I'LL SEE ABOUT IT. 81

 

caught her breath, and looked her adviser
with a strange, bewildered stare in the face.

“Oh no! I cannot do that. I cannot
be separated from my dear little children.
Who will care for them like a mother?”

“ Tt is hard, I know, Mrs. Mayberry. But
necessity is a stern ruler. You cannot keep
them with you—that is certain. You have
not the strength to provide them with even
the coarsest food. In an asylum, with a
kind matron, they will be better off than
under any other circumstances.”

But Mrs. Mayberry shook her head.

“ No—no—no,” she replied—“I cannot
think of such a thing. I cannot be sepa-
rated from them. I shall soon be able to
work again—better able than before.”

The neighbour, who felt deeply for her,
did not urge the matter. When Hiram re-
turned at dinner-time, his face had in it a
more animated expression than usual.

“‘ Mother,” said he, as soon as he came
in, “I heard to-day that a boy was wanted
at the Gazette-office, who could write a