And so there was earnest prayer—there was
faith, love, and hope pouring forth that evening in
the little kitchen. And poor, aged, fretful Lisbeth,
without grasping any distinct idea, without going through
any course of religious emotions, felt a vague sense
of goodness and love, and of something right lying
underneath and beyond all this sorrowing life.
She couldn’t understand the sorrow; but, for
these moments, under the subduing influence of Dinah’s
spirit, she felt that she must be patient and still.
In the Cottage
It was but half-past four the next morning when
Dinah, tired of lying awake listening to the birds
and watching the growing light through the little
window in the garret roof, rose and began to dress
herself very quietly, lest she should disturb Lisbeth.
But already some one else was astir in the house,
and had gone downstairs, preceded by Gyp. The
dog’s pattering step was a sure sign that it
was Adam who went down; but Dinah was not aware of
this, and she thought it was more likely to be Seth,
for he had told her how Adam had stayed up working
the night before. Seth, however, had only just
awakened at the sound of the opening door. The
exciting influence of the previous day, heightened
at last by Dinah’s unexpected presence, had
not been counteracted by any bodily weariness, for
he had not done his ordinary amount of hard work; and
so when he went to bed; it was not till he had tired
himself with hours of tossing wakefulness that drowsiness
came, and led on a heavier morning sleep than was
usual with him.
But Adam had been refreshed by his long rest, and
with his habitual impatience of mere passivity, he
was eager to begin the new day and subdue sadness
by his strong will and strong arm. The white mist
lay in the valley; it was going to be a bright warm
day, and he would start to work again when he had
had his breakfast.
“There’s nothing but what’s bearable
as long as a man can work,” he said to himself;
“the natur o’ things doesn’t change,
though it seems as if one’s own life was nothing
but change. The square o’ four is sixteen,
and you must lengthen your lever in proportion to your
weight, is as true when a man’s miserable as
when he’s happy; and the best o’ working
is, it gives you a grip hold o’ things outside
your own lot.”
As he dashed the cold water over his head and face,
he felt completely himself again, and with his black
eyes as keen as ever and his thick black hair all
glistening with the fresh moisture, he went into the
workshop to look out the wood for his father’s
coffin, intending that he and Seth should carry it
with them to Jonathan Burge’s and have the coffin
made by one of the workmen there, so that his mother
might not see and hear the sad task going forward
at home.
