She would eat all their hard crusts for them,
always give them the best and take the worst for herself. If there was any
part in the dish that she was helping that she thought nobody would like,
she invariably assigned it to her own share. It looked like a determined
self-mortification sometimes; but that was not it. She did not care for her
own comfort enough to feel it any mortification; though I observed that
when her mother or I helped her to anything nice, she ate it with as much
relish as the youngest of the party. And her sweet smile was always ready
to meet the least kindness that was offered her. Her obedience was perfect,
and had been so for very many years, as far as we could see. Indeed, not
since she was the merest child had there been any contest between us.
Now, of course, there was no demand of obedience: she was simply the best
earthly friend that her father and mother had. It often caused me some
passing anxiety to think that her temperament, as well as her devotion to
her home, might cause her great suffering some day; but when those thoughts
came, I just gave her to God to take care of. Her mother sometimes said
to her that she would make an excellent wife for a poor man.
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