AnUNTER'SLIFK. 85 



" No, no, Mary ; and I thank God for placing so good 

 I heart in my dearest wife." * 



With her handkerchief we dried our tears ; and, the 

 day being well advanced, we walked forward to the house. 



" What is the matter with you, Mary," said my mother; 

 " have you rued your bargain already ? " 



" Oh no, mother. But you know Joshua told Meshach 

 that we were but children. Children will cry when their 

 mother leaves them ; and 1 think it just as bad to leave 

 my mother as if she was compelled to leave me. I have 

 been crying a little about it ; and indeed, mother, Meshach 

 cried too. You know that if yon have two babies toge- 

 ther, and one cries, the other will cry also. And that is 

 just the way with him ; for as soon as I began to cry he 

 did the same. I am ashamed of it ; and I am sure he 

 ought to be also, as he pretends to be a man. But Joshua 

 calls him a boy ; and if he is only a boy, it will not look 

 quite so bad if he does cry a little sometimes. " 



* How little do parents finrl others know, when indulging in un- 

 kind and harsh feelings, what changes may take place in after life ! 

 To illustrate more fully the lovely character of Mary, it may be 

 stated that the father who so unfeelingly turned his child out of 

 doors, was for many years indebted to these children for a roof under 

 which to shelter his gray hairs, and for the means of averting actual 

 want and suffering. After becoming old, and incapable, by reason 

 of age and infirmity, of providing suflBciently for his own and his 

 wife's comfort, they were removed into the family of his daughter. 

 Here they lived about twelve years, when the old gentleman was 

 stricken down with paralysis, and for many months lay as helpless 

 as an infant, requiring equal care and attention. All that the most 

 devoted kindness and affection could do was done by Mary to alle- 

 viate his sufferings, and minister to his every want, Doth bodily and 

 mental, until death came to his relief. It may truly be said of this 

 estimable lady, that, though reared in the wilderness, every trait 

 that adorns the female character shone brightly in her: she was a 

 dutiful child, a most exemplary mother, a devoted wife, and a true 

 friend.— E.S. 



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