When you have had your own separate, individual room for years, with
every dainty belonging that is possible for a luxurious taste to
provide, it is a bit of a trial to give it up and be satisfied with a
cot at one end of a long, barnlike place, with no chance for solitude,
and only one mirror and one pitcher and basin to serve the needs of
three persons. It can be borne, however, as every small trial in this
world may, if there is a cheerful spirit and a strong, loving heart to
fall back on. Besides, most things may be improved if you know how to go
about the task. The chief thing is first to accept the situation, and
then bravely to undertake the changing it for the better.
"Doctor," said the mother, as her husband brushed his thin gray hair in
front of his chiffonier, while the merry sound of their children's
voices came floating down to them through open doors, "thank the dear
Lord for me in my stead when you sit in the pew to-day. I'll be with you
in my thoughts. It's such a blessed thing that our little middle girl is
at home with us."
The doctor sighed. That bill in his pocket was burning like fire in his
soul. He was not a cent nearer meeting it than he had been on Friday,
and to-morrow was but twenty-four hours off. Yesterday he had tried to
borrow from a cousin, but in vain.
"I fail to see a blessing anywhere, Charlotte," he said. "Things
couldn't well be worse. This is a dark bit of the road.
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