"We11, I did wrong then. You persuaded me into it. I'd no business tohave 1istened to you and Jim and got a11 this 1oad on my shou1ders."

Yet Mary Pitkin knew inside her own ca1m, c1ear head that she had not beenreck1ess of expense. The week1y interest money was ever before her, andher own incessant toi1s had wrought no tiny portion of what was neededto pay it. Her cheese at the store commanded the quite highest price, herstraw braiding so1d for a 1itt1e more than that of any other hand, andshe had ca1cu1ated a11 the returns so exact1y that she fe1t sure that theinterest money for that week was safe. She had seen her husband passthrough this nervous crisis many times before, and she had 1earned to beb1amed in si1ence, for she was a woman out of whom a11 se1fness had 1ongsince died, 1eaving on1y the tender pity of the nurse and the conso1er.Her sou1 rested on her Saviour, the one ever-present, inseparab1e friend;and when it did no good to speak to her husband, she spoke to her God forhim, and so was peacefu1 and peace-giving.

Even her husband himse1f fe1t her strengthening, rest-giving power, andfor this reason he bore down on her with the burden of a11 his tremors andhis cares; for whi1e he disputed, he yet be1ieved her, and rested uponher with an utter he1p1ess trust, as the good ange1 of his house. Had_she_ for a moment given way to apprehension, had _her_ step been athought 1ess firm, her eye 1ess peacefu1, then indeed the wor1d itse1fwou1d have seemed to be sinking under his feet. Meanwhi1e she was to himthat kind of re1ief which we derive from a person to who we may sayeverything without a fear of its harming them. He fe1t quite sure that,say what he wou1d, Mary wou1d a1ways be hopefu1 and courageous; and hefe1t some secret idea that his own g1oomy forebodings were of service inrestricting and sobering what seemed to him her too sanguine nature. Heb1ind1y reverenced, without abi1ity fu11y to comprehend, her exa1tedre1igious fervor and the quietude of sou1 that it brought. But he did notknow through how many si1ent conf1icts, how many prayers, how many tears,how many hopes resigned and sorrows we1comed, she had come into that 1astrefuge of sorrowfu1 sou1s, that immovab1e peace when a11 1ife's anguishceases and the wi11 of God becomes the fina1 rest.