d marries and settles down like other men, I believe he'll
end his days in a lunatic asylum.'

"But it all turned out the way Elbert said it would. The minute he saw
Mary Andrews, he whispered to his sister-in-law, and says he, 'Sister
Mary, do you see that dark-eyed woman over there by the door? Well,
that's the woman I've been lookin' for all my life.'

"He walked across the room and got introduced to her, and they said
when him and Mary shook hands they looked each other in the eyes and
laughed like two old friends that hadn't met for years.

"Harvey hadn't been dead much over a year and Mary wanted to put off
the weddin'. But Elbert said, 'No; I've waited for you a lifetime and
I'm not goin' to wait any longer.' So they got married as soon as Mary
could have her weddin' clothes made, and a happier couple you never
saw. Elbert used to look at her and say:

"'God made Eve for Adam, and he made you for me.'

"And he didn't only love Mary, but he loved her children the same as
if they'd been his own. A woman that's been another man's wife can
easy enough find a man to love her, but to find one that'll love the
other man's children, that's a different matter."

One! two! three! four! chimed the old clock; and at the same moment
out came the sun, sending long rays across the room. The rain had
subsided to a gentle mist, and the clouds were rolling away before a
south-west wind that carried with it fragrance from wet flowers and
leaves and a world cleansed and renewed by a summer storm. We moved
our chairs out on the porch to enjoy the clearing-off. There were
health and strength in every breath of the cool, moist air, and for
every sense but one a pleasure--odor, light, coolness, and the faint
music of falling water from the roof and from the trees that sent down
miniature showers whenever the wind stirred their branches.

Aunt Jane drew a deep breath of satisfaction, and looked upward at the
blue sky.

"I don't mind how much it rains durin' the day," she said, "if it'll
jest stop off before night and let the sun set clear. And that's the
way with life, child. If everything ends right, we can forget all
about the troubles we've had before. I reckon if Mary Andrews could
'a' seen a few years ahead while she was havin' her trials with pore
Harvey, she would 'a' borne 'em all with a better grace. But lookin'
ahead is somethin' we ain't permitted to do. We've jest got to stand
up under the present and trust for the t