Page:Popular Tales and Romances of the Northern Nations (Volume 2).djvu/23

Rh occupation appeared very irksome; and she often moistened the thread with her tears. By her industry, however, she was enabled to preserve herself independent, and to save herself from incurring unpleasant obligations; she accustomed her daughter to the same mode of life, and lived so sparingly, that she even saved a small sum, which she laid out in buying lint, and, from that time, carried on a trade in that article on a small scale.

This excellent woman was, however, far from thinking she should spend her life in this humble state; on the contrary, she strengthened her courage, by looking forward to better times; and she hoped, one day, to be restored to that prosperity she had been deprived of, and to enjoy, in the autumn of her life, some of that sunshine which had gladdened its spring. Nor was this hope altogether an empty dream; it sprung from rational observation. She saw her daughter’s charms unfold as she grew up, like a blooming rose, but not like it, to fade and fall as soon as it is ripened into beauty. She knew her to be modest and virtuous, and gifted