They were not
rich; they were simply in comfortable circumstances, which,
considering their situation when Katy commenced business, was
quite enough to render them very thankful to the Giver of all
good for the rich blessings He had bestowed upon them.
These were not all temporal blessings; if they had been, their
success would only have been partial and temporary, their
prosperity only an outward seeming, which, in the truest and
highest sense, can hardly be called prosperity; no more than if a
man should gain a thousand dollars worth of land, and lose a
thousand dollars worth of stocks or merchandise. Both Katy and
her mother, while they were gathering the treasures of this
world, were also "laying up treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust doth corrupt." Want had taught them its hard
lessons, and they had come out of the fiery furnace of affliction
the wiser and the better for the severe ordeal. The mother's
foolish pride had been rebuked, the daughter's true pride had
been encouraged. They had learned that faith and patience are
real supports in the hour of trial. The perilous life in the
streets which Katy had led for a time, exposed her to a thousand
temptations; and she and her mother thanked God that they had
made her stronger and truer, as temptation resisted always makes
the soul.
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