Happily
for the babe, it went the way its mother had taken, following a few
days afterward.
"'That was months ago. Alas for the wretched man! He has never risen
from that terrible fall, never even made an effort, it is said, to
struggle to his feet again. He gave up in despair.
"'His eldest child, Ethel, the young lady you saw just now, was away
from home at school when her mother died. Think of what a coming
back was hers! My heart grows sick in trying to imagine it. Poor
child! she has my deepest sympathy.
"'Ethel did not return to school. She was needed at home now. The
death of her mother and the unhappy fall of her father brought her
face to face with new duties and untried conditions. She had a
little brother only six years old to whom she must be a mother as
well as sister. Responsibilities from which women of matured years
and long experience might well shrink were now at the feet of this
tender girl, and there was no escape for her. She must stoop, and
with fragile form and hands scarce stronger than a child's lift and
bear them up from the ground. Love gave her strength and courage.
The woman hidden in the child came forth, and with a self-denial and
self-devotion that touches me to tears when I think of it took up
the new life and new burdens, and has borne them ever since with a
patience that is truly heroic.
"'But new duties are now laid upon her. Since her father's fall his
practice has been neglected, and few indeed have been willing to
entrust him with business.
Pages:
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220