness in her
countenance. Her amiable disposition endeared her to every one, and the
influence she possessed among both old and young was truly surprising.
At an early age she began to take charge of the younger children; and
here her care was like that of a mother. She was anxious they should
learn habits of order and cleanliness, and she used to offer some little
reward to the one who excelled for a certain length of time in these
virtues.

It is related of Katie, as showing her obliging disposition, that when
at home, it was her custom on every Monday, the general wash-day, to
collect around her all the children of her acquaintance, and amuse and
entertain them, to the intense delight of their grateful mothers; for
the little ones all loved Katie, and would oftentimes yield to her a
more willing obedience than to those better entitled to receive it.

Katie's connection with the Sabbath-school began with its organization,
her name being the tenth enrolled upon the register. And little did the
Secretary think, as he glanced upon the little Irish girl standing so
timidly before him, that beneath that rough exterior was hidden such a
noble spirit as was afterwards manifested--nor that the humble name then
recorded was yet to be known throughout the land, and that its sound was
to bring tears into eyes which never beheld the owner.

From the first, Katie manifested the most absorbing interest in the
school, which continued unabated till her death. The second Sabbath she
brought all her younger brothers and sisters; and during the entire
period of her sojourn here, though the school increased from ten to ten
hundred members, there was not one more regular and punctual in
attendance than they. None were more entirely devoted to the interest of
the school than Katie. It was to her more than meat or drink. No weather
was so inclement as to detain her from any of its meetings. There was no
clothing, however poor and dilapidated, which could not, under Katie's
skilful fingers, be made to assume an appearance of neatness, at least
long enough for her to attend Sabbath-school. Is not here a lesson for
many a richer child who, with every possible advantage, yet seizes upon
the slightest pretext for remaining absent from her class, careless
alike of the blessing she refuses and the pain she causes an anxious
teacher.

Katie was always the first one of her class present, and here her sweet
disposition manifested itself most forcibly. Extremely neat in her own
person, the want of neatness in others annoyed her exceedingly, and that
any one should come to school with soiled clothing, or dirty face and
hands, was to her almost an unpardonable sin; therefore each new arrival
was scrutinized most closely, and the pump near the school-room has
witnessed many and many of her charitable ablutions. She generally
carried a small comb in her pocket, which she never scrupled to use; and
it was often difficult to recognize in the clean-faced, smooth-haired
child who returned with her from one of these cold-water expeditions,
the wretched little object she had "carried out."

Katie was one of our home missionaries, and a more devoted, faithful one
it would be difficult to find. Her ardent love for the Sabbath-school,
and the instruction she there received, made her anxious that others
should share the same blessing. It appeared to be a rule of her life
never to come alone. Much of her spare time was occupied in searching
through the lanes and hovels for those unblessed with religious
influence, and bringing them in to the Sabbath-school. The locality in
which she resided was inhabited mostly