Well, be our fate what it may, they shall owe to me one more gleam
of happiness;" and she went into a confectioner's shop and bought
a few ornamented cakes. These were the only gifts she could
afford, and they must be in the form of food.
Before she reached home the snow was whirling in the frosty air,
and the shadows of the brief winter day deepening fast. With a
smile far more pathetic than tears she greeted the children, who
were cold, hungry, and frightened at her long absence; and they,
children-like, saw only the smile, and not the grief it masked.
They saw also the basket which she had placed on the table, and
were quick to note that it seemed a little fuller than of late.
"Jamie," she said, "run to the store down the street for some coal
and kindlings that I bought, and then we will have a good fire and
a nice supper;" and the boy, at such a prospect, eagerly obeyed.
She was glad to have him gone, that she might hide her weakness.
She sank into a chair, so white and faint that even little Susie
left off peering into the basket, and came to her with a troubled
face.
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