138 WILD BROTHER 



ing the spread of the trouble, Mr. Weldon was able 

 to work only intermittently. 



Persons less courageous than Mrs. Weldon would 

 have given up the fight, for the odds were all 

 against her. In the years that had passed since she 

 had saved the life of the cub, her own family had 

 increased in number, until there were five girls and 

 two boys. To clothe them, feed them, bring them 

 up properly, and care for them in sickness, was a 

 task that would have driven to despair many 

 women in far better circumstances. But this 

 woman of the kind heart had the blood of the 

 pioneers in her veins. She would not give up the 

 struggle. When the family funds dwindled to the 

 vanishing point, she found outside work that en- 

 abled her to purchase the bare necessities of life. 



And so she has toiled, year after year, ever cheer- 

 fully, against tremendous difficulties and never 

 once has asked for help. The great reward of her 

 labors has been the bringing up of a fine family of 

 sturdy children, who are a credit to her name. 



It has ever been a surprise to her that the bread 

 she cast upon the waters so long ago has returned to 

 her again and again; it seems little less than a 

 miracle that, many years after she took the little 

 starveling to her breast, persons of whom she 

 never has heard should wish to reward and com- 

 mend her simple act. 



