Page:Aunt Phillis's Cabin.djvu/246

   I found it hard to prevent her. Her children have been constantly with her; indeed, I have passed a great deal of my own time in her cabin, which, under Martha's superintendence, is so neat and comfortable.

"You will all perhaps blame me that I have not been thus plain   with you before, but Dr. Lawton said it was not necessary, as she    has never been in any immediate danger, and Phillis would not    consent to my doing so. She wanted you to enjoy yourselves, and    Alice to have a good chance to regain her health. 'No doubt, Miss    Janet,' she said, 'the Lord will spare me to see them yet, and I    have every thing I want now--they couldn't stop my pains any more    than you, and I feel that I am in the Lord's hands, and I am    content to be.' She has not been confined to her bed, but is fast    losing strength, though from my window now I see her tying up her    roses, that are beginning to bud. Some other hand than hers will    care for them when another Spring shall come.

"Her nights are very restless, and she is much exhausted from   constant spitting of blood; the last week of pleasant weather has    been of service to her, and the prospect of seeing you all at home    gives her the most unfeigned pleasure.

"I have even more painful intelligence to give you. Our young   neighbor, Mrs. Kent, has done with all her trials, and I trust    they sanctified her, in preparation for the early and unexpected    death which has been her lot. You are not yet aware of the extent    of her trials. A fortnight ago her little boy was attacked with    scarlet fever, in its most violent form. From the first moment of    his illness his case was hopeless, and he only suffered    twenty-four hours. I went over as soon as I heard of his death;    the poor mother's condition was really pitiable. She was helpless    in her sorrow, which was so unexpected as to deprive her at first    of the power of reason. The Good Shepherd though, had not    forgotten her--he told her that