erent wife to me. But light came at
last. When I saw _you_, Mary my child, for the first time, I scarce
knew what to say or think. You were, and are, the very image of my own
loved and lost one, my Mary my beloved child; the portrait behind the
panel is hers. I longed to have you for my own. I determined, however,
to see what you were; I went to the juvenile party merely for that end.
And then, when John came home unexpectedly, I resolved in my heart that,
if I could bring it about, you _should_ be my own dear child. So John
and I talked it over; and John, who is a true branch from the old tree,
a little crotchety or so, was resolved to win you in his own fashion;
and, having learnt a little colonial independence, he wished to look at
you a bit behind the scenes; so he would come before you, not as the
heir of an eccentric old gentleman, with a good estate and plenty of
money to speak for him, but as the travelled artist and music-master.
And now, I think I've pretty well unravelled the greater part of the
tangle; the rest you can easily smooth out for yourselves.

"So you see it has been `nearly lost, but dearly won.' My child, Mary,
you nearly lost old Esau's heart, when you seemed bent on throwing your
own away; but you've won it, and won it dearly, like a dear good child.
You nearly lost your peace to one who would soon have drowned it out of
home, but you won it dearly and bravely, I know, at no little sacrifice.
And John, my son, I once thought you'd nearly lost the noblest and best
of wives; but you've won her, and dearly, too, but she's worth the price
of a little stooping, ay, and of a great deal too. And old Esau
Tankardew nearly lost his peace and his self-respect, in selfish
unsanctified sorrow, but he has won something better than respect,
though it cost him a hard struggle; he has won a daughter who hates that
drink which blotted out light and joy from the old man's home and heart;
and he has won, through grace, a peace that passeth understanding, and
can say, `Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.'"

THE END.

End of Project Gutenberg's Nearly Lost but Dearly Won, by Theodore P. Wilson

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