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. 
