e lent me one
book after another, and in each there was something new and wonderful. I
learned how terrible the condition of women had been everywhere until our
own Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, and taught that one soul was
as much worth as another, all equal, man and woman, lord and servant; that
every individual must be free, one as well as another; and that two people
should be joined together only by love, and not as a matter of ownership.
But even now-a-days there are still countries and islands where men make
nothing of killing and eating each other, and the women are bought and
sold like goods. It is only where the influence of Christianity has
penetrated, that there is true equality of womanhood. You can imagine the
flood of new ideas that crowded in upon me as I read, and I assure you
that I was able to forget sometimes for many days that I was a hunchback,
and when I did remember it, the thought had lost its sting. I dwelt upon
the many privations and sufferings of others, till they seemed to outweigh
my own trouble so that it dwindled in my estimation; and gradually I began
to see the good side of my lot. How independently I could live supporting
myself; what a wealth of interest was opened to me through my reading, and
in fact how fortunate I was, and blessed beyond many another! Yes,
Veronica, I can assure you that I am now a happy woman, with a heart
filled with gratitude to the good God for the blessings he has sent me.
And so I say to you, my child, from the fulness of my own experience, that
you have no right to go about looking like a thunder-cloud; you with all
the freshness and beauty of your young life!

Tell me do you owe our Lord God something or is He in debt to you? Have
you nothing to thank him for? Others can see how much you have to look
forward to. Get yourself together, girl, and try to give your thoughts
another direction."

"I should be only too glad to do so," said Veronica, who had listened
intently to every word that Sabina had said. "Have you any such book as
you describe, that you can lend me to read?"

Sabina was well pleased at this request. She had a book close at hand,
which she had just finished reading, and from which she expected great
things for the young girl. Veronica was moved by Sabina's glowing words,
to believe that her future might be happier, and that the clouds of
despondency which had overshadowed her, were about to be dispersed.

She lost no time, for s