IN TIMES OF TROUBLE 105 
Weldon family was having difficulties. Mr. Wel- 
don, some time before my acquaintance with him, 
had cut his foot quite badly with an axe. The 
wound had never healed in a proper manner, and 
in the fall of the year when I took the bear, he had 
the misfortune to have this same foot crushed be- 
neath a heavy log. While this accident did not in- 
capacitate him entirely, it made it very. difficult 
for him to work with any degree of comfort. In 
fact, this infirmity prevented him from earning his 
usual wages. 
At the railroad settlement we learned that the 
family had left the lumber-camp in the woods, and 
was now living in a small log-house close beside 
the road, about half-way in to the lakes. Our way 
took us past their door, and we stopped to call. 
Mrs. Weldon and her three children were at 
home. Because of their straitened circumstances 
she had been obliged to give up the two adopted 
ones, and her oldest child — now a little girl of six 
years — was the housekeeper; for she herself lay 
ill upon the sofa. Mr. Weldon was away looking 
for work, but owing to the painful condition of his 
foot had been unable to do much for several months. 
The kind-hearted mother was weak, discouraged, 
and worn in mind and body. With the coming of 
spring there would be another mouth to feed, and 
the doctor had told her that, unless she could rest 
