Page:Leo Tolstoi - Life Is Worth Living and Other Stories - tr. Adolphus Norraikow (1892).djvu/68

Rh with the children thus suddenly thrown on the mercy of the world. Turning to me, those present said: 'Mary, you have but one child. Will you not take the infants and keep them until we can decide what will be best to do with them?' I willingly agreed to this, and taking the babes in my arms I immediately began to feed the uninjured child—to the neglect of the other, as I did not believe the deformed one would live.

"On second thought I asked myself why that angelic soul should be permitted to pass away, and my sympathy was aroused on behalf of the little waif. I then began to feed it also. I was young, strong, and healthy, and the good Lord enabled me to care for all three of the children. I fed two at a time, and when they were satisfied I fed the third one. Thus it was that through God's will the lives of the children were spared. My little boy lived two years and then he was taken from me, and we have not yet been blessed with any more. We have prospered greatly since that time, and we are