her
should be her's. But the laws of a barbarous age fixed it otherwise.
Anne married John Warren, who was the youngest child, daintly bred
by his parents. He opened a dry good store in a small town in the
vicinity of B----, where he invested Annie's property. He was a farmer,
and did not think of the qualifications necessary to a successful
merchant. For five or six years he went on tolerably, living _genteelly_
and _recklessly_, expecting that every year's gain would make up the
excess of the past. When sixteen years of their married life had passed,
they were living in a single room in the crowded street of R----.
Every penny of the inheritance was gone--three children had died--three
survived; a girl of fifteen years, whom the mother was educating to be
a teacher--a boy of twelve who was living at home, and Jessy, a pale,
delicate, little struggler for life, three years old.
Mrs. W---- was much changed in these sixteen years. Her round blooming
cheek was pale and sunken, her dark chestnut hair had become thin and
gray, her bright eyes, over-tasked by use and watching, were faded,
and her whole person shrunken. Yet she had gained a great victory.
Yes, it was a precious pearl. And you will wish to know what it was.
It was a gentle submission and resignation--a patience under all her
afflictions. But learn a lesson. Take care to whom you give your hand
in marriage.
* * * * *
THE ORPHANS' VOYAGE.
Two little orphan boys, whose parents died in a foreign land, were put
on board a vessel to be taken home to their relatives and friends. On
a bitter cold night, when the north-east winds sang through the
shrouds of the vessel, the little boys were crouched on the deck
behind a bale of goods, to sleep for the night. The eldest boy wrapt
around his younger brother his little cloak, to shield him from the
surf and sleet, and then drew him close to his side and said to him,
"the night will not be long, and as the wind blows we shall the sooner
reach our home and see the peet fire glow." So he tried to cheer his
little brother, and told him to go to sleep and forget the cold night
and think about the morning that would come. They both soon sank to
sleep on the cold deck, huddled close to each other, and locked close
in each other's arms. The steerage passengers were all down below,
snugly stowed away in their warm berths, and forgot all about the cold
wind and the frost. When the morn
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