She had trusted him to find beds for thirty-four
children, and it never entered his mind that any desire of hers could
possibly be neglected. Fortunately, circumstances had gone before him
and prepared for his necessity. The mattresses were easily found and
carried to the prepared room, and the children had been nourished on
warm milk and bread, had been rolled in blankets and had gone to sleep
ere John arrived at his own home. He was half-an-hour behind time, and
Jane did not like that lost half-hour, so he expected her usual little
plaintive reproach, "You are late tonight, John." But she met him
silently, slipped her hand into his and looked into his face with eyes
tender with love and dim with sorrow.
"Did you see those little children from Metwold, John?"
"No, my dear. Mother told me about them."
"Your mother is a good woman, John. I saw her today bathing babies that
looked as if they had never been washed since they were born. Oh, how
they smiled lying in the warm water! And how tenderly she rubbed them
and fed them and rocked them to sleep in her arms.
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