Page:The Father Confessor, Stories of Danger and Death.djvu/93

Rh "I have had such luck, mother," he began, then stopped; the universal sulky gloom on all faces repressed him.

The child who had preceded him cried out, "He is going away to be a rich man, and won't work for us any more."

The mother put him aside.

"You must be lucky, indeed," she said bitterly, "if you can afford to sit idle by the river and throw away your chance of the office work you have been offered."

The lad flushed, but told his story. The hope faded from his face as he saw hers did not brighten in the hearing, but instead disappointment settled upon it.

"And what of us when you, the eldest, go to make your fortune?—what will become of us? I am getting too old, and cannot work much longer. John won't be old enough to take your place for a couple of years, and the girls will have to give up school and go out as—as servants; and all because you are training for what you never have talent to be. When you are playing in your beautiful home, with plenty to eat and drink, think of your old mother and your little sisters and brothers, who are,