I turn to them from day to day as one would seek a cool,
unfailing spring. I can now accept life gratefully with the
conditions which cannot be changed. How fine is the influence of a
woman like you! What deep springs of action it touches! When
waiting on the sick and wounded, I try to blend your womanly
nature with my coarser fibre. Truly, neither of us has suffered in
vain if we learn better to minister to others. I cannot tell you
how I long to see the home gardens again; and it now seems that
just to watch you in yours will be unalloyed happiness."
Helen smiled over this letter with sweet, deep meanings in her
eyes.
One August evening, as the Kemble family sat at tea, he gave them
a joyous surprise by appearing at the door and asking in a matter-
of-fact voice, "Can you put an extra plate on the table?"
There was no mistaking the gladness of her welcome, for it was as
genuine as the bluff heartiness of her father and the gentle
solicitude of her mother, who exclaimed, "Oh, Hobart, how thin and
pale you are!"
"A few weeks' rest at home will remedy all that," he said.
Pages:
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156