You must be very resolute, my child, for I feel as
though the sands of life were fast ebbing out; and that in a few
hours more I shall be `where the wicked cease from troubling, and
the weary are at rest.' If it were not for leaving you, Katy, I
could wish to bid farewell to earth, and go up to my eternal
home, even on this bright, beautiful Christmas day."
"O mother!" sobbed Katy, unable any longer to restrain the
expression of her emotion.
"Do not weep, my child; I may be mistaken; yet I feel as though
God was about to end my sufferings on earth, and I am willing to
go."
"O, no, mother! It cannot be!" exclaimed Katy, gazing earnestly,
through her tearful eyes, upon the pale but flushed cheek of the
patient sufferer.
"I only wish to prepare you for the worst. I may get well; and
for your sake, I have prayed that I may. And, Katy, I have never
before felt prepared to leave this world, full of trial and
sorrow as it has been for me. Whatever of woe, and want, and
disappointment it has been my lot to confront, has been a
blessing in disguise. I feel like a new creature. I feel
reconciled to live or die, as God ordains."
"Do not look on the dark side, mother," sobbed Katy.
"Nay, child, I am looking on the bright side, "returned Mrs.
Redburn, faintly "Everything looks bright to me now.
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