They were but a few feet
away, and Marlow caught every word.
"Mamma," the child said, "you didn't eat any breakfast, and I
don't believe you have eaten anything to-day. You are always
giving everything to us. Now I declare I won't eat another bit
unless you take half of my cake;" and he broke off a piece and
laid it in her lap.
"Oh, Jamie," cried the poor woman, "you looked so like your father
when you spoke that I could almost see him;" and she caught him in
her arms and covered him with kisses.
"I'll soon be big enough to take care of you. I'm going to grow up
just like papa and do everything for you," the boy said proudly as
she released him.
Little Susie also came and placed what was left of her cake in her
mother's lap, saying:
"I'll work for you, too, mamma; and to-morrow I'll sell the doll
Santa Claus gave me last Christmas, and then we'll all have plenty
to eat."
Anson Marlow was sobbing outside the window as only a man weeps;
and his tears in the bitter cold became drops of ice before they
reached the ground.
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