Some of these impatient souls throw life away, and
learn too late how rich it might have been with a stronger faith, a
more submissive spirit. Others are kept, and slowly taught to stand
and wait, till blest with a happiness the sweeter for the doubt that
went before.
There came a time to Christie when the mist about her was so thick
she would have stumbled and fallen had not the little candle, kept
alight by her own hand, showed her how far "a good deed shines in a
naughty world;" and when God seemed utterly forgetful of her He sent
a friend to save and comfort her.
March winds were whistling among the house-tops, and the sky was
darkening with a rainy twilight as Christie folded up her finished
work, stretched her weary limbs, and made ready for her daily walk.
Even this was turned to profit, for then she took home her work,
went in search of more, and did her own small marketing. As late
hours and unhealthy labor destroyed appetite, and unpaid debts made
each mouthful difficult to swallow with Mrs. Flint's hard eye upon
her, she had undertaken to supply her own food, and so lessen the
obligation that burdened her. An unwise retrenchment, for, busied
with the tasks that must be done, she too often neglected or
deferred the meals to which no society lent interest, no appetite
gave flavor; and when the fuel was withheld the fire began to die
out spark by spark.
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