e remainder, she would
sit up the whole night with a sick acquaintance who was too poor to hire
a nurse, and had only thanks to give her, and perhaps of that not very
liberally.

I have said that my mother had as warm and generous a heart as ever beat
in woman's bosom. I repeat it. I might give numerous instances to
prove the truth of my assertion, and to show that I have reason to be
proud of being her son, whatever the world may think about the matter.
One will suffice. It had an important effect on my destinies, although
at the time no one would have supposed that such would be the case. One
evening, as my mother was returning home off the water after dark, she
found a female fallen down close to our door, in what seemed to be a
fit. Some of the neighbours had seen the poor creature, but had let her
lie there, and gone indoors, and several persons passing showed by their
remarks what they thought of her character; but mother, not stopping to
consider who she was or what she was, lifting her up in her strong arms,
carried her into the house, and placed her on the bed which used to be
Jack's.

Mother now saw by the light of the candle that the unhappy being she had
taken charge of was still young, and once had been pretty, but the life
she had led had marred her beauty and brought her to her present sad
state. After mother had undressed her and given her food and a cordial
in which she had great confidence, the girl slightly revived, but it
became more evident than before that she was fearfully ill. She sobbed
and groaned, and sometimes shrieked out in a way terrible to hear, but
would give no account of herself. At length, mother, mistrusting her
own skill, sent Nancy and me off to call Dr Rolt, the nearest medical
man we knew of. He came at once, and shaking his head as soon as he saw
the stranger, he advised that she should be removed forthwith to the
hospital.

"Not to-night, doctor, surely," said mother. "It might be the death of
her, poor young creature!"

"She may rapidly grow worse, and it may be still more dangerous to move
her afterwards," remarked Dr Rolt.

"Then, please God, I'll keep charge of her till she recovers, or He
thinks fit to take her," said mother, in her determined way.

"She will never recover, I fear," said the doctor; "but I will do the
best for her I can."

Telling mother how to act, and promising to send some medicine, he went
away. When father, who had been across to R